Introduction to Jat History (जाट इतिहास परिचय)

]It was in 1925 that Prof. Kalika Ranjan Qanungo’s “History of the Jat” appeared. It is a scholarly, but not an inspired work. Thakur Deshraj produced his book on Jat history in Hindi “Jat Itihasa” in 1934. It is a well-researched book and still serves as a reference book. It has not yet been translated in to English. Ram Sarup Joon has written another well researched book "History of the Jats" in Hindi in 1938 which was translated in English in 1967. In the last 80 years quite a few other books in Hindi came on the subject; notably by Kaviraj Dr. Yogender Pal Shastri, Capt. Dilip Singh Ahlawat, Hukum Singh Panwar, Dharmpal Singh Dudee, Bal Kishan Dabas, etc.

Bhim Singh Dahiya was a historian and civil servant belonging to the Indian Revenue Service (IRS). In 1982, he wrote the monumental book- "Jats the Ancient rulers", published by Dahinam Publishers, Sonipat, Haryana. This book is a reconstruction of the History of Jats from time immemorial. His linkage of the clan names/ Gotras to the existence of the Jats in Central Asia, and Europe, put a stamp on the histiography of the Jat History, for the people who could not have access to the works in Hindi or Urdu.

He brought out to the layman reader, that Chandragupta Maurya, the Kushans, the second Guptas, and Harshavardhana were Jats. He showed how the G letter represented the J sound, as the J letter did not exist in the ancient Greek alphabet. The significance was that the Getae, whom the Chinese and Western and most Indian Historians know as the Yuezhi, are Jats, of whom Kushans were just one clan Kaswan, not a people unto themselves.

In 1992, he brought out his next book- Rig Vedic Tribes and Aryans, published by Dahinam Publishers, Sonipat, Haryana. Here he demonstrated how over 80 Jat Goths, Gotras, clans could be traced back to the Rig Veda.

His third great work in the history is in the form of Book- History of Hindustan Vol. I, II, III. Dahinam Publishers, Sonipat, Haryana also published it.

Dr Natthan Singh has written a very good book on Jat History in Hindi “Jat Itihasa” which is published by Jat Samaj Kalyan Parishad Gwalior in 2004. He was also editor of second edition (1992) of his book on Jat history “Jat Itihas” written in 1934 by Thakur Deshraj.