Turkistan
From Jatland Wiki
Turkistan (Persian: ترکستان ) (also spelled Turkestan or Türkistan, literally means "Land of the Turks") is a region in Central Asia, which today is largely inhabited by Turkic people. It also contains some of the great cities of Persian culture, notably Samarkand and Bukhara, and still has a substantial Iranian population, known today as Tajiks.
Turkistan is derived from Takshak
The word Turk has been derived from Takshan and Takshak is a well-known Jat-Gotra. The Greek historian Strabo writes that the Takshaks named Kardastan as Takshakstan. Later the name was changed to Turkistan and consequently, the inhabitants began to be called -Turks. The capital of this country was originally known as Takshkhand, which changed to Tashkand or Tashkent.
The Tartars admit themselves to be Chandravanshi. Abul Gazi, the Scythian historian, writes that the forefathers of the Turks were descendants of Tar Jatali, a Jat.
In or about 200 BC serious internal strife occurred in Turkistan. Various tribes fought among themselves. Neung Nu, the Chinese historian writes that during these battles, a tribe known as Uti (Uchi) was winked out of the country
During its westward withdrawal this, tribe was intercepted by another tribe called Daushan. The Uchis got divided into two groups. One of these settled, down. On the borders, of Tibet. The other settled on the banks of Sihun River and was known as Scythians. They defeated the Saka tribe and passed through Afghanistan. When exactly they did so is not known. They advanced through the Bolan Pass, crossed the River Indus and occupied the area upto the river Ganga. They got integrated with the local population to such an extent that they ceased to be called Scythians. This event has given rise to the historical ambiguity that Jats, Ahirs and Gujars are of Scythian descent. No Jat, however claims this honour bestowed on him by some historians who have looked only that for and no further. On the other hand, there is sufficient evidence to prove that these Scythians themselves were Jats and so easily amalgamated with their kith and kin. These very Scythians had named their territory in Turkistan as Jug Jats and a province in Iran as Jatali. The Khisans of Khamrian were known as Jat i-Iran. [1- Todd's Rajasthan - Urdu edition}
General Cunningham writes that the inhabitants of Jatali province in Iran are of Jat community of Yayati Dynasty. He also writes that people of the Shavi sub caste are the descendants, of the daughter of Daksha, and Raja Daksha was a Surya Vanshi.
Herodotus writes that when Alexander the Great attacked Dara, King of Iran, and the major part. of Dara's army consisted of Jat troops. Dara was very proud of these soldiers. Confidence in their bravery encouraged him to face Alexander. Todd also supports this fact and writes that the Jat contingent consisted of two hundred chariots and fifty elephants and formed the right flank of Dara's army. The Jat charioteers scattered Alexander's army. Alexander then sent for Scythian Jat troops. These were mostly Dahiya Jats and were equipped with lances. With the help of these troops Alexander defeated Dara. The Greek historian writes that these Dahiya Jats contributed a great deal to the later successes of Alexander.
Jats have a big gotra called Shavi. Iran was at one time known as Shavi country. Huen Tsang and Fa- hien nave mentioned in their accounts of their Indian travels, that through Tartary, Kashgar and, Pamir, they reached Shavi country. Lord Shiva or Shavi is known as prophet Shish in Iran, and his shrine on the banks of River Tigris is visited by a large number of Pilgrims. A province in Iran is called Seistan, a derivative of Shavi- Stan. The Jats of Shavi gotra came to be known as Shavisthians or Seythians. The Great Scythian writer Abul Gazi has called himself a Chandravanshi Jat. He also writes that the mother of Scythian community was the daughter of Aila or Ailya Devi,
The Sakas invaded Iran from the coast of Baltic Sea and looted a lot of treasure. When they were busy dividing the booty amongst themselves, at night the Jats made a surprise raid and snatched everything back.
To commemorate their success, the Jats built two temples on a rock and dedicated these two Amavash Devi and Unin Devi. An annual fair is held there even until to day.
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