Jatav

Jatav, also known as Jatva/ Jatan/ Jatua/ Jatia. is a social group that in India are considered to be a part of the Chamar caste, one of the untouchable communities (or dalits), who are now classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of positive discrimination.

History

In the early part of the twentieth century, the Jatavs attempted the process of sanskritisation, claiming themselves to be historically of the kshatriya varna. They gained political expertise by forming associations and by developing a literate cadre of leaders, and they tried to change their position in the caste system through the emulation of upper-caste behavior. As a part of this process, they also claimed not to be Chamars and petitioned the government of the British Raj to be officially classified differently: disassociating themselves from the Chamar community would, they felt, enhance their acceptance as kshatriya. These claims were not accepted by other castes and, although the government was amenable, no official reclassification as a separate community occurred due to the onset of World War II.

Earlier pressing for the Kshatriya status, the new issues emerged among Jatavs in 1944-45. The Jatavs formed the Scheduled Caste Federation of Agra having ties with the Dr. Ambedkar led All India Scheduled Caste Federation. They started recognizing themselves as Sheduled Caste and hence "untouchables".

In 1990, a large number of Jatavs converted to Buddhism.