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Punjab.

Date:: 1908

Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Punjab. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Cover
Title Page
Table of Contents
Index
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38/486 (page 6)

Castes and occupa- tions. Christian missions. General agricul- tural con- ditions. Here, as in all the western Districts of the Punjab, where the influence and example of the frontier races is strong, caste is little more than a tradition, and the social unit is the tribe. Thus the terms Jat and Rajput are of the most indefinite significance, Jat including all pastoral or agricultural tribes who (being Muhammadans of Indian origin) do not distinctly claim Rajput rank. The pastoral clans inhabiting the District bear collectively the name of the ‘ Great Ravi ’ tribes, in contra- distinction to the purely agricultural classes, who are con- temptuously nicknamed the ‘ Little Ravi.’ Their principal subdivisions include the Kathias, who have been identified with the Kathaeans of Arrian; the Kharrals, the most tur- bulent and courageous of all the clans; together with the Fattiana, Murdana, VainiwM, Baghela, Wattu, and Johiya. The Great Ravi Jats possess a fine physique, and have hand- some features ; they lay claim to a Rajput origin, and look down upon all who handle the plough. In former days they exercised practical sovereignty over the agricultural tribes of the lowlands. We find 56,000 persons returned as Jats and 53,000 as Rajputs in 1901. The Mahtams (12,000), Arains (34,000), and Kam- bohs (23,000) are hard-working tribes, the last two being, as elsewhere, first-rate cultivators. The Kharrals (21,000), Balochs (13,000), and Khokhars (8,000) are chiefly pastoral. Brahmans number only 4,000 and Saiyids 5,000. Aroras (51,000) are the principal commercial tribe, and there are 5,000 Khattrls and 10,000 Muhammadan Khojas. Of the artisan and menial classes, the chief are the Chuhras (scavengers, 31,000), Julahas (weavers, 23,000), Kumhars (potters, 20,000), Machhis (fishermen and water-carriers, 18,000), Mochis (cobblers, 16,000), Nais (barbers, 7,000), Mlrasls (village minstrels, 9,000), Kassabs (butchers, 6,000), Sonars (goldsmiths, 4,000), and Tarkhans (carpenters, 12,000). Chamars, so common in the Eastern Punjab, are hardly represented. Nearly 50 per cent, of the population are supported by agriculture, 20 per cent, are industrial, and 5 per cent, commercial. A branch of the Reformed Presbyterian Mission was established at Montgomery in 1895. In 1901 the District contained 314 native Christians. The scanty and uncertain rainfall makes systematic cultiva- tion on unirrigated land precarious, and agriculture depends almost entirely on artificial irrigation or river floods. The prevailing soil of the District is loam, but sandy a,nd clay soils are also found 3 soils impregnated with soda and other salts are

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