Jatt Itihaas

The Jat (, '''', ) live in northern India and Pakistan are descendants of war-like horse-mounted tribes, in the states of, Punjab , Haryana and Rajasthan , and are also scattered throughout Delhi , Uttar Pradesh , Gujarat and Kashmir . The Jats also have a strong military tradition, and many Jats were recruited into the British India army during World War I . Large number of Jats serve in the Indian Army , including the Jat Regiment , Rajputana Rifles , Sikh Regiment and The Grenadiers , among others.

The Jat regions in India are among the most prosperous on a per-capita basis (Haryana, Punjab, and Gujarat are among the wealthiest of Indian provinces).

Historically, the Maharaja s (kings) of the cities of Bharatpur and Dholpur in Rajasthan were Jats, as were the ''Ranas'' (kings) of the town of Gohad in Madhya Pradesh . They ruled the Malwa plateau.


JAT ORIGINS

There are several theories about the origin of the Jat peoples, ranging from a myth that they suddenly appeared from the god Shiva 's ''jattas'' (locks of hair), to a lineage in the Aryan race. They may be of Indo-Scythian or Saka origin. Both Sir Alexander Cunningham and Colonel James Tod believed that the Jats were of Indo-Scythian stock. Cunningham identified them with the Zanthi of Strabo and the Jatti of Pliny The Elder and Ptolemy , and held that they probably entered Punjab from their home on the Oxus . The Jats seem to have occupied the Indus Valley as far down as Sindh .

In the modern era the Jats can be divided into three categories: the Sikh Jats, the Hindu Jats and the Muslim Jats, all sharing almost the same culture, level of economic prosperity, and to a large extent the regions of the Indian mainland.

By the 10th century, the Jats had become rulers in Punjab, where they firmly established themselves in the beginning of the eleventh century. By the time of Babar , the Jats of the salt range had been in constant conflict with the Gakkhars , Awans and Janjuas . Tod classed the Jats as one of the great Rajput tribes, with Cunningham claiming the Rajput to belong to the original Aryan stock, and the Jats to be a late wave of Immigrants from the northwest, probably of Scythian race.


HISTORY

The Bamraulia Jats founded the kingdom of Gohad , near Gwalior , in 1505 . The area later came under the rule of the Mughal Empire . In 1669 the Jats of Mathura rose in opposition to Aurangzeb 's rule, under the leadership of Gokula , Zamindar of Tilpat, and killed the Imperial Faujdar Abdun-Nabi. It took more than a year for the powerful Mughal forces to subdue the Jats. Gokula was killed and his family converted to Islam. However, the Jats once again rose in rebellion in 1685 under the leadership of Raja Ram , and Akbar 's tomb was plundered in Sikandra in 1688 . Finally the Jats were defeated and Raja Ram slain in 1691 .

In the disorder following Aurangzeb's death in 1707 , Jat resistance resumed, organised under the leadership of Churaman . Badan Singh , Churaman's nephew, established a kingdom centered at Deeg (known as Bharatpur after its later capital) from which he extended his rule over Agra and Mathura.

Badan Singh's adopted son and successor was Maharaja Suraj Mal . Mal, described as the " Plato of Jat tribes" and "Jat's Ulysses ", extended his kingdom to include Agra, Mathura, Dholpur , Mainpuri , Hathras , Aligarh , Etawah , Meerut , Rohtak , Farrukhnagar , Mewat , Rewari and Gurgaon . He was described as the greatest warrior and the ablest statesman that the Jats had ever produced. He moved the capital from Deeg to Bharatpur after 1733 . Great Rustam , a Jat king of the Sogariya clan, laid the foundation of the modern city of Bharatpur. After him, control passed to his son Khemkaran and then to Maharaja Suraj Mal. Khemkaran was a great warrior, supposedly able to kill two tigers running in different directions at once. He was awarded with the title Faujdar , which is still used by all Sogariyas. The beautiful palace and gardens at Deeg and the Bharatpur fort, both built by Maharaja Suraj Mal, symbolised the coming of age of the Jat state. Maharaja Suraj Mal died on 25 December , 1763 .

The Bamraulia Jat Maharanas of Gohad resisted the Maratha assaults of the 18th Century , and twice occupied the strategic fortress of Gwalior (1740–1756 and 1780–1783). The Maharanas allied with the British against the Marathas, and in a British-brokered deal exchanged Gohad for Dholpur in 1806 .

In the mid-eighteenth century the Dalal Jats of Mandoti, the Haryana , built the mud fort of Kuchesar in Uttar Pradesh.

By the nineteenth century, Jats ruled the states of Bharatpur , Dholpur , Gohad (Bhind), Kuchesar , Bahadurgarh , Mursan and others. The Jats established a reputation of being determined, sturdy, fierce fighters.

Known for their military prowess, Jats have always been part of imperial armies. They forced the Amir of Baghdad to run for his life in 837 AD, and ruled there for 15 years. They served as fighters in the Persian army against the Romans and led successful campaigns. The Jats were classified as a " Martial Race " by the British and were recruited in large numbers in the British army. A large number of Jats serve in the Indian Armed Forces today and form one of the largest Ethnic Group s in the army.


GENETICS


A recent study of the people of Indian Punjab, where about 40% or more of the population are Jats, suggest that the Jats are similar to other populations of the Indus Valley.¹ The study involved a Genealogical DNA Test which examined Single Nucleotide Polymorphism s (mutations in a single DNA "letter") on the Y Chromosome (which occurs only in males). (See Human Y-chromosome DNA Haplogroups for a listing and explanation.)

Jats seem to share many common Haplotype s with German, Slavic, Baltic, Iranian and Central Asian groups.² Unusually, Jat groups share only two haplotypes, one of which is also shared with the population of present-day Turkey, and have few matches with neighbouring Pakistani populations. This haplotype shared between the two Jat groups may be part of the Indo-Aryan (or Indo-European) genetic contribution to these populations, where as the haplotypes shared with other Eurasian populations may be due to the contribution of Indo-European Scythians (Saka, Massagetae) or White Huns. (These groups may of course all be branches of a larger ethnic complex.)

As for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Jats contain haplogroups typical of northwest Indians; that is, haplogroups typical of North India, Pakistan , and West Asia . This suggests that, at least for mtDNA, there is very little connection with Central Asian or northwest European populations, even though Jats share many male Y-SNP markers with these populations. Hence this suggests that there has been male migration in or out of the Jat population in historical times. Alternatively, the formation of the Jat population may have occurred in West Asia or North India. Hence Jats are very similar to other North Indian groups.³