The Jats:Their Origin, Antiquity and Migrations/The Origin of Jat from Ajaat
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Manthan Publications, Rohtak. ISBN 81-85235-22-8
Chapter IV B:The Origin of Jat from AjaatNo topic has led to more absurdities than the speculations connected with the origin of the word "Jat". One of the most funny attempts at tracing the etymology of the term was made by Pt. Sagar Dutt Gaur, an advocate of Rohtak, who suggests that Jat is derived from "ajaat" which means "casteless". If this phonetic monstrosity is accepted as true, it would, perhaps, furnish the sole example of phonological transformation leading to the radically opposite meaning of the original term, for the so-called "ajaat" Jats have more or less 3500 surnames to their credit, if a surname is creditable.
The evidence offered by the learned advocate in support of his "theory" is that the surnames or the sub-castes (gotras or gots) of the Jats are found almost among all other communities in northern and north-western India. This, however, is true, not only in case of Jats, but also of other communities. There are common surnames or sub-castes, e.g. among Brahmans, Banias, Rajputs, Gujars, Khatris, etc. For instance, Muhar, Bhargava, Mudgil, Sandil, Nagar etc. are found common in various communities other than the Jats. Will such communities be "ajaat" in the eyes of our learned advocate?
This derivation, if true, would inadvertently pay a rare tribute to the ancestors of the Jats, who had managed to have a caste-less society in the past, though such a social system is still a distant dream of mankind. In one sense, however, the Jats may be said to be "ajaat". Being descendents of the ancient self-supporting republican tribes, with democratic and secular traditions, they never allowed "caste" to become an opprobrious label for any profession, however "low" it may have been rated in the Brahmanical parlance. It is possible, however, that in the numerous waves of migrations from one geographical area to another, under several types of pressures, confusion in caste names might have arisen when one tribe, either as a whole, or a number of its members, following different occupations, settled down in a new --- The Jats:Their Origin, Antiquity and Migrations: End of p.68
locality and mixed up occupation-wise with its original population, but bearing their erstwhile ethnic nomenclature, and known by the same in the new social set-up.
The relationship among the terms "caste", "sub-caste", "gotra and "pravar", though much debated, are still largely undefined, and one of the most confusing areas of investigation in Indian sociology. "Caste-names", have been multiplying in India through the ages, at especially in the recent past. To derive any conclusions from the proliferation is, to say the least, illogical and unscientific and, to be blunt, stupid and fantastic.
The Jats:Their Origin, Antiquity and Migrations: End of p.69