Caste mobility - 5

....To begin with the Jats were most probably Scythian who entered India sometime after entrance of other Scythians who invaded the Western India and established their rule. These other Scythians rulers were later co-opted by the Brahmans and given Kshatriya status. They came to be known as Rajputs who were to overlord over valiant Jats for a long time. The Jats, when they entered India, were a pastoral people. They were not the agriculturists as they are now. Though they did not lack quality of bravery but they did lack the capacity to organize on a sustainable basis. Their organized defenses or the resistance to big armies never lasted long enough and they always capitulated to strong rulers. But they were occasional source of local troubles to rulers. They were poor pastoral people who moved from place to place in search for greener pastures. They kept mainly camels, cows and buffalos in their cattle stock. Till the advent of modern medicine system from West they were the best vets and breeders. They sold milk and dairy products they got from their cattle stock. Occupation wise they were equivalent to Ahirs. However they also did engage themselves in the pursuit of plundering and robbing and thus always creating law and order problems for the local rulers. However, by 10^th century they also took up cultivation on temporary basis and came to be classified as low level Shudra. Though they have traveled a long up the social scale they are still regarded as Shudras, only the highest level Shudras. They lived a pastoral life and moved from here to there in search of greener pastures. They also plundered and robbed the people; this reminds of Rig Vedic Aryans who were pastoral as well as plunderers. Both of them took to agriculture. However like the Kayasthas their rise is also linked to the coming of Muslim rulers. Here again we find no help from within the Hindu framework. The lowly people took the help of adharmic invaders. The Jats joined the Muslim armies in large numbers. However, other Jats with their robbing and plundering ways were a constant source of trouble to Muslim rulers. However, this trouble was converted into asset by giving these poor, landless, ostracized but brave people jobs in the Muslim army infantry and making them cultivators. Not withstanding all the claims to Jats’ opposition to Muslims one finds that the largest conversions took place among Jats; they appear as cultivators only during Muslim rule; they formed big groups under Muslim rulers; their bravado was recognized only by Muslim rulers; afterward by British. Still one can see that there was no help from within the Hindu framework. The Jats proved to be efficient tillers but no more than that. Whatever they produced was taken away by the landlords leaving them barely with enough food to survive. However they were better than untouchables because the untouchables could at most be casual labor but not the tillers. The landlords exploited them. The Rajputs who in Rajasthan were the landlords, forcible took away their womenfolk frequently - not really a surprise from the cultured elites of Hindu society. In Rajasthan many disabilities were imposed on them not long ago. However the converted Jats maintained for a long time intermarrying into Hindu Jats and smoking or inter dining with them. Thus they probably became a favored group with Muslim rulers. Thus the Kayasthas did clerking and administrative jobs along with maintaining land records for Muslim rulers. The Jats on the other hand did the tilling and army infantry jobs for them. Even after becoming tillers, they were rarely able to accumulate anything in their entire lifetime (Jutt di joon buri- the life of a Jat was bad and fruitless). A Jat was supposed to be a person who could toil on others’ land all his lifetime without really hoping to get anything in return. All his sweat or bravery was not sufficient to raise his social status; he was bound to remain an impure Shudra. But he had become higher than untouchables. They had relatively stable source of income through tilling and jobs in army. The Jats unlike Rajputs were unable to make a forced entry into higher status of Hindu society. Under Muslim rule they were upgraded to Shudra level. After Mughal rule decayed they formed armed groups around the region of Agra; attacking the Mughal armies. At that time they established some small, kingdoms like Bharatpur and others. However they never got the status of Kshatriyas and were branded as unruly plunderers and bandits by the Kshatriyas and Brahmans. The Jats and Brahmans have traditionally ignored each other. The British classified them as martial race and gave them jobs in the army. This helped them further financially. Here joining the army as infantry indicates bravery as well economic pressure. They mainly did the tilling and joined army till the independence. After the independence the land reforms took place and the tillers became the owners of the land. Here was the real jump, they had become resource owners and highest among Shudras. Now they have the land and muscle power with them in rural upper north India but still have not acquired the status of Kshatriyas. But they are still regarded as uncultured by the cultured elites of the Hindu society.....