Khatris/Sheikhs — various Khatris embraced Islam in bygone eras, typically Punjabi Muslim Khatris accept ‘Sheik’ as their family name. A few different family names (group names) utilized are Sethi, Nayyar, Bajaj, Chawla, and Uppal.
Kashmiri Origin Punjabis (Butts, Dars, Mirs, Khwajas) — Can be treated as a Biradri for they are woven into the texture of Punjabi society and culture. Predominately are Majails, gathered in Urban Majha; in the urban areas of Lahore, Gujranwala, Faislabad, and Sialkot.
Middle Easterner Persio-Turkic petitioners (Syeds, Mughals, Qureshis, Chughtai, and so forth) — Although a few inquirers positively are real, it ought not to be disregarded that there is a typical example of producing genealogies. Claims are valid or bogus, they are Punjabis to us notwithstanding.
You might be aware of the Chootu gang if you are from Pakistan or Gulab gang if you are from India. Well, Dulla Bhatti had led the infamously popular gang in sharing the common Pakistan-India heritage. Dulla Bhatti (Rai Abdullah Khan Bhatti) was a legendary sixteenth-century outlaw from the Sandal Bar area of Punjab, between the Ravi and Chenab rivers, in what is now Pakistan. Dulla Bhatti is the real hero of Punjab and lives in our folklore. Baldev Singh wrote an excellent biographical novel on his life, “DhahwaN Dilli de Kingrey”. Prof Asad Saleem Shaikh has written a book “Dullay Di Baar” “دُلے دی بار” (The Land/State of Dullah) which is taken as an authentic document on Dullah Bhatti.
Dulla Bhatti was a famous legendary hero of Punjab, who led a rebellion against the famous Mughal king Akbar. There is a kind of epic in the Punjabi language called Dulle di var, which narrates the battle events of Dulla Bhatti. Still, there is a famous region in Punjab, Pakistan, called Dulle Di Bar means the forest of Dulla Bhatti. This legendary Punjabi hero is buried at Miani Sahib Qabristan (Graveyard) in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. There is a town Dullewala (Bhakkar District) in the name of legendary Dulla Bhatti where he had a stay with his allies. Dulla Bhatti was born in a Punjabi family to their mother Ladhi and father Farid Khan in the area of Sandal Baar, near Faisalabad now in Pakistan (Sandal Bar is also related to the legend of Mirza Sahiba).
Dullah is a symbol of resistance
Punjab has always played a big role in resistance to all oppressed. Betrayed by Dogras, from the start Gurjars were against the Mughals, they looted their army, stained their soldiers, and attacked in gorilla war like a method but never surrendered before them. Bhatti’s army was a team of great warriors. They did not attack or invade the weak. Only fought for justice and took the side of the weak and vulnerable. Women and children were especially taken care of. Their women died with their men in case of defeat. They took their clothes off and fought naked as a last resort. We saw this in 1947 when women jumped into canals rivers and even wells.
Abdullah’s grandfather, Sandal Bhatti, was a Rajput zamindar of Punjab who revolted against the Mughals. Akbar’s Finance Minister Todarmal had imposed a fixed tax on the rich landlords, before that there was no fixed tax on the tax, more or less was charged according to the income. But Minister Todarmal fixed the tax amount. Which was opposed by many zamindars. Abdullah’s grandfather, Sandal Bhatti, refused to obey the law and revolted against the Mughals by preparing a small army consisting of several villages around him. Because of this, there was a small war on the banks of river Ravi in Punjab. After which Sampal Bhatti was killed, his son Afridi Bhatti also continued to rebel against the Mughals and he was also killed.
In the folklore of Punjab born Abdullah four months after Afridi’s death, it is said that Shahzada Salim and Abdullah were born on the same day, Akbar was asked by a Nazumi to feed Rajputani’s milk to Salim, which led to Abdullah’s mother In the royal court, Salim was raised to raise Salim, but Abdullah and Salim were brought up together. Abdullah was not told anything about his father’s grandfather for many years. But when the truth was revealed, Abdullah turned against Akbar.
According to Ishwar Dayal Gaur, although he was “the trendsetter in peasant insurgency in medieval Punjab”, he remains “on the periphery of Punjab’s historiography. Bhatti fought for the liberty of his motherland and for his people against the Mughals, very bravely. Dulla Bhatti lost four of his family members protesting against centralized land revenue collection levied by Akbar. He is known as the icon of farmer/peasant uprising against the Mughals. He follows in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and waged guerrilla warfare against the Mughal Empire.
