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The Jad people are a semi-nomadic tribe living in the Great Himalayas mountain range in the Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand states of India. They are primarily settled in the bordering region of Uttarakhand (Uttarkashi district), Himachal Pradesh (Kinnaur district) and Tibet. 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). They were entrusted by the King of Garhwal, with the important strategic task of securing the borders of Garhwal Kingdom from the Bushahr kingdom of Himachal and the Tibetan Empire.
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.[1]
The famous tourist attraction Gartang Gali is near their village of Sang, Uttarakhand.
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 adventurer Frederick Wilson. The settlement document of the Garhwal Kingdom, which administered this area, from that era reads, "Wilson invited certain Jadha from the upper Pargana of Kunawar in Bashahr state (now in Himachal Pradesh) to settle at Nilang, re-establish the hamlet of Jadhang and administered the area on behalf of Maharaja Bhavani Shah [r. 1859-71 CE]." Wilson also built the Gartang Gali stairway.[2]
As of 2001[update], the Jad people were classified as a Scheduled Tribe under the Indian government's reservation program of positive discrimination.[1]
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