14. Occupation.
The Jāts are good cultivators, and at the thirty years’ settlement (1865) several members of the caste held considerable estates; but a number of these have now been lost, owing probably to extravagance of living. In Saugor the Jāts are commonly employed as masons or navvies.
[1] This article is partly based on information contributed by Mr. Debendra Nāth Dutt, Pleader, Narsinghpur; Mr. Ganga Singh, Extra Assistant Commissioner, Hoshangābād; and Mr. Adurām Chaudhri of the Gazetteer Office. The correct pronunciation of the caste name is Jat, but in the Central Provinces it is always called Jāt.
[2] Punjab Census Report (1881), para. 421.
[3] Early History of India.
[4] Mahābhārata, viii. 2026, et seq., translated by Professor H. H. Wilson, and quoted in vol. i. pp. 260, 262 of Dr. J. Wilson’s Indian Caste.
[5] Ibidem, paras. 422–424.
[6] Kashyap was a Rishi or saint, but he may probably have developed into an eponymous hero from Kachhap, a tortoise.
[7] Hoshangābād Settlement Report, p. 62.