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Jat Sikh

April 12, 2024

Jat Sikh or Jatt Sikh (Gurmukhi: ਜੱਟ ਸਿੱਖ) is an ethnoreligious group and a subgroup of the Jat people and the Sikh people from the Indian subcontinent. They are one of the dominant communities in the Punjab, India owing to their large land holdings.[2] They form an estimated 20–25% of the population of the Indian state of Punjab.[3][4][5] They form at least half of the Sikh population in Punjab, with some sources estimating them to be about 60–66% appx. two-third of the Sikh population.[6][7][8][9][10][11]

Jat Sikh
ਜੱਟ ਸਿੱਖ
Regions with significant populations
India
Languages
Punjabi and its dialects[1]
• Lahnda • Hindi • Urdu
Religion
Sikhism
Related ethnic groups
Jat people

Etymology

The Jatt word is derived from Persian form of the ancient term Jit is Jatt (जट्ट) with short vowel and double short ‘t’.[12]It is described as One of the Thirty-six Royal Races

 
Tod Listed

History

 
Guru Nanak (left) seated and in-discussion with Ajita Randhawa (right), an early Jat disciple of Sikhism. Mardana is in the foreground. Painting from the B-40 Janamsakhi and was painted in 1733 by Alam Chand Raj.

Initially, some Jats started to follow the teachings of Guru Nanak, which did much to remove social barriers created by the sāvarṇa caste society.[13][14]: 59  Jats were previously indifferent towards deep religious affairs.[14]: 93 

While followers important to Sikh tradition like Baba Buddha were among the earliest significant historical Sikh figures, and significant numbers of conversions occurred as early as the time of Guru Angad (1504-1552),[15] the first large-scale conversions of Jats is commonly held to have begun during the time of Guru Arjan (1563-1606).[15][16]: 265  While touring the countryside of eastern Punjab, he founded several important towns like Tarn Taran Sahib, Kartarpur, and Hargobindpur which functioned as social and economic hubs, and together with the community-funded completion of the Darbar Sahib to house the Guru Granth Sahib and serve as a rallying point and center for Sikh activity, established the beginnings of a self-contained Sikh community, which was especially swelled with the region's Jat peasantry.[15] They formed the vanguard of Sikh resistance against the Mughal Empire from the 18th century onwards. Whilst W. H. McLeod was of the position that Jats only began to convert in large numbers to Sikhism and influence the community by the time of Guru Amar Das and certainly by the time of Guru Arjan, Pashaura Singh and Louis E. Fenech on the other hand opine that large scale conversions of Jats into Sikhism came about during Guru Nanak's time settled down in Kartarpur and living an agricultural lifestyle.[17]

It has been postulated, though inconclusively, that the increased militarisation of the Sikh panth following the martyrdom of Guru Arjan (beginning during the era of Guru Hargobind and continuing after) and its large Jat presence may have reciprocally influenced each other.[18][full citation needed][19]

At least eight of the 12 Misls of the Sikh Confederacy were led by Jat Sikhs,[20] who would form the vast majority of Sikh chiefs.[21]

According to censuses in gazetteers published during the colonial period in the early 20th century, further waves of Jat conversions, from Hinduism to Sikhism, continued during the preceding decades.[22][23] The relationship between the Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities of the Punjab region, and between communities such as the Jats and the Rajputs, has been ambiguous over many centuries. The various groups often claim similar origins while asserting their distinctiveness.[24]

Influence of Sikhism on Jats

 
"Jut women & Sikh priest of Jalundhur reading Grunth" (Guru Granth Sahib), circa 1860 painting.

Irfan Habib has argued that Sikhism did much to uplift the social status of Jat people, who were previously regarded in the Punjab as being of shudra or vaishya status in the Hindu ritual ranking system of varṇa.[25]

Kishan Singh says:

A serious contradiction afflicts the Jat farmer of the Punjab. He has unflinching faith in Guru Gobind Singh, yet at the same time he is imbued with traits typical of a Jat. There are two sides to the Jat's known traits. One has a positive effect in the sense that it saves him from feeling inferior; and the other side is negative. It makes him overbearing and arrogant which is a disease. A Jat's negative traits can be suppressed only through the true spirit of Sikhism.[26]

Army recruits

Major A.E Barstow comments, that due to their diet and their fondness for wrestling and weightlifting, they possessed good physical attributes for soldiery. According to R. W. Falcon, Jat Sikhs (alongside other Sikhs) were seen as a good source for recruitment.[27] According to Captain A. H. Bingley they were particularly loyal soldiers.[28]

The Jat Sikh community has constituted an important source of recruits for the Indian Army.[29] Many serve in the Indian Army, including the Jat Regiment, Sikh Regiment, Rajputana Rifles and the Grenadiers, where they have won many of the highest military awards for gallantry and bravery.[30]

Agriculture

 
19th century painting of Punjabi farmers irrigating fields

In Punjab (India), Jat Sikhs are associated with agricultural pursuits[31][32] and land ownership. They own more than 80%,[33] and possibly as much as 95%[34] of available agricultural land in Punjab. They often reside in the rural areas, and are economically influential in the state.[33]

Clans

 
'Map of Sikh Districts, Showing the Distribution of Jat Sikh Tribes, With Various Other Tribes and Castes' (1896) by Robert Worgan Falcon

Jat Sikhs have various clans, known as a got (clan or sub-caste; gotra in Hindi), which come under a particular zaat (tribe or caste; jati in Hindi), in Punjabi.[35][36][37][38] These clans generally claim descent from a common male ancestor,[36] are usually exogamous (with some exceptions),[note 1][39] and historically entire villages, and even clusters of villages, were often inhabited by entirely by a single clan.[35] The purpose for this was to provide protection for members of a clan by watching over each-other and uniting as a common group against any potential adversary.[35] Another reason is that members of a clan socially preferred their neighbours to also be from the same background as them.[35] Some Jat Sikh clans overlap with Hindu and Muslim Jat clans and clans may also be shared with other caste groups, such as Rajputs.[40][41][42][43] Clans can be further subdivided by muhin (sub-clan or locality) and patti (street).[44]

List of common Jat Sikh clans

Notable people

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Grewal clan is noted for marrying amongst themselves.

References

  1. ^ Schreffler, Gibb (2021). Dhol : drummers, identities, and modern Punjab. Urbana. ISBN 9780252053016. Whereas "Punjabi" functions as a cultural identity based on region, the degree to which it corresponds to an identity based on ethnicity is a question that this book explores through focus on the lives of peoples of Punjab origin who are pushed to the margins. The question is aggravated most prominently by a tendency to privilege a particular ethnic group, the Jatt, as the group most synonymous with Punjabi identity. The Jatt were a pastoral tribal people with origins in Central Asia who settled in Punjab and whose lifestyle, by the sixteenth century, had transformed into an agricultural one (Habib 2005, 66-68). As one of the well-established ethnicities of the region, they have greatly influenced cultural values. As a result especially of their role as landowners in a region where agriculture has been of great economic importance, Jatts, who also are the largest ethnic group, have become representative of Punjabi culture. It is telling that, in the seventeenth century, the language of the Sikh Gurus was described by a Persian-language author as "the language of the Jats of Punjab" (Grewal 2004a, 11)-even though the Gurus themselves were not Jatts. Further, when one combines ethnic and religious identity, one finds Jatt Sikhs occupy a perceived center, in international and mainstream Punjabi discourse, of the (India-based) Punjabi identity. Anthropologist Nicola Mooney has explored the intersection of both normative Jatt and Sikh identities, theorizing that Jatt Sikhs often participate in a "rural imaginary," a framework in which they imagine themselves as "central arbiter of [Punjab's] predominantly village-based culture" (2013, 279). It is not that Jatt Sikhs believe they are the only people with a claim to Punjabi identity. Rather, Jatt Sikh claims to Punjabi identity are unimpeachable, and they appear to be the group that most consistently and most exclusively identifies with Punjab.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Nicola Mooney (1995). "The Yeoman Jats of Punjab: Time, Expertise and the Colonial Construction of Jat Sikh Identity". Anthropologica. 55 (2). Anthropologica, vol. 55, no. 2, 2013, pp. 277–290: 277–290. JSTOR 24467328.
  3. ^ "The Jats in Punjab comprise only 21 per cent population of the total 60 per cent Sikhs, yet they have been ruling and dominating politics in Punjab for decades". India Today. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  4. ^ Pandher, Sarabjit (24 December 2013). . The Hindu. Archived from the original on 9 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  5. ^ "Congress for OBC quota to Jat Sikhs". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  6. ^ E. Marty, Martin; R. Scott Appleby (1991). "Chapter 10". Fundamentalisms observed. The University of Chicago Press. p. 623. ISBN 0-226-50878-1. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  7. ^ Taylor, S., Singh, M., Booth, D. (2007) Migration, development and inequality: Eastern Punjabi transnationalism. School of Social Sciences and Law, University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, UK; Department of Sociology, Punjab University, Chandigarh, India.
  8. ^ Puri, H. K. (2003) The Scheduled Castes in the Sikh Community – A Historical Perspective. Economic & Political Weekly (28 June 2003); Dalits in Regional Context (2004).
  9. ^ Judge, Paramjit S. (2015). "Caste Hierarchy, Dominance, and Change in Punjab". Sociological Bulletin. 64 (1): 55–76. doi:10.1177/0038022920150104. ISSN 0038-0229. JSTOR 26290720.
  10. ^ Martha Crenshaw (1995). Terrorism in context. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-01015-1.
  11. ^ E. Marty, Martin; R. Scott Appleby (1991). "Chapter 10". Fundamentalisms observed. The University of Chicago Press. p. 623. ISBN 0-226-50878-1. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  12. ^ Raza, S. Jabir (2004). The Jats of Punjab and Sind: Their settlements and migrations (c. 5th-12th AD). Vol. 1.
  13. ^ Singh 1981, pp. 205–207.
  14. ^ a b Singh, Jagjit (1985). Perspectives on Sikh Studies (PDF). Guru Nanak Foundation.
  15. ^ a b c Mandair, Arvind-pal Singh (2013). Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed (illustrated ed.). London, U.K.: A&C Black. pp. 36–42. ISBN 9781441102317.: 42 
  16. ^ Singh, Jagjit (1981). The Sikh Revolution: A Perspective View. New Delhi: Bahri Publications. ISBN 9788170340416.
  17. ^ Singh, Pashaura; Fenech, Louis E. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 40. ISBN 9780199699308. McLeod's claims that Jats only later became a force in the nascent Sikh Panth in the tradition's development, during the time of Guru Amar Das (1479-1574) and especially by the time of Guru Arjan (1563-1606), is therefore questionable (McLeod 1976: 9-11). It is more likely, as Pashaura Singh has suggested, that Jats began to more robustly populate Sikh ranks well into the period of the first Guru, probably during that terminal phase of the first Master's guruship, the Kartarpur period (Pashaura Singh 2010: 54-6).
  18. ^ McLeod, W. H. Who is a Sikh?: the problem of Sikh identity. The Jats have long been distinguished by their martial traditions and by the custom of retaining their hair uncut. The influence of these traditions evidently operated prior to the formal inauguration of the Khalsa.
  19. ^ Singh 1981, pp. 190, 265.
  20. ^ a b Dhavan, Purnima (3 November 2011). When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699-1799. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-19-975655-1.
  21. ^ Dhavan, Purnima (2011). When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699-1799 (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-0199756551. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  22. ^ The transformation of Sikh society — Page 92 by Ethne K. Marenco - The gazetteer also describes the relation of the Jat Sikhs to the Jat Hindus ...to 2019 in 1911 is attributed to the conversion of Jat Hindus to Sikhism. ...
  23. ^ Social philosophy and social transformation of Sikhs by R. N. Singh (Ph. D.) Page 130 - The decrease of Jat Hindus from 16843 in 1881 to 2019 in 1911 is attributed to the conversion of Jat Hindus to Sikhism. ...
  24. ^ Dhavan, Purnima (2011). When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699-1799. Oxford University Press. p. 134. ISBN 9780199756551.
  25. ^ . Punjabheritage.org. 16 September 2008. Archived from the original on 27 November 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2009. It was Sikhism which uplifted the social status of Jat community of Punjab, who earlier were considered as Sudras and Vaishas
  26. ^ . Worldsikhnews.com. 13 August 2008. Archived from the original on 24 January 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
  27. ^ Falcon, R.W. (Captain, 4th Sikh Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force), Handbook on Sikhs: for the use of Regimental Officers, Printed at the Pioneer Press, Allahabad, India, 1896, pp. 64–65.
  28. ^ Bingley, A.H. (Captain, 7th-Duke of Connaught's own Bengal Infantry, Handbook for the Indian Army: Sikhs, Compiled under the orders of the Government of India, Printed at the Government Central Printing Office, Simla, India, 1899, pp. 90–91, 11, 92.
  29. ^ Tan Tai Yong (2005). The Garrison State: The Military, Government, and Society in Colonial Punjab, 1849–1947. SAGE Publications. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-7619-3336-6. OCLC 57043090.
  30. ^ Ian Sumner (2001). The Indian Army 1914–1947. London: Osprey. pp. 104–105. ISBN 1-84176-196-6.
  31. ^ Leaf, Murray J. (1972). "8". Information and behavior in a Sikh village: social organization reconsidered. University of California. pp. 219. ISBN 0-520-02115-0. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
  32. ^ Singh, Jasbir; SS Dhillon (2006). "4". Agricultural geography (3rd ed.). Tata Mcgraw-Hill. p. 176. ISBN 0-07-053228-1. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
  33. ^ a b Taylor, S., Singh, M., Booth, D. (2007) Migration, development and inequality: Eastern Punjabi transnationalism. School of Social Sciences and Law, University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, UK; Department of Sociology, Punjab University, Chandigarh, India.
  34. ^ Ratan Saldi (6 June 2009). "Caste System Among Sikhs In Punjab". Asian Tribune.
  35. ^ a b c d e f Challenging the rule(s) of law : colonialism, criminology and human rights in India. Kalpana Kannabirān, Ranbir Singh. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications. 2008. p. 332. ISBN 978-81-321-0027-0. OCLC 501176322.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  36. ^ a b Bedi, Sohinder Singh Wanjara (1971). Folklore of the Punjab. Folklore of India series. Vol. 1. National Book Trust, India. p. 7.
  37. ^ Sekhon, Iqbal S. (2000). The Punjabis : the people, their history, culture and enterprise. New Delhi: Cosmo Publications. p. 9. ISBN 81-7755-052-7. OCLC 50420543.
  38. ^ KESSINGER, TOM G. (2022). VILYATPUR 1848-1968 : social and economic change in a north indian village. [S.l.]: UNIV OF CALIFORNIA PRESS. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-520-36696-1. OCLC 1337855297. 2. I will use tribe and caste interchangeably for the Punjabi term zat (Hindi jati) because this usage is common in the literature on the Punjab, particularly with reference to the landed groups. Similarly I will translate the Punjabi got (Hindi gotra) as both clan and sub-caste. Many authorities consider the got among the landed zat in Punjab to be fundamentally different from the gotra of the Brahmins. See Denzil Ibbetson, Punjab Castes (Lahore: Superintendent Government Printing, Punjab, 1916), pp. 20-22. While the two may differ in origin, they are identical in their place in the marriage system.
  39. ^ a b c d e f Pettigrew, Joyce J. M. (2023). "Chapter 4 Patterns of allegiance I". ROBBER NOBLEMEN a study of the political system of the sikh jats. [S.l.]: ROUTLEDGE. ISBN 978-1-000-85849-5. OCLC 1367232807.
  40. ^ a b Himachal Pradesh. People of India: States series. Vol. 24. K. S. Singh, B. R. Sharma, A. R. Sankhyan. Anthropological Survey of India. 1996. p. 88.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  41. ^ a b c d e Brard, Gurnam S. S. (2007). East of Indus : my memories of old Punjab. New Delhi: Hemkunt Publishers. p. 264. ISBN 978-81-7010-360-8. OCLC 174134280. Family names, originally called gotra, or just gote in Punjabi, were not normally used in the village, as most landowners in our village had the same family name anyway. But in other places people added the family names for better identification. Everyone's gotra name was known to others because it indicated your lineage, and it generally determined your caste and excluded you from marrying someone from the same family. Literate people referred to family names as zaat (race, kind) or sub-caste; and in Punjab a family name could indicate your religion, caste, occupation, place of origin and possibly your social status. For example in Punjab, a Gaur, Kaushal or Sharma is a Brahman; a Sodhi or Khanna is a Kshatri; an Aggarwal, Goel or Gupta is a shopkeeper caste; while the family names Sidhu, Sandhu, Dhillon, Gill, Brard, Birk, Maan, Bhullar, Garewal, Dhaliwal, Deol, Aulakh, Chahal, Mahal, Cheema, or Randhawa, are Jat Sikhs. As a result of conversions in the past, some Muslim Jats with similar family names can be found in the Pakistan part of Punjab. Some educated people, especially writers and poets, gave themselves new last names (tukhallus) to indicate their town of origin, personalities or ideals rather than indicating their family or caste.
  42. ^ Fenech, Louis E. (2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. W. H. McLeod (3rd ed.). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 77–78. ISBN 978-1-4422-3601-1. OCLC 881607325. CASTE. Sikhs explicitly reject caste in terms of status or privilege. Nanak denounced it, subsequent Gurus reinforced his message, and ritual observance confirms it. In gurdwaras all sit together, the only distinction being between men and women. All receive the same karah prasad and eat in the same langar, sitting in straight lines to do so. At Khalsa initiation all initiates must drink the same amrit. Caste is, however, retained within the Panth as a social order. The Gurus, who were all Khatris, married their children within the same caste. This convention has survived largely intact, and consequently virtually every Indian Sikh belongs to a particular caste (Hindi: jati; Punjabi: zat). Each zat is divided into a number of subcastes (Hindi: gotra, Punjabi: got), and Sikhs (like most other Indians) are endogamous by zat and exogamous by got. In terms of zat, an absolute majority are Jats. Other important castes with both Hindu and Sikh sections are the Khatri and Arora. Distinctive Sikh castes are the Ramgarhia, Ahluvalia, Mazhabi, and Ramdasia.
  43. ^ Cole, W. Owen (1997). A popular dictionary of Sikhism. Piara Singh Sambhi. Lincolnwood, Ill.: NTC Pub. Group. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-203-98609-7. OCLC 648154652.
  44. ^ Shackle, Christopher (1984). The Sikhs. Issue 65 of Report (Minority Rights Group). Atlantic Publishers & Distri. p. 149.
  45. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Journal of Regional History. Vol. 2. Department of History, Guru Nanak Dev University. 1981. p. 29.
  46. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as Singh, Kumar Suresh (1996). "Appendix B". Communities, Segments, Synonyms, Surnames and Titles. People of India: National series. Vol. 8 (Illustrated ed.). Delhi: Anthropological Survey of India. pp. 1355–1357. ISBN 0-19-563357-1. OCLC 35662663.
  47. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Coates, Richard; McClure, Peter (17 November 2016). The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. Oxford University Press. p. 716. ISBN 978-0-19-252747-9.
  48. ^ Hanks, Patrick (2003). Dictionary of American Family Names: 3-Volume Set. Oxford University Press. p. 43. ISBN 9780199771691. 9. Indian (Panjab): Sikh name, probably from Panjabi gil 'moisture', also meaning 'prosperity'. There is a Jat tribe that bears this name; the Ramgarhia Sikhs also have a clan called Gill.
  49. ^ Webster, John C. B. (22 December 2018). A Social History of Christianity: North-west India since 1800. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-909757-9.
  50. ^ McLeod, W. H.; Fenech, Louis E. (2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism (3rd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-4422-3600-4. BUDDHA, BHAI or BABA (trad. 1506–1631). A Jat from Kathu Nangal, who was originally called Bura Randhava.
  51. ^ Multiple sources:
    Tribalism in India, p 160, by Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, Edition: illustrated, Published by Vikas, 1978, Original from the University of Michigan
    Sociological Bulletin, p 97, by Indian Sociological Society, Published by Indian Sociological Society, 1952
    Indian Librarian edited by Sant Ram Bhatia, p 220, 1964. Item notes: v.19–21 1964–67, Original from the University of Michigan
    The Sikhs in History, p 92, by Sangat Singh, Edition: 2, Published by S. Singh, 1995, Original from the University of Michigan
    Some Aspects of State and Society Under Ranjit Singh, p 5 By Fauja Singh, Published by Master Publishers, 1981, Original from the University of Michigan
    Preminder Singh Sandhawalia (1999). Noblemen and Kinsmen History of a Sikh Family: History of a Sikh Family. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. ISBN 81-215-0914-9
    Jean-Marie Lafont, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Lord of the Five Rivers. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002).
  52. ^ Syan, Hardip Singh (2014). "Sectarian Works". In Singh, Pashaura; Fenech, Louis E. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford University Press. p. 178. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199699308.013.030. ISBN 978-0-19-969930-8. ... the narrator of the Bala Janamsakhi, Bhai Bala, a Sandhu Jat and ...
  53. ^ Bhagata, Siṅgha (1993). A History of the Sikh Misals. Publication Bureau, Punjabi University. p. 241. Deep Singh Shahid, a Sandhu Jat and resident of the village of Pohuwind of the pargana of Amritsar ...
  54. ^ Singh, Satyindra (1995). Siṅgh, Harbans (ed.). Kāhn Siṅgh, of Nābhā (3rd ed.). Patiala, Punjab, India: Punjab University, Patiala, 2011. pp. 409-410. ISBN 9788173805301. Retrieved 18 January 2020. ...in a Dhillon Jatt family...
  55. ^ a b Dhavan, Purnima (3 November 2011). When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699-1799. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-19-975655-1.
  56. ^ Murray, Sandra Constance (1984). All in the Family: A Study of Family Life in a Jat-Sikh Village. University of California, San Diego. p. 162.
  57. ^ Siṅgha, Kirapāla (1994). The Historical Study of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Times. the University of Michigan. p. 56. ISBN 978-81-7116-163-8.
  58. ^ Copland, Ian (16 May 2002). The Princes of India in the Endgame of Empire, 1917-1947. Cambridge University Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-521-89436-4.
  59. ^ Falcon, Robert Worgan (1896). Handbook on Sikhs for the Use of Regimental Officers. Pioneer Press. p. 64.

Further reading

  • Mooney, Nicola (2011). Rural Nostalgias and Transnational Dreams: Identity and Modernity Among Jat Sikhs. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0802092571. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  • Pettigrew, Joyce J. M. (1975). Robber noblemen: A study of the political system of the Sikh Jats (1st ed.). Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 978-0710079992. Retrieved 30 April 2019.

April 12, 2024
sikh, jatt, sikh, gurmukhi, ethnoreligious, group, subgroup, people, sikh, people, from, indian, subcontinent, they, dominant, communities, punjab, india, owing, their, large, land, holdings, they, form, estimated, population, indian, state, punjab, they, form. Jat Sikh or Jatt Sikh Gurmukhi ਜ ਟ ਸ ਖ is an ethnoreligious group and a subgroup of the Jat people and the Sikh people from the Indian subcontinent They are one of the dominant communities in the Punjab India owing to their large land holdings 2 They form an estimated 20 25 of the population of the Indian state of Punjab 3 4 5 They form at least half of the Sikh population in Punjab with some sources estimating them to be about 60 66 appx two third of the Sikh population 6 7 8 9 10 11 Jat Sikhਜ ਟ ਸ ਖRegions with significant populationsIndiaLanguagesPunjabi and its dialects 1 Lahnda Hindi UrduReligionSikhismRelated ethnic groupsJat people Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 3 Influence of Sikhism on Jats 4 Army recruits 5 Agriculture 6 Clans 6 1 List of common Jat Sikh clans 7 Notable people 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 Further readingEtymologyThe Jatt word is derived from Persian form of the ancient term Jit is Jatt जट ट with short vowel and double short t 12 It is described as One of the Thirty six Royal Races nbsp Tod ListedHistory nbsp Guru Nanak left seated and in discussion with Ajita Randhawa right an early Jat disciple of Sikhism Mardana is in the foreground Painting from the B 40 Janamsakhi and was painted in 1733 by Alam Chand Raj Initially some Jats started to follow the teachings of Guru Nanak which did much to remove social barriers created by the savarṇa caste society 13 14 59 Jats were previously indifferent towards deep religious affairs 14 93 While followers important to Sikh tradition like Baba Buddha were among the earliest significant historical Sikh figures and significant numbers of conversions occurred as early as the time of Guru Angad 1504 1552 15 the first large scale conversions of Jats is commonly held to have begun during the time of Guru Arjan 1563 1606 15 16 265 While touring the countryside of eastern Punjab he founded several important towns like Tarn Taran Sahib Kartarpur and Hargobindpur which functioned as social and economic hubs and together with the community funded completion of the Darbar Sahib to house the Guru Granth Sahib and serve as a rallying point and center for Sikh activity established the beginnings of a self contained Sikh community which was especially swelled with the region s Jat peasantry 15 They formed the vanguard of Sikh resistance against the Mughal Empire from the 18th century onwards Whilst W H McLeod was of the position that Jats only began to convert in large numbers to Sikhism and influence the community by the time of Guru Amar Das and certainly by the time of Guru Arjan Pashaura Singh and Louis E Fenech on the other hand opine that large scale conversions of Jats into Sikhism came about during Guru Nanak s time settled down in Kartarpur and living an agricultural lifestyle 17 It has been postulated though inconclusively that the increased militarisation of the Sikh panth following the martyrdom of Guru Arjan beginning during the era of Guru Hargobind and continuing after and its large Jat presence may have reciprocally influenced each other 18 full citation needed 19 At least eight of the 12 Misls of the Sikh Confederacy were led by Jat Sikhs 20 who would form the vast majority of Sikh chiefs 21 According to censuses in gazetteers published during the colonial period in the early 20th century further waves of Jat conversions from Hinduism to Sikhism continued during the preceding decades 22 23 The relationship between the Hindu Muslim and Sikh communities of the Punjab region and between communities such as the Jats and the Rajputs has been ambiguous over many centuries The various groups often claim similar origins while asserting their distinctiveness 24 Influence of Sikhism on Jats nbsp Jut women amp Sikh priest of Jalundhur reading Grunth Guru Granth Sahib circa 1860 painting Irfan Habib has argued that Sikhism did much to uplift the social status of Jat people who were previously regarded in the Punjab as being of shudra or vaishya status in the Hindu ritual ranking system of varṇa 25 Kishan Singh says A serious contradiction afflicts the Jat farmer of the Punjab He has unflinching faith in Guru Gobind Singh yet at the same time he is imbued with traits typical of a Jat There are two sides to the Jat s known traits One has a positive effect in the sense that it saves him from feeling inferior and the other side is negative It makes him overbearing and arrogant which is a disease A Jat s negative traits can be suppressed only through the true spirit of Sikhism 26 Army recruitsMajor A E Barstow comments that due to their diet and their fondness for wrestling and weightlifting they possessed good physical attributes for soldiery According to R W Falcon Jat Sikhs alongside other Sikhs were seen as a good source for recruitment 27 According to Captain A H Bingley they were particularly loyal soldiers 28 The Jat Sikh community has constituted an important source of recruits for the Indian Army 29 Many serve in the Indian Army including the Jat Regiment Sikh Regiment Rajputana Rifles and the Grenadiers where they have won many of the highest military awards for gallantry and bravery 30 Agriculture nbsp 19th century painting of Punjabi farmers irrigating fieldsIn Punjab India Jat Sikhs are associated with agricultural pursuits 31 32 and land ownership They own more than 80 33 and possibly as much as 95 34 of available agricultural land in Punjab They often reside in the rural areas and are economically influential in the state 33 Clans nbsp Map of Sikh Districts Showing the Distribution of Jat Sikh Tribes With Various Other Tribes and Castes 1896 by Robert Worgan FalconJat Sikhs have various clans known as a got clan or sub caste gotra in Hindi which come under a particular zaat tribe or caste jati in Hindi in Punjabi 35 36 37 38 These clans generally claim descent from a common male ancestor 36 are usually exogamous with some exceptions note 1 39 and historically entire villages and even clusters of villages were often inhabited by entirely by a single clan 35 The purpose for this was to provide protection for members of a clan by watching over each other and uniting as a common group against any potential adversary 35 Another reason is that members of a clan socially preferred their neighbours to also be from the same background as them 35 Some Jat Sikh clans overlap with Hindu and Muslim Jat clans and clans may also be shared with other caste groups such as Rajputs 40 41 42 43 Clans can be further subdivided by muhin sub clan or locality and patti street 44 List of common Jat Sikh clans Aulakh 45 46 Bains 45 46 Baiks 46 Bajwa 46 Bal 46 Bhalli 46 Bharai 40 46 Bhullar 41 46 Brar 41 46 Buttar 46 Chahal 39 46 Chatha 45 46 Cheema 45 46 Deol 41 Dhadwal 47 Dhaliwal 46 Dhillon 39 46 Dhindsa 46 Dhingra 46 Gandhi 46 Gill 35 48 46 Grewal 35 46 Ghuman 46 Hundal Her 46 Kahlon 45 Kang 45 46 Karg 46 Kars 46 Khaira 45 Maan 39 45 46 Margat 46 Mahal 41 46 Mangat 46 Odi 46 Pannu 46 Pavun 46 Punia 46 Randhawa 45 46 Saharia 46 Sahi 46 Sandhu 39 46 Sara 45 46 Sarai 45 Sahota 49 Sidhu 39 45 46 Saggu Sohal 46 Toor 46 Uppal 46 Virk 45 46 Virla 46 Warraich 46 Notable peopleBaba Buddha first granthi custodian and reader of the Guru Granth Sahib 50 Ranjit Singh the Jat Sikh 51 Emperor of the Sikh Empire Bhai Bala follower and companion of Guru Nanak first Guru of Sikhism and one of the most revered in Sikhism 52 Nawab Kapur Singh leader of Singhpuria Misl 20 Baba Deep Singh first head of Misl Shaheedan Tarna Dal 53 Kahn Singh Nabha 54 Sikh scholar Heera Singh Sandhu founder of Nakai Misl 55 Sada Kaur chief of the Kanhaiya Misl 55 Datar Kaur queen consort of Maharaja Ranjit Singh 56 Jind Kaur regent of the Sikh Empire 57 Bhupinder Singh Maharaja of the princely state of Patiala in British India from 1900 to 1938 58 Rajinder Singh Maharaja of the princely state of Patiala in British India from 1876 to 1900 59 See alsoList of Jats KhalsaNotes The Grewal clan is noted for marrying amongst themselves References Schreffler Gibb 2021 Dhol drummers identities and modern Punjab Urbana ISBN 9780252053016 Whereas Punjabi functions as a cultural identity based on region the degree to which it corresponds to an identity based on ethnicity is a question that this book explores through focus on the lives of peoples of Punjab origin who are pushed to the margins The question is aggravated most prominently by a tendency to privilege a particular ethnic group the Jatt as the group most synonymous with Punjabi identity The Jatt were a pastoral tribal people with origins in Central Asia who settled in Punjab and whose lifestyle by the sixteenth century had transformed into an agricultural one Habib 2005 66 68 As one of the well established ethnicities of the region they have greatly influenced cultural values As a result especially of their role as landowners in a region where agriculture has been of great economic importance Jatts who also are the largest ethnic group have become representative of Punjabi culture It is telling that in the seventeenth century the language of the Sikh Gurus was described by a Persian language author as the language of the Jats of Punjab Grewal 2004a 11 even though the Gurus themselves were not Jatts Further when one combines ethnic and religious identity one finds Jatt Sikhs occupy a perceived center in international and mainstream Punjabi discourse of the India based Punjabi identity Anthropologist Nicola Mooney has explored the intersection of both normative Jatt and Sikh identities theorizing that Jatt Sikhs often participate in a rural imaginary a framework in which they imagine themselves as central arbiter of Punjab s predominantly village based culture 2013 279 It is not that Jatt Sikhs believe they are the only people with a claim to Punjabi identity Rather Jatt Sikh claims to Punjabi identity are unimpeachable and they appear to be the group that most consistently and most exclusively identifies with Punjab a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Nicola Mooney 1995 The Yeoman Jats of Punjab Time Expertise and the Colonial Construction of Jat Sikh Identity Anthropologica 55 2 Anthropologica vol 55 no 2 2013 pp 277 290 277 290 JSTOR 24467328 The Jats in Punjab comprise only 21 per cent population of the total 60 per cent Sikhs yet they have been ruling and dominating politics in Punjab for decades India Today 16 January 2012 Retrieved 27 February 2016 Pandher Sarabjit 24 December 2013 Parties in Punjab decry exclusion of Jat Sikhs from reservation The Hindu Archived from the original on 9 December 2020 Retrieved 18 December 2019 Congress for OBC quota to Jat Sikhs The Times of India Retrieved 18 December 2019 E Marty Martin R Scott Appleby 1991 Chapter 10 Fundamentalisms observed The University of Chicago Press p 623 ISBN 0 226 50878 1 Retrieved 2 April 2010 Taylor S Singh M Booth D 2007 Migration development and inequality Eastern Punjabi transnationalism School of Social Sciences and Law University of Teesside Middlesbrough UK Department of Sociology Punjab University Chandigarh India Puri H K 2003 The Scheduled Castes in the Sikh Community A Historical Perspective Economic amp Political Weekly 28 June 2003 Dalits in Regional Context 2004 Judge Paramjit S 2015 Caste Hierarchy Dominance and Change in Punjab Sociological Bulletin 64 1 55 76 doi 10 1177 0038022920150104 ISSN 0038 0229 JSTOR 26290720 Martha Crenshaw 1995 Terrorism in context Pennsylvania State University Press ISBN 978 0 271 01015 1 E Marty Martin R Scott Appleby 1991 Chapter 10 Fundamentalisms observed The University of Chicago Press p 623 ISBN 0 226 50878 1 Retrieved 2 April 2010 Raza S Jabir 2004 The Jats of Punjab and Sind Their settlements and migrations c 5th 12th AD Vol 1 Singh 1981 pp 205 207 a b Singh Jagjit 1985 Perspectives on Sikh Studies PDF Guru Nanak Foundation a b c Mandair Arvind pal Singh 2013 Sikhism A Guide for the Perplexed illustrated ed London U K A amp C Black pp 36 42 ISBN 9781441102317 42 Singh Jagjit 1981 The Sikh Revolution A Perspective View New Delhi Bahri Publications ISBN 9788170340416 Singh Pashaura Fenech Louis E 2014 The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies 1st ed Oxford University Press p 40 ISBN 9780199699308 McLeod s claims that Jats only later became a force in the nascent Sikh Panth in the tradition s development during the time of Guru Amar Das 1479 1574 and especially by the time of Guru Arjan 1563 1606 is therefore questionable McLeod 1976 9 11 It is more likely as Pashaura Singh has suggested that Jats began to more robustly populate Sikh ranks well into the period of the first Guru probably during that terminal phase of the first Master s guruship the Kartarpur period Pashaura Singh 2010 54 6 McLeod W H Who is a Sikh the problem of Sikh identity The Jats have long been distinguished by their martial traditions and by the custom of retaining their hair uncut The influence of these traditions evidently operated prior to the formal inauguration of the Khalsa Singh 1981 pp 190 265 a b Dhavan Purnima 3 November 2011 When Sparrows Became Hawks The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition 1699 1799 Oxford University Press USA p 60 ISBN 978 0 19 975655 1 Dhavan Purnima 2011 When Sparrows Became Hawks The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition 1699 1799 1st ed Oxford University Press p 63 ISBN 978 0199756551 Retrieved 5 November 2018 The transformation of Sikh society Page 92 by Ethne K Marenco The gazetteer also describes the relation of the Jat Sikhs to the Jat Hindus to 2019 in 1911 is attributed to the conversion of Jat Hindus to Sikhism Social philosophy and social transformation of Sikhs by R N Singh Ph D Page 130 The decrease of Jat Hindus from 16843 in 1881 to 2019 in 1911 is attributed to the conversion of Jat Hindus to Sikhism Dhavan Purnima 2011 When Sparrows Became Hawks The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition 1699 1799 Oxford University Press p 134 ISBN 9780199756551 Punjabi university news bulletin Punjabheritage org 16 September 2008 Archived from the original on 27 November 2010 Retrieved 10 August 2009 It was Sikhism which uplifted the social status of Jat community of Punjab who earlier were considered as Sudras and Vaishas WSN Op Ed The Malaise of Jat Consciousness Worldsikhnews com 13 August 2008 Archived from the original on 24 January 2010 Retrieved 10 August 2009 Falcon R W Captain 4th Sikh Infantry Punjab Frontier Force Handbook on Sikhs for the use of Regimental Officers Printed at the Pioneer Press Allahabad India 1896 pp 64 65 Bingley A H Captain 7th Duke of Connaught s own Bengal Infantry Handbook for the Indian Army Sikhs Compiled under the orders of the Government of India Printed at the Government Central Printing Office Simla India 1899 pp 90 91 11 92 Tan Tai Yong 2005 The Garrison State The Military Government and Society in Colonial Punjab 1849 1947 SAGE Publications p 187 ISBN 978 0 7619 3336 6 OCLC 57043090 Ian Sumner 2001 The Indian Army 1914 1947 London Osprey pp 104 105 ISBN 1 84176 196 6 Leaf Murray J 1972 8 Information and behavior in a Sikh village social organization reconsidered University of California pp 219 ISBN 0 520 02115 0 Retrieved 9 May 2010 Singh Jasbir SS Dhillon 2006 4 Agricultural geography 3rd ed Tata Mcgraw Hill p 176 ISBN 0 07 053228 1 Retrieved 9 May 2010 a b Taylor S Singh M Booth D 2007 Migration development and inequality Eastern Punjabi transnationalism School of Social Sciences and Law University of Teesside Middlesbrough UK Department of Sociology Punjab University Chandigarh India Ratan Saldi 6 June 2009 Caste System Among Sikhs In Punjab Asian Tribune a b c d e f Challenging the rule s of law colonialism criminology and human rights in India Kalpana Kannabiran Ranbir Singh Thousand Oaks Calif SAGE Publications 2008 p 332 ISBN 978 81 321 0027 0 OCLC 501176322 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint others link a b Bedi Sohinder Singh Wanjara 1971 Folklore of the Punjab Folklore of India series Vol 1 National Book Trust India p 7 Sekhon Iqbal S 2000 The Punjabis the people their history culture and enterprise New Delhi Cosmo Publications p 9 ISBN 81 7755 052 7 OCLC 50420543 KESSINGER TOM G 2022 VILYATPUR 1848 1968 social and economic change in a north indian village S l UNIV OF CALIFORNIA PRESS p 9 ISBN 978 0 520 36696 1 OCLC 1337855297 2 I will use tribe and caste interchangeably for the Punjabi term zat Hindi jati because this usage is common in the literature on the Punjab particularly with reference to the landed groups Similarly I will translate the Punjabi got Hindi gotra as both clan and sub caste Many authorities consider the got among the landed zat in Punjab to be fundamentally different from the gotra of the Brahmins See Denzil Ibbetson Punjab Castes Lahore Superintendent Government Printing Punjab 1916 pp 20 22 While the two may differ in origin they are identical in their place in the marriage system a b c d e f Pettigrew Joyce J M 2023 Chapter 4 Patterns of allegiance I ROBBER NOBLEMEN a study of the political system of the sikh jats S l ROUTLEDGE ISBN 978 1 000 85849 5 OCLC 1367232807 a b Himachal Pradesh People of India States series Vol 24 K S Singh B R Sharma A R Sankhyan Anthropological Survey of India 1996 p 88 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint others link a b c d e Brard Gurnam S S 2007 East of Indus my memories of old Punjab New Delhi Hemkunt Publishers p 264 ISBN 978 81 7010 360 8 OCLC 174134280 Family names originally called gotra or just gote in Punjabi were not normally used in the village as most landowners in our village had the same family name anyway But in other places people added the family names for better identification Everyone s gotra name was known to others because it indicated your lineage and it generally determined your caste and excluded you from marrying someone from the same family Literate people referred to family names as zaat race kind or sub caste and in Punjab a family name could indicate your religion caste occupation place of origin and possibly your social status For example in Punjab a Gaur Kaushal or Sharma is a Brahman a Sodhi or Khanna is a Kshatri an Aggarwal Goel or Gupta is a shopkeeper caste while the family names Sidhu Sandhu Dhillon Gill Brard Birk Maan Bhullar Garewal Dhaliwal Deol Aulakh Chahal Mahal Cheema or Randhawa are Jat Sikhs As a result of conversions in the past some Muslim Jats with similar family names can be found in the Pakistan part of Punjab Some educated people especially writers and poets gave themselves new last names tukhallus to indicate their town of origin personalities or ideals rather than indicating their family or caste Fenech Louis E 2014 Historical Dictionary of Sikhism W H McLeod 3rd ed Lanham Rowman amp Littlefield Publishers pp 77 78 ISBN 978 1 4422 3601 1 OCLC 881607325 CASTE Sikhs explicitly reject caste in terms of status or privilege Nanak denounced it subsequent Gurus reinforced his message and ritual observance confirms it In gurdwaras all sit together the only distinction being between men and women All receive the same karah prasad and eat in the same langar sitting in straight lines to do so At Khalsa initiation all initiates must drink the same amrit Caste is however retained within the Panth as a social order The Gurus who were all Khatris married their children within the same caste This convention has survived largely intact and consequently virtually every Indian Sikh belongs to a particular caste Hindi jati Punjabi zat Each zat is divided into a number of subcastes Hindi gotra Punjabi got and Sikhs like most other Indians are endogamous by zat and exogamous by got In terms of zat an absolute majority are Jats Other important castes with both Hindu and Sikh sections are the Khatri and Arora Distinctive Sikh castes are the Ramgarhia Ahluvalia Mazhabi and Ramdasia Cole W Owen 1997 A popular dictionary of Sikhism Piara Singh Sambhi Lincolnwood Ill NTC Pub Group p 59 ISBN 978 0 203 98609 7 OCLC 648154652 Shackle Christopher 1984 The Sikhs Issue 65 of Report Minority Rights Group Atlantic Publishers amp Distri p 149 a b c d e f g h i j k l m Journal of Regional History Vol 2 Department of History Guru Nanak Dev University 1981 p 29 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as Singh Kumar Suresh 1996 Appendix B Communities Segments Synonyms Surnames and Titles People of India National series Vol 8 Illustrated ed Delhi Anthropological Survey of India pp 1355 1357 ISBN 0 19 563357 1 OCLC 35662663 Hanks Patrick Coates Richard McClure Peter 17 November 2016 The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland Oxford University Press p 716 ISBN 978 0 19 252747 9 Hanks Patrick 2003 Dictionary of American Family Names 3 Volume Set Oxford University Press p 43 ISBN 9780199771691 9 Indian Panjab Sikh name probably from Panjabi gil moisture also meaning prosperity There is a Jat tribe that bears this name the Ramgarhia Sikhs also have a clan called Gill Webster John C B 22 December 2018 A Social History of Christianity North west India since 1800 Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 909757 9 McLeod W H Fenech Louis E 2014 Historical Dictionary of Sikhism 3rd ed Rowman amp Littlefield p 73 ISBN 978 1 4422 3600 4 BUDDHA BHAI or BABA trad 1506 1631 A Jat from Kathu Nangal who was originally called Bura Randhava Multiple sources Tribalism in India p 160 by Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya Edition illustrated Published by Vikas 1978 Original from the University of MichiganSociological Bulletin p 97 by Indian Sociological Society Published by Indian Sociological Society 1952Indian Librarian edited by Sant Ram Bhatia p 220 1964 Item notes v 19 21 1964 67 Original from the University of MichiganThe Sikhs in History p 92 by Sangat Singh Edition 2 Published by S Singh 1995 Original from the University of MichiganSome Aspects of State and Society Under Ranjit Singh p 5 By Fauja Singh Published by Master Publishers 1981 Original from the University of MichiganPreminder Singh Sandhawalia 1999 Noblemen and Kinsmen History of a Sikh Family History of a Sikh Family Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers ISBN 81 215 0914 9Jean Marie Lafont Maharaja Ranjit Singh Lord of the Five Rivers Oxford Oxford University Press 2002 Syan Hardip Singh 2014 Sectarian Works In Singh Pashaura Fenech Louis E eds The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies Oxford University Press p 178 doi 10 1093 oxfordhb 9780199699308 013 030 ISBN 978 0 19 969930 8 the narrator of the Bala Janamsakhi Bhai Bala a Sandhu Jat and Bhagata Siṅgha 1993 A History of the Sikh Misals Publication Bureau Punjabi University p 241 Deep Singh Shahid a Sandhu Jat and resident of the village of Pohuwind of the pargana of Amritsar Singh Satyindra 1995 Siṅgh Harbans ed Kahn Siṅgh of Nabha 3rd ed Patiala Punjab India Punjab University Patiala 2011 pp 409 410 ISBN 9788173805301 Retrieved 18 January 2020 in a Dhillon Jatt family a b Dhavan Purnima 3 November 2011 When Sparrows Became Hawks The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition 1699 1799 Oxford University Press USA p 61 ISBN 978 0 19 975655 1 Murray Sandra Constance 1984 All in the Family A Study of Family Life in a Jat Sikh Village University of California San Diego p 162 Siṅgha Kirapala 1994 The Historical Study of Maharaja Ranjit Singh s Times the University of Michigan p 56 ISBN 978 81 7116 163 8 Copland Ian 16 May 2002 The Princes of India in the Endgame of Empire 1917 1947 Cambridge University Press p 59 ISBN 978 0 521 89436 4 Falcon Robert Worgan 1896 Handbook on Sikhs for the Use of Regimental Officers Pioneer Press p 64 Further readingMooney Nicola 2011 Rural Nostalgias and Transnational Dreams Identity and Modernity Among Jat Sikhs University of Toronto Press ISBN 978 0802092571 Retrieved 1 April 2019 Pettigrew Joyce J M 1975 Robber noblemen A study of the political system of the Sikh Jats 1st ed Routledge amp Kegan Paul ISBN 978 0710079992 Retrieved 30 April 2019 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Jat Sikh amp oldid 1217848925, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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