Are the Kamangar related to the Kashmiri Kumangars? Their name sounds as similar as if they were once the same, but separated. Both, Kumangar & Kamangar live in northern India so it's quite possible. Even if they have no Kashmiri origin they have Israelite origin through their Pashtun ancestry. Interestingly there's a village in northern Iran called Kamangar like them. This area is about the area were Lost Israel was first placed.
The Highest frequencies of Haplogroup G2b which considered Middle Eastern is among Pashtuns, Sepharadic Jews, Ashkenazi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians South West Syria (Druzes clearly). While haplogroup G2a is a typically Jewish one well represented among Pashtuns & Kalash. If there's a community of several thousand Pashtuns in Nepal nowadays, why shouldn't go there in the past other Pashtuns & be absorbed by them? It's probable that they did so.
Ramban is a reference to the great Torah scholar Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon (Maimonides). Ramban is a toponym in Kashmir. Kashmir is one of the areas in the world with more Israelite toponyms out of the Promised Land. Yet, a majority of its inhabitants are Muslims. Maybe when they became Islamized, they were in touch with Jews, like the celebrated Ramban, in order to keep in touch with fellow Israelites. This might the origin of the toponym Ramban. Doda, another Kashmiri toponym, is aunt in Hebrew & has the exact same Hebrew consonants as the name David, namely DWD. Consonants have been the only characters in Semitic languages like Hebrew. Does this indicate a relation of Kashmiris to king David? Maybe just some of them.
The name Rathor may be derived from the Hindi word rathore meaning brave.
Dhyar could derive from Dara, which is a toponym in Syria & another form of Darda. Darda was Zara's great-grandson. Zara was Israel's grandson through Judah.
Malmadim would be the plural of Malmad. Malmad is a Hebrew word coming from the Hebrew lamad. Definition: noun [masculine] ox-goad; — construct Judges 3:31. From lamad; a goad for oxen --goad.
Banjara
Jara means in Hebrew "sweet as honey". Ban is similar to ben, which is son in Hebrew.
The end of the word Saurasthra comes from Aster/Astarte, a pagan goddess original from the Middle East.
Abira is the femenin form of the Hebrew name Abir.
Means "strong, mighty" in Hebrew (compare Adir), derived from the root of אבר (abar) "to strive upward, mount, soar, fly" (allegedly the name also means "aroma"; cf. the feminine אבירית (Avirit) "air, atmosphere, spirit").
Ahir could come from the Hebrew word Ahira. Ahira (Hebrew: ’Ăḥîra‘, meaning Brother of evil or unlucky or my brother is friend) is a Hebrew Bible character.
Ahir could come from the Hebrew word Ahira. Ahira (Hebrew: ’Ăḥîra‘, meaning Brother of evil or unlucky or my brother is friend) is a Hebrew Bible character.
The Cochin Jews live in Kerala state, India. The Nasrani Judeo-Christians also live in that state. There's a toponym in Kerala called Pattanam. Pattanam is really close phonetically to Pattani. It wouln't be surprising if these two Jewish communities were related to the Pattanis or Pashtuns. All three groups are Israelites.
For nearly 500 years, a color line divided the Kochi Jewish community in India. The Malabar or “blacks Jews” were effectively segregated from the later “white Jews,” called the Paradesi.
Mohali is a place were the Labanas in Punjab. Mohali is really similar to Mwali, the name of God given by the Lemba Israelites from southern Africa. Pakpattan, is also a toponym in Punjab, India, where the Labanas live. This toponym sounds as Pattan plus a preffix added. Pattan is another form of Pashtun. Coincidence or relation between the Labanas & the Israelites?
When Aaron made a golden calf for the Israelites to worship, he did so because he was completely familiar with the calf-worship of the Egyptians; the worship of one of the four faces of the cherubim, the ox. Even today, the worship of domestic cattle is extant in one of the most populous nations on earth, India. The sacred cow in India is nothing more than a representation of the calves that Jeroboam set up in Israel. When the lost ten tribes were wandering among the nations, they spread across India, China, and became known as the "White Indians." Why is it that the "Caste System" in Hinduism, is based on the color of your skin? Because the first Brahmins were the 'White Indians" or Scythian-Israelites with their corrupted priest system invented by Jeroboam.
"Most Scythians from the Caspian Sea are called [Ephraim "Angles] Dahai, those more to the east Massagetae [Jats (I already pointed that the Indian Jatts could be Judahites down there), Jits or Jutes]"
The Scheduled Castes in the Indian subcontinent comprise more than 203,630,587 people. It is believed that the whole of the people scheduled castes could have Israelite roots. It's believed that the ones of the southern part of the subcontinent are indeed israelites. How many people with sure Israelite roots would that be? 100,000,000 people?
Gundaphur (probably a variant Gondophares, allegedly a descendent of Phares, son of Judah, patriarch of one of the 12 tribes of Israel) & Gad (name of one of the twelve patriarchs of Israel) were rulers in India that encountered Thomas the apostle in India. Both are clearly Israelite names, after all the 12 apostles were sent to Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. Apart from that different historians, St Jerome among them, affirm that Thomas the apostle went to India to preach to the Brahmins. This corroborates the believe that the Brahmins were Israelites indeed because Jesus Christ commanded the apostles to preach to the Lost Sheep of Israel.
Some Hebrew sounding toponyms in Kashmir, apart from the typical ones: Iskar (Isakar), Ravi (Rabbi), Gilgistan, Dardistan, Baltistan.
As I have suggested before knowing that the Kalash were Lost Israelites, now I discover that they are indeed regarded as such.
Barygaza was an important port in Gujjarat, India, since ancient times. The name might relate to Gaza. During the time of the Silk Road it was important as well. Interestingly another name for Barygaza is Bharuch, almost the same as the Hebrew Baruch. It is believed that since the Assyrian captivity Israelites came to these area, so they might have given these names. During the great times of the Silk Road many Jewish merchants went through it as well.
According to some anthropologists the Jatts, Gujjars & Rajputs would have Israelite origins. Often happens that when one people moves to another area or changes its language names alter. For example the names Jatt & Gujjar are no other but the Indian versions of the Israelite names of Gad & Khazar. It's interesting to think of the Jatts as Gadites. In fact in the past I have suggested that by toponyms & tribal names India would have Gadites.
The biblical port of Ophir is identified by scholars as the Indian Nala Sopara (similar to the African city of Sofala, also identified with Ophir). Any relation with the Japanese Sapporo? Sapporo is coast city.
Rabbi Bin Yamin of Toledo, Spain went on search of the lost Israel in the 1100s & said that the lost ten tribes of Israel were present in China, Iran & Tibet.
The Malabar Nasrani tribe from Kerala, India, considers themselves Hebrews from the kingdom of Israel.
In the Kashmiri village of Gutlibagh, near Gandarbal, the villagers call themselves Bani Israel & their neighbors call them Pakhtoons. As Two Housers say, the Guts, Gutis or Goths were Lost Ten Tribes from the tribe of Gad, therefore since Gutlibagh has Gut as a prefix this Israelites from Kashmir could be Gadites. In the area there are several tribes with the prefix Gad. It's said that Kashmiris have acquiline noses like the Jews, apart from other features.
Once I suggested that since the name Gujjar is regarded as a corrupted way Khazar, they should be Israelites. Now I find that they are indeed, at least part of them, Israelites.
Apart from the Madigas that have Jewish roots there are some people of low castes in Andrah Pradesh & Telangana that are joining or rejoing Judaism. Some people afirm that even the whole of Dalits (untouchables) have Hebrew origins.
Is the Arab title Butan apllied to the Pathan people the origin of the name Bhutan? After all the Lost Israelites were in the Himalayas.
The Kananayas are also known as the Canaanite Christians of India.
At least part of the Kashmiris are from the tribe of Judah, so they can be called Bene Jehudah.
The Cochin Jews lived in the Jewish Kingdom of Cangranore, usually known as Cranganore, but Indians know it as Kodungallur.
The Bene Israel from India should be called Bene Zebulun because they are considered Zebulonites. According to others the Bene Israel are from the tribe of Judah, so they should be called Bene Judah. They could be from both tribes after all.
Seems like there are connexions between Asia & Africa. Apart from the ones that I mentioned in other ocasions I would like to mention a few. Northeastern Nigeria has a language & people called KaNuri. KaNauri is a Tibetan language spoken in Himachal Pradesh, India. The CaNary Islands were called CaNarii in olden times. The Canary Islands are an archipelago of northafrican islands belonging to Spain & their ancestors, the Guanches, were Berbers. Coming back to the KaNuri Nigerians, their state is called Borno, which is almost the same as the Asiatic osland of Borneo. This island has clear connections with the Karens, another Israelite people. Keren is a very similar word in Hebrew meaning horn & a toponym of Manasseh, so the Karen might be Manassehites. Not by chance the Israelite neighbors Kukichins are mostly Manassehites & Ephraimites in a lesser number. The Kanuris Nigerian-Cameroonians are considered to be Israelites by some people. The KaNauri (KaNor, KiNnauri, KuNawur, KuNawar), languages are spoken in Himachal Pradesh, India. KaNor, an alternative name for KaNauri is very similar to KaNo, a northern Nigerian city. The prefix KaN might be a short way for CaNaan, the ancient name of the Holy Land, therefore the connexion might be their common Israelite origin. The KuNar language is spoken in the neighboring area by some Pashtuns. Kashmiri, another Israelite neighboring people, is also part of this group of langauges. KuNar is also an Afghan district relatively close to Himachal Pradesh, India & it's mainly populated by Pashtuns. The KuNara Khel or KaNera Khel are a Baloch tribe, sub tribe of Azam Khel clan. As I have said a zillionth times the Baluch might be Israelites, at least several of their clans that are clearly related to Pathans. KuNming, Yunnan, China, was the pass of some Israelites from Kaifeng to Indochina. It's noteworthy that KuNming starts with mentioned CaNaanite prefix. KaNauj, the Indian district were many people consider the Gypsies (Also believed to be Israelites) to come from, is also close to the mentioned Indian areas & has the KaN prefix. There's an ethnic group also in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, a state disputed with China. They are 20,000 people, but only 11,000 speak the language known as Pattani (also known as Manchati, Manchad, Patni, Chamba, Chamba Lahuli, Lahuli, Swangla, Changsapa Boli. It's a Tibeto-Burman language (Sino-Tibetan stock) spoken in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The language is spoken in the Lahul Valley, Pattan, Chamba-Lahul, and lower Mayar valleys. We will see later on that Chamba might be an Israelite name.). The Pathans or pashtuns are considered by most experts to be part of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. There are some isolated groups (Considered to be Lost Israelites, although not widely agreed upon) in Indonesia. There are several other Israelite groups (widely recognized as such) in India (Bagdadi Jews, Judeo-Telugus...), in the Indo-Myanmaran border (Chinkukis or Kukichins), Myanmar (Karens, Chinkukis & possibly Shans), Thailand (Karens)...
Are all the Manipuris Israelites as some Indian Christians believe?
The most celebrated person of the Sakyas (part of the Saka Israelites) was Siddhartha Shakya, later known as Gautama Buddha.
There's a clan called Malik (Malik is king in Hebrew) among the Pashtuns & another Malik clan among the Jats. Both are considered to be related. Is this a proof of the Israelite origin . Jats? Even, as I suggested, some of the Two-Housers regard the Jats, with the Jutes, as the offspring of Judahites.
There's a clan of Rajputs called Pathani. This shows how Rajputs are related to the Pathans & the Israelites. There's also a region of Muslim majority in southern Thailand called Patani. I suspect that a group of Moslem Pathans came to this area to found it. This might be why a majoritarian Buddhist country has a majoritarian Muslim area after all Pashtuns are Muslim. Patani is at war against Thailand to gain independence. The fact that there are Israelites, the Karens (Christians today, after the preaching of Christian missionaries), might reinforce this conclusion. In Insulindia, a neighboring area, there are other peoples considered to be Israelites. The thing with the Patani doesn't finish there because there's another Patani right in Igboland, the Israelite area of Nigeria. As I suggest above the Patani of southern Thailand would have Pathan Israelite roots & indeed another name for Pathan or Pashtun is Pathani, so close to Patani. Pattani is a synonym of Pashtun in fact.
The Chin people, like the Jews, practice oral traditions. Manipur would mean in the local language city of Manassah.
Mizo is the name of the nation/tribe which may have an ancient origin somewhere in Central Asia (as many Israelites), and comprising 11 clans.
In Gujarat, India there's a city called Patan that may have origin in Pathan or Pashtun. Parathar (There is a Paratharia clan from the Ahirs), a toponym found in Gujarat, India, may have come from the Parthians. The Parthians were relatives of the Scythians & both were fellow Israelites. PRT is equivalent to BRT, being BRT Brit or Covenant in Hebrew. The Israelites were known as the People of the Covenant. The Parthians bordered current Gujarat & the Sakas (name received from Isaac) or Scythians were in Gujarat. The Pathans are the offspring of the Sakas & call themselves Children of Israel.
Several Chandravanshi castes and communities in modern India, such as the Sainis of Punjab Province, Yadav, Jadaun Rajputs, Jadeja, Jadaun, Jadhav, Jadoon (Pathan), and Khanzada claim descent from Yadu. The Jadubansi community, which is one of many associated with the Ahirs, claim descent from the Yadava (an ancient people descended from Yadu), with whom Krishna has been associated. Other Ahirs claims other descent. That the Yadavas where descendents of Yadu & that they are related to Krishna reminds me of the story of the Judeans or Jews (being offspring of Judah) that where related to Christ. Coincidence? Maybe. It's remarkable that among the claimed offspringg of Yadu there are Pathans (the Jadoons, similar to Judeans), a Bani Israel people, plus Ahirs, Rajputs & several other peoples with consonants JD or YD of JuDah or YahuDa, ancestor of the Jews, only one of the 12 tribes. It's remarkable that Yadavs (Ahirs, Goala, Konar...) were Sankritized, done in order to get a higher status, just as Marrano Jews did in Spain & in Islamdom, because that means they had another religion. It's interesting the strong model of descent that Yadavs (Ahirs, Goala, Konar...) have on coming from Yadu (Judah?). Yadu is mythologic personage as if it was somebody lost in time, because of their new religious system, being Judaism, the old believe & Hinduism the new belief.
That the Jatts started as a nation in 2500 further proves their possible Israelite origin. The history was that the land of Biloch was a Jatt land and Syrians invaded around 1000 years ago and destroyed the Jatts.The Ghallu, Ghal or Gelu, is a Jat clan found in the two Punjabs & Bahawalpur. The origin of their name might be found in the Hebrew word Galut, meaning exilio, like in the case of the Gauls, Galatians, Gaels... They were once hindu Rajputs until one ancestor joined Islam. In Pakistan there's a Jatt clan related with them. It's interesting that many Rajputs are considered to have Pashtun origin, reinforcing my belief that Rajputs are Israelites.
The Jadeja Rajputs is a clan that come from Yadu (Judah)? & is a dynasty that ruled Kutch, similar to Kush, Afghanistan were the Pashtun Israelites dwell. The infanticide practised anciently may have come from the sacrifices made by the pagan Israelites to Moloch where they put their babies alive in a burrning furnace. All Indian pastoral castes are said to come from Yadu, the shepherd king that came from Judah. As the godd Krishna came from Yadu, Christ came from Judah. Another caste from Yadu, the Gola, means diaspora in Hebrew. Is this because they are part of Diaspora?
It's interesting that the founder of Abhiras was called Ishwarsena. Ish could be a shortened form for Israel & Sena was place in ancient Israel. Sena is the place were the Lemba are supposed to come from & there was another Sena in Yemen, a very Hebrewized area. Sena means to hate & Ish means people. Ishvara which is supposedly the Sanskrit origin of Ish means "lord", applied to the "Supreme Being" or God in the monotheistic sense. In such a polytheistic society as the Indian being monotheistic is quite exotic, so the concept must be imported. Maybe was imported by ISHraelites & that's the real origin of Ish. The truth is that there are many Israelite concept & words found in different areas of the world. Yadavas were Abhiras as Judahites were Hebrews. Abiria or Aberia, similar to Iberia was the contry of the Hebrews. Abira is identified by Ptolemy & others with Ophir, a region welthy of gold & other valuable goods, from which king Solomon with his ships brought all kinds of goods. The v & b are interchangeable sounds in Hebrew, as well as the p & the f, so Ophir, Uvira & Abira may mean the same: Hebrew (Ivri) or a derived & related word. Dr. Bwejeri a Tutsi scholar affirms a place found in his land, Burundi, with the name of Uvira is Ofir. I believe that the empire of king Solomon reached as far as India & southern Africa, Europe... If there were several Ophirs they could have been called like this because they were Hebrew lands. The name of the Jadavs derives from Yadav or Yadava which are the offspring of Yadu.
The Ahirs received a treat of favor from the Pratihara dynasty & I wonder if this was because the word Pratihara (interestingly they were a branch of the Gurjars, people that I also pointed out as of possible Hebrew origin) had an Israelite origin from the Pathans. At least they had Ephtalites (Nephtali Israelites) ancestors & the Ephtalites were related to the Pathans. It's also remarkable that the Yadavs have the belief that they are natural leaders as in Israel the Judahites were natural leaders from whom the celebrated kings David & Solomon (& all kings of Judah) sprung from this lineage, not to mention the Messiah (Christ for Christians), Krishna for Hindus, both coming from Judah & Yadu respectively. Patna, a district in Bihar, India may have received its name from a group of Pathans that might have gone there as the ones that live in the state of Uttar Pradesh, a state bordering the state of Bihar.
It's interesting that the Sakas are believed to be the Ancestors of the Abhiras because they are attributed to be Israelites as they are of the Pashtuns (that even call themselves Banu Israel). Aberia, the ancient Abhira country, follows the same pattern as other Hebrew lands: Iberia, Iberia (Caucasus), Hibernia... The belief of the historian Dineschandra that Abhiravan, between Herat & Kandahar, was the original homr of the Abhiras, an area were Hebrew Pashtuns live, gives further credential to the Hebrew origin of the Abhiras. The truth is there's not a clear consensus about their origin, but I suggest the Israelite origin with the mentioned proofs. There are Abhiras among Rajputs, Brahmins... Brahmins being the priests of the Abhiras. The Ahirs are considered to come from the Abhiras & they live mainly in northwest India, like some of the other possible Israelites. As the Jews & other Indian ethnic groups they abstain from pork consumpsion. Abhiras were Hebrews possibly, therefore Ahirs, that came from Abhiras, could also be Hebrews. It's interesting that, according to Dr. Prakash, Ahirs came from Abhirayana proving their Abhira origin (& Hebrew origin?).
Why is it so shrouded the origin of the Ahirs? Are they hidden Israelites? Some Ahirs dwell in Terai, Nepal. This place may have been named after Terah, fathher of Abraham & therefore ancestor of the Israelites. Ahirs are tall & have fine features like other alleged Israelites. A subgroup of the Ahirs is called DhaNgar or DhaNGaD. Are they Danites & Gadites? What's interesting is there is an Ahir clan called Gaddi, Gadite in Hebrew. Has the Pathak subcaste of the Ahirs any relation with the Pathan? The Ahirs were snake worshippers, a tradition attributed to the Scythians. This tradition came prrobably from the idolater Israelites that started worshipping snakes after the brass snake that Moses made to heal the wicked Israelites. The Amerindians, some African peoples & several other peoples may have received this tradition from the same source. Sometimes the term Jew (or Judean or Yahudi) encompasses the other Israelites living in the Kingdom of Judah: Benjamin mainly. Many of the captives that Babylonians taken from the Kingdom of Judah didn't come back from Mesopotamia to rebuild the temple, but stayed next to their fellow Israelite tribes & became counted as Lost Israelites for most people. That's why we could find people from Judah & the other southern tribes among the Lost Israelites. & this Judahites are probably not identified as Jews, as the Israelites are not identified as such. having said this I will go back to Yadu, the ancestor of several peoples living in nations around the Hindus river. Yadu is a very similar name to Yahud or Judah, especially regarding the consonants, being them what really count in Hebrew. The Ahirs are an important warrior race, so much that the British Empire used them as soldiers. CHUDAsama is another of the tribes coming from Yadu & Chuda sounds very similar to Judah. It's interesting that Krishna, a mortal human being (& cowherder) like Christ became a god. These are the castes derived from Yadu (the Yadavs): Ahir, Gavli (or Gwala, Gowli, Gowlu... words very similar to Gaul or Galut, exile in Hebrew) & Konar (there are several villages with this name in western Iran & Afghanistan, the very area were the Lost Ten Tribes were placed).
I suggested that the j & the y are interchangeable sounds because of their similarity, therefore the identification between their ancestor YaDu & the Biblical Judah/YahuD it's reinforced. The Abhiras (ancestors off tthe Ahirs) are considered to have come from the Hindus valley to spread all over India. The Indus valley is the area were part of the Pathans (Israelites) live & part live close by. Did the Abhiras come with the Pashtuns, as fellow Israelites, from the Middle East? Gwal, similar to Gola (diaspora in Hebrew) which is another naame for these peoples, is synonym of Abhira & Gola is also the name of one of their kings. Some scholars belief in the identification between Krishna & Christ. If Christ, as Christians belieef to be, is the Messiah prophesied in the Bible centuries before his birth & if the Abhiras are Hebrews, then they might have derived Krishna from their Messiah because they knew it from the scriptures.
Even today the vowels of the name Abhira are interchangeable for the name Abhora, just as in Hebrew. Nasik, a place related to the Abhiras, bears the SK consonants of Isaak. Reginald Enthoven, an administrator of the British Empire in India, affirms the non-Indian origin of the Abhiras. Further Hugh Neville says that is likely the Abhira would have been removed from Mesopotamia. Where they placed there before by the Assyrians? They dwelled in Scinde, a name that bears Isaac's name too.
The Sakas (Sakai or Sakae) had the very name of an ethnic group from southern Thailand & Malaysia. Another name for them is Mani, which could come from Manasseh. The Manassehites (Bnei Menasseh) that were in China & ended up in current India passed thru Thailand. Maybe a smal group went to southern Thailand mixing with the locals giving birth to this ethnic group. The fact that the closest neighboring Israelites are Manassehites makes one wonder if this ethnic group once belong to these Israelites.
The Gaderia are a group that allegedly came from the Brahmin & other castes. They went to jungles & hills escaping conversion in Moghuls's time. It's possible that they came from the tribe of Gad. the name doesn't have a clear origin. They belong to the Shakty cult. many ancient peoples started to worship their heroes or ancestors & the Shakty may have originated in one of the most revered of their ancestors, Isaak, since it bears his consonants linked. The Gaderias are shepherds.
The Gaddi are a tribe living mainly in the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Gaddi, the son of Susi of the House of Manasseh, was a scout sent to Canaan prior to the crossing of the Jordan River according to Numbers 13:11.The Gaddi are a tribe living mainly in the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Gadariya & Gadi are villages in Nepal which bear the name of Gad.
The Muslim Gaddi, Gaddi or Gadi Rajput are an ethnic group living in Nepal, India & Pakistan that might be related with the non-Muslim Gadis of India. There are many theories regarding the Muslim Gaddis. In Haryana & Rajasthan they claim to come from Rajputs, in Bihar from Arabs...They are endogamous like the Jews. The scholar Abdur Rehman considers them to come from Turkey. Since the Hindustan has a remarkable rate of Gadites, I propose the Gadis to be from Gad. Gadi is Gadite in Hebrew.
David was not only a shepherd before being a king, but duirng his reign he was considered as spiritual shepherd or pastor. Mose was a political leader & spiritual shepherd. He played rolls in the opposite order than David: he began as prince of Egypt to end as shepherd of Reuel's (or Jethro, his father in law) sheep. Finally Jesus Christ, the King of Kings for the Christians, is not only that but the Good Shepherd. The Gavli are part of the Yadav, the offspring of Yadu. They are known by many different names, but the name Gola (one of their names) is remarkable because it means diaspora. Gowlah is captive & is very similar to Gowli & Gwala, to other names for this Indian people. There's a village called Gola in Nepal, an area presumed to be populated, at least in olden times, by Israelites.
It's interesting that the area of Nepal where is Gola found is called Bheri, very similar to Iberi or Ibri, Hebrew in Hebrew. In this same zone there's a town Gularya, with the same Gula root. But to get even more ashtonished there's a toponym, in the same area but in India, caalled Terai similar to Terah, Abraham's father. Close by there's a river Gola that has a bridge in Haldani, Kathgodam, India. I mentioned this toponym because Haldani is almost the same as HaDani "the Danite" in Hebrew, being an area were I already suggested to have Danites, the DhaNGaDs. Kathgodam has the word Kath, similar to Khata, an Israelite Palestinian clan & Godam, as pointed by scholars, is related to Guti, Goth & Gad, being this the other Israelite tribe that I meentioned to be in the area. The name Gola, diaspora in Hebrew, is found several times in Poland, also in Croatia & in Sierra Leone, a little island (Island of Gola) in Ireland & important land (Ireland) of Hebrew exiles. Finally there's 3 ethnic groups with this name In Baluchistan, Pakistan, Liberia & India. Moreover, some of the subdivisions of the Golas of India have names that under the Hebrew vowelization sound Israelite, apart from the ones mentioned before: DaNde (from DaN, a tribe that I suggested to be in the area), DoNgare (it might be the same as the DhanGar or DhanGaD mentioned before) & gaurakShaK (follows the model of derivationfrom Isaak, with the consonants SK like the Bereber Jewish tribe of Iddao Ishaak or Dawsahak ("Children of Isaac")). As I suggested before, judging from the ancestry, toponyms, clan-tribaal names, traditions...there are many peoples with names of Hebrew origin in India. Two traditions very rooted in India that Israelites practised are the endogamy & the abstention from pork, including non-Muslims in pork abstention.
Similar to the other cow-worshipping beliefs from India, the Yadavs or Yadavas, have a yearly festival in which they parade dancing around their buffalo bulls, tradition that may have been taken from the pagan Israel, when they worshipped the golden calf, a tradition that makes me think of the North American Indians too. The Hinduists believe that Krishna was dark skinned, although sometimes they depict him as fair skinned, as a child...& many other shapes & attributes & the Quran describes Krishna as a dark skinned prophet (in India) called Kahan, name of the Israelite priests of the tribe of Levi. Should we conclude that Krishna was an Israelite? How about if Krishna was Christ (called Kahan, therefore a priest, but from Yahud, while Krishna came from Yadu), which according to the legend was in Kashmir & Krishna was a deformation of Christ?
The Khattaks are identified as the Manassehites of the Pathans. Manassah was the brother of Ephraim so their tribes were halves of Joseph. Among the DhanGads there's a subdivision called Khateek or Khatik, a name similar to the subdivision Khattak-Manassah, therefore there must be Manassehites among the Danites & Gadites of the DhanGad. It's also interesting that the DhanGads were originally 12 tribes, just as the 12 Israelite tribes. It's also noteworthy that some of their king had their personal name Malhar, which is similar to malhuto a word that means in Hebrew "my kingdom". The k is in Hebrew like the kh & almost the same as the sound of the h.
In the case of the Jews of Cochin (Black, White and Meshuhrarim [=freedslaves]) and the Bene Israel there is sure evidence linking them both to the ancient Middle East.
At early times we can see from the Book of Genesis vegetarianism, or avoidance of many meats, apart from pork. This practice is still pretty commonin several parts of India. Is it from early Hebrew influence? After all it is believed some Israelites left the rest of their brothers before being conquered by any of their enemy empires, even before crossing the Jordan.
The meaning of the name of the caste Konar (king & herdman in Tamil) resembles the concept of king & shepherd played by king David.
It's interesting that the Sephardi Jewish last name "Bakshi" is also a celebrated last name among Jat, Rajput & Brahmin castes from Punjab. I consider these peoples to have Israelite origin. The celebrated Two-Houser author Steve M. Collins also suggests the Hebrew origin of the Brahmins. It's also a last name found in Bengala, a state not far away from the area were the Kukish (other Israelites) live. It was also a honorific given last name in Mogul India.
It's remarkable that in the Indian Kingdom of Asoka (of which it's believed it carries the name of Isaak under the rule of vowelization) have been found texts in Aramaic.
Eldad Danite
According to the Israelite traveler Eldad the Danite the Ganges (Gozan as he says) Indians were Israelites but he didn't probably refer to all the people of the area. There are several groups of considered to be Israelites living in the area: Pashtuns, Kidwais, Jatts, Gurjars, Labanas...
There's an important culture of sword among people of Israelite origin or influence: Rajputs, Japanese...
Semiramis had another name that was Ishtar, and started the cult of Asthoret that in India became 'Ishwar'.
It's interesting that some of the Indian kings (among which are the ethnic groups that I consider to have Israelite offspring) have the word Ish (meaning, in the native Indian language, the invisible power that governs the universe), people in Hebrew, as part of their name.
The Rajputs of India and the Abdels of Turkey are part of the same Israelite tribe. In India many individuals & some whole ethnic groups have Semitic features & light skin. These groups come from Israelite tribes of Scythians (or Sakas) & Ephtalites. Levites would be included as well in the Pahlavi monarchy.
Levites on duty
It's interesting that one of these ethnic groups sojourn, among other areas, in a city called Salem, the very ancient name of Jerusalem. It's remarkable that Rajput means "son of raja", raja meaning kaing, then Rajput means "son of king". Are the Rajputs children of Judah, the monarchic tribe of most kings Israelite kings? How about if they, like the Pashtuns (at least part), would come from Benjamin like king Saul, the first king of Israel?
The People of Israel was known as the People of the Covenant. In Hebrew covenant is Brit or Berith. Vowels don't really count in Semitic, therefore what counts really is the consonants BRT, which are found in the Indian name of India: Bharat.
From our first father Adam to the Common Era there were traditions that there was gonna be a savior of humankind born of a virgin. That's why are found similar names & events in different religious & cultural traditions.
Where the part of Brahmins Levites that received their name from their ancestor Abraham?
Bawaria people
Are the Bawaria People Northwest India Related to the People of Bavaria, Germany?
The Bawaria people are also known as Babri, Bauria, Bawari, Bawariya, Bhatti, Naribut.
Population 170,000 Largest Religion (100.00%) Hinduism Languages • Hindi • Bagri
Bawaria is the name of a Rajput clan in areas spanning Pakistan & India. The Bawariya are, like the rest of Rajputs, Lost Israelites. Bavaria is a Lost Israelite region within Germany. B & v are two different sounds in Hebrew, but are written with the same character & are interchangeable, so they're virtually the same word. In Polish this state's name is written Bawaria. The origin of the state's name is in the Boii, a local Celtic tribe that mixed up with the new coming Germanic peoples. Despite their Germanic tongues, Bavarians & the rest of Germans, are very Celtic ethnically. The Celts & most of the Germans were descendants of Scythians & other Lost Israelite groups that converged in western Europe. The Rajputs also descend from Scythians & other Lost Israelites.
The Bawariya are a Hindu caste found in the states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in India. They have scheduled caste status in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. In Punjab, they are known as Bauria.
The Freestate of Bavaria and the Republic of Austria. The areas where the Austro-Bavarian dialects are spoken are highlighted. Some Lost Triber finders regard Bavarians & Austrians as Simeonites.
The word Bawariya is set to mean people who roam in Hindi. Since the Bawarias had a foreign origin they might have been roaming when they first arrived in this new land. So the name of this people might have been taken into Hindi, Sanscrit in those days, to mean "people who roam". Moreover, as can be seen below, there's not an agreement on what Bawaria's meaning really is. They are a semi-nomadic group scattered over North India. The Bawariya is a community of people and not a caste, although the caste system of India puts them in caste category, but they still retain their original nomadic lifestyle and keep away from the main caste systems as practiced by many people in India. This is reflected in their clans, all of whom are well known clan names common with Jats, Gujars and other north western communities of India. Their area of inhabitation and migration tells the real story of their ancient nomadic identity. At present, the Bawariya are found in the districts of Meerut, Banda, Agra, Mainpuri and Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring state of Haryana. They speak Bawari among themselves, which is similar to Marwari.
According to traditions in Punjab, the Bawaria or Bauria as they are also known get their name from the word baur, meaning a net. As a community that was involved in hunting, the community became known as the Bawariya, but they are, in fact, Rajputs. The Bauria are found mainly in the districts of Firupzur, as well as Bhatinda, Ludhiana and Sangrur.
The Bawariya are strictly endogamous community like the ancient Israelites, and practice the principle of clan exogamy. These clans are referred to as gotras, and their main gotras include the Chauhan, hada, badjurger, Dabas, Kohli, Solanki, Panwar, Dhandhara and Badhiyar. Each of these clans is of equal status, and intermarry.
The Bawariya are now mainly a community of marginal farmers. They produce wheat, peas, gram and now increasingly sugarcane. Some have also started rearing milch cattle and other animals. Many are still involved in hunting, particularly those settled in the Yamuna khadir. As a Dalit community, they often suffer from societal discrimination. They live in multi-caste villages, but occupy distinct quarters. Each of their settlement contains an informal caste council, known as a biradari panchayat.
The panchayat acts as instrument of social control, dealing with issues such as divorce and adultery. (like the ancient Israelites)
The panchayat acts as instrument of social control, dealing with issues such as divorce and adultery. (like the ancient Israelites)
The Bawaria in Haryana have nine sub-divisions, the Rajput, Gandalli, Ghumariya, Dhumree, Banswasee, Kapadia, Bidhoth and Delhiwala. They are said to have immigrated from Rajasthan, and many still speak the Bagri dialect. Among the nine sub-groups, the Rajput Bawaria are the largest, and do not intermarry with the other groupings. The second largest group are the Ghumariya Bawaria, who are a community of peasant farmers. While the Delhiwala are cattle rearers and traders, the Gandalli are laborers, the Kapadia are pedlars while the Dhumree are involved in the selling of folk medicines. Despite their traditional occupations, almost all the Bawaria are now employed as daily wage labor. Many are employed as village watchmen, an occupation that is hereditary among many Bawaria families. Although living in multi-caste villages, the Bawaria occupy their own quarters.
Is There A Connection Between Ancient Indian And Hebrew Language?Had you been a cartographer and geographer working for the British East India company in the 17th and 18th centuries, you would have found all over India thousands of Hebrew-like place names with similar meanings in both languages as well. The map excerpt on this page shows a small section of ancient Seuna-Desa (Zion Land) in what is now Maharashtra (to right). At the bottom right of the excerpt is the city of Paithan, on the banks of the river Godivari. The Indo-Hebrews named the part of the river passing through Paithan's territory Paithan (Pison, Phison), according to their traditions. In the upper left-hand corner is the city of Satana. According to the legends of the Yadavas (Indo-Hebrews), Satana would have made the folks in Sodom and Gomorah envious.
Sodomite Ash: Seven Feet Deep!
The Seunas and the Satanas decided to resolve their moral and religious differences on the battlefield. The forces of "Satan" lost, but their defeat didn't dishearten them. Eventually, we came to think of "Satan" as a being who lost the battle but not the war. The bible tells us that such a peace treaty hasn't yet been signed between these two ancient enemies.
In that part of India, the holiest of holies for the Indians, the names of many towns end in the appendage gaon. In Hebrew, gaon means "genius; great rabbinical scholar." Also in this region is an area that was once the favorite of Yadava royalty: Nashik, the exact Hebrew name for "Royal Prince." Satan is near the district called Khandesh (Land of Cain). There is also a Kodesh. Kod and Khad are Sanskrit terms for "First," "The Beginning," or "God." In Hebrew, Khadesh = "The first day of a Jewish calendar month." Notice that all these names have similar meanings and religious connotations in both languages. I invite my readers to investigate this anomaly for themselves.
They convinced themselves that they were "coincidences," even though the "coincidences" numbered in the thousands and were peppered over every region in India.
Though not generally known in this day and age, Godfrey Higgins (1772-1833), archeologist, politician, humanitarian, social reformer, and author, was one of the most enlightened and educated men of early 19th century England. He was a well-known iconoclast, rationalist, and admirer of the Jews, who vehemently opposed any kind of persecution of this ancient religious group. He wrote two oversized volumes, totaling around 1600 pages of fine print, about the Jews' Indian origins.
That which otherwise the Hebrews would have called David-pouri, the Indians called Daud-poutr, Solomon, Soleiman; Johnguior, Jahanguior, etc., etc.
When Mahmud of Gazna, the first Mohammedan conqueror, attacked Lahore, he found it defended by a native Hindoo prince called Daood or David. This single fact is enough to settle the question of the places not being named by Mohamedans.
We have almost all the places of India in Western Syria.
The natives of Cashmere as well as those of Afghanistan, are descended from the Jews & give pedigrees of their kings reigning in their present country up to the sun and the moon, and along with this, they show the Temples still standing, built by Solomon, statues of Noah, and other Jewish Patriarchs...the traditions of the Afghans tell them, that they are descended from the tribe of Ioudi or Yuda, for it is the tribe of Joudi noticed by Eusebius, the Joudi of Oude, and from which tribe the Western Jews with the Brahmin (Abraham) descended and migrated.
"In the valley of Cashmere, on a hill close to the lake, are the ruins of a temple of Solomon. The history states that Solomon, finding the valley all covered with water except this hill, which was an island, opened the passage in the mountains and let most of it out, thus giving to Cashmere its beautiful plains. The temple which is built on the hill is called Tucht Suliman. Afterwards Forster says, 'Previously to the Mahometan conquest of India, Kashmere was celebrated for the learning of the Brahmins and the magnificent construction of its temple.' Now what am I to make of this? Were these Brahmans Jews, or the Jews Brahmins? The inadvertent way in which Forster states the fact precludes all idea of deceit...
"The Tuct Soliman of Cashmere in the time of Bernier, was described by him to be in ruins, and to have been a temple of the idolaters and not of the Mohamedans. The Mohamedans reported that it was built by Solomon, in very ancient times. All this at once does away with the pretence that it was a building of the modern Mohamedans; and is a strong confirmation of the Jewish nature of the other names of the towns - Yuda-poor, Iod-pore, etc., etc. Bernier goes on to say...that the name of Mousa or Moses is common among the natives, that Moses died at Cashmere, and that they yet show the ruins of his tomb near the town. This is curious when connected with the fact, that the Jews of Western Syria say, no one ever knew where he was buried." (Vol. I; p. 771.)
An article in the April, 1997 issue of the Jewish magazine Moment discusses the possibility that a heavy Jewish presence once dominated India.
A tribe of Sunni Moslems called the Pathans, now living in parts of Pakistan, number at least 15 million. The Pathan language bears traces of biblical Hebrew, and the Pathans themselves claim lineage from King Saul. They are said to follow, in varying degrees of observance, some 21 'Jewish' customs, including lighting candles on Friday night, wearing a four-cornered prayer garment, and performing circumcision on the eighth day.
Then there are the Kashmiris from Northern India, who number about five million; although they too are predominantly Sunni Moslems, many bear biblical-sounding names like Cleb (Caleb), Israel, Hahana, and Lavni...
Some of Israel's tribal and place names also started appearing in Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Northwestern India when Sargon II and Nebuchadnezzar exiled most of the Jews to that part of the world.
What Inferences Can You Draw From the Following List?
Linguistic Similarities Between Hebrew and Kashmiri
Holger Kersten wrote in Jesus Lived in India,
"The relation between ancient Israel and Kashmiri can most clearly be demonstrated linguistically. Kashmirian is different from all the other Indian languages, the origins of which are Sanskrit. The development of the language of Kashmir has been greatly influenced by the Hebrew. Abdul Ahad Azad writes, 'The language of Kashmir derives from Hebrew.' According to tradition, in ancient times Jewish peoples settled here, whose language changed into the Kashmirian of today. There are many Hebrew words that are quite obviously connected with the language of Kashmir."
The Yedu of India must have come from the Jews.
"One could perhaps ask whether the language called 'Kashmiri' could in some way be a close relative of Hebrew and Aramaic...The reply is 'no.' Kashmiri descends from Sanskrit. There exists only one explanation. The Jews who emigrated (to Kashmir) introduced their language there."
Professor Fida Hassnain, a Kashmiri authority on the life of Jesus Christ in his country, wrote in A Search for the Historical Jesus, "Today the Kashmiri language contains 30% Persian, 25% Arabic and 45% words from Sanskrit and other languages, including 9% from Hebrew." (p. 10.) Professor Hassnain mentioned in his book an Aramaic inscription beside the ruins of Gondaphorus' castle in Taxila, which actually confirms that St. Thomas was there: "A highly regarded foreign carpenter, who is a pious devotee of the Son of God, built this palace of cedar and ivory for the great king." The phrase "Son of God" confirms that Jesus actually existed. A stone relief of Thomas stands near this inscription. Indian archeologists have confirmed this fact.
Since the ancient Jews never forced their language on the peoples in their ambience, just their religion, I concur with authors Obermeir and Hassnain on this point.
In old times, Kashmiri didn't exist as a distinct language as it does today. The Kashmiri historical treatises state that the Brahmans and Kashatriya castes spoke Sanskrit; the Vaishyas and the Sudras spoke a language called Ap-Abram-Sha, which was supposed to be a degraded form of Tamil. Was this the original Asura language, or, perhaps, prototypical Hebrew? Some Hindu scholars think so. Abraham was the father of several different peoples, religions, and Semitic dialects. Abraham's influence formed at least part of the foundations of Judaism, Greek and Roman religious practices, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, and others. When the "Lost Tribes" were taken to Northern India, they found a people with a similar religion, language, and cultural traits. It took no great effort for the "Lost Tribes" to assimilate completely. Later on, Hebrew, Dardic, Apabramsha, Sanskrit, Arabic, and other languages merged to form what we now call Kashmiri. Some scholars say that the Moslem invaders forbade the speaking of Apabramsha and Hebrew in Kashmir.
The Buddhists say that the Abhiraans spoke "Abhira." The Yadavas, the actual proto-typical Hebrews still living in India, also claim to have spoken a language called Abhiri. "The Natyasastra of Bharata described the language...as Abhiri or Sabari. It is well known that Abhiri was the language of the Abhiras." (Yadavas Through the Ages, by Yadav Singh; Vol. II, p. 4.) Yadav Singh's opinion on this matter may prove to be correct. Even today, Israeli Jews whose roots sink deep into Israeli soil are called "Sabaras."
I have taken from my Kashmiri dictionary a long list of words that are similar in pronunciation and meaning to Hebrew. I could have easily provided a list containing hundreds more, many of which I shall mention in later chapters. However, I hope that the following list will convince you that the Kashmiri language, one of the most little-known languages in the world, deserves more attention and study.
Judaism and Shaivite Hinduism Share the Same Names for God.
Similar sacred symbolism and iconography are associated with both the Hebrew Yah-Veh and the Kashmiri Shaiva: The Holy Trinity; the flame; the cherub; the guardian angel; the snake; the bull; blowing of bull's horn, etc.
Hebrew and Kashmiri Cabalistic Terminology Is About the Same.
More Linguistic Proof of the Linkage Between India and the Middle East
In the mid-part of the 19th century, the Identification Society of London, an organization dedicated to searching for the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, published the following list to prove that the Afghans, Tibetans, Kashmiris, and other Northwest Indian tribes are either descended from the Israelites or vice-versa. Not all the tribes, castes, and subcastes on their list have preserved their Jewishness. However, nearly all of them acknowledge their Jewish roots. As you read this list of names, remember that they exist in the area that Josephus said was peopled by the descendants of Shem. "These inhabited from Cophen, an Indian river (the Kabul river) and in part of Asia adjoining it. (Josephus...; Chapter VII-4.)
Some scholars believe the Tibetan plateau or the Turanian homeland of Central Asia to be the area originally peopled by the progeny of Shem. Nevertheless others think that it's quite the opposite. In other words, that the Lost Israelites, after their captivity by the Babylonian empires ended up in Central Asia & then in the Tibetan plateau. The other important group of Lost Israelites is made of the the ones that ended up in western Europe. That's why there are many Gothic, Celtic...names which are those western Lost Israelites.
In the following list, all references to Indian tribes, castes, subcastes, and places will be listed at the left. Biblical and Hebrew names will be listed after each Indian word, accompanied by their biblical references. You will note that the comparative words are either identical or nearly identical. The differences are trivial. Even a non-linguist can notice that all these words sprang from the same source. The similarities are too abundant to be coincidental. Wanting to remain as conservative as possible, I present only a partial list. However, as conservative and brief as this list is, I believe I have presented enough examples to convince anyone that India did, indeed, at one time dominate in Bible Land.
Tribes, Castes, and Subcastes
Bnei Menashe’s Jewish consciousness
Though British missionaries arrived in the area over a century ago and succeeded in converting them, the Bnei Menashe’s Jewish consciousness remains strong. Customs practiced until the missionaries’ arrival included circumcision on the eighth day after birth, levirate marriage, and sacrificial rites tantalizingly close to those of ancient Israel.
An elderly man whose uncle had been a priest prior to the arrival of British missionaries described a spring-time sacrifice in which the meat had to be carefully removed from the bones lest any of them break, something that would invalidate the offering. Blood from the animal's carcass was smeared on the doorposts. Needless to say, the similarity with the laws of the ancient Passover sacrifice is striking.
The man also recited some of the sacrificial chants he had been taught as a child, songs which lauded the exodus of his ancestors from Egypt, the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and, of course Manasseh, who is viewed as the Bnei Menashe s forebear.
Even the Christians in Mizoram, such as the storekeepers, merchants and professionals whom we encountered, all acknowledge their Israelite ancestry.
The Port of Barygaza, More Anciently Known As Bharuch
“The importance of Barygaza (Broach) on the west coast of India, on the Gulf of Cambay, cannot be overstressed… No excavations of any significance have ever been undertaken here”.
In what is now the state of Gujarat, India, once stood a large and prosperous port; founded as Bharuch – also known as Bharukaccha –Greek and Roman merchants knew it as Barygaza. Despite an illustrious and cosmopolitan history stemming back to Pre-Maurya times, Barygaza –situated on the north bank of the Narmada river –finds itself curiously absent from most Histories of India due to an astonishing lack of data.
It wasn’t until the intervention of the Sakas during the last century before the Common Era that it flourished as an essential node in the Indo-Roman trade network. When Roman accounts state that the wealthiest citizens of Rome acquired silk and spices from “the east,” Barygaza is almost certainly to have been one of the essential export points.
Not only did it have links with Ujjain and Mathura, the latter being the key stage in the control of the Ganges trade, and controlling the trade routes connecting the coastal areas of Sopara & Kaliyana, it had overland links through the marts of Central Asia leading to Bactria, and swiftly developed maritime links with the Near East, Persia and ultimately the Roman Mediterranean.
Barygaza is mentioned in one of the most vital documents describing the state of inter-regional and maritime trade: a Koine Greek document entitled: “Periplus Maris Erythraea” (or Periplus of the Erythraean Sea), confidently dated to the mid-1st century CE.
Its unknown author – most likely a Greek merchant seafarer – produced the work as a treatise of all known marts at that time. It helps present a clear picture of ancient long-distance maritime trade during the Saka Period.
From Barygaza, spikenard, costus and bdellium (transported from Kashmir) were among the other items exported. Roman merchants departed with their vessels laden with indigo, ivory, cloth, onyx stones and long pepper. In addition, Pliny confirms that Barygaza imported silverware, coral, wine, sweet clover and perfumes from the Mediterranean, as well as glass, clothing and styrax from Egypt. It is extraordinary to think that a land-locked, formerly nomadic, race such as the Sakas should adapt themselves so well to administering a major commercial seaport on the west Indian coast, yet it was undeniably a Saka venture – and a prosperous one at that.
How Barygaza operated as a node in the greater trade network, how the Sakas took control and the duration of their occupation in this area of India have proved to be the most tantalising aspects of my research. This makes for a fascinating line of extensive study, yet seriously marred by the fact that we still know very little about this particular area at around this period.
Nevertheless, regardless of inadequate information – compounded by the inability inability of the Saka residents to leave any written records of their commercial transactions – this enthralling port-city continues to play an integral role in my Indo-Scythian investigation.
At once, Barygaza remains both fascinating and frustrating in equal measure.
Jat People
The name Jat or Jatt might come from the Hebrew term & toponym Jattir.
Jattir means pre-eminent & was the name of a city in the mountains of Judah (Joshua 15:48 ; 21:14).It also means a remnant; excellent.
jat'-er (yattir, and yattir):
A town in the hill country of Judah, mentioned in conjunction with Shamir and Socoh (Joshua 15:48); one of the cities given to the "children of Aaron the priest" (Joshua 21:14; 1 Chronicles 6:57). David after his victory over the Amalekites sent a present of the spoil from Ziklag "to them that were in Jattir" (1 Samuel 30:27).
It is now Khirbet `Attir, an important ruin, in the extreme South of the hill country, 5 miles Southeast of edh Dhariyeh and 20 miles Southeast of Belt Jibrin. This must Correspond to the "very large village Jethira" which is mentioned in Eusebius, Onomasticon (119 27; 133 3; 134 24, etc.) as 20 miles Southeast of Eleutheropolis (i.e. Beit Jibrin). The site is full of caves.
Gurjars
Gurjar might be a combination of Gur & jar.
The name Gur is in the Bible. Gur means "sojourning, dwelling" & it's the name of a place in Palestine. It's mentioned in 2 Kings 9:27.
The name Gur occurs only one time in the Bible. It's the name of a locality near the village of Ibleam and associated with an elevation. And it's on that elevation (the ascent of Gur) that king Ahaziah of Judah was mortally shot by Jehu and his troops (2 Kings 9:27).
Ahaziah had bolted away when Jehu shot king Jehoram of Israel right in front of him. But they caught up with his chariot and riddled him with arrows. Ahaziah managed to reach the town of Megiddo and died there. His servants carried him back to Jerusalem and buried him in his family grave.
The root-verb גרר (garar, from which gur seems to come) occurs a mere six times in the Bible. Its general meaning is to drag or drag away. Men get dragged away like fish in nets (Habakkuk 1:15), tempests sweep (Jeremiah 30:23), and their own violence drags violators off (Proverbs 21:7). This verb also seems to contain a repetitive or circular sub-tone. It may, for instance, also mean to saw (1 Kings 7:9) or to chew the cud (Leviticus 11:7).
Jar might come from the Hebrew term jara, meaning "sweet as honey".
Jarah means a wood; honey; honeycomb; watching closely.
JARAH
ja'-ra (ya`rah, "honey-comb"):
A descendant of King Saul (1 Chronicles 9:42); but the Septuagint's Codices Vaticanus and Alexandrinus, have Iada = ya`dah, a name found in Septuagint of 1 Chronicles 8:36, where Massoretic Text has yeho`addah, Jehoaddah. Some Hebrew manuscripts have ya`dah in 9:42, and it should probably be accepted as the correct reading there, for ya`dah = Jehoaddah yeho`addah, linguistically; compare Jonathan and Jehonathan, etc.
Yudus, Afridi Pathans, Qidwais...
A non-Muslim group comprising the tribes of Guntur (Andhra Pradesh) also claims a similar Jewish connection.
A Muslim tribe called Yudu inhabiting the Yusmarg valley of Kashmir identifies itself with the Lost Tribes of Israel, while the villagers of Gutlibagh near Gandarbal (about 20 kms north of Srinagar) trace their descent to Judah, progenitor of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. After years of effort, a Kashmiri village of self-professed Israelites was successful in migrating to Israel under the Law of Return. However, soon after their arrival in Israel, they disappeared, as informed by Seymour "Sy" Scheinberg of the Department of History, California State University.
There are some tribesmen in Guntur (Andhra Pradesh) who consider themselves lost Israelites.
It is said that one of the five branches of the Muslim community of Qidwai centered in Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh is Israelite by descent. Their progenitor Qazi Qidwatuddin is said to have settled in India in 1191.
There are Afridi Pathans in Uttar Pradesh's Malihabad and Qaimganj (Farrukhabad) as well as Pathans in Aligarh, Sambhal and Barabanki besides Israelite tribes in Kashmir, Manipur and Guntur of Andhra Pradesh. It's remarkable that in the very Uttar Pradesh were these Israelites are, there is Kannauj & Kanpur. These last two cities start with "kan", which could be short for Canaan. Besides Kannauj is believed to be the place were some Israelites (ancestors of the Gypies) sojourned.
The Muslim clan of Bani Israil (Arabic for the Hebrew Bnei Yisrael) in Sambhal (District Moradabad) and Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh traces its lineage from a Jewish sahabi (companion of Mohammad), Abdullah ibn-i-Salaam. Members of this clan believe that their ancestors came to India a millennium ago to propagate Islam.
There are three major groups of Israelites or Jews in India: Bane Israel, which is the largest group, the Kochini, the smallest group and the Baghdadis. The Pathans of Malihabad and Farrukhabad call themselves Bane Israel, which means children of Israel. Bane Israel clans are also found in Aligarh and Sambhal in Moradabad.
The Pathan-Afridi settlement in Malihabad dates back to 1202 A.D., when the village of Bakhtiarnagar was founded by Mohammad Bakhtiar Khilji. Most of the Pathans came in around the middle of the 17th century and each migrant clan took possession of villages around Malihabad. However, the greatest wave of migrant Pathans, mainly Afridis, arrived in Malihabad a century later during Ahmad Shah Abdali's five invasions between 1748 and 1761.
Many Israelite-Afridis of Malihabad and Qaimganj rose to eminent positions in the field of warfare, politics, literature and sports. If Dr Zakir Hussain, an Isaerilte-Pathan, the third President of India and founder of Jamia Millia Islamia University hailed from Farrukhabad, Malihabad prides itself on Nawab Faqueer Mohammad Khan 'Goya', the poet and courtier of Awadh, who later became commander of a cavalry and the governor of Khairabad; Josh Malihabadi, the rebel poet who later migrated to Pakistan; Ghaus Mohammad Khan, the tennis player and Anwar Nadeem, stage artist, writer and poet.
There are around 1,200 to 1,300 Pathans in Malihabad and half of them, according to the latest research, are Israelite-Afridis. The study has evoked much excitement among the Afridi Pathans as they are not ready to accept their Jewish identity. Unlike the other tribes who have readily claimed affiliation to the 'lost tribes' of Israel, Afridi Pathans are sceptical about their Jewish status. The reluctance is quite evident as 91-year-old Qavi Kamal Khan, one of the Afridi Pathans of the town, says, "I have heard that we have Israelite lineage but we are not Jew. We are Afridis."
Jewish communities from India without pinpointing in the map the Knanaya Christian Jews. the Bnei Menasseh Israelites...
Jewish Communities in India
The Jews of India
The story of the Jews in India has, on the whole, been a happy one where Jews dwelt in complete security and have been accorded an honorable place in the social structure of the land. India, predominantly a Hindu country of more than a billion people has approx. 130 million Moslems, 25 million Christians and less than 5000 Jews. She has been a generous mother but the pull of Israel besides economic factors prompted the Jews to emigrate. However with 14 synagogues and 2 Jewish schools still functioning, the fear of extinction has been kept at bay. But for how long?
The Jews of India consist of 4 distinct groups, each maintaining its separate identity with little admixture:
1) The Cochin Jews or Cochinis
2) The Baghdadis
3) The Bene Israel
4) The B’nei Menashe
The Cochin Jews
These Jews originated by settling in Cranganore and around in Malabar. They lived there for centuries. In the 15th. Century C.E. they took shelter in Cochin further south after being attacked by the Moors and later by the Portuguese. They numbered about 2500, but today there very few Jews in Cochin, mainly elderly men and women.
The Baghdadis
This sect consists of Jews from West Asia, mainly from Baghdad and Syria who came in the 19th. century as traders and refugees. They settled in Bombay, Calcutta and Pune. They first arrived in Surat which was the most important port on the West Coast. They spoke Arabic or Persian and English. At one time there were about 5000, but today less than 200, most of them having emigrated to U.K., Australia and Canada.
The Bene Israel
At the present moment it is the Bene Israel who predominate the Jewish presence in India. Their story is an old one. How old? It is and will continue to be a scholarly dispute. Oral tradition and probably the most favored is that descended from the Jews who fled in 175 B.C.E. from the Syrian-Greek ruler Antiochus Epiphanes, were ship wrecked at Navgaon near the port of Cheul on the Konkan Coast, 30 miles South of Bombay. Seven men and seven women survived and from there the Bene Israel spread to many of the surrounding villages in the Konkan.
Most of the Bene Israel have surnames ending with “kar” identifying the villages where they resided. There are 142 such surnames. One, David Rahabi of Cochin is credited with the revival of Judaism amongst the Bene Israel. Fully convinced that the Bene Israel were Jews, he re-taught them Hebrew and the details of the Jewish religion. He appointed 3 Kazis from the prominent families who then became the teachers and preachers of the community. With Bombay becoming an important port of British India, the Bene Israel were encouraged to move to Bombay where opportunities were better for employment.
The B’nei Menashe
A new group which came into being in 1964 and has an interesting history with more than 5000 living in North East India. Many have recently emigrated to Israel.
In the Amarna letters, before the Israelites gained the Promised Land, Milkilu was the mayor/ruler of the city of Gezer. Melchizedek was the celebrated righteous man to whom the very Abraham paid tithings. The also famous "Order of Melchizedek" was a priestly order. It was known as the Order of Milki-Sedek or as Order of Milkilu as well. In the word "Melchizedek" we can see that “Melchi” means ruler or King and Zadok (zedek) means righteous priest.
Melchizedek Blesses Abraham
With the above explanation we can affirm that the origin of the word Milki lies in the Holy Land. So the Milki people clearly received their name from the Israelites, who were most likely their ancestors.
Asia's "Jats" and "Alani" Become Europe's "Jutes" and "Alans"
As the Saxons migrated into Europe and the British Isles, they were closely allied to the "Jutes." History records that after their entry into the British Isles, they settled in Kent, the Isle of Wight and parts of Hampshire. The Jutes left their name (Jute-land) on the Danish peninsula of "Jutland." Where did they come from? Is there evidence of their name in Asia? There certainly is, and even then we find them closely identified with the Sacae, who became the Saxons.
When describing the Sacae Scythian tribes who migrated from the Caspian Sea region in the second century, B.C., to settle within the Parthian Empire, historian George Rawlinson notes that the greatest tribe, the Massagetae, was also named the "great Jits, or Jats."80 These migrating Sacae or Saka gave their name to the Parthian province of Sacastan and to the Saka kingdoms of Northwest India. The term "Jat" has survived as a caste-name in northwest India into modern times, attesting to the ancient dominance of the Jats in that region. The Encyclopedia Britannica states the following about the ancient "Jats:"
"The early Mohammedans wrote of the Jats country as lying between Kirman and Mansura...Speculation has identified them with the Getae of Herodotus ...[or] Scythians or Indo-Scythians."
The Asian Jats lived near the land of Kirman (i.e. the Kerman or German region of Parthia). If they were Asian "Getae," their later European name was the "Getes" or "Goths." If they were Scythians (Sacae), they became known as Germans or Saxons as they entered Europe. Collier's Encyclopedia states of the Jats:
"They are believed to be descended from the Saka or Scythians, who moved into India in a series of migrations between the second century B.C. and the fifth century A.D."
Since the Jats were a branch of the "Sacae," called "Saxones" by Ptolemy, it is not surprising that they were still allied to the "Saxons" and called "Jutes" by the time they reached Europe and the British Isles. Note that the consonants of the words “Jats” and “Jutes” are identical.
Many Sacae moved into Parthia in the second century B.C., but some did stay in Asia centuries after the fall of Parthia as we will document in the next chapter. In Asia, the Sacae and Jats lived next to the Kermans (Germanii); in Europe they were called the Saxons and Jutes, and were part of the migrating Germans. Their names changed very little as they moved from Parthian Asia into Europe as part of the great Caucasian migrations. The names "Kerman" and "Jats" also remained in the regions of Asia where they once lived. Some Jats stayed in India and intermarried with other tribes in the region. Today, the Indian Jats "in general have a fair complexion,"83 supporting the conclusion that they had Saka ancestors. As discussed in books two and three of this series, the Massagetae, a leading tribe of the Sacae were most likely the descendants of the Israelite tribe of Manasseh, and the suffix "-getae" indicates a common origin with the "Getae" ("Goths") of the Black Sea region.
Historian Herbert Hannay wrote about this connection:
"The Goths, too, it will be remembered, when in Asia as the Massagetae, had been worshippers of the Sun..."
The Jats of India
In India are around 30 million. people, who call themselves for "Jat". They live mainly in the northwestern Punjab province.
Being a Jat has nothing to do with religion or politics. It is a question on race and ancestry.
When a son or a daughter of a Jat family asks his parents and grandparents, how he can thank them for that they have given him a life on Earth, then they will respond that all they wish is that he should remember them and tell his children about them and their ancestors.
A Jat can be Hindu or Muslim, he can have one or another political belief. Most Jats are working with agriculture, but they can be found in all professions, for example as lawyers or businessmen.
The englishmen used many Indian soldiers during the first and second World War, they were very mainly recruited from the Jats in the Punjab province, as they were considered to be the best soldiers.
A typical Jat has, after Indian standards, rather light skin, he is tall and strong with caucasian features. In India, they are considered as industrious and rather fast-witted.
In general, the "Jats" consider themselves as descendants of the "Yuti" people, who came from north of India from the area around the Jaxartes river and in fifth century crossed Indus, as it is narrated by the French historian, De Guignes (1721 to 1800).
We recall that in "Han shu" as translated by Daniel C. Waugh (see classical text) in the "Han Histories" the "Yuezhi" is called for "Yue-te" (pronounced ju-te). In the Xiongnu king Moduns message to the Chinese emperor he states:
" - you pursued the Right Sage prince, till he was driven westward into the territories of the Yue-te. There, however, heaven favoured our cause: our officers and troops were loyal and true; our horses were strong and spirited; and by slaughter, decapitation, subjugation and pacification, our army effected the complete reduction of the Yue-te; - "
Maybe it was not simply a kind of linguistic misunderstanding when "Han Shu" used the term "Yue-te" instead of "Yuezhi". "Yue-Te" may have been the general term for Indo-Europeans and "Yuezhi" might have been a specific Indo-European people.
The "Jats" consider really themselves as descendants of all these Indo-European peoples, who in the past have invaded northern India. Throughout history, these were called "Jat", "Jit", "Jut" or "Jaet".
They point usually at the Massa-geata people who lived in the area around the Jaxartes river, as the first wave of conquerors. "Massa" means "large" and "Geata" is a different designation for "Jute" they say; the last is just a little hard to realize. In Danish "mass" means something like "numerous" or "great", as we know it from a "lot of money" (en masse penge) or a "mass of people" (en masse mennesker), in english it has similar meaning.
Note also that "Ta Yue-she" (Massagetae) in "Selections from the Han Narrative Histories," which is probably based on "Han Shu", originally came from the Tarim Basin, but were chased away by Xiongnu.
To understand the analogy between "Geata" and "Jaet" it is necessary to know King Alfred the Great's translation of Bede's "Historiarum adversum Pagano Libri Septem "from ca. year 418 AC from Latin into Old English. The translation is also called "Old English Orosius."
He translated "Iutis", in other words "Jutes" to "Geata" and he was a contemporary, so he should know whether they were the same people (Rickfors). De Guignes has undoubtedly mentioned this, and the Indians value him very much. Alfred the Great was king of Wessex from 871 AC to 899 AC.
After Massa geata's arrival in India came "Saka", then came "Yuezhi", who in the meantime had changed its name to "Kushans", and finally came "Heptalites", also called "The White Huns". The origin of the Heptalites is somewhat unclear, but many now believe now that they were a Indo-European people akin to "Yuezhi".
Many ancient authors mention Massa Geata including the Roman geographer Strabo (lived around the year 0): "Now, the biggest part of the Scythians, as we begin at the Caspian Sea, is called" Dahae", but those, who are farther eastward, are called "Massa-geta" and "Saka", while all the others can be categorized under the name Scythians, though each people has a distinct name for themselves. They are mostly all nomads. But the best known are those who took Bactria from the Greeks. I think about "Asii", "Pasiani", "Tochari" and "Sacarauli", who originally came from the country on the other side of the Jaxartes River." (Strabo, Geography, 11.8.1)
The ancient Greek historian Herodotus reported that Massageata led by Queen Tomyris in 530 BC beated the Persian army in battle and placed Cyrus II's head in a jar.
Massa geata worshiped the sun, and sacrificed horses to their gods. Their preferred weapon was the battle axe.
The Indian "Jat" sites have a very positive attitude to the Scandinavian Jaets. "According to Professor Leake, the ancient Gothic word "Jaet" means a giant ("by which is ment nothing but a tall and strong man, a great warrior or hero.")
In many languages, an "Y" is pronounced as a Danish "J" and "u" as a Danish "y", then "Yuete", as mentioned in Han Shu will sound like "Jye-te". The country in which this people live, would then become something like "Jye-land", as we know so well (Jutland in Denmark). The Indian Jats are not blind for this fact, they think that some of their kinsmen, the part of the "Yuete" people, who did not go to India, but broke up from Asia and went to Europe, where they settled in Jutland (Jylland), in Kent and on the Isle of Wright.
The Indian writer Thakur Deshraj wrote a book on Jat History "Jat Itihas" (Hindi) (1934), "That the country of Assyria took its name from "Asiagh gotra Jats." The word "Asiagh" originates from the Sanskrit word "Asi," which means sword. According to "Kautilya" (?) the people, who lived on "Asi" (sword), were known as "Asiagh". Asiagh traveled from Asirgarh in "Malwa" (?) to Europe. Those who settled in "Jangladesh" were called "Asiagh" and those who went to Scandinavia, became known as "Asi". Jats arrived in Scandinavia around 500 BC, and their leader was Odin. - Asi Jats founded "Jut-land", as their homeland in Scandinavia. The religious Scandinavian book "Edda" mentions that the inhabitants of Scandinavia in the old days were "Jats" or "Jits", who were Aryans and came from Asirgarh. "(All directly from an Indian Jat-debate page.)
The Jat people are one of the most prosperous groups in India on a per-capita basis (Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat are the wealthiest of Indian states). Traditionally they have been a predominant political class in Punjab.
The same people returned to India in later periods with the names Shaka, Pahllava, Kushan, Yuezhi, Huna, Gujar.
Many DNA Scientists have expressed the view that the presently known asJat people were originally Indo-Scythians. However, without proper study conducted by taking DNA tests they have not succeeded in conclusively proving this point so far. DNA Scientists have done a DNA study and tests and have proved Jats are Indo-Scythian in origin and lineage.
Herodotus reveals that the Scythians as far back as the 5th century BC had political control over Central Asia and the northern subcontinent up to the river Ganges. Later Indo-Scythic clans and dynasties (e.g. Mauryas, Rajputs) extended their control to other tracts of the northern subcontinent.
The largest Saka imperial dynasties of Sakasthan include the Satraps (204 BC to 78 AD), Kushanas (50 AD - 380), Virkas (420 AD -640) while others like the Mauryas (324 - 232 BC) and Dharan-Guptas (320 AD -515) expanded their empires towards the east.
Several obeyed his summons, others did not, and it has been surmised that those who did were later arrivals, of Jat or Scythian origin, outside the normal Aryan fold as later comers to India."
The largest Saka imperial dynasties of Sakasthan include the Satraps (204 BC to 78 AD), Kushanas (50 AD - 380), Virkas (420 AD -640) while others like the Mauryas (324 - 232 BC) and Dharan-Guptas (320 AD -515) expanded their empires towards the east.
Several obeyed his summons, others did not, and it has been surmised that those who did were later arrivals, of Jat or Scythian origin, outside the normal Aryan fold as later comers to India."
According to Ethnographers and historians like Cunningham, Todd, Ibbetson, Elliot, Ephilstone, Dahiya, Dhillon, Banerjea, etc., the agrarian and artisan communities (e.g. Jats, Gujars, Ahirs, Rajputs, Lohars, Tarkhans etc.) of the entire west are derived from the war-like Scythians; who settled north-western and western South Asia in successive waves between 500 BC to 500 AD.
Trevaskis put the date of Scythian migrations into India approximately from 600 BC to 600 AD. Trevaskis wrote, "Their (Scythians') successive onslaughts proved the ruin of Assyria, and soon after the fall of Nineveh, B.C. 606, a vast horde of them burst into Punjab."
The 1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica says that a Scythian horde was seated at Pattala on the Indus, in 625 BC; this may have been the Sibi.
It is worth noticing that as early as Pāṇini's(पाणिनि) era, theplaces in-and- around Sialkot are known to have Sakian etymology i.e. ending in "kantha" — — Chihankantha, Madarakantha, etc. Even the Archaeological Survey Report of India unearths the fact that the ancient name for Sialkot was Sakala. Also, Sakala is thought to be "Saka" town by Przyluski and Tarn.
Professor B. S. Dhillon states that Jat people are mainly of Indo-Scythian lineage with composite mixing of Sarmatians, Goths & Jutes in History and study of the Jats. Historian James Tod agreed in considering the Jat people to be of Indo-Scythian Stock. Moreover, Sir Alexander Cunningham, Former Director-General of the Archeological Survey of India, considered the Jat people to be the Xanthii (a Scythian tribe) of Scythian stock who he considered very likely called the Zaths (Jats) of early Arab writers. He stated "their name is found in Northern India from the beginning of the Christian era." These people were considered by early Arab writers to have descended from Meds and Zaths. Sir Cunningham believes they "were in full possession of the valley of the Indus towards the end of the seventh century. The Kipling Society has certified and advocated that, "The Rajputs proper were of mixed origin – pre-Muslim invaders such as Scythians, Bactrians, Parthians, Hunas and Gurjaras who came in before, say, the end of the 7th century."
Sir Alexander Cunningham, (Former Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India) wrote: The Xanthii (a Scythian tribe) are very probably the Zaths (Jats) of the early Arab writers. As the Zaths were in Sindh to the west of the Indus, this location agrees very well with what we know of the settlement of the Sakas (Scythians) on the Indian frontier.
Sir John Marshall, (Former Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India) wrote: "These Scythian invaders came principally from the three great tribes of Massagetae (great Jats), Sacaraucae, and Dahae (still exists as a Jat clan of Punjab), whose home at the beginning of the second century B.C. was in the country between the Caspian sea (sea) and the Jaxartes river (Central Asia).
Arthur Edward Barstow wrote: "Greeks of Bactria (partly modern Afghanistan), expelled by the hordes of Scythians, entered India in the second and first centuries BC and are said to have penetrated as far as Orissa (an Indian province in south-east). Meanwhile the Medii, Xanthii, Jatii, Getae and other Scythian races, were gradually working their way from the banks of the Oxus (River valley in Central Asia) into Southern Afghanistan and the pastoral highland about Quetta (a Pakistani city), whence they forced their way by the Bolan Pass, through the Sulaiman Mountains into India, settling in the Punjab about the beginning of the first century AD. It is from these Scythian immigrants that most of the Jat tribes are at any rate partly descended."
A. H. Bingley wrote: "It is from these Scythian Immigrants that most of the Jat tribes are at any rate partly descended."
Professor Joyce Pettigrew wrote: "Another view holds that the Jats came from Asia Minor and Armenia in the successive invasions during the period 600 B.C. to A.D. 600."
Professor Henry Smith Williams wrote: "The extent of the Scythian invasion has been variously estimated. Some scholars believe that they virtually supplanted the previous population of India (means Punjab), and there seems little doubt that by far the most numerous section of the Punjab population is of Scythian origin."
Professor Pritam Singh Gill wrote: "There is a general concensus of opinion that Jats, and with them Rajputs and Gujjars were foreigners who came from their original home, near the Oxus, Central Asia."
Professor Tadeusz Sulimirski wrote: "The evidence of both the ancient authors and the archaeological remains point to a massive migration of Sacian (Sakas)/Massagetan ("great" Jat) tribes from the Syr Daria Delta (Central Asia) by the middle of the second century B.C. Some of the Syr Darian tribes; they also invaded North India."
Horace Arthur Rose wrote: "Many of the Jat tribes of the Punjab have customs which apparently point to non-Aryan origin. Suffice it to say that both Sir Alexander Cunningham and Colonel Tod agreed in considering the Jats to be of Indo-Scythian Stock. The former identified them with the Zanthi of Strabo (Greek Geographer of the ancient times) and the Jatii of Pliny (Roman writer) and Ptolemy (Another Greek Geographer of the ancient times); and held that they probably entered the Punjab from their home on the Oxus (in Central Asia) very shortly after the Meds or Mands (still exist as one of the Jat clans of the Punjab), who also were Indo-Scythians, and who moved into the Punjab about a century before Christ."
Sir Henry Miers Elliot wrote: "These ignorant tribes (Jats) pointing to the remote Ghazni (Afghanistan) as their original seat, the very spot we know to have been occupied by the Yuechi, or, as Klaproth says, more correctly, Yuti, in the first centuries of our era, after the Sakas (a Scythian tribe) were repelled back from the frontiers of India, and left the country between India and Persia open for their occupation. The Jat tribes not doubt emigrated, no at all once, but at different times, and it is probable that those in the North-West are among the latest importations."
I. Sara wrote: "Recent excavations in the Ukraine and Crimea. The finds points to the visible links of the Jat and Scythians."
C. J. Daniell wrote: "Jats, who describe their ancestors as being immigrants from the west."
Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff wrote: "My conclusion, therefore, is, that the Jats may be of Scythian descent."
Ujagir Singh Mahil wrote: "Jat were called Scythians; because they were the inhabitants of the ancient country of Scythia. The Jats who invaded the Punjab and conquered India up to Benares were called Indo-Scythians."
James Francis Katherinus Hewitt wrote: "Further evidence both of the early history and origin of the race of Jats, or Getae, is given by the customs and geographical position of another tribe of the same stock, called the Massagetae, or great (massa) Getae."
Sir George Fletcher MacMunn (Sir and Lt. General) wrote: "Alexander came to India in his capacity as the holder of the Persian throne. From his camp near Kabul (Afghanistan), the Macedonian (Alexander) summoned those chiefs whom Skylax (Persian general) had conquered in the old time afore, to come and renew their homage to their ancient Persian overlord in the person of himself.
There are many variations of the term Jat. In the Punjab, the phonetic sound is "Jutt" or "Jatt(जट्ट)."
The nomenclature of the word Jat is variously spelt, in different periods, as Jit, Jat (pl. Jatān), Jat, finally Jāt. The sixth century Pali inscription (dated samvat 597-56 = 541 AD) mentions the race as Jit. Thus the term ‘Jit’ probably derives its nomenclature after the epithet of the founder of the tribe, Jit Shalindra.
The Persian form of the ancient term Jit is Jat (जट्ट) with short vowel and double short ‘t’. The Jatt (जट्ट) is generally referred by the Ghaznavid chronicler of the eleventh century (Gardezi, Al-Biruni, and Baihaqi); in the history of Sind (Chachnama and Tarikh-i-Masumi); by the Delhi Sultanate’s chronicler’s Isami; and by the 18th century mystic writer Shah Wali Allah in his political letters.
Thus in the Indus Valley up to Saurashtra, the tribes are known as Jat. The author of Majmulat-Tawarikh tends to believe that the Arabs called the Sind people Jat. In Sindhi dialect, the term is pronounced as ‘Yat’ and means ‘a camel-driver or breeder of camels’ While the author of Dabistan-i-Mazahib (c. 1665) states that ‘Jat’ in the language of Punjab (read Jataki) means ‘a villager, a rustic’ (dahistani, rusta’i).
Syed Muhammad Latif wrote: "A considerable portion of the routed army of the Scythians settled in the Punjab, and a race of them, called Nomardy, inhabited the country on the west bank of the Indus (river). They are described as a nomadic tribe, living in wooden houses, after the old Scythian fashion, and settling where they found sufficient pasturage. A portion of these settlers, the descendants of Massagetae, were called Getes, from whom sprung the modern Jats."
Dr. Gopal Singh wrote: "The Jats of the Panjab, are Scythians in origin and came from Central Asia, whose one branch migrated as far south in Europe as Bulgaria. "
N. Singh wrote: "The Scythians appear to originate from Central Asia. They reached Punjab between 50 B.C. and A.D. 50. It seems probable that the Scythian ancestors of the Jats entered the Sindh Valley (presently in Pakistan Kashmir) between 100 B.C. and A.D. 100."
Satya Shrava wrote: "The Jats are none other than the Massagetae (Great Getae) mentioned in Diodorus as an off-spring of the ancient Saka tribe.... a fact now well-known."
B. S. Nijjar wrote: "The Jats are the descendants of Scythians, whose kingdom's capital was Scythia, in the present Ukraine (Ukrainian), Soviet Social Republic, is the constituent Republic of the European USSR (Population 49,757,000) in 1947. Now Ukraine's capital is Kiev, the third leading city in Russia. Before the invasion of the golden herd, 13th century B.C. Scythian, ancient kingdom of indeterminate boundaries, centered in the area north of the Black Sea."
Identification as Massagetaeans
Steven M. Collins advocates the identification of Massagetaeans as "Great Jits or Jats"of Asia.
Weer Rajendra Rishi advocates that the Jats are none other than the Massagetaeans (Maha/Great Getae).
Rahul Sankrityayan had identified the Jats as Massagetaeans.
ArnoldJosephToynbee wrote:"It may not be fantastic to conjecture that the Tuetonic-speaking Goths and Gauts of Scandinavia may have been descended from a fragment of the same Indo-European-speaking tribe as the homonymous Getae and Thyssagetae and Massagetae of the Eurasian Steppe who are represented today by the Jats of the Panjab."
ArnoldJosephToynbee,alsowrote:"It had been carried from the Oxus-Jaxartes Basin into the Indus Basin by the Massagetae themselves, together with their tribal name (the Jats), in their Volkerwander- ung in the second century BC"
George Rawlinson has identified the Massagetaeans as "Great Jits or Jats" of Asia.
Sir Richard Francis Burton wrote:"The Massagetae (greater Jats or Goths) are opposed to the Thyssa (or lesser) Getae, and both used the sagaris."
The Jats were considered to be part of the royal racea of India.
From the earliest times, they have believed in One God and have worshipped Him. Their mode of worship is to remember God and express their gratitude to Him at any and all times. They do not, and have never believed in rituals and worship of idols or evil spirits. That is why no religious shrine of any importance exists in the Jat area. They do, however, believe in a form of ancestor worship.
Certain days and customs are observed to propitiate the dead. Every village has a little shrine called Bhaiyan. It is a modest samadhi of the first man who died after that village came into being.
Certain days and customs are observed to propitiate the dead. Every village has a little shrine called Bhaiyan. It is a modest samadhi of the first man who died after that village came into being.
On certain days women visit this shrine, light a Ghee lamp, fold their hands and say, "0 grand father look after our menfolk and cattle". Men seek his blessings before proceeding to perform on important task like house building, marriage or battle. Married couples pay their homage to him the very next day after' the bride comes to her husband's home. This Bhaiyan worship is, however, carried out by individuals when and in whatever manner they choose. There is no fixed prayer, no rituals, no offering of money or foodstuff and no middlemanship of a priest.
Any religion, which preached oneness of God and condemned superstitions and idol worship easily appealed to and was adopted by Jats in large numbers at different times. When Vedic Hinduism gave place to Pauranic idol worship religion began to be used by priests as a means of livelihood; superstitious and awe inspiring beliefs tales and rituals, were introduced in religion to frighten people into giving offerings to idols and priests who became self appointed agents of God; non Brahmins were debarred from studying Sanskrit and religious books to make them, easily exploitable and ignorant. They don't eat meat, do not wear the sacred thread, and do not stick much for untouchability as other Indians do and respect saints.
There are many variations of the term Jat. In the Punjab, the phonetic sound is "Jutt" or "Jatt(जट्ट)."
The nomenclature of the word Jat is variously spelt, in different periods, as Jit, Jat (pl. Jatān), Jat, finally Jāt. The sixth century Pali inscription (dated samvat 597-56 = 541 AD) mentions the race as Jit. Thus the term ‘Jit’ probably derives its nomenclature after the epithet of the founder of the tribe, Jit Shalindra.
The Persian form of the ancient term Jit is Jat (जट्ट) with short vowel and double short ‘t’. The Jatt (जट्ट) is generally referred by the Ghaznavid chronicler of the eleventh century (Gardezi, Al-Biruni, and Baihaqi); in the history of Sind (Chachnama and Tarikh-i-Masumi); by the Delhi Sultanate’s chronicler’s Isami; and by the 18th century mystic writer Shah Wali Allah in his political letters.
Thus in the Indus Valley up to Saurashtra, the tribes are known as Jat. The author of Majmulat-Tawarikh tends to believe that the Arabs called the Sind people Jat. In Sindhi dialect, the term is pronounced as ‘Yat’ and means ‘a camel-driver or breeder of camels’ While the author of Dabistan-i-Mazahib (c. 1665) states that ‘Jat’ in the language of Punjab (read Jataki) means ‘a villager, a rustic’ (dahistani, rusta’i).
During Mughal period, phonetic and dialectic changes occurred, thus Deccan chronicler Firishta mentions them as ‘Jat (जट)’ with short vowel and hard‘t’.
Finally the term gained the present day phonetic in Ain-i-Akbari, when Abul Fazl mentions the tribe as‘Jāt (जाट)’ with long vowel ‘a’ and hard ‘t’. It is said that the term derives from middle Indo-Aryan term 'Jata'. In view of O’Brien in Jataki language the‘Jat (जात)’ – the herdsmen and camel grazer is spelt with soft ‘t’, whilethe ‘Jat(जाट)’- thecultivator with hard ‘t’. However in present day the tribes, almost all the cultivators, are known as Jāt (जाट) especially in the Yamuna-Ganges Valley. In Arabian form, the term is mentioned as Zat or Zutt (in Arabic 'J' changes for 'Z') by the Arab geographers.Thus the nomenclature of the tribe is of post-Sanskrit Indian origin and belongs to the Indo-Aryan language.
Baltis of Khaplu
Finally the term gained the present day phonetic in Ain-i-Akbari, when Abul Fazl mentions the tribe as‘Jāt (जाट)’ with long vowel ‘a’ and hard ‘t’. It is said that the term derives from middle Indo-Aryan term 'Jata'. In view of O’Brien in Jataki language the‘Jat (जात)’ – the herdsmen and camel grazer is spelt with soft ‘t’, whilethe ‘Jat(जाट)’- thecultivator with hard ‘t’. However in present day the tribes, almost all the cultivators, are known as Jāt (जाट) especially in the Yamuna-Ganges Valley. In Arabian form, the term is mentioned as Zat or Zutt (in Arabic 'J' changes for 'Z') by the Arab geographers.Thus the nomenclature of the tribe is of post-Sanskrit Indian origin and belongs to the Indo-Aryan language.
In his etymological discussion the learned author, Quzi Athar Mubarakprui, has pointed out that the word Zutt or Zutti used in the Arabic Sources is an arabicised form of Jat as explained in several Arabic and Persian dictionaries including Lisan –al-Arab of lbn Manzur, the most famous and voluminous Arabic lexicon.
Quoting the same work, he states that Zut are people of race from Sind who are of black color. This is arabicised from the Indian (Hindi) word Jat and its singular is Zutti. He has also given opinion of some other lexicographers who thinks that this is the Arabic form of the Indian word Chat. With reference to the well known geographical work, Taqwin al-Buldan, he observed that in the ancient period the Jats were also found in Baluchistan in a large number in addition to Sind.
The most common view about the origin of the word, 'Jat' with regards to Jat people, is that it has originated from Jeat (also spelt Geat). Professor J. A. Leake states Jat is dervied from the old Gothic word from Jaet.
Balti people
Baltis of Khaplu
Total population 28% of Gilgit-Baltisan (247,520) (1998)
Regions with significant populations Gilgit–Baltistan (Pakistan) Ladakh (India)
Languages Balti
Religion Shia Islam majority, minorities of Sufia Nurbakhshia, Sunni Islam, Tibetan Buddhism and Bon.
Related ethnic groups Burig, Ladakhis, Tibetans, Dards
The Balti are an ethnic group of Tibetan descent with Dardic admixture (so they have some Israelite Dardic roots) who live in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan and the Kargil region of India. Smaller populations are found in the Leh region; others are scattered in Pakistan's major urban centres of Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad/Rawalpindi.
The Balti language belongs to the Tibetic language family. Read (1934) considers it a dialect of Ladakhi, while Tournadre (2005) considers it a sister language of Ladakhi.
The Baltis historically practiced Bön and Tibetan Buddhism. Islam arrived in Baltistan via Sufi missionaries in the 15th century, and soon became dominant. They still retain many traits of pre-Islamic Bön and Lamaist rituals, making them unique in Pakistan. The swastika (Yung drung) sign is considered auspicious and is carved on wooden planks that can be seen in historical mosques and Khanqahs. Showing respect to Lha and Lhu (Bön gods) is customary during many village rituals.
They regard congregation in the Mosques and Khanqahs as an important religious ritual. The Khanqahs are a kind of typical training school to which was introduced by the early saints arrived in the region. The students gain spiritual purity (tazkiah) through these trainings (meditations and contemplations) under well-practiced spiritual guides, who have already attained certain degree of spirituality. Mosques in Baltistan are mainly built in the Tibetan style, though several mosques constructed have wood-finish and decorations of Mughal origin which can also be seen in Ladakh. Kargil. On every Friday, the men folk would generally attend the prayers sometime a little after noon. All Muslims will fast by day during the month of the Ramadan, and a celebration will be held at the end of the celebration.
During the 19th century, many Baltis converted to Shi'a and Sunni Islam. Today, the Baltis are 60% Sufi Nurbakhshia , 30% Shi'a, and 10% Sunni. Small pockets of Bön and Tibetan Buddhist believers in Kharmang valley and West Kargil amount to about 3000 people.
The Gothic etymology is futher stated & agreed by other scholars who state, Jeat (also spelt Geat) was the names of tribes of Central Asia (such as those which later became Gauts/Goths & Jutes and settled in Europe), which was written by Jat a witer in Jattan Da Ithihas. It has also been mentioned by Jat historian Bhim Singh Dahiya. Jat people have many surnames common to German people even to this day.
