Bhatia is a group of people and a caste found in Punjab, Sindh and Gujarat. Traditionally, they have been a trading and merchant community. The Bhatias primarily live in Northwestern India and Pakistan. The Bhatias, Lohanas and Khatris were similar communities and were known to intermarry. The Bhatias recruit Saraswat Brahmins as priests.
Bhatia women in western India (c. 1855-1862)
The Battle of Muktsar, in which 12% of known soldiers were Bhatias.
The oldest temple of Gulf was constructed by Bhatias of Thatta, Sindh in 1817.
Khatri is a caste originating from the Malwa and Majha areas of Punjab region of South Asia that is predominantly found in India, but also in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Khatris claim they are warriors who took to trade. In the Indian subcontinent, they were mostly engaged in mercantile professions such as banking and trade. They were the dominant commercial and financial administration class of late-medieval India. Some in Punjab often belonged to hereditary agriculturalist land-holding lineages, while others were engaged in artisanal occupations such as silk production and weaving.
Photograph of a Hindu Khatri man of Hazara c. 1868-1872
Photograph of a Hindu Khatri man of Lahore c. 1859-1869
Sikh of Sodhi clan, Lahore.