Bhatiara
This article is an extract from
THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL. Ethnographic Glossary. Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press. 1891. . |
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Bhatiara
Probably from Mdt, ' boiled rice,' a class of Maho-medans who keep inns or eating-houses and also sell tobacco. Their female relatives are often of indifferent character.
Bhatiara
(From People of India/ National Series Volume VIII. Readers who wish to share additional information/ photographs may please send them as messages to the Facebook community, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name.)
Synonyms: Battiyara, Farooqui [Bihar and/or Jharkhand] Subgroups: Bhathiyara, Hariyara, Salimshahi, Shirshahi [W. Crooke] Surnames: Bhattiyara, Farooqui [Bihar and/or Jharkhand) Hussain, Khan, Quadir [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh] Exogamous units/clans: Bahlim, Bhil, Chauhan, Chiryamar, Jalkhati, Madariya, Mukeri, Nanbai, Sadiqi, Shirazi, Sulaimani [W. Crooke]
The Bhatiara is either an eating-house keeper, or an innkeeper; in the former capacity selling bread, eggs, rice, and "kabab," or balls of meat roasted on skewers, and contracting to feed strangers for a certain period, and at a fixed rate, usually three anas (41/2d.) for two meals daily; while in the latter he is a far more important individual. He keeps a Musafir-khanah, (lit, traveller's abode), or Bhatiar-khanah, where travellers are housed and fed. There are no Saraes in Eastern Bengal at the present day, and the Katras, originally built for the accommodation of travellers, have been converted to other uses. These innkeepers feed travellers for three anas a day, and on paying one paisa additional they receive a mat and are allowed to sleep on the ground in a corner of a thatched hut. The bill of fare provided by the Bhatiara is limited to rice, bread, fish, or meat, curried (salan), and a richly-seasoned stew, known as " do-piyaza." These inns are shunned by many because, in case of sudden death, the bodies of travellers are handed over to the police and buried by the Doms. Should the wayfarer, therefore, be poor and friendless, he prefers going to one of the charitable Musafir-khanas, supported by rich Muhammadans, where he will be housed and fed gratis for three days, and in the event of death his body will receive decent burial.
Under native rule the cook of the Sarae was also the porter, being known as Baqqal, a term now applied to a pedlar.
Of late years enterprising Hindus have opened hotels for their countrymen, but the poorer classes are still entertained in the Modi's, or grocer's, shop.
