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Jats: Western Plains

First of all then let us purge our tables of that nondescript class known as Jats on the Indus,and, to a less extent, in the lower valleys of the Satluj, C'hanab, and Jahlam, and in the Salt-range Tract. Mr. 0',Brien writes as follows of the Jats of Muzaffar garh : —

In the alI district the word Jat lncludes that congeries of Muhanimadan tribes which are not Saiyads, Bilochcs,Pathans or Quroshis. According to this definition .Jats would include Rajput. This 1 beheve is correct. The .Jats; have always been rocnutcd from theRajputs. There is not a Jat in the district who has any knowledge, real or fancied, of his ancestors that would uot say that he was; once a Rajput. Certain Jat tribes have nances and traditions which seem to connect thorn more closely with Hindustan. Some bear the Rajput title of llai, and others, though Muhammadans, associate a Brahmin with the Mulla at marriage ceremonies, while Punwars, Parihars, Bhattis, .Toyas, and others bear the names of well-known tribes of Rajutana. The fact is that it is impossible to define between Jats and Musalman Rajputs. And the diffculty is rendered greater by the word .Jat also meaning an agriculturist irrespective of his race, and Jataki agriculture. In conversation about agriculture I have been referredto a Saiyad Zaildar with the remark— Ask Anwar Shah ; he is a better Jat than we are.

The Jat tribes are exceedingly numerous. There are 165 in the Sananwan tahsil alone. They have no large divisions embracing several small divisions. Nor do they trace their origin to common stock. No tribe is pre-eminent in birth or caste. Geucrally .Jats marry into their own tribe, but they have no hesitation in marrying into other tribes. They give their daughters freely to Bilochcs in marriage. But the Biloches say that they do not give their daughters to Jats. This is, howcver, a Biloch story ; many instances of Jats married to Bilochcs could be named.

Besides this, the word Jat, spelt Avith a soft instead of a hard t, denotes a eamel grazier or camel driver. The camel cannot lift its load ; the camel man (Jat) bites its tail.The fact seems to be that the Bilochcs who came into the districts of the lower frontier as a dominant race, contemptuoulsy included all cultivating tribes who were not Biloch, or of some race such as Saiyad or Pathan Whom they had been accustomed to look upon as their equals, under the generic name of Jat, until the people themselves have lost the very memory of their origim It is possible that our own officers may have emphasized the confusion by adopting too readily the simple classification of the population as the Biloch or peculiar people on the one hand and the Jat or Gentile on the other, and that the so-called Jat is not so ignorant of his real origin as is commonly suppOsed. But the fact that in this part of the Pan jab tribe quite over-shadows and indeed almost supersedes caste, greatly increases the difficulty. As Mr. Roe remarks — If you ask a Jat his caste he will generally name some sub-division or clan quite unknown to fame. However caused, the result is that in the Derajat, Muzaffargarh, and much of Multan, if not indeed still further east and north, the word Jat means little more than the heading others or unspecified under which Census officers are so sorely tempted to class those about whom they know little or nothing.

A curious instance of the manner in which the word is used in these joarts is afforded by the result of some inquiri as I made about the Machhi or fisherman caste of Derail Ghazi Khan. The reply sent me was that there were two castes, Machhis or fishermen, and Jat Machhis who had taken to agriculture. It is probable that not long hence these latter will drop the Machhi, perhaps forget their Machhi origin, and become Jats pure and simple ; though they may not improbably retain as their elan name the old Machhi clan to which are 106-they belonged, or even the word Machhi itself. I give on the next page list of castes which, on a rough examination of the clan tables of the Jats of the Multan and Derajat divisions and Bahawalpur, I detected among the organised Biloch tribes of the frontier, however, Biloch girls are not given to Jats.sub-divisions of theJatsof those parts. Jat being essentially a word used for agnculturists only, it is more probable that a man who returns himself as Jat by caste and Bhatyara by tribe or clan should be a Bhatyara who has taken to agriculture, than that he should be a Jat who has taken to keeping a cook-shop ; and the men shown below would probably have been more pro perly returned under the rcspective castes opposite which their numbers are given, than as Jats. A more careful examination of the figures would probably have increased the numbers ; and the detailed clan tables will give us much information on the subject.

Futher to the north and east, away from the Biloch territory, the difficulty is of a somewhat different nature. There, as already explained, the tribes are commonly known by their tribal names rather than by the name of the caste to which they belong or belonged ; and the result is that claims to Rajput, or now-a-days not unseldom to Arab or Mughal origin, are generally set up. The tribes who claim to be Arab or Mughal will be discussed either under their proper head or under Shekhs and Mughals. But the line between Jats and Rajputs is a difficult one to draw, and I have been obliged to decide the question in a rough and arbitrary manner. Thus the Sial are admittedly of pure Rajput origin, and I have classed them as Rajputs as they are conr monly recognized as such by their neighbours. The Sumra are probably of no less pure Rajput extraction, but they are commonly known as Jats, and I have discussed them under that head. But in either case I shall show the Sial or Sumra who have returned themselves as Jats side by side with those who have returned themselves as Rajputs, so that the figures may be as com plete as possible. As a fact these people are generally known as Sial and Sumra rather than as Jats or Rajputs ; and the inclusion of them under either of the latter headings is a classification based upon generally reputed origin or standing, rather than upon any current and usual designation. Mr. Purser thus expresses the matter as he found it in Montgomery : —

There is a wonderful uniformity about the traditions of the different tribes. The ancestor of each tribe was, as a rule, a Rajput of the Solar or Lunar race, and resided at Hastinapur or Dara nagar. He scornfully rejected t,hc proposals of the Dehli Emperor for a matrimonial alliance between the two famihes, and had then to fly to Sirsa or Bhather, or some other plate in that neighbourhood. Next he came to the Ravi and was converted to Islam by Makhddm Baha-ul Haqq, or Baba Farid. Then, being a stout-hearted man, he joined the Kharrals in their maraud ing expeditions, and so his descendants became Jats. In Kamar Singh's time they took to agricul ture and abandoned robbery a little; and now under the English Government they have quite given up their evil ways, and are honest and well disposed.

Mr. Steed man writing from J hang says : — There are in this district a lot of tribes engaged in agriculture or cattle-grazing who have no very clear idea of their origin but are certainly converted Hindus. Many are recognized Jats, and more belong to an enormous variety of tribes, but are called by the one comprehensive term Jat. Ethnologically I am not sure of my ground ; but for practical convenience in this part of the world, 1 would class as Jats all Muhammadans whose ancestors were converted from Hiudusim and who are now engaged in, or derive their maiTitenuuce from, the cultivation of land or the pasturing of cattle.

The last words of this sentence convey an important distinction. The Jat of the Indus and Lower Chauab is essentially a husbandman. But in the great central grazing grounds of the Western Plains he is often pastoral rather than agricultural, looking upon cultivation as an inferior occupation which ne leaves to Arains, Mahtams, and such like people.

On the Upper Indus the word Jat, or Hindki which is perhaps more often used, is apphed in scareely a less iudefinite sense than in the Desajat ;

while in the Salt-range Tract the meaning is but little more precise. Beyond the Indus, Jat or Hindki includes both Rajputs and Awans, and indeed all who talk Panjabi rather than Pashto. In the Salt-range Tract, however, the higher Rajput tripes, such as Janjua, are carefully excluded ; and Jat means any Mahoniedan cultivator of Hindu origin who is not an Awan, Gakkhar, Pathan, Saiyad, Qureshi, or Rajput. Even there, however, most of the Jat clans are returned as Rajputs also, and the figures for them will be found further on when I discuss the Jats of the sub-montane tracts. Major Wace writes : —

The real Jat clans of the Rawalpindi division have a prejudice against the name Jat, because it is usually apphed to camel-drivers, and to the graziers of the bar whom they look down upon as low fellows. Rut there is, I think, no douht that the principal agricultural tribes whom we cannot class as Rajputs are really of the same race as the Jats of the Lower Panjab.

The Jat in these parts of the country is naturally looked upon as of inferior race, and the position he occupies is very different from that which he holds in the centre and east of the Panjab. Mr. O'Brien gives at page 78 of his Multani Glossary a collection of the most pungent proverbs on the subject, of which I can only quote one or two : — Though the Jat grows refined, he will still use a mat for a pocket-handkerchief.An ordinary man's ribs would break at the laugh of a Jat.' When the Jat is pros perous he shuts up the path (by ploughing it up) : when the Kirar (money lender) is prosperous he shuts up the Jat.'A Jat like a wound is better when bound.Though a Jat be made of gold, still his hinder parts are of brass.The Jat is such a fool that only God can take care of him.

The Pathan proverbs are even less complimentary. If a Hindki cannot do you any harm, he will leave a bad smell as he passes you. Get round a Pathan by coaxing ; but heave a clod at a Hindki.Though a Hindki be your right arm, cut it off.Kill a black Jat rather than a black snake.The Jat of Derah Ghazi is described as lazy, dirty, and ignorant.

Jat tribes of the Western Plains

Abstract No. 73 on the next page* give.-, the principal

Jat tribes of the Western Plains ; that is to say west of Lahore, excluding the trans-Salt-range

and the sub-montane tracts. The tribes may be divided into three groups; the Tahrm Bhutta, Langah, Chhina, and Siimrahe chiefly westwards of the valley of the Jahlam-Chanab ; the Chhadhar and Sipra he to the east of that line ; while the Bhatti, Sial, Punwar, Joya, Dhiidhi, Khichi, and Wuttu are Rajputs rather than Jats, and will be discussed when I come to the Rajputs of the Western Plains. It must be remembered that these figures are very imperfect, as they merely give the numbers who have returned their tribe as one of those shown in the abstract, and do not include those who have returned only sub-sections of those tribes. The complete figures cannot be obtained till the detailed clan tables are ready. The double columns under Bhutta, Langah, Sumra, Chhadhar and Dhudhi show the numbers who have returned themselves as belonging to these tribes, but as being by caste Jat and Rajput respectively.

== The Tallim (No. 1) == The Tahim claim Arab origin, and to be descended from an Ansari Qui-esh called Tamim. They formerly held much property in the Chiniot tahsil of Jhang, and there were Talu'm Govrrnors of those parts under the Dehli Emperors. It is said that the Awaus have a Tahrm clan. The Tahim are not wholly agriculturists, and are Faid not unfrequently to work as butchers and cotton scutchers ; or it may be merely that the butchers and cotton scutchers have a Tahrm clan called after the tribe. They are, as far as our figures go, almost confined to Bahawalpur and the lower Indus and Chencab in Multan, Muzaffargarh, and Derah Ghazi Khan. The Multan Tahrm say that their more immediate ancestor Sambhal Shah came to that place some 700 years ago on a marauding expedition, and ruled at Multan for 40 years, after which he was killed and his followers scattered. In his invasion of India during the latter part of the 14th century, Taimur encountered his old foes the Geta; (Jats), who inhabited the plains « of Tahim,and pursued them into the desert ; and Tod mentions an extinct Rajput tribe which be calls Dahima,

== The Bhatta (No. 2)== The Bhutta are said by Mr: O'Brien to have traditions connecting them with Hindustan. and they chaim to le descended from Solar Rajputs. But since the rise to opulence and importance of Pirzadah Murad Bakhsh Bhutta, of Multan, many of them have taken to calling themselves pirzadahs. One account is that they are emigrants from Bhutan— a story I fear too ohvionsly suggested hy the name. They also often Practise other crafts, such as making pottery or weaving, instead of or in addition to agriculture. They are said to have held Uchh (in Bahawalpur) before the Saiyads came there. They are, according to our figures, chiefly found on the lower Indus, Chenah and Jahlam, in Shahpur, Jhang, MIultan, Muzaffargarh, and Derah Ghazi Khan. In Jhang most of them have returned themselves as Rajputs. The Bhutta shown scattered over the Eastern Plains are perhaps mcmhcrs of the small Bhutna or Bhutra clan of Malwa Jats. (See also Buttar, section 436, and Biita, section 438).

== The Langah (No. 3)== Mr. O'Brien thus describes the Langah : — A tribe of agriculturists in the Multan and :Muzaffargarh districts. They were originally an Afghan tribe who came to Multan from Sivi and Dhadhar for purposes of trade, and eventually settled at Rapri and the neighbourhood. In the confusion that followed the invasion of Tamerlane Multan became independent of the throne of Dehli, and the inhabitants chose Sheikh Yusaf, Kureshi, head of the shrine of Sheikh Bahauddin, as Governor. In 1445 A.D., Rai Sahra, Chief of the Langahs, whose daughter had been married to Sheikh Yusaf, iutrrduced an armed band of his tribesmen into the city by night, seized Sheikh Yusaf and sent him to Delhi, and proclaimed himself king

with the title Sultan Kutabuddin. The kings of Multan belonging to the Langah tribe are shown in the margin.

The dynasty terminated with the capture of Multan, after a siege of more than a year by Shah Hasan Arghnn, Governor of Sindh, in 1526. For ten days the city was given up to plunder and mas acre, and most of the Langahs were slain. Sultan Husain was made prisoner and died shortly after. The Langah dynasty ruled Multan for eighty years, during which time Biloches succeeded in establishing themselves along the Indus from Sitpur to Kot Karor. The •' Laugahi of Multan and Muzaffargarh are now very insignificant cultivators.

Farishtah is apparently the authority for their Afghan origin, which is doubtful to say the least. Pirzadah Murad Bakhsh Bhutta of Multan says that the Bhutta, Langah, Khnrral, Harral, and Lak are all Punwar Rajputs by origin. But the Lansah are described by Tod as a clan of the Chaluk or Solani tribe of Agnikula Rajputs, who inhabited Multan and Jaisalmer and were driven out of the latter by the Bhatti at least 700 years ago. According to our figures the Panjab Langah are almost confined to the lower Indus and Chanab. Unfoitunately we dasstd 2,550 Langah who had returned their caste as Langah, under Patlans. I have added the figures in Abstract No. 73.

== The Chhina (No. 4)== These I take to be distinct from the Chima Jats of Sialkot and Guj ranwala, though the two have certainly been confused in our tables. That there are Chhna in Sialkot appears from the fact that the town of Jamki in that district was founded by a Chhina Jat who came from Sindh and retained the title of Jam, the Sindhi equivalent for Chaudhri. Yet if the Chhina spread up the Chanab into Sialkot and the neighbouring districts in such large numbers as are shown for Chima in those districts, it is curious that they should not be fouAd in the intermediate districts through which they must have passed. It is probable that the Chhina here shown for Gurdaspur, and perhaps those for Firozpur also, should go with the Chima who are described in section 432 among the .Jat tribes of the sub-montane tract. These latter seem to trace their origin from Dehli. The Chhina of Derail Ismail Khan are chiefly found in the cis-Iudus portion of the district.

Jat tribes of the Western Plains continued

== The Sumra(No. 5)== — Mr. O'Brien describes the Siimra as originally Rajputs : — In A. D. 750 they expelled the first Arab invaders from Sindh and Multan, and furnished the country with a dynasty wliich ruled in Mult.-in from 1445 to 1526 A.D., when it was expelled by the Sanima, anoHier Rajput tribe;and Tod describes them as ene of the two great clans Umra and Sumira of the Soda tribe of Punwar Rajputs, who in remote limes held all the Rajputana deserts, and gave their names to Umrkot and Umra sumra or the Bhakkar country on the Indus. He identifies the Soda with Alexander's Sogdi, the princes of Dhat. Here again the Sumra seem to have spread, according to our figurs, far up the Satluj and Chanab into the central districts of the Province. Tl e figures for Derah Ismal Khan are probably understated, as there They hold a great portion of the Leiahah that between the Jhang border and the Indus. Some 2,000 of the Sumra have retm-ued themselves as Rajputs, chiefly in Patiala

== The Chhadhar (No. 6)== — The Chhadhar are found along the whole length of the Chanab and Ravi valleys, but are far most numerous in Jhang, where they have for the most part returned themselves as Rajputs. They claim to be descended from RajaTur, Tunwar. They say that they left their home in Rajputana in the time of Muhammad Ghori and settled in Baliawalpur, whero tbey were converted by Sher Sliali or Uchh. Thence they came to Jhang, where they founded an important colony and spread in smaller nnmbers up the Chanab and Ravi. Mr. Steedman doscrihcs them as good agriculturists, and less given to cattle-theft than their neighbours.

== The Sipra (No. 7)== appear to be a sub-division of the Gil tribe of jats, which gives its name to the famous battle-field of Sabraon. They too are found chiefly on the Jahlam and lower Chanab and are most numnerous in Jhang . They are not an important tribe.

== The Bhatti, Sial, Punwar, Joya, Dhudhl, Khichi, and Wattu == will be described under Rajputs.

== The Langrial == are not separately shown ;)! the abstract. They are however curious as being a nomad pastoral tribe who form almost the sole inhabitants of the Multan steppes. They appear to be found also in Rawalpindi and Sialkot, and there to claim Solar Rajput origin. But in Multan the Langriul say that their ancestor was a Hraliman Charan from Rikaner who was converted by Sultan Samran. They originally settled in Rawalpindi ; thence they moved to Jhang, took some country from the Sial, and settled at Kot Kamalia in Montgomery, whence they spread over the Multan lar. They derive their name from lanr/nr a kitchen,because their ancestor used to keep open house to all the beggars and faqirs of the neighbourhood.

== The Nol and Bhangu == These appear to be among the earhest inhabitants of the Jhang district, and to be perhaps aboriginal. The Bhangu do not even claim Rajput origin ! The Nol held the country about Jhang and the Bhangu that about Shorkot when the Sial came to the district, but they eventually fell before the rising power of the new comers. The Sialkot Bhangu say they came from Nepal.

== The Kharral, Harral, and Marral == The Kharral will be discussed separately with the smaller agricultural tribes. The Harral claim to be descended from the same ancestor, Rai Bhupa, as the Kharral, But by another son ; and to be Punwar Rajputs who came from Jaisalmer to Uchh, and thence to Kamalia in the Montgomery district. Mr. Steedman says that in Jhang, where onlv thev are found on the left bank of the Upper Chanab, tradition makes them a branch of the Ahirs, and that they are almost the worst thieves in the district, owning large flocks and herds which they pasture in the central steppes, and being bad cultivators. The Marral seem to have been once of far greater importance than now in the Jhang district, which is their home. They claim to be Chauhan Rajputs by origin, and to have come to the Upper Chanab in the time of Akbar. They are a fine bold-looking set of men, but with a bad reputation for cattle-lifting, and are poor cultivators.

== The Hans, Khagga, Jhandir, &C == These tribes will be found described under Sheks, as they claim Qureshi origit, though often classed as Jats.