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Bhatia caste

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Bhatia
ReligionsHinduism, Islam and Sikhism
Populated statesPunjab, Gujarat, Sindh
SubdivisionsKutchi, Halai, Kanthi, Navgam, Pachisgaam, Thathai

Bhatia is a group of people and a caste found in Punjab, Sindh and Gujarat. Traditionally, they have been a trading and merchant community. The Bhatias primarily live in Northwestern India and Pakistan.[1]The Bhatias, Lohanas and Khatris were similar communities and were known to intermarry. The Bhatias recruit Saraswat Brahmins as priests.[2]

History

Bhatia men in western India (c. 1855-1862)
Bhatia women in western India (c. 1855-1862)

The Bhatias are a mercantile community - traditionally they were merchants and traders.[3][4][5][6][7]The Bhatias primarily live in Northwestern India and Pakistan.[8][9]According to B.N. Puri, Bhatias are a part of the Khatri community but them along with Aroras and Soods maintained a distinct identity.[10]

Before their traditional occupation of traders, both the Lohanas and Bhatia were involved in the profession of Agriculture. Historian Goswami states that their ritual position was "ambiguous", and, "they were considered neither a high nor a low caste". She further adds that as per the British Raj era Major general Alexander Cunningham, the word "Bhatia" is derived from the word "Bhat" meaning a warrior. The Bhatias claim that they are of Rajput origin. [9]

According to Late Sir Denzil Ibbetson who gathered much information on martial castes of punjab, Bhatias are a class of rajputs, originally coming from Bhatner, Jaiselmer and the Rajputana desert, who have taken to commercial pursuits.[11].

The geographical origins of the Bhatia caste are uncertain. A more recent study by André Wink traces a 12th-century connection between the Bhatias of Jaisalmer and the Caulukyas of Gujarat, while Anthony O'Brien almost-contemporaneous attempt to discover their homeland caused him to place them around Sindh from the 7th century. Wink, who is a professor with interests in medieval and early modern Indian history, records that many of the community in Sindh converted to Islam during the reign of Firoz Shah Tughluq.[12]

The Bhatias, who had been associated in particular with the Multan area in Sindh, were historically merchants and they probably formed part of the earliest Indian diaspora found in Central Asia, together with the Bhora and the Lohana communities.[a] Their emergence as a significant merchant group pre-dates the 17th century and certainly by the time that India became subject to colonial rule, the Bhatias and the other two early diaspora communities had established trade and moneylending networks that, according to Scott Levi, who specialises in the history of Central Asia, "... extended across Afghanistan, Central Asia, and eventually reached even beyond the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa to the Caribbean islands in the west, and to Southeast Asia and China in the east."[14]

Sub-groups

Among the Bhatias, there are different sub-castes, such as Jakhar, Kutchi, Veha, Halai, Kanthi, Pavrai, Navgam, Pachisgaam, Thattai and Punjabi. Bhatias from Kutch are Kutchi Bhatias, those from around Jamnagar district are known as Halai Bhatia, those from Sindh in present-day Pakistan are known as Sindhi Bhatias and those from Punjab in present-day India and Pakistan are known as Punjabi Bhatias. A large number of Punjabi Bhatias settled in Pakistani Punjab in 1947.[15]

Some of the major groups derived from the principal professions they follow or the crafts they practice.[16]


References

Informational notes

  1. ^ Claude Markovits, whose studies encompass commercial networks in colonial India, says that the Lohana term referred to all merchant communities of Sindh other than the Bhatias and the Khatris.[12] Mark-Anthony Falzon considers all Sindhi Hindu communities to be jatis of the Lohana caste, with the exception of Brahmins and Bhatias.[13]

Citations

  1. ^ Tribalism in India, pp 160, By Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, Edition: illustrated, Published by Vikas, 1978, Original from the University of Michigan.
  2. ^ Schaflechner, Jürgen (2018). Hinglaj Devi: Identity, Change, and Solidification at a Hindu Temple in Pakistan. Oxford University Press. pp. 71–75. ISBN 978-0-19-085052-4.
  3. ^ David S. Landes; Joel Mokyr; William J. Baumol (31 January 2010). The Invention of Enterprise: Entrepreneurship from Ancient Mesopotamia to Modern Times. Princeton University Press. pp. 463–. ISBN 978-0-691-14370-5.
  4. ^ A.M. Shah (6 December 2012). The Structure of Indian Society: Then and Now. Routledge. pp. 175–. ISBN 978-1-136-19771-0.
  5. ^ Claude Markovits (1 February 2004). A History of Modern India, 1480-1950. Anthem Press. pp. 565–. ISBN 978-1-84331-004-4.
  6. ^ Claude Markovits (22 June 2000). The Global World of Indian Merchants, 1750–1947: Traders of Sind from Bukhara to Panama. Cambridge University Press. pp. 38–. ISBN 978-1-139-43127-9.
  7. ^ Scott Levi (15 January 2016). Caravans: Punjabi Khatri Merchants on the Silk Road. Penguin UK. ISBN 9789351189169.
  8. ^ Tribalism in India, pp 160, By Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, Edition: illustrated, Published by Vikas, 1978, Original from the University of Michigan.
  9. ^ a b Chhaya Goswami (18 February 2016). Globalization before Its Time: The Gujarati Merchants from Kachchh. Penguin UK. ISBN 9789385890703.
  10. ^ Puri, Baij Nath (1988). The Khatris, a Socio-cultural Study. M.N. Publishers and Distributors. p. 150.
  11. ^ Ibbetson D.C.J., Reports on the Census of the Punjab taken on 17th February, 1881, Vol.I, p. 297; Crooke W.(ed) The Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Vol. II, pp. 37-38
  12. ^ a b Levi, Scott (2007). "Multanis and Shikarpuris: Indian Diasporas in Historical Perspective". In Oonk, Gijsberk (ed.). Global Indian Diasporas: Exploring Trajectories of Migration and Theory. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-90-5356-035-8. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  13. ^ Falzon, Mark-Anthony (2004). Cosmopolitan Connections: The Sindhi Diaspora, 1860-2000. Brill. pp. 32–34. ISBN 978-90-0414-008-0. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  14. ^ Levi, Scott (2007). "Multanis and Shikarpuris: Indian Diasporas in Historical Perspective". In Oonk, Gijsberk (ed.). Global Indian Diasporas: Exploring Trajectories of Migration and Theory. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 44–46. ISBN 978-90-5356-035-8. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  15. ^ People of India: Gujarat Part 1, pp 201, 899, By Kumar Suresh Singh, Rajendra Behari Lal, Published by Popular Prakashan, 2003
  16. ^ The Sikhs in History, pp 92, By Sangat Singh, Edition: 2, Published by S. Singh, 1995, Original from the University of Michigan

Further reading

  • Markovits, Claude (2000). The Global World of Indian Merchants, 1750 - 1947: Traders of Sind from Bukhara to Panama. Cambridge Studies in Indian History and Society (Book 6). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • O'Brien, Anthony (1996). The Ancient Chronology of Thar: the Bhattika, Laukika and Sindh Eras. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
  • Wink, André (1997). Al-Hind - The Making of the Indo-Islamic World: The Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquest, 11th - 13th Centuries. Vol. 2. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

See also

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