In the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, batta or bhatta or bat-ta was a banking term and a military term, meaning (i) an

agio ''Agio'' (Italian ''aggio'') is a term used in commerce for exchange rate, discount or premium. Exchange rate The variations from fixed par values or rates of exchange in the currencies of different countries. For example, in most countries t ...

or disagio, (ii) a special allowance made to officers, soldiers, or other public servants in the field, and (iii) any additional or extra charge elsewhere. The term is probably derived from

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

''bhatta'' (rice in the husk). Batta was originally introduced as a payment to military officers of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

, in addition to their ordinary salary, to provide them with money for field-equipment and other expenses when on the march. By November 1842, a distinction was made according to which part of the country they were based. A lieutenant-colonel in barracks in southern India, for instance would receive half batta, 304 rupees (£30) a month. All cavalry and infantry officers stationed in northern India received full batta. Discontent over changes to the allowance was the cause of the Monghyr Mutiny. In Hindi, the term ''bhatta'' (

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

भत्ता) is now used to refer to allowance made to military personnel or other public servants. In Pakistan the term ''bhatta'' (

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

بھتہ ) is now used specially in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

by MQM to take

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

money from common persons. Subsequently, the term ''BATA'' has been used as a short form of "Boarding Allowance & Travel Allowance".

References

{{reflist British East India Company Indian words and phrases