History caste & culture of Jats and Gujars

There are conflicting theories about the origin of the valiant group of people known as Jats, According to some experts on ethnography, the Jats are Aryans and of the same stock as the Rajputs and the name of their race is simply the modern Hindi for Yadu or Jadu, the title of the famous Kshatriya stock to which Lord Krishna belonged, Others maintain that they are Indo-Scy thians, identify them with the Jatil of the classical geographers and even suggest that they are of the same stock as the gypsies of Eastern Europe,

While the ancestors of the Jats were moving into India from the Kandhar valley, another Scythian tribe called Yuchi, whose modern representatives are the Gujars, had established themselves in Kabul, Kashmir and northern Punjab where their settle ments may be traced in the names of places and districts such as Gujrah wala and Gujrat.

The distinction between Jats, Gujars and Rajputs is mainly social rather than ethnic, A. H. Bingley's book goes into details of the cultural patterns and social traditions of the two stocks and elaborates the diver sities. He also describes how the Sikh and Muslim Jats originated.

For an understanding of any cultural group it is essential to study the different facets of the life of its members. The author has made a fascinating study of classification and geographical distribution of Jats and Gujars. He has given a vivid account of the religion, customs and festivals of these people