The Jad people are a semi-nomadic tribe living in the

Great Himalayas The Great Himalayas (also known as Greater Himalayas, Inner Himalayas, or Himadri) is one of the four parallel sub-ranges of the Himalayas. It is the highest in altitude and extends for about from northern Pakistan to the Indian state of Arunac ...

mountain range in the

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

and

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

states of India. They are primarily settled in the bordering region of Uttarakhand ( Uttarkashi district), Himachal Pradesh (

Kinnaur district Kinnaur district () is a mountainous district located in the northeast part of the state of Himachal Pradesh, India. Kinnaur district borders Tibet (China) to the east, the state of Uttarakhand to the south, Shimla district to the southwest, K ...

) and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

. They mainly practiced sheep rearing and were shrewd traders trading with the Tibet. They were also recognised as the rulers of the Gartang Garh (one among the 52 Garhs or forts of the

Garhwal Kingdom Kingdom of Garhwal ( ''गढ़वाल राज्य'' ) was an Himalayan kingdom in the current north-western Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, India, founded in 823 CE by Kanak Pal the progenitor of the Panwar dynasty that ruled ove ...

). They were entrusted by the King of Garhwal, with the important strategic task of securing the borders of Garhwal Kingdom from the

Bushahr Bushahr, also spelt as 'Bashahr' and 'Bussahir' or 'Bushair' was a Rajput princely state in India during the British Raj. It was located in the hilly western Himalaya promontory bordering Tibet. Bushahar was eighty four miles long, sixty two ...

kingdom of Himachal and the

Tibetan Empire The Tibetan Empire (,) was an empire centered on the Tibetan Plateau, formed as a result of expansion under the Yarlung dynasty heralded by its 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. It expanded further under the 38th king, Trisong De ...

. The language they speak is critically endangered almost endemic to India. The language shares some similarities to the Kinnauri and Spiti languages, which are also in the Tibeto-Burman language family. The famous tourist attraction Gartang Gali is near their village of Sang, Uttarakhand.

Etymology

Jadhang village itself and the Jad people living in Jadhang and Nelang valley are named after a man named Jadha, who was resettled here in 1849 by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

adventurer Frederick Wilson. The settlement document of the

, which administered this area, from that era reads, ''"Wilson invited certain Jadha from the upper

Pargana Pargana or parganah, also spelt pergunnah, equivalent to Mohallah as a subunit of Subah (Suba), was a type of former administrative division in the Indian subcontinent during the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal and British Colonial empire ...

of Kunawar in

Bashahr Bushahr, also spelt as 'Bashahr' and 'Bussahir' or 'Bushair' was a Rajput princely state in India during the British Raj. It was located in the hilly western Himalaya promontory bordering Tibet. Bushahar was eighty four miles long, sixty two m ...

state (now in

) to settle at Nilang, re-establish the hamlet of Jadhang and administered the area on behalf of Maharaja Bhavani Shah . 1859-71 CE"''

Social status

, the Jad people were classified as a Scheduled Tribe under the Indian government's reservation program of

positive discrimination Affirmative action (also sometimes called reservations, alternative access, positive discrimination or positive action in various countries' laws and policies) refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking ...

References

Scheduled Tribes of Himachal Pradesh {{india-ethno-stub

Etymology

Social status

See also

References