KashmiriRainDrops

So wot is zaat then? Ur family's surnames? In Pakistan some kids are named after their father's FIRST name for some reason...that always confuses me...so wudn't that mean that ur family name gets lost along the way if u just take the first name instead of surname? So from ur mum n dad's surnames u can tell where they r from or something

LastOfTheDinosaurs

Zaat implies something racial and something social. In old days, it was used as a basis for social stratification, with some races/tribes (usually in military, administrative, and religious professions) forming the Upper Zaats (strata) and some (the menial classes) forming the Lower Zaats (strata).

Anyhow, race, color, etc. are very powerful impulses and driving forces the importance of which in identity formation should not be down played.

KashmiriRainDrops

^ It means race then...so the original poster's question of wot is ur zaat really means wot is ur race? Wudn't that just be Paki or Asian for most of us

Crescent

^ I just meant to ask, what if you family background.

Jeez.

KashmiriRainDrops

^ Yes and i just meant to ask wot is the definition of zaat

LastOfTheDinosaurs

"paki" is just a territorial and political label and connotes nothing beyond that..."Asian" again derives from geography and doesn't give a clue about Zaat...Zaat has a socio-political meaning e.g. Gujjars in tradional Pashtun Society formed the lower strata but in the society of Punjab, for example, they formed the upper strata. So the term Zaat is significant in a particular social setting.

In a tribal society, there are no Zaat and all tribes are socially, and to some extent politicaly, equal. In a feudal society, the conquerors and dominant classes that hold resources and social and political power/authority form the upper Zaats. In modern democratic/industralized societies, Zaat is something implying "fraternity" or "brotherhood" and serving as a basis for "fellow-feelings" (rather than "social stratification"). It is another matter that this "brotherhood" is based on "blood-intimacy".

KashmiriRainDrops

^ Ok, it's just that before u mentioned that zaat implies something racial so that's y i thought of race and then us being Asian...but ur rite that is more along the lines of geography...and so zaat is something social i gather...well, that helps a little and thanks for being patient with me and my questions.

blushing_vision

moughul/ khawaja

Umer

When my parents went to Liberty in Lahore to buy jewelery for my wife a few weeks before our wedding, the jeweller asked them: "Aap ki bahu ki zaat kaunsi hai?"

And my dad was like: "Mujhai nahi patta aur mujhai patta karne ki zaroorat bhi koi nahi hai. Mujhai ye patta hai, kay wo ache loog hain. Mere liye ye hi kaafi hai." And the jeweller was like: "Ye kaise ho sakta hai?"

The reaction of the jeweller surprised me. Do people really give zaat so much importance?

Iconoclast

^ Thats a wierd question for a jeweller to ask to a customer.

_Lahore_Ka_Cheetah

^^Salesmen are retards, especially if you say he was in Liberty. Take their comments as a pinch of salt.

zxcvb

Kataria are Hindu Jats. This is a common name among Hindu Jats. Also, this name is found among the Dalits of Haryana also.

Numb

why do you people categorize and don´t say "I am from Allahs Zaat" ?

_Lahore_Ka_Cheetah

Katarias are a sub-caste of Gujjars, $hit head.

_Lahore_Ka_Cheetah

49:13 O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things).

zxcvb

Why are you angry ? I am just telling the facts.
My best friend in Delhi was a Kataria jat. He was 6ft-5inces tall and a wrestler.
Go to the website: www.jatland.com . It is a website for hindu jats.
It gives a listing of all gotras or sub castes of the hindu jats. Kataria is listed there.
http://www.jatland.com/wiki/index.php/Gotras


A google search of Kataria gives you hundreds of links:
http://www.rajasthan.net/election/bio/1006.htm

Do a find on this page for the word "Kataria"; here they are linked under scheduled caste or Dalit.
[size=2]jmi.nic.in/admission/Fnat/fl_mscbiosciences.pdf [/size]


http://www.pbase.com/sanjiv/profile
http://www.fashionindia.net/designers/pria_kataria/
http://hammer.afdc.com/activities/bio.asp?id=871
[size=2]web.syr.edu/~tkataria/tarun_res(old).doc [/size]
[size=2]www.informatik.uni-trier.de/ ~ley/db/indices/a-tree/k/Kataria:Pankaj.html [/size]

zxcvb

I may have made a mistake. It seems that Kataria's are found in both Hindu jats and Gujjar community's. I have found a webpage of Hindu Gujjar Kataria's

http://www.dosima.org/search.php?surname=Kataria

LastOfTheDinosaurs

It is interesting! Do Rajputs and Jats ethnicities overlap? Which is considered more ancient ethnicity? Moreover, the ethno-term "Mand" can also be found amongst Pashtuns e.g. Mandukhel and Madanar, a Yousafzai subclan...

LastOfTheDinosaurs

Numb, 1400 years back, they ostensibly sat to build a universal empire but ended-up building an Arab Empire rather in which Arab were the ruling race. Arab are srtill a nation proud of their unique identity. Turks build an Empire to rule foreign lands but reverted to their actual Turkish identity after the empire collapsed. There cannot be a "universal brotherhood" or "Ummah". However, if you want to live in a fantasy world that is another matter. There will forever be ethnicities, nations, and races because in order to survive, you must be affiliated with a race.

LastOfTheDinosaurs

It seems religious zealots like Brahmanic priests and Islamic Mullahs did everything to erase the actual roots of Rajputs, Pashtuns, etc. to link them to Brahmanism and monotheism. In case of Pashtuns, names of Pashtun tribes were Islamized/Arabized. It is interesting that none of the Arab tribes changed its name due to Islam, Quraish remained Quraish before and after Islam and Hdrat Umar for example had the same name before and after Islam.

Nevertheless, origin of such races as Pashtuns, Rajputs, Jatts, etc. should be studied collectively to find the missing links and strengthen existing theories.