Bhapa

 ( Ethnic And Religious Slurs ) 

Bhapa (also spelt as Bhappa or Bhaapa) is a term used in Punjab region by the members of the Sikh community in a pejorative sense for Sikhs that migrated from Pakistan after the Partition of India in 1947. The term originally referred to Khatri Sikh migrant business-orientated families who originated from Rawalpindi but later evolved to encompass the entire Khatri Sikh community, both local and non-local.

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Description During the partition of Punjab in 1947, many Khatri business families from West Punjab migrated to what is today India. The migrants were especially welcomed by the Maharaja of Patiala, where they settled in Patiala. The term derives from the local Dhanni dialect of Punjabi language.

Tony Ballantyne (2025). 9780195686630, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195686630

The slur was adopted from the term bhapa, which was used by the community to refer to both a father and elder brother. The term came to be used as a pejorative to refer to Khatri Sikhs, essentially to mark them as non-Jat Sikh. The Khatri Sikhs came into conflict with the Banias, another trading caste, and the Jatt Sikhs, with there being a notable divide between Jatt and Khatri Sikhs. The Khatris and Jatts do not intermarry. Since the late 1960s, many Jatt Sikh youths in India started trimming their beards and wearing the turban with shorn/unshorn hair (Jatt Sikhs in foreign countries also began not wearing turbans), whereas Khatri Sikh youth rarely do this.

According to H. S. Bhatti, it is a popular term used to refer to urbanized Khatri.

H. S. Bhatti (2025). 9788170336082, Rawat Publications. ISBN 9788170336082

Shiv Kumar Batalvi used the term "Bhaapawaad" to denote merchant class exploitation. He critiqued Balwant Gargi's poetry, and said Punjabi is language of common people, not of merchant class to benefit from it and exploit people.

Bhapa describes Sikhs who migrated to India, especially from the Rawalpindi area, also known as the Khukhrain's area, and its neighbouring regions. The Bhapa name at first was only associated with migrated Sikh traders/shopkeepers.

W. H. McLeod (2025). 9781442236011, Rowman & Littlefield. . ISBN 9781442236011

Bhapa is a term used in the Potohari dialect in the Rawalpindi area.

(2025). 9780195686630, Oxford University Press. . ISBN 9780195686630

It was a common term for the elder brother or father and is still often used in that sense. It is somewhat equivalent to sir. Derived from Sanskrit Bappa or Vapra,Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary it is a cognate to Bawa.Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Printed at the Govt. Central Press, 1896 The term has occasionally been used as a royal title in some regions of India. The best-known king with the title was Bappa Rawal, the founder of the Guhilot dynasty.

Categories: Ethnic And Religious Slurs, Sikh Communities

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