The Bhatra Sikhs (also known as Bhat Sikhs) are a group within the Sikhs who originated from the bards of the time of Guru Nanak.[1]
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Bhatra Sikhs Hakikat-Rah-Muqaam-Shivnabh-Raje-Ki, description of the meeting of Guru nanak and Raja Shivnabh [p.1248] of an early 18th Century handwritten copy of Bhai Bannu’s Bir, the start of the Sikh Bhat Sangat. |
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Eleanor Nesbitt and William Hewat McLeod suggested that they are a caste.[2][3]
Many academics suggests that the word Bhatra is a diminutive form of the word Bhat which comes from Sanskrit meaning a "bard or panegyrist". Dharam Singh writes that in the Sikh tradition Bhatts are poets with the personal experience and vision of the spirituality of the Sikh Gurus whom they eulogize and celebrate in their verses, he suggests that Bhat is not an epithet for a learned Brahman".[4] However the late Giani Gurdit Singh confirmed that the Bhat bards who contributed to the Guru Granth Sahib were descended from the Brahmins in his book, Bhatt Te Uhnah Di Rachna.[5] They originated from the Gaur (Gaud) or Sarsut (Saraswat) Brahmin lineage and started associating with the Sikh Gurus during the guruship of Guru Arjan.[6][7]
In the book, the Making of Sikh Scripture, Gurinder Singh Mann writes that a large number of the bards who contributed to the Guru Granth Sahib were upper-caste Hindus who came to the Sikh court in the sixteenth century in praise of the Guru and their court.[8][2]
McLeod stated that the Bhatra Sikhs have an "extremely small" population and they are from some villages of the Gurdaspur and Sialkot districts of the Punjab region.[3]
Sikhism
McLeod claimed that the Bhatras of the Gurdaspur and Sialkot districts, traditionally, used to work as "fortune-tellers and hawkers".[3]
Ethne K. Marenco claimed that in Punjab, after their conversion to Sikhism, several castes including the [Sikh] Bhats largely abandoned their "traditional occupation" in favor of other professions, particularly in the "industry, trade and transport" sectors.[9] Jagtar Singh Grewal notes that the "compositions" by some Bhatra Sikhs who were in service of the Sikh Gurus were added in the Guru Granth Sahib.[10]
Migration to the United Kingdom
Between the First and Second World War, the Bhatra Sikhs migrated to Britain. They settled mostly in Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Portsmouth, Southampton and Swansea with small populations of theirs also settling in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester and Nottingham.[11] They also settled in Belfast, Northern Ireland.[2] According to William Owen Cole, the Bhatra Sikhs were among the earliest Sikhs to arrive in Britain and they arrived as pedlars.[12]
Nesbitt states that in the UK, the Bhatra men initially worked as "door-to-door salesmen" and later as shopkeepers and property renters. She suggests that in the recent times, they have started working in diverse fields.[2]
After the end of the Second World War, the Bhatra Sikhs established gurdwaras in the regions where they resided.[12]
Nesbitt, Eleanor (2016) [First published 2005]. "Sikhism Outside India". Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0191062773. OCLC 967264232. From World War I until the 1950s the vast majority of Sikh settlers in Britain were from a much less privileged background, however. In India Bhatras (as their caste was known) were perceived by others as low-status, itinerant fortune-tellers. Many UK Bhatras' families originated from the Sialkot area (now in Pakistan). Pioneering Bhatra Sikhs settled in London, in the seaports of Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Portsmouth, Southampton, and Swansea, and inland in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester, and Nottingham. From working as door-to-door salesmen Bhatra men moved into shopkeeping, letting property, and, in more recent generations, into a wide range of occupations and professions. [..] By the end of the 20th century, moves were afoot to replace the stigmatized name 'Bhatra' with the title 'Bhat'.
McLeod, William Hewat (1997). Sikhism (illustrated ed.). London: Penguin. p. 258. ISBN 978-0140252606. OCLC 38452341. At home in the Punjab the Bhatras were an extremely small caste, limited in origin to a few villages in Sialkot and Gurdaspur districts. In status they verged on the Outcaste. They had, however, one significant advantage, which was that they were by traditional occupation fortune-tellers and hawkers. In other words, they were well fitted to assume the role of pedlars in the British situation. No evidence seems to exist concerning their actual numbers in Britain nor how the first ones actually reached the country, but chain migration was established and in the 1920s and 1930s they were the more conspicuous of the few Sikhs in Britain, going from door to door hawking clothing and spices from suitcases. Most of them lived in small groups situated in ports and in the major industrial cities. Between 1939 and 1945 further immigration effectively ceased, but as soon as the Second World War was over the situation changed dramatically.
Singh, Dharam (1993). "Bhatras: Ambassadors of Sikh Faith". The Sikh Courier International. 33–37. London: Sikh Cultural Society of Great Britain: 21–22. ISSN 0037-511X. OCLC 34121403. As for their origin, the academicians hold that the term Bhatra is a diminutive of the Sanskrit word bhat which literally means bard or panegyrist. They used to recite poetry, lauding the grandeur of the ruler or the gallantry of warrior who happened to be their patron. In the Sikh tradition, Bhatts are poets with the personal experience and vision of the spirituality of the Sikh Gurus whom they eulogize and celebrate in their verses. According to another myth prevalent in India, Bhat is an epithet for a learned Brahman.
Giani Gurdit, Singh (1961). Bhatt Te Uhnah Di Rachna. Punjabi Sahit Academy. ਭੱਟ ਬਾਹਮਣ ਸਨ ਤੇ ਹੁਣ ਭੀ ਉਹ ਬਾਹਮਣ ਹੀ ਸਦਾਉਂਦੇ ਹਨ । ਪਰ ਆਪਣੇ ਵਿਸ਼ੇਸ਼ ਕਰਮ ' ਉਸਤਤ - ਪਾਠ ਕਰਕੇ ਇਹ ਬ੍ਰਾਹਮਣਾਂ ਦੀ ਇੱਕ ਵਖਰੀ ਸ਼ਰੇਣੀ ਬਣ ਗਈ ।
Dilagīra, Harajindara Siṅgha (1997). The Sikh Reference Book. Sikh Educational Trust for Sikh University Centre, Denmark. p. 308. ISBN 978-0-9695964-2-4. Bhatt is a family of bards. Their main professions were writing poetry and recording the genealogy of the prominent families. Bhatts belong to Kaushish sub-group of Gaur Brahmin caste.
Singh, Jagraj (2009). "The Bhatts of the Punjab". A complete guide to Sikhism. Chandigarh, India: Unistar Books. pp. 245–46. ISBN 978-81-7142-754-3. OCLC 319683249. The Bhatts are Brahmins, who sang praises of their patrons (Jajmans) and maintained the registers called Vahees, mentioning accounts of various happenings in different parts of the Punjab including birth and death records of their Jajmans, since ancient times. There are two major subdivisions of Brahmins namely Gaur and Sarsut (Saraswat) Brahmins. The Gaur Brahmins lived on the banks of the river Ganges on the eastern side of the Saraswati River (now Ghagar) in the Ganga-Jamna divide, while the Sarsut Brahmins lived on the western side of the Saraswati river in the Punjab. The Bhatts are a sub-sect of the Sarsut Brahmins. In the pre-modem times they inhabited numerous villages in the Punjab along the banks of Saraswati River in and around Pehowa, in Karnal district. Some of the Bhatts came to Guru's Darbar during the pontificate of Guru Arjan Dev soon after the demise of Guru Ram Dass and their hymns are found recorded in Guru Granth Sahib, under the heading, "Bhattan Dey Sawayye". A Bhatt Vahee related with the events in the ...
Marenco, Ethne K. (1974). The Transformation of Sikh Society. Portland, Oregon: HaPi Press. p. 281. OCLC 1047326. In 1921, as has been pointed out previously, many untouchables were being absorbed into Sikhism and there were reform movements as well. This process continued on to 1931 and we find that there had been considerable conversion to Sikhism among the Chuhras. We are also informed that there had been a great decrease in the traditional occupation for castes like the Chamars, Bhats, Jhinwars and others and that, after agriculture, alternate occupations were preferred in industry, trade and transport.
Grewal, Jagtar Singh (1996). "The Nanak-Panth". Sikh Ideology, Polity, and Social Order. New Delhi: Manohar. p. 28. ISBN 978-8173041150. OCLC 36051569. This fact has sometimes been interpreted in terms of Kabir's influence on Sikhism or even on Guru Nanak. It may be pointed out that though Kabir's verses are the largest in number, he is one among many. The proportion of all their compositions put together remains rather small and they are nowhere included in those parts of the Granth which are used for liturgical purposes. The compositions of some of the bhats who served the Gurus are also included in the Granth. It may be suggested that Guru Arjan's decision to include the compositions of devotional theists in his compilation was an attempt to assimilate that tradition to Sikhism. His decision becomes easily understandable in the light of Guru Nanak's approval of sādhs and sants in general.
Nesbitt, Eleanor (2016) [First published 2011]. "Sikh Diversity in the UK: Contexts and Evolution". In Myrvold, Kristina; Jacobsen, Knut Axel (eds.). Sikhs in Europe: Migration, Identities and Representations. London; New York: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1317055051. OCLC 950004925. So, for example, Bhatra Sikhs settled between World War I and World War II in Britain's ports—Glasgow, London, Liverpool, Cardiff, Swansea, Bristol, Southampton, and Portsmouth—with only a few inland settlements in Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham.
Cole, William Owen (1994). "Sikhs in the United Kingdom". In Gill, Sean; D'Costa, Gavin; King, Ursula (eds.). Religion in Europe: Contemporary Perspectives. Kampen, Overijssel: Pharos. p. 110. ISBN 978-9039005088. OCLC 1120392621. Bhatras, a group ranked very low in the Hindu spectrum of caste (from which Sikhs, Christians and members of other religions derive their status), were among the first Sikhs to come to Britain, as pedlars between the wars. They established gurdwaras in the post-war period wherever they lived, in ports such as Portsmouth, or Manchester, and Cardiff.
- Desh Pradesh, Differentiation and Disjunction among the Sikhs in South Asian Experience in Britain (1994) ed. Roger Ballard
- Roger Ballard, The Growth and Changing Character of the Sikh Presence in Britain in The South Asian Religious Diaspora in Britain, Canada, and the United States (2000), ed. Harold Coward, Raymond Brady Williams, John R Hinnells
- Roger Ballard, Migration, Remittances, Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction: Reflections on the basis of South Asian Experience
- R and C Ballard, The Sikhs: the development of South Asian settlements in Britain in Between Two Cultures ed. JL Watson (1977)
- P Ghuman, Bhattra Sikhs in Cardiff: Family and Kinship Organization. New Community (1980) 8, 3.
- Marie Gillespie, Television, Ethnicity and Cultural Change (Routledge 1995)
- Malory Nye, A Place for Our Gods: The Construction of an Edinburgh Hindu Temple Community (1995)
- Sikh settlers in Britain (includes material on caste and on "Bhattra")
