Note 94 — G

3. As regards their ethnical affinities Mr. Ibbetson writes:94—“It has been suggested, and is, I believe, held by many, that Jâts and Gûjars, and perhaps Ahîrs also, are all of one ethnic stock; and this because there is a close connection between them. It may be that they are the same in their far distant origin. But I think they must have entered India at different times or settled in separate parts, and my reason for thinking so is precisely because they eat and smoke together. In the case of Jât and Râjput the reason for differentiation is obvious, the latter being of higher rank than the former. But the social standing of Jâts, Gûjars, and Ahîrs being practically identical, I do not see why they should ever have separated if they were once the same. It is, however, possible that the Jâts were the camel graziers and perhaps husbandmen, the Gûjars the cowherds of the hills, and the Ahîrs the cowherds of the plains. If this be so, they afford a classification by occupation of the yeoman class, which fill up the gap between, and is absolutely continuous with, the similar classification of the castes above them, as Brâhmans, Banyas, and Râjputs, and of the classes below them, as Tarkhâns, Chamârs, and so forth. But we must know more of the early distribution of the tribes before we can have any opinion on the subject. I have noticed in the early historians a connection between the migrations and location of Gûjars and Râjputs, which has struck me as being more than accidental, and Mr. Wilson notes that the Gûjars and the Bargûjar tribe of Râjputs are often found together, and suggests that the latter may be to the Gûjars what the Khânzâdas are to the Meos, and what most Râjputs are to the Jâts.”