 Irfan Habib has argued that Sikhism did much to uplift the social status of Jat people, who were previously regarded in the Punjab as being of Shudra or Vaishya status in the Hindu ritual ranking system of varna.Kishan Singh says 

Jat Sikhs, according to Major A. E. Barstow, were very good soldiers due to the influence of Sikhism, and possessed more of a martial quality than their non-Sikh Jat brethren.Barstow further comments, that due to their diet and their fondness for wrestling (something encouraged and taught by Guru Angad to the Sikh people) and weightlifting, they possessed good physical attributes for soldiery.