1 108 PAN JAB CASTES.
2 sub-divisions of the Jats of those parts. Jat being essentially a word used
3 for agriculturists only, it is more probable that a man who returns himself as
4 Jat by caste and Bhatyara by tribe or elan should be a Bliatyara who has
5 taken to agricultm'e, than that he should be a Jat who lias taken to keeping
6 a cook-shop ; and the men shown below would probably have been moi'e pro-
7 perly returned under the respective castes opposite which their numbers are
8 givenj than as Jats. A more careful examination of the figures would probably
9 have increased the numbers ; and the detailed clan tables will give us much
10 information on the subject.
11 428. Fui-ther to the north and east, away from the Biloch territory, the
12 difficulty is of a somewhat different nature. There, as already explained, the
13 tribes are commonly known by their tribal names rather than by the name
14 of the caste to which they belong or belonged ; and the result is that claims to
15 Rajput, or now-a-days not unseldom to Arab or JNIughal origin, are generally
16 set U25. The tribes who claim to be Arab or Mughal will be discussed either
17 under their proper head or under Shekhs and Mughals. But the line between
18 Jats and Rajputs is a difficult one to draw, and I have been obliged to decide
19 the question in a rough and arbitrary manner. Thus the Sial are admittedly
20 of pure Rajput origin, and I have classed them as Rajputs as they are com-
21 monly recognized as such liy their neighliom's. The Siimra are probably of
22 no less pure Rajput extraction, l)ut they are commonly known as Jats, and
23 I have discussed them under that head. But in either case I shall show the
24 Sial or Sumra who have returned themselves as Jats side by side with those
25 who have retm'ned themselves as Rajputs, so that the figures may be as com-
26 plete as possible. As a fact these people are generally known as Sial and
27 Sumra rather than as Jats or Rajputs ; and the inclusion of them under either
28 of the latter headings is a classification based upon generally reputed origin or
29 standing, rather than upon any current and usual designation. Mr. Purser
30 thus expresses the matter as he found it in Montgomery : —
31 " There is a wonderful imiforuiity about tlio tradltiuiis of the different tribes. The ancestor of
32 " each tribe was, as a rule, a Rajput of the Solar or Lunar race, and resided at Hastinapur or Dara-
33 " nagar. He fcornfully rejected the propo-als of the Dehli Emperor for a matrimonial alliance
34 '■ between the two faiuilie-i, and had then to fly to Sirsa or Bbatiiei', or some otlier I'lai c \a that
35 " ucighbourliood. Next he came to the Kavi and was converted to Islam by Maklidiim Baba-ul-
36 " Haqq, or Baba Farid. Then, being a stout-liearted man, he joined the Kharrals in their maraud-
37 " ing expeditions, and so his descendants became Jats. In Kamar Singh's time they took to agricul-
38 " ture and abandoned robbery a little ; and now under the English Government they liave quite given
39 " up their evil ways, and are honest and well disiJosed."
40 Mr. Steednian writing from Jhang says : —
41 " There are in this disti-ict a lot of ti-ibes engaged in agricultui' ■ or cattle-grazing who have
42 " no very clear idea of their origin but are certainly converted Hindus. Many are recognized
43 " Jats, and more belong to an enormous variety of tribes, but are called by the one comprehensive
44 "term Jat. Ethnologically I am not sure of my ground ; but for practical convenience iu this
45 " ijart of the world, I would class as Jats all JIuhammadans whose ancestors were converted from
46 " Hindusim mid who are n^w engnged in, or derive their maintenance from, the cultivation of laud
47 " or the pasturing of cattle."
48 The last words of this sentence convey an important distinction. The
49 Jat of the Indus and Lower Chaniib is essentially a husbandman. But in the
50 great central grazing grounds of the Western Plains he is often pastoral rather
51 than agricultural, looking upon cultivation as an inferior occupation which
52 iie leaves to Arains, Mahtams, and such like people.
53 On the Upper Indus the word Jat, or Hindki which is perhaps more
54 often used, is, applied in scai'cely a less indefinite sense than in the Derajatj