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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Jatt Sikh
Jat Sikh or Jatt Sikh (Gurmukhi: ਜੱਟ ਸਿੱਖ) is an ethnoreligious group, a subgroup of the Jat people whose traditional religion is Sikhism, originating from the Indian subcontinent. They are one of the dominant communities in the Punjab, India owing to their large land holdings. They form an estimated 20–25% of the population of the Indian state of Punjab. They form at least half of the Sikh population in Punjab, with some sources estimating them to be about 60–66% appx. two-third of the Sikh population.

Etymology

The Jatt word is derived from Persian form of the ancient term Jit is Jatt (जट्ट) with short vowel and double short ‘t’.

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. Jats were previously indifferent towards deep religious affairs.

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), the first large-scale conversions of Jats is commonly held to have begun during the time of Guru Arjan (1563-1606). 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. 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.

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.

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

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. 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.

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.

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.

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. According to Captain A. H. Bingley they were particularly loyal soldiers.

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

Agriculture

19th century painting of Punjabi farmers irrigating fields

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

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

List of common Jat Sikh clans

Notable people

See also