Bhatra - Introduction To The Bhat Sikhs

Introduction To The Bhat Sikhs

Bhat tradition and Sikh text states their ancestors came from Punjab, where the Raja Shivnabh and his kingdom became the original 16th century followers of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. The Raja's grandson Baba Changa earned the title ‘Bhat Rai’ - the ‘Raja of Poets, and then settled himself and his followers all over India as missionaries where many Sikhs and general Indians became Bhat Sikhs. They also contributed 123 compositions in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. The Bhat people are not considered as a caste in the typical sense but a group within Sikhism created by Guru Nanak which is not shackled by the caste system, a sangat whose members are from all areas of the Sikh caste spectrum. today modern bhat sikhs are commonly known to have a huge amount of wealth which they hugely donate to various gudwaras.

In the 17th century some religious Bhat went to fight as "warrior-saints" against Mughal persecution in the Khalsa campaign inspired by Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Since many Bhat lived as travelling missionaries, their mobility led them to depend on occupations which did not require a settled life.

By the 19th century Bhat was the name of a caste or jati within the Indian tradition of social classes, each with its own occupation. Even though Sikhism itself does not support separation by caste, the social system meant that the Bhat followed a hereditary profession of itinerant salesman, while some also foretold the future, if they were considered to have clairvoyant ability. They have been praised for business acumen, described as people with “a spirit of enterprise”. They were a small group: so small that even in the Punjab many people did not know of them. Though some lived in Lahore, many Bhat can trace their roots to villages around Sialkot and Gurdaspur Districts.