Bhat, Panjab castes
This article is an extract from PANJAB CASTES SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I. Being a reprint of the chapter on Lahore: Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, 1916. Indpaedia is an archive. It neither agrees nor disagrees |
The Bhat
Caste No. 62
The Bhat or Bhat as he is often called in the Panjab is, like the Mirasi, a bard and genealogist, or as some people call him panegyrist. But he is a bard of a very superior sort, and far removed above the level of the Mirasi. He is par excellence genealogist of the Rajputs and Brahmans, though he performs the same office for some Jat tribes ; he is himself of admitted Brahman origin ; and he is found in largest numbers in the eastern and sub-montane districts where Hindu Rajputs form the largest proportion of the population. The Hill State of Nahan indeed returns Bhats as forming 11 4 per cent, of its total population, but this seems hardly possible, though the entry in the original table is clear enough.
I have included under the head of Bhat the following entries— Charan, 13 in the Hissar division; Madho, 217 in the Ambala division; Jaga, 13 in the Jalandhar division ; Rai, 202 in the Rawalpindi, Multan, and Peshawar divisions. Rai is a mere honorific title for a Bhat. The other three entries are names of great Bhat tribes ; and it appears that while the jaga or Bhat proper is the genealogist and historian, the Charan and Birm Bhats are bards and heralds and compose verses in honour of the ancestors of great men — so at least say Sherring and Elliott, both of whom give a good deal of information concerning the caste. The Jaga or Bhat genealogist, to which class the great mass of our Bhats belong, is a hereditary servant, each local clan having its own Bhat who pays them periodical visits, writes up its genealogies to date, and receives his fees. At great weddings he attends and recites the history and praises of ancestors, and the genealogy of the bridegroom. But as he often lives too far off to be summoned to ordinary weddings, a Mirasi or Dum is often retaiued in addition, who takes the place of the Bhat on such occa sions. The status of the Bhat is high ; and in Rajputana they are said to possess great influence. The Bhat is almost always Hindu, even where his clients have become Mahomedans.
A few are Sikhs, and still fewer Musalman ; and it is doubtful whether these last are not really Mirasis. There are said to be Musalman bhats in Sialkot who have migrated from the Jhang uplands and are much addicted to thieving ; but I much doubt whether they belong to the Bhat caste. I have said that the Bhats are of undoubted Brahman origin, and this is true of the Jaga and Charan, who are ordinarily called Bhats. Whether it is true of the Madho Bhats also I am not so certain. The Madhos would appear to be named after Madho, the founder of the Madhavi sect of minstrel mendicants ; and the Bhatra, who however claims Brahman origin, is called Madho in Rawalpindi. Besides the 217 persons mentioned above who returned their caste as Madho, a very considerable number of those who have given their caste as Bhats show Madho as their tribe.
