Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
have conquered the whole Punjab, and is even said to have
recaptured the clan's old fort of Gaznipur.
Later on, during the reign of one Baland, the Bhatis faced great
trouble from invading Turks, who gained control over considerable
areas of their territory - including, yet again, Gazni. The clan in
fact derives its name from Baland's son, Bhati, who seems to have
possessed those military skills so much in demand but so rare in its
leaders. In keeping with well-established tradition, though, Bhati's
son and successor, Mangal Rao, was attacked by the current king of
his old home town, Gazni, then forced to flee his kingdom and hide
out in the desert.
At this point, things finally began to look up for the Bhatis. They
defeated the various Rajput tribes they found, decided they liked
the Thar Desert after all, and made it their permanent home. This
was sometime around
AD
650.
Things seemed to go well for a few hundred years, until another
catastrophe struck. During the reign of one Vijayraj, the warlike
Varahas, always a nuisance, proposed that the two tribes end their
bitter century-long feud with a matrimonial alliance. They offered
their princess to the Bhati heir apparent, Devraj. Vijayraj trustingly
accepted this magnanimous offer, and a splendid wedding was soon
held in the Varaha kingdom. Sleeping off the effects of what must
have been an extravagant feast during the night following the
marriage rites, the wedding host slaughtered virtually the entire
Bhati contingent. Only Devraj, helped by a Brahmin priest, managed
to escape alive, returning to regroup what was left of his forces back
home. He needn't have bothered. Soon after, another horde of
murderous tribesmen swept out of the desert and attacked the Bhati
fort of Tanot, built in 731. This time the Bhatis seem to have been
left all but extinct. Given their lack of military prowess, one is only
surprised this hadn't happened sooner.
But Devraj, who was either very lucky or a dreadful coward,
managed somehow to escape this massacre too, getting taken in by
a Buta chief who was one of his mother's brothers. This uncle gave
Devraj some land where he constructed a fort named after himself:
Devrawal. Here he consolidated building up sufficient military might
to avenge his father's death, and, astonishingly, even going on to
