The Jats are a
paradigmatic example of community identity formation in the
early modern Indian subcontinent. "Jat" is an elastic label applied to a wide-ranging community from simple landowning peasants to wealthy and influential
Zamindars. By the time of
Muhammad bin Qasim's conquest of Sind in the eighth century, Arab writers described agglomerations of Jats, known to them as
Zutt, in the arid, the wet, and the mountainous regions of the conquered land of Sindh. Several medieval
Muslim chronicles such as the
Chach Nama,
Tarikh-I-Baihaqi and
Zainul-Akhbar have recorded battles between
Jats and forces of Muhammad ibn al-Qasim, at the
Battle of Aror (
Rohri), the united forces of
Dahir of Aror and the eastern Jats jointly fought against Muhammad ibn al-Qasim. The Arab rulers, though professing a theologically egalitarian religion, maintained the position of Jats and the discriminatory practices against them that had been put in place in the long period of Hindu rule in Sind. Between the eleventh and the sixteenth centuries, Jat herders at the Sind migrated up along the river valleys, into the Punjab, Many took up tilling in regions such as western
Punjab, where the
sakia (water wheel) had been recently introduced. By early Mughal times, in the Punjab, the term "Jat" had become loosely synonymous with "peasant", and some Jats had come to own land and exert local influence. Around 1595, Jat Zamindars controlled a little over 32% of the
Zamindaris in the Punjab region. According to historians Catherine Asher and Cynthia Talbot, Over time the Jats became primarily Muslim in the western Punjab, Sikh in the eastern Punjab, and Hindu in the areas between
Delhi Territory and Agra, with the divisions by faith reflecting the geographical strengths of these religions. During the heyday of Mughal rule, Jats had recognised rights. According to
Barbara D. Metcalf and
Thomas R. Metcalf: , 1872 As the Mughal Empire faltered, there were a series of rural rebellions in North India. Although these had sometimes been characterised as "peasant rebellions", others, such as
Muzaffar Alam, have pointed out that small local landholders, or
zemindars, often led these uprisings. These communities of rising peasant-warriors were not well-established Indian castes, but rather quite new, without fixed status categories, and with the ability to absorb older peasant castes, sundry warlords, and nomadic groups on the fringes of settled agriculture. The Mughal Empire, even at the zenith of its power, functioned by devolving authority and never had direct control over its rural grandees. with the most powerful clans being, among others, the
Poonias,
Godaras, Sarans, Sihags,
Beniwals,
Kaswans and Sahus; the
Johiyas are also included by
James Tod, though they are also sometimes identified as a branch of the Yadu-Bhati
Rajputs rather than a distinct Jat clan. In the 15th century, the
Rathore Rajputs exploited the rivalry between the clans and conquered the region, establishing the
Bikaner State. The Jat chiefs were forced to recognise the
suzerainty of the Rathores, although some, particularly the Godara Jats who had previously allied with the forces of
Rao Bika, were given certain privileges under the Bikaner realm. In 1505, the Bamraulia Jats migrated and settled in the
trans-Chambal tract, laying the foundations for the
Kingdom of Gohad. The Jats of Gohad briefly captured and held the
Gwalior fort, before losing it to the
Marathas. In 1805, the last ruler of Gohad,
Rana Kirat Singh, as part of an arrangement made with the
British East India Company, established the
Dholpur State. In 1669, the Hindu Jats, under the leadership of
Gokula, rebelled against the Mughal emperor
Aurangzeb in
Mathura. The community came to predominate south and east of Delhi after 1710. According to historian
Christopher Bayly The Jats had moved into the Gangetic Plain in two large migrations, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries respectively. According to historian,
Eric Stokes, Leading up to the
partition of India, Hindu Jats, alongside other Hindu castes, would take up arms and organise into
Dhars, aiming to eliminate Muslim influence in the
Mewat region. The forces of nearby Hindu
princely states, including the Hindu Jat-ruled
Bharatpur State, would support rioting Hindus in expelling the
Meos and other regional Muslims. After the partition, Hindu Jats continued to play a dominant role in the politics of
Haryana.
Muslim Jats meeting with officials The Jats were one of the first communities in the
Indian subcontinent to interact with the
Muslims. They were known to the
Arabs as the
Zutt, although this term also referred to several other groups found along the
Indus River. The Arab conquerors noted several important concentrations of Zutts in the towns and fortresses across Central and Lower
Sind. Between the 11th and 16th centuries, some
Sindhi Jats migrated into
Punjab. Several clans have traditions of converting to
Islam during this period, claiming to be influenced by
Sufi saints. The conversion process was gradual. André Wink writes: By the 16th century, many of the
Punjabi clans west of the
Ravi River had converted. However, even after conversion, some Muslim Jats continued to challenge
imperial Muslim powers such as the
Timurids,
Mughals, and
Surs. Others chose to cooperate with the Muslim rulers instead, leading to prominent Jat figures such as
Grand Vizier Saadullah Khan, and
Faujdar Rahmat Khan
Bajwa. As the
Mughals declined, various groups fought to fill the power vacuum, including some ambitious Muslim Jat chiefs and princes. The
Rohilla Nawabs founded the
Kingdom of Rohilkhand and
Rampur State. A descendant of Saadullah Khan,
Muzaffar Jang Hidayat, briefly became the third
Nizam of Hyderabad. And several smaller polities competed with each other on a local level, such as the
Pakpattan and Chattha states who fought the rising
Sikh Misls in Punjab. With the establishment of the
British Raj, all formerly independent or autonomous polities were either annexed or integrated into the colonial empire as
princely states. When the British left and the Subcontinent was
partitioned, many Muslim Jats migrated to the newly formed
Pakistan. However, some remained in
India, where they are known as Muley Jats.
Sikh Jats , 1898 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), 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 centre for Sikh activity, established the beginnings of a self-contained Sikh community, which was especially swelled with the region's Jat peasantry. They formed the vanguard of Sikh resistance against the
Mughal Empire from the 18th century onwards. 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. The community played an important role in the development of the martial
Khalsa panth of Sikhism. At least nine of the twelve Misls of the
Sikh Confederacy were led by Jat Sikhs, who constituted the majority of the Sikh chiefs. They also played important roles in the remaining three Misls. The
Sikh Empire, which ultimately unified the Misls under a single rule, was founded by the Sikh Jat
Maharaja Ranjit Singh. 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. Writing about the Jats of
Punjab, the Sikh author
Khushwant Singh opined that their attitude never allowed themselves to be absorbed in the Brahminic fold. The British played a significant role in the rise of Sikh Jat population by encouraging Hindu Jats to convert to Sikhism so as to get larger number of Sikh recruits for their army. The
princely states of
Patiala,
Faridkot,
Jind, and
Nabha were ruled by the Sikh Jat
Phulkian dynasty. Leading up to the
partition of India, Sikh Jats, alongside other Sikh groups, would take up arms and organise into
Jathas, aiming to eliminate Muslim influence in east Punjab. These militias were well-organised, armed and supported by Sikh Jat princes, especially the
Maharaja of Patiala. After the partition, Sikh Jats continued to play a dominant role in the politics of
Indian Punjab. The ongoing
Khalistan movement is also sometimes seen as an attempt to form a Sikh "Jatistan". == Demographics ==