Antal (also Andhak, Aundh, or Anlak) is a gotra of Jats found in India. Antal is a gotra in kashyap rajpoot also. Antal Jats are mainly found in the Ambala District of Haryana. The Jat historian Thakur Deshraj identifies them with the amatae people of Sindh described by Megasthenes.[1] The leading figure of the twelve major Alvar poets of the Srivaisnavas is the female mystic saint Antal. Antal (literally "she who rules"), who is regarded by her disciples as a goddess, composed a number of devotional hymns addressed to Krishna, peppered with strains of strong social protest against the oppression of women and the lower castes. These hymns form the core of Srivaisnava liturgy. Because of the central role of Antal in the development of the Srivaisnava community, the sect accords a status to women that is markedly different from that of classical Brahminism.
References
- ^ *Thakur Deshraj: Jat Itihas (Hindi), Maharaja Suraj Mal Smarak Shiksha Sansthan, Delhi, 1934.
