History of Origin of Some Clans in India/Jat From Jutland/The Characteristics of Jats
History of Origin of Some Clans in India
(with special Reference to Jats)
By Mangal Sen Jindal (1992)
Publisher - Sarup & Sons, 4378/4B, Ansari Road, Darya Ganj, New Delhi-110002, ISBN 81-85431-08-6
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Chapter 1: Jat From Jutland
The Characteristics of Jats
Jats, Their Characteristics and Also as a People Both Martial and Tillers of the Land:
Jats are found at present practically all over the world. In Americas, though very few in number, they migrated from India and Europe. In Australia and Central or South Africa, they may not be available, but history proves that they had reached Egypt with Mohemedan conquerors and in China with Mangol army. In Persia and Uzbekistan, they were the greatest headache to Timer Lung and in India, of course, Moghul Emperors were tired of the Jats. Mohmud Gazni came from the kingdom of Gaur in Persia, for the last time only to take revenge from the Jats as will be found in later portion of this work. Whenever and wherever they may be, their characteristics are common, as we find from the descriptions of various historians.
Characteristics of 'JATS'
Jats are brave, intelligent, hard working and possess capacity to rule. They are less merciful. They want to sub-due other people of their settlements. They form good soldiers and officers in military. There may not be a person in India who has not heard of the chivalry of Jat and Sikh regiments in wars against Pakistan. Most of the Sikhs are 'Jats'. They are the backbone of cultivation in the country and have added to the produce food grain and sugarcane to a great extent. They have proved to be best farmers and work very hard with the soil. Their women and children go side by side in cultivation. Primarily they formed a martial race and then established to cultivation.
'Jats' up to past 30 years were very fond of horses. Every Chowdhry must possess a good horse to ride on. He took vanity in horse possession. Now the position of conveyance in India has changed from animal to machinery. Still they are fond of good breed bullocks and powerful tractors. There was a time when a Jat without a horse was looked down in his society. Nowadays 'jats' are well read and possess high positions in all branches of academic and technical subjects.
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'Jats' as we find them in India are fair in colour, tall, well-built. They have beautiful features.
The Jat Itihas refers to "The History of Aryan rule in India, page 32" that "Ethnographic investigation show that the Indo-Aryan type described in the Hindu Epic-a tall, fair complexioned, long headed race, with narrow prominent noses, broad shoulders, long arms, thin waists like lion and thin legs like a deer is now (as it was in the earliest times) most confined to Kashmere, the Punjab and Rajasthan represented by the Jats, Khatiris and Rajputs". Jat Itihas, page 120.
It further refers to Mr. Nesfield who said "If appearance goes for anything the Jats could not but be Aryans". It refers to Dr. Britain who has written "Their (Jats) intellectual faculties are not brilliant partaking more of shrewdness and cunning than ability." Jat Itihas, page 121.
They love gardens, Chopal was a necessity in every Jat village, Generally they choose one elderly man to be the Head of their village. They are very loyal to the country of their habitation.
They love drinks and are non-vegetarian by nature. They want to clad themselves in shining cloths and desire to possess rarities. They are experts in picking up the trail of thieves or stolen animals which was a necessity in nomads of those days.
The Jat Itihas on pages 63 and 64 refers to Mohmad Bin Kasim who looted India in 712 A.D. and Mahmood of Gazni who also looted India up to Meerut in 1058. Jats had a Kingdom near about Multan where they robbed Mahmood Gazni of nearly half of his loot, while he was on his way back to Gazni. In between Gazni and Herat, there was Bodh religion under Gaur rulers.
"Jat" approaches most closely to that ascribed to the traditional Aryan colonists of India. The stature is mostly tall, complexion fair, eyes dark, hair on face plentiful, head long, nose narrow and prominent but not very long. Page 2,. see Risley's People of India," History of Jats by Qanungo page 8. ".
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"The Jats were in possession of the North Western division of Rajasthan before the Rajpoots entered the provinces, and there is good ground for believing that they had been there for a long period. Some persons have formed the idea that Jats are a branch of the Indo-Scythian from the bank of the Oxus." Hindu Tribes and Castes, Vol.III, page 73.
"Respecting the physical characteristics of the Jats, Dr. Brereton makes the following remarks: in physique the Jats are generally a fair height, but below the average of Rajputs and other castes. Their chest measurement and weight are in fair proportion to their height; the extremities, especially the lower, are often disproportionate to their abnormal length.
The women are of very strong physique, exceeding the men in this respect, proportionately speaking. They are not remarkable for personal beauty, but some have very fine figures. They are also most industrious and contented, working in the fields , but are said to rule their husbands. The prevailing complexion is a fair, and the colour of the eyes dark; the hair is dark, fine and straight, beard and moustachios scanty, and the former not usually worn. The cravia are of tolerably fair size and shape, often elongated, altogether a lower type than the Brahman skull. Their intellectual faculties are not brilliant, partaking more of shrewdness and cunning than ability. They are said to possess courage and fidelity, are industrious and preserving in their habits, and are of agile and muscular frame (The Rajputana Gazetteer Vol. I, page 162)." Hindu Tribes and Castes, Vol. Ill, page 73.
"The Jats, as well as the tribes of Merwara, permit the remarriage of widows. A man may marry the widow of his elder brother. In all the castes,-a widow who has no sons retains her deceased husband's property till her death or remarriage. The youngest brother has the first claim to marry the widow of a deceased brother. Widow marriage is called Natha. Marriage within the same Gotra of family order, are regarded as incestuous are for bidden." Hindu Tribes and Castes, Vol HI, page 75.
"Or the numerous Jat tribes of the Punjab, more than two-
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fifths-that is one million three hundred and nine thousand-
have embraced the creed of Islam. They are most numerous
in Gujranwala, in the Gujrat district of Rawalpindi, in Muzaffargarh, in Dera Ghazi Khan and in Sialkote" Hindu Tribes and Castes, Vol. 1I, page 70.
"A very numerous people in the Punjab, from whom (Jats) have proceeded the greatest proportion of adherents to the Sikh religion. But they have spread themselves far beyond the Punjab and are to be found wildly scattered over the country between it and Bharatpur and Agra. This energetic and industrious race had distinguished itself in various ways, especially in agricultural pursuits. The Jats are the chief cultivators in the province (Punjab and Frontier). They are also excellent soldiers, and as such exhibit all that sturdiness and boldness of character which has marked them in times of peace. The Hindu Jats in the Punjab number one million eight hundred and seventy six thousand persons." Hindu Tribes and Castes Vol.II page 74.
Jat of the Bombay Presidency is "a pastoral tribe originally from Aleppo in Turkey. Once they held some parts of Cutch as rulers, but were driven by the Jarejas into Warad and Bajana, where they rule at present. They are in the North. West of Cutch." Hindu Tribes and Castes, Vol. If, page 241.
The Jats are the most important element in the rural population of the Punjab and the western districts of the North Western Provinces. The last Census (near about 1924) gives the following figures as the population of the Jats in the several provinces of India where they are found-
| Province | Population |
|---|---|
| Panjab | 4,625,523 |
| Rajputana | 1,056,160 |
| N. W. Provinces | 701,259 |
| Kashmir | 142,595 |
| Central India | 56,530 |
| Sindh | 45,526 |
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"The Jats do not wear the sacred thread; and have among them Certain customs which are more like those of the Sudras than of the twice- born castes. But in every other respect they are like the Rajputs. Ordinarily;the majority of both the Jats and the Rajputs have by practising agriculture. But when the occasion arises, the Jats can wield the sword as well as the most aristocratic of the military castes. The late lion of the Panjab and many of his leading generals were of the Jat tribe. To the same clan belongs also the Maharaja of Bharatpur, whose ancestors, from the beginning of the last century, played an important part in the politics of Northern India, and at the time of the conquest of the Doab by Lord Lake compelled that great general to raise the siege of Bharatpur which he had undertaken. The present reigning family of Dholpur are also Jats. The Jats them seves claim to be Ksatriyas. But as they do not wear the holy thread, they are usually looked upon as having the status of only clean Sudras. There cannot therefore be inter-marriage between the Jats and the Rajputs. The Jats are like the Rajputs, divided into large number of exogamous groups, and, among them, as among the superior Ksatriyas, marriage is impossible between parties who are members of the same clan. The Jats have been supposed, by some of the best authorities on Indian ethnology and antiquities; to be a Scythic tribe. General Cunninghan identifies them with the Zanthii of Strabo and the Jatii of Pliny and Ptolomy, and fixes their parent country on the banks of the oxus between Bactria, Hyrkania, and Khorasmia. But the sufficiency of the grounds on which this view rests has been questioned, Prichard remarks:
The supposition that the Jats of the Indus are descendants of the Yuetschi does not appear altogether proposterious, but it is supported by no proof except the very trifling one of a slight resemblance of names. The physical characters of the Jats are extremely different from those attributed to the Yuetschi and the kindred tribes by the writers cited by Klaporth and Abel Remusat who say they are of sanguine complexions with blue eyes. Researches IV, 132.
The question cannot possibly be answered in a satisfactory manner so long as the ethnology and history of Russia and
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Central Asia are not carefully investigated by scholars.
The quiet and industrious Jat, so long as he remained a cultivator of the fields, never concerned himself with his neighbours' affairs or prospects; but when he saw a lawless set of Sikh robbers, with numerous followers, and apparently in the enjoyment of every luxury of life, which he found it impossible, with every exertion of himself and his family, to procure, it is no wonder that he was often tempted to renounce his life of oil and trouble for the less irksome pursuits of robber." Hindu Casts and Sects by J.N. Bhattacharya, page 511 Mcgregors' History of the Sikhs Vol. I, page 157.
"The castes the eagerly joined the standard of the Sikh Gurus were the agricultural Jats, the tranding Roras, and the tribe of seavengerscalled Churaha. The Jats like the Marathas, are a fighting nation by instinct. Perhaps the iron rule of the Rajputs repressed the martial ardour of both for ages. But when the Rajputs were subverted by the Mohamedans, and the Mohamedans themselves became too weak to wield the sword with success, the Jats in the north, like Marathas in the south, required only competent leaders at their head to urge them on to "the paths of glory they lead but to the grave." The Jats are looked down upon by the Rajputs, and that was perhaps one of the great motives why the former willingly submitted to the leadership of the Sikh Gurus, and discarded the authority of the Brahmans who supported the pretensions of the 'King's sons.' The Roras were similarly looked down upon by the Kshattris and had a similar motive to attain to a position higher than theirs. Whatever was the cause, the Jats and the Roras formed the backbone of the Sikh brotherhood," Hindu Caste and Sects, By J.N. Bhattacharya, page 512.
"It is likely that the Jats, always enterprising and eager for military service, migrated beyond the Indus and mercenaries of the Persian and Maurya Emperors." History of Jats by Qanungo, page 24.
"When Muhammad Bin Qasim invaded the territory of Dahir the Jats of the Western border joined the invader, while those of the eastern countries fought for Dahir. (See Chach Name, a Mirza Kalich Beg's translation pp. 124-137.)" [[History of Jats by Qanungo]], page 28.
"There is no distinction among them (fats) of great and small. They have the disposition of savages and always rebelled against their sovereign. They plunder on the roads and within the territory of Debal all join with them in their highway robberies. (Elliot i. I S7). History of Jats by Qanungo, page 29.
"Jats are certainly the most theatrical of the present communities in North India. The Sikh Jats of the Punjab perhaps tops them all. They describe their initiation into the Sikh or Khalsa fold as a highly theatrical more by Guru Gobind Singh"-Article in the Hindustan Times Weekly dated 25th July 1976 under the style "A fondness for Mine" by Sant Singh Sekhon.
Shri M.S. Randhawa in his article 'Farmers Extraordinary' published in Hindustan Times Weekly dated July 25th, 1974 has also described characteristics of Jats, some extracts from which are as follows:
"in forming, Punjabi Jats have proved to be the best in India. They were foremost in embracing Sikhism which is the faith that brought about a social revolution in North India five centuries ago. It broke the fetters of the caste system and provided equal opportunities to the oppressed and the down-trodden to attain human dignity. The new faith promoted dignity of labour and exhorted its followers to earn their living by manual work. It gave a new status to agriculture declaring to be the best of professions.
Punjabi Jats form the core of the human element in agriculture. They are the largest in numbers. Sainis, Kambohs, Labanas, Mahtans, Gujjars, and Bishnois come next in order. So numerous and dominant are the Jats that some of their gotras (clans) are larger than the biggest non-Jat farming community.
The Punjabi Jats are more mobile compared with other Indian communities, have spread all over India, and have even emigrated to many foreign countries; Sizable numbers of them
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have settled in California, Western Canada, the United Kingdom and Malaya. They are ready to go anywhere in the world where there is opportunity for work and a good wage.
They have many things in common with the Scots; they work hard, are good fighters, and love alcohol. They also have a sense of humour and considerable self confidence and can enjoy a joke at their own expense. In fact, they have themselves invented most of the jokes current about them. Scholars who have studied in Punjab have praised their qualities of hard work, courage, intelligence and tenacity. They are great-workers and, like the Scots, they have spread all over the globe. In fact, agriculture and service in the army are their main professions. "
Shri Raj Gill has described characteristics of Jats of India in his article "The Sikh Jats-A down-to-earth people" published in Hindustan Times Weekly dated July 25th, 1974. Some extracts of importance are reproduced below:
Many communities in India are perhaps as brave and adventurous as the Sikh Jats of Punjab. But it is debatable whether, like the Jats, they can laugh at themselves, lay down their life for the sake of honour and friendship or carry on a vendetta for generations.
The Jats in Delhi have preserved all these and several other traits that mark them as a distinct entity. This they do without stepping out of the mainstream of like which they have come to influence to no small extent.
Like many other communities, the Jats came to Delhi in search of employment. With the partition of the country in 1947, there was a large exodus from the fertile colonies of West Punjab. But the rural-oriented Jats had to face frustration, they found it difficult to complete with the educated class for white collar jobs. Self-employment was the obvious answer and soon the community began spreading into different professions.
A Jat is essentially a tiller of the land, yet he responds to battle-cry spontaneously. How does such an enigmatic
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combination of traits, so intense and so native, survive the drudgery of city life?
In social life he is as "fast" as any Delhite. He drinks,dances, goes to the movies. All this he does in the Jat way-gate-crashing into every 'walk of life. That's one thing he admits and is proud of it.
Conservative by nature, the Jats rarely marry into other communities. Their awareness of their cultural identity can be seen in the Jat Sikh Association in Delhi. The J.S.A. helps them find jobs and arrange matrimonial alliances. It has even founded a colony for those wanting to settle down Delhi."
Shri Gulzar Singh Sandhu has given vivid and correct description of the Jats in his article "Pride and Pragmatism-Jats Values of Life" published in Hindustan Times Weekly dated July 25th 1974. He has explained the characteristics of Jats in manner that no portion of it can he left. Hence I have to reproduce it in full as under:
"Jats are essentially a village born people who must own some land for cultivation. All the Jats in a village consider themse1ves to be the descendants of the man who they believe founded it with the owner of the sword generations ago. It was he who started cultivating the land. The blacksmiths, carpenters and other artisans followed suit. Thus a Jat takes pride in tracing his fore-fathers to contemporaries of Jehangir, Aurangzeb or Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
In a Jat's life, loyalty of friends and relative plays a more significant role than the sense of belonging to his village. He has a passion for power and dominance. He look upon, marriage (this or his dependants') as the chief means of achieving this. He is on the look-out for a bride or a bridegroom from a well connected family.
The Jats like to get things done by others. They may employ Mazhbis (the low caste) to commit murder and Granthis (priests) to read the scriptures. No wonder Jats make difficult subordinates and comfortable bosses.
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No Jat wants to be ruled. He desires power over a group if not, over an area. Only once in the past (except during British Rule) has a large part of the undivided Punjab been controlled by one man - Ranjit Singh. Among themselves however the Jats do not recognise any superior. Even Ranjit Singh was conscious of their will to defy-Ire never gave them any position of power. Their desire for power stems from the long periods of insecurity they have endured.
The social status of a Jat is determined by the size of his holding and one way of keeping It large is to have a smaller humbers of heirs by limiting the number of child-bearing women. This explains the practice of sharing the wife of an elder brother prevalent in certain area.
As cultivable land rose in value with the passage of time, the Jat concept of honour came to be associated with one's ability to spend. A Jat's status was determined by his creditworthiness with a money- lender: no salvation without a Guru and no honour without a money-lender: The Jats started mortgaging their land with the money-lender. It is said that once a God-fearing Jat was not allowed to enter Heaven because God feared he might mortgage Heaven too!
The Green Revolution has brought the Jats a lot of money. And the new-rich have taken to alcohol in a big way. They do not consider it bad. They brink to win over others.
"Drink makes you feel equal to the person seated by your
side, more than you would be otherwise," They would explain,
win they must, to acquire more power and prestige. To make
others yield is the Jat's motto.
The Jat believes in doing every thin well and with speed, if he decides to entertain, he entertains lavishly- he places not a glass of whiskey in front or a guest, but the whole bottle. If he beats his enemy he beats him to death. The enemy is invariably another Jat "who should be treated as dead only after the funeral rites."
To sum up, the Jat approach to life is tribal and feudal on the one hand and pragmatic on other. Pride has been
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responsible for pulling them up and pulling them down, pragmatism has lent them grace and balance.
"The Jat writer himself considers his occupation as of no consequence and gets no kick out of it. He is there almost against his will. As the BritiSh Sociologist Dr. Joyce Pethgrew says: "the Jats have a passion for dominance." And writing is hardly the way to satisfy it. The most eminent living Jat writer Sant Singh Sekhon, is never tired of affirming that he had always wanted to be a politician so that "he could order I.A.S. Officers about." The Hindustan Times Weekly July 25th 1974, Articles styled 'The Literary Landscape' by Kulwant Singh Virk.
"The Jat is of all the Panjab races the most impatient of the tribal or communal control and the one which asserts the freedom of the individual most strongly. In tracts where, as in Rohtak, the Jat tribes have the field to them selves, and are compelled, in default of rival castes or enemies, to fall back upon each other for somebody to quarrel with, the tribe ties are strong. But as a rule a Jat is a man who does what seems right in his own eyes and sometimes what seems wrong also, and will not be said may be any man ..... He is independent and he is self-willed; but he is reasonable, and peaceably inclined if left alone." History of Jats by Qanungo, page 3.
"The Jat invariably marries the widow of his elder brother, and this alone stands in the way of his being recognised as a pure Kshatriya. But it is a custom which obtained in the Vedic age among the pure Aryans of the three higher castes. "
A passage in the Rigveda quoted by Zimmer shows that in some cases, at any rate, the widow married her husband's young brother. History of Jats by Qanungo, page 4.
"Family (kunbha) may fight against family; one sect against another, but when it is a question of tribal honour or quarrel with a rival caste, every member of the clan, capable of wielding a lathi (quarter-staff), Will loyally assemble to carry out implicitly the order of the tribal elders, laying aside for
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the moment their own differences." History of Jats by Qanungo, page 5.
"Previous to the year 375 the attempts of the Germans to penetrate into the Empire (Roman) appear to have been due to their love of conquest, their love of adventure, their hope of enjoying some of the advantages of their civilised neighbours, or the need of new lands for their increasing numbers. The Romans, by means of their armies and walls, had up to this time succeeded in preventing the barbarians from violently occupying their territory. But suddenly a new force appeared which thrust the Germans out upon the weakened Empire. The Huns, a Mongolian folk from Central Asia, swept down upon the Goths, who were a German tribe settled upon the Danube, and forced a part of them to seek shelter across the river, within the boundries of the Empire. Here they soon fell out with the imperial officials, and a great battle was fought at Adrianople in 378 in which the Goths defeated and slew the emperor, Valens. The Germans had now not only broken through the boundaries of the empire, but they had also learned that they could defeat the Roman legions. The battle of Adrianople may, therefore, be said to mark the beginning of the conquest of the western part of the Empire by the Germans. For some years, after the battle of Adrianople the various bands of west Goths or Visigoths, as they are often called were induced to accept the terms offered by the emperor's officials and some of the Goths agreed to serve as soldiers in the Roman armies." History of Western Europe .... page 25.
"Before long, one of the German chieftains, Alaric, became dissatisfied with the treatment that he received. He collected an army, of which the nucleus consisted of West Goths, and set out for Italy. Rome fell into his hands in 410 and was plundered by his followers. Alaric appears to have been deeply impressed by the sight of the civilization about him. He did not destroy the city, hardly even did serious damage to it, and he gave especial orders to his soldiers not to injure the churches or their property.
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Alaric died before he could find a satisfactory spot for his people to settle upon - permanently. After his death the West Goths wandered into Gaul, and then into Spain, which had already been occupied by other barbarian tribes, the Vandals and Suevi. These had crossed the Rhine into Gaul for years before Alaric took Rome; for three years they devastated the country and then proceeded across the Pyrenees. When the West Goths reached Spain they quickly concluded peace with the Roman government. They then set to work to fight the Vandals, with such success that the emperor granted them a considerable district (419) in Southern Gaul, where they established a West Gothic Kingdom. Ten years after, the Vandals moved on into Africa, where they founded a kingdom and extended their con trot over the Western Mediterranean. Their place in Spain was taken by the West Goths who, under their king, Ruric (466-484), conquered a great part of the peninsula, so that their kingdom extended from the Loire to the Straits of Gibraltar"- History of Western Europe pages 26-27.