Jat Muslim

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Jat Muslim
Regions with significant populations
Pakistan
Languages
Punjabi (and its dialects) • Lahnda • Sindhi (and its dialects) • Hindustani (Urdu-Hindi) • Khariboli
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Jat people • Gujars • Med people • Baloch

Jat Muslim or Musalman Jat (Punjabi : جٹ مسلمان; Sindhi : مسلمان جاٽ), also spelled Jatt or Jutt (Punjabi pronunciation: [d͡ʒəʈːᵊ] ), are an elastic and diverse [1] ethno-social subgroup of the Jat people, who are composed of followers of Islam and are native to the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. [2] They are found primarily throughout the Sindh and Punjab regions of Pakistan. [3] [4] Jats began converting to Islam from the early Middle Ages onward and constitute a distinct subgroup within the diverse community of Jat people. [5]

Contents

History

Jats were earliest people in the Indian subcontinent to have interacted with the Muslims as multiple trading communities of Jats already existed in the pre-Islamic Arabia. Jats were referred as Zuṭṭ (Arabic : الزُّطِّ, romanized: Az-Zutt) in early Arab writings and Jat-an in Persian. [6] They were present in Mesopotamia and Syria since the time of Sassanid emperor Bahram V (420–438), where they acted as mercenary soldiers for caliphate. They produced prominent people such as Abu Hanifa, [7] [8] Al-Sari ibn al Hakam al-Zutti, the emir of Egypt, [9] and Abu Hatim al-Zutti, the founder of Baqliyya sub-sect of Qarmatians. [10] Their power in lower Iraq broke down after the failed Zutt Rebellion and Jats lost their distinct identity in the Mesopotamia that they had previously, [11] probably merging with the Marsh Arabs of Iraq. [12]

When Arabs entered Sindh and southern Punjab regions of Pakistan in the seventh century, the chief tribal groupings they found were the Jats and the Med people. Most Jats clans of western Punjab have traditions that they accepted Islam at the hands of Sufi saints of Punjab. Critically, the process of conversion was said to have been a much slower process. [13]

During the era of Mughals there appears to be a little change in their position, with one Nawab Sa'adullah Khan even serving as the Grand Vizier from 1645 to 1656. [14] After the decline of Mughal empire, many communities rose to into revolt. One of them were Afghan Rohillas, who had settled into Rohilkhand by then in large numbers. Their dynasty, the Rohilla dynasty (1714–1774) descended from Nawab Ali Muhammed Khan, who was a Jat [15] [16] [17] boy of age eight when he was adopted by the chief of the Pashtun Barech tribe, Sardar Daud Khan Rohilla. [16] Due to the role he played in the establishment of Rohilkhand and in the general history of Rohillas, he gained recognition as a Rohilla chief, however, he was not Afghan by birth. [15] Although the Rohillas lost their kingdom after the first Rohilla War in 1774, Faizullah Khan, son of Ali Mohammed Khan, managed to become Nawab of princely state of Rampur. The Kalhoras (1701–1783) of Sindh were also probably from Channa tribe, [18] a sub-division of Jats. [19]

Social organization

In the plains of Punjab, there are many communities of Jat, some of whom had converted to Islam by the 18th century. Those clans that converted to Islam remained in what is now Pakistani Punjab after Partition. In Pakistan, most Jats are land-owning agriculturalists, and they form one of the numerous ethnic group in Sindh. [4] [20] [ need quotation to verify ]

Jats had a strong presence in Balochistan before the Baloch migrations in the medieval ages. The modern Baloch tribes of Babbar, Gurchani, Lanjwani, Kolachi, Zardari and Dodai descend directly from the Jats of Balochistan.

Jats, together with the Rajputs and Gujjars, are the dominant ethnically-Punjabi and religiously-Islamic communities settled in the regions comprising eastern Pakistan. [21]

Demographics

British Punjab

In the British province of Punjab, encompassing more than modern-day West Punjab in Pakistan and East Punjab in India, as per the 1921 census 47,3% of the Jats followed Islam, 33,4% were Sikhs and 19,3% were Hindus. [22]

At the time of the 1931 census, the total Jat Muslim population in Punjab was 2,941,395 out of the Punjab province's Muslim population of 28,490,857, Jat Muslims thus contituting the single largest Muslim group of the province, at around 20%, followed by Rajputs (12%) and Arain (10%). [23]

Pakistan

In Pakistan, the Jat population is estimated to number around 21 million compared to 12 million in India. [24]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sindh</span> Province of Pakistan

Sindh is a province of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province by population after Punjab. It is bordered by the Pakistani provinces of Balochistan to the west and north-west and Punjab to the north. It shares an International border with the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan to the east; it is also bounded by the Arabian Sea to the south. Sindh's landscape consists mostly of alluvial plains flanking the Indus River, the Thar Desert of Sindh in the eastern portion of the province along the international border with India, and the Kirthar Mountains in the western portion of the province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammad ibn al-Qasim</span> Umayyad general and governor of Sindh (695–715)

Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Thaqafī was an Arab military commander in service of the Umayyad Caliphate who led the Muslim conquest of Sindh, inaugurating the Umayyad campaigns in India. His military exploits led to the establishment of the Islamic province of Sindh, and the takeover of the region from the Sindhi Brahman dynasty and its ruler, Raja Dahir, who was subsequently decapitated with his head sent to al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf in Basra. With the capture of the then-capital of Aror by Arab forces, Muhammad ibn al-Qasim became the first Muslim to have successfully captured Indian land, which marked the beginning of Muslim rule in South Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sindhis</span> Ethnolinguistic group native to Sindh

Sindhis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who speak the Sindhi language and are native to the Sindh province of Pakistan. The historical homeland of Sindhis is bordered by the southeastern part of Balochistan, the Bahawalpur region of Punjab and the Kutch region of Gujarat. Having been isolated throughout history, unlike its neighbours, Sindhi culture has preserved its own uniqueness.

Bhatia is a group of people and a caste found in Punjab, Sindh and Gujarat. Traditionally, they have been a trading and merchant community. The Bhatias primarily live in Northwestern India and Pakistan. The Bhatias, Lohanas and Khatris were similar communities and were known to intermarry. The Bhatias recruit Saraswat Brahmins as priests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rohilla</span> Pashtun-descended ethnic group of Uttar Pradesh, India

Rohillas are a mixed Indian community of Pashtun heritage, historically found in Rohilkhand, a region in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It forms the largest Pashtun diaspora community in India, and has given its name to the Rohilkhand region. The Rohilla military chiefs settled in this region of northern India in the 1720s, the first of whom was Ali Mohammed Khan.

Lohana are a trading or mercantile jāti mostly in India and also in Pakistan.

Muslim Rajputs or Musalman Rajpoots are the descendants of Rajputs in the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent who generally are followers of Islam. Reportedly, they converted from Hinduism to Islam from the medieval period onwards, creating various dynasties and states while retaining Hindu surnames such as Chauhan. Today, Muslim Rajputs can be found mostly in present-day Northern India and Pakistan. They are further divided into different clans.

Soomro, Soomra,Sumrah or Sumra is a tribe having a local origin in Sindh. They are found in Sindh, parts of Punjab especially bordering Sindh, Balochistan province, and the Kutch district of the Indian state of Gujarat and also Rajasthan. The Soomras ruled throughout the Sindh and Multan regions.

Awan is a Punjabi Muslim community and surname originating from the Punjab region of Pakistan. Awans are predominantly present in the northern, central, and western parts of Punjab, with significant population also present in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir, and to a lesser extent, in Sindh and Balochistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samma (tribe)</span> Sindhi tribe

Samma is a tribe and a community of Sindhi people called Sammat, that has origins in Sindh. The Samma are spread across Pakistan and North-West India. The Sandhai Muslims are Samma who converted to Islam. Offshoots of the main branch of Samma include the Jadejas, Chudasamas and their sub-branches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Sindh</span>

The history of Sindh refers to the history of the Pakistani province of Sindh, as well as neighboring regions that periodically came under its sway.

Ali Muhammad Khan was a Rohilla chief who founded the Kingdom of Rohilkhand in the northwestern region of the Uttar Pradesh state of India. He succeeded his foster father Sardar Daud Khan Rohilla at the age of fourteen and was generally regarded as a non-oppressive ruler to the masses. He was well regarded for his political ability, and was granted the right to use India's highest insignia of the Mahseer by the Emperor Muhammad Shah. His young death along with the tender age of his children led to Hafiz Rehmat Khan's regency which was in large part governed against his wishes, despite Rehmat Khan's solemn oath on the Quran to fulfill dying Ali Mohammad's will.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rampur State</span> Princely state of India

Rampur State was a 15 gun-salute princely state of British India. It came into existence on 7 October 1774 as a result of a treaty with Oudh. Following independence in 1947, Rampur State and other princely states of the area, such as Benares and Tehri Garhwal were merged into the United Provinces. Rampur state had its capital in Rampur city and its total area was 945 sq miles. Rampur state was founded by Ali Mohammad Khan's younger son Faizullah Khan.

Channa or Channo also spelled as Chana, is a Sindhi Rajput tribe in the Sindh province of Pakistan. A tribe of this name is referred to in some old Muslim texts, such as Chachnama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mansura, Sindh</span>

Mansura, referred to as Brahmanabad in later centuries, was the historic capital of the caliphal province of Sindh, during the eighth century under the Umayyad Caliphate and then Abbasid Caliphate from the year 750 AD to 1006 AD. The city was founded as a central garrison by the Umayyad Forces in Sindh, the city transformed into a very vibrant metropolis during the Abbasid Era surpassing the wealth of Multan in the north and Debal in the south. Mansura was the first capital established by the Muslims in the Indian subcontinent after Muhammad bin Qasim seized the Brahmanabad territory. Mansura was built on the shores of the Indus River, it was surrounded by fertile farmland, Ibn Hauqal mentioned the wealthy local merchants who wore Baghdad Costume and were of Sindhi-Arab origins, houses were made of clay, baked bricks and plaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Umayyad conquest of Sindh</span> Successful Umayyad invasion of Sindh (711 AD)

The Umayyad conquest of Sindh took place in 711 AD against the ruling Brahmin dynasty of Sindh and resulted in Sindh being incorporated as a province into the Umayyad Caliphate. The conquest resulted in the overthrow of the last Hindu dynasty of Sindh, the Brahman dynasty, after the death of Raja Dahir.

The Sindhis of Balochistan are an indigenous Sindhi population living in Balochistan, Pakistan.

The Sindhi Jats are the Sindhi community, who are the indigenous population of Sindh.

Zuṭṭ is an Arabicised form of Jat. Originally inhabitants of lower Indus Valley, Jats were present in Mesopotamia since as early as 5th century AD, although their main migration occurred after the establishment of Umayyad Caliphate. They were one of the prominent ethnic groups in lower Iraq during Islamic Golden Age, supplying mercenary soldiers to the Muslim states. Their mention fades from Arab chronicles after 11th century.

Sindhi Rajputs are one of the indigenous community of Sindhi people, they are mostly Muslim and Hindu Sindhis. They are found throughout Sindh, as well as in its neighboring regions like Balochistan, South Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

References

  1. ↑ Bayly, Susan (2001). Caste, society and politics in India from the eighteenth century to the modern age. The new Cambridge history of India / general ed. Gordon Johnson 4, The evolution of contemporary South Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-79842-6.
  2. ↑ Jairath, Vinod K. (3 April 2013). Frontiers of Embedded Muslim Communities in India. Routledge. p. 1. ISBN   978-1-136-19680-5.
  3. ↑ Jat caste on Encyclopedia Britannica website Retrieved 9 November 2020
  4. 1 2 Jaffrelot, Christophe, ed. (2002). A History of Pakistan and Its Origins. Translated by Gillian Beaumont. London: Anthem Press. pp. 205–206. ISBN   978-1-84331-030-3. OCLC   61512448.
  5. ↑ Khanna, Sunil K. (2004). "Jat". In Ember, Carol R.; Ember, Melvin (eds.). Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology: Health and Illness in the World's Cultures. Vol. 2. Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media. pp. 777–783. ISBN   978-0-387-29905-1. OCLC   473757308.
  6. ↑ Wink, A. (2002). Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Early medieval India and the expansion of Islam 7th-11th centuries. Vol. 1. Brill Academic Publishers. p. 156. ISBN   978-0-391-04125-7 . Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  7. ↑ Wink, André (1991). Al-hind: The Making of the Indo-islamic World. BRILL. p. 161. ISBN   978-90-04-09249-5. Some Jat freemen became famous in the Islamic world , as for instance Abu Hanifa ( 699-767 ? )
  8. ↑ Malik, Jamal (6 April 2020). Islam in South Asia: Revised, Enlarged and Updated Second Edition. BRILL. p. 44. ISBN   978-90-04-42271-1. ...Abu Hanifa (699–767), the founder of the Hanafi school of law, who was of Jat stock, most likely descending from those early prisoners sent to Iraq.
  9. ↑ Beg, Muhammad Abdul Jabbar (1981). Social Mobility in Islamic Civilization: The Classical Period: Y Muhammad Abdul Jabbar Beg. University of Malaya Press. p. 171. For instance , al - Sari b . alHakam b . Yusuf al - Zutti " was a governor of Egypt in 200-205 H./815-820 A.D. There were two other reported cases of social mobility among the Zutt people .
  10. ↑ Maclean, Derryl N. (1984). Religion and Society in Arab Sind. McGill University. p. 132. ISBN   978-0-315-20821-6.
  11. ↑ The History of al-Ṭabarī Vol. 33: Storm and Stress along the Northern Frontiers of the ʿAbbasid Caliphate: The Caliphate of al-Muʿtaṣim A.D. 833-842/A.H. 218-227. State University of New York Press. 1 July 2015. p. 7–10. ISBN   978-0-7914-9721-0.
  12. ↑ Wink, André (1991). Al-hind: The Making of the Indo-islamic World. BRILL. p. 157. ISBN   978-90-04-09249-5.
  13. ↑ Wink, André (2002). Al-Hind, The Making of the Indo-Islamic World: Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquest, 11th-13th Centuries. Vol. 2. Boston: Brill. pp. 241–242. ISBN   978-0-391-04174-5. OCLC   48837811.
  14. ↑ Journal of Central Asia. Centre for the Study of the Civilizations of Central Asia, Quaid-i-Azam University. 1992. p. 84. Retrieved 30 July 2022. Sadullah Khan was the son of Amir Bakhsh, a cultivator of Chiniot. He belonged to a Jat family. He was born on Thursday, the 10th Safar 1000 A.H./1591 A.C.
  15. 1 2 Irvine, W. (1971). Later Mughal. Atlantic Publishers & Distri. p. 118. Retrieved 30 July 2022. Once Daud was sent against the village of Bankauli, in pargana Chaumahla, with which his employer was at feud. Along with the plunder taken on this occasion Daud obtained possession of a Jat boy seven or eight years of age, whom he caused to be circumcised and then adopted under the name of Ali Muhammad Khan.
  16. 1 2 Ḥusain, M.; Pakistan Historical Society (1957). A History of the Freedom Movement: 1707-1831. A History of the Freedom Movement: Being the Story of Muslim Struggle for the Freedom of Hind-Pakistan, 1707-1947. Pakistan Historical Society. p. 304. Retrieved 30 July 2022. Amongst other prisoners he obtained a young Jat boy of eight years . Daud took a fancy to him and adopted him as his son and named him ' Ali Muhammad Khan.
  17. ↑ Gommans, Jos J. L. (1995). The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire: C. 1710-1780. BRILL. p. 120. ISBN   978-90-04-10109-8. Most of the contemporary sources, however, call him a Jat or an Ahir.
  18. ↑ Brohī, ʻAlī Aḥmad (1998). The Temple of Sun God: Relics of the Past. Sangam Publications. p. 175. Kalhoras a local Sindhi tribe of Channa origin...
  19. ↑ Wink, A. (2002). Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Early medieval India and the expansion of Islam 7th-11th centuries. Vol. 1. Brill Academic Publishers. p. 158-159. ISBN   978-0-391-04125-7 . Retrieved 2 August 2022. Samma, Sahtah, Chand(Channa)....which appear, at least in the Muslim sources, to be subdivisions of the Jats or to be put on a par with the Jats.
  20. ↑ Sumaira Jajja (29 December 2013). "When it comes to 'I do', the cult of clans matter". Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  21. ↑ Christophe Jaffrelot, ed. (2004). A history of Pakistan and its origins. London: Anthem Press. ISBN   1-84331-149-6. OCLC   56646546.
  22. ↑ “Census of India 1921. Vol. 15, Punjab and Delhi. Pt. 1, Report.” Census Reports - 1921, 1923., 1923. JSTOR. Accessed 8 Apr. 2024. Page 345.
  23. ↑ “Census of India 1931. Vol. 17, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables.” Census Reports - 1931, 1933., 1933. JSTOR. Accessed 8 Apr. 2024. Page 290.
  24. ↑ Lodrick, Deryck O. (2009). "JATS". In Gallagher, Timothy L.; Hobby, Jeneen (eds.). Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life. Volume 3: Asia & Oceania (2nd ed.). Gale. pp. 418–419. ISBN 978-1414448916. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
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