Originally a warrior race, the Bhatia is now mostly involved in trade and commerce. The Bhatias were called Bhattis in the past. They claim to be the descent from Kshatriyas or Rajputs, a militant people of exemplary fortitude and resourcefulness.

In the 6th century, Raja Bhoopat reigned in Lahore. He acquired fame for his valour, courage and administrative shrewdness. His dynasty came to be known as Bhatti or Bhati Dynasty from which the word Bhatia has been derived. They successively founded Tannot, Deraval and Jaisalmer in 1156 AD.

During the reign of Raja Mulraj, 1316 AD was a crucial year for the Bhatias as they were threatened with extinction. It was at this time that Allauddin Khilji invaded Jaisalmer and besieged it for a year. With their resources of arms, ammunition and food dwindling, Mulraj sent the aged and the very young away from the fortress through a secret exit. With his soldiers he launched a do-or-die offensive but his people met their end fighting valiantly and thousands of widowed women committed Sati.

Society and Religion of the Bhatia community
The two thousand families who had escaped from Jaisalmer settled in Punjab and made their mark in trade and commerce. Within a few years the question whether endogamous marriages might be permitted was dealt with in Multan where the pundits ordained that boys and girls whose blood relationship was beyond seven generations could marry. This decision marked the beginning of the formation of nockhs (groups or clans). The Bhatias now spread out in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Khandesh, Halar and Kutch. Those who settled in Kutch came to be known as Kutchins and those in Halar as Halars. In different regions the Bhatias acquired different styles of dress.

As far as religion was concerned, they accepted the Pushti Marg or Vaishnavism (founded by Vallabha in the sixteenth century). As Vaishnavites they wear a U-shaped caste mark on the forehead and their tutelary deity is Krishna. His temple is enshrined at Nathdwara in Mewar.

They follow the customary sixteen samskaras, the important ones being described briefly below--- `simanta` is performed during the 7th month of pregnancy. The woman goes through a purificatory puja in which mantras are recited to bless and protect her and the unborn child.

Upanayana is the initiation ceremony of a young boy who is invested with a sacred thread, symbolising a promise made to fulfill his debt to the Creditor, his preceptor and his father. The guru initiates the boy, giving him the Gayatri mantra. He is given a staff, which symbolically imposes on him the responsibility of protecting his country and the people and working for their welfare through control over his mind, speech and body.

Vivah is the marriage ceremony, prior to which there is another rite, the chhakki. On the day previous to the marriage, the bride goes to the house of her future husband to pay her respects to his relatives, accompanied with her brother who walks alongside with a drawn sword. Then the bridegroom comes to the home of the bride and, hand in hand, they walk round the sacred fire four times which completes the wedding ceremony.

Uthamna is a funeral rite when the friends and relatives of a dead person come at an appointed time to condole with the bereaved family.

The Bhatias were and still are an inherently enterprising people and successfully entered many spheres of commerce and industry such as the textiles, cotton, iron and steel, mining and shipping industries and some have become millionaires as a result.

In recent years the Bhatias have felt the need for higher specialized foreign education and a number of boys and girls have gone to the United States of America and Germany for advanced studies. A large number of them have settled down abroad.

Inter-caste marriages are regarded as corrosive by orthodox Bhatias and strongly discouraged but now their incidence appears to be on the increase at all social levels.