Bhapa or (Bhaapa) is a term used in

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

by the members of the

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

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

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

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 * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

. 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 The Khukhrain or Khokhrain is a sub-group composed of eight clans of the Khatri caste that originally hailed from the areas of the Salt Range. History The Khukhrains spread over Khushab, Dhune Kheb, Chakwal, Pind Dadan Khan, Peshawar, Nowshera D ...

'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 Pahari Pothwari is an Indo-Aryan language variety of the Lahnda group, spoken in the northern half of Pothohar Plateau, in Punjab, Pakistan, as well as in the most of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir and in the western areas of Indian-adminis ...

dialect in the 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 to ''

sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

''. Derived from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

''Bappa'' or ''Vapra'', it is a

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

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 Bappa Rawal (c. 8th century) was a king of the Mewar kingdom in Rajasthan, India. The chronicles consider him to be the founder of the Guhila Rajput dynasty. He is credited with repelling the Arab invasion of India. He is identified as the r ...

, the founder of the

Guhilot Guhila is a clan of Rajputs and claims to have descended from the Suryavanshi dynasty. They ruled a number of kingdoms and principalities including Mitaron, Mewar, Banswara, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh, Shahpura, Bhavnagar, Palitana, Lathi and Val ...

dynasty.

References

{{reflist Ethnic and religious slurs Sikh communities