Bhati

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Bhatti (Hindi: भटटी, Punjabi: ਭੱਟੀ, Urdu: بھٹی) is a Rajput tribe and is one of the largest tribes among Rajputs.

It is also a prominent Gujjar and Jat gotra. They are found in Northern India and Pakistan.

[edit] Rawal Jaisal Singh

Rawal Jaisal Singh was a descendant of the Yaduvanshi clan and was a Bhati Rajput. Rawal Jaisal Singh 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 caravans

Bhatti Rajputs were horse riders and 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 Bhatti Rajputs.

Main article: Jaisalmer

The majority of the inhabitants of Jaisalmer are Bhati 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 Bhati 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 1293, 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 until 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

[edit] India

In India, Bhattis reside mainly in the states of Punjab (India) (where they have traditionally come to be known as Bhattis in Punjabi), and Rajasthan.

In Punjab, several villages have only Bhatias.

The Patiala and East Punjab States Union has a large concentration of Bhatias.

Bhatti Rajputs are in the villages Machhli kalan, Lalru, Jhhanjeri, Cholta, Badali, Rangian, Magra, and Khellan-mallan. They migrated from Jaisalmer in the 12th century.

In Rajasthan, they are found in the Jaisalmer region, the border villages of Bikaner and some tehsils of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Jodhpur and Shergarh and Udaipur (Mohi).

In Uttar Pradesh there are three villages where Bhattis are reside. These are Kakrala in Budaun district, Bhargan in Etah District, and Thiriya in Mainpuri district.

In all these places Bhattis are Muslims, and came there in Emperor Jahangir's time.

The Bhatias residing in the village of Killianwali, tehsil Malout, Muktsar district, have adopted the Sikh religion

[edit] Pakistan

In Pakistan, Bhatti / Bhati Rajputs are found in Jhang, Gujranwala, Lahore, Faisalabad,Jhelum, Chakwal, Sialkot, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Hafizabad, Narowal, Bahawalpur Rawalpindiand Bahawalnagar, Sheikhupura districts of Punjab (Pakistan).

In Sindh Province they are found in the District of Sukkur, Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Thatta, Dadu, Hala, Khairpur, Mirpur Khas, Shahdadpur and Karachi.

[edit] Religion

Most Bhati Rajputs are Hindu along with significant Sikh, Muslim and Christian populations. The Muslim and Christian population of Bhattis is predominantly in Pakistan. District Rawalpindi district is known by Rajas (Rajputs) especially Rajput Bhatis the very majority of Rawalpindi is Rajput Bhati. 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,Sahasi, 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 Jaswal and Rani Padmini's rein.

[edit] Famous Bhattis in history

• Rai Bular Bhatti
• Dulla Bhatti- Famous Warrior
• Ahmed, Abdul Waheed Bhatti - from the land calculated Centre of Earth i.e Pind Dadan Khan, Jhelum, Pakistan organic.aromatic@gmail.com
• Abdul Rasheed Bhatti - X MPA of Punjab Assembly in Pakistan
• Diljeet Singh Bhatti - Young Entrepreneur
• Haider Ali Bhatti- Renowned New York heart surgeon, dental surgeon, and Harvard professor.
• Sadiq Hussain Bhatti - Renowed Technical Expert in Washington DC
• Muhammad Hammad Bhatti - Young Internet Entrepreneur, Pakistan's first Adobe Author

[edit] References

• Thakur Deshraj: Jat Itihas (Hindi), Maharaja Suraj Mal Smarak Shiksha Sansthan, Delhi, 1934.
• Ram Swaroop Joon: History of Jats, India

Usman Bhatti - A big time gangster

[edit] See also

Dhangar

[edit] External links