Rajput: Tribes Satluj - Revision history

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This article is an extract from
PANJAB CASTES
SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I.
2014-04-29T08:39:33Z

Created page with " {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"|<div style="font-size:100%"> This article is an extract from <br/> PANJAB CASTES <br/> SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I. <br..."

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This article is an extract from <br/>

PANJAB CASTES <br/>

SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I. <br/>

Being a reprint of the chapter on <br/>
The Races, Castes and Tribes of <br/>
the People in the Report on the <br/>
Census of the Panjab published <br/>
in ''' 1883 ''' by the late Sir Denzil <br/>
Ibbetson, KCSI <br/>

Lahore : <br/>

Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, <br/>

1916. <br/>
''Indpaedia is an archive. It neither agrees nor disagrees ''<br/>
''with the contents of this article.''
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[[Category:India|R]]
[[Category:Communities|R]]

==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.