Jats of Azad Kashmir

The Jats are one of the larger communities found in the Azad Kashmir, making up the majority of the population of Mirpur District, and forming a large part of the populations of Kotli and Bhimber districts. According to the 1901 Census of India conducted by Britain, the total Jat population of the princely state of Kashmir was 148,000, and all were Muslim.[1] Most of them resided is areas that now form Azad Kashmir, although there were few villages in the Jammu (especially in villages like Muradpur, dassal danidhar, bagla, lam and many villages of mender and poonch) and Kathua regions, most of whom immigrated to Pakistan. Little is known about when the Jat settled in the foothill of the Pir Panjal, but reference was made by the Mughal Emperor Babar of the their presence in his memoirs Babarnama.[2]

Distribution

Jats predominantly reside in the traditional Jat heartlands of Chakswari, Dadyal, the city of Mirpur and the countryside surrounding these areas, which all form part of the Mirpur district which is overwhelmingly Jat. The main Jat villages in or around the city of Mirpur are Ban Khurma, Chitterpury, Balah-Gala, Kalyal, Khambal, Purkhan, Sangot and Thathaal as well as many villages around the Chechian area.

The Mirpuri Jat make up a substantial portion of the British Pakistani community, as many of the Jat villages were flooded by the construction of the Mangla Dam.[3]

Language

The Kotli, Dadyal and Chakswari Jats speak in a broad Pahari dialect, whilst those of Mirpur City and its immediate surrounds speak in a dialect which resembles the Pothwari spoken in the Jhelum area, while the Bhimber Jats speak in the Pahari dialect influenced by the Punjabi spoken in Gujrat District and some can understand and speak Balochi.

×″==Main clans== The main Jat clans in the State are the:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Census of India 1901 Volume 23A Jammu and Kashmir Part 2 Government of India Press
  2. ↑ Punjab Castes by Sir Denzil Ibbetson
  3. ↑ From Textile Mills to Taxi Ranks: Experiences of Migration, Labour and Social Change by Virender Karla