Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s2.4.3

c48.s2.4.3

Next to the Jāṭ in rank, and probably akin in origin, comes the Gūjar, a caste as to whose descent there has been much controversy between the pro-Āryan and the pro-Scythian. The caste is now generally affiliated to the Gurjara, a tribe which was settled in the neighbourhood of the Caspian, and entered India either in company with or at the same time as, the Yetha or White Huna, of whom they are said to have been a branch. They spread very widely over the west and north-west, and one body of Gurjara obtained a dominant footing in the western province which is now called after them. Their connection with it, however, after the downfall of their dynasties, was dissipated into innumerable channels of castes, where it is recognisable only in customs and in the titles of some of the sub-castes. The greater portion of the Gūjar settled in the Panjāb and along the Jamnā, with a considerable colony in Oudh. In the first named tract, again, they have left their name behind them in several places, but it is only in the submontane portion that they can now be called a dominant tribe. In the plains they follow their traditional occupation of cattle-breeding, combined, it may be, with cultivation, in which they are not so expert. Their unrestrained devotion to the horned beast is such that in some parts of India their title is derived from the Sanskritic term for Cowthief. Even though philology may not support this derivation, it has the authority of their almost universal reputation.