Datt

Datt or Dutt is a Mohyal Brahmin clan from Jammu, Punjab, and Haryana. Dutt is a warrior clan of Mohyal Brahmins. They are one of the seven clans of the Mohyals who are Saraswat Brahmins. The six other clans are Bali, Bhimwal, Chhibber, Lau, Mohan and Vaid. Most Dutts are Hindus, but like most Mohyals, many follow Sikhism and other religions as well; their gotra is Bharadwaj. Some Datt Brahmins migrated eastward and mingled with Bhumihar Brahmins and became one with them.

Datts claim descent from Rishi Bharadwaja and derive their gotra from his name. Some consider Gaj Bhavan, the grandson of Bharadwaj to be the real founder of their clan. Dutts were classified as Martial Race in the British Indian system .

The word Datt is derived from the Hindi word daata meaning a charitable person. Some interpreted it as a corruption of the word Aditya which means 'sun' in Sanskrit. Traditionally Mohyals of the Datt Clan have the last name 'Datt', whilst the names 'Dutt' or 'Datta' are considered to be a closely related derivative of 'Datt'.

At the time of the war at Karbala, fought in 681 AD, which led to a schism amongst the Muslim community into Sunnis and Shias, Rahib Sidh Datt was a highly esteemed figure in Arabia due to his close relations with the family of Prophet Mohammed. When Hassan ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad was murdered, his younger brother, Hussain, came out to oppose the new Caliph, Yazid ibn Muawiyah. The vastly superior forces of Yazid, at Karbala surrounded his force consisting of seventy two men. Hussain was fatally wounded by Shamer, the commander of Yazid, and died after Shemr cut Hussain's head off in the desert on the tenth day of Muharram (Today observed as the Day of Ashura. Yazid's army later left the desert with the severed head of Hussain, up to Kufa. Later, the head was carried to Damascus and finally buried with the rest of the body at Karbala. In the revenge war, Rahib fought on the side of Mukhtar and sacrificed his seven sons in the bloody war.

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