Bhati
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Bhati (Hindi: भाटी, Urdu: بھٹی) is a Rajput and Jatt tribe and is one of the largest tribes among Rajputs. In the Punjabi language Bhatis came to be traditionally known as Bhatti Rajputs, it was simply the Punjabi way of pronouncing Bhati, just like Punjabis pronounced "Gadi" (Hindi word for "Cart", now also used for "Car" or even "Train") as "Gaddi". Bhati and Bhatti are one and the same caste, it is necessary to make this clear at the very onset as many Rajasthani Bhatis and Bhatis in other parts of India have never heard the name Bhatti and nor have many Punjabi Rajput Bhattis have ever heard the name Bhati, for centuries they have been living apart.
It is also a prominent Gujjar and Tarkhan gotra. They are found in Northern India and Pakistan.
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[edit] Origins
Bhati / Bhatti Rajputs were brave and daring warriors. The most common legend about the origin of the Bhatis states that in very early times, they were driven out of their lands, but returned and drove their kins, the Johiya / Joiyas and the Langahs across the Sutlej.
According to another legend, the Bhatis were initially Yadavas. When the inhabitants of Brij, Ghazni, Herat and Punjab were driven away from these lands.
It is also said that these people were known as the Bhati after an ancestor Rao Bhati, the father of Rao Jaisel, the founder of Jaiselmer state of Rajasthan.
According to another legend, which has been accepted by James Todd and Alexander Cunningham, Mamnenez, the king of Khorasan, drove out King Shal Bahan from Ghazni. He then established his capital at Sialkot. One of his sons was Rao Bhati and his descendants came to be called Bhatis / Bhattis.
However, the last non-Muslim ruler of Ghazni is named as Subhag Sen .
One can conclude from the above legend that the ancestors of the Bhati Rajputs, on being driven out of Ghazni, came and settled down in the Punjab region and their descendants came to be known as Bhatis.
Almost all the legends connect the Bhati Rajputs to Bhatnair or Bhatner (present-day Hanumangarh in northern Rajasthan). Bhatner was historically important as it was situated on the route of invaders from Central Asia to India. The Bhatis gave their name to places in the Punjab region such as Bhattiana, Bhatinda, Pind Bhatian, and Bhatiore. Whether the Bhati Rajputs initially spread from Bhatner and Bhattiana or these were their final abodes is unclear. It might be the case that the drying up of the Ghaggar forced them to migrate from the Punjab region to Ghazni from where they were again pushed back to Bhatner and Bhattiana by the invading Indo-Scythians armies.
With the waning of Buddhist influence and the re-emergence of Hinduism, some of the Bhati Rajputs split into Gujars and Jats. Later, with the Islamic invasions, many Bhati Rajputs were defeated in unequal wars and they were later converted to Islam. The fort of Bhatner was ruled by Muslim Bhati Rajputs until the 19th Century.
In Punjab many Punjabi Hindus including Hindu Bhati Rajputs gave their first born sons proudly to be enrolled into Sikhism to join the Army of the Guru, and be Sikhs, which were looked upon as warriors and protectors of Hindus and Hinduism against marauding Islamic invaders who seeked to convert Hindus to Islam by lethal force. This practice of giving first born sons of the Punjabi Hindu families, including Punjabi Hindu Rajputs, to be enrolled in the now symbolic Guru's protector Army and be baptized as Sikhs still continues to the day in the Indian Punjab and elsewhere where the punjabis have migrated to[citation needed]
The ruling Sikh families of Patiala, Jind, Faridkot & Nabha in the Punjab, which after Independence, shortly came together as the Patiala and East Punjab States Union(PEPSU), were the famed Sidhu-Brars who traced their origin to the Bhattis / Bhatis. Kiwha was a descendant of Rawal Jasial. Kiwha's son Sidhu is considered to be the ancestor of the Sidhu Jats. Brar was the tenth descendant of Sidhu and is considered to be the ancestor of the Brar Sikhs. The heads of these families are said to have received baptism and initiation into the Khalsa fold from Guru Gobind Singh himself during his stay at Muktsar and areas in the vicinity.
The Bhatis of Jaisalmer also claim descent from Raja Salivahan who refounded Sialkot. Raja Salivahan's sons were: Raja Rasalu & Puran Bhagat.
[edit] Rawal Jaisal
Rawal Jaisal was a descendant of the Yaduvanshi clan and was a Bhati Rajput. Rawal Jaisal founded the city of Jaisalmer in 1156 AD. The new fort that he built was on a hill called Trikuta.
The state of Jaisalmer was positioned right on the route from Afghanistan to Delhi. Taking advantage of this strategic position, the Bhatis levied taxes on the passing carvans. They were said to be great marksmen.
Bhati Rajputs were great camel riders and brave warriors. Their reign spread to the Punjab and beyond, to Afghanistan. In Lahore, a monument exists to this day, which is called the Bhati gate, named so probably because it opens in the direction of the "Sandal Bar", an area ruled by the Bhati Rajputs.
The majority of the inhabitants of Jaisalmer are Yadav Bhatti Rajputs, who take their name from an ancestor named Bhatti, renowned as a warrior when the tribe were located in the Punjab. Shortly after this the clan was driven southwards, and found a refuge in the Indian desert, which was henceforth its home. Deoraj, a famous prince of the Bhatti family, is esteemed the real founder of the Jaisalmer dynasty, and with him the title of rawal commenced. In 1156 Rawal Jaisal, the sixth in succession from Deoraj, founded the fort and city of Jaisalmer, and made it his capital as he moved from his former capital at Lodhruva (which is situated about 15 km to the south-east of Jaisalmer).
In 1294, the Bhattis so enraged the emperor Ala-ud-din Khilji that his army captured and sacked the fort and city of Jaisalmer, so that for some time it was quite deserted. After this there is nothing to record till the time of Rawal Sahal Singh, whose reign marks an epoch in Bhatti history in that he acknowledged the supremacy of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The Jaisalmer princes had now arrived at the height of their power, but from this time till the accession of Rawal Mulraj in 1762 the fortunes of the state rapidly declined, and most of its outlying provinces were lost. In 1818 Mulraj entered into political relations with the British. Maharawal Salivahan, born in 1887, succeeded to the chiefship in 1891.
The Maharajas of Jaisalmer trace their lineage back to Jaitsimha, a ruler of the Bhatti Rajput clan. The major opponents of the Bhatti Rajputs were the powerful Rathor clans of Jodhpur and Bikaner. They used to fight battles for the possession of forts, waterholes or cattle. Jaisalmer was positioned strategically and was a halting point along a traditional trade route traversed by the camel caravans of Indian and Asian merchants. The route linked India to Central Asia , Egypt, Arabia, Persia, Africa and the West.
[edit] Geographical distribution
In India, Bhatis reside mainly in the states of Punjab (India) (where they have traditionally come to be known as Bhattis in Punjabi), Haryana, uttar pradesh and Rajasthan. In Punjab and Haryana, the erstwhile "Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU)" has a large concentration of Bhattis / Bhatis. In Rajasthan, they are found in the Jaisalmer region, the border villages of Bikaner and some tehsils of Jodhpur (Osian and Shergarh) and Udaipur (Mohi). In Uttar Pradesh, they are found in the district of Meerut, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Faridabad and in near by areas. In Pakistan, Bhatti / Bhati Rajputs are found in Jhang, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Hafizabad, Narowal, Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar,Sheikhupura districts of Punjab (Pakistan). In the Prrovince of Sindh now in Pakistan, they are found in the District of Sukkur, Hyderabad, Nawabsha, Thatta, Daddu, Hala, Khairpur, Mirpur khas and Karach.
[edit] Religion
Most Bhati Rajputs are Hindu along with significant Sikh and Muslims populations. The Muslim population of Bhatis is predominantly in Pakistan. District Rawalpindi is known by Rajas (Rajputs) especially Rajput Bhattis the very majority of Rawalpindi is Rajput Bhatti. Please also see Rajabazar in Rawalpindi. Rajabazar is in the city of Rawalpindi but also in Kolkata India and Dhaka in Bangladesh.
[edit] Sub-clans
There are about forty sub branches of the Bhatis. Many Rajput and Jat tribes trace their origin to the Bhati Rajputs. Some of these tribes include Rajputs of the Bajju clan as well as the famed Jats of the Sidhu dynasty (currently ruling Patiala, Brar, Bajwa, Ghuman and Mane clans.
The Bhatias of Northwestern India and Pakistan are also supposed to be descended from the Bhati Rajputs. The present-day Thattai, Shikarpuri and Gujarati Bhatias are said to be descendants of the Rajputs of Raja Jaiswal and Rani Padmini's rein.
[edit] See also
- Rajput
- Rajput Clans
- Sikh Rajput
- Sidhu
- Jat
- Dulla Bhatti
- Jaspal Bhatti
- Bhatinda City, Bala Rao Bhatti inhabited this city in 965, naming it Bhatinda after his caste name. The city also remained the capital of Raja Jaipal.
- Mair Rajputs of Punjab
- Rawal Jaisal
- Mers
- Manes (Tribe)
[edit] References
- Thakur Deshraj: Jat Itihas (Hindi), Maharaja Suraj Mal Smarak Shiksha Sansthan, Delhi, 1934.
- Ram Swaroop Joon: History of Jats, India
