Sindhi Jats
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Languages | |
|---|---|
| Sindhi (and its dialects). | |
| Religion | |
| Islam (majority), Hinduism (minority) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Jats |
The Sindhi Jats (Sindhi: سنڌي جت/جاٽ) are an indigenous community of Sindh, Pakistan.[1][2][3] They are mostly Muslims.
Originally from the lower Indus Valley, many Sindhi Jats would migrate to lower Iraq between the 5th and 11th centuries, where they formed the Zuṭṭ (Arabic: الزُّطِّ) community.[4][5][6] Another migration northwards into Punjab would take place between the 11th and 16th centuries, where many Sindhi Jats settled in newly cultivatable land and gradually took up farming.[7][8][9][10][11]
The Arabic term "Zutt" is derived from Jat,[12][13][14] but referred generally to most tribes of the Indus valley, including non-Jat tribes such as the Qufs, Andaghars, and Sayabijas.[15]
In the Sindhi language, there are three words which can be romanized as Jat,[16] those being:
- Jāṭ (جاٽ), which is the transliteration of Jats
- Jat (جت), sometimes spelled Jath,[17] pronounced with a softer t, which refers to the camel-herding Jats of Makran, Sindh,[18] and Kutch; this community was a part of the Zutt who presented camels for Caliph Mu'awiyah[19]
- J̱aṭ (ڄٽ), pronounced with an implosive j, which is a generic term for peasant, and is sometimes used as an insult
During Mughal rule, the term "Jat" began to be loosely synonymous with "peasant" in the Punjab region.[20] In West Punjab and the NWFP, "Jat" and "Rajput" were seen more as socioeconomic titles rather than ethnic identities.[21]
Background
The Jats of Sindh can be divided into three sections:
.jpg)