The Jats:Their Origin, Antiquity and Migrations/Foreword
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Manthan Publications, Rohtak. ISBN 81-85235-22-8
Foreword
Page VII
Principal Hukam Singh Pawar's book on "The Jats:Their Origin, Antiquity and Migrations" utilizes evidence from a wide variety of sciences as well as native and foreign sources to build a thesis which is start1ingly fresh. It is thought-provoking to the point of being provocative. These sources were either unavailable to the earlier writers on this vexed problem or were inadvertently (or perhaps deliberately) missed by them. This is a well-documented work which brings together a vast fund of unfamiliar material on a subject that has so far been much controversial. Among other things, it makes a serious attempt to offer a well-reasoned explanation of the different interpretations of the orthography and pronunciation of the word "Jat" and its "Variants", and makes an honest attempt to extricate this term from the quagmire of fantasy and legend to place it on a firm footing.
Some of the main components of the author's thesis may generate considerable controversy, but the confidence with which these formulations have been advanced and the amplitude of the supporting evidence that has been assiduously gathered to justify them are likely to blunt the sharpness of the possible assaults to which these may be subjected. Making a radical departure from the prevalent view that Scythians were non-Aryan invaders from the north-west, the author holds that they were Aryans and were the original inhabitants of the Sapta Sindhu whence they radiated in all directions. He asserts further that the Jats are the descendants of the Scythians (Sakas), a dissident branch of the Aryans, that theseAryan-Scythian progenitors of the Jats migrated from Sapta Sindhu in pre-historic times, to central Asian countries, (the Fertile Crescent), Europe and the New World and to the countries of South-East Asia in the historic period, and that there have been waves of reverse-migrations from those far off climes of mainly central Asia and other neighbouring countries of the north-west back to India at different occasions in the pre-historic and historic times. The author further holds, on the basis of what seems to be well-authenticated evidence that the original Ayodhya and Vaisali were situated in what is now called Pakistan, that the Zoroastrians (Yazatas), were Jats who as a result of a religious schism among Aryans, separated from the Indo-Aryans in circa 8000 B.C., that a number of their ancestors were the Seers and Sages of the Rig Veda, that the only recension of the Rig Veda available at present is the creation of the
Page VIII
forefathers of the Jats, that the Jamadagneyas, of whom Parsurama was a scion, were of foreign origin and that the ancestors of the Aryo-Scythian-Jats were among the probable authors of the Harappan and Mehargarh cultures.
One may not agree with all these unconventional hypotheses which the author has tried to establish. One may believe that these need careful thought and further probe, but what stands out is the fact that the issues framed by the author pose a challenge to those interested in unraveling these much-debated, much-muddled and greatly controversial topics. For one thing, the book makes good reading in spite of some avoidable repetitions, for both the literati and the laity, and will serve as a spring-board for new enthusiasts interested in similar research to take off. Whatever else may be said about this book, it is certain that it will earn the credit of being "more than before, different from before and better than before",
August 27, 1993
Brigadier O.P. Chaudhry
M.A. (History & Pol. Sciencie). V.S.M. (Rtd.), Vice Chancellor,
Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak.