ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>JATH&#256</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="JATH"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279JATH&#256, from Sanskrit <i>y&#363tha</i> meaning a herd, flock, multitude, troop, band or host, signifies in the Sikh tradition a band of volunteers coming forth to carry out a specific task, be it armed combat or a peaceful and non-violent agitation. It is not clear when the term <i>jath&#257</i> first gained currency, but it was in common use by the first half of the eighteenth century. After the arrest and execution of Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur in 1716, the terror let loose by the Mu<u>gh</u>al government upon the Sikhs forced them to leave their homes and hearths and move about in small bands or <i>jath&#257s</i>, each grouped around a <i>jathed&#257r</i> or leader who came to occupy this position on account of his daring spirit and capacity to win the confidence of his comrades. For every able-bodied Sikh who had undergone the vows of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257, it became necessary to join one or the other <i>jath&#257</i> to fight against the oppressors. Besides skill in the use of arms, he had to be a good horseman, because in guerilla warfare, such as the Sikhs had to resort to against the superior might of the State, speed and mobility were of paramount importance. The weaponry, in the beginning, ranged from knobbed clubs, spears and battle axes to bow and arrows and matchlocks. A long sword and a dagger were of course carried by every member of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257. Some of them wore armour, but no helmets. During raids on enemy columns and baggage trains, the booty most valued was good horses and matchlocks so that most of the <i>jath&#257s</i> were gradually equipped with firearms. Heavy artillery pieces were not favoured, as they impeded mobility and speed. However, as Ratan Si&#7749gh Bha&#7749g&#363, <i>Pr&#257ch&#299n Panth Prak&#257sh</i>, says, they did carry lighter pieces such as <i>zamb&#363raks</i> or camel swivels and long-range muskets, called <i>jañjails</i>. Usually, each <i>jath&#257</i> had to fend for itself; yet it was necessary to co-ordinate its activities with those of others and operate under an overall plan. The diverse <i>jath&#257s</i> voluntarily accepted the control of Sarbatt <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257, the assembly of all the Sikh <i>jath&#257s</i> at Amritsar on the occasions of Bais&#257kh&#299 and D&#299v&#257l&#299 when plans of action were formulated in the form of <i>gurmat&#257s</i> or resolutions adopted in the presence of Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The brief respite provided by a temporary detente with the government during 1733-35 enabled the Sikh <i>jath&#257s</i> to assemble and stay in strength at Amritsar with immunity. Naw&#257b Kap&#363r Si&#7749gh, their chosen leader, knit the entire force into two <i>dals</i>, i.e. branches or sections -- the Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 Dal (army of the old) and Taru&#7751&#257 Dal (army of the young). Taru&#7751&#257 Dal was further divided into five <i>jath&#257s</i> each with its own flag. With the end of the detente and the renewal of State persecution with redoubled vigour, the Sikhs had again recourse to smaller and more numerous <i>jath&#257s</i>. Need for co-ordination forced them again to regroup themselves on the D&#299v&#257l&#299 of 1745 into 25 <i>jath&#257s</i>, but the number multiplied again. 'Al&#299 ud-D&#299n Muft&#299, '<i>Ibrat N&#257mah</i>, mentions 65 <i>jath&#257s</i>. They were finally reorganized on the Bais&#257kh&#299 of 1748 into 11 <i>misls</i>, under the overall command of Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh &#256hl&#363v&#257l&#299&#257. The entire fighting force of the Sikhs was named Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 J&#299. The <i>misls</i> were large bodies of mounted warriors and might have been divided into subunits, but the terms <i>jath&#257</i> and <i>jathed&#257r</i> gradually fell into disuse. The leaders of <i>misls</i> and the Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 preferred to be called <i>sard&#257rs</i>, a term borrowed from the Af<u>gh</u>&#257n invaders under Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299. The establishment of monarchy under Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh put an end to all these older institutions -- <i>jath&#257, misl</i>, Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257, Sarbatt <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 and <i>gurmat&#257</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; During the religious revival of the later nineteenth century, the Sikh reformers adopted the term <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n for their central bodies and Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 for the local branches as well as for the entire movement. The term <i>jath&#257</i> was generally restricted to bands of preachers and choirs, a connotation still in vogue. It was during the Gurdw&#257r&#257 Reform movement of the early twentieth century that <i>dal</i> and <i>jath&#257</i> reappeared. The apex body of Sikh agitators for political action for the liberation of their shrines from the <i>mahants</i>, the effete priestly class, came to be named the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Ak&#257l&#299 Dal and its locally organized branches Ak&#257l&#299 Jath&#257s. During the subsequent <i>morch&#257s</i> or peaceful agitations organized by the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee, a body that later got statutory recognition under the Sikh Gurdw&#257r&#257s Act, 1925, and by the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Ak&#257l&#299 Dal, which emerged as the major political party of the Sikhs, each band of volunteers going forward to press a demand or to defy an unjust fiat of the government, was called a <i>jath&#257</i>. This use of the term is still prevalent.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Bha&#7749g&#363, Ratan Si&#7749gh, <i>Pr&#257ch&#299n Panth Prak&#257sh</i>. Amritsar, 1914<BR> <li class="C1"> Ga&#7751&#7693&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Sard&#257r Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh &#256hl&#363v&#257l&#299&#257</i>. Patiala, 1969<BR> <li class="C1"> Forster, George, <i>A Journey from Bengal to England, </i> 2 vols. London, 1798<BR> <li class="C1"> Khushwant Singh, <i>A History of the Sikhs</i>, vol.I. Princeton, 1963<BR> <li class="C1"> Bhagat Singh, <i>Sikh Polity in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries</i>. Delhi, 1978<BR> <li class="C1"> Gandhi, Surjit Singh, <i>Struggle of the Sikhs for Sovereignty</i>. Delhi, 1980<BR> <li class="C1"> Fauja Si&#7749gh, <i>Military System of the Sikhs</i>. Delhi, 1964<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Bhagat Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>