बटवाल जाती का इतिहास

The Batwal people of Punjab trace their ancestry to the town of Batmalu in the Kashmir Valley, and the word 'Batwal' in Punjabi literally means "inhabitant of Batmalu." Other traditions place their origins in the town of Batbal in Jammu. According to the community's own tradition, the Batwals were forced to flee their settlements when Alexander the Great invaded India. Once the Greek army retreated, the Batwals found their neighbors had taken over their land, and they were forced to become village watchmen. Like other communities of similar status, the Batwals have been granted Scheduled Caste status, which allows them to benefit from several affirmative action schemes by the Indian government. In the Jammu region, where the Punjab Batwals claim to originate, one tradition refers to the fact that the Batwals were tied to their land by Dogra landowners, and the word 'bat' means bonded in the Dogri language. They were tied to specific Dogra families for generations and were practically serfs. The Batwal people are found primarily in the Kathua, Jammu, and Udhampur districts. The Batwal people are divided into thirteen clans, including the Kaith, Motan, Lakhotra, Dhage, Nandan, Jhanjotra, Lahoria, Sargotra, Targotra, Mandi, Basai, Sandhu, and Linder. Like other neighboring Hindu communities, the Batwals are strictly exogamous, never marrying within the clan. The Basai, a name derived from the Beas River and meaning those who live along that river, and the Kaithi, who were residents of Kainth Gali (in Udhampur). Each of the Batwal clans has its own temple, for example, Umran Ali in Sialkot, Mir in Udhampur, and Pindi Kudoyal in Jammu, Kaith in Langotian and Domana; the Jhanjotra in Zafarwal in Jammu and Ghuhe in Chinna. Motan in Gillianwala of Zafarwal and Deoli in Jammu. Similarly, each clan has its own patron male deity, such as the Kaith have Sankari Dev; the Motan have Sukhdev Singh Manhas; the Lakhotra have Thakur Jai Pal; the Mandi has Jagdish Manhas; the Sargotra has Baba Badgal; and the Jhanjotra has Kalu Chauhan. Each clan also has its own gotra, such as the Kaith have Attar; the Sargotra have Kamandal; the Nandan have Janjua; the Jhanjotra have Kashyap and Motan, and the Targotra and Lakhotra have Bhardwaj. Motan in Gillianwala of Zafarwal and Deoli in Jammu. Once a year, members of each clan hold gatherings at temples, before which they prostrate themselves, and each head of the family sacrifices a goat in honor of his eldest son. Most Batwals in India have been strongly influenced by the Arya Samaj movement, while some have come under the influence of other Hindu reformist sects. Batwals share the customs and traditions of the locally dominant Dogra ethnic group and speak Dogri. The Batwals were historically found in the sub-mountainous region of Punjab, roughly stretching from Gujrat district in the west to Hoshiarpur district in the east. At the time of the partition of India, most Hindu Batwals immigrated to what became Pakistan. Historically, the Batwals had two occupations: Many were allotted land by the British authorities, and this saw a transformation as the Batwals took up agriculture. Important Batwal villages include Bahadurpur, Bhaure, Chaute Miani, Azadpur, Habowal, Kakowal, Machhiawara, Nurewal, Sirhind, Walipu, Batala Camp, Jawahar Nagar, Chuhala, Phinder, Bajiru Chak, Garhi, Shahzadpur, Mulke Chak, Makwal, and Hakkal. These villages are owned by the Batwal community, and they are the dominant community. However, many Batwals have begun migrating to towns and cities where their main occupations are government jobs, transportation, trade, and commerce. A large section of Batwals worship and follow the valuable teachings of Shri Guru Gyangi Ji Maharaj and celebrate his birthday with enthusiasm every year on Magh Purnima in Shahzadpur Kothi (Tehsil Jammu). The Batwal community has also produced a famous Punjabi singer from Punjab, India, known as 'Lal Chand Yamla'. He was the father of Punjabi music and the first singer to lay the foundation of Punjabi music in Indian Punjab. He was widely revered as 'Ustad' among his contemporary singers and as 'Yamla' by his audiences. Since the Batwal community was among the most economically backward, the Government of India ordered the Planning Commission of India to conduct an ethnographic study of them in 1994, which was accordingly carried out by the Census Operation Jammu and Kashmir and its report was personally collected by the Deputy Registrar General, India, New Delhi. Now almost 20 years have passed but no steps have yet been taken by the government to improve the economic situation.