Bhatis of Jaisalmer

Who he is

Name

not pinned: the Jaisalmer chronicles (late) list a run of rawals after Jaisal; we could not check the names or years

Title

Rawal of the Bhatis

Since

Jaisal became head of the Bhatis after 1143 (Wikipedia, Bhati, citing Erskine 1909)

Born

not pinned

Family

A Bhati Rajput house descended by tradition from the Yadavas; Bhojde (succeeded 1143) was displaced by his uncle Jaisal.

Confidence

low

Wikipedia says Jaisal allied with Ghaznavid chiefs, that the Bhatis had 'defeated multiple Islamic attacks by the Qaramithas, Ghaznavids and Ghurids before the end of the 12th century', and that by the twelfth century they were at strife with Solankis, Sodhas, Panwars and the chiefs of Sind and Multan. Late chronicles (Nainsi, 17th century) are the source for the succession.

What it holds

• Jaisalmer
• Lodhruva (the older seat, abandoned)
• Pokaran (the watering place, tenure not documented)
• Rohri and Sukkur in Sind are said by Wikipedia to have been incorporated by the twelfth century (Persia's ground; not our claim)

How it was acquired

Founding of Jaisalmer about 1156 (traditional).

Allies and rivals

Rivals of the Solankis, Sodhas, Panwars and the Muslim chiefs of Sind and Multan.

How things stand that morning

An independent desert house with its fort and its tolls.

Wealth

Caravan tolls; wells.

Military

Horse and camel raiders; no counts.

Threats

• Ghurid raids from Multan and Uch
• The Chaulukya

Places of note

• Lodhruva: The abandoned older seat with Jain temples
• Pokaran: Watering place on the desert road to the Marwar towns

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign board entry jaisalmer lists it under 'the Chahamana survivors' while saying the Bhatis are not Chahamanas; we put the record in the Rajput realm. The campaign board entry lodhruva says the last sack was a Ghurid raid; Wikipedia gives no detail on Ghurid raids on the Bhatis.

Evidence: One Wikipedia page that explicitly lacks the succession, plus the campaign board.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

On the map: A fort and a chain of wells, not a block.

Primary sources for Independent Rajput houses

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Crown of Glorious Deeds, Hasan Nizami (Sadr al-Din Muhammad ibn Hasan Nizami of Nishapur) (begun about 1205 at Delhi, carried on to about 1217). The earliest history written in Muslim India and the only contemporary account of Qutb al-Din Aibak's campaigns. Read online
• The Nasirean Generations (a general history of the Muslim dynasties), Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani (completed 1260 at Delhi). The fullest narrative of the Ghurid conquest of northern India. Read online
• Epigraphia Indica: inscriptions of the Chandelas, Paramaras, Gahadavalas, Chaulukyas, Senas and Eastern Gangas, Various (edited for the Archaeological Survey of India by J. Burgess, E. Hultzsch, F. Kielhorn, Sten Konow, F. W. Thomas and successors) (inscriptions of the 1180s to 1210s; the series ran from 1892). The main record series for the Hindu kingdoms of northern India around 1200. Read online
• Historical Inscriptions of Gujarat, Various (the Chaulukya and Vaghela chanceries), edited by G. V. Acharya (inscriptions of the 10th to 14th centuries; edited 1933 to 1942). The standard corpus of Gujarat's inscriptions. Read online
• Inscriptions of the Paramaras, Chandellas, Kachchhapaghatas and two minor dynasties, Various, edited by H. V. Trivedi (inscriptions of the 9th to 14th centuries; edited 1978 to 1991). The collected records of the Paramaras of Malwa (parts 1 and 2) and of the Chandelas of Jejakabhukti (part 3), re-edited from Epigraphia Indica and earlier journals with new finds.
• The Victory of Prithviraja, Jayanaka (a Kashmiri poet at the Chahamana court) (about 1191 to 1192, left unfinished). A court epic written at Ajmer in the months between Prithviraja III's victory at Tarain in 1191 and his defeat and death in 1192. Read online
• The Wishing-Stone of Narratives, Merutunga (a Jain monk of the Nagendra gaccha) (1305 (Vikrama 1361) at Vadhvan in Gujarat). A Jain collection of historical anecdotes about the kings of Gujarat and Malwa, a century after 1200. Read online