Dulla Bhatti: Difference between revisions

| birth_date      = mid-16th century

| birth_place    = [[Pindi Bhattian]], [[Punjab]], [[Mughal Empire]]<br /><small>(modern day Pakistan)</small>

| death_place    = [[Lahore]], [[Punjab]], [[Mughal Empire]]<br /><small>(modern day Pakistan)</small>

'''Dulla Bhatti''' (popularly referred to as the '''"Son of Punjab"''' or '''"Robin Hood of Punjab"''', sometimes spelled '''Dulha Bhatti''' and also known as '''Abdullah Bhatti''') is a [[folk hero]] who supposedly came from the [[Punjab region]] of [[medieval India]] and led a revolt against [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] rule during the reign of the [[Mughal emperor]] [[Akbar]]. He is entirely absent from the recorded history of the time, and the only evidence of his existence comes from [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] folk songs.<ref name="SinghGaur2008">{{cite book|author1=Surinder Singh|author2=I. D. Gaur|title=Popular Literature and Pre-modern Societies in South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QVA0JAzQJkYC&pg=PA89|year=2008|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-81-317-1358-7|pages=89–90}}</ref>

Dulla Bhati was a Muslim [[Rajput]] whose father was a local zamindar.<ref name=JP>{{Cite book|first=Ishwar|last=Dayal|title=Martyr as Bridegroom: A Folk Representation of Bhagat Singh|publisher=Anthem Press|year=2008|pages=37|isbn=9788190583503|quote=a Muslim Rajput, Dulla Bhatti, the son of local zamindar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OQ4CWDeKSxUC&q=dulla+bhatti+rajput&pg=PA37|access-date=2021-01-13}}</ref> Dulla Bhatti lived at [[Pindi Bhattian]] in [[Punjab]],{{sfnp|Ahsan|1996|p=120|ps=}} and came from a family of hereditary local rural chiefs of the [[zamindar]] class. Both his father, Farid, and his grandfather, variously called Bijli or Sandal,{{efn|Surinder Singh's analysis of regional folklore names Bhatti's grandfather as Sandal and suggests the possibility, given the influence that he had in the region, that the area of [[Sandal Bar]] is named after him.{{sfnp|Singh|2008|p=106|ps=}}}}<ref name=Dawn/> were executed for opposing the new and centralised land revenue collection scheme imposed by the [[Mughal emperor]] [[Akbar]]. Dulla was born to Ladhi four months after the death of his father.{{sfnp|Gaur|2008|pp=34, 37|ps=}}<ref name=Dawn>{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1112454 |author=Mushtaq Soofi|title=Punjab Notes: Bar: forgotten glory of Punjab |date=13 June 2014|newspaper=Dawn (newspaper)|access-date=4 September 2020}}</ref>

Coincidentally, Akbar's son, Shaikhu (later known as [[Jahangir]]), was born on the same day. Advised by his courtiers that Shaikhu's future bravery and success would be ensured if the child was fed by a Rajput woman, Akbar gave that responsibility to Ladhi despite her connection to a man who had rebelled against the Mughal throne. This decision appears to have its basis in [[realpolitik]]: Akbar perceived that Ladhi was resentful, that Bhatti might become the third generation of rebels and that Akbar's royal favour might offset this.{{sfnp|Gaur|2008|p=35|ps=}}

*{{citation |title=Medieval Indian Literature |volume=1 |first=Harbhajan |last=Singh |author-link=Harbhajan Singh (poet) |chapter=Medieval Pubjabi Literature |editor-first=K. Ayyappa |editor-last=Paniker |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |year=1997 |isbn=9788126003655 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KYLpvaKJIMEC}}