Bhatra Community

[JSinghnz]

Why cant we all be SIKHS, NOT Jatt Sikhs, NOT Bhatra Sikhs, NOT Ramghariya Sikhs, NOT Majhbi Sikhs, Not Khatri Sikhs.. JUST GURSIKHS...

"If there are issues with Sikhs in the UK Integrating with other Sikhs and being accepted, this is usually to do with the Jat community who dont wish to integrate with other Sikhs. Growing up in London with a big Bhatra community and living alongside a large Ramgharia community we both have got along very well. Infact the main temple that serves our area is very large Ramgharia Gurdwara and Bhats form half the congregation if not more."

I have to take exception to the fact Jats do not integrate with other Sikhs. In my local Ramgharia gurdwara there are plenty of Jats that are part of the Sangat. I have seen many Anand Karaj where one spouse is Jatt or both Jatt at the Ramgharia gurdwara.

Jatts are used as convenient whipping boys by some non Jatts. If anything some non Jatts are more caste conscious than Jatts are.

Do you need a tissue to mend your hurt casteist, backward feelings?

[JSinghnz]

Why cant we all be SIKHS, NOT Jatt Sikhs, NOT Bhatra Sikhs, NOT Ramghariya Sikhs, NOT Majhbi Sikhs, Not Khatri Sikhs.. JUST GURSIKHS...

Because the British did a great job in putting a casteist wedge in the minds of their Sikh slaves which their descendants

till date have been unsuccessful to get rid of.

[JSinghnz]

Cheers geezer for sayin it how it is. I was gonna mention the whole obsession that bhatras have with gold, rings, jewellery and the most hideous of all....the pardaah (veil), but i thought leave it.

Shows your whole obsession with the backward, racist, hindu matt caste system.

Make sure you pass this disease to all you know and say proudly that

" I AM A BACKWARD, CASTE BELEIVER, SO CALLED SIKH."

[JSinghnz]

AND JROUDH , GO GET A LIFE.

ENOUGH OF YOUR CHILDIDH RANTS.

GO AND GIVE YOUR VAST KNOWLEDGE ON A HINDU WEBSITE.

[Ranjeet01]

JSinghz

What I am saying is that Caste consciousness exists in all "castes" not just the Jatt.

The example of what I have provided from my observations is the caste issue is one that is overamplified when the reality the vast majority of the sangat in my opinion do not discriminate between caste when entering a gurdwara.

The only real issue with caste the way I see it are 2 things: marriage in some cases which is changing now with the younger generation and gurdwara committees.

[JRoudh]

This thread is not about caste and I do not believe in any caste system.

Any success we as a community or group have attained is down to the Sikh faith that instills hard work, high moral values and equality for all. We do not place importance on being from a particular community it is more about our faith in Sikhism and the power that the Gurus inspired in us.

If you go to any information pages about Bhat community you will see it clearly says on these websites that caste system is considered blasphemy and completely against the Sikh teachings. These sites are just for information on Sikh migration to UK and history of Sikhs in Punjab. Not to promote caste or anything like that, but actually to bring all Sikhs together regardless of their background as one and correct any misconceptions there might be due to a lack of knowledge on these matters.

The community holds no pride or arrogance, If we are proud, we are proud to be Sikhs only and belong to the collective Sikh Sangat. We do not see Jat/Tharkhan/Khatri ect. We only see them as our fellow Sikhs brothers and sisters and do not hold any stereotypes/grudges against anyone. Which is what some people on this forum sadly seem to be doing. Ie I don’t mind answering questions on the community as long as it is respectfully asked to clarify particular issues or queries that people may have.

We are infact happy when we interact with all Sikhs and are glad when they are successful as any success leads to the benefit if all Sikhs as a whole. Hence we want all Sikh panth to do well and don’t hold any negative views of any Sikh communities irrespective of where they come from. I myself and speaking for the entire community do not judge any Sikhs based on what background they are from. I see the person and nothing else, as ultimately a individual is defined by his actions and not his community background.

I am not saying we are perfect but neither is any community and we all need to work hard to continue improving and become better Sikhs as we all have certain issues that we need to be addressing in our communities. Such as bringing Sikhs youth back to Sikhism who are going astray, and other issues which go against our religion. There are good and bad in every Sikh community. I prefer to concentrate on the good of every community rather then the bad and not label the whole community for the wrong doings of a minority of its people.

Let’s pray for all Sikhs to come together as one and be proud of every Sikh for their unique and greatly valued contribution to Sikhism.

I agree that the caste system is something that was used by the British and other rulers/dictators to divide us, let’s not fall for that in this day and age. At the moment I think we are a going in the right direction as the new generation is mixing more and I hope in time we will only be known as a Sikh and not any caste/ community name as that was the objective of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, to bring us all together as one to live in peace side by side without any caste labels.

WJKK WJKF

[jkvlondon]

Maybe then jroudh Veer ji,

it would be better to tell us of great gursikhs, kirtaniya of your tradition and their contributions to kaum's future as that will help all sikhs to learn of great sikh's jiwans

[JRoudh]

Maybe then jroudh Veer ji,

it would be better to tell us of great gursikhs, kirtaniya of your tradition and their contributions to kaum's future as that will help all sikhs to learn of great sikh's jiwans

Due to the tradition of only having Singh or Kaur in their last name it is difficult to distinguish the many from the community that fought against the Mughals and who made other significant contributions. There are numerous stories of valor and courage of many heroic Bhats fighting against persecution by Mughals. This has unfortunately not been historically recorded in Sikh history due to the them not being a high profile community untill the 19th century India. Before this period it was known that many Bhats followed the warrior Nihang ideology of fighting against persecutors. Due to this they never shied away from the battlefield and always had their weapons at the ready. Although I dont have specific names, the Bhatra clans of Rajput/greek/brahmin ancestry such as Rathore , Roudh, Bhakar were particularly known for their fighting abilities. But due to them being less numerically they did not get the same credit as larger communities because of this. Punjab was divided along caste lines hence people simply did not know of them and Bhats do not like to talk brag or boast as a community as it goes against the teachings of Sikhism. But the Bhats knew very well of the other Sikh communities from the very beginning.

Whilst other Sikh communities may get all the attention and rightly so as they were also brave/courageous ect in the history books, the Bhats will always be the forgotten and unsung heroes of the Khalsa lead campaigns against the Mughals and subsequent British rule.Many brave and well known Hindu warrior clans were absorbed into the Bhatra community.This is one of the reasons why today they are known for their orthdox and conservative beliefs because of having such loyal warriors who make make them up. We must remember the Bhats were amongst the earliest Sikh communities alongside the Khatri's in Punjab to become persecuted for their beliefs and hence this naturally lead them to becoming very religious and orthodox community not willing to surrender or change their beliefs at any costs. Infact the Bhats rather then surrender their beliefs, they were driven by the message of Guru Nanak to spread the message of Sikhism further into thw whole of India and were not willing to convert to Islam under any circumstances. They further engaged in warfare during Guru Gobinds Singhs Ji;s campaigns against the Mughals.

In addition as the earliest Sikh migrants to the UK we were known to fight for alot of Sikh rights such as being allowed to wear Turbans in the workplace. Building the very first Sikh temples in the UK. Many are also the Gianis of the historical Gurdwaras in india.

I could not give any names but there are many in the Kirtaniya background aswell ,particularly from India. If I do find any I will post their names here.

I will post a video of one of my relatives who is also a legend in the community in his own right .

S Roudh wedding...... lol. The community is well known being very good singers in the music industry. This is way back in 2002.

[Mehtab Singh]

Bhakar - This one is the most associated with the Brahmins out of the Bhat Clans. Still perform some [/size]Brahmin rituals just for tradition purposes they are starting to stop this as most Bhats dont agree with them doing it. based in Ambala and Dehli.

Bhats consider themselves to be the true Punjabis and Khalsa as most originated in the Punjab. Particularly Amritsar as this is the Most holy of Sikh places and Bhats were naturally drawn here from the 16th century. There ancestors of course were in the Punjab many centuries before this.

Although I dont have specific names, the Bhatra clans of Rajput/greek/brahmin ancestry such as Rathore , Roudh, Bhakar were particularly known for their fighting abilities. But due to them being less numerically they did not get the same credit as larger communities because of this. Punjab was divided along caste lines hence people simply did not know of them and Bhats do not like to talk brag or boast as a community as it goes against the teachings of Sikhism. But the Bhats knew very well of the other Sikh communities from the very beginning.

Satwant Singh Bhakar (1962-1989) was a Sikh bodyguard to the Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, who on 31 October 1984 assassinated Indira Gandhi at her residence along with another bodyguard, Beant Singh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satwant_Singh

[Mehtab Singh]

Aaarood
Aboee
Athangal
Ark
Amlawat
Aulak
Bagga
Bagri
Baidwan
Bala
Balhara
Balyan
Bance
Barot
Bath/Badh
Bhat
Bhai
Bhagat
Bhaker/Bhakar/Prabhakar
Bhatti
Bhikha
Bana
Bandechha
Bansi
Barham
Barhama
Bath/Badh
Basati
Basra
Basrai
Bharat
Bhari
Bhati / Bhatti / Bhati
Bhukar
Bhana
Chughtai
Chilka
Changa
Das
Daska
Derewal
Dhoni
Dara
Dehr
Dev
Deo
Dhaka
Dhanesar
Dhankhar
Dharan
Digpal
Gami
Gaurrh
Goojra/Gojrah/Gujra
Gola
Gaina
Gandhar
Godara
Gora
Goraya
Jaswal
Jogi
Jajra
Jakhar
Jakhu
Jande
Jhaal
Jhaj
Jhandi
Jhammat
Jhuj
Kang
Khalsa
Khalsi
Kasbia/Kasba
Kaumi
Karwasra
Katewa
Katyal
Kehal
Khagwal
Laanda/Landa
Ladh/Lad
Larr
Lohia
Luddu
Lakanpal
Lakhat
Maun
Mavi
Mehmi
Minocha
Moit
Mohar
Monga
Mundi
Mattu
Neer
Nain
Nanda
Pall
Pardesi
Parhar
Pawar
Phalaswal
Phagura
Phangureh
Phogat
Phoolka
Pilania
Palak
Poonard
Potiwal
Panaich
Panag
Roudh/Rhaud (Descendants of Alexander the Great Army,that invaded India 326 B.C. came from greek island called Rhodes So on that how the name originated)
Rangila
Rathore (a Rajput Warrior Clan mainly from Rajasthan, India.)
Rao
Raina
Rawat
Sabarwal
Sahasi
Sahi
Sandha
Suwali/Swali
Sagar
Sathi
Shad
Sharma/Bhaker
Sheri/Sharee
Taak
Tar
Thariwal
Toda
Thathal
Vaire
Wahiwala


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhatra