Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 3.djvu/93

 THAKOOR TEJ SING. (131)

EJ SING is a Hindoo nobleman of the Jât tribe, and an inhabitant of Pisaweh, district Allyghur, where the family have resided time out of mind. This gentleman, and his brother Shib Sing, are proprietors of a large estate, laiown as the Talooka of Pisaweh, and they live on the proceeds of their property. They belong to a numerous tribe found chiefly in this district, and united by ties of kindred and clanship. The lower orders are simple cultivators, and seldom quit then- abodes except for military service. They are an honest, independent race, and many good soldiers have been obtained from amongst them since the mutiny; the present 14th Regiment of Bengal Native Cavalry being composed entirely of Jâts enlisted in Allyghur. They are strict Hindoos, and venerate the sun, the river Ganges, and the god Mahadeo. Their food is game, especially wild pigs; also mutton, vegetables, bread, rice, and grain of every description, but not beef Tej Sing is twenty-eight years of age; his complexion dark, and his eyes and hair black. He is above six feet in height, and the family are remarkable for their great height and size.

The Jâts or Jauts are a tribe of Hindoos widely spread in Central and Western India, and are a bold, independent class of agriculturists, closely connected by clanish ties, who have proved themselves on many occasions to be brave and excellent soldiers. Their largest settlement in Central India is in the territory of Bhurtpoor, the Rajah of which principality is their acknowledged head. Their establishment in this province dates only from the close of the Emperor Aurungzede's reign, when the tribe, having plundered the royal camp, took possession of their present location under their chief Chooraman, Avho founded Bhurtpoor, and could not be displaced. It will be remembered that on the first siege of Bhurtpoor, which was undertaken with very insufficient means considering the enormous strength of the fort, the British force was defeated, the storming parties being repulsed with immense loss. Hence a belief arose that Bhurtpoor was impregnable to British arms, and it became a rallying-point for the disaffected of all classes,