Jat Sikh

Jat Sikh or Jatt Sikh (Punjabi: ਜੱਟ ਸਿੱਖ, pronounced [d͡ʒəʈːə̆ sɪkːʰə̆]) is an ethnoreligious group, a subgroup of the Jat people whose traditional religion is Sikhism, originating from the Indian subcontinent. They are one of the dominant communities in Punjab, India, owing to their large land holdings. They constitute a substantial proportion of the Sikh population.

The New Indo-Aryan term jaṭṭ descends from the Prakrit form jaṭṭa, itself from jarta, or jartika, the name of a tribe stated in antiquity as residing in Vahlika.

During the 15th–16th centuries, a period of regionalised, tribal spheres of influence existed in the Punjab, with the Kharals and Sials being influential in the lower sections of the Bari and Rechna doabs, with the Gakkhars, Awans, and Janjuas in the upper Sindh Sagar Doab, while Rajput clans were dominant along the Shivalik Hills and the regions adjoining Rajasthan. According to Jagtar Singh Grewal, Jatts from Rajasthan and Sindh started settling in the Punjab by following rivers upstream, displacing the Gujjar and Rajput tribes for agricultural lands. By the late 16th century, the Jatts were the most numerous agricultural caste between the Jhelum and Yamuna rivers. In Punjabi Hindu society, the Jatts occupied a low-status due to their refusal to engage in sati (widow immolation) and their practice of widow remarriage (chadar chadhana).

The Jatts of Punjab claimed to originate from the locks of Shiva, known as jatas. Furthermore, they claimed Kshatriya status but explained their uptake of ploughing work as being due to a vow they made to Parashuram to forfeit the warrior-ways and adopt an agricultural lifestyle.