Bhanot is a subcaste of Punjabi Saraswat Brahmins in North India. There is a legend in punjabi folks which hints the warrior heritage of bhanot clan brahmins.In ancient Punjab, Bhanots ruled the region of present Bathinda for decades and had close knits with the Bhatti and Mohyal rulers of that time.

Bhanot clan is member of Vatsa/Jamdagni gotra (clan), which is found in Bhrigu section of gotras with the pravar rishis [rishis to whom a person belonging to a gotra traces back his lineage to [Chyavan, Apravan, Aurav, Richik, Jamdagni (father of Parshuram)] with mool Rishi being Bhrigu.^[1] These Brahmins are also called martial Brahmins along with Mohyal Brahmins.

Some people of Rajput community also use the surname most of whom considered themselves an offshoot of Bhanot Brahmin lineage.^{[citation needed]}

Bhanot are a part of Asthwan/Athawan sub group of Punjabi Brahmins which includes Joshi, Kural, Pathak, Bhardwaj, Sannd, Shourie and Bhanot. The Bhanot surname should not be confused with Banotra, Bhanotra, Bhangotra, who are Brahmins from Jammu (like Bamotra, Gangotra, Gubgotra, Mangotra, Pangotra, Pasotra) having their mool (origin) Rishi, Brahmarishi Vashisht.^[2]

Notable people with the surname include:

• Neerja Bhanot (1963–1986), Indian purser
• Shaleen Bhanot (born 1983), Indian actor
• Tarun Bhanot (born 1971), Indian politician

Surname list

This page lists people with the surname Bhanot.
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.