A jathedar is the head of a jatha, a band or group, and in its most consequential use the custodian and chief officer of one of the five Takhts, the seats of Sikh temporal authority.
Head of a seat of authority
In its highest sense the jathedar is the chief officer of a takht, above all the Akal Takht at Amritsar, the first and highest of the five seats, and in that capacity he presides over the seat from which injunctions binding on the community are issued and before which Sikhs may be summoned to answer for their conduct, so the office carries real authority in the affairs of the Panth. The jathedar of the Akal Takht in particular is among the most influential figures in the Sikh world, speaking for the seat of temporal authority.
Appointment and its disputes
The jathedar is appointed rather than holding the office by any personal charisma or succession, and the manner of appointment, and the relationship between the office and the committees and bodies that administer Sikh affairs, has been a matter of real dispute, since the authority of the takht and the standing of the man who heads it can be drawn into the political conflicts of the community. The word in its plainer sense denotes the leader of any organised group or band, but its weight comes from its application to the heads of the takhts. The office thus sits at the point where the religious authority of the seats of the Panth meets the practical politics of who administers them, and the jathedar of the Akal Takht stands at the head of that structure of collective authority.