Jatav
Encyclopedia
Jatav also called Jatia, Jatba in the Jammu
region Jatoi, is the largest tribe of the Chamar
caste in India.
tribal group native to the Punjab region
, Haryana
, Uttar Pradesh
and Rajasthan
.
Jatavs are consider to be Kshatriya
Shiva
gotra
& lineage from Lord Shiva. They claim to be survivors of the ancient war between Parashuram, the legend of the Brahmin
s, and Kshatriya
s, forced into hiding. Proof of Kshatriya ancestry is found in a series of correspondences or status similarities between Jatav and Other Kshatriya clana. These includes identical gotras, and such Kshatriya-like ceremonies as shooting a cannon at wedding and the use of the bow and arrow at the birth saṃskāra
.
In the 1920s, the Jatavs of western Uttar Pradesh asserted a Kshatriya identity by claiming lineage from the ancient Yadu
tribe. These claims were first made by Sunderlal Sagar, a prominent member of the Jatav Mahasabha of Agra, in Jatav Jivan (later published as Yadav Jivan in 1929). In 1946, Ramnarayan Yadvendu rehearsed many of the arguments made in Jatav Jivan, in his book Yaduvansh ka Aitihas.
, Eastern Rajasthan
, North-West Madhya Pradesh
, Jammu
region of Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana
, Punjab and Delhi
, and they are also present in Nepal
. As they are not listed separately in the census of India but along with other Scheduled Castes, their number is uncertain. The total population of Schedule Castes in India is 16.2%, amounting to 166.6 million.
family of languages including Hindi
, Rajasthani
, and Braj Bhasha, all using the Devanagari script, as well as Punjabi using the Gurmukhi script
.
s, members of the Kshatriya
(warrior-class) origin and rank, and they organized caste associations to reform caste behavior and lobby for their claims. There equivalent caste in Madhya Pradesh
is Ahirwar. In the 1931 census they demanded to be enumerated as Jatav-Rajputs.
After independence India legally abolished the practice of untouchability, established the universal franchise, and developed the policy of Affirmative Action
. That policy reserves electoral constituencies for Scheduled Caste candidates according to their percentages of population in the nation and the states; it does likewise for jobs in the national and state civil services; and it offers educational benefits to them. Jatavs have taken advantage of that policy and turned to active participation in India's parliamentary system of government. At times they have elected members of their caste to various state and national legislatures. In villages they have been less successful at influencing local political institutions and capturing funds meant for developmental projects. A major influence upon Jatavs was of late Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
(d. 1956) who encouraged untouchables to fight for their rights, and, as the first minister for law in India and the chairman of drafting body of the Indian constitution, provided a powerful role model.
Jammu
Jammu , also known as Duggar, is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India.Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir...
region Jatoi, is the largest tribe of the Chamar
Chamar
Chamar |tanner]]"; from the Sanskrit Charmakara) is a prominent occupational caste in India, Pakistan and Nepal. Chamar is a Dalit sub-caste mainly found in the northern states, such as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and in Nepal at least north to the Himalayas...
caste in India.
Origin and etymology
The name "Jatav" may be derived from the word Jat (Camel Driver), or from Jat, the name of a historical Indo-AryanIndo-Aryans
Indo-Aryan is an ethno-linguistic term referring to the wide collection of peoples united as native speakers of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-Iranian family of Indo-European languages...
tribal group native to the Punjab region
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
, 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...
, Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
and Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
.
Jatavs are consider to be Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of 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"...
& lineage from Lord Shiva. They claim to be survivors of the ancient war between Parashuram, the legend of the Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
s, and Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
s, forced into hiding. Proof of Kshatriya ancestry is found in a series of correspondences or status similarities between Jatav and Other Kshatriya clana. These includes identical gotras, and such Kshatriya-like ceremonies as shooting a cannon at wedding and the use of the bow and arrow at the birth saṃskāra
Samskara
Samskara may refer to:* Saṃskāra, Hindu rites* Saṃskāra , in Buddhism, mental and volitional formations* Samskara , a technique in ayurvedic medicine...
.
In the 1920s, the Jatavs of western Uttar Pradesh asserted a Kshatriya identity by claiming lineage from the ancient Yadu
Yadu
Yadu is one of the five Indo-Aryan tribes mentioned in the Rig Veda . The Mahabharata, the Harivamsha and the Puranas mention Yadu as the eldest son of king Yayati and his queen Devayani. The prince of King Yayati, Yadu was a self-respecting and a very established ruler...
tribe. These claims were first made by Sunderlal Sagar, a prominent member of the Jatav Mahasabha of Agra, in Jatav Jivan (later published as Yadav Jivan in 1929). In 1946, Ramnarayan Yadvendu rehearsed many of the arguments made in Jatav Jivan, in his book Yaduvansh ka Aitihas.
Demography
Jatavs live mostly in India the state of Western Uttar PradeshUttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, Eastern Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, North-West Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
, Jammu
Jammu
Jammu , also known as Duggar, is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India.Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir...
region of Jammu & Kashmir, 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...
, Punjab and Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, and they are also present in Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. As they are not listed separately in the census of India but along with other Scheduled Castes, their number is uncertain. The total population of Schedule Castes in India is 16.2%, amounting to 166.6 million.
Linguistic affiliation
Jatavs speak languages of the Indo-AryanIndo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...
family of languages including Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, Rajasthani
Rajasthani language
Rajasthani Rajasthani Rajasthani (Devanagari: , Perso-Arabic: is a language of the Indo-Aryan languages family. It is spoken by 50 million people in Rajasthan and other states of India and in some areas of Pakistan. The number of speakers may be up to 80 million worldwide...
, and Braj Bhasha, all using the Devanagari script, as well as Punjabi using the Gurmukhi script
Gurmukhi script
Gurmukhi is the most common script used for writing the Punjabi language. An abugida derived from the Laṇḍā script and ultimately descended from Brahmi, Gurmukhi was standardized by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad Dev Ji, in the 16th century. The whole of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji's 1430...
.
Political Organization
In pre-independent India, Jatavs gained considerable political expertise by forming associations and by developing a literate cadre of leaders. They tried to change their position in the caste system through the emulation of upper-caste behavior. Jatavs claimed to be RajputRajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
s, members of the Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
(warrior-class) origin and rank, and they organized caste associations to reform caste behavior and lobby for their claims. There equivalent caste in Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
is Ahirwar. In the 1931 census they demanded to be enumerated as Jatav-Rajputs.
After independence India legally abolished the practice of untouchability, established the universal franchise, and developed the policy of Affirmative Action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
. That policy reserves electoral constituencies for Scheduled Caste candidates according to their percentages of population in the nation and the states; it does likewise for jobs in the national and state civil services; and it offers educational benefits to them. Jatavs have taken advantage of that policy and turned to active participation in India's parliamentary system of government. At times they have elected members of their caste to various state and national legislatures. In villages they have been less successful at influencing local political institutions and capturing funds meant for developmental projects. A major influence upon Jatavs was of late Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
B. R. Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar , popularly also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, political leader, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist, scholar, editor, a revolutionary and one of the founding fathers of independent India. He was also the Chairman...
(d. 1956) who encouraged untouchables to fight for their rights, and, as the first minister for law in India and the chairman of drafting body of the Indian constitution, provided a powerful role model.
Notable Jatav
- MayawatiMayawatiMayawati is the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, India. She heads the Bahujan Samaj Party, which represents the Bahujans or Dalits, the weakest strata of Indian society. This is her fourth term as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh...
(born 1956), Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh - Krishna TirathKrishna TirathKrishna Tirath is a member of the 15th Lok Sabha of India. She represents the North West Delhi constituency of Delhi and is a member of the Indian National Congress political party....
(born 1955), Minister, central Government of IndiaAjay jatav delhi