Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 5.djvu/38

SIKH JAT OF THE SINDHOO CLAN. were the ancestors of all the Jat families in the Punjab of any consideration—so much so, that the Jat families are called 'painti,' i.e. thirty-five, and the chief Rajpoots as 'chati,' or thirty-six, at the present day. Changa, who, from his antecedents, might be expected to be among the 'chati,' was, on the contrary, found in the ranks of the Jats. His family had been so long cultivators, that their prejudices had died away."—P. 226.

The family gradually attained considerable local power, but its representative was punished by the Emperor Jehangeer for an act of murder. When the Sikhs established their independence, the Sindhoo clan, by their chiefs, joined the popular faith and confederation, and their leaders rose to be men of wealth and consideration. The present head of the clan is Sadho Singh, who has been educated in the Government College at Lahore, and has recently attained his majority.

The Sindhoo Jats, being Sikhs, do not differ from other Sikhs in any respect. They have been brave and faithful soldiers, when required to serve as such; but as Jats they are essentially farmers and cultivators of the soil—a sturdy, stalwart clan, remarkable, perhaps, in this respect, even among their neighbours. They are not bound by rules of caste in regard to diet, but adhere to the customs of their "gote," or division, especially in regard to marriage alliances and ceremonials, with the general strictness of all Sikhs.