Bhanot (Rajput)

Bhanot is a subcaste of Rajputs in North India. Bhanot literally means those who lived in the woods (ban) or away from others (ot).

Alternate etymology

There are multiple theories behind the Bhanot name. The king of Bhathinda in Punjab state was of Rajput clan, his Rajpurohit (chief priest) was Saraswat Brahmin of Vats gotra. During one war when the fort was AbOUT to be captured all women including wife of rajpurohit went suttee (jumped into fire). As she was pregnant with a baby boy, due to the heat the baby fall out of her womb. After the war was over, king treated that baby boy as his son.People called him Bhanot means "born out of fire".

The boy later on married two women one Brahmin and one Rajput, that is how Brahmin Bhanots and Rajput Bhanots originated. The king who had adopted the son of his rajpurohit, was a Rajput and the biological father of the boy (The rajpurohit) was a Brahmin. It happenned about 400 years ago in or around Bhathinda.