Watal

Painting of huts of the Watal tribe of Kashmir, during Sikh rule, by Godfrey Thomas Vigne, 1836

The Watal are a community and caste of Kashmiri Muslims indigenous to the Kashmir Valley of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The term 'Watal' also means cobbler in the Kashmiri language. The community is known by many names such as Batal, Battal, and Batul. They natively speak an unclassified Indo-Aryan language called Sheikhgal, or Watali.

The Shupir Watals, who claim to have been also known as Hamādānī Sheikh, are of uncertain origin. They are found mainly in the areas of Srinagar, Tangmarg, Baramulla and Sopore. They speak an Indo-Aryan language known as Sheikha gal or Watali.

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