DinahFlo5043561 at 00:21, 26 October 2025

2025-10-26T00:21:01Z

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{{short description|Pejorative for Khatri Sikhs}}
{{Italic title}}{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2018}}

'''Bhapa''' (also spelt as '''Bhappa''' or '''Bhaapa''')<ref name="Mirror 2016">{{cite news |title=The Sardar joke is on you |work=Mumbai Mirror | date=3 January 2016 | url=https://www.mumbaimirror.com/columns/columnists/by-invitation/The-Sardar-joke-is-on-you/articleshow/50422145.cms | access-date=17 May 2016}}</ref> is a term used in [[Punjab region|Punjab]] by the members of the [[Sikh]] community in a pejorative sense<ref>{{cite news |last1=Singh |first1=Pukhraj |title=Bluestar Baby Boomers |url=https://www.newslaundry.com/2014/05/31/bluestar-baby-boomers |access-date=10 January 2020 |work=Newslaundry |date=31 May 2014 |language=en-UK}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The SAD's chances will depend on the polarisation of Hindu votes and the extent to which urban Sikhs (Bhapas) would support a Hindu nominee.|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/patiala/cong-royals-fighting-to-hold-bastion-against-sad-s-juneja/article1-1251933.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425074356/http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/patiala/cong-royals-fighting-to-hold-bastion-against-sad-s-juneja/article1-1251933.aspx|archive-date=25 April 2015|access-date=6 February 2021|first=Vishal |last=Rambani |work=Hindustan Times |date=14 August 2014}}</ref> for Sikhs that migrated from Pakistan after the [[Partition of India]] in 1947. The term originally referred to Khatri Sikh migrant business-orientated families who originated from [[Rawalpindi]] but later evolved to encompass the entire Khatri Sikh community, both local and non-local.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Birinder Pal |title=The Sikh World |date=May 1, 2023 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780429848384 |editor-last=Singh |editor-first=Pashaura |chapter=10. Sikhs in India: Caste in Sikhs |doi=10.4324/9780429455322-13 |quote= |editor-last2=Mandair |editor-first2=Arvind-Pal Singh}}</ref>

== Description ==
During the [[partition of Punjab]] in 1947, many [[Khatri|Khatri Sikh]] business families from [[West Punjab]] migrated to what is today India.<ref name=":0" /> The migrants were especially welcomed by the [[Maharaja of Patiala]], where they settled in [[Patiala]].<ref name=":0" /> The term derives from the local [[Dhanni dialect|Rawalpindi dialect]] of [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ballantyne |first=Tony |title=Textures of the Sikh past : new historical perspectives |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |others=Tony Ballantyne |isbn=978-0-19-568663-0 |location=New Delhi |pages=121 |chapter=(f) Jats and Bhapas |oclc=171617752 |quote=Bhapa is a word from the Pothohari dialect spoken around Rawalpindi ...}}</ref> The slur was adopted from the term ''bhapa'', which was used by the community to refer to both a father and elder brother.<ref name=":0" /> The term came to be used as a pejorative to refer to Khatri Sikhs, essentially to mark them as non-[[Jat Sikh|Jatts]].<ref name=":0" /> The Khatri Sikhs came into conflict with the [[Bania (caste)|Banias]], another trading caste, and the Jatt Sikhs, with there being a notable divide between Jatt and Khatri Sikhs.<ref name=":0" /> The Khatris and Jatts do not intermarry.<ref name=":0" /> Since the late 1960s, many Jatt Sikh youths in India started trimming their beards and wearing the turban with shorn/unshorn hair (Jatt Sikhs in foreign countries also began not wearing turbans), whereas Khatri Sikh youth rarely do this.<ref name=":0" />

According to H. S. Bhatti, it is a popular term used to refer to urbanized [[Khatri|Khatri Sikhs]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Bhatti |first=H. S. |title=Folk Religion: Change and Continuity |publisher=Rawat Publications |year=2000 |isbn=9788170336082 |pages=39}}</ref> Shiv Kumar Batalvi used the term "Bhaapawaad" to denote merchant class exploitation. He critiqued Balwant Gargi's poetry, and said Punjabi is language of common people, not of merchant class to benefit from it and exploit people.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/sirjana-april-june-1977/page/10/mode/2up | title=ਸਿਰਜਣਾ ਅਪ੍ਰੈਲ-ਜੂਨ 1977- Sirjana April-June 1977 | date=26 March 2023 }}</ref>

''Bhapa'' describes Sikhs who migrated to India, especially from the [[Rawalpindi District|Rawalpindi area]], also known as the [[Khukhrain]]'s area, and its neighbouring regions. The Bhapa name at first was only associated with migrated Sikh traders/shopkeepers.<ref name="McLeod">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xajcAwAAQBAJ |title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism |first=W. H. |last=McLeod |authorlink=W. H. McLeod |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2005|isbn=9781442236011 }}</ref>{{pn|date=January 2018}}

Bhapa is a term used in the [[Potohari]] dialect in the Rawalpindi area.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1WsMAQAAMAAJ&q=bhapa+sikh+khatri | title=Textures of the Sikh Past: New Historical Perspectives| isbn=9780195686630| last1=Ballantyne| first1=Tony| year=2007| publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> It was a common term for the elder brother or father and is still often used in that sense. It is somewhat equivalent to ''[[sir]]''. Derived from [[Sanskrit]] ''Bappa'' or ''Vapra'',<ref>Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary</ref> it is a [[Cognate (etymology)|cognate]] to ''Bawa''.<ref>Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Printed at the Govt. Central Press, 1896</ref> The term has occasionally been used as a royal title in some regions of India. The best-known king with the title was [[Bappa Rawal]], the founder of the [[Guhilot]] dynasty.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Ethnic and religious slurs]]
[[Category:Sikh communities]]

Bhapa - Revision history

DinahFlo5043561 at 00:21, 26 October 2025