The Amazing Khatris of Punjab

DM, I think third Sikh Guru was Trehan. I believe Trehans are also Khatris...my rommate in pre-engineering was a Trehan from amritsar...a med student.

i forgot to add, a good article. i would love to see articles on other folks like mathurs, aggarwals, kayasthas, palghat brahmins, bishnois etc. india has done something right in maintaining this bio-diversity.

#20, kaurasach
``Most of the prejudice against Khatris comes from ``jats`` - who till sikhism came around, were one step above shudras - in servitude of Rajputs and Brahmins. That is why Brahmin is despised and not respected in Punjab. Only yesterday, Jats at the local gurudwara were fighting amongst themselves over who is the ``better`` or ``pure`` jat. Recent Jat nonsense and fake arrogance is against the teachings of sikhism. That is why they have abandoned the code while the khatris have maintained the traditions.``

Yes, this Jat arrogance regarding superioty of Jats etc is a recent trend seen mostly in young males. Jats do make fun of bhapes etc just as bhapes make fun of jats calling them paindu, uncouth etc.

The contribution of the Jats to the Sikh faith cannot be doubted and I qoute Khuswant Singh, ``After Guru Gobind Singh`s death, Sikh peasantry rose in arms under Banda Bahadur. Then Jats in the Sikh misls [armed groups] fought all through the 18th century to establish Khalsa raj [rule]. Out of the 12 Sikh misls, 9 were headed by Jat chiefs. In this struggle, they made tremendous sacrifices. If one generation was wiped out, the next generation took up arms. Finally, they emerged victorious at the end of the century. ``

yeah what about Bishnois? Is it the Bishnois villagers that used to have a spare hatta-katta guy left behind in the village to please womenfolk while rest of the men go to farm for work?

Dullabhati,
Jats prefer to marry Jats mainly, but I know many Jats who have inter-married. My brother a Jat sikh is married to a Tamil girl and my sister is married to an Anglo Indian. Maybe their having lived in Mumbai contributed to this. Infact we tease our younger sister who is not married to marry a Muslim and we will be a true Indian family. There is a lot of prejudice towards marrying Muslims and I think it can be traced back to the rivalry between the Sikh gurus and Mughals and later between Sikhs and Muslims. The iorny is that there are many jats who are Muslims.

Khatris are known in Pakistan as people who `lend money` for high intrest in return just like Benyas and Phatans does and in Pakistani Punjab and are one of the most hated community.

#68,
The Bishnois had this trend. they wanted to have good warriors, so a well built , strong man was chosen by the village to be the first to have sexual relations with a newly married girl. It happened during the first time only.

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Re: # 35 arjun_m: Are you craving for Irani juices again?

jang: ``india has done something right in maintaining this bio-diversity. ``

great spin!! casteism = biodiversity!! you outdo yourself in spin bowling, my friend, even for an indian. :-)

#70 come to think of it, i remember hearing something that sounded like ``khatri`` once, something like this:

kalla khatri khatan giyaa
tay kat kay liyaNday
...

(something like this - would be obliged if someone can provide the actual verse).

Chowk Staff : Will you please introduce Mr. Behram1 to Chowk UP and remove his provocative posts 72 and 73 about Mr. Rsridhar and Arjun_m from here?

delhiwalla#45, 47:

```Na Rahega Sikh Na Musalman Ye Hai Hindustan``

DW, I never heard that slogan (I was there) nor did I hear that slogan attributed to sikhs, which was ``dhoti, topi, jamna paar``. I think that these type of slogans were attributed to the opposite camps by both sides to provoke hatred among their followers for the other side. We Indians, Punjabis in particular, are extremely credulous people who are willing to give credence to all kinds of rumours.

``Then whose Punjabis refugees who had settled in Haryana/H.P openely started advocating Hindi as their mother Tongue.``

Most Punjabi Hindus, even those who were in the area which is now Punjab, joined the chorus of ``hamari maatar baasha hindi hai``.

``I have also heard many a times that Sikhs in the Army, who ver about 25% at that time felt that if they did not drink alcohol, or cut their beards would be pushed down as non Officer Like in their A.C.Rs.``

I have never heard this before. May be someone connected with the army can confirm or deny this. This could not have been strictly enforced as the current chief of the army is ``Saabat soorat dastaar sira``.

Bhallas and Behals are separate names, both are khatris.

Yes, Guru Amar Dass ji was a Bhalla.

Kheras are either khatris or aroras, I am not sure.

Mohar11#52:

This is a semi-academic exercise in social studies, as the article title says. So, take it in that spirit. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong in having an identity, as long as one does not get bigotted about it.

Pardesi Sahib: Dayanand`s Arya Samaj can be considered to cayse a divide between Hindu V/s Muslim (Shudhi movement), HIndu V/S Sikh (Idol worship in Gurudwaras) and even Hindu V/s Hindu.

DM Sahib: Yes Dutt can be a middle name but a very small group belongs to Mohyal Brahmins, originally from Afghanistan. Some famous people are Sunil Dutt, Lara Dutt and of course our very own Mannyd. Two brothers, who went with Teg Bahadur to petition Mr. Zeb about religious freedom belonged to the same group. One of them was wrapped in cotton and burnt alive and the other sawed in two slowly for three days. Of course their Guru was quite helpless in saving them.

Jang, Dulla Bhatti, Aman: This is the first time I am hearing of Bishnois. Strange!

Mohar11: Good point about moving on. The caste talk is from `day before yesterday`. Yestreday when I was growing up in Punjab, I never had the time or inclination to hear about this talk. It is all of historical interest now. By the way Taneja, Kukreja etc. belong to the Jhang area of Pakistan, never heard of them in E. Punjab.

What does OBC stand for by the way?

This is an interesting article.

Urstruly asked at # 19:

``I wonder what Indian Army calls its manequins?``

Keeping in mind Dost Mittar jee`s concerns at # 51 and the histrionics of our Indian friends from all spheres of life, my guess would be ``Zihadi``.

;-)

Very surprisingly, one of my school teacher in the NWFP was a Khatri, but he was Sindhi from Sukker area. Could he be a Punjabi settler in the Sindh? I think not, because he used to take lot of pride in being a Sindhi.