Batar

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Batar (बाटड़)/Batan (बाटण)[1] Vatdhan (वाटधान) Watdhan (वाटधान)[2] Vattadhana (वाटधान)[3][4] Batdhan (बाटधान)[5] Vatdhan (वत्धान)[6] is a gotra of Jats[7] found in Punjab and Rajasthan. They are called Batar in Rajasthan. Watar/Batan clan is also found in Afghanistan.[8] Batar Jat clan is also found in Multan.[9] Bateni tribe is mentioned by Pliny (Pliny.vi.18)

Origin

Vatadhana (वाटधान) is an important Mahabharata Tribe from whom descended the present Batar Gotra found in Jats and Brahmins.

Jat Gotras Namesake

Mention by Pliny

Pliny[10] mentions 'Nations situated around the Hyrcanian Sea'....the Derbices also,18 through the middle of whose territory the river Oxus19 runs, after rising in Lake Oxus,20 the Syrmatæ, the Oxydracæ, the Heniochi, the Bateni, the Saraparæ, and the Bactri, whose chief city is Zariaspe, which afterwards received the name of Bactra, from the river21 there. This last nation lies at the back of Mount Paropanisus,22 over against the sources of the river Indus, and is bounded by the river Ochus.23


18 This was a tribe, apparently of Scythian origin, settled in Margiana, on the left bank of the Oxus. Strabo says that they worshipped the earth, and forbore to sacrifice or slay any female; but that they put to death their fellow-creatures as soon as they had passed their seventieth year, it being the privilege of the next of kin to eat the flesh of the deceased person. The aged women, however, they used to strangle, and then consign them to the earth.

19 The modern Jihoun or Amou. It now flows into the Sea of Aral, but the ancients universally speak of it as running into the Caspian; and there are still existing distinct traces of a channel extending in a southwesterly direction from the sea of Aral to the Caspian, by which at least a portion, and probably the whole of the waters of the Oxus found their way. into the Caspian; and not improbably the Sea of Aral itself was connected with the Caspian by this channel.

20 Most probably under this name he means the Sea of Aral.

21 The Bactrus. This river is supposed to be represented by the modern Dakash. Hardouin says that Ptolemy, B. vi. c. 11, calls this river the Zariaspis, or Zariaspes. See the Note at the end of c, 17, p. 30.

22 Now known as the Hindoo-Koosh; a part of the great mountain-chain which runs from west to east through the centre of the southern portion of the highlands of Central Asia, and so divides the part of the continent which slopes down to the Indian Ocean from the great central table-land of Tartary and Thibet. The native term, Hindoo-Koosh, is only a form of the ancient name "Indicus Caucasus," which was sometimes given to this chain. The ancient name was derived probably from the Persian word paru,a "mountain."

23 Flowing from the north side of the Paropanisus. According to Pliny and Ptolemy, this river flowed through Bactria into the Oxus; but according to Strabo, through Iyrcania into the Caspian Sea. Some suppose it to have been only another name for the Oxus. Ansart suggests that it may have been the river now known as the Bash.

History

They sided with the Kauravas in the Great War of Mahabharata. (Mbh. VI.52.4); hailed from Varana near Kurukshetra (Mbh.V.19.31). [11] (See - The Mahabharata Tribes)

This gotra started after republic of the same name during Mahabharata times. Majority of them are now Sikh Jats. [12]This is yet another very ancient clan among the Jats. Although mentioned in the ancient period, their history of the later period is unknown. In the eighteenth century Sikh Jats of this clan founded the state of Rasulpur. [13]

Bhim Singh Dahiya[14] writes that Vatadhana (वाटधान) is an important Jat and Brahmin Mahabharata tribe, mentioned in geography (VI.10.45), who sided with the Kauravas in the Great War (VI.52.4); hailed from Varana near Kurukshetra (V.19.30).

They have been mentioned in Sabha Parva in English in the deeds and triumphs of Nakula, the son of Pandu, during his military campaigns for collecting tribute for Pandava king Yudhisthira's Rajasuya sacrifice, reached the western Dasarna Kingdom. In the western region, Nakula subjugated the Dasarnas, the Sivis, the Trigartas, the Amvashtas, the Malavas, the five tribes of the Karnatas, and those twice born classes that were called the Madhyamakeyas and Vattadhanas.[15]

Villages founded by Batar clan

Villages after Batar

Batan in Afghanistan

H. W. Bellew[16] writes that The fictions of the Afghan genealogists and historians are absurd enough, and their facts wonderfully distorted ; but for the careful enquirer they have their value as guides to a right conclusion. Thus, from the Kais above-mentioned, whose own tribe was originally but an insignificant people as to numbers and power, the Afghan genealogists derive all the Pukhto-speaking peoples of Afghanistan, partly by direct descent, and partly by adoption on account of a similarity of language and social polity.

Kais, they say, married a daughter of that Khalid-bin-Walid who brought his people the first tidings of the Prophet and his doctrine, and by her he had three sons, whom he named respectively, Saraban, Batan, and Ghurghusht. These names are of themselves very remarkable, and at once afford a clue to the composition of the nation from an ethnic point of view, as will be seen in the further course of this treatise.

H. W. Bellew[17] writes in the history of The Ghilji as under: [Page-97]: THE Ghiljai (plural Ghilji) as he calls himself Ghilzai, as strangers call him is a numerous and widespread people, extending from Jalalabad in the east to Kalati Ghilji in the west, and occupying the adjoining slopes and spurs of Sufed Koh, Suleman Koh, and Gul Koh (west of Ghazni). The Afghan traditions place their original settlements in the Kohi Kais or Koh Kasi, but there seems to be some doubt as to the whereabouts of this locality, some considering it to be on the Suleman range, and others on the Siyah-band range of the Ghor mountains. The latter, it would seem, is the more probable, as it was the scene of the romantic episode by which the Afghan genealogists account for the name.

The story runs to the effect that the second son of Kais (the great ancestral progenitor of the Afghan nationality), who was named Batan, was settled with his people on the Siyah-band range of the Ghor mountains the Paropamisus of the ancients, the Hazarah of the moderns. It appears that they occupied the western hills of the range, and led a migratory life between the highlands in summer and lowlands in winter. Batan, the patriarch of the tribe, was noted for his piety and devotion, and for his earnest attachment to the new faith established in those parts. In consequence of his leading position and religious reputation, he was reverenced as a saint and honored with the title of Shekh.

During the reign of the Khalif Walid towards the close of the first century of the Muhammadan era, and during the early part of the eighth of our own an Arab army was


[Page-98]:sent from Baghdad for the conquest of Khurasan and Ghor (a name the signification of which is "mountainous "). On its approach to the northern mountains of Ghor, which were at that time inhabited by Bani Israil and Bani Afghan, and other castaway tribes, one of the princes of the country, who, it appears, was himself of a refugee family, since many generations exiled from Persia, fled his retreat, and sought asylum with Shekh Batan, whose tuman or "tribal camp" was in some neighbouiing mountain recesses. Batan, perceiving that the stranger was of noble birth, welcomed him to the hospitality and protection of his people, and took him into his own house as a member of the family. The stranger guest soon ingratiated himself with his hosts, and won the confidence of the chief, who always consulted him in the affairs of the tribe as if he were a member of it. In fact he was made quite at home, and treated with the fullest liberty and trust.

The Shekh had a daughter, whose name was Matto, a handsome maiden in the bloom of youth. In the simple manners and freedom of action that characterize life in camp, the inmates of the tent or booth were thrown much together in the routine of daily domestic life. Well, to cut a long story short the guest and his host's daughter fell in love with each other, and carried on a clandestine amour with the natural consequences. The first signs were early discovered by the quick eye of the mother, who at once communicated her suspicions to the girl's father. The old Shekh Afghan- lite was for summary punishment and the swift execution of both the guilty parties. But the mother, with keener perception and more far-seeing calculation, suggested the propriety of first ascertaining whether their guest Shah, Husen by name really was of the royal descent he had represented himself to be, and whether the future of his prospects were as bright as he had colored them.

For this purpose a trusted domestic was despatched to the home in Northern Ghor, indicated by Shah Husen, to find


[Page-99]:out all about his family and antecedents. He duly returned with a favourable report; and even more than confirming all that Shah Husen had said of himself. On this, the parents, accepting the situation, hastily married the couple to avoid the imminent scandal Shortly after these occurrences, Bibi Matto presented Shah Husen with a son, whom the irate old Shekh, in allusion to the circumstances connected with his birth, named Ghazoe "son of a thief" the father having stolen his daughter's honor. The name in time came to be used to distinguish the whole tribe, and by vulgar usage became changed to Ghilzai.

Such, in brief, is the Afghan account. It seems to point to an early mixture of the original Ghilji with some tribe of Ghor, perhaps of Persian descent, though the name Batan sounds of Indian origin (the Sanskiit name of the Brahman priests being Bata), and the title of Shekh being the one usually applied in India to converts from Brahmanism to Islam.

Baatar in Mangolia

Ulan Bator is the capital and the largest city of Mongolia. It is written as Ulaanbaatar , which literally means "Red Hero". Here Ulan=Red and Baatar=Hero. There is a need to further search if Batar has any link with Mongolia.

Madhyamika nagari

The ancient name Madhyamika nagari (मध्यमिका नगरी ), now known as Nagri (नगरी ) or Nagari, is a village in Chittorgarh district in Rajasthan. Its Pin Code: 312022. It is at a distance of 20Km in north-east from Chittorgarh in Tehsil-Chittorgarh. It was One of the most important townships of the Mauryan era in Rajasthan, situated on the banks of river Bairach. It was formerly known as Madhyamika, which flourished from the Maurya to Gupta era. The excavations over here have unearthed many interesting facts and have showed signs of strong Hindu and Buddhist influence.

Distribution in rajasthan

Batar(बाटड़) Batan (बाटण) is gotra of Jats found in Distt Sikar and Jodhpur in Rajasthan. Bataranau is village of Batars in Sikar district, Rajasthan. It is also one of Sikh Jat Gotras. The inhabitants of Batdhan Marubhumi were known as Batan. [18]

Villages in Sikar district

Bataranau, Sikar, Shivsinghpura,

Villages in Nagaur district

Raidhana,

Batan Jats live in villages:

Rajlota, Surpaliya,

Villages in Hanumangarh district

Sangaria,

Villages in Churu district

Bhinchari, Chhapar Churu (1), Dhani Suhana, Sujangarh (2),

Distribution in Punjab

Villages in Rupnagar district


Notable persons

  • Sardar Bahadur Sir Joginder Singh - Member Viceregal Council Delhi and Minister in the Punjab Cabinet from 1926 to 1935 was from this clan.
  • Harsh Vatdhan - of World Expeditions for acting as the expedition agent in Delhi.[19]
  • Panne Singh Batar from village (Bataranau) - Freedom fighters, struggled for Jagirdari abolition.
  • Richhpal Singh Batar - Dy. SP (Retd.), RPS, VPO.- Batranau, distt.- Sikar, Raj.Present Address : Plot no. 9, Krishna Colony, Naya Khera, Amba Bari, Jaipur, Mob.- 9001078272, Phone: 0141-2354623, Mob: 9414458444
  • Gajadhar Batan (चौधरी गजाधर बाटण), from Surpaliya (सुरपालिया), Nagaur, was a social worker in Nagaur, Rajasthan.[21]
  • Dr. Manoj Kumar Batar(Batarnau), Research Students Activist in Rajasthan University & Doctorate from political science dept, Rajasthan University

9414321111

  • Om Prakash Batar(ओम प्रकाश बाटड़) {S/o Gopal Singh Batar}-Manager (Retired), Reserve Bank of India, Jaipur. Daughter Software Engineer in USA. Son Software Engineer in Pune, India.

References


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