Batwal

The Batwal are a Hindu caste found in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan in India.[1][2] They are also known as Batwal Rajput They are the oldest community of Hindu Rajput with now have separate customs as well as traditions This caste is influenced and/or the part of suryavanshi rajput are an Indo aryan ethno linguistic group who speak the Punjabi Dogri and Hindi language and are native to the Punjab Jammu & Kashmir provine of Pakistan a part of pre - partition British India .

History The community provided the traditional fighters of the Punjab 337 BC. According to the community own tradition, the Batwal were forced to flee their settlements when India was attacked by Alexander the Great. Once the Greek armies retreated, the Batwal found that their neighbours had seized their lands, and they were forced to become village fighters to watchman.

In the Jammu region, from where the Punjab Batwal claim to have originated, there are a number of traditions as their origin. One traditions refer to the fact that the Batwal were tied to the land by the Dogra landowners, and the word Batt in the Dogri language means someone who is bonded. They were for generations bonded to particular families of Dogras, and were practically serfs. The Batwal are found mainly in Kathua, Jammu and Udhampur, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Batala, Amritsar, Jalandhar, chandigarh, Haryana, Dabwali, Kaithal, Mumbai, Surat and Ahmadabad in Gujrat, Kolkata.[2]

Present Circumstances

Like other neighbouring Hindu communities, the Batwal are striucly exogamous, never marrying within the clan. The major clans include the Basae, a name derived from the Beas River and meaning those settled along the banks of that river, and the Chariya, i.e. those who were inhabitants of Shimla.

Most Batwal in India have been strongly influenced by/and part of the Sindhis, while some Batwals have come under the influence of other Hindu reformists.[1] Like the Punjab Batwal, the Jammu Batwal community also consists of clans. Their main clans are the Nakodar and Kasim. The Batwal shares the customs and traditions of the locally dominant Sindhis ethnic group and speak Punjabi, Sindhi and Dogri languages.[2]

References
  1. People of India Punjab Volume XXXVII edited by I.J.S Bansal & Swaran Singh page 82 to 89 Manohar Publications
  2. People of India Jammu and Kashmir Volume XXV edited by K.N Pandita, S.D.S Charak & B.R. Rizvi page 115 to 120 Manohar Publications
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