Lord Jhulelal: An Analytical Study
by Thakkar Harish Gopalji | 2018 | 62,623 words
This thesis studies Lord Jhulelal, the most important deity revered by Sindhis in India and beyond. Traditional views hold Lord Jhulelal as an incarnation of Vedic Deity Varuna (the river God). Historically, Jhulelal is a binding force for the Sindhi community who had to leave Sindh during the partition of India in order to settle at distant places...
Part 23 - Bhatia People
As mentioned earlier the Bhatia community is also known as seafarers. They are also believers of sea God. The Bhatias of Jamnagar are known to have travelled to far off places by sea along with Lohanas of Porbandar as merchants along with Sailors of Veraval to man the boats. It is said that all the three coming from Gujarat region once upon a time ruled the sea and the ships that were sailing in the Arabian Sea belonged to this trio.
As mentioned in ‘The Tribes and Castes of Bombay’ Vol 1, the Bhatias are also known as Yadavs, Kshatriya Yaduvanshis, Krishnavanshis, Vrishnivanshis, Chandravanshis and Thakkars. The appellation Thakkar appears to be a corruption of Thakor meaning a ruling chief and suggests the Kshatriya origin of the caste. (Enthoven 1929:133-134)
In also states that:
According to General Cunningham, Bhatia comes from Bhat, a warrior. The Bhatia people are known as worshipers of the sea. However, as far as the rituals are concerned, they defer from Lohanas and Sindhis to some extent. They are required to sail their ships for trade and commerce just after weakening of the initial force of monsoon. Therefore, the worship of sea God is performed by them which they call as ‘Dariya Poojan’. The ritual is to offer to Sea God a coconut along with some flowers and sweets. The above ritual is performed on the second day of the Ashadh month called Ashadhi Beej as per Hindu calendar. The Bhatias celebrate their new year on this day.
The mother tongue of the Bhatia people who reside in Kutch and Bombay (Mumbai) is called Kutchi, whereas in Halar region and part of Kathiawar, Halai is spoken and it resembles Kutchi to some extent. Gujarati is spoken in Gujarat and Kathiawar and Sindhi language is spoken in Sindh.
Bhatias are originally Bhati Rajputs and Chief of Jeysulmere belongs to this tribe. They consider them equal to Vaniyas or Brahmins. They are very enterprising merchants and have trade relations with Bombay and Arabia, whereas some have migrated to the Africa (Sherring 1879: Vol. II: 236)