Rajput: Tribes Satluj
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. |
Rajput: Tribes Satluj
The Wattu (No. 3)
The Wattu are a Bhatti clan, of whose origin the Hissar story has been given in section 448 above. The Sirsa tradition appears to be that one Raja Junhar, a descendant of the Bhatti Raja Salvahan of Siakot, was settled in Bhatner, where he had two sons Achal and Batcra. From the latter sprang the Sidhu and Barar Jats. The former again had two sons Jaipal and Rajpal, of whom Jaipal was the ancestor of the Bhatti proper, and Rajpl of the Wattu. The Wattu date their conversion to Islam by Baba Farid, from the time of Khrwa who ruled at Haveli in Montgomery, and was succeeded by the famous Wattu Chief Lakhe Khan. They hold both banks of the Satluj in the Sirsa district, and the adjoining parts of Montgromcry and Bahawalpur, from Baggehi 16 miles above Fazilka, to Phulahi 70 miles below it. Above thein he the Docrars, below rbein the Joya. They are said to have crossed from lhe right bank of the river and spread into the then almost nninliab'.ted prairices of Sirsa only same five generations ago, when Fazil Dalel Rana came from Jhang near Havcli and settled the unoccupied riverain.
There is also a small sect ioai of them on the Ravi in the Montgomery district. It is not impossible that some of the Wattu have returned themselves a- Bhatti simply, for some few have returned themselves under both heals. The tribe was formerly almost purely pastoral, and as turbulent and as great marauders as other pastoral tribes of the neighbourhood ; and the habits of the Ravi wat tu, who gave trouble in 857, have hardly changed, But the Satluj Wattu who possess but little jungle have taken very generally to agriculture, and Captain Elphin stone says that some of their estates are well cultivated, their herds have diminished, and many of them cannot now be distirgnished in appearaiice from peaceful Arains or Khokhars.
The change in their habits has indeed been rumarkable, as they still speak with exultation of the Kardars they used to kill during the Sikh rule, and the years in which they paid no revenue because the Sikhs were unable or at; aid to collect it.Mr. Purser describes the Wattu as priding themselves upon their politeness and hospitality. They are of only moderate industry, profuse in expenditure on special occasions, indifferent to education and exceedingly fond of cattle.He classes them however with the Kathia, Kharral, Sial, Tiahra'wal, Hiloch and Joya as essentially robber tribes and more or less addicted to cattle-stealing.This I suspet simply means that these are the domi nant tribes of the tract, who look upon a pastoral as higher than an agricultural life.
The Joya (No. 4) and Mahar — The Joya is one of the 36 royal races of Rajputs, and is des cribed in the ancient chronicles as Lords of the Jangal-des,a tract which comprehended Hariana, Bhaitian, Bhatner, and Nagor. They also held, in common with the Dehia with whom their name IS always coupled, the banks of the Indus and Satluj near their confluerce. Some seven centuries ago they were apparently driven out of the Indus tract and partly subjugated in the Bagar country by the Bhatti; and in the middle of the 16th century they were expelled from the Joya canton of Bikinier by the Rathor rulers for attempting to regain their independence. Tod remarks that the Rajputs carried fire and sword into this country, of which they made a desert. Ever since it has remained desolate, and the very name of Joya is lost, though the vestiges of considerable towns bear testimony to a remote antiquity.The Joya however have not disappeared.
They still hold all the banks of the Satluj from the Wattu border nearly as far down as its confluence with the Indus, though the Bhatti turned them out of Kahror, and they lost their semi-inde pendence when their possessions formed a part of the Bahawalpur States they hold a tract in Bikanor on the bed of the old Ghaggar just below Bhatner, their ancient seat ; and they are found in no inconsiderable numbers on the middle Satluj of Lahore and Firozpur and on the lower Indus of the Derajat and Muzaffargarh, about a third of their whole number being retiirncd as Jat-;. The Multan bar is known to this day as the Joya bar-. General Cunningham says that they are to be found in some numbers in the Salt-range or mountains of Jud, and identifies them with the Jodia or Yodia, the warrior class of India in Baninrs time (450B.C.), and indeed uur figures show some 2,700 Joya in Shalqur. But Paninrs Jodia would perhaps more probably be the modern Gheba, whose original tribal name is said to he Jodra, and Gheba a mere title. The Joya of the Satluj and of Hissar trace their origin from Bhatner, and have a curious tradition current apparently from Hissar to Montgomery, to the effect that they cannot trace their Rajput descent in the main line. The Hissar Joya make themselves descendants in the female line of Sauieja, who accompanied the eponymous ancestor of the Bhatti from Mathra to Bhatner.
The Montgomery Joya have it that a lineal descendant of Benjamin, Joseph's brother, came to Bikaner, married a Raja's daughter, begot their ancestor, and then disappeared as a faqir. The tradition is perhaps suggested by the word joi meaning wife.The Montgomery Joya say that they left Bikaner in the middle of the 14th century and settled in Bahawalpur, where they became alhes of the Laugah dynasty of Multan, but were subjugated by the Daudpotra in the time of Nadir Shah. The Multan Joya say that they went from Bikaner to Sindh and thence to Multan. This is probably due to the fact of their old posses sions on the Indus having died out of the tribal memory, and been replaced by their later holdings in Brkaner. They are described by Captain Elphinstone as of smaller stature than the great Ravi tribes, and considered inferior to them in regard of the qualities in which the latter especially pride themselves, namely bravery and skill in cattle-stealing. They possess large herds of cattle and are bad cultivators.
'the Mahar are a small tribe on the Satluj opposite Fazilka, and are said to be descended from Mahar, a brother of the Joya. Thev are said to be quarrelsome, sillv, thievish, fond of cattle, and to care rtth' for agricultural pursuits.
The Khichi (No. 5) — The Khichi are a Chauhdn clan, and are said to have came originally from Ajmer, the old seat of the Chauhan in power, thence to Dehli, and from Dehli to the Satluj during the Mughal rule This is probably a more tradition of the movement of the Chauhan centre from Ajmerto Dehli. They are found along the lower and middle Satluj, and the Ravi from Multan to Lahore, there are a few of thtm on the Chanab, and there are considerable numbers of them in the Dehli district. In Montgomery they are found chiefly on the Ravi, where they used to be hand-in-glove with the Kharral but mended their ways under the later Sikh rule and are now peaceful husbandmen,
The Dhudhi (No. 6) — I suspect that there in some confusion in these figure-, and that some
of the Dud or Dudhwal Rajput-; of the eastern suh-montane have been included with the Dhudhi of
tho Satluj. The former will be described in their proper place. The latter are a small Punvvar
clan found with their kinsmen tho Ruthor scattered along the Satluj and Chanab. Their original
seat is said to have been in the Mailsi tahsil of Multan, where they are mentioned as early as the
first half of the 14th century. When tho Delhi empire was breaking up they spread along the
rivers. One of them, Haji Sher Muhammnd, was a saint whose shrine in Multan is still
renowned. They are said to be fair agriculturists and respectable members of society.
