Wattu - History and Origin

History and Origin

According to traditions, the Wattoo are descended from a Rajah Junhar, a descendant of the famous Raja Salvahan of Sialkot. This Raja Junhar settled in Bhatner, where he had two sons, Jaipal and Rajpal. Jaipal was the ancestor of the Bhattis, while Rajpal was the ancestor of the Wattoo. They are said to have converted to Islam at the hands of the famous Sufi saint Baba Farid of Pakpattan.

Other sources have suggested the conversion to Islam from Hinduism took place in the reign of Firuz Shah Tughluq.

Rajah Khiwa, was the ruler of Haveli Lakha near Sahiwal, was the first of their tribe to become a Muslim. He was succeeded by the famous Wattoo chief, Lakhe Khan. His descendents are known as the Lakhwera Wattoo. They then spread from Sahiwal along the banks of the Sutlej, settling as far east as Sirsa. The Sirsa settlement was started by one Fazildad Rana, who settled in the district in the early 18th Century. The tribe was pastoral at that time, taking their herds of cattle from Fazilka to Okara, and back. The Wattoo chiefs rose against the British in the 1857 War of Independence.

In the 19th Century, almost all their tradition grazing grounds in the valley of the Sutlej were subject to canal colonization by the British authorities.

The Wattoo clan in Bahwalpur has a different tradition of their origin. They claim descent from Wattoo, 8th in descent from Rajah Jaisal, the founder of Jaisalmer. Wattoo left Jaisalmer, and settled along the banks of the Sutlej river, in what is now south Punjab, Pakistan. They then converted to Islam during the reign of Firuz Shah Tughluq, the Sultan of Delhi.