Bathinda

Bathinda, one of the smaller places in Punjab has a rich religious and cultural heritage. The history of the Bhatinda is associated with a number of religions. The historical monuments in the place are reminiscent of not only the Sikh culture but also that of Hindus and Muslims. It was in the jungles of Bhatinda that the 10th Guru, ShriGobind Singh Ji fought the Mogul forces. The place has a number of Gurudwaras dating back to the times of the Mogul Emperor, Aurnagzeb. The district derives its name from the district headquarters town of Bathinda, which is of great antiquity.

According to Khalifa Muhammad Hassan, author of History of Patiala, its ancient name was Bikramgarh. According to raverty, Bathinda was known as Tabarhindh (Labb-ut-Twarikh). According to IbnBatuta it was known as Batrind. The earliest mention of Tabarhindh occurs in the "Jami-Ul-Hakayat" written about 607 Hijri or 1211 AD. According to "Ainai-Barar Bans" Bathinda was built by BhatiRao, son of Bal Band, who became ruler of Punjab in 336 BikramiSambat. He also founded Bhatner. It was also called Whatinda and Bitunda which finally become known as Bhatinda.

But its name was changed to Bathinda on the authority of Survey of India to conform to the phonetical expression as locally pronounced. In recent times the town was conquered by Maharaja Ala Singh (near about 1754 AD) and since then it followed the history of erstwhile princely state of Patiala. With the dawn of indendence and merger of Patiala and East Punjab States into a division styled at PEPSU, Bathinda become full fledged district which states has combined even after the merger of PEPSU with erstwhile Punjab State in 1956. It consists of 285 villages out of which 281 are inhabited and 4 are uninhabited, eight towns and one census town.