Sindhi Jats

The Sindhi Jats (Sindhi: سنڌي جت/جاٽ) are the Sindhi community, who are the indigenous population of Sindh.^[1][2][3][4]

Sindhi Jats

Languages
Sindhi (different dialects).
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Jats

Background

The Jats of Sindh are mainly divided into three sections:

1. First are Larai Jutts/Jat (Sindhi: جت) known for their ancient ancestral camel-herding profession,^[5][6] they speak Juttki/Jatki a very old dialect of Sindhi language,^[7] Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai has also written some poems in Juttki/Jatki dialect of Sindhi, in his famous book of "Shah jo Risalo". These Jutts are in much love with Shah latif, as much as so they memorize whole book of Shah jo Risalo, and make their children remember the whole book. In fact in older times, the boys and girls were not got married until they memorized the whole book. These jutts are mainly found in "Lāṛu" region of lower Sindh, the city "Jati" is named after them.^[8][9]
2. Central Sindhi Jats (Sindhi: جاٽ).^[10]
3. Sirai Jats (Sindhi: سيرائي جاٽ).^[11]

History

The Chachnama mentions the Sama, Sahita, Channa, Lohana, Meds and Jats as the ancient indigenous people of Sindh.^[12] There is probably also the mention of Sindhi jats in Hindu epic Mahabharata, in which jats are mentioned as inhabitants of Sindh, and they were associated with sea and river occupations.^[13]

The Sindhi Jats were pastoralists in lower Sindh, the original homeland of the Sindhi Jats was the lower Indus valley of Sindh. They were nomadic pastoralists who had migrated from the lower Indus river valley of Sindh to the northern parts of Sindh (including present day Multan) and later to Punjab and other north Indian regions.^[14][15][16] Some of these Sindhi jats migrated as far as Iraq,^[17] Middle East and in Persian Gulf countries. There are also many Sindhi Jats living in Bandar Abbas in Iran.^[11] They were originally Hindus by religion and were the earliest people of Indian subcontinent who had interaction with the pre-islamic inhabitants of Iran and Middle East, multiple trading communities of Jats existed in the pre-Islamic Arabia.^[18] They were referred as Zutts (Arabic: الزُّطِّ, romanized: Az-Zutt) by arabs in early Arab writings, and as (Jat-an or Jaat) by Persians.^[8] The arabs also called them Al Asawera, Al Siyabij, Al Andargar, Madan, etc.^[11] They were also present in Mesopotamia and Syria.^[1]

Sindhi Jats were the first people of Indian subcontinent who embraced Islam during Prophet Muhammad era,^[19] they fought on the side of Ali in the Battle of the Camel in 656 under their chief, Ali B. Danur.^[20] The Sindhi Jats of Arabia helped Muhammad bin Qasim in the conquest of Sind in the eighth century.^[21][11]

See also

• Sindhi Sammat
• Sindhi Rajputs

References

1. Nahyan, Mansoor Bin Tahnoon Al; Hussain, Jamal; Ghafoor, Asad ul (2019-05-09). Tribes of Pakistan. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-5275-3439-1.
2. Khushalani, Gobind (2006). Chachnamah Retold : An Account Of The Arab Conquest Of Sindh. Bibliophile South Asia. ISBN 978-81-85002-68-2. JATS: One of the important tribes of ancient Sindh, generally a farming community.
3. Butt, Allah Rakhio (1998). Papers on Sindhi Language & Linguistics. Institute of Sindhology, University of Sindh. p. 280. ISBN 978-969-405-050-8.
4. Allānā, G̲h̲ulām ʻAlī (1986). Sindi Culture: A Preliminary Survey. Indus Publications. pp. 3 and 100.
5. Cheesman, David (2013-12-16). Landlord Power and Rural Indebtedness in Colonial Sind. New Delhi, India, Asia: Routledge. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-136-79449-0.
6. "Indus Delta's unique 'Kharai' camels on verge of extinction". Daily Times. 2017-10-28. Retrieved 2024-01-22. Jatt (Also Jat or Jath) is an ingenious community in lower Sindh, Makran and Katch (or Kachh) area of India.
7. "جت : (Sindhianaسنڌيانا)". www.encyclopediasindhiana.org (in Sindhi). Retrieved 2024-01-22.
8. Wink, André (2002). Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam 7Th-11th Centuries. BRILL. pp. 154–160. ISBN 978-0-391-04173-8.
9. "Indus Delta's unique 'Kharai' camels on verge of extinction". Daily Times. 2017-10-28. Retrieved 2024-01-22. In the famous love story of Sassi Punnuh from Sindhi folklore, Punnuh was a Jatt from Makran who falls in love with Sassi and came to Sindh to marry her. Famous Sindhi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai has also sung about Jatts and their camels in his poetry.
10. Pirzada, Din Ali (1995). Growth of Muslim Nationalism in Sindh: Parting of Ways to Pakistan. Mehran Publishers.
11. Khair Mohammad Buriro Sewhani (2005). ذاتين جي انسائيڪلوپيڊيا (in Sindhi). pp. 236–237.
12. Bukhari, Mastoor Fatima. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
13. "جت : (Sindhianaسنڌيانا)". www.encyclopediasindhiana.org (in Sindhi). Retrieved 2024-01-22. [The first mention of the Jat tribes may have been made in the Mahabharata, in which the Jats are described as inhabitants of Sindh and associated with sea and river occupations.]
14. Asher, Catherine B.; Talbot, Cynthia (2006-03-16). India Before Europe. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-80904-7.
15. Tiemann, Günter (1963). "Review of The Jat of Pakistan". Anthropos. 58 (5/6): 936–938. ISSN 0257-9774. JSTOR 40456070.
16. Khazanov, Anatoly M.; Wink, Andre (2012-10-12). Nomads in the Sedentary World. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-12194-4.
17. Wink, André (1991). Indo-Islamic society: 14th - 15th centuries. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-13561-1. ...and although some of these migrated as far as Iraq,
18. Nahyan, Mansoor Bin Tahnoon Al; Hussain, Jamal; Ghafoor, Asad ul (2019-05-09). Tribes of Pakistan. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-5275-3439-1.
19. Nizam, Muhammad Huzaifa (2023-01-15). "HOW THE INDUS VALLEY FED ISLAM'S GOLDEN AGE". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2024-01-22. these Jatts, known as Zutt in Arabic, were amongst the earliest in Persia to accept Islam and thus join with the Muslim armies in their further conquests. They were also later replenished with more of their men, when the Indus Valley fell into the hands of the Ummayad Caliphate in 711 CE.
20. Zakeri, Mohsen (1995). Sasanid Soldiers in Early Muslim Society: The Origins of 'Ayyārān and Futuwwa. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-03652-8.
21. Mayaram, Shail (2003). Against History, Against State: Counterperspectives from the Margins. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-12730-1.