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JATS
The most numerous tribe or caste—usually referred to as tribe—in the states of Punjab and Rajasthan in northwestern India and in the Lahore region of West Pakistan. Members of the tribe are believed to be descended from Central Asiatic peoples who moved into western India between the second century B.C. and the fifth century A.D. They have a fair complexion, dark eyes and hair, and nar¬row nose, and closely resemble both in physical type and culture the Rajputs, who form a second major ethnic group in the area. All three religions of the area have Jat fol¬lowers: Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism. A majority of the Sikhs are Jats. The Jats are organized into kinship groups, each of which traces the descent of its members from a common male ancestor and makes common cause in family and village affairs.
A man must take his wife from another village; and, since marriage is forbidden with even quite distant relatives, tribal genealogists keep track of family genealogies and rule on the acceptability of any proposed marriage. The Jats have a reputation for their skill in farming; they also follow other occupations. Among most Jats, there is some ranking of occupational groups, even among those Jats who, being Sikhs or Muslims, profess equality. In the Delhi region, where Hindu influence is strong and the hierarchical ranking of caste consequently general, Jats rank as the highest caste permitting widow remarriage (high-caste Hindus forbid remarriage). Among Jats in the Muslim west, a widow is expected to marry a brother or other relative of the deceased husband.
In addition to the Jats of northwestern India and the Lahore region, there are, in the borderland between West Pakistan and Afghanistan, nomadic Jats who migrate in family bands from the lowlands of Pakistan in winter to the highlands of Afghanistan in summer, making and sell¬ing tambourines, sieves, and other objects to order.
The most numerous tribe or caste—usually referred to as tribe—in the states of Punjab and Rajasthan in northwestern India and in the Lahore region of West Pakistan. Members of the tribe are believed to be descended from Central Asiatic peoples who moved into western India between the second century B.C. and the fifth century A.D. They have a fair complexion, dark eyes and hair, and nar¬row nose, and closely resemble both in physical type and culture the Rajputs, who form a second major ethnic group in the area. All three religions of the area have Jat fol¬lowers: Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism. A majority of the Sikhs are Jats. The Jats are organized into kinship groups, each of which traces the descent of its members from a common male ancestor and makes common cause in family and village affairs.
A man must take his wife from another village; and, since marriage is forbidden with even quite distant relatives, tribal genealogists keep track of family genealogies and rule on the acceptability of any proposed marriage. The Jats have a reputation for their skill in farming; they also follow other occupations. Among most Jats, there is some ranking of occupational groups, even among those Jats who, being Sikhs or Muslims, profess equality. In the Delhi region, where Hindu influence is strong and the hierarchical ranking of caste consequently general, Jats rank as the highest caste permitting widow remarriage (high-caste Hindus forbid remarriage). Among Jats in the Muslim west, a widow is expected to marry a brother or other relative of the deceased husband.
In addition to the Jats of northwestern India and the Lahore region, there are, in the borderland between West Pakistan and Afghanistan, nomadic Jats who migrate in family bands from the lowlands of Pakistan in winter to the highlands of Afghanistan in summer, making and sell¬ing tambourines, sieves, and other objects to order.
