ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the patterns of mobility and migration among the Jats who evolved out of modest pastoral setting and rose to prominence and political ascendancy. The process of mobility and change in medieval India was a result of political upheavals and the emergence of new social and economic formations. The patterns of the economy of the Jats of Sind can be gleaned from the information provided by Chachnama and Hiuen Tsang. The Jat presence in Panjab arouses interest in the process of migration of the Jats from previously inhabited areas of Sind. The social transformation from Sudra to Vaisya was a result of a process of change that initially occurred in the economic life of the Jats, and their economic progression determined their social mobility and political ascendancy. The elaborate lists of Zamindars as gleaned from Ain-i Akbari demonstrate the extent, proliferation and distribution of Jat Zamindars in northern and north-western India.
