brar
July 25th, 2003, 09:17 PM
Hi folks,
I've recently come to know that there are Jats among the Sikhs also. I've been told that Sikhism is just a religion which was adopted by most of the castes in Punjab i.e. United Punjab.
I've across a few gotras which are common between Hindu and Sikh Jats, for e.g.
Gill, Sindhu/Sandhu, Mann, Grewal, Sidhu, Brar, Chahal, Punia, Cheema, Dhillon, Dhull, Antal, Atwal, Dhaliwal, Sangra, Tiwana, Bains, Pannu, Balyan etc..
I am actually convinced that since the Jats of Haryana and Punjab share the same agrarian culture, they are one and the same. The Jats of Punjab also inter-marry into Jat Sikhs only and have thereby retained their identity. In fact in a census of the Jat community carried out by the Britishers somewhere in the 1930s, the minimum number of Jats were in the Hindu religion and their counterparts in the Sikh and Muslim faith far outnumbered them.
This interesting bit of information is often overlooked out of sheer ignorance or design. It is logical as well because Punjab and Haryana are neighbouring states divided on lingual lines and not ethnic ones. Ethnic similarities between the people is nothing but natural.
It is the Jat element in Sikhism which has given it a militant colour. It is well documented in Sikh history that following mass conversions by the Jats of the Malwa region of Punjab, Sikhism began to take on increasingly militant overtones and it was the Jats who having accepted the Sikh faith, turned it into a formidable force. In fact the Jat Sikhs were referred to as "the flower of the Khalsa Army during Maharaja Ranjit Singh's reign. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was also a Jat.
Jats have always powered Sikh politics. It is mandatory for the chief minister of Punjab to be a Jat Sikh because of the fact that Jat Sikhs are the most powerful and influential community in Punjab. Even the present chief minister Amarinder Singh is a Jat belonging to the Sidhu clan. The previous chief minister Parkash Singh Badal is a Dhillon with Badal being the name of his village.
Jat Sikhs share the same rural background as their Hindu Jat brethren of Haryana. People who are interested in treating the two as separate are only propagating ignorance.
BRAR
I've recently come to know that there are Jats among the Sikhs also. I've been told that Sikhism is just a religion which was adopted by most of the castes in Punjab i.e. United Punjab.
I've across a few gotras which are common between Hindu and Sikh Jats, for e.g.
Gill, Sindhu/Sandhu, Mann, Grewal, Sidhu, Brar, Chahal, Punia, Cheema, Dhillon, Dhull, Antal, Atwal, Dhaliwal, Sangra, Tiwana, Bains, Pannu, Balyan etc..
I am actually convinced that since the Jats of Haryana and Punjab share the same agrarian culture, they are one and the same. The Jats of Punjab also inter-marry into Jat Sikhs only and have thereby retained their identity. In fact in a census of the Jat community carried out by the Britishers somewhere in the 1930s, the minimum number of Jats were in the Hindu religion and their counterparts in the Sikh and Muslim faith far outnumbered them.
This interesting bit of information is often overlooked out of sheer ignorance or design. It is logical as well because Punjab and Haryana are neighbouring states divided on lingual lines and not ethnic ones. Ethnic similarities between the people is nothing but natural.
It is the Jat element in Sikhism which has given it a militant colour. It is well documented in Sikh history that following mass conversions by the Jats of the Malwa region of Punjab, Sikhism began to take on increasingly militant overtones and it was the Jats who having accepted the Sikh faith, turned it into a formidable force. In fact the Jat Sikhs were referred to as "the flower of the Khalsa Army during Maharaja Ranjit Singh's reign. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was also a Jat.
Jats have always powered Sikh politics. It is mandatory for the chief minister of Punjab to be a Jat Sikh because of the fact that Jat Sikhs are the most powerful and influential community in Punjab. Even the present chief minister Amarinder Singh is a Jat belonging to the Sidhu clan. The previous chief minister Parkash Singh Badal is a Dhillon with Badal being the name of his village.
Jat Sikhs share the same rural background as their Hindu Jat brethren of Haryana. People who are interested in treating the two as separate are only propagating ignorance.
BRAR