Antal known in classical writings as the Amateans (icon) or Antixenes (icon), is a gotra

Gotra

In the Hindu society, the term Gotra broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor. Panini defines gotra for grammatical purposes as apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram , which means "the word gotra denotes the progeny beginning with the son's son"...

 of Jats found in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

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History and origin

The Jat historian Thakur Deshraj

Thakur Deshraj

Thakur Deshraj was a social worker, journalist, nationalist, freedom fighter and author of many books. He was from Rajasthan state in India. He was revenue minister in the princely state of Bharatpur....

 identifies them with the amatae people of Sindh

Sindh

Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

 described by Megasthenes

Megasthenes

Megasthenes was a Greek ethnographer in the Hellenistic period, author of the work Indica.He was born in Asia Minor and became an ambassador of Seleucus I of Syria possibly to Chandragupta Maurya in Pataliputra, India. However the exact date of his embassy is uncertain...

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The leading figure of the twelve major Alvar

Alvar

An alvar is a biological environment based on a limestone plain with thin or no soil and, as a result, sparse vegetation. It is also known as a pavement barren although this term is also used for similar landforms based on sandstone. In the United Kingdom the exposed landform is called a limestone...

 poets of the Srivaisnavas is the female mystic saint Antal. Antal (literally "she who rules"), who is regarded by her disciples as a goddess, composed a number of devotional hymns addressed to Krishna, peppered with strains of strong social protest against the oppression of women and the lower castes. These hymns form the core of Srivaisnava liturgy. Because of the central role of Antal in the development of the Srivaisnava community, the sect accords a status to women that is markedly different from that of classical Brahminism.

Distribution

Antal Jats are mainly found in the Ambala District

Ambala District

Ambala district is one of the 21 districts of Haryana state in India. Ambala town is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district has an area of 1568.85 km².-History:...

 of Haryana

Haryana

Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...

.Major villages being Balana, Chaur Mastpur, Lautan (Khurchanpur), Naneola,Ghiserpadi,Ratangarh in Kurukshetra District; Makhmailpur, Alipur, Khalaspur, Sular, Pur (Mandi), Hadana, Majauli in Patiala District and Soonkh in Ropar District, Punjab.