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Glite Dictionary
Jat

Jat

1 9.3
A group of people in northern India and Pakistan who are often farmers or soldiers
  • proper noun
: Jat
  • I don't see much in ancient India that supports a division into Banias, Thakurs, Jats, etc.
  • Jat Sikh

Examples

  • Most every Jat family here has at least one member in the military or the police.

  • He belongs to a Sikh Jat family and was also associated with Naujawan Bharat Sabha and Kirti Kisan Party.

    Academic text (2018)

  • Also, khap panchayats are by and large a phenomenon among the Jat community.

    Blog text (26)

  • Born in Rohtak District, his father was a petty businessman belonging to the Jat Biradari.

    Academic text (2018)

  • And, although there is no overt hostility between the Jat and Mazbhi Sikhs, there is no love lost between them either.

    Academic text (1992)

  • Although some Sikh Jats were averse to its moderate policies, many Sikh Jats joined the Unionist Party even then.

    Academic text (2018)

  • Like a majority of Mokhra's residents, he was a Jat, a member of an upwardly mobile peasant caste with a long martial tradition.

  • The Jats are a dominant caste in Haryana, traditionally well-off.

Surface Forms

Jat main

Etymology

Jat likely comes from an old local word like Jāta meaning 'born', or from words for a 'clan' or 'people'. A helpful way to remember it is to think of Jat as the name for a group of people—often farmers or soldiers—in northern India and Pakistan today.