Lehal Library

15 The Sikh Homeland kindred blood who were as conscious of absolute equality between themselves as they were of their superiority over men other castes who earned their livelihood as weavers, potte~~• cobblers, or scavengers. The relationship of ajat village with th~ state was that of a semi-autonomous unit paying a fixed sum 'df revenue. Few governments uied to assert more authority, and those which did soon discovered that sending out armed militia against fortified villages was not very profitable. TheJat's spirit of freedom and equality refused to submit to Brahmanical Hinduism and in its turn drew the censure of Lhe privileged Brahmins of the Gangetic plains who pronounced that 'no Aryan should stay in the Punjab for even two days' because the Punjabis refused to obey the priests.'' The upper caste Hindu's denigration of the Jat did not in the least lower the Jat in his own eyes nor elevate the Brahmin or the Kshatriya in tbejat's estimation. On the contrary, he assumed a somewhat condescending attitude towards the Brahmin, whom he considered little better than a soothsayer or a beggar, or the Kshatriya, who disdained earning an honest living and was proud of being a mercenary. The Jat was born the worker and the warrior. He tilled his land with his sword girded round his waist. He fought more battles for the defence of his homestead th.an the Kshatriya, for unlike the martial Kshatriya the Jat seldom fled from his village when the invaders came. And if the Jat was maltreated or if his women were molested by the conqueror on his way to Hindustan, he settled his score by looting the invaders' caravans on their return journey and freeing the women he was taking back. The Punjabi Jat developed an attitude of indifference to worldly possessions and an instinct for gambling with his life against odds. At the same time he became conscious of his role in the defence of Hindustan. His brand of patriotism was at once hostile towards the foreigner and benign, even contemptuous, towards his own countrymen whose fate depended so much on his courage and fortitude. <f 15. Mahabharata. vm, verses 2063--8 (Kama Par.a).