Jats of Balochistan

Jats of Balochistan

Map of Sindhi dialects; the Jats of Balochistan live and work in the Lasi, Lari, Kutchi, and Nummari regions
Regions with significant populations
Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab
Languages
Balochi, Sindhi, Saraiki and Jadgali
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Baloch people • Sindhi Sammats

The Jats of Balochistan, also spelt Jath, ^[1] are tribes of Sindhi origin, usually from Lari Sindhi Jats, ^[2] Jadgals, ^[3] and Jamotes, ^[4] found in Pakistani Balochistan, specifically in the Kacchi Plains, Las Bela, and Makran. ^{[5] [6]} They are also found in lower Sindh and Kutch. ^[1] However, regardless of their origins, they are generally seen as Baloch. ^[7] They are estimated to be around 10% of the total population of Balochistan, making up the fourth largest ethnic group in the area. Most of these Jats are nomadic pastoralists who specialize in raising camels. ^[8]

Jaths (pronounced with a soft 't') are distinct from Jats ^[9] who are farmers found in Central Sindh, the Kacchi Plains, and beyond. ^[10]

History

Further information: Las Bela (princely state) and Makran (princely state)

A picture of a 'Beloch Jutt Mussalman'

By the time of the Umayyad conquest of Sind in the 8th century, Arab writers described agglomerations of native tribes throughout the newly conquered lands of Sind ^[11] and Makran. The Arabs referred to these tribes as "Zutts", an Arabic word derived from the word Jat, although this term was also applied to several other groups—such as the Sāyabija, Andāghar, and Qufs—not all of whom were necessarily ethnic Jats. ^[12] The Jats of Makran (with their name being synonymous with cameleers there) ^[13] reportedly reared fine-quality camels which were in demand as far as Khurasan; these camels were also presented to Caliph Mu'awiya. ^[14] These cameleers were included under the Zutt label.

The Jats were present in Makran and Lasbela before the migration of the Baloch from Kerman, Khorasan, and Sistan and Baluchistan in present-day Iran.^{[ citation needed ]}

The major Jat (or Jath) tribes include:

• Bizenjo ^[15]
• Dodai ^[16]
• Gurchani ^[17]
• Lanjwani ^[18]
• Mengal ^[15]
• Sajdi ^[15]
• Sardarzahi ^[19]
• Zehri ^[15]

See also

• Baloch people
• Sindhis of Balochistan
• Sindhi Sammat
• Jats of Afghanistan

References

1. "Indus Delta's unique 'Kharai' camels on verge of extinction". Daily Times. 2017-10-28. Retrieved 2024-01-22. Jatt (Also Jat or Jath) is an ingenious community in lower Sindh, Makran and Katch (or Kachh) area of India.
2. Khan, Sabir Badal (2013). Two Essays on Baloch History and Folklore: Two Essays on Baloch History and Folklore. Università di Napoli, "l'Orientale". p. 61.
3. "Oman's Diverse Society: Northern Oman" (PDF). JE Peterson.
4. 1998 District Census Report of Malir. Population Census Organisation, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan. 1999. p. 11. Among Sindhis the tribes are Syed, Jokhia, Khaskheli , Palari , Bareja , Bhabra , Dhars , Sirhindi , Jamot and Mohanas.
5. Baluchistan (Pakistan) (1979). Balochistan Through the Ages: Tribes (reprint ed.). Nisa Traders (sole distributors Gosha-e-Adab).
6. Sir Richard Francis Burton (1898). William Henry Wilkins (ed.). The Jew, The Gypsy and El Islam. H. S. Stone. p. 215.
7. Spooner, Brian (1975). "Nomadism in Baluchistan". In Leshnik, Lawrence S.; Sontheime, Günther-Dietz (eds.). Pastoralists and Nomads in South Asia. Wiesbaden, Germany: O. Harrassowitz. pp. 171–182. ISBN   3-447-01552-7.
8. Westphal-Hellbusch, Sigrid; Westphal, Heinz (1986). The Jat of Pakistan. Lok Virsa.
9. Raza, S. Jabir (2004). The Jats of Punjab and Sind: Their settlements and migrations (c. 5th-12th AD). Vol. 1.
10. Pirzada, Din Ali (1995). Growth of Muslim Nationalism in Sindh: Parting of Ways to Pakistan. Mehran Publishers.
11. Mayaram, Shail (2003). Against history, against state : counterperspectives from the margins. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN   0-231-12730-8. OCLC   52203150.
12. Zakeri, Mohsen (1995). Sāsānid Soldiers in Early Muslim Society: The Origins of ʻAyyārān and Futuwwa. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN   978-3-447-03652-8. Pg. 123, 195, 196.
13. Wink, André (2002). Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam 7Th-11th Centuries. BRILL. ISBN   978-0-391-04173-8. Pg. 142.
14. Wink, André (2002). Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam 7Th-11th Centuries. BRILL. ISBN   978-0-391-04173-8. Pg. 160, 172.
15. Baluch, Muhammad Sardar Khan (1977). History of Baluch Race and Baluchistan. Gosha-e-Adab : distributors Nisa Trader. p. 268. ...Bizanjo, Mengal, Sajdi and Zehri as Jadgal or Jats...
16. ʻAlī, Anṡārī ʻAlī Sher (1901). A Short Sketch, Historical and Traditional, of the Musalman Races Found in Sind, Baluchistan and Afghanistan, Their Genealogical Sub-divisions and Septs, Together with an Ethnological and Ethnographical Account. Printed at the Commissioner's Press.
17. Sumra, Mahar Abdul Haq (1992). The Soomras. Beacon Books.
18. Hafeez Tunio (30 December 2014). "Dastar bandi: Zardari takes over as chief of his own tribe". The Express Tribune (newspaper). Retrieved 17 August 2021. Other sub-castes of the Jat community living in Sindh include the Lasharis, Zuhranis, Malkanis, Lanjwanis, Pahores and Kalwars, among others.
19. Breseeg, Taj Mohammad (2004). Baloch Nationalism: Its Origin and Development. Royal Book Company. p. 106. ISBN   978-969-407-309-5.