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{{short description|Proclaimed genealogists and bards in India}}
{{About|two eponymous bardic and genealogist social groups |the surname in the [[Indian subcontinent]]|Bhat}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2022}}

'''Bhāt''' is a "generic term" used to refer to an [[List of oral repositories|oral repository]] or [[bard]] in India. The majority of ''Bhats'' hail from [[Rajasthan]] and worked as [[genealogists]] for their patrons, however, they are viewed as [[mythographers]]. In India, the inception of [[Rajputization]] was followed by the emanation of two groups of bards with a group of them serving the society's influential communities and the other serving the communities with lower ranking in the social hierarchy.
[[File:Bhats (9938415574).jpg|thumb|Bhats in western India ({{circa|1855–62)}}]]

Beginning from the 13th century and till the establishment of [[British Raj|British rule]] in India, the bards serving the elites were at a higher position in the social hierarchy while the bards serving the non-elites were on a lower position with their social status parallelly experiencing directly proportional changes with the changes in the social standing of their patrons and the "quality of their service attachments". From the 16th century, the role of ''Bhats'' became very important in cementing the political legitimacy of the rulers. During the British colonial era in India, the ''Bhats'' were removed from their "positions of authority".

The present social status of the ''Bhats'' of lower castes is viewed as low in the society, and they attempt to Brahminize and [[Sanskritization|Sanskritize]] themselves for improving their social standing. With changing times, they are moving out of villages to capitalize on the new political and economic opportunities.

The genealogical records that the Bhatts produced and maintained are similar to those that have been created and preserved by the [[Purohita|Panda]] priests at [[Tirtha (Hinduism)|Tirthas]], known as ''[[Bahi genealogy registers|Panda Bahis]]''.<ref>Kaur, Madan Jit. “A STUDY OF THE PANDA ‘VAHIS’ AS SOURCE MATERIAL FOR THE HISTORY OF THE SIKH GURUS.” ''Proceedings of the Indian History Congress'', vol. 39, 1978, pp. 431–36. ''JSTOR'', <nowiki>http://www.jstor.org/stable/44139381</nowiki>. Accessed 18 Dec. 2025.</ref>

==Etymology==
Jeffrey G. Snodgrass states that "'Bhat' is a generic term for 'bard', applied to a range of mythographers including those employed by village nobles".<ref name="JGS1">{{cite journal |journal=Culture and Religion |volume=5 |issue=1 |year=2004 |pages=71–104 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |place=UK |title=Hail to the Chief?: The Politics and Poetics of a Rajasthani 'Child Sacrifice' |first=Jeffrey G. |last=Snodgrass |doi=10.1080/0143830042000200364 |s2cid=144663317 |issn=1475-5610 |eissn=1475-5629}}</ref> Anastasia Piliavsky views the words ''Bhat'' and bard as synonymous.{{sfn|Piliavsky|2020|p=146|ps=none|loc=chapter 4: The Perils of Masterless People}} According to Dharam Singh, the word ''Bhat'' belongs to the [[Sanskrit]] lexis and its literal meaning is "bard or [[panegyrist]]". He claims that it is a misbelief that "Bhat is an [[epithet]] for a learned [[Brahmin|Brahman]]".<ref>{{cite journal |journal=The Sikh Courier International |volume=33–37 |year=1993 |pages=21–22 |publisher=Sikh Cultural Society of Great Britain |place=London, UK |title=Bhatras: Ambassadors of Sikh Faith |first=Dharam |last=Singh |issn=0037-511X |oclc=34121403 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xGJRAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Bhatras%3A+Ambassadors+of+Sikh+Faith%22 |quote-page=21 |quote=As for their origin, the academics hold that the term Bhatra is a diminutive of the Sanskrit word bhat which literally means bard or panegyrist. [..] According to another myth prevalent in India, Bhat is an epithet for a learned Brahman.}}</ref>

=== Difference between भाट and भट्ट ===
The terms "भाट" (Bhāt) and "भट्ट" (Bhatt) are often confused because they sound similar and are written closely in Hindi. This confusion can lead to misunderstandings about their meanings and cultural significance, especially as people sometimes use different spellings interchangeably.

# Bhat ([[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]]: भाट ): Traditionally a storyteller or bard, not a Brahmin. Bhats preserve oral traditions and folklore but belong to distinct cultural identities. Some may randomly spell this as "Bhaat" or "Bhat," leading to further confusion.
# Bhatt ([[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]]: भट्ट) : Typically refers to learned individuals, often associated with Brahmin communities. Bhatts are recognized for their expertise in religious texts and rituals. Variations like "Bhatt" or "Bhaṭṭa" may also appear, but they generally point to the same cultural context. Sometimes people also spell Bhatta as Bhat, leading to confusion.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bhatt |first=Saligram |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=It1LePnN2LsC&q=Bhat&pg=PA134 |title=Kashmiri Scholars Contribution to Knowledge and World Peace: Proceedings of National Seminar by Kashmir Education Culture & Science Society (K.E.C.S.S.), New Delhi |date=2008 |publisher=APH Publishing |isbn=978-81-313-0402-0 |language=en}}</ref>

==Occupation and divisions==
According to Anastasia Piliavsky, the beginning of Rajputization gave rise to two groups of bards — "elite" and "lowly". She suggests that the elite bards who worked for the dominating social groups, including the [[Rajputs]], were composed of the genealogist ''Bhats'' and eulogist ''Charans''. She further suggests that the lowly bards, who worked for numerous lower castes, were composed of the ''Bhats'' who worked as genealogists and entertainers for their patrons.{{sfn|Piliavsky|2020|p=147|ps=none|loc=chapter 4: The Perils of Masterless People}}

Piliavsky notes that the bards were in "high demand" among the people who were from diverse social backgrounds (e.g., leatherworkers, hill dwellers, big landowners) and wanted to achieve "upward social mobility" in order to attain the "Rajput status" as they were depend on the bards for their [[Family tree|pedigrees]]' "production and maintenance". According to her, to have the Rajput status, only having freehold over land and being safeguarded by a feudal lord were not enough. She claims that to attain the Rajput status, a person also required "a pedigree, complete with sacred (''[[Puranic|purānic]]'', or "[[Indian epics|epic]]") lineage, divine origins, and a [[patron deity]]".{{sfn|Piliavsky|2020|p=146|ps=none|loc=chapter 4: The Perils of Masterless People}} The social groups which had used the bardic services included the [[Bhils]], [[Gurjars]], [[Jats]], [[Rabari]]s, and Rajputs.{{sfn|Kothiyal|2016|p=219|ps=none|loc=chapter 5: Narratives of Mobility and Mobility of Narratives}}{{sfn|Piliavsky|2020|p=148|ps=none|loc=chapter 4: The Perils of Masterless People}} Piliavsky observes that the "bardic work in itself was not in disrepute" and states,
{{quote|...royal and low-caste bards did identical work: they wrote, performed, and recorded [[panegyrics]] and genealogies (''bansāvalis'' and ''pidāvalis''). [..] Patron and bard, each afforded the other a claim to a clear "origin" — one genealogical, the other patronage-based, but both existentially crucial.{{sfn|Piliavsky|2020|p=148|ps=none|loc=chapter 4: The Perils of Masterless People}}}}

Snodgrass suggests that the ''Bhats'' who have traditionally worked for the Rajput princes as genealogical experts and privileged bards are an eponymous but different community from the ''Bhats'' who works as puppeteers and are also clienteles of the Bambhis.<ref name="AAS">{{cite journal |journal=[[The Journal of Asian Studies]] |volume=67 |number=2 |date=May 2008 |pages=740–742 |publisher=[[Association for Asian Studies]] |place=USA |editor1-first=Kenneth M. |editor1-last=George |editor2-first=Jennifer H. |editor2-last=Munger |editor3-first=Steven P. |editor3-last=Krause |title=Reviewed Work: Casting Kings: Bards and Indian Modernity by Jeffrey G. Snodgrass |first=Jason |last=Freitag |jstor=20203414 |jstor-access=free}}</ref>{{rp|740}} Snodgrass views the "high-status genealogists" of Rajputs and the "poets", "praise-singers" and "story-tellers" bards as "a very different group of people".<ref name="JGS2"/>{{rp|268}} According to Piliavsky, the ''Bhats'' who worked for the Rajputs "were the elite" and the ''Bhats'' who worked for the Bhils and Gurjars "were the riffraff".{{sfn|Piliavsky|2020|p=148|ps=none|loc=chapter 4: The Perils of Masterless People}}

===Genealogy and political legitimacy===
Some scholars like Anastasia Piliavsky, [[Dirk H. A. Kolff]], and [[Harald Tambs-Lyche]] claims that the bards played a key role in securing political legitimacy of the ruling elites. They suggest,
{{quote|From the [[early medieval period]], and increasingly with the elaboration of the Rajput "great tradition" from the sixteenth century onward, genealogy emerged as the cornerstone of good social standing and political legitimacy in Western and Central India (Kolff 1990: 72, 110). [..] From the sixteenth century onward, "every royal clan depended on a line of bards for its recognition" (Tambs-Lyche 1997: 61), and by the mid-seventeenth, when the Rajput model became entrenched as the benchmark of social status and political legitimacy, "genealogical orthodoxy" was firmly established as an essential aspect of respectable standing (Kolff 1990: 73).{{sfn|Piliavsky|2020|p=146|ps=none|loc=chapter 4: The Perils of Masterless People}}}}

Snodgrass notes that the genealogies of Rajputs were intentionally linked to the ancient [[Kshatriyas]] who are spoken of in the ancient [[Sanskrit]] writings, and several times, their genealogies were imaginarily connected even to the sun and moon which aided in instating the "Rajput and thus Hindu glory". The Rajput status was augmented by the claims of Kshatriya ancestry of the Rajput community's members, and according to Snodgrass, that might have assisted in the legitimization of their dominion in the society. He is of the view that the claims of descent from the ancient Kshatriyas by the Rajputs helped them in advancing their [[princely state|feudatory state]]s' interests in the British Raj.{{sfn|Snodgrass|2006|p=57|ps=none|loc=chapter 2: Cast of Characters: Setting the Rajasthani Stage}}

In Rajasthan's feudatory states, the ''Bhats'', ''Charans'' and "[[Jain monks]] of the monastic lineage" played an important part in the royal affairs which included enthronement and legitimation. Hira Singh notes that these three groups and [[Brahmins]] competed with each other in proffering "alternative narratives of major historical events relating to the kings and kingdoms". According to Hira Singh, the enthronement and legitimation in the feudatory states of Rajasthan were directed by the "political, economic, and administrative contingencies" and were not "rooted in religion". [[Ramya Sreenivasan]] claims that the ''Bhats'', ''Charans'' and Jain monks imitated the Rajputs' lifestyle and used to view themselves in the same class as the Rajputs, not Brahmins.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Oxford Handbook of Max Weber |series=Oxford Handbooks |editor1-first=Edith |editor1-last=Hanke |editor2-first=Lawrence A. |editor2-last=Scaff |editor3-first=Sam |editor3-last=Whimster |article=Class, Caste, and Social Stratification in India: Weberian Legecy — The Problem of Legitimation |year=2020 |orig-year=First published 2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |place=New York, USA |isbn=978-0190679545 |lccn=2019952443 |oclc=1145076376 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=isHADwAAQBAJ&pg=PA404 |quote-page=404 |quote=In the princely states of Rajasthan the Jain monks of the monastic lineage, in addition to the Charans and the Bhats, had a prominent role in royal affairs including coronation and legitimation. The Brahmans, Jain monks, Charans, and Bhats competed in providing alternative narratives of major historical events relating to the kings and kingdoms. What is interesting is that the Jain monks, Charans, and Bhats did not identify with the Brahmans. Rather, they identified with and emulated, by and large, the lifestyle of the Rajputs, the dominant caste.<sup>36</sup> Legitimation and coronation were not sacred, rooted in religion, but dictated by political, economic, and administrative contingencies: they were profane.}}</ref>

===Skillfulness and functions in society===
Snodgrass notes that the bards could upgrade or degrade the reputation and honor of a king by their talented poetry and storytelling. According to Snodgrass, the ''Bhats'' cast kings like a sculptor sculpts a sculpture and "in the process, kings obtained their royal "caste" — that is, their name and social identity as well as their status, ranking, and position in society". During his [[field research]] in Rajasthan, Snodgrass was told by some ''Bhats'' that "bards had the power to make, or unmake, kings".{{sfn|Snodgrass|2006|p=34|ps=none|loc=chapter 1: Caste Fictions}} Snodgrass claims,

{{quote|...Bhats understand, and indeed cleverly manipulate, the idea that modern caste identity can be diversely constructed or invented against the foil of tradition as imagined by elites as diverse as foreign tourists and Indian bureaucrats staging folklore festivals. Indeed, Bhats suggest that this skill was the very basis of bardic power — to imagine the names, reputations, and very identities of their lords and thus to "cast" and "caste" them in some important respect.{{sfn|Snodgrass|2006|p=34|ps=none|loc=chapter 1: Caste Fictions}}}}

Snodgrass compares the role of the ''Bhats'' and kings in the society with that of the directors and actors in movies.{{sfn|Snodgrass|2006|p=34|ps=none|loc=chapter 1: Caste Fictions}}

==Origin claims and demographics==
During his fieldwork in Rajasthan, Snodgrass observed that the royal ''Bhats'' of Rajasthan typically view themselves as descendants of the Brahmins who "long ago composed Sanskrit verse in praise of kings" and also maintained genealogies of the royals.<ref name="JGS2"/>

Snodgrass suggests that the ''Bhats'', who according to him are eponymous but different people from the elite bards, also hail from Rajasthan.<ref name="AAS" />{{rp|740}} During his fieldwork, Snodgrass observed that the ''Bhats'', who are "a community of low-status entertainers", l the [[Pir (Sufism)|pir]] Mala Nur, a Muslim saint who is also [[venerated]] by them, as the progenitor of their community. He suggests that the majority of their populace originated from Rajasthan's [[Nagaur]] and [[Sikar]]. They live in these 2 districts in thousands of numbers.<ref name="JGS1" /> They are also found in [[Jaipur]] and [[Udaipur]].<ref name="AAS" />{{rp|740}} Some of them have originated from the western desert areas of Rajasthan.<ref name="JGS2" />{{rp|265}} Snodgrass suggests that though these people call themselves ''Bhats'', they "did not traditionally perform for [[nobility]]". He refers to them as the "low-caste ''Bhats''".<ref name="JGS2">{{cite journal |journal=[[The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute]] |volume=10 |number=2 |date=June 2004 |pages=261–285 |publisher=[[Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland]] |place=UK |editor1-first=Susan |editor1-last=Bayly |editor2-first=Geert |editor2-last=De Neve |editor1-link=Susan Bayly |title=The Centre Cannot Hold: Tales of Hierarchy and Poetic Composition from Modern Rajasthan |first=Jeffrey G. |last=Snodgrass |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9655.2004.00189.x |jstor=3804151 |jstor-access=free |issn=1359-0987}}</ref>{{rp|275–276}}

Piliavsky claims that majority of the bards "came from the ranks of the [[vagrants]]".{{sfn|Piliavsky|2020|p=146|ps=none|loc=chapter 4: The Perils of Masterless People}}

==Social status==
The social status of the ''Bhats'' had been dynamic, and it changed in direct proportion with the changes in social status of their patrons. As their patrons moved up in the social hierarchy, their own social status also improved.{{sfn|Piliavsky|2020|p=147|ps=none|loc=chapter 4: The Perils of Masterless People}} Besides the ranking of their patrons in the social hierarchy, the social status of bards was influenced by the "quality of their service attachments". Piliavsky suggests that the bards, whose relationship with their patrons became "more exclusive and durable", attained a higher social status.{{sfn|Piliavsky|2020|p=148|ps=none|loc=chapter 4: The Perils of Masterless People}}

Since the 13th century, the ''Bhats'' who were in the service of royals held "some of the highest social positions" just beneath their patrons, while the ones at the service of communities with lower social standing "remained on the periphery of social life". The ''Bhats'' and ''Charans'' serving the royals were given "permanent tax-free land grants" and an honorable place in the [[royal courts]].{{sfn|Piliavsky|2020|p=147|ps=none|loc=chapter 4: The Perils of Masterless People}} According to Piliavsky, the bards of lower castes landed up at the lower end of social hierarchy as they served "lowly masters" and their "service ties remained intermediate, inchoate".{{sfn|Piliavsky|2020|p=148|ps=none|loc=chapter 4: The Perils of Masterless People}} During the [[British Raj|British colonial era]], the royal ''Bhats'' were removed from the "positions of authority".{{sfn|Piliavsky|2020|p=147|ps=none|loc=chapter 4: The Perils of Masterless People}}

===Bards and Brahmins===
Joanne Punzo Waghorne suggests that the bards and Brahmins carried out different duties. According to Waghorne, the ''Bhats'' "never performed ''[[Puja (Hinduism)|pūjā]]'', chanted prayers nor did they deal with [[Vedic scripture]] or Vedic law". She, however, claims that the role of bards in the [[Court (royal)|courts]] was not less significant than that of the [[pandits]] and priests.<ref>{{cite book |title=Images of Dharma: The Epic World of C. Rajagopalachari |chapter=C. Rajagopalachari: "A Gift for Rationalizing Emotion" |first=Joanne Punzo |last=Waghorne |year=1985 |orig-year=First published 1976 |publisher=Chanakya |place=Delhi, India |isbn=978-8170010043 |lccn=85903072 |oclc=13270026 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9HweAAAAMAAJ&q=%22nor+did+they+deal+with+Vedic+scripture+or+Vedic+law%22 |quote-page=10 |quote=The Charans, Bhat, Kattiyakāran, and [[Bhatraju|Bhațţu Rāzus]] were all "bards" whose function at court appears to have been as important as that of the priests and pandits. [..] The office of the bard in the native courts of India appears to be a sacred role — but "sacred" in a very complex sense. The role was separate from the orthodox duties of the Brahman. Bhats, Charuns, or Kattiyakaran never performed ''pūjā'', chanted prayers nor did they deal with Vedic scripture or Vedic law. In [[Pudukkottai]], as apparently elsewhere, the role of the bard itself, like the Brahmanical function, was divided into several offices.}}</ref> According to [[Denis Vidal]], the bards serving the royals had "equal, or even superior" social status than the Brahmins serving them.{{sfn|Piliavsky|2020|p=147|ps=none|loc=chapter 4: The Perils of Masterless People}} Anima Sharma claims that the social status of ''Bhats'' serving the kings was lower than the Brahmins and Rajputs but higher than the "other lower castes".<ref>{{cite journal |journal=The Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India |volume=52 |number=3 |date=September 2003 |title=Ethnicity in the Context of the Indian Village |first=Anima |last=Sharma |publisher=[[Anthropological Survey of India]] |place=India |issn=2277-436X |oclc=27341900 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gPmBAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Bhats+had+been+traditionally%22 |quote-page=136 |quote=The [[Bhatt|Bhutts]] are Brahmins of a relatively higher status, while the Bhats had been traditionally engaged in keeping the vanshavali, or genealogy, of the kings and sing songs in their praise. Bhats are placed below the Brahmins and Rajputs, but are above the other lower castes in the caste hierarchy.}}</ref>

===Brahminization by low-status ''Bhats''===
Snodgrass notes that some of the lowly ''Bhats'' attempt [[Brahmanization|Brahminization]] of their identity by calling themselves ''[[Bhatt]]s'' ''(short "uh")'' instead of ''Bhats'' ''(long "aah")'', which according to him, is "a Brahmin caste name".<ref>{{harvnb|Snodgrass|2006|p=71|loc=chapter 2: Cast of Characters: Setting the Rajasthani Stage|ps=: "Of note, some of my informants also now refer to themselves by the term "Bhatt" — pronounced with a short "uh" sound rather than with a long "aah" sound as in "Bhat" — which is a Brahmin caste name. This latest example of Bhat puppeteers' attempts to associate themselves with high-status ''[[Jāti|jati]]'' and ''[[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]]'' titles, in this case an example of "Brahminization," is especially common among my informants' relatives inhabiting the Shadipur Depot colony of Delhi.<sup>79</sup>"}}</ref>

===Sanskritization by low-status ''Bhats''===
Giving an example of [[Animal sacrifice in Hinduism|goat sacrifice]] as an offering to [[Bhaironji]] by the lowly ''Bhats'' after the birth of a male child, Snodgrass states that they engage in [[Sanskritization]] of themselves by imitating "dominant Hindu ideals implicit to a kingly tradition of blood sacrifice".<ref name="JGS1"/>

==Present circumstances==
Snodgrass observed that the low-status ''Bhats'' receive monetarily help from the people from Bhambi caste who give food and gifts to them. The Bhambis are perceived as impure and [[Untouchability|untouchables]] by a lot of Hindus because of their profession of making objects from leather which involves coming in touch with the decaying flesh of animals, something that is viewed as polluting by the caste Hindus, and because of their ties to the Bhambis, the ''Bhats'' are also seen with the same perception.<ref name="JGS1"/> He points out that in order to benefit from the "new economic and political opportunities", they are leaving the villages and are casting off their numerous long-term ties with the Bhambhis.{{sfn|Snodgrass|2006|p=34|ps=none|loc=chapter 1: Caste Fictions}}

The tourism in Rajasthan serves as the main source of their income.<ref name="JGS3">{{cite book |title=Raj Rhapsodies: Tourism, Heritage and the Seduction of History |series=New Directions in Tourism Analysis |edition=revised |orig-year=First published 2007 |year=2012 |page=119 |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing|Ashgate]] |place=Hampshire, UK; Vermont, USA |editor1-first=Maxine |editor1-last=Weisgrau |editor2-first=Carol |editor2-last=Henderson |others=Dimitri Ioannides |chapter=Names, but not Homes, of Stones: Tourism Heritage and the Play of Memory in a Bhat Funeral Feast |first=Jeffrey G. |last=Snodgrass |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wtFYik4qxgQC&pg=PA119 |isbn=978-1409487876 |oclc=748881372}}</ref> In the recent times, they have started doing puppetry commingled with stories for the entertainment of tourists in 5-star hotels and during the folklore festivals.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=[[American Ethnologist]] |volume=29 |number=3 |date=August 2002 |pages=602–636 |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |place=USA |editor1-first=Carol J. |editor1-last=Greenhouse |editor2-first=Philip C. |editor2-last=Parnell |editor1-link=Carol J. Greenhouse |title=A Tale of Goddesses, Money, and Other Terribly Wonderful Things: Spirit Possession, Commodity Fetishism, and the Narrative of Capitalism in Rajasthan, India |first=Jeffrey G. |last=Snodgrass |doi=10.1525/ae.2002.29.3.602 |jstor=3805466 |jstor-access=free}}</ref>{{rp|602–603}} In their performances, they "celebrate" struggles of "Hindu warrior" against the "Muslim invaders". Carol Henderson claims that the palace–hotel owners of Rajasthan want to cater exoticism and nostalgia to their guests and Snodgrass says that they serve this purpose of the hotel owners. According to Snodgrass, they were not royal bards but they pose as "the once glorious, though now fallen, bards of royalty" to "exploit the romantic fantasies of tourists and folklore organizers". Snodgrass notes that they have significantly improved their economic condition by capitalizing on the influx of tourists in Rajasthan.<ref name="JGS3"/>

==Bhatra Sikhs==
{{main|Bhatra Sikhs}}

The '''Bhatra Sikhs''' (also known as '''Bhat Sikhs''') are a sub-group within the [[Sikhs]] who originated from the bards of the time of [[Guru Nanak]].<ref>{{cite web |website=[[BBC]] [[General Certificate of Secondary Education|GCSE]] [[Eduqas]] |title=Practices in Sikhism |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zm848mn/revision/3 |access-date=21 February 2021}}</ref> According to [[William Hewat McLeod]], the Bhatra Sikhs have an "extremely small" population and they are from some villages of the [[Gurdaspur district|Gurdaspur]] and [[Sialkot District|Sialkot]] districts of the
[[Punjab region]].
However they seem to be different from Rajasthan bhat(भाट) community and originally [[Brahmin]] Bhatt by caste who does the work of bards in Sikh Gurus court.<ref name="WHM">{{cite book |title=Sikhism |edition=illustrated |first=William Hewat |last=McLeod |year=1997 |page=258 |publisher=[[Penguin Books|Penguin]] |place=London, UK |isbn=978-0140252606 |oclc=38452341 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH_XAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Bhatras%22+%22Sialkot+and+Gurdaspur%22}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Barot (caste)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book |title=Nobody's People: Hierarchy as Hope in a Society of Thieves |series=South Asia in Motion |year=2020 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |place=California, USA |first=Anastasia |last=Piliavsky |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=atQBEAAAQBAJ |isbn=978-1503614215 |lccn=2020025601 |oclc=1182020277 }}
*{{cite book |title=Nomadic Narratives: A History of Mobility and Identity in the Great Indian Desert |edition=illustrated, reprint |year=2016 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |place=Delhi, India |first=Tanuja |last=Kothiyal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=be-7CwAAQBAJ |isbn=978-1107080317 |lccn=2015014741 |oclc=1003137945 }}
*{{cite book |title=Casting Kings: Bards and Indian Modernity |year=2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |place=New York, USA |first=Jeffrey G. |last=Snodgrass |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uP8r9JAs7xkC |isbn=978-0198041405 |oclc=62281867 }}

{{authority control}}{{Social groups of Rajasthan}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhats}}

[[Category:Poets from Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Indian storytellers]]
[[Category:Indian genealogists]]
[[Category:Mythographers]]
[[Category:Social groups of Rajasthan]]

Bhāts - Revision history

Vineettandon at 05:45, 18 December 2025