Vivekji,
Thanks for the suggestions. We need some authentic information that there have been no Jats in the south. There are some Jats in Chennai at present but they are mostly from north India. I can see Jat Samaj Magazine published from Agra , December 2008, which has 22 Jat members from Chennai. Two of them are Mayla clan Jats.
Can you tell some reasons why Jats did not go to south.
If we go by the mythological stories we find that Banasur was associated with Jats and Madras as well.
The present Bana Jats are descendants of Banasur.
According to a legend, Banasura had obtained a boon from Lord Shiva that he could be vanquished only by a virgin, unable to bear the harassment of the asura king, Shakti, the supreme Goddess was requested by the Devas to destroy Banasura who was creating havoc on the inhabitants of this world. In Shakti appeared as a young virgin girl at Kanyakumari and commenced penance in answer to their Prayers.
Another legend is that Sthanunatha (a form of Shiva) god of Suchindram, a nearby town located 12 km from Kanya Kumari, desired to marry the virgin goddess. Other gods became apprehensive that the marriage would result into the goddess losing her power. Narada schemed to resolve the problem. The marriage was fixed to be solemnized just before the daybreak. When Shiva's procession reached a site by name Vazhukkumpaarai, a rooster crowed, heralding daybreak, and that Shiva assuming that the auspicious hour was past, returned to Suchindram. All the food prepared for the wedding was laid waste and that it turned into the colored sand seen on the southern shores of the subcontinent.
Meanwhile, Banasura heard about the beauty of the girl and came to request her hand in marriage. When Devi rejected the idea, Banasura decided to win her by force. This led to a fierce battle in which the goddess killed Banasura. [V. Meera:Temples of South India, p. 1-3]
This narration shows links of Banasur with Kanyakumari.
There is a waterfall and place called Bana Tirtham in Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu.
Here the mythological story kills Banasura but in fact the Bana clan people who were rulers here were killed in the war.
The place Mylapore is also associated with Ptolemy the Egyptian traveller. He is supposed to have arrived at this place, which was once a thriving port city.
Marco Polo is believed to have visited Mylapore. Marco Polo has left a detailed description of the land, the people and their customs and religion[The Travels of Marco Polo by Henry Yule, Vol 2, Book 3, Chapters XVII and XVIII,Project Gutenberg].
We have so far no ancient details about Mayla Jat clan. "Mayil" in Tamil means a peacock. So the probability of Myla Jats going to south in ancient times can not be ruled out.
