Distribution of the Bhagats according to the Census of 1891.
| District. | Number. |
| Sahâranpur | 1 |
| Farrukhâbâd | 185 |
| Mainpuri | 7 |
| Etâwah | 12 |
| Etah | 127 |
| Bareilly | 14 |
| Budâun | 11 |
| Bânda | 4 |
| Benares | 124 |
| Total | 485 |
Bhâlê Sultân.—(“Lords of the spear:” Sanskrit, Bhâla, “a kind of arrow or spear.”)—According to the tribal tradition in Sultânpur,[133] between two and three hundred years ago Râê Barâr, son of Amba Râê, brother of the then Râja of Morârmau, commanded a troop of cavalry recruited entirely from the Bais clan in the Imperial service, and was deputed to exterminate the troublesome Bhars in the Isauli Pargana. Having accomplished his task he returned to Delhi and presented himself at the head of his troop before the Emperor, who, struck with their manly bearing, exclaimed, “Ao, Bhâlê Sultân,” “Come, spears of the Sultân.” Thence they adopted the name. Another story is that it was as link-bearers (Bâri), and not the lance, which they so dexterously wielded, and that they were made Râjputs by Tilok Chand as a reward for their diligence. A third account connects them with the Balla, who are included in the royal races and were lords in Saurâshtra. “But this lays stress [[254]]on the first factor of the name, and leaves the other, an equally perplexing one, altogether unexplained. That it is a corruption there is little doubt. The Bhâlê Sultâns are either not mentioned by Abul Fazl at all, or they are the Bais Naumuslim of Sâtanpur. In either case the suspicion is raised that they did not take their modern name till after the time of Akbar, and, if so, it hardly bears the ring of Imperial coinage. ‘From this time’ (1507 A.D.), says Bâbar, ‘I order that I should be styled Padshah,’ and from him downwards this, and not Sultan, appears to have been the title affected by the Mughal Emperors. It is very probable that the Bhâlê Sultâns are the Naumuslim Bais of Sâtanpur, for they now occupy that locality, and Palhan Deo, great grandson of Râê Barâr, is said to have been converted to Islâm in Shîr Shâh’s time; and the only thing against this view is that the Gandeo Bais may have held territory thus far east, and as they, too, had a Musalmân branch, they would then answer equally well to the description given.”
Bhâlê Sultân of the North-West Provinces. 2. The Bulandshahr[134] branch, according to one story, claim descent from Sidhrâo Jai Sinh, a Solankhi Râjput of Parpatan in Gujarât. After the defeat of Prithivi Râja, Sawai Sinh, the ancestor of the family, obtained the title of Bhâlê Sultân, or “Lord of the lance,” from Shahâbuddîn Ghori. Another story is that they are descended from Sârang Deo, a nephew of the Râja of Gujarât, who took service under Prithivi Râja of Delhi, with whom he was distantly connected, and perished in the war against Kanauj, when his descendant was rewarded with lands in Bulandshahr. It was his grandson, Hamîr Sinh, who took service with the Râja of Kanauj, and obtained through him and Shahâbuddîn the title of Bhâla Sultân. The seventh in descent from him, Kirat Sinh, distinguished himself in the campaign of Ghayâsuddin against the Meos, and got their lands. The seventh in descent from him, Khân Chand, became a Musalmân to please the Muhammadan Governor under Khizr Khân, the protegee of Timûr.
The Oudh branch. 3. In Faizâbâd[135] the Bhâlê Sultân claim descent from Râo Mardan Sinh of Bais, of Dundiya Khera, who was a horse-dealer by profession. He chanced to visit Gajanpur, in Isauli Pargana, of the Sultânpur District, where there was a fort of the Râjbhars, whom he overcame. His [[255]]son, Râo Barâr, entered the service of the King of Delhi, and as he was a good horseman and clever spearsman, he obtained the title of Bhâla Sultân. One of his descendants, Baram Deo, ambitious of obtaining the title of Râja, became Khânzâda to the King of Delhi, and since then his descendants have been called Khânzâda. In Râê Bareli the tradition runs that they were Ahîrs who were raised to the rank of Râjputs by Tilok Chand.
4. In Sultânpur they are said to marry girls of the septs of the Bhâratipur Chauhâns, Kath Bais and Kath Bisen, and to give girls to the Tilokchandi Bais, Chauhâns of Mainpuri, Sûrajbansis of Mahul, Gautams of Nagar, Bisens of Majhauli, Gahlot, Sombansi, Râjkumâr, Bandhalgoti, and Bachgoti. In Faizâbâd they marry girls of the Gargbansi and Raghubansi septs, and give girls to the Sombansi, Bachgoti, and Bais.
Distribution of the Bhâlê Sultân Râjputs according to the Census of 1891.
| District. | Hindus. | Muhammadans. | Total. |
| Sahâranpur | 17 | 27 | 44 |
| Meerut | 20 | … | 20 |
| Bulandshahr | 6,370 | 4,790 | 11,160 |
| Agra | 59 | 3 | 62 |
| Farrukhâbâd | 9 | 6 | 15 |
| Mainpuri | 36 | … | 36 |
| Budâun | 11 | … | 11 |
| Shâhjahânpur | … | 9 | 9 |
| Pilibhît | 19 | 4 | 23 |
| Cawnpur | 11 | 75 | 86 |
| Fatehpur | 3 | … | 3 |
| Bânda | … | 1 | 1 |
| Allahâbâd | 324 | 18 | 342 |
| Lalitpur | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Benares | 15 | 86 | 101 |
| Jaunpur | 25 | 3 | 28[[256]] |
| Ghâzipur | … | 7 | 7 |
| Gorakhpur | 35 | 64 | 99 |
| Basti | 155 | 53 | 208 |
| Azamgarh | 122 | 29 | 151 |
| Lucknow | 17 | 283 | 300 |
| Unâo | 5 | 38 | 43 |
| Râê Bareli | 377 | 372 | 749 |
| Sîtapur | 20 | 23 | 43 |
| Kheri | 3 | 108 | 111 |
| Faizâbâd | 757 | 687 | 1,444 |
| Gonda | 406 | 352 | 758 |
| Bahrâich | 108 | 271 | 379 |
| Sultânpur | 8,016 | 4,607 | 12,623 |
| Partâbgarh | 49 | 17 | 66 |
| Bârabanki | 329 | 735 | 1,064 |
| Total | 17,320 | 12,670 | 29,990 |
Bhând, Bhânr.[136]—(Sanskrit, Bhanda, a jester.)—The class of story-tellers, buffoons, and jesters. They are sometimes known by the Muhammadan title of Naqqâl, or actor. The Bhând is sometimes employed in the courts of Râjas and native gentlemen of rank, where, at entertainments, he amuses the company with his buffoonery and imitations of European and Native manners, much of which is of a very coarse nature. The Bhând is quite separate from, and of a lower professional rank than, the Bahrûpiya. They appear now to be practically all Muhammadans, but retain numerous Hindu usages. There are two recognised endogamous sub-castes—[[257]]the Chenr, which seems to mean little (Hindi, chenra), and the Kashmîri. The former trace their origin to the time of Taimûrlang, who, on the death of his son, gave himself over to mourning for twelve years. Then one Sayyid Hasan, a courtier of the Emperor, composed a humorous poem in Arabic which gained him the title of Bhânr. Sayyid Hasan is regarded as the founder of the caste. Though he was a Sayyid, the present Bhânrs are either Shaikhs or Mughals; and the difference of faith, Sunni and Shiah, is a bar to intermarriage. The Kashmîri Bhânrs are said to be of quite recent origin, having been invited from Kashmîr by Nasîr-ud-dîn Haidar, King of Oudh. The Chenr Bhânrs fix their headquarters at Karra in Allahâbâd, and Lucknow. In Farrukhâbâd they profess to have twelve-and-a-half sub-divisions, all of which, except the half sub-division, intermarry. Many of these are derived from the names of castes from which they are, or pretend to be, sprung: thus Kaithela (Kâyasth); Bamhaniya (Brâhman); Kamarhas; Ujharha; Banthela; Gujarha (Gûjar); Nonela (Luniya); Karraha (from Karra); Pitarhanda. The Census returns give the sub-caste of the Hindu Bhânrs as Baraha, Nakhatiya, and Shâhpuri, and of the Muhammadan branch as Bakarha, Bhandela, Burkiya, Desi, Gâorâni, Hasanpuri, Harkha, Jaroha, Jaroyân, Kaithla, Kâyasth, Kâniwâla, Kashmîri, Kathiya, Katila, Qawwâl, Kha, Kharya, Khatri, Kheti, Monkhra, Musalmâni, Naqqâl, Naumuslim, Pathân, Patua, Purabiya, Râwat, Sadîqi, Shaikh, and Târâkiya.
2. Girls are married at the age of twelve or fourteen, and unlimited polygamy is allowed. Widows re-marry generally in the family of their late husband, and if a match then is impossible, they marry an outsider, and the levirate in the usual form prevails. A wife can be put away for infidelity, and cannot then marry again in the caste. The marriage ceremonies are conducted in the standard Musalmân form. Bhânrs are generally Sunnis, except in Lucknow, where they are mostly Shiahs, and respect the Pânchonpîr (of whom the most regarded is Ghâzi Miyân) and Sayyid Hasan. To the Pânchonpîr are offered cakes (malîda), sharbat, garlands of flowers, and perfumes. Sayyid Hasan receives cakes, sweetmeats, flowers, and perfumes, at any time during the year. Food is offered to the sainted dead at the Shab-i-barât festival. The chief offering consists of the halwa sweetmeat, and cakes. The Chenr Bhânrs play on the small drum (dholak), and Kashmîris on the drum (tabla) and fiddle (sârangi). A popular proverb describes the Bhânr to be as [[258]]essential at an entertainment as a tiger in a forest,—Mahfil vîrân jahân Bhânr na bâshad; Jangal vîrân jahân sher na bâshad. They are notoriously exacting and abusive if offended. A proverb runs,—Rânr, Bhânr, Sânr, bigrê burê,—“The rage of a widow, a Bhânr, and a bull is terrible.” Another classes them with the monkey,—jaisê Lakkho bandariya vaisê Manva Bhânr—“Lakkho, the monkey, is like Manva, the actor”—“six of one and half a dozen of the other.” Dr. Buchanan quaintly describes them as “impudent fellows who make wry faces, squeak like pigs, bark like dogs, and perform many other ludicrous feats. They also dance and sign, mimicking and turning into ridicule the dancing boys and girls, on whom they likewise pass many jokes, and are employed on great occasions.”[137]