[7][8] They reportedly originated in Mathura through a common ancestor named Rao Bhati, a descendant of Pradyumna.

[9][10] According to the seventeenth-century Nainsi ri Khyat, the Bhatis after losing Mathura moved to Bhatner in Lakhi Jungle, and from there to other locations in western and northwestern India including Punjab.

Rao Bhati conquered and annexed territories from 14 princes in Punjab, including the area of what is now modern-day Lahore.

[2] Bijai Rai II married the daughter of King Jayasimha Siddharaja of the Chaulukya dynasty, and their son, Bhojdeo, succeeded his father as Rawal in 1143.

[15] In 1156, Singh met a hermit named Eesaal, who told him a legend from the Hindu epic, Mahabharata.

[16][17] Eesaal told Singh that the Hindu deity Krishna, during the Kurukshetra War, wandered the desert with the Pandava Arjuna and prophesied that a citadel would be founded by a descendant of the Yadu dynasty on top of Trikuta Hill, a triple-peaked desert hill in what is now the modern-day city of Jaisalmer.

[16] Singh also chose Trikuta Hill for the location of Jaisalmer Fort because it would provide protection from other Bhati Rajput rivals and Muslims who had begun to make inroads into the Thar Desert.

[21] Singh is also claimed to be the ancestor of the royal families of Patiala, Nabha, Jind, Kapurthala, and Faridkot.