The Basith are a Hindu caste found in Jammu and Kashmir. According to the 2001 Census of India, the caste had 18,866 members.
Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Community.Vasisth(Infantry), Meghi or Megh-Fighting in Rain or mud like situations (a type of Navy)and Bral(Signal force/espionage ) are Misls of Banda Banda Singh Bahadur which later became castes.Bral is misspelt of Brawl-a English word.Brawl means mimicker, Brawl misl was raised by Baba Gudass Singh at Koppal, Karnataka. Baba Gurdass Singh was military Chief and Vadeshi Wazir(Foreign foreign affairs minister) of Guru Gobind Singh,who raised Brawl Misles at Koppal,Karnataka with British help in secrecy.Baba Gurdass Singh was Uncle(Mama Ji) of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur of village Nangal, Bhai Alam Singh Nachna was cousin (son of Aunty) Baba Gurdass Singh of Nangal. Alam Singh Nachna was of Syal Village Naushera(J&K), now Syalsui or Sialsui village of Kalakote (Dist Rajouri). Baba Banda Singh Bahadur himself was of sub caste Charnal having Bhardwaj Gotra son of Bhai Ram Dev and Mata Sulakhni Devi of village Rajouri, now District HQ. Those who were recruited in Vasisth Misls used Vasisth titles , those were in Meghi misl used Megh titles and those in Brawl Misles used Bral titles at Lohgarh, during British rules Rajput was used with Vasisth in whole North India, but Basith those became Sikh harshly opposed the Rajput titles and never accepted Rajput titles.Reason was Rajputs were in Mughals Alliance against Baba Banda Singh Bahadur and were present during the Martyrdom of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur.He was espionage commander (officer) of Raja Udey Singh of Chamba State before joining Guru Gobind Singh at Naded Sahib. In Chamaba, he married Kunwar Susheel after establishing Khalsa Capital at Lohgarh known as Mata Susheel Kour in Punjab , Punjab.Chamba in Himachal Pradesh in the nineteenth century to Poonch. The Vashisth Rajput speak Pahari and their customs are similar to neighboring communities, such as the Domaal. They are a Hindu community in a predominantly Muslim region. They were traditionally cultivators. The Vashisth Rajput maintain distance from neighboring Muslim communities with strict restrictions on eating together. [1]
The Basith population is small. Many are farmers and indulged in agriculture. They worship Ganga, the Gita, and Gow Mata. Sub-castes of basiths includes Telchub, Chasyal, Charnal, Sukhwal, Sanghal, Sanwal, Kalyal, Mandyal, Pandhyal, Malyal, Pachyal, Badhan, Chatriyal etc.
The basith are endogamous and practice clan exogamy. Their clans are called zaats and include the Chatriyal, Chimal, Raine, Sangwal; Kangwal; Bangwal; Chasyal; Kalyal etc. each of which have their own origin legend. A number of zaats then form a gotra . For example, the Chatriyal belong to the Changin 'gotra, the Charnals have Bardwaj gotra, Sanwal have Tanwar gotra ,Sadhyal have Pawar Got, Malyal(or Muyals) belong to Panwar Gotra, Gujyal belong to Parihar Got, Kakyal have Kahyap Got, Barwal belong to Sheel(Sheela) got,chachwal belongs to Teel(Teela) Got, Telchubs have Beniwal ggotra, Mandayal have Manak gotra, Pandyal have Danak gotra,Bangwal have Upman got, Sukhwal have Sihag gotra, Raine belongs to Deval Gotra(Raine have their origin from Kanol village,Deval block,now District Chamoli,Garhwal). Like many North Indian Hindus, the basith community have an informal caste council called a biradari panchayat. Each of their settlements have this informal body, headed by a chaudhary in Hindus/Thakkar in Sikhs. Thakkar or Chaudhary means head of Tribal society (some mistakenly took it as Thakur, but it is Thakkar). The panchayat deals with all intra-community disputes, as well as those who breach community norms. Marriages with other communities also takes place excommunicated. They worship the Hindi pantheon as well as their clan gods and goddesses, called kul-devitas. [1] . During British Period many were given Rajput titles, traditional Rajputs called them Khas Rajput, Khas is considered derogatory by community, Vasisth Rajput those were Sikh during British Period and after through judiciary(Jammu and Kashmir High Court) removed Vasisth Rajput, still using Basith tittles.They still considering Vasisth as the misl of Banda Singh Bahadur(military confideracy like Sukarchakiya Misl of Maharaj Ranjit Singh and other misls), not caste. Mostly don't used Gotra or caste titles because of their Sikh Faith. Basith like Jat, Yadav is very large community, not small one, but under different Rajput titles they became Rajput during British rule in different states.Britisher gave them Rajput titles to fulfill the requirements of soldiers to fuel World Wars by recruiting them in British Indian Army. Now, they all are claiming to be Rajput historically,except only Sikhs of twin district of Rajouri Poonch of Jammu and Kashmir, so we don't want to mention them living under different Rajput titles in various Indian states, it's their choice under the process of sanskritisation.