Utar

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Utar (उटार) is a gotra of Jats. Jats of this gotra were breeders of camels hence Utar after the word Unt in Hindi.^[1] Dilip Singh Ahlawat has mention it as one of the ruling Jat clans in Central Asia. ^[2]

History

They are mentioned by Herodotus as Utians, along with the Sarangians (Saramgha) and the Pactyans ^[3]. In the Puranas they are mentioned as Uttara. Mahabharata mentions them along with the Lohans, Rishikas and Kambojas. ^[4] In the Sixth century A.D. they were fighting the Holy Roman Empire, along with the Bals and the Kulars. There they are named as Utargari, meaning the caravan of the Utar. The word Gari has given the Indian name Gari (wagon) According to Cambridge Ancient History, Sargon , king of Agade (2371-2316 B.C.), hears some complaints from the merchants of the city of Purushkhand, near Kayesri in Cappadocia and goes to battle against “ the land of Uta-rapashtum.” ^[5] Cambridge Ancient History is not sure of this name, ^[6] because of the wrong bifurcation. The correct bifurcation should be Utara-Pashtum, i.e. the land of the Utaras and the Pashtuns. These two people are the same as the Utians and the Pactyans of Herodotus. R.N. Frye, mentions them as Uti in Armenia. ^[7] Buddha Prakash says, “ The clan of Yaudheyas has an unmistakable resemblance with the Yautiya of Laristan the Ouitioi of Trans-Caucasia, and the Jut nomads of Kirmans” ^{[8] [9]}

Clearly, the Utians are the same as the Utara of CAH the Uttara of the Purana and the present Utar Jats. Their identification with the Yaudheyas, may or may not be there, though it is possible. The Pashtum/Pactyan, are of course the Pashtun/Pakhtun of modern Afghanistan and these people are also mentioned by Herodoutus in the West , at that time. MBT mentions a country of Uttara and a king maned Uttara. Political and Social Movements in Ancient Punjab by Buddha Prakash, p. 105) ^[9]

References

1. ↑ Dr Mahendra Singh Arya, Dharmpal Singh Dudee, Kishan Singh Faujdar & Vijendra Singh Narwar: Ādhunik Jat Itihasa (The modern history of Jats), Agra 1998
2. ↑ Dilip Singh Ahlawat: Jat viron ka Itihasa
3. ↑ Book VII , ch. 68)( Pakhtoons)
4. ↑ op.cit,II , 27. 22-26
5. ↑ Vol-I,pt. II, p.426 ff.
6. ↑ ibid . p. 428 note 3
7. ↑ MBT, VI, 9,65.
8. ↑ The Heritage of Persia, 1962, p.50
9. ↑ ^9.0 9.1 Bhim Singh Dahiya, Jats the Ancient Rulers ( A clan study), 1980, Sterling Publishers, New Delhi , p. 276-277

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