Affinity Bloc: South Asian Peoples

Overview: A dominant peasant community of north-west India, the Jat are widely distributed. Popular local tradition attributes their origin to the matted hair (jata) of Lord Shiva. Current research suggests that the Jat migrated to India from Central Asia. The Hindu Jat are concentrated in northern Rajasthan, Haryana, parts of Punjab, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh.

  -- K. S. Singh, People of India, Volume V. India's Communities H-M. Delhi: Oxford University Press (1998), pp. 1361-1369

Peoples within this cluster: Jat, Hindu

Countries where they are found: India