Who are
Batwals
Swami Vivekanandain his book“distortion to history”has pointed out more
than a century ago as under :-
"The histories of our country
written by English [and other Western]
writers cannot but be weakening to our minds, for they talk
only of our
downfall. How can foreigners, who understand very little of
our
manners and customs, or religion and philosophy, write
faithful and
unbiased histories of India? Naturally, many false notions and
wrong
inferences have found their way into them.
"Nevertheless they have shown us
how to proceed making researches
into our ancient history. Now it is for us to strike out an
independent
path of historical research for ourselves, to study the
Vedas and the
Puranas, and the ancient annals of India, and from them
make it your
life'ssadhana to write accurate and soul-inspiring history
of the land. It
is
for Indians to write Indian history."
Unfortunately
nothing concrete is available in black
and white especially when I was studying about the kuldevtas and kuldevis of
different clans of the biradhari.Even those individuals who are constantly in
touch as the sewadars of the devtas when contacted they were unable to tell
anything about their kuldevtasinspite of the fact that they were the hero of
their time but we have forgotten them at all and either we know nothing about
them or know a very little which also different from area to area.
According to DR Ambedkar, in Indian Caste System,The unit of
Hindu society is not the sub-caste but the family founded on the rule of
exogamy. In this sense the Hindu family is fundamently a tribal organization
and not a social organization as the sub- caste is.The Hindu family is
primarily guided in the matter of marriage by consideration of Kul and
Gotra and only secondarily by
considerations of caste and sub-caste.Kul and Gotra are Hindu equivalents of
the totem of the primitive Society.This shows that the Hindu Society is still
tribal in its organization with the family at its base observing the rules of
exogamy based on Kul and Gotra.Castes and sub –castes are social organizations
which are superimposed over the tribal organization and the rule of exogamy
enjoined by the vtribal organizations of Kul and Gotras.
Sh Sharma’s contention finds some merit that the Batwals ,the
dark skinned people are the aborigineo of Jammu province.In this connection
please also refer page 9 of Navditta’s book on Myths of hindus and Budhism that
many tribes came under Hinduism “so these tribes might have come under Hinduism
and what time it is not known.Further the history of the Kuldevtas and Kuldevis
of the clans are traced back during 14th 15th and 16th
centuries only and nothing is traceable before that.
During my studies on the subject I
have come across some of the facts about the Batwal community by prominent
historians which I would like to reproduce as under for the information and
reference by the members who are interested to know in this regard.
According to Shiv
CharanSharma , Antiquities, History, Culture and shrines of Jammu 1997),(P/5
and 6
“In ancient times, Jammu
region, like rest of Indian sub continent was inhibited by non-Aryan tribes. The dark skinned people who
seem to have left behind their trans descendants in the low castes of
Domb(doom) and Meghs,Batwals and their akin tribes.
The local traditions also
postulates that the dark skinned Meghs and Batwals were original inhabitants of
this region”
2. According to Sh. H A
Rose,IBBETSON,Maclagan,
Glossary of the tribes and
castes of the Punjab and North West Frontier Provincep/66
Batwals
means a tax collector
3. According
to Dr J Hutchison,
Batwals of Chamba (HP) claim
decend from SidhKaneri,a defied ascetic of whom they know nothing.
4. According to Sh.Gian Chand Sharma in Administrative Systems
of Rajputs P/209,
Batwals is an official who
collects custom duty.
5. According to Sh. K S
Singh,
they are a class of bonded
labourers who have since been liberated in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.He quotes
Ibbetson (1916),as mentioned in his book,that the Barwalas and Batwals are two
words used almost indifferently to express the same thing ,the former being
more commonly used in the lower hills and the latter in the mountain ranges of
Kangra. In Chamba both names are used
synonymously.
The other story is that they were called Batwal because of the fact
that they were bound to the landowning Rajputs as agricultural labourers or
ploughmen as if in a knot (bat).
Another tale recounts that they have become
Batwal (tied down) to the landowning communities from generation to generation
as they were landless bonded labourers.
Yet another of these legends bemoans that
they were Bat Rajputs but have lost their land to others.
They are found in Jammu, Udhampur and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir
and in the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh.
The Batwals living in Punjab trace their
origin from a place called Batbal and it is believed
that the Batwal's community name is a derivative of Batbal.
They are also called Haukara (Hokadena).
The Batwal, Barwala is a community of
watchmen inhabiting the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh. They are
predominantly rural-based. Charnbiali, belonging to the Paharigroup of the Indo-Aryan family of languages, is
spoken among themselves and with other community people.
Traditionally they are linked with the Rajput families, whom they
served as watchmen. Their own community members act as sacred specialists and
officiate at their life-cycle rituals. They perform
an important role in the offering of newala to Lord Shiva.
6 According to Sh.H.A.Rose “A glossaryoftheTribes andCastesofthePunjabandNorth-WestFrontierProvinceByVolII/B"
Batwals,Westward, in and
near Chamba State, the position of the Dagis is held by the Batwals who in the
Kangra hills form a true caste. The term is said to mean "tax
collector," and every one so employed is thus styled, but a true Batwal is
probably a Barwala, a maker of winnowing fans and mats, who was enlisted as a
soldier and in the lower hills the latter term is applied to a man of any low
caste employed as a watchman or messenger, an other name for him being satwag,
"bearer of burdens," or kirauk "convener of men for forced
labour." But as soon as we reach the plains we find the occupational
Barwalas forming a caste though each section of them has its own temple, merely
a mound of earth at which sacrifice is offered in the eldest son's honour.
Although both the castes are Hindus they do not employ Brahmans but Meghs at
weddings. The Batwal tradition is that they are descended from a Raja's
daughter who went astray and was married by a Chuhra, the lowest caste, and
that the name is really Betwal, "son of a daughter," but in Chamba
they claim descent from a deified ascetic.”
The theory of Punjabi people as mentioned
above has merit in it . According to Chapter 4 of trading castes and
communications "Some trading families migrated from Sirhand to mountaineers
region in the Siwalik forthills where they settled in 52 villages. Thus 52 sub
castes of the Suds came into existence after the name of the villages they
settled."
In same analogy the contention of Punjabi people that their
name has been derived from the town Batwal in Nepal
SyadWaris Shah in his book Heer has also
mentioned about this community. The book was compiled in 1180 hijri and now is
1436 as on jan 2015 which means that the this jati was existing before 256
years back also of the same name.
According to DrAmbedkar
the word Bhatta means soldier Pl
refer his articles “casteism in India” and the wal means a clan .thus the
Batwals has been a community which was used to be employed as chokidars and on
the borders of the Jagirdars at that times especially when the English had not formed
the police force. In Punjabi the bat means the borders of a particular area of
a village or villages. The peoples were used to deploy on those borders to
maintain to ensure that no doubtful individual is vising the area and to
collect the chungi or custom where was applicable.
According
to DR Ambedkar, in
Indian Caste System,The unit of Hindu society is not the sub-caste but the
family founded on the rule of exogamy. In this sense the Hindu family is
fundamentally a tribal organization and not a social organization as the sub-
caste is. The Hindu family is primarily guided in the matter of marriage by
consideration of Kul and Gotra and only
secondarily by considerations of caste and sub-caste. Kul and Gotra are Hindu
equivalents of the totem of the primitive Society.This shows that the Hindu
Society is still tribal in its organization with the family at its base
observing the rules of exogamy based on Kul and Gotra. Castes and sub –castes
are social organizations which are superimposed over the tribal organization
and the rule of exogamy enjoined by the tribal organizations of Kul and Gotras.
Sh Sharma’s contention finds some merit that the Batwals , the dark skinned people
are the aborigineo of Jammu province.
Further the history of the Kuldevtas and Kuldevis of
thevarious clans are traced back during 14th 15th and 16th
centuries only and nothing is traceable before that.
In this connection please also refer page 9 of Navditta’s
book on Myths of Hindus and Budhism that many tribes came under Hinduism “so these tribes might
have come under Hinduism and what time it is not known.
Till the time The English had not formed the proper form of
police,the country was divided into small Jagirs and Raj wadas, the borders of
which was were called bat in a local and punjabi language and those people who
were employed these borders were called Batwals who apart from keeping
vigilance also used to collect customs.This reference we find in the history of
Himachal Pardesh and if we visit to the Imperial Gazzette of
India vol 24 page330,Batwals have have been mentioned as chowidars.
Sayad Warish in his poetry
HEER which was compiled during 1180 Hijri has also quoted the name of this
Biradari which means that this biradari was known by this name at that time.
Tc rdvaxzatksa
us ckdk;nk iksyhlh ugha cukb ZFkh rc rd ;gka NksVhtkxhjsa o jktokMs gqvk djrs Fks]
ftudh gnks dksa dks cV dgk tkrkFkk vkSj mu cVksa ij ml txg dh ns[k Hkky djus d fy,
ogka tks yksx j[ks tkr sFksmu dkscVoky dgk tkrkFkkTkks vkus tkus okyk saijfuxjkuh
j[kr sFksvkSj pqaxh cxSjk Hkh ysr sFks A fgekapy dh rkjh[k e sabldk ftdj feyrk gSvkSj
vxj geImperial
Gazzette of India ds 24
Volds page330 dks ns[k sarks mugksaus blcjknjh dks
pkSdhnkj crk;k gS A
l;Sn okj”k“kkg viuk iksbVjh ghj esa bl dksedk
ftdj fd;k g SvkSj ;g fdrkc 1180 fgtjh esa RkS;kj gks xbZ Fkh A bl dk eryc gS fd
;g dkSe 1436-1180 = 256 lky ls igys Hkh blh uke ls tkus tkrs Fks
A
