Bhapa or (Bhaapa) is a term used in Punjab by the members of the

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

community in a pejorative sense for Sikhs that migrated from Pakistan after the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

in 1947. The term derives from the local Rawalpindi dialect of

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

. ''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. ''Bhapa'' is a term used in the

Potohari The Indo-Aryan language spoken on the Pothohar Plateau in the far north of Pakistani Punjab, as well as in most of Pakistan's Azad Kashmir and in western areas of India's Jammu and Kashmir, is known by a variety of names, the most common of which ...

dialect used in Rawalpindi area. It was a common term for the elder brother or father and is still often used in that sense. It is somewhat equivalent of '' sir''. Derived from Sanskrit ''Bappa'' or ''Vapra'', it is

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...

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.

References

{{reflist Ethnic and religious slurs Sikh communities