Origin of The Bathinda City and Historical Monuments

Abstract

Bathinda is among the oldest historical places of Punjab ,but itand#8223;s origin is much disputed.Different historians have given it various names and some have confused itand#8223;s name with Sirhind, Bhera, Tabarhind, Batrindh etc. Major H.G. Roberty in his Tabagat-ull-Nasiri has respectably written it as Tabarhind . It is a Persian word which means the sword of Hindustan. Tabarand#8223; means the sword and Hindand#8223; means Hindustan. This statement of Roberty has been supported by the number of historians. Perhaps the habitants of this area had been very brave and valiantly facing the enemies, may be due to this the city came to be known as Tabarhind. newlineThere is a tradition in Bathinda to the effect that same masons, who built the fortress of Bathinda also erected the similar castles at Bhutner. Bhatti- da-Nagara or Bhattis city was in all probability, the full form of this name originally from Bhatti,the tribe and da ,largely used in the province as the genitive particle in lieu of saand#8223;or kaand#8223; of which it is merely a dialetic variation of the habit of omitting the final word Nagaraand#8223;or Puraand#8223;(which merely signifies town or city )and retaining the sign of the genitive case ,numerous examples exist in which such termination are understood, and the intermediate nasal may not be employed.Indeed the word is often pronounced Bathinda ,seldom Bathinda and never as Bathinda. From Garrickand#8223;s version,we can imagine that Bathinda is never confused with Sirhind and the fort of Bathinda is built much prior to Mehmoodand#8223;s invasion and no fort at Sirhind existed on during the invasion of Mehmood.Ainai-Barar Bans preserved the tradition that Bathinda was built by Bhatti Rao son of Balband who became the ruler of Punjab in 279/A.D, and to whom the foundation of Bhatner is also ascribed. There is no authentic information about the construction of the fort but it is presumed that the name of the city of Bathinda is similar to that of Bhatti Rao and it might have been built by him . newlineBathinda is also known by its name as Bikramgarh. Khalifa Syed Muhamonad Hasa