1 Ia4 t>ANJAB CASTES.
2 437. Jats of the eastern sub-montane.— The small group of Juts which t
3 shall Ufxt describe lie to the north of the Sikh Jats just discussed, all alonjj
4 under the foot of the hills from Ambala to Gurdi'ispur. There is no definite
5 line of demarcation between them and the Sikh Jats to the south or the Jats
6 of the western sub-montane to the west ; and perhaps the only real distinction
7 is that, speaking broadly, the first are Hindus, the second Sikhs, and the
8 third Musalmans, though of course followers of all three religions are to be
9 found in almost every tribe. In character and jjosition there is nothing to
10 distinguish the tribes I am about to notice, save that they have never enjoyed
11 the political importance which distinguished the Sikh Jats under the Khalsa.
12 Abstract No. 70 on the opposite page gives the figures for these tribes roughly
13 ai'ranged in order from west to east. Here again there is no confusion
14 between Jats and Rajputs, though the reason of the precision with which
15 they are distinguished is exactly the opposite of that abeady discussed in the
16 case of the western sub-montane and Sikh Jats. In the Sikh tract the
17 political position of the Jat was so high that he had no wish to be called
18 Rajput : under the hills the status of the Rajput is so superior that the Jat
19 has no hope of being called Rajput. The only one of these tribes of which
20 any considerable nirraber have returned themselves as Jats as well as Rajputs
21 is the Manj, and that only in Gui-daspur on the extreme confines of the tract.
22 Then I shall consider ^vith the Rajputs of the same name. In this tract the
23 Settlement Reports are even more meagre than in the last ; and my informa-
24 tion is correspondingly imperfect,
25 438. The Jat tribes of the Eastern Sub-montane. The Randhawa (No. 2).— The
26 Randliitwa is a large and widely spread trihe whose head-quarters appear to be the Amritsar and
27 Gurdaspui' districts, but who are also found in considerable numbers in Lahore, Jalandhar,
28 Hushyarpur, and Patiala. Their founder Randhawa, a Jadu or Bhatti Kajpiit, lived in Bikaiier
29 some seven centui'ieB ago ; and Kajjal, fifth in descent from him, migi'ated to Batala which had
30 some time before been founded by Earn Deo another Bliatti. Here the tribe increased in numbers,
31 possessed itseU of a very considerable tract of country, and rose to some political importance. The
32 history of the Randhawa family is fully detailed at pag;es 200 to 218 of the Pavjdb Chiefs.
33 A few Randhawa have shown themselves also as Bhatti in Gujranwala and as Virk in Firozpur.
34 The Kang ^No. 3). — Tliis tribe is found chiefly in the angle between the Baas and Satluj,
35 though they have crossed the latter river into Ambiila and FiVo/.pur, and are apparently found
36 in small numbers all along its banks and even on the Lower Induit. Their tradition ii tliat they
37 came from Garb Ghazni. They occupied a position of some considerable political importance in
38 their own tract during the early Jays of Sikh rule. Mr. Barkley write* of the Jalandhar Kang : —
39 " Most of the Sikh Sardars of the XakoHar tahsil either belong to this tribe, or were connected
40 " with it by marriage when they established their authority there. Tara Singh Gheba (sic), who
41 '•■ was their leader at the time of the conquest, was himself of this race and a native of Kang on
42 "the Satluj, where it is said that eighteen Sardars at one time resided ; but on the \illage being
43 " swept away by the river they dispersed themselves in theii- separate ^'4jfr« on both sides of the
44 " river." Tlie Kang are said to claim descent from the Solar Rajputs of Ajudhia through their
45 ancestor Jogra, father ot Kang,
46 The Sohal (No. 4). — The Sohal are said to be of Chanhan Rajput origin, their ancestor Sohal
47 belonging to the family of Mahag. They appear to lie to the north of the Kang, close up under
48 and even among the hills ; but they are also found along the Satluj, though in smaller numbers.
49 The Bains (No. 5).— The head-quarters of the Bains appear to be in Hushyarpur and
50 Jalandhar, though they have spread westwards even as far as Rawalpindi, and eastwards into
51 Ambala and the adjoining Native States. They say that they are by origin Janjiia Ep '
52 and that their ancestor Bains came eastwards in '■'••-'■—>— ^-■^''•»-..Ja\ a ^ lamily of Faridkot.
53 royal families of Rajputs, but Tod believe^ V' ?" 'o»iiaer of Jaisalmer, wlio was driven
54 section. They give their name to KrJ ""'^ ^:^^ lyige with Prithi R,4j, Chauhan, the last
55 doib. The Sardars of Alawalpui- \t\^P- '^"'f •■""^ '"'.''^f '"'fl gave to the latter tract the
56 to Jalla nea. Sarhind in Nabha,u„ 4;' ,?' ,° married a Jat woman of tlie Ghaggar, and
57 . The Buta (No. 6.-T. ^'.J^t^ S. ^^ ^ ^t^^^i
58 f J