Note 45 — Volume II.

Bhatti—(Sanskrit, bhâtta, “lord”).—A Râjput sept. Of the Panjâb branch Mr. Ibbetson45 writes:—“Bhatti, the Panjâb form of the Râjputâna word Bhâti, is the title of the great modern representatives of the ancient Yaduvansi Royal Râjput family, descendants of Krishna, and therefore of Lunar race. Their traditions tell that in very ancient times they were driven across the Indus; but that, returning, they dispossessed the Langah, Joya, and others of the country south of the Lower Sutlej, some seven centuries ago, and founded Jaysalmer. This State they still hold, though their territory has been greatly circumscribed since the advent of the Râthaur; but they still form a large proportion of the Râjput subjects of the Râthaur Râjas of Bikâner. At one time their possessions in those parts included the whole of Sirsa and the adjoining portions of Hissâr and the tract still known as Bhatiyâna. The story current in Hissâr is that Bhatti, the leader under whom the Bhattis recrossed the Indus, had two sons, Dûsal and Jaysal, of whom the latter founded Jaysalmer, while the former settled in Bhatiyâna. From Dûsal sprang the Sidhu and Barâr Jât tribes, while his grandson Rajpâl was the ancestor of the Wattu. According to General Cunningham the Bhattis originally held the Salt Range Tract and Kashmîr, their capital being Gajnipur, or the site of the modern Râwalpindi, but about the second century before Christ they were driven across the Jahlam by the Indo-Scythians, and their leader, the Râja Rasâlu, of Panjâb tradition, founded Siâlkot. The invaders, however, followed them up, and dispersed them and drove them to take refuge in the country south of the Satlaj, though their rule in the Kashmîr valley remained unbroken till 1339 A.D.