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

Jat Sikh (or Jatt Sikh) are an ethnoreligious group and a subgroup of the Jat people and the Sikh religious group from the Indian subcontinent. They are one of the dominant communities in the Punjab, 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[6][7] of the Sikh population in Punjab, with some sources estimating them to be about 60%[7][8] to 66%[9] of the Sikh population.

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.[10][11]: 59  Jats were previously indifferent towards deep religious affairs.[11]: 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),[12] the first large-scale conversions of Jats is commonly held to have begun during the time of Guru Arjan (1563-1606).[12][13]: 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.[12] 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.[14]

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.[15][16]

At least eight of the 12 Misls of the Sikh Confederacy were led by Jat Sikhs,[17] who would form the vast majority of Sikh chiefs.[18]

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.[19][20] 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.[21]

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.[22]

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.[23]

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.[24] According to Captain A. H. Bingley they were particularly loyal soldiers.[25]

The Jat Sikh community has constituted an important source of recruits for the Indian Army.[26] 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.[27]

Agriculture

19th century painting of Punjabi farmers irrigating fields

In Punjab (India), Jat Sikhs are associated with agricultural pursuits[28][29] and land ownership. They own more than 80%,[8] and possibly as much as 95%[30] of available agricultural land in Punjab. They often reside in the rural areas, and are economically influential in the state.[8]

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.[31][32][33][34] These clans generally claim descent from a common male ancestor,[32] are usually exogamous (with some exceptions),[note 1][35] and historically entire villages, and even clusters of villages, were often inhabited by entirely by a single clan.[31] 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.[31] Another reason is that members of a clan socially preferred their neighbours to also be from the same background as them.[31] Some Jat Sikh clans overlap with Hindu and Muslim Jat clans and clans may also be shared with other caste groups, such as Rajputs.[36][37][38][39] Clans can be further subdivided by muhin (sub-clan or locality) and patti (street).[40]

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. Anthropologica, vol. 55, no. 2, 2013, pp. 277–290. 55 (2): 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). "Parties in Punjab decry exclusion of Jat Sikhs from reservation". 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. ↑ Martha Crenshaw (1995). Terrorism in context. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-01015-1.
  7. 1 2 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.
  8. 1 2 3 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.
  9. ↑ 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).
  10. ↑ Singh 1981, pp. 205–207.
  11. 1 2 Singh, Jagjit (1985). Perspectives on Sikh Studies (PDF). Guru Nanak Foundation.
  12. 1 2 3 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 
  13. ↑ Singh, Jagjit (1981). The Sikh Revolution: A Perspective View. New Delhi: Bahri Publications. ISBN 9788170340416.
  14. ↑ 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).
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ Singh 1981, pp. 190, 265.
  17. 1 2 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.
  18. ↑ 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.
  19. ↑ 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. ...
  20. ↑ 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. ...
  21. ↑ Dhavan, Purnima (2011). When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699-1799. Oxford University Press. p. 134. ISBN 9780199756551.
  22. ↑ "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
  23. ↑ "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.
  24. ↑ 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.
  25. ↑ 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.
  26. ↑ 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.
  27. ↑ Ian Sumner (2001). The Indian Army 1914–1947. London: Osprey. pp. 104–105. ISBN 1-84176-196-6.
  28. ↑ 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.
  29. ↑ Singh, Jasbir; SS Dhillon (2006). "4". Agricultural geography (3rd ed.). Tata Mcgraw-Hill. p. 176. ISBN 0-07-053228-1. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
  30. ↑ Ratan Saldi (6 June 2009). "Caste System Among Sikhs In Punjab". Asian Tribune.
  31. 1 2 3 4 5 6 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)
  32. 1 2 Bedi, Sohinder Singh Wanjara (1971). Folklore of the Punjab. Folklore of India series. Vol. 1. National Book Trust, India. p. 7.
  33. ↑ 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.
  34. ↑ 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.
  35. 1 2 3 4 5 6 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.
  36. 1 2 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)
  37. 1 2 3 4 5 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.
  38. ↑ 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.
  39. ↑ 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.
  40. ↑ Shackle, Christopher (1984). The Sikhs. Issue 65 of Report (Minority Rights Group). Atlantic Publishers & Distri. p. 149.
  41. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Journal of Regional History. Vol. 2. Department of History, Guru Nanak Dev University. 1981. p. 29.
  42. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 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.
  43. ↑ 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.
  44. ↑ 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.
  45. ↑ 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.
  46. ↑ 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).
  47. ↑ 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 ...
  48. ↑ 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...
  49. 1 2 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.
  50. ↑ 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.
  51. ↑ Kaur, Manpreet; Bhullar, S. K. "Life And Times Of Maharani Jind Kaur (1817 A.D.-1863 A.D.)" (PDF). International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  52. ↑ 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.
  53. ↑ Falcon, Robert Worgan (1896). Handbook on Sikhs for the Use of Regimental Officers. Pioneer Press. p. 64.

Further reading

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