Chapter 17

Gānga bride and bridegroom.Gānga bride and bridegroom.The marriage rites conform, for the most part, to the Telugu type. But, while the wrist thread is being tied on, common salt is held in the hand. A dagger (bāku) is then given to the bridegroom, who keeps it with him till the conclusion of the ceremonies. On the wedding day, the bridegroom wears the sacred thread. The tāli is not an ordinary bottu, but a thread composed of 101 thin strings, which is removed on the last day, and replaced by a bottu. On the third day, the bride and bridegroom worship a jammi tree (Prosopis spicigera), and the latter, removing his sacred thread, throws it on the tree. Five young men, called Bāla Dāsulu, also worship the tree, and, if they are wearing the sacred thread, throw it thereon. The dead are as a rule buried, in a sitting posture if the deceased was an orthodox Saivite. If a young man dies a bachelor, the corpse is married to an arka plant (Calotropis gigantea), and decorated with a wreath made of the flowers thereof. The final death ceremonies are performed on the eleventh day. Food is offered to crows and the soul of the dead person, who is represented by a wooden post dressed with his clothes. The bangles of a widow are brokennear the post, which is finally thrown into a tank or stream.Gāniga further occurs as an occupational name for Lingāyat oil-vendors, and for Mogers who are employed as oil-pressers.Ganta.—Ganta or Gantla, meaning a bell, has been recorded as an exogamous sept of Kamma and Balija. Gantelavāru, or men of the bell, is given by Mr. S. M. Natesa Sastri12as the family name of one section of the Donga (thieving) Dāsaris, and of the Kabbēras, who are said to join the ranks of this criminal class. Gantugāzula occurs, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Koracha. In the Vizagapatam Manual, the Tiragati Gantlavallu are described as repairing hand-mills, catching antelopes, and selling their skins.Ganti(a hole pierced in the ear-lobe).—An exogamous sept of Gūdala.Gāradi.—Gāradi or Gāradiga is the name of a class of mendicants in the Telugu country and Mysore who are snake-charmers, practice sleight of hand, and perform various juggling and mountebank tricks.Garappa(dry land).—A synonym of Challa Yānādi.Gatti.—A small caste of cultivators, found chiefly near Kumbla and Someswara in the Kasaragod tāluk of South Canara. Other names for the caste are Poladava and Holadava, both signifying men of the field. Like the Bants, they follow the aliya santāna law of inheritance (in the female line), have exogamous septs or balis, and, on the day of the final death ceremonies, construct car-like structures, if the deceased was an important personage in the community. The Bants and Gattis interdine, but do not intermarry. Theheadman of the Gattis is called Gurikāra. The God of the Someswara temple is regarded as the caste deity, and every family has to pay an annual fee of four annas to this temple. Failure to do so would entail excommunication.Gattu(bank or mound).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Gaud.—A title of Sādar.Gauda.—The Gaudas or Gaudos are a large caste of Canarese cultivators and cattle-breeders. “Gauda and Gaudo,” Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,13“are really two distinct castes, the former being Canarese and the latter Uriya. Each name is, however, spelt both ways. The two names are, I presume, etymologically the same. The ordinary derivation is from the Sanskrit go, a cow, but Dr. Gustav Oppert contends14that the root of Gauda is a Dravidian word meaning a mountain. Among the Canarese, and to a less extent among the Uriyas also, the word is used in an honorific sense, a custom which is difficult to account for if Dr. Oppert’s philology is correct.” “Gaudas,” Mr. Stuart writes further,15“also called Hālvaklumakkalu (children of the milk class), are very numerously represented in the South Canara district. They have a somewhat elaborate system of caste government. In every village there are two headmen, the Grāma Gauda and the Vattu or Gattu Gauda. For every group of eight or nine villages there is another head called the Māganē Gauda, and for every nine Māganēs there is a yet higher authority called the Kattēmanēyava. The caste is divided into eighteen baris or balis, which are of the usual exogamous character.The names of some of these are as follows: Bangāra (gold), Nandara, Malāra (a bundle of glass bangles, as carried about for sale), Sālu, Hemmana (pride or conceit), Kabru, Gōli (Portulaca oleracea, a pot-herb), Basruvōgaru (basru, belly), Balasanna, and Karmannāya. Marriage is usually adult, and sexual license before marriage with a member of the caste is tolerated, though nominally condemned. The dhārē form of marriage (seeBant) is used, but the bridal pair hold in their joined hands five betel leaves, one areca nut and four annas, and, after the water has been poured, the bridegroom ties a tāli to the neck of the bride. Divorce is permitted freely, and divorced wives and widows can marry again. A widow with children, however, should marry only her late husband’s elder brother. If she marries any one else, the members of her former husband’s family will not even drink water that has been touched by her. They burn their dead. On the third day, the ashes are made into the form of a man, which is cut in two, buried, and a mound made over it. In the house two planks are placed on the ground, and covered with a cloth. On one of these, a vessel containing milk is placed, and on the other a lamp, rice, cocoanut, pumpkin, etc., are deposited. The agnates and some boys go round the plank three times, and afterwards go to the mound, taking with them the various articles in a cloth. Three plantain leaves are spread in front of the mound, and cooked food, etc., placed thereon. Four posts are set up round the mound, and cloths stretched over them, and placed round the sides. On the sixteenth day, sixteen plantain leaves are placed in a row, and one leaf is laid apart. Cakes, cooked fowl’s flesh, toddy and arrack (liquor) are placed on the leaves in small leaf-cups. The assembled agnates then say “We have done everything as we should do, and soour ancestors who have died must take the man who is now dead to their regions. I put the leaf which is apart in the same row with the sixteen leaves.”“Once a year, in the month of Mituna (June-July), the Gaudas perform a ceremony for the propitiation of all deceased ancestors. They have a special preference for Venkatarāmaswāmi, to whom they make money offerings once a year in September. They employ Brāhmins to give them sacred water when they are under pollution, but they do not seek their services for ordinary ceremonies. They are, for the most part, farmers, but some few are labourers. The latter receive three or four seers of paddy a day as wages. Their house language is Tulu in some places, and Canarese in others, but all follow the ordinary system of inheritance, and not the custom of descent through females. Their title is Gauda.”As bearing on the superstitious beliefs of the people of South Canara, the following case, which was tried before the Sessions Judge in 1908, may be cited. A young Gauda girl became pregnant by her brother-in-law. After three days’ labour, the child was born. The accused, who was the mother of the girl, was the midwife. Finding the delivery very difficult, she sent for a person named Korapulu to come and help her. The child was, as they thought, still-born. On its head was a red protuberance like a ball; round each of its forearms were two or three red bands; the eyes and ears were fixed very high in the head; and the eyes, nose, and mouth were abnormally large. Korapulu and the girl’s younger sister at once carried the mother out of the out-house lest the devil child should do her harm or kill her. The accused called for a man named Isuf Saiba, who was standing in the yard outside. He came in, and she asked him to call some of the neighbours, to decidewhat to do. The child, she said, was a devil child, and must be cut and killed, lest it should devour its mother. While they were looking at the child, it began to move and roll its eyes about, and turn on the ground. It is a belief of the villagers that such a devil child, when born and brought in contact with the air, rapidly grows, and causes great trouble, usually killing the mother, and sometimes killing all the inmates of the house. The accused told Isuf Saiba to cover the child with a vessel, which he did. Then there was a sound from inside the vessel, either of the child moving or making some sound with its mouth. The accused then put her hand under the vessel, dragged the child half way out, and then, while Isuf Saiba pressed the edge of the earthenware vessel on the abdomen of the child, the accused took a knife, and cut the body in half. When the body was cut in two, there was no blood, but a mossy green liquid, or a black liquid, oozed out. The accused got two areca leaves, and put one piece of the child on one, and one on the other, and told Isuf Saiba to get a spade, and come and bury them. So they went out into the jungle close to the house, and Isuf Saiba dug two holes about half a yard deep, one on one hillock, and one on another. In these two holes the two pieces of the child were separately buried. The object of this was to prevent the two pieces joining together again, in which case the united devil child would have come out of the grave, and gone to kill its mother. The birth and death of this devil child were not kept secret, but were known throughout the village.Gauda or Gaudu further occurs as a title of Īdiga, Kuruba, and Vakkaliga, an exogamous sept and gōtra of Kuruba and Kurni, and a sub-division of Golla.Gaudi.—It is recorded, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, that a Maleru (temple servant) woman,who cohabits with one of a lower class than her own, is degraded into a Gaudi.Gaudo.—The Gaudos are described, in the Madras Census Reports, 1891 and 1901, as “the great pastoral caste of the Ganjam Oriyas. Like those of all the cowherd classes, its members say that they are descended from the Yādava tribe, in which Krishna was born (cf.Idaiyan). The majority of the Gaudos in the northern districts are now cultivators, but there is evidence that the keeping and breeding of cattle is their traditional occupation. The most important sub-division is Sollokhondia; many of them are herdsmen and milk-sellers. Fourteen sub-divisions have been reported. They are Apoto, Bēhara, Bolodiya, Dongāyato, Dumālo, Gōpopuriya, Kolāta, Komiriya, Kusilya, Lādia, Madhurāpurya, Mogotho, Pattilia, and Sollokhondia.” In the Census Report, 1871, it is noted that “there are many Gowdus of high social standing, who have gotten unto themselves much wealth in cattle. These men own, in many instances, large herds of buffaloes, which, being reared in the boundless pastures of the hills, are much prized by the cartmen of the low country for draught purposes.”Of the sub-division noted above, Bēhara is apparently a title only. Bolodiya is the name of a section of the Tellis, who use pack-bullocks (bolodi, a bull) for carrying grain about the country. Pattilia must be a mistake for Pachilia. The sections among the Gaudos which are recognised by all castes in the Ganjam district are Sollokhondia, Bhatta, Gōpopuriya, Madhurāpuriya, Mogotho, Apoto, and Pachilia. These, with the exception of Gōpopuriya and Madhurāpuriya, seem to be endogamous sub-divisions. The Bhatta Gaudos go by the name of Gōpopuriya in some places and Madhurāpuriya in others, both these names being connected withthe legendary history of the origin of the caste. The Apoto and Bhatta Gaudos are sometimes employed as palanquin-bearers. The Mogotho Gaudos, who live on the hills, are regarded as an inferior section, because they do not abstain from eating fowls. The Sollokhondia section is regarded as superior, and consequently all Oriya castes, Brāhman and non-Brāhman, will accept water at the hands of members thereof. An orthodox Oriya non-Brāhman, and all Oriya Brāhmans, will not receive water from Telugu or Tamil Brāhmans, whom they call Komma Brāhmans, Komma being a corrupt form of karma,i.e., Brāhmans who are strict in the observance of the various karmas (ceremonial rites).The Sollokhondia Gaudos are agriculturists, rear cattle and sheep, and sometimes earn a living by driving carts. They have gōtras, among which the most common are Moiro (peacock), Nāgasiro (cobra), and Kochimo (tortoise). Their caste council is presided over by a hereditary headman called Mahānkudo, who is assisted by a Bhollobaya, Desiya, and Khorsodha or Dhondia. The Khorsodha is the caste servant, and the Desiya eats with a delinquent who is received back into the fold after he has been tried by the council. The Sollokhondias are for the most part Paramarthos,i.e., followers of the Chaitanya form of Vaishnavism. They show a partiality for the worship of Jagannāthaswāmi, and various Tākurānis (village deities) are also reverenced. Bairāgis are the caste priests.The marriage prohibitions among the Sollokhondias are those which hold good among many Oriya castes, but marriage with the maternal uncle’s daughter (mēnarikam) is sometimes practiced. On the evening preceding the marriage day (bibha), after a feast, the bride and bridegroom’s parties go to a temple, taking withthem all the articles which are to be used in connection with the marriage ceremonial. On their way back, seven married girls, carrying seven vessels, go to seven houses, and beg water, which is used by the bridal couple for their baths on the following day. Either on the day before the wedding day, or on the bibha day, the bridegroom is shaved, and the bride’s nails are pared. Sometimes a little of the hair of her forehead is also cut off. The marriage rites do not materially differ from those of the Bhondāris (q.v.).The dead, excepting young children, are burnt. The eldest son carries a pot of fire to the burning ground. On the day following cremation, the mourners revisit the spot, and, after the fire has been extinguished, make an image of a man with the ashes on the spot where the corpse was burnt. To this image food is offered. Seven small flags, made of cloths dyed with turmeric, are stuck into the shoulders, abdomen, legs, and head of the image. A fragment of calcined bone is carried away, put into a lump of cow-dung, and kept near the house of the deceased, or near a tank (pond). On the ninth day after death, towards evening, a bamboo, split or spliced into four at one end, is set up in the ground outside the house beneath the projecting roof, and on it a pot filled with water is placed. On the spot where the deceased breathed his last, a lamp is kept. A hole is made in the bottom of the pot, and, after food has been offered to the dead man, the pot is thrown into a tank. On the tenth day, a ceremony is performed on a tank bund (embankment). The piece of bone, which has been preserved, is removed from its cow-dung case, and food, fruits, etc., are offered to it, and thrown into the tank. The bone is taken home, and buried near the house, food being offered to it until the twelfth day. Onthe eleventh day, all the agnates bathe, and are touched with ghī (clarified butter) as a sign of purification. Srādh (memorial service) is performed once a year on Sankarānthi (Pongal) day. Food, in the form of balls, is placed on leaves in the backyard, and offered to the ancestors. Some food is also thrown up into the air.All sections of the Gaudos have adopted infant marriage. If a girl fails to secure a husband before she attains puberty, she has to go through a form of marriage called dharma bibha, in which the bridegroom is, among the Sollokhondias, represented by an old man, preferably the girl’s grandfather, and among the other sections by a sahāda or shādi tree (Streblus asper) or an arrow (khando).Like various other Oriya castes, the Gaudos worship the goddess Lakshmi on Thursdays in the month of November, which are called Lakshmi varam, or Lakshmi’s day. The goddess is represented by a basket filled with grain, whereon some place a hair ball, which has been vomited by a cow. The ball is called gāya panghula, and is usually one or two inches in diameter. The owner of a cow which has vomited such a ball regards it as a propitious augury for the prosperity of his family. A feast is held on the day on which the ball is vomited, and, after the ball has been worshipped, it is carefully wrapped up, and kept in a box, in which it remains till it is required for further worship. Some people believe that the ball continues to grow year by year, and regard this as a very good sign. Bulls are said not to vomit the balls, and only very few cows do so.Gauliar.—A synonym for Lingāyat Gollas, or Kannadiyans.Gaundala.—A synonym of Gamalla.Gauri.—A division of Okkiliyan, named after Gauri, Siva’s consort. The equivalent Gaura occurs among the Kōmatis, and Gauriga among the Mēdaras. One division of the Kabbēras is called Gaurimakkalu, or sons of Gauri.Gautama.—A Brāhmanical gōtra adopted by Bhatrāzus, Khatris, and Kondaiyamkōttai Maravans. Gautama was a sage, and the husband of Ahalya, who was seduced by Indra.Gavala(cowry shell:Cypræa arabica).—An exogamous sept of Mādiga. A cotton thread string, with cowries strung on it, is one of the insignia of a Mādiga Mātangi.Gavalla.—A synonym for Gamalla.Gavara.—It is noted, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, that “this caste is practically confined to the Vizagapatam district, and they have been classed as cultivators on the strength of a statement to that effect in the District Manual. Gavara is, however, an important sub-division of Kōmatis (traders), and these Gavaras are probably in reality Gavara Kōmatis. These are so called after Gauri, the patron deity of this caste.”For the following note I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. A tradition is current that the Gavaras originally lived at Vēngi, the ancient capital of the Eastern Chālukyan kings, the ruins of which are near Ellore in the Godāvari district. The king was desirous of seeing one of their women, who was gōsha (in seclusion), but to this they would not consent. Under orders from the king, their houses were set on fire. Some of them bolted themselves in, and perished bravely, while others locked up their women in big boxes, and escaped with them to the coast. They immediately set sail, and landed at Pūdimadaka in theAnakāpalli tāluk. Thence they marched as far as Kondakirla, near which they founded the village of Wādapalli or Wōdapalli, meaning the village of the people who came in boats. They then built another village called Gavarla Anakāpalli. They received an invitation from king Pāyaka Rao, the founder of Anakāpalli, and, moving northwards, established themselves at what is now known as Gavarapēta in the town of Anakāpalli. They began the foundation of the village auspiciously by consecrating and planting the sandra karra (Acacia sundra), which is not affected by ‘white-ants,’ instead of the pāla karra (Mimusops hexandra), which is generally used for this purpose. Consequently, Anakāpalli has always flourished.The Gavaras speak Telugu, and, like other Telugu castes, have various exogamous septs or intipērulu.Girls are married either before or after puberty. The custom of mēnarikam, by which a man marries his maternal uncle’s daughter, is in force, and it is said that he may also marry his sister’s daughter. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a woman who has had seven husbands is known as Beththamma, and is much respected.Some Gavaras are Vaishnavites, and others Saivites, but difference in religion is no bar to intermarriage. Both sections worship the village deities, to whom animal sacrifices are offered. The Vaishnavites show special reverence to Jagganāthaswāmi of Orissa, whose shrine is visited by some, while others take vows in the name of this god. On the day on which the car festival is celebrated at Pūri, local car festivals are held in Gavara villages, and women carry out the performance of their vows. A woman, for example, who is under a vow, in order that she may be cured of illness or bearchildren, takes a big pot of water, and, placing it on her head, dances frantically before the god, through whose influence the water, which rises out of the pot, falls back into it, instead of being spilt.The Vaishnavites are burnt, and the Saivites buried in a sitting posture. The usual chinna (little) and pedda rōzu (big day) death ceremonies are performed.Men wear a gold bangle on the left wrist, and another on the right arm. Women wear a silver bangle on the right wrist, and a bracelet of real or imitation coral, which is first worn at the time of marriage, on the left wrist. They throw the end of their body-cloth over the left shoulder. They do not, like women of other non-Brāhman castes in the Vizagapatam district, smoke cigars.The original occupation of the caste is said to have been trading, and this may account for the number of exogamous septs which are named after Settis (traders). At the present day, the Gavaras are agriculturists, and they have the reputation of being very hard-working, and among the best agriculturists in the Vizagapatam district. The women travel long distances in order to sell vegetables, milk, curds, and other produce.The caste titles are Anna, Ayya, and occasionally Nāyudu.Gāya(cow).—An exogamous sept of Kondra.Gayinta.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small caste of hill cultivators, speaking Oriya and Telugu. The name is said to be derived from gayinti, an iron digging implement. Gayinta is reported to be the same as Gaintia, a name of Enētis or Entamaras.Gāzula.—Gāzula or Gazul (glass bangle) has been recorded as a sub-division of Balija, Kāpu, and Toreya. The Gāzula Balijas make glass bangles. The Toreyashave a tradition that they originated from the bangles of Machyagandhi, the daughter of a fisherman on the Jumna, who was married to king Shantanu of Hastinapūr.Gēdala(buffaloes).—A sept of Bonthuk Savara.Geddam(beard).—An exogamous sept of Bōya and Padma Sālē.Gejjala(bells tied to the legs while dancing).—An exogamous sept of Balija and Korava.Gejjēgāra.—A sub-caste of the Canarese Pānchālas. They are described, in the Mysore Census Report, 1891, as makers of small round bells (gungru), which are used for decorating the head or neck of bullocks, and tied by dancing-girls round their ankles when dancing.Gennēru(sweet-scented oleander).—An exogamous sept of Bōya.Gentoo.—Gentoo or Jentu, as returned at times of census, is stated to be a general term applied to Balijas and Telugu speaking Sūdras generally. The word is said by Yule and Burnell16to be “a corruption of the Portuguese Gentio, a gentile or heathen, which they applied to the Hindus in contradistinction to the Moros or Moors,i.e., Mahomedans. The reason why the term became specifically applied to the Telugu people is probably because, when the Portuguese arrived, the Telugu monarchy of Vijayanagar was dominant over a great part of the peninsula.” In a letter written from prison to Sir Philip Francis, Rājah Nuncomar referred to the fact that “among the English gentry, Armenians, Moores and Gentoos, few there is who is not against me.” Gentoo still survives as a caste name in the Madras Quarterly Civil List (1906).Ghair-i-Mahdī.—The name, meaning without Mahdī, of a sect of Muhammadans, who affirm that the Imām Mahdī has come and gone, while orthodox Muhammadans hold that he is yet to come.Ghāsi.—SeeHaddi.Ghontoro.—A small caste of Oriyas, who manufacture brass and bell-metal rings and bangles for the hill people. The name is derived from ghonto, a bell-metal plate.Gidda(vulture).—A sept of Poroja.Gikkili(rattle).—A gōtra of Kurni.Giri Rāzu.—A contraction of Puragiri Rāzu or Puragiri Kshatriya, by which names some Perikes style themselves.Goa.—A sub-division of Kudubis, who are said to have emigrated from Goa to South Canara.Gō Brāhman.—A name given to Brāhmans by Kammālans, who style themselves Visva Brāhmans.Gōdagula.—The Gōdagulas are recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being the same as the Gūdalas, who are a Telugu caste of basket-makers. According to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao, to whom I am indebted for the following note, they are a distinct caste, speaking Oriya, and sometimes calling themselves Oddē (Oriya) Mēdara. Like the Mēdaras, they work in split bamboo, and make sundry articles which are not made by other castes who work in this medium. Unlike the Gūdalas, they are a polluting class, and have the following legend to account for their social degradation. God told them to make winnows and other articles for divine worship. This, they did, and, after they had delivered them, they attended a marriage feast, at which they eat flesh and drank liquor. On their return, God called on them to vomit the food which they had partaken of, andthey accordingly brought up the meat and drink, whereon God cursed them, saying “Begone, you have eaten forbidden food.” They craved for forgiveness, but were told in future to earn their living as bamboo-workers. The custom of mēnarikam, according to which a man should marry his maternal uncle’s daughter, is so rigidly enforced that, if the uncle refuses to give his daughter in marriage, the man has a right to carry her off, and then pay a fine, the amount of which is fixed by the caste council. A portion thereof is given to the girl’s parents, and the remainder spent on a caste feast. If the maternal uncle has no daughter, a man may, according to the ēduru (or reversed) mēnarikam custom, marry his paternal aunt’s daughter. Six months before the marriage ceremony takes place, the pasupu (turmeric) ceremony is performed. The bridegroom’s family pay six rupees to the bride’s family, to provide the girl with turmeric, wherewith she adorns herself. On the day fixed for the wedding, the parents of the bridegroom go with a few of the elders to the bride’s house, and couple the request to take away the girl with payment of nine rupees and a new cloth. Of the money thus given, eight rupees go to the bride’s parents, and the remainder to the caste. The bride is conducted to the home of the bridegroom, who meets her at the pandal (booth) erected in front of his house. They are bathed with turmeric water, and sacred threads are put on their shoulders by the Kula Maistri who officiates as priest. The couple then play with seven cowry (Cyprœa arabica) shells, and, if the shells fall with the slit downwards, the bride is said to have won; otherwise the bridegroom is the winner. This is followed by the mūdu ākula hōmam, or sacrifice of three leaves. A new pot, containing a lighted wick, is placed before thecouple. On it are thrown leaves of the rāyi āku (Ficus religiosa), marri āku (Ficus Bengalensis), and juvvi āku (Ficus Tsiela). The Kula Maistri of the bridegroom’s party spreads out his right hand over the mouth of the pot. On it the bride places her hand. The bridegroom then places his hand on hers, and the Kula Maistri of the bride’s village puts his hand on that of the bridegroom. The elders then call out in a loud voice “Know, caste people of Vaddādi Mādugula; know, caste people of Kimedi; know, caste people of Gunupuram and Godairi; know, caste people of all the twelve countries, that this man and woman have become husband and wife, and that the elders have ratified the ceremony.” The contracting couple then throw rice over each other. On the morning of the following day, the saragatha ceremony is performed. The bridegroom’s party repair to the bank of the local stream, where they are met by the caste people, who are presented with betel, a cheroot, and a pot of jaggery (crude sugar) water as cool drink. The sacred threads worn by the bride and bridegroom are removed at the conclusion of the marriage ceremonies. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother, orvice versâ. Divorce is also allowed, and a divorcée may remarry. Her new husband has to pay a sum of money, a portion of which goes to the first husband, while the remainder is devoted to a caste feast. The dead are burnt, and the chinna rōzu (little day) death ceremony is observed.Gōda-jāti(wall people).—A sub-division of Kammas. The name has reference to a deadly struggle at Gandikōta, in which some escaped by hiding behind a wall.Gōda-poose(wall polishing).—An exogamous sept of Tsākala.Gōdāri.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as Telugu leather-workers in Ganjam and Vizagapatam. They are stated, in the Vizagapatam Manual, to make and sell slippers in that district. Gōdāri is, I gather, a synonym of Mādiga, and not a separate caste.Goddali(spade or axe).—An exogamous sept of Oddē and Panta Reddi.Gōdomālia(belonging to, or a group of forts).—A sub-division of Bhondāri, the members of which act as barbers to Rājahs who reside in forts.Gōlaka.—Recorded in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a name meaning bastard, and clubbed with the Moilis, or temple servants in South Canara descended from dancing-girls. In the Mysore Census Report, 1901, it is defined as a term applied to the children of Brāhmans by Malerus, or temple servants.Gōli(Portulaca oleracea: a pot-herb).—An exogamous sept of Gauda.Gōlkonda.—A sub-division of Tsākala.Golla.—“The Gollas,” Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,17“are the great pastoral caste of the Telugu people. The traditions of the caste give a descent from the god Krishna, whose sportings with the milk maids play a prominent part in Hindu mythology. The hereditary occupation of the Gollas is tending sheep and cattle, and selling milk, but many of them have now acquired lands and are engaged in farming, and some are in Government service. They are quiet, inoffensive, and comparatively honest. In the time of the Nabobs, this last characteristic secured to them the privilege of guarding and carrying treasure, and one sub-division, Bokhasa Gollas, owes its origin to this service. Evennow those who are employed in packing and lifting bags of money in the district treasuries are called Gollas, though they belong to other castes. As a fact they do hold a respectable position, and, though poor, are not looked down upon, for they tend the sacred cow. Sometimes they assert a claim to be regarded as representatives of the Gō-Vaisya division. Their title is Mandādi, but it is not commonly used.” Mr. Stuart writes further18that “the social status of the Gollas is fairly high, for they are allowed to mix freely with the Kāpu, Kamma, and Balija castes, and the Brāhmans will take buttermilk from their hands. They employ Sātānis as their priests. In their ceremonies there is not much difference between them and the Kāpus. The name Golla is generally supposed to be a shortened form of Sanskrit Gōpāla” (protector of cows). The Gollas also call themselves Kōnānulu, or Kōnarlu, and, like the Tamil Idaiyans, sometimes have the title Kōnar. Other titles in common use are Anna, Ayya, and occasionally Nayudu.In the Manual of the Kurnool district, it is stated that the Gollas “keep sheep, and sell milk and ghī (clarified butter). They eat and mess with the Balijas, and other high caste Sūdras; but, unlike their brethren of the south, in the matter of street processions, they are classed with goldsmiths, or the left-hand section. When any one is reduced to poverty, the others give him each a sheep, and restore his flock. They occasionally dedicate their girls to Venkatēsa as Basavis” (prostitutes).It is noted, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that “in the country round Mādgole, legends are still recounted of a line of local Golla chieftains, whogave their name to Golgonda, and built the forts, of which traces still survive in those parts”. Each Telugu New Year’s day, it is stated, Gollas come across from Godāvari, and go round the Golla villages, reciting the names of the progenitors of the fallen line, and exhibiting paintings illustrative of their overthrow.“At Vajragada (diamond fort) are the ruins of a very large fortress, and local tradition gives the names of seven forts, by which it was once defended. These are said to have been constructed by the Golla kings. A tale is told of their having kidnapped a daughter of the ruler of Mādgole, and held out here against his attacks for months, until they were betrayed by a woman of their own caste, who showed the enemy how to cut off their water-supply. They then slew their womenkind, says the story, dashed out against the besiegers, and fell to a man, fighting to the last.”Concerning the Gollas of Mysore, I gather19that “there are two main divisions in this caste, viz., Ūru (village) and Kādu (forest). The two neither intermarry, nor eat together. A section of the Gollas, by guarding treasure while on transit, have earned the name of Dhanapāla. In fact, one of the menial offices in Government treasuries at the present day is that of Golla. The caste worships Krishna, who was born in this caste. The Kādu Gollas are said to have originally immigrated from Northern India, and are still a nomadic tribe, living in thatched huts outside the villages. Some of their social customs are akin to those of the Kādu Kurubas. It is said that, on the occurrence of a childbirth, the mother with the babe remains unattended in a small shed outside the village from seven to thirty days,when she is taken back to her home. In the event of her illness, none of the caste will attend on her, but a Nāyak (Bēda) woman is engaged to do so. Marriages among them are likewise performed in a temporary shed erected outside the village, and the attendant festivities continue for five days, when the marriage couple are brought into the village. The Golla is allowed to marry as many wives as he likes, and puberty is no bar to marriage. They eat flesh, and drink spirituous liquors. The wife cannot be divorced except for adultery. Their females do not wear the bodice (ravikē) usually put on by the women of the country. Nor do they, in their widowhood, remove or break the glass bangles worn at the wrists, as is done in other castes. But widows are not allowed to remarry. Only 98 persons have returned gōtras, the chief being Yādava, Karadi, Atrēya, and Amswasa. The first two are really sub-sects, while Atrēya is the name of a Brāhmin Rishi.” Yādava, or descendant of King Yādu, from whom Krishna was descended, also occurs as a synonym for Idaiyan, the great Tamil shepherd class.Golla juggler.Golla juggler.Concerning the Adivi, or forest Gollas, Mr. F. Fawcett writes as follows.20“The people of every house in the village let loose a sheep, to wander whither it will, as a sort of perpetual scapegoat. When a woman feels the first pains of labour, she is turned out of the village into a little leaf or mat hut about two hundred yards away. In this hut she must bring forth her offspring unaided, unless a midwife can be called in to be with her before the child is born. For ninety days the woman lives in the hut by herself. If any one touches her, he or she is, like the woman, outcasted, and turnedout of the village for three months. The woman’s husband generally makes a little hut about fifty yards from her, and watches over her; but he may not go near her on pain of being outcasted for three months. Food is placed on the ground near the woman’s hut, and she takes it. On the fourth day after parturition, a woman of the village goes to her, and pours water on her, but she must not come in contact with her. On the fifth day, the village people clear of stones and thorny bushes a little bit of ground about ten yards on the village side of the hut, and to this place the woman removes her hut. No one can do it for her, or help her. On the ninth, fifteenth, and thirtieth days, she removes the hut in the same way nearer to the village, and, again, once in each of the two following months. On the ninetieth day, the headman of the village calls the woman to come out of the hut. The dhōbi (washerman) then washes her clothes. She puts on clean clothes, and the headman takes her to the temple of their tutelary deity Junjappa, where the caste pūjari breaks cocoanuts, and then accompanies her to her house, where a purificatory ceremony is performed. Junjappa, it is said, takes good care of the mother and child, so that death is said to be unknown.”It is stated21that, in the Chitaldrūg district of Mysore, “the wife of the eldest son in every family is not permitted to clean herself with water after obeying the calls of nature. It is an article of their belief that their flocks will otherwise not prosper.”Writing in the early part of the last century about the Gollas, Buchanan informs us that “this caste has a particular duty, the transporting of money, both belongingto the public and to individuals. It is said that they may be safely intrusted with any sum; for, each man carrying a certain value, they travel in bodies numerous in proportion to the sum put under their charge; and they consider themselves bound in honour to die in defence of their trust. Of course, they defend themselves vigorously, and are all armed; so that robbers never venture to attack them. They have hereditary chiefs called Gotugaru, who with the usual council settle all disputes, and punish all transgressions against the rules of caste. The most flagrant is the embezzlement of money entrusted to their care. On this crime being proved against any of the caste, the Gotugaru applies to Amildar, or civil magistrate, and having obtained his leave, immediately causes the delinquent to be shot. Smaller offences are atoned for by the guilty person giving an entertainment.”The Golla caste has many sub-divisions, of which the following are examples:—Erra or Yerra (red). Said to be the descendants of a Brāhman by a Golla woman.Āla or Mēkala, who tend sheep and goats.Pūja or Puni.Gangeddu, who exhibit performing bulls.Gauda, who, in Vizagapatam, visit the western part of the district during the summer months, and settle outside the villages. They tend their herds, and sell milk and curds to the villagers.Karna.Pākanāti.Rācha (royal).Peddeti. Mostly beggars, and considered low in the social scale, though when questioned concerning themselves they say they are Yerra Gollas.At the census, 1901, the following were returned as sub-castes of the Gollas:—Dayyālakulam (wrestlers), Perike Muggalu or Mushti Golla (beggars and exorcists), Podapōtula (who beg from Gollas), Gavādi, and Vadugāyan, a Tamil synonym for Gollas in Tinnevelly. Another Tamil synonym for Golla is Bokhisha Vadugar (treasury northerners). Golla has been given as a sub-division of Dāsaris and Chakkiliyans, and Golla Woddar (Oddē) as a synonym of a thief class in the Telugu country. In a village near Dummagudem in the Godāvari district, the Rev. J. Cain writes,22are “a few families of Bāsava Gollalu. I find they are really Kois, whose grandfathers had a quarrel with, and separated from, their neighbours. Some of the present members of the families are anxious to be re-admitted to the society and privileges of the neighbouring Kois. The word Bāsava is commonly said to be derived from bhāsha, a language, and the Gollas of this class are said to have been so called in consequence of their speaking a different language from the rest of the Gollas.”Like many other Telugu castes, the Gollas have exogamous septs or intipēru, and gōtras. As examples of the former, the following may be quoted:—Agni, fire.Āvula, cows.Chinthala, tamarind.Chevvula, ears.Gundala, stones.Gurram, horse.Gorrela, sheep.Gōrantla, henna (Lawsonia alba).Kōkala, woman’s cloth.Katāri, dagger.Mūgi, dumb.Nakkala, jackal.Saddikūdu, cold rice or food.Sēvala, service.Ullipōyala, onions.Vankāyala, brinjal (Solanum melongena).Some of these sept names occur among other classes, as follows:—Āvula, Balijas, Kāpus, and Yerukalas.Chinthala, Dēvāngas, Kōmatis, Mālas, and Mādigas.Gōrantla, Padma Sālēs.Gorrela, Kammas, Kāpus.Gurram, Mālas, Padma Sālēs, and Tōgatas.Nakkala, Kāttu Marāthis, and Yānādis.Those who belong to the Rāghindala (Ficus religiosa) gōtra are not allowed to use the leaves of the sacred fig or pīpal tree as plates for their food. Members of the Pālāvili gōtra never construct pālāvili, or small booths, inside the house for the purpose of worship. Those who belong to the Akshathayya gōtra are said to avoid rice coloured with turmeric or other powder (akshantalu). Members of the Kommi, Jammi, and Mūshti gōtras avoid using the kommi tree,Prosopis spicigera, andStrychnos Nux-vomicarespectively.Of the various sub-divisions, the Pūja Gollas claim superiority over the others. Their origin is traced to Simhādri Rāju, who is supposed to have been a descendant of Yayāthi Rāja of the Mahābaratha. Yayāthi had six sons, the last of whom had a son named Kariyāvala, whose descendants were as follows:—

Gānga bride and bridegroom.Gānga bride and bridegroom.The marriage rites conform, for the most part, to the Telugu type. But, while the wrist thread is being tied on, common salt is held in the hand. A dagger (bāku) is then given to the bridegroom, who keeps it with him till the conclusion of the ceremonies. On the wedding day, the bridegroom wears the sacred thread. The tāli is not an ordinary bottu, but a thread composed of 101 thin strings, which is removed on the last day, and replaced by a bottu. On the third day, the bride and bridegroom worship a jammi tree (Prosopis spicigera), and the latter, removing his sacred thread, throws it on the tree. Five young men, called Bāla Dāsulu, also worship the tree, and, if they are wearing the sacred thread, throw it thereon. The dead are as a rule buried, in a sitting posture if the deceased was an orthodox Saivite. If a young man dies a bachelor, the corpse is married to an arka plant (Calotropis gigantea), and decorated with a wreath made of the flowers thereof. The final death ceremonies are performed on the eleventh day. Food is offered to crows and the soul of the dead person, who is represented by a wooden post dressed with his clothes. The bangles of a widow are brokennear the post, which is finally thrown into a tank or stream.Gāniga further occurs as an occupational name for Lingāyat oil-vendors, and for Mogers who are employed as oil-pressers.Ganta.—Ganta or Gantla, meaning a bell, has been recorded as an exogamous sept of Kamma and Balija. Gantelavāru, or men of the bell, is given by Mr. S. M. Natesa Sastri12as the family name of one section of the Donga (thieving) Dāsaris, and of the Kabbēras, who are said to join the ranks of this criminal class. Gantugāzula occurs, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Koracha. In the Vizagapatam Manual, the Tiragati Gantlavallu are described as repairing hand-mills, catching antelopes, and selling their skins.Ganti(a hole pierced in the ear-lobe).—An exogamous sept of Gūdala.Gāradi.—Gāradi or Gāradiga is the name of a class of mendicants in the Telugu country and Mysore who are snake-charmers, practice sleight of hand, and perform various juggling and mountebank tricks.Garappa(dry land).—A synonym of Challa Yānādi.Gatti.—A small caste of cultivators, found chiefly near Kumbla and Someswara in the Kasaragod tāluk of South Canara. Other names for the caste are Poladava and Holadava, both signifying men of the field. Like the Bants, they follow the aliya santāna law of inheritance (in the female line), have exogamous septs or balis, and, on the day of the final death ceremonies, construct car-like structures, if the deceased was an important personage in the community. The Bants and Gattis interdine, but do not intermarry. Theheadman of the Gattis is called Gurikāra. The God of the Someswara temple is regarded as the caste deity, and every family has to pay an annual fee of four annas to this temple. Failure to do so would entail excommunication.Gattu(bank or mound).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Gaud.—A title of Sādar.Gauda.—The Gaudas or Gaudos are a large caste of Canarese cultivators and cattle-breeders. “Gauda and Gaudo,” Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,13“are really two distinct castes, the former being Canarese and the latter Uriya. Each name is, however, spelt both ways. The two names are, I presume, etymologically the same. The ordinary derivation is from the Sanskrit go, a cow, but Dr. Gustav Oppert contends14that the root of Gauda is a Dravidian word meaning a mountain. Among the Canarese, and to a less extent among the Uriyas also, the word is used in an honorific sense, a custom which is difficult to account for if Dr. Oppert’s philology is correct.” “Gaudas,” Mr. Stuart writes further,15“also called Hālvaklumakkalu (children of the milk class), are very numerously represented in the South Canara district. They have a somewhat elaborate system of caste government. In every village there are two headmen, the Grāma Gauda and the Vattu or Gattu Gauda. For every group of eight or nine villages there is another head called the Māganē Gauda, and for every nine Māganēs there is a yet higher authority called the Kattēmanēyava. The caste is divided into eighteen baris or balis, which are of the usual exogamous character.The names of some of these are as follows: Bangāra (gold), Nandara, Malāra (a bundle of glass bangles, as carried about for sale), Sālu, Hemmana (pride or conceit), Kabru, Gōli (Portulaca oleracea, a pot-herb), Basruvōgaru (basru, belly), Balasanna, and Karmannāya. Marriage is usually adult, and sexual license before marriage with a member of the caste is tolerated, though nominally condemned. The dhārē form of marriage (seeBant) is used, but the bridal pair hold in their joined hands five betel leaves, one areca nut and four annas, and, after the water has been poured, the bridegroom ties a tāli to the neck of the bride. Divorce is permitted freely, and divorced wives and widows can marry again. A widow with children, however, should marry only her late husband’s elder brother. If she marries any one else, the members of her former husband’s family will not even drink water that has been touched by her. They burn their dead. On the third day, the ashes are made into the form of a man, which is cut in two, buried, and a mound made over it. In the house two planks are placed on the ground, and covered with a cloth. On one of these, a vessel containing milk is placed, and on the other a lamp, rice, cocoanut, pumpkin, etc., are deposited. The agnates and some boys go round the plank three times, and afterwards go to the mound, taking with them the various articles in a cloth. Three plantain leaves are spread in front of the mound, and cooked food, etc., placed thereon. Four posts are set up round the mound, and cloths stretched over them, and placed round the sides. On the sixteenth day, sixteen plantain leaves are placed in a row, and one leaf is laid apart. Cakes, cooked fowl’s flesh, toddy and arrack (liquor) are placed on the leaves in small leaf-cups. The assembled agnates then say “We have done everything as we should do, and soour ancestors who have died must take the man who is now dead to their regions. I put the leaf which is apart in the same row with the sixteen leaves.”“Once a year, in the month of Mituna (June-July), the Gaudas perform a ceremony for the propitiation of all deceased ancestors. They have a special preference for Venkatarāmaswāmi, to whom they make money offerings once a year in September. They employ Brāhmins to give them sacred water when they are under pollution, but they do not seek their services for ordinary ceremonies. They are, for the most part, farmers, but some few are labourers. The latter receive three or four seers of paddy a day as wages. Their house language is Tulu in some places, and Canarese in others, but all follow the ordinary system of inheritance, and not the custom of descent through females. Their title is Gauda.”As bearing on the superstitious beliefs of the people of South Canara, the following case, which was tried before the Sessions Judge in 1908, may be cited. A young Gauda girl became pregnant by her brother-in-law. After three days’ labour, the child was born. The accused, who was the mother of the girl, was the midwife. Finding the delivery very difficult, she sent for a person named Korapulu to come and help her. The child was, as they thought, still-born. On its head was a red protuberance like a ball; round each of its forearms were two or three red bands; the eyes and ears were fixed very high in the head; and the eyes, nose, and mouth were abnormally large. Korapulu and the girl’s younger sister at once carried the mother out of the out-house lest the devil child should do her harm or kill her. The accused called for a man named Isuf Saiba, who was standing in the yard outside. He came in, and she asked him to call some of the neighbours, to decidewhat to do. The child, she said, was a devil child, and must be cut and killed, lest it should devour its mother. While they were looking at the child, it began to move and roll its eyes about, and turn on the ground. It is a belief of the villagers that such a devil child, when born and brought in contact with the air, rapidly grows, and causes great trouble, usually killing the mother, and sometimes killing all the inmates of the house. The accused told Isuf Saiba to cover the child with a vessel, which he did. Then there was a sound from inside the vessel, either of the child moving or making some sound with its mouth. The accused then put her hand under the vessel, dragged the child half way out, and then, while Isuf Saiba pressed the edge of the earthenware vessel on the abdomen of the child, the accused took a knife, and cut the body in half. When the body was cut in two, there was no blood, but a mossy green liquid, or a black liquid, oozed out. The accused got two areca leaves, and put one piece of the child on one, and one on the other, and told Isuf Saiba to get a spade, and come and bury them. So they went out into the jungle close to the house, and Isuf Saiba dug two holes about half a yard deep, one on one hillock, and one on another. In these two holes the two pieces of the child were separately buried. The object of this was to prevent the two pieces joining together again, in which case the united devil child would have come out of the grave, and gone to kill its mother. The birth and death of this devil child were not kept secret, but were known throughout the village.Gauda or Gaudu further occurs as a title of Īdiga, Kuruba, and Vakkaliga, an exogamous sept and gōtra of Kuruba and Kurni, and a sub-division of Golla.Gaudi.—It is recorded, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, that a Maleru (temple servant) woman,who cohabits with one of a lower class than her own, is degraded into a Gaudi.Gaudo.—The Gaudos are described, in the Madras Census Reports, 1891 and 1901, as “the great pastoral caste of the Ganjam Oriyas. Like those of all the cowherd classes, its members say that they are descended from the Yādava tribe, in which Krishna was born (cf.Idaiyan). The majority of the Gaudos in the northern districts are now cultivators, but there is evidence that the keeping and breeding of cattle is their traditional occupation. The most important sub-division is Sollokhondia; many of them are herdsmen and milk-sellers. Fourteen sub-divisions have been reported. They are Apoto, Bēhara, Bolodiya, Dongāyato, Dumālo, Gōpopuriya, Kolāta, Komiriya, Kusilya, Lādia, Madhurāpurya, Mogotho, Pattilia, and Sollokhondia.” In the Census Report, 1871, it is noted that “there are many Gowdus of high social standing, who have gotten unto themselves much wealth in cattle. These men own, in many instances, large herds of buffaloes, which, being reared in the boundless pastures of the hills, are much prized by the cartmen of the low country for draught purposes.”Of the sub-division noted above, Bēhara is apparently a title only. Bolodiya is the name of a section of the Tellis, who use pack-bullocks (bolodi, a bull) for carrying grain about the country. Pattilia must be a mistake for Pachilia. The sections among the Gaudos which are recognised by all castes in the Ganjam district are Sollokhondia, Bhatta, Gōpopuriya, Madhurāpuriya, Mogotho, Apoto, and Pachilia. These, with the exception of Gōpopuriya and Madhurāpuriya, seem to be endogamous sub-divisions. The Bhatta Gaudos go by the name of Gōpopuriya in some places and Madhurāpuriya in others, both these names being connected withthe legendary history of the origin of the caste. The Apoto and Bhatta Gaudos are sometimes employed as palanquin-bearers. The Mogotho Gaudos, who live on the hills, are regarded as an inferior section, because they do not abstain from eating fowls. The Sollokhondia section is regarded as superior, and consequently all Oriya castes, Brāhman and non-Brāhman, will accept water at the hands of members thereof. An orthodox Oriya non-Brāhman, and all Oriya Brāhmans, will not receive water from Telugu or Tamil Brāhmans, whom they call Komma Brāhmans, Komma being a corrupt form of karma,i.e., Brāhmans who are strict in the observance of the various karmas (ceremonial rites).The Sollokhondia Gaudos are agriculturists, rear cattle and sheep, and sometimes earn a living by driving carts. They have gōtras, among which the most common are Moiro (peacock), Nāgasiro (cobra), and Kochimo (tortoise). Their caste council is presided over by a hereditary headman called Mahānkudo, who is assisted by a Bhollobaya, Desiya, and Khorsodha or Dhondia. The Khorsodha is the caste servant, and the Desiya eats with a delinquent who is received back into the fold after he has been tried by the council. The Sollokhondias are for the most part Paramarthos,i.e., followers of the Chaitanya form of Vaishnavism. They show a partiality for the worship of Jagannāthaswāmi, and various Tākurānis (village deities) are also reverenced. Bairāgis are the caste priests.The marriage prohibitions among the Sollokhondias are those which hold good among many Oriya castes, but marriage with the maternal uncle’s daughter (mēnarikam) is sometimes practiced. On the evening preceding the marriage day (bibha), after a feast, the bride and bridegroom’s parties go to a temple, taking withthem all the articles which are to be used in connection with the marriage ceremonial. On their way back, seven married girls, carrying seven vessels, go to seven houses, and beg water, which is used by the bridal couple for their baths on the following day. Either on the day before the wedding day, or on the bibha day, the bridegroom is shaved, and the bride’s nails are pared. Sometimes a little of the hair of her forehead is also cut off. The marriage rites do not materially differ from those of the Bhondāris (q.v.).The dead, excepting young children, are burnt. The eldest son carries a pot of fire to the burning ground. On the day following cremation, the mourners revisit the spot, and, after the fire has been extinguished, make an image of a man with the ashes on the spot where the corpse was burnt. To this image food is offered. Seven small flags, made of cloths dyed with turmeric, are stuck into the shoulders, abdomen, legs, and head of the image. A fragment of calcined bone is carried away, put into a lump of cow-dung, and kept near the house of the deceased, or near a tank (pond). On the ninth day after death, towards evening, a bamboo, split or spliced into four at one end, is set up in the ground outside the house beneath the projecting roof, and on it a pot filled with water is placed. On the spot where the deceased breathed his last, a lamp is kept. A hole is made in the bottom of the pot, and, after food has been offered to the dead man, the pot is thrown into a tank. On the tenth day, a ceremony is performed on a tank bund (embankment). The piece of bone, which has been preserved, is removed from its cow-dung case, and food, fruits, etc., are offered to it, and thrown into the tank. The bone is taken home, and buried near the house, food being offered to it until the twelfth day. Onthe eleventh day, all the agnates bathe, and are touched with ghī (clarified butter) as a sign of purification. Srādh (memorial service) is performed once a year on Sankarānthi (Pongal) day. Food, in the form of balls, is placed on leaves in the backyard, and offered to the ancestors. Some food is also thrown up into the air.All sections of the Gaudos have adopted infant marriage. If a girl fails to secure a husband before she attains puberty, she has to go through a form of marriage called dharma bibha, in which the bridegroom is, among the Sollokhondias, represented by an old man, preferably the girl’s grandfather, and among the other sections by a sahāda or shādi tree (Streblus asper) or an arrow (khando).Like various other Oriya castes, the Gaudos worship the goddess Lakshmi on Thursdays in the month of November, which are called Lakshmi varam, or Lakshmi’s day. The goddess is represented by a basket filled with grain, whereon some place a hair ball, which has been vomited by a cow. The ball is called gāya panghula, and is usually one or two inches in diameter. The owner of a cow which has vomited such a ball regards it as a propitious augury for the prosperity of his family. A feast is held on the day on which the ball is vomited, and, after the ball has been worshipped, it is carefully wrapped up, and kept in a box, in which it remains till it is required for further worship. Some people believe that the ball continues to grow year by year, and regard this as a very good sign. Bulls are said not to vomit the balls, and only very few cows do so.Gauliar.—A synonym for Lingāyat Gollas, or Kannadiyans.Gaundala.—A synonym of Gamalla.Gauri.—A division of Okkiliyan, named after Gauri, Siva’s consort. The equivalent Gaura occurs among the Kōmatis, and Gauriga among the Mēdaras. One division of the Kabbēras is called Gaurimakkalu, or sons of Gauri.Gautama.—A Brāhmanical gōtra adopted by Bhatrāzus, Khatris, and Kondaiyamkōttai Maravans. Gautama was a sage, and the husband of Ahalya, who was seduced by Indra.Gavala(cowry shell:Cypræa arabica).—An exogamous sept of Mādiga. A cotton thread string, with cowries strung on it, is one of the insignia of a Mādiga Mātangi.Gavalla.—A synonym for Gamalla.Gavara.—It is noted, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, that “this caste is practically confined to the Vizagapatam district, and they have been classed as cultivators on the strength of a statement to that effect in the District Manual. Gavara is, however, an important sub-division of Kōmatis (traders), and these Gavaras are probably in reality Gavara Kōmatis. These are so called after Gauri, the patron deity of this caste.”For the following note I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. A tradition is current that the Gavaras originally lived at Vēngi, the ancient capital of the Eastern Chālukyan kings, the ruins of which are near Ellore in the Godāvari district. The king was desirous of seeing one of their women, who was gōsha (in seclusion), but to this they would not consent. Under orders from the king, their houses were set on fire. Some of them bolted themselves in, and perished bravely, while others locked up their women in big boxes, and escaped with them to the coast. They immediately set sail, and landed at Pūdimadaka in theAnakāpalli tāluk. Thence they marched as far as Kondakirla, near which they founded the village of Wādapalli or Wōdapalli, meaning the village of the people who came in boats. They then built another village called Gavarla Anakāpalli. They received an invitation from king Pāyaka Rao, the founder of Anakāpalli, and, moving northwards, established themselves at what is now known as Gavarapēta in the town of Anakāpalli. They began the foundation of the village auspiciously by consecrating and planting the sandra karra (Acacia sundra), which is not affected by ‘white-ants,’ instead of the pāla karra (Mimusops hexandra), which is generally used for this purpose. Consequently, Anakāpalli has always flourished.The Gavaras speak Telugu, and, like other Telugu castes, have various exogamous septs or intipērulu.Girls are married either before or after puberty. The custom of mēnarikam, by which a man marries his maternal uncle’s daughter, is in force, and it is said that he may also marry his sister’s daughter. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a woman who has had seven husbands is known as Beththamma, and is much respected.Some Gavaras are Vaishnavites, and others Saivites, but difference in religion is no bar to intermarriage. Both sections worship the village deities, to whom animal sacrifices are offered. The Vaishnavites show special reverence to Jagganāthaswāmi of Orissa, whose shrine is visited by some, while others take vows in the name of this god. On the day on which the car festival is celebrated at Pūri, local car festivals are held in Gavara villages, and women carry out the performance of their vows. A woman, for example, who is under a vow, in order that she may be cured of illness or bearchildren, takes a big pot of water, and, placing it on her head, dances frantically before the god, through whose influence the water, which rises out of the pot, falls back into it, instead of being spilt.The Vaishnavites are burnt, and the Saivites buried in a sitting posture. The usual chinna (little) and pedda rōzu (big day) death ceremonies are performed.Men wear a gold bangle on the left wrist, and another on the right arm. Women wear a silver bangle on the right wrist, and a bracelet of real or imitation coral, which is first worn at the time of marriage, on the left wrist. They throw the end of their body-cloth over the left shoulder. They do not, like women of other non-Brāhman castes in the Vizagapatam district, smoke cigars.The original occupation of the caste is said to have been trading, and this may account for the number of exogamous septs which are named after Settis (traders). At the present day, the Gavaras are agriculturists, and they have the reputation of being very hard-working, and among the best agriculturists in the Vizagapatam district. The women travel long distances in order to sell vegetables, milk, curds, and other produce.The caste titles are Anna, Ayya, and occasionally Nāyudu.Gāya(cow).—An exogamous sept of Kondra.Gayinta.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small caste of hill cultivators, speaking Oriya and Telugu. The name is said to be derived from gayinti, an iron digging implement. Gayinta is reported to be the same as Gaintia, a name of Enētis or Entamaras.Gāzula.—Gāzula or Gazul (glass bangle) has been recorded as a sub-division of Balija, Kāpu, and Toreya. The Gāzula Balijas make glass bangles. The Toreyashave a tradition that they originated from the bangles of Machyagandhi, the daughter of a fisherman on the Jumna, who was married to king Shantanu of Hastinapūr.Gēdala(buffaloes).—A sept of Bonthuk Savara.Geddam(beard).—An exogamous sept of Bōya and Padma Sālē.Gejjala(bells tied to the legs while dancing).—An exogamous sept of Balija and Korava.Gejjēgāra.—A sub-caste of the Canarese Pānchālas. They are described, in the Mysore Census Report, 1891, as makers of small round bells (gungru), which are used for decorating the head or neck of bullocks, and tied by dancing-girls round their ankles when dancing.Gennēru(sweet-scented oleander).—An exogamous sept of Bōya.Gentoo.—Gentoo or Jentu, as returned at times of census, is stated to be a general term applied to Balijas and Telugu speaking Sūdras generally. The word is said by Yule and Burnell16to be “a corruption of the Portuguese Gentio, a gentile or heathen, which they applied to the Hindus in contradistinction to the Moros or Moors,i.e., Mahomedans. The reason why the term became specifically applied to the Telugu people is probably because, when the Portuguese arrived, the Telugu monarchy of Vijayanagar was dominant over a great part of the peninsula.” In a letter written from prison to Sir Philip Francis, Rājah Nuncomar referred to the fact that “among the English gentry, Armenians, Moores and Gentoos, few there is who is not against me.” Gentoo still survives as a caste name in the Madras Quarterly Civil List (1906).Ghair-i-Mahdī.—The name, meaning without Mahdī, of a sect of Muhammadans, who affirm that the Imām Mahdī has come and gone, while orthodox Muhammadans hold that he is yet to come.Ghāsi.—SeeHaddi.Ghontoro.—A small caste of Oriyas, who manufacture brass and bell-metal rings and bangles for the hill people. The name is derived from ghonto, a bell-metal plate.Gidda(vulture).—A sept of Poroja.Gikkili(rattle).—A gōtra of Kurni.Giri Rāzu.—A contraction of Puragiri Rāzu or Puragiri Kshatriya, by which names some Perikes style themselves.Goa.—A sub-division of Kudubis, who are said to have emigrated from Goa to South Canara.Gō Brāhman.—A name given to Brāhmans by Kammālans, who style themselves Visva Brāhmans.Gōdagula.—The Gōdagulas are recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being the same as the Gūdalas, who are a Telugu caste of basket-makers. According to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao, to whom I am indebted for the following note, they are a distinct caste, speaking Oriya, and sometimes calling themselves Oddē (Oriya) Mēdara. Like the Mēdaras, they work in split bamboo, and make sundry articles which are not made by other castes who work in this medium. Unlike the Gūdalas, they are a polluting class, and have the following legend to account for their social degradation. God told them to make winnows and other articles for divine worship. This, they did, and, after they had delivered them, they attended a marriage feast, at which they eat flesh and drank liquor. On their return, God called on them to vomit the food which they had partaken of, andthey accordingly brought up the meat and drink, whereon God cursed them, saying “Begone, you have eaten forbidden food.” They craved for forgiveness, but were told in future to earn their living as bamboo-workers. The custom of mēnarikam, according to which a man should marry his maternal uncle’s daughter, is so rigidly enforced that, if the uncle refuses to give his daughter in marriage, the man has a right to carry her off, and then pay a fine, the amount of which is fixed by the caste council. A portion thereof is given to the girl’s parents, and the remainder spent on a caste feast. If the maternal uncle has no daughter, a man may, according to the ēduru (or reversed) mēnarikam custom, marry his paternal aunt’s daughter. Six months before the marriage ceremony takes place, the pasupu (turmeric) ceremony is performed. The bridegroom’s family pay six rupees to the bride’s family, to provide the girl with turmeric, wherewith she adorns herself. On the day fixed for the wedding, the parents of the bridegroom go with a few of the elders to the bride’s house, and couple the request to take away the girl with payment of nine rupees and a new cloth. Of the money thus given, eight rupees go to the bride’s parents, and the remainder to the caste. The bride is conducted to the home of the bridegroom, who meets her at the pandal (booth) erected in front of his house. They are bathed with turmeric water, and sacred threads are put on their shoulders by the Kula Maistri who officiates as priest. The couple then play with seven cowry (Cyprœa arabica) shells, and, if the shells fall with the slit downwards, the bride is said to have won; otherwise the bridegroom is the winner. This is followed by the mūdu ākula hōmam, or sacrifice of three leaves. A new pot, containing a lighted wick, is placed before thecouple. On it are thrown leaves of the rāyi āku (Ficus religiosa), marri āku (Ficus Bengalensis), and juvvi āku (Ficus Tsiela). The Kula Maistri of the bridegroom’s party spreads out his right hand over the mouth of the pot. On it the bride places her hand. The bridegroom then places his hand on hers, and the Kula Maistri of the bride’s village puts his hand on that of the bridegroom. The elders then call out in a loud voice “Know, caste people of Vaddādi Mādugula; know, caste people of Kimedi; know, caste people of Gunupuram and Godairi; know, caste people of all the twelve countries, that this man and woman have become husband and wife, and that the elders have ratified the ceremony.” The contracting couple then throw rice over each other. On the morning of the following day, the saragatha ceremony is performed. The bridegroom’s party repair to the bank of the local stream, where they are met by the caste people, who are presented with betel, a cheroot, and a pot of jaggery (crude sugar) water as cool drink. The sacred threads worn by the bride and bridegroom are removed at the conclusion of the marriage ceremonies. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother, orvice versâ. Divorce is also allowed, and a divorcée may remarry. Her new husband has to pay a sum of money, a portion of which goes to the first husband, while the remainder is devoted to a caste feast. The dead are burnt, and the chinna rōzu (little day) death ceremony is observed.Gōda-jāti(wall people).—A sub-division of Kammas. The name has reference to a deadly struggle at Gandikōta, in which some escaped by hiding behind a wall.Gōda-poose(wall polishing).—An exogamous sept of Tsākala.Gōdāri.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as Telugu leather-workers in Ganjam and Vizagapatam. They are stated, in the Vizagapatam Manual, to make and sell slippers in that district. Gōdāri is, I gather, a synonym of Mādiga, and not a separate caste.Goddali(spade or axe).—An exogamous sept of Oddē and Panta Reddi.Gōdomālia(belonging to, or a group of forts).—A sub-division of Bhondāri, the members of which act as barbers to Rājahs who reside in forts.Gōlaka.—Recorded in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a name meaning bastard, and clubbed with the Moilis, or temple servants in South Canara descended from dancing-girls. In the Mysore Census Report, 1901, it is defined as a term applied to the children of Brāhmans by Malerus, or temple servants.Gōli(Portulaca oleracea: a pot-herb).—An exogamous sept of Gauda.Gōlkonda.—A sub-division of Tsākala.Golla.—“The Gollas,” Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,17“are the great pastoral caste of the Telugu people. The traditions of the caste give a descent from the god Krishna, whose sportings with the milk maids play a prominent part in Hindu mythology. The hereditary occupation of the Gollas is tending sheep and cattle, and selling milk, but many of them have now acquired lands and are engaged in farming, and some are in Government service. They are quiet, inoffensive, and comparatively honest. In the time of the Nabobs, this last characteristic secured to them the privilege of guarding and carrying treasure, and one sub-division, Bokhasa Gollas, owes its origin to this service. Evennow those who are employed in packing and lifting bags of money in the district treasuries are called Gollas, though they belong to other castes. As a fact they do hold a respectable position, and, though poor, are not looked down upon, for they tend the sacred cow. Sometimes they assert a claim to be regarded as representatives of the Gō-Vaisya division. Their title is Mandādi, but it is not commonly used.” Mr. Stuart writes further18that “the social status of the Gollas is fairly high, for they are allowed to mix freely with the Kāpu, Kamma, and Balija castes, and the Brāhmans will take buttermilk from their hands. They employ Sātānis as their priests. In their ceremonies there is not much difference between them and the Kāpus. The name Golla is generally supposed to be a shortened form of Sanskrit Gōpāla” (protector of cows). The Gollas also call themselves Kōnānulu, or Kōnarlu, and, like the Tamil Idaiyans, sometimes have the title Kōnar. Other titles in common use are Anna, Ayya, and occasionally Nayudu.In the Manual of the Kurnool district, it is stated that the Gollas “keep sheep, and sell milk and ghī (clarified butter). They eat and mess with the Balijas, and other high caste Sūdras; but, unlike their brethren of the south, in the matter of street processions, they are classed with goldsmiths, or the left-hand section. When any one is reduced to poverty, the others give him each a sheep, and restore his flock. They occasionally dedicate their girls to Venkatēsa as Basavis” (prostitutes).It is noted, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that “in the country round Mādgole, legends are still recounted of a line of local Golla chieftains, whogave their name to Golgonda, and built the forts, of which traces still survive in those parts”. Each Telugu New Year’s day, it is stated, Gollas come across from Godāvari, and go round the Golla villages, reciting the names of the progenitors of the fallen line, and exhibiting paintings illustrative of their overthrow.“At Vajragada (diamond fort) are the ruins of a very large fortress, and local tradition gives the names of seven forts, by which it was once defended. These are said to have been constructed by the Golla kings. A tale is told of their having kidnapped a daughter of the ruler of Mādgole, and held out here against his attacks for months, until they were betrayed by a woman of their own caste, who showed the enemy how to cut off their water-supply. They then slew their womenkind, says the story, dashed out against the besiegers, and fell to a man, fighting to the last.”Concerning the Gollas of Mysore, I gather19that “there are two main divisions in this caste, viz., Ūru (village) and Kādu (forest). The two neither intermarry, nor eat together. A section of the Gollas, by guarding treasure while on transit, have earned the name of Dhanapāla. In fact, one of the menial offices in Government treasuries at the present day is that of Golla. The caste worships Krishna, who was born in this caste. The Kādu Gollas are said to have originally immigrated from Northern India, and are still a nomadic tribe, living in thatched huts outside the villages. Some of their social customs are akin to those of the Kādu Kurubas. It is said that, on the occurrence of a childbirth, the mother with the babe remains unattended in a small shed outside the village from seven to thirty days,when she is taken back to her home. In the event of her illness, none of the caste will attend on her, but a Nāyak (Bēda) woman is engaged to do so. Marriages among them are likewise performed in a temporary shed erected outside the village, and the attendant festivities continue for five days, when the marriage couple are brought into the village. The Golla is allowed to marry as many wives as he likes, and puberty is no bar to marriage. They eat flesh, and drink spirituous liquors. The wife cannot be divorced except for adultery. Their females do not wear the bodice (ravikē) usually put on by the women of the country. Nor do they, in their widowhood, remove or break the glass bangles worn at the wrists, as is done in other castes. But widows are not allowed to remarry. Only 98 persons have returned gōtras, the chief being Yādava, Karadi, Atrēya, and Amswasa. The first two are really sub-sects, while Atrēya is the name of a Brāhmin Rishi.” Yādava, or descendant of King Yādu, from whom Krishna was descended, also occurs as a synonym for Idaiyan, the great Tamil shepherd class.Golla juggler.Golla juggler.Concerning the Adivi, or forest Gollas, Mr. F. Fawcett writes as follows.20“The people of every house in the village let loose a sheep, to wander whither it will, as a sort of perpetual scapegoat. When a woman feels the first pains of labour, she is turned out of the village into a little leaf or mat hut about two hundred yards away. In this hut she must bring forth her offspring unaided, unless a midwife can be called in to be with her before the child is born. For ninety days the woman lives in the hut by herself. If any one touches her, he or she is, like the woman, outcasted, and turnedout of the village for three months. The woman’s husband generally makes a little hut about fifty yards from her, and watches over her; but he may not go near her on pain of being outcasted for three months. Food is placed on the ground near the woman’s hut, and she takes it. On the fourth day after parturition, a woman of the village goes to her, and pours water on her, but she must not come in contact with her. On the fifth day, the village people clear of stones and thorny bushes a little bit of ground about ten yards on the village side of the hut, and to this place the woman removes her hut. No one can do it for her, or help her. On the ninth, fifteenth, and thirtieth days, she removes the hut in the same way nearer to the village, and, again, once in each of the two following months. On the ninetieth day, the headman of the village calls the woman to come out of the hut. The dhōbi (washerman) then washes her clothes. She puts on clean clothes, and the headman takes her to the temple of their tutelary deity Junjappa, where the caste pūjari breaks cocoanuts, and then accompanies her to her house, where a purificatory ceremony is performed. Junjappa, it is said, takes good care of the mother and child, so that death is said to be unknown.”It is stated21that, in the Chitaldrūg district of Mysore, “the wife of the eldest son in every family is not permitted to clean herself with water after obeying the calls of nature. It is an article of their belief that their flocks will otherwise not prosper.”Writing in the early part of the last century about the Gollas, Buchanan informs us that “this caste has a particular duty, the transporting of money, both belongingto the public and to individuals. It is said that they may be safely intrusted with any sum; for, each man carrying a certain value, they travel in bodies numerous in proportion to the sum put under their charge; and they consider themselves bound in honour to die in defence of their trust. Of course, they defend themselves vigorously, and are all armed; so that robbers never venture to attack them. They have hereditary chiefs called Gotugaru, who with the usual council settle all disputes, and punish all transgressions against the rules of caste. The most flagrant is the embezzlement of money entrusted to their care. On this crime being proved against any of the caste, the Gotugaru applies to Amildar, or civil magistrate, and having obtained his leave, immediately causes the delinquent to be shot. Smaller offences are atoned for by the guilty person giving an entertainment.”The Golla caste has many sub-divisions, of which the following are examples:—Erra or Yerra (red). Said to be the descendants of a Brāhman by a Golla woman.Āla or Mēkala, who tend sheep and goats.Pūja or Puni.Gangeddu, who exhibit performing bulls.Gauda, who, in Vizagapatam, visit the western part of the district during the summer months, and settle outside the villages. They tend their herds, and sell milk and curds to the villagers.Karna.Pākanāti.Rācha (royal).Peddeti. Mostly beggars, and considered low in the social scale, though when questioned concerning themselves they say they are Yerra Gollas.At the census, 1901, the following were returned as sub-castes of the Gollas:—Dayyālakulam (wrestlers), Perike Muggalu or Mushti Golla (beggars and exorcists), Podapōtula (who beg from Gollas), Gavādi, and Vadugāyan, a Tamil synonym for Gollas in Tinnevelly. Another Tamil synonym for Golla is Bokhisha Vadugar (treasury northerners). Golla has been given as a sub-division of Dāsaris and Chakkiliyans, and Golla Woddar (Oddē) as a synonym of a thief class in the Telugu country. In a village near Dummagudem in the Godāvari district, the Rev. J. Cain writes,22are “a few families of Bāsava Gollalu. I find they are really Kois, whose grandfathers had a quarrel with, and separated from, their neighbours. Some of the present members of the families are anxious to be re-admitted to the society and privileges of the neighbouring Kois. The word Bāsava is commonly said to be derived from bhāsha, a language, and the Gollas of this class are said to have been so called in consequence of their speaking a different language from the rest of the Gollas.”Like many other Telugu castes, the Gollas have exogamous septs or intipēru, and gōtras. As examples of the former, the following may be quoted:—Agni, fire.Āvula, cows.Chinthala, tamarind.Chevvula, ears.Gundala, stones.Gurram, horse.Gorrela, sheep.Gōrantla, henna (Lawsonia alba).Kōkala, woman’s cloth.Katāri, dagger.Mūgi, dumb.Nakkala, jackal.Saddikūdu, cold rice or food.Sēvala, service.Ullipōyala, onions.Vankāyala, brinjal (Solanum melongena).Some of these sept names occur among other classes, as follows:—Āvula, Balijas, Kāpus, and Yerukalas.Chinthala, Dēvāngas, Kōmatis, Mālas, and Mādigas.Gōrantla, Padma Sālēs.Gorrela, Kammas, Kāpus.Gurram, Mālas, Padma Sālēs, and Tōgatas.Nakkala, Kāttu Marāthis, and Yānādis.Those who belong to the Rāghindala (Ficus religiosa) gōtra are not allowed to use the leaves of the sacred fig or pīpal tree as plates for their food. Members of the Pālāvili gōtra never construct pālāvili, or small booths, inside the house for the purpose of worship. Those who belong to the Akshathayya gōtra are said to avoid rice coloured with turmeric or other powder (akshantalu). Members of the Kommi, Jammi, and Mūshti gōtras avoid using the kommi tree,Prosopis spicigera, andStrychnos Nux-vomicarespectively.Of the various sub-divisions, the Pūja Gollas claim superiority over the others. Their origin is traced to Simhādri Rāju, who is supposed to have been a descendant of Yayāthi Rāja of the Mahābaratha. Yayāthi had six sons, the last of whom had a son named Kariyāvala, whose descendants were as follows:—

Gānga bride and bridegroom.Gānga bride and bridegroom.The marriage rites conform, for the most part, to the Telugu type. But, while the wrist thread is being tied on, common salt is held in the hand. A dagger (bāku) is then given to the bridegroom, who keeps it with him till the conclusion of the ceremonies. On the wedding day, the bridegroom wears the sacred thread. The tāli is not an ordinary bottu, but a thread composed of 101 thin strings, which is removed on the last day, and replaced by a bottu. On the third day, the bride and bridegroom worship a jammi tree (Prosopis spicigera), and the latter, removing his sacred thread, throws it on the tree. Five young men, called Bāla Dāsulu, also worship the tree, and, if they are wearing the sacred thread, throw it thereon. The dead are as a rule buried, in a sitting posture if the deceased was an orthodox Saivite. If a young man dies a bachelor, the corpse is married to an arka plant (Calotropis gigantea), and decorated with a wreath made of the flowers thereof. The final death ceremonies are performed on the eleventh day. Food is offered to crows and the soul of the dead person, who is represented by a wooden post dressed with his clothes. The bangles of a widow are brokennear the post, which is finally thrown into a tank or stream.Gāniga further occurs as an occupational name for Lingāyat oil-vendors, and for Mogers who are employed as oil-pressers.Ganta.—Ganta or Gantla, meaning a bell, has been recorded as an exogamous sept of Kamma and Balija. Gantelavāru, or men of the bell, is given by Mr. S. M. Natesa Sastri12as the family name of one section of the Donga (thieving) Dāsaris, and of the Kabbēras, who are said to join the ranks of this criminal class. Gantugāzula occurs, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Koracha. In the Vizagapatam Manual, the Tiragati Gantlavallu are described as repairing hand-mills, catching antelopes, and selling their skins.Ganti(a hole pierced in the ear-lobe).—An exogamous sept of Gūdala.Gāradi.—Gāradi or Gāradiga is the name of a class of mendicants in the Telugu country and Mysore who are snake-charmers, practice sleight of hand, and perform various juggling and mountebank tricks.Garappa(dry land).—A synonym of Challa Yānādi.Gatti.—A small caste of cultivators, found chiefly near Kumbla and Someswara in the Kasaragod tāluk of South Canara. Other names for the caste are Poladava and Holadava, both signifying men of the field. Like the Bants, they follow the aliya santāna law of inheritance (in the female line), have exogamous septs or balis, and, on the day of the final death ceremonies, construct car-like structures, if the deceased was an important personage in the community. The Bants and Gattis interdine, but do not intermarry. Theheadman of the Gattis is called Gurikāra. The God of the Someswara temple is regarded as the caste deity, and every family has to pay an annual fee of four annas to this temple. Failure to do so would entail excommunication.Gattu(bank or mound).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Gaud.—A title of Sādar.Gauda.—The Gaudas or Gaudos are a large caste of Canarese cultivators and cattle-breeders. “Gauda and Gaudo,” Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,13“are really two distinct castes, the former being Canarese and the latter Uriya. Each name is, however, spelt both ways. The two names are, I presume, etymologically the same. The ordinary derivation is from the Sanskrit go, a cow, but Dr. Gustav Oppert contends14that the root of Gauda is a Dravidian word meaning a mountain. Among the Canarese, and to a less extent among the Uriyas also, the word is used in an honorific sense, a custom which is difficult to account for if Dr. Oppert’s philology is correct.” “Gaudas,” Mr. Stuart writes further,15“also called Hālvaklumakkalu (children of the milk class), are very numerously represented in the South Canara district. They have a somewhat elaborate system of caste government. In every village there are two headmen, the Grāma Gauda and the Vattu or Gattu Gauda. For every group of eight or nine villages there is another head called the Māganē Gauda, and for every nine Māganēs there is a yet higher authority called the Kattēmanēyava. The caste is divided into eighteen baris or balis, which are of the usual exogamous character.The names of some of these are as follows: Bangāra (gold), Nandara, Malāra (a bundle of glass bangles, as carried about for sale), Sālu, Hemmana (pride or conceit), Kabru, Gōli (Portulaca oleracea, a pot-herb), Basruvōgaru (basru, belly), Balasanna, and Karmannāya. Marriage is usually adult, and sexual license before marriage with a member of the caste is tolerated, though nominally condemned. The dhārē form of marriage (seeBant) is used, but the bridal pair hold in their joined hands five betel leaves, one areca nut and four annas, and, after the water has been poured, the bridegroom ties a tāli to the neck of the bride. Divorce is permitted freely, and divorced wives and widows can marry again. A widow with children, however, should marry only her late husband’s elder brother. If she marries any one else, the members of her former husband’s family will not even drink water that has been touched by her. They burn their dead. On the third day, the ashes are made into the form of a man, which is cut in two, buried, and a mound made over it. In the house two planks are placed on the ground, and covered with a cloth. On one of these, a vessel containing milk is placed, and on the other a lamp, rice, cocoanut, pumpkin, etc., are deposited. The agnates and some boys go round the plank three times, and afterwards go to the mound, taking with them the various articles in a cloth. Three plantain leaves are spread in front of the mound, and cooked food, etc., placed thereon. Four posts are set up round the mound, and cloths stretched over them, and placed round the sides. On the sixteenth day, sixteen plantain leaves are placed in a row, and one leaf is laid apart. Cakes, cooked fowl’s flesh, toddy and arrack (liquor) are placed on the leaves in small leaf-cups. The assembled agnates then say “We have done everything as we should do, and soour ancestors who have died must take the man who is now dead to their regions. I put the leaf which is apart in the same row with the sixteen leaves.”“Once a year, in the month of Mituna (June-July), the Gaudas perform a ceremony for the propitiation of all deceased ancestors. They have a special preference for Venkatarāmaswāmi, to whom they make money offerings once a year in September. They employ Brāhmins to give them sacred water when they are under pollution, but they do not seek their services for ordinary ceremonies. They are, for the most part, farmers, but some few are labourers. The latter receive three or four seers of paddy a day as wages. Their house language is Tulu in some places, and Canarese in others, but all follow the ordinary system of inheritance, and not the custom of descent through females. Their title is Gauda.”As bearing on the superstitious beliefs of the people of South Canara, the following case, which was tried before the Sessions Judge in 1908, may be cited. A young Gauda girl became pregnant by her brother-in-law. After three days’ labour, the child was born. The accused, who was the mother of the girl, was the midwife. Finding the delivery very difficult, she sent for a person named Korapulu to come and help her. The child was, as they thought, still-born. On its head was a red protuberance like a ball; round each of its forearms were two or three red bands; the eyes and ears were fixed very high in the head; and the eyes, nose, and mouth were abnormally large. Korapulu and the girl’s younger sister at once carried the mother out of the out-house lest the devil child should do her harm or kill her. The accused called for a man named Isuf Saiba, who was standing in the yard outside. He came in, and she asked him to call some of the neighbours, to decidewhat to do. The child, she said, was a devil child, and must be cut and killed, lest it should devour its mother. While they were looking at the child, it began to move and roll its eyes about, and turn on the ground. It is a belief of the villagers that such a devil child, when born and brought in contact with the air, rapidly grows, and causes great trouble, usually killing the mother, and sometimes killing all the inmates of the house. The accused told Isuf Saiba to cover the child with a vessel, which he did. Then there was a sound from inside the vessel, either of the child moving or making some sound with its mouth. The accused then put her hand under the vessel, dragged the child half way out, and then, while Isuf Saiba pressed the edge of the earthenware vessel on the abdomen of the child, the accused took a knife, and cut the body in half. When the body was cut in two, there was no blood, but a mossy green liquid, or a black liquid, oozed out. The accused got two areca leaves, and put one piece of the child on one, and one on the other, and told Isuf Saiba to get a spade, and come and bury them. So they went out into the jungle close to the house, and Isuf Saiba dug two holes about half a yard deep, one on one hillock, and one on another. In these two holes the two pieces of the child were separately buried. The object of this was to prevent the two pieces joining together again, in which case the united devil child would have come out of the grave, and gone to kill its mother. The birth and death of this devil child were not kept secret, but were known throughout the village.Gauda or Gaudu further occurs as a title of Īdiga, Kuruba, and Vakkaliga, an exogamous sept and gōtra of Kuruba and Kurni, and a sub-division of Golla.Gaudi.—It is recorded, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, that a Maleru (temple servant) woman,who cohabits with one of a lower class than her own, is degraded into a Gaudi.Gaudo.—The Gaudos are described, in the Madras Census Reports, 1891 and 1901, as “the great pastoral caste of the Ganjam Oriyas. Like those of all the cowherd classes, its members say that they are descended from the Yādava tribe, in which Krishna was born (cf.Idaiyan). The majority of the Gaudos in the northern districts are now cultivators, but there is evidence that the keeping and breeding of cattle is their traditional occupation. The most important sub-division is Sollokhondia; many of them are herdsmen and milk-sellers. Fourteen sub-divisions have been reported. They are Apoto, Bēhara, Bolodiya, Dongāyato, Dumālo, Gōpopuriya, Kolāta, Komiriya, Kusilya, Lādia, Madhurāpurya, Mogotho, Pattilia, and Sollokhondia.” In the Census Report, 1871, it is noted that “there are many Gowdus of high social standing, who have gotten unto themselves much wealth in cattle. These men own, in many instances, large herds of buffaloes, which, being reared in the boundless pastures of the hills, are much prized by the cartmen of the low country for draught purposes.”Of the sub-division noted above, Bēhara is apparently a title only. Bolodiya is the name of a section of the Tellis, who use pack-bullocks (bolodi, a bull) for carrying grain about the country. Pattilia must be a mistake for Pachilia. The sections among the Gaudos which are recognised by all castes in the Ganjam district are Sollokhondia, Bhatta, Gōpopuriya, Madhurāpuriya, Mogotho, Apoto, and Pachilia. These, with the exception of Gōpopuriya and Madhurāpuriya, seem to be endogamous sub-divisions. The Bhatta Gaudos go by the name of Gōpopuriya in some places and Madhurāpuriya in others, both these names being connected withthe legendary history of the origin of the caste. The Apoto and Bhatta Gaudos are sometimes employed as palanquin-bearers. The Mogotho Gaudos, who live on the hills, are regarded as an inferior section, because they do not abstain from eating fowls. The Sollokhondia section is regarded as superior, and consequently all Oriya castes, Brāhman and non-Brāhman, will accept water at the hands of members thereof. An orthodox Oriya non-Brāhman, and all Oriya Brāhmans, will not receive water from Telugu or Tamil Brāhmans, whom they call Komma Brāhmans, Komma being a corrupt form of karma,i.e., Brāhmans who are strict in the observance of the various karmas (ceremonial rites).The Sollokhondia Gaudos are agriculturists, rear cattle and sheep, and sometimes earn a living by driving carts. They have gōtras, among which the most common are Moiro (peacock), Nāgasiro (cobra), and Kochimo (tortoise). Their caste council is presided over by a hereditary headman called Mahānkudo, who is assisted by a Bhollobaya, Desiya, and Khorsodha or Dhondia. The Khorsodha is the caste servant, and the Desiya eats with a delinquent who is received back into the fold after he has been tried by the council. The Sollokhondias are for the most part Paramarthos,i.e., followers of the Chaitanya form of Vaishnavism. They show a partiality for the worship of Jagannāthaswāmi, and various Tākurānis (village deities) are also reverenced. Bairāgis are the caste priests.The marriage prohibitions among the Sollokhondias are those which hold good among many Oriya castes, but marriage with the maternal uncle’s daughter (mēnarikam) is sometimes practiced. On the evening preceding the marriage day (bibha), after a feast, the bride and bridegroom’s parties go to a temple, taking withthem all the articles which are to be used in connection with the marriage ceremonial. On their way back, seven married girls, carrying seven vessels, go to seven houses, and beg water, which is used by the bridal couple for their baths on the following day. Either on the day before the wedding day, or on the bibha day, the bridegroom is shaved, and the bride’s nails are pared. Sometimes a little of the hair of her forehead is also cut off. The marriage rites do not materially differ from those of the Bhondāris (q.v.).The dead, excepting young children, are burnt. The eldest son carries a pot of fire to the burning ground. On the day following cremation, the mourners revisit the spot, and, after the fire has been extinguished, make an image of a man with the ashes on the spot where the corpse was burnt. To this image food is offered. Seven small flags, made of cloths dyed with turmeric, are stuck into the shoulders, abdomen, legs, and head of the image. A fragment of calcined bone is carried away, put into a lump of cow-dung, and kept near the house of the deceased, or near a tank (pond). On the ninth day after death, towards evening, a bamboo, split or spliced into four at one end, is set up in the ground outside the house beneath the projecting roof, and on it a pot filled with water is placed. On the spot where the deceased breathed his last, a lamp is kept. A hole is made in the bottom of the pot, and, after food has been offered to the dead man, the pot is thrown into a tank. On the tenth day, a ceremony is performed on a tank bund (embankment). The piece of bone, which has been preserved, is removed from its cow-dung case, and food, fruits, etc., are offered to it, and thrown into the tank. The bone is taken home, and buried near the house, food being offered to it until the twelfth day. Onthe eleventh day, all the agnates bathe, and are touched with ghī (clarified butter) as a sign of purification. Srādh (memorial service) is performed once a year on Sankarānthi (Pongal) day. Food, in the form of balls, is placed on leaves in the backyard, and offered to the ancestors. Some food is also thrown up into the air.All sections of the Gaudos have adopted infant marriage. If a girl fails to secure a husband before she attains puberty, she has to go through a form of marriage called dharma bibha, in which the bridegroom is, among the Sollokhondias, represented by an old man, preferably the girl’s grandfather, and among the other sections by a sahāda or shādi tree (Streblus asper) or an arrow (khando).Like various other Oriya castes, the Gaudos worship the goddess Lakshmi on Thursdays in the month of November, which are called Lakshmi varam, or Lakshmi’s day. The goddess is represented by a basket filled with grain, whereon some place a hair ball, which has been vomited by a cow. The ball is called gāya panghula, and is usually one or two inches in diameter. The owner of a cow which has vomited such a ball regards it as a propitious augury for the prosperity of his family. A feast is held on the day on which the ball is vomited, and, after the ball has been worshipped, it is carefully wrapped up, and kept in a box, in which it remains till it is required for further worship. Some people believe that the ball continues to grow year by year, and regard this as a very good sign. Bulls are said not to vomit the balls, and only very few cows do so.Gauliar.—A synonym for Lingāyat Gollas, or Kannadiyans.Gaundala.—A synonym of Gamalla.Gauri.—A division of Okkiliyan, named after Gauri, Siva’s consort. The equivalent Gaura occurs among the Kōmatis, and Gauriga among the Mēdaras. One division of the Kabbēras is called Gaurimakkalu, or sons of Gauri.Gautama.—A Brāhmanical gōtra adopted by Bhatrāzus, Khatris, and Kondaiyamkōttai Maravans. Gautama was a sage, and the husband of Ahalya, who was seduced by Indra.Gavala(cowry shell:Cypræa arabica).—An exogamous sept of Mādiga. A cotton thread string, with cowries strung on it, is one of the insignia of a Mādiga Mātangi.Gavalla.—A synonym for Gamalla.Gavara.—It is noted, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, that “this caste is practically confined to the Vizagapatam district, and they have been classed as cultivators on the strength of a statement to that effect in the District Manual. Gavara is, however, an important sub-division of Kōmatis (traders), and these Gavaras are probably in reality Gavara Kōmatis. These are so called after Gauri, the patron deity of this caste.”For the following note I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. A tradition is current that the Gavaras originally lived at Vēngi, the ancient capital of the Eastern Chālukyan kings, the ruins of which are near Ellore in the Godāvari district. The king was desirous of seeing one of their women, who was gōsha (in seclusion), but to this they would not consent. Under orders from the king, their houses were set on fire. Some of them bolted themselves in, and perished bravely, while others locked up their women in big boxes, and escaped with them to the coast. They immediately set sail, and landed at Pūdimadaka in theAnakāpalli tāluk. Thence they marched as far as Kondakirla, near which they founded the village of Wādapalli or Wōdapalli, meaning the village of the people who came in boats. They then built another village called Gavarla Anakāpalli. They received an invitation from king Pāyaka Rao, the founder of Anakāpalli, and, moving northwards, established themselves at what is now known as Gavarapēta in the town of Anakāpalli. They began the foundation of the village auspiciously by consecrating and planting the sandra karra (Acacia sundra), which is not affected by ‘white-ants,’ instead of the pāla karra (Mimusops hexandra), which is generally used for this purpose. Consequently, Anakāpalli has always flourished.The Gavaras speak Telugu, and, like other Telugu castes, have various exogamous septs or intipērulu.Girls are married either before or after puberty. The custom of mēnarikam, by which a man marries his maternal uncle’s daughter, is in force, and it is said that he may also marry his sister’s daughter. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a woman who has had seven husbands is known as Beththamma, and is much respected.Some Gavaras are Vaishnavites, and others Saivites, but difference in religion is no bar to intermarriage. Both sections worship the village deities, to whom animal sacrifices are offered. The Vaishnavites show special reverence to Jagganāthaswāmi of Orissa, whose shrine is visited by some, while others take vows in the name of this god. On the day on which the car festival is celebrated at Pūri, local car festivals are held in Gavara villages, and women carry out the performance of their vows. A woman, for example, who is under a vow, in order that she may be cured of illness or bearchildren, takes a big pot of water, and, placing it on her head, dances frantically before the god, through whose influence the water, which rises out of the pot, falls back into it, instead of being spilt.The Vaishnavites are burnt, and the Saivites buried in a sitting posture. The usual chinna (little) and pedda rōzu (big day) death ceremonies are performed.Men wear a gold bangle on the left wrist, and another on the right arm. Women wear a silver bangle on the right wrist, and a bracelet of real or imitation coral, which is first worn at the time of marriage, on the left wrist. They throw the end of their body-cloth over the left shoulder. They do not, like women of other non-Brāhman castes in the Vizagapatam district, smoke cigars.The original occupation of the caste is said to have been trading, and this may account for the number of exogamous septs which are named after Settis (traders). At the present day, the Gavaras are agriculturists, and they have the reputation of being very hard-working, and among the best agriculturists in the Vizagapatam district. The women travel long distances in order to sell vegetables, milk, curds, and other produce.The caste titles are Anna, Ayya, and occasionally Nāyudu.Gāya(cow).—An exogamous sept of Kondra.Gayinta.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small caste of hill cultivators, speaking Oriya and Telugu. The name is said to be derived from gayinti, an iron digging implement. Gayinta is reported to be the same as Gaintia, a name of Enētis or Entamaras.Gāzula.—Gāzula or Gazul (glass bangle) has been recorded as a sub-division of Balija, Kāpu, and Toreya. The Gāzula Balijas make glass bangles. The Toreyashave a tradition that they originated from the bangles of Machyagandhi, the daughter of a fisherman on the Jumna, who was married to king Shantanu of Hastinapūr.Gēdala(buffaloes).—A sept of Bonthuk Savara.Geddam(beard).—An exogamous sept of Bōya and Padma Sālē.Gejjala(bells tied to the legs while dancing).—An exogamous sept of Balija and Korava.Gejjēgāra.—A sub-caste of the Canarese Pānchālas. They are described, in the Mysore Census Report, 1891, as makers of small round bells (gungru), which are used for decorating the head or neck of bullocks, and tied by dancing-girls round their ankles when dancing.Gennēru(sweet-scented oleander).—An exogamous sept of Bōya.Gentoo.—Gentoo or Jentu, as returned at times of census, is stated to be a general term applied to Balijas and Telugu speaking Sūdras generally. The word is said by Yule and Burnell16to be “a corruption of the Portuguese Gentio, a gentile or heathen, which they applied to the Hindus in contradistinction to the Moros or Moors,i.e., Mahomedans. The reason why the term became specifically applied to the Telugu people is probably because, when the Portuguese arrived, the Telugu monarchy of Vijayanagar was dominant over a great part of the peninsula.” In a letter written from prison to Sir Philip Francis, Rājah Nuncomar referred to the fact that “among the English gentry, Armenians, Moores and Gentoos, few there is who is not against me.” Gentoo still survives as a caste name in the Madras Quarterly Civil List (1906).Ghair-i-Mahdī.—The name, meaning without Mahdī, of a sect of Muhammadans, who affirm that the Imām Mahdī has come and gone, while orthodox Muhammadans hold that he is yet to come.Ghāsi.—SeeHaddi.Ghontoro.—A small caste of Oriyas, who manufacture brass and bell-metal rings and bangles for the hill people. The name is derived from ghonto, a bell-metal plate.Gidda(vulture).—A sept of Poroja.Gikkili(rattle).—A gōtra of Kurni.Giri Rāzu.—A contraction of Puragiri Rāzu or Puragiri Kshatriya, by which names some Perikes style themselves.Goa.—A sub-division of Kudubis, who are said to have emigrated from Goa to South Canara.Gō Brāhman.—A name given to Brāhmans by Kammālans, who style themselves Visva Brāhmans.Gōdagula.—The Gōdagulas are recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being the same as the Gūdalas, who are a Telugu caste of basket-makers. According to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao, to whom I am indebted for the following note, they are a distinct caste, speaking Oriya, and sometimes calling themselves Oddē (Oriya) Mēdara. Like the Mēdaras, they work in split bamboo, and make sundry articles which are not made by other castes who work in this medium. Unlike the Gūdalas, they are a polluting class, and have the following legend to account for their social degradation. God told them to make winnows and other articles for divine worship. This, they did, and, after they had delivered them, they attended a marriage feast, at which they eat flesh and drank liquor. On their return, God called on them to vomit the food which they had partaken of, andthey accordingly brought up the meat and drink, whereon God cursed them, saying “Begone, you have eaten forbidden food.” They craved for forgiveness, but were told in future to earn their living as bamboo-workers. The custom of mēnarikam, according to which a man should marry his maternal uncle’s daughter, is so rigidly enforced that, if the uncle refuses to give his daughter in marriage, the man has a right to carry her off, and then pay a fine, the amount of which is fixed by the caste council. A portion thereof is given to the girl’s parents, and the remainder spent on a caste feast. If the maternal uncle has no daughter, a man may, according to the ēduru (or reversed) mēnarikam custom, marry his paternal aunt’s daughter. Six months before the marriage ceremony takes place, the pasupu (turmeric) ceremony is performed. The bridegroom’s family pay six rupees to the bride’s family, to provide the girl with turmeric, wherewith she adorns herself. On the day fixed for the wedding, the parents of the bridegroom go with a few of the elders to the bride’s house, and couple the request to take away the girl with payment of nine rupees and a new cloth. Of the money thus given, eight rupees go to the bride’s parents, and the remainder to the caste. The bride is conducted to the home of the bridegroom, who meets her at the pandal (booth) erected in front of his house. They are bathed with turmeric water, and sacred threads are put on their shoulders by the Kula Maistri who officiates as priest. The couple then play with seven cowry (Cyprœa arabica) shells, and, if the shells fall with the slit downwards, the bride is said to have won; otherwise the bridegroom is the winner. This is followed by the mūdu ākula hōmam, or sacrifice of three leaves. A new pot, containing a lighted wick, is placed before thecouple. On it are thrown leaves of the rāyi āku (Ficus religiosa), marri āku (Ficus Bengalensis), and juvvi āku (Ficus Tsiela). The Kula Maistri of the bridegroom’s party spreads out his right hand over the mouth of the pot. On it the bride places her hand. The bridegroom then places his hand on hers, and the Kula Maistri of the bride’s village puts his hand on that of the bridegroom. The elders then call out in a loud voice “Know, caste people of Vaddādi Mādugula; know, caste people of Kimedi; know, caste people of Gunupuram and Godairi; know, caste people of all the twelve countries, that this man and woman have become husband and wife, and that the elders have ratified the ceremony.” The contracting couple then throw rice over each other. On the morning of the following day, the saragatha ceremony is performed. The bridegroom’s party repair to the bank of the local stream, where they are met by the caste people, who are presented with betel, a cheroot, and a pot of jaggery (crude sugar) water as cool drink. The sacred threads worn by the bride and bridegroom are removed at the conclusion of the marriage ceremonies. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother, orvice versâ. Divorce is also allowed, and a divorcée may remarry. Her new husband has to pay a sum of money, a portion of which goes to the first husband, while the remainder is devoted to a caste feast. The dead are burnt, and the chinna rōzu (little day) death ceremony is observed.Gōda-jāti(wall people).—A sub-division of Kammas. The name has reference to a deadly struggle at Gandikōta, in which some escaped by hiding behind a wall.Gōda-poose(wall polishing).—An exogamous sept of Tsākala.Gōdāri.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as Telugu leather-workers in Ganjam and Vizagapatam. They are stated, in the Vizagapatam Manual, to make and sell slippers in that district. Gōdāri is, I gather, a synonym of Mādiga, and not a separate caste.Goddali(spade or axe).—An exogamous sept of Oddē and Panta Reddi.Gōdomālia(belonging to, or a group of forts).—A sub-division of Bhondāri, the members of which act as barbers to Rājahs who reside in forts.Gōlaka.—Recorded in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a name meaning bastard, and clubbed with the Moilis, or temple servants in South Canara descended from dancing-girls. In the Mysore Census Report, 1901, it is defined as a term applied to the children of Brāhmans by Malerus, or temple servants.Gōli(Portulaca oleracea: a pot-herb).—An exogamous sept of Gauda.Gōlkonda.—A sub-division of Tsākala.Golla.—“The Gollas,” Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,17“are the great pastoral caste of the Telugu people. The traditions of the caste give a descent from the god Krishna, whose sportings with the milk maids play a prominent part in Hindu mythology. The hereditary occupation of the Gollas is tending sheep and cattle, and selling milk, but many of them have now acquired lands and are engaged in farming, and some are in Government service. They are quiet, inoffensive, and comparatively honest. In the time of the Nabobs, this last characteristic secured to them the privilege of guarding and carrying treasure, and one sub-division, Bokhasa Gollas, owes its origin to this service. Evennow those who are employed in packing and lifting bags of money in the district treasuries are called Gollas, though they belong to other castes. As a fact they do hold a respectable position, and, though poor, are not looked down upon, for they tend the sacred cow. Sometimes they assert a claim to be regarded as representatives of the Gō-Vaisya division. Their title is Mandādi, but it is not commonly used.” Mr. Stuart writes further18that “the social status of the Gollas is fairly high, for they are allowed to mix freely with the Kāpu, Kamma, and Balija castes, and the Brāhmans will take buttermilk from their hands. They employ Sātānis as their priests. In their ceremonies there is not much difference between them and the Kāpus. The name Golla is generally supposed to be a shortened form of Sanskrit Gōpāla” (protector of cows). The Gollas also call themselves Kōnānulu, or Kōnarlu, and, like the Tamil Idaiyans, sometimes have the title Kōnar. Other titles in common use are Anna, Ayya, and occasionally Nayudu.In the Manual of the Kurnool district, it is stated that the Gollas “keep sheep, and sell milk and ghī (clarified butter). They eat and mess with the Balijas, and other high caste Sūdras; but, unlike their brethren of the south, in the matter of street processions, they are classed with goldsmiths, or the left-hand section. When any one is reduced to poverty, the others give him each a sheep, and restore his flock. They occasionally dedicate their girls to Venkatēsa as Basavis” (prostitutes).It is noted, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that “in the country round Mādgole, legends are still recounted of a line of local Golla chieftains, whogave their name to Golgonda, and built the forts, of which traces still survive in those parts”. Each Telugu New Year’s day, it is stated, Gollas come across from Godāvari, and go round the Golla villages, reciting the names of the progenitors of the fallen line, and exhibiting paintings illustrative of their overthrow.“At Vajragada (diamond fort) are the ruins of a very large fortress, and local tradition gives the names of seven forts, by which it was once defended. These are said to have been constructed by the Golla kings. A tale is told of their having kidnapped a daughter of the ruler of Mādgole, and held out here against his attacks for months, until they were betrayed by a woman of their own caste, who showed the enemy how to cut off their water-supply. They then slew their womenkind, says the story, dashed out against the besiegers, and fell to a man, fighting to the last.”Concerning the Gollas of Mysore, I gather19that “there are two main divisions in this caste, viz., Ūru (village) and Kādu (forest). The two neither intermarry, nor eat together. A section of the Gollas, by guarding treasure while on transit, have earned the name of Dhanapāla. In fact, one of the menial offices in Government treasuries at the present day is that of Golla. The caste worships Krishna, who was born in this caste. The Kādu Gollas are said to have originally immigrated from Northern India, and are still a nomadic tribe, living in thatched huts outside the villages. Some of their social customs are akin to those of the Kādu Kurubas. It is said that, on the occurrence of a childbirth, the mother with the babe remains unattended in a small shed outside the village from seven to thirty days,when she is taken back to her home. In the event of her illness, none of the caste will attend on her, but a Nāyak (Bēda) woman is engaged to do so. Marriages among them are likewise performed in a temporary shed erected outside the village, and the attendant festivities continue for five days, when the marriage couple are brought into the village. The Golla is allowed to marry as many wives as he likes, and puberty is no bar to marriage. They eat flesh, and drink spirituous liquors. The wife cannot be divorced except for adultery. Their females do not wear the bodice (ravikē) usually put on by the women of the country. Nor do they, in their widowhood, remove or break the glass bangles worn at the wrists, as is done in other castes. But widows are not allowed to remarry. Only 98 persons have returned gōtras, the chief being Yādava, Karadi, Atrēya, and Amswasa. The first two are really sub-sects, while Atrēya is the name of a Brāhmin Rishi.” Yādava, or descendant of King Yādu, from whom Krishna was descended, also occurs as a synonym for Idaiyan, the great Tamil shepherd class.Golla juggler.Golla juggler.Concerning the Adivi, or forest Gollas, Mr. F. Fawcett writes as follows.20“The people of every house in the village let loose a sheep, to wander whither it will, as a sort of perpetual scapegoat. When a woman feels the first pains of labour, she is turned out of the village into a little leaf or mat hut about two hundred yards away. In this hut she must bring forth her offspring unaided, unless a midwife can be called in to be with her before the child is born. For ninety days the woman lives in the hut by herself. If any one touches her, he or she is, like the woman, outcasted, and turnedout of the village for three months. The woman’s husband generally makes a little hut about fifty yards from her, and watches over her; but he may not go near her on pain of being outcasted for three months. Food is placed on the ground near the woman’s hut, and she takes it. On the fourth day after parturition, a woman of the village goes to her, and pours water on her, but she must not come in contact with her. On the fifth day, the village people clear of stones and thorny bushes a little bit of ground about ten yards on the village side of the hut, and to this place the woman removes her hut. No one can do it for her, or help her. On the ninth, fifteenth, and thirtieth days, she removes the hut in the same way nearer to the village, and, again, once in each of the two following months. On the ninetieth day, the headman of the village calls the woman to come out of the hut. The dhōbi (washerman) then washes her clothes. She puts on clean clothes, and the headman takes her to the temple of their tutelary deity Junjappa, where the caste pūjari breaks cocoanuts, and then accompanies her to her house, where a purificatory ceremony is performed. Junjappa, it is said, takes good care of the mother and child, so that death is said to be unknown.”It is stated21that, in the Chitaldrūg district of Mysore, “the wife of the eldest son in every family is not permitted to clean herself with water after obeying the calls of nature. It is an article of their belief that their flocks will otherwise not prosper.”Writing in the early part of the last century about the Gollas, Buchanan informs us that “this caste has a particular duty, the transporting of money, both belongingto the public and to individuals. It is said that they may be safely intrusted with any sum; for, each man carrying a certain value, they travel in bodies numerous in proportion to the sum put under their charge; and they consider themselves bound in honour to die in defence of their trust. Of course, they defend themselves vigorously, and are all armed; so that robbers never venture to attack them. They have hereditary chiefs called Gotugaru, who with the usual council settle all disputes, and punish all transgressions against the rules of caste. The most flagrant is the embezzlement of money entrusted to their care. On this crime being proved against any of the caste, the Gotugaru applies to Amildar, or civil magistrate, and having obtained his leave, immediately causes the delinquent to be shot. Smaller offences are atoned for by the guilty person giving an entertainment.”The Golla caste has many sub-divisions, of which the following are examples:—Erra or Yerra (red). Said to be the descendants of a Brāhman by a Golla woman.Āla or Mēkala, who tend sheep and goats.Pūja or Puni.Gangeddu, who exhibit performing bulls.Gauda, who, in Vizagapatam, visit the western part of the district during the summer months, and settle outside the villages. They tend their herds, and sell milk and curds to the villagers.Karna.Pākanāti.Rācha (royal).Peddeti. Mostly beggars, and considered low in the social scale, though when questioned concerning themselves they say they are Yerra Gollas.At the census, 1901, the following were returned as sub-castes of the Gollas:—Dayyālakulam (wrestlers), Perike Muggalu or Mushti Golla (beggars and exorcists), Podapōtula (who beg from Gollas), Gavādi, and Vadugāyan, a Tamil synonym for Gollas in Tinnevelly. Another Tamil synonym for Golla is Bokhisha Vadugar (treasury northerners). Golla has been given as a sub-division of Dāsaris and Chakkiliyans, and Golla Woddar (Oddē) as a synonym of a thief class in the Telugu country. In a village near Dummagudem in the Godāvari district, the Rev. J. Cain writes,22are “a few families of Bāsava Gollalu. I find they are really Kois, whose grandfathers had a quarrel with, and separated from, their neighbours. Some of the present members of the families are anxious to be re-admitted to the society and privileges of the neighbouring Kois. The word Bāsava is commonly said to be derived from bhāsha, a language, and the Gollas of this class are said to have been so called in consequence of their speaking a different language from the rest of the Gollas.”Like many other Telugu castes, the Gollas have exogamous septs or intipēru, and gōtras. As examples of the former, the following may be quoted:—Agni, fire.Āvula, cows.Chinthala, tamarind.Chevvula, ears.Gundala, stones.Gurram, horse.Gorrela, sheep.Gōrantla, henna (Lawsonia alba).Kōkala, woman’s cloth.Katāri, dagger.Mūgi, dumb.Nakkala, jackal.Saddikūdu, cold rice or food.Sēvala, service.Ullipōyala, onions.Vankāyala, brinjal (Solanum melongena).Some of these sept names occur among other classes, as follows:—Āvula, Balijas, Kāpus, and Yerukalas.Chinthala, Dēvāngas, Kōmatis, Mālas, and Mādigas.Gōrantla, Padma Sālēs.Gorrela, Kammas, Kāpus.Gurram, Mālas, Padma Sālēs, and Tōgatas.Nakkala, Kāttu Marāthis, and Yānādis.Those who belong to the Rāghindala (Ficus religiosa) gōtra are not allowed to use the leaves of the sacred fig or pīpal tree as plates for their food. Members of the Pālāvili gōtra never construct pālāvili, or small booths, inside the house for the purpose of worship. Those who belong to the Akshathayya gōtra are said to avoid rice coloured with turmeric or other powder (akshantalu). Members of the Kommi, Jammi, and Mūshti gōtras avoid using the kommi tree,Prosopis spicigera, andStrychnos Nux-vomicarespectively.Of the various sub-divisions, the Pūja Gollas claim superiority over the others. Their origin is traced to Simhādri Rāju, who is supposed to have been a descendant of Yayāthi Rāja of the Mahābaratha. Yayāthi had six sons, the last of whom had a son named Kariyāvala, whose descendants were as follows:—

Gānga bride and bridegroom.Gānga bride and bridegroom.The marriage rites conform, for the most part, to the Telugu type. But, while the wrist thread is being tied on, common salt is held in the hand. A dagger (bāku) is then given to the bridegroom, who keeps it with him till the conclusion of the ceremonies. On the wedding day, the bridegroom wears the sacred thread. The tāli is not an ordinary bottu, but a thread composed of 101 thin strings, which is removed on the last day, and replaced by a bottu. On the third day, the bride and bridegroom worship a jammi tree (Prosopis spicigera), and the latter, removing his sacred thread, throws it on the tree. Five young men, called Bāla Dāsulu, also worship the tree, and, if they are wearing the sacred thread, throw it thereon. The dead are as a rule buried, in a sitting posture if the deceased was an orthodox Saivite. If a young man dies a bachelor, the corpse is married to an arka plant (Calotropis gigantea), and decorated with a wreath made of the flowers thereof. The final death ceremonies are performed on the eleventh day. Food is offered to crows and the soul of the dead person, who is represented by a wooden post dressed with his clothes. The bangles of a widow are brokennear the post, which is finally thrown into a tank or stream.Gāniga further occurs as an occupational name for Lingāyat oil-vendors, and for Mogers who are employed as oil-pressers.Ganta.—Ganta or Gantla, meaning a bell, has been recorded as an exogamous sept of Kamma and Balija. Gantelavāru, or men of the bell, is given by Mr. S. M. Natesa Sastri12as the family name of one section of the Donga (thieving) Dāsaris, and of the Kabbēras, who are said to join the ranks of this criminal class. Gantugāzula occurs, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Koracha. In the Vizagapatam Manual, the Tiragati Gantlavallu are described as repairing hand-mills, catching antelopes, and selling their skins.Ganti(a hole pierced in the ear-lobe).—An exogamous sept of Gūdala.Gāradi.—Gāradi or Gāradiga is the name of a class of mendicants in the Telugu country and Mysore who are snake-charmers, practice sleight of hand, and perform various juggling and mountebank tricks.Garappa(dry land).—A synonym of Challa Yānādi.Gatti.—A small caste of cultivators, found chiefly near Kumbla and Someswara in the Kasaragod tāluk of South Canara. Other names for the caste are Poladava and Holadava, both signifying men of the field. Like the Bants, they follow the aliya santāna law of inheritance (in the female line), have exogamous septs or balis, and, on the day of the final death ceremonies, construct car-like structures, if the deceased was an important personage in the community. The Bants and Gattis interdine, but do not intermarry. Theheadman of the Gattis is called Gurikāra. The God of the Someswara temple is regarded as the caste deity, and every family has to pay an annual fee of four annas to this temple. Failure to do so would entail excommunication.Gattu(bank or mound).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Gaud.—A title of Sādar.Gauda.—The Gaudas or Gaudos are a large caste of Canarese cultivators and cattle-breeders. “Gauda and Gaudo,” Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,13“are really two distinct castes, the former being Canarese and the latter Uriya. Each name is, however, spelt both ways. The two names are, I presume, etymologically the same. The ordinary derivation is from the Sanskrit go, a cow, but Dr. Gustav Oppert contends14that the root of Gauda is a Dravidian word meaning a mountain. Among the Canarese, and to a less extent among the Uriyas also, the word is used in an honorific sense, a custom which is difficult to account for if Dr. Oppert’s philology is correct.” “Gaudas,” Mr. Stuart writes further,15“also called Hālvaklumakkalu (children of the milk class), are very numerously represented in the South Canara district. They have a somewhat elaborate system of caste government. In every village there are two headmen, the Grāma Gauda and the Vattu or Gattu Gauda. For every group of eight or nine villages there is another head called the Māganē Gauda, and for every nine Māganēs there is a yet higher authority called the Kattēmanēyava. The caste is divided into eighteen baris or balis, which are of the usual exogamous character.The names of some of these are as follows: Bangāra (gold), Nandara, Malāra (a bundle of glass bangles, as carried about for sale), Sālu, Hemmana (pride or conceit), Kabru, Gōli (Portulaca oleracea, a pot-herb), Basruvōgaru (basru, belly), Balasanna, and Karmannāya. Marriage is usually adult, and sexual license before marriage with a member of the caste is tolerated, though nominally condemned. The dhārē form of marriage (seeBant) is used, but the bridal pair hold in their joined hands five betel leaves, one areca nut and four annas, and, after the water has been poured, the bridegroom ties a tāli to the neck of the bride. Divorce is permitted freely, and divorced wives and widows can marry again. A widow with children, however, should marry only her late husband’s elder brother. If she marries any one else, the members of her former husband’s family will not even drink water that has been touched by her. They burn their dead. On the third day, the ashes are made into the form of a man, which is cut in two, buried, and a mound made over it. In the house two planks are placed on the ground, and covered with a cloth. On one of these, a vessel containing milk is placed, and on the other a lamp, rice, cocoanut, pumpkin, etc., are deposited. The agnates and some boys go round the plank three times, and afterwards go to the mound, taking with them the various articles in a cloth. Three plantain leaves are spread in front of the mound, and cooked food, etc., placed thereon. Four posts are set up round the mound, and cloths stretched over them, and placed round the sides. On the sixteenth day, sixteen plantain leaves are placed in a row, and one leaf is laid apart. Cakes, cooked fowl’s flesh, toddy and arrack (liquor) are placed on the leaves in small leaf-cups. The assembled agnates then say “We have done everything as we should do, and soour ancestors who have died must take the man who is now dead to their regions. I put the leaf which is apart in the same row with the sixteen leaves.”“Once a year, in the month of Mituna (June-July), the Gaudas perform a ceremony for the propitiation of all deceased ancestors. They have a special preference for Venkatarāmaswāmi, to whom they make money offerings once a year in September. They employ Brāhmins to give them sacred water when they are under pollution, but they do not seek their services for ordinary ceremonies. They are, for the most part, farmers, but some few are labourers. The latter receive three or four seers of paddy a day as wages. Their house language is Tulu in some places, and Canarese in others, but all follow the ordinary system of inheritance, and not the custom of descent through females. Their title is Gauda.”As bearing on the superstitious beliefs of the people of South Canara, the following case, which was tried before the Sessions Judge in 1908, may be cited. A young Gauda girl became pregnant by her brother-in-law. After three days’ labour, the child was born. The accused, who was the mother of the girl, was the midwife. Finding the delivery very difficult, she sent for a person named Korapulu to come and help her. The child was, as they thought, still-born. On its head was a red protuberance like a ball; round each of its forearms were two or three red bands; the eyes and ears were fixed very high in the head; and the eyes, nose, and mouth were abnormally large. Korapulu and the girl’s younger sister at once carried the mother out of the out-house lest the devil child should do her harm or kill her. The accused called for a man named Isuf Saiba, who was standing in the yard outside. He came in, and she asked him to call some of the neighbours, to decidewhat to do. The child, she said, was a devil child, and must be cut and killed, lest it should devour its mother. While they were looking at the child, it began to move and roll its eyes about, and turn on the ground. It is a belief of the villagers that such a devil child, when born and brought in contact with the air, rapidly grows, and causes great trouble, usually killing the mother, and sometimes killing all the inmates of the house. The accused told Isuf Saiba to cover the child with a vessel, which he did. Then there was a sound from inside the vessel, either of the child moving or making some sound with its mouth. The accused then put her hand under the vessel, dragged the child half way out, and then, while Isuf Saiba pressed the edge of the earthenware vessel on the abdomen of the child, the accused took a knife, and cut the body in half. When the body was cut in two, there was no blood, but a mossy green liquid, or a black liquid, oozed out. The accused got two areca leaves, and put one piece of the child on one, and one on the other, and told Isuf Saiba to get a spade, and come and bury them. So they went out into the jungle close to the house, and Isuf Saiba dug two holes about half a yard deep, one on one hillock, and one on another. In these two holes the two pieces of the child were separately buried. The object of this was to prevent the two pieces joining together again, in which case the united devil child would have come out of the grave, and gone to kill its mother. The birth and death of this devil child were not kept secret, but were known throughout the village.Gauda or Gaudu further occurs as a title of Īdiga, Kuruba, and Vakkaliga, an exogamous sept and gōtra of Kuruba and Kurni, and a sub-division of Golla.Gaudi.—It is recorded, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, that a Maleru (temple servant) woman,who cohabits with one of a lower class than her own, is degraded into a Gaudi.Gaudo.—The Gaudos are described, in the Madras Census Reports, 1891 and 1901, as “the great pastoral caste of the Ganjam Oriyas. Like those of all the cowherd classes, its members say that they are descended from the Yādava tribe, in which Krishna was born (cf.Idaiyan). The majority of the Gaudos in the northern districts are now cultivators, but there is evidence that the keeping and breeding of cattle is their traditional occupation. The most important sub-division is Sollokhondia; many of them are herdsmen and milk-sellers. Fourteen sub-divisions have been reported. They are Apoto, Bēhara, Bolodiya, Dongāyato, Dumālo, Gōpopuriya, Kolāta, Komiriya, Kusilya, Lādia, Madhurāpurya, Mogotho, Pattilia, and Sollokhondia.” In the Census Report, 1871, it is noted that “there are many Gowdus of high social standing, who have gotten unto themselves much wealth in cattle. These men own, in many instances, large herds of buffaloes, which, being reared in the boundless pastures of the hills, are much prized by the cartmen of the low country for draught purposes.”Of the sub-division noted above, Bēhara is apparently a title only. Bolodiya is the name of a section of the Tellis, who use pack-bullocks (bolodi, a bull) for carrying grain about the country. Pattilia must be a mistake for Pachilia. The sections among the Gaudos which are recognised by all castes in the Ganjam district are Sollokhondia, Bhatta, Gōpopuriya, Madhurāpuriya, Mogotho, Apoto, and Pachilia. These, with the exception of Gōpopuriya and Madhurāpuriya, seem to be endogamous sub-divisions. The Bhatta Gaudos go by the name of Gōpopuriya in some places and Madhurāpuriya in others, both these names being connected withthe legendary history of the origin of the caste. The Apoto and Bhatta Gaudos are sometimes employed as palanquin-bearers. The Mogotho Gaudos, who live on the hills, are regarded as an inferior section, because they do not abstain from eating fowls. The Sollokhondia section is regarded as superior, and consequently all Oriya castes, Brāhman and non-Brāhman, will accept water at the hands of members thereof. An orthodox Oriya non-Brāhman, and all Oriya Brāhmans, will not receive water from Telugu or Tamil Brāhmans, whom they call Komma Brāhmans, Komma being a corrupt form of karma,i.e., Brāhmans who are strict in the observance of the various karmas (ceremonial rites).The Sollokhondia Gaudos are agriculturists, rear cattle and sheep, and sometimes earn a living by driving carts. They have gōtras, among which the most common are Moiro (peacock), Nāgasiro (cobra), and Kochimo (tortoise). Their caste council is presided over by a hereditary headman called Mahānkudo, who is assisted by a Bhollobaya, Desiya, and Khorsodha or Dhondia. The Khorsodha is the caste servant, and the Desiya eats with a delinquent who is received back into the fold after he has been tried by the council. The Sollokhondias are for the most part Paramarthos,i.e., followers of the Chaitanya form of Vaishnavism. They show a partiality for the worship of Jagannāthaswāmi, and various Tākurānis (village deities) are also reverenced. Bairāgis are the caste priests.The marriage prohibitions among the Sollokhondias are those which hold good among many Oriya castes, but marriage with the maternal uncle’s daughter (mēnarikam) is sometimes practiced. On the evening preceding the marriage day (bibha), after a feast, the bride and bridegroom’s parties go to a temple, taking withthem all the articles which are to be used in connection with the marriage ceremonial. On their way back, seven married girls, carrying seven vessels, go to seven houses, and beg water, which is used by the bridal couple for their baths on the following day. Either on the day before the wedding day, or on the bibha day, the bridegroom is shaved, and the bride’s nails are pared. Sometimes a little of the hair of her forehead is also cut off. The marriage rites do not materially differ from those of the Bhondāris (q.v.).The dead, excepting young children, are burnt. The eldest son carries a pot of fire to the burning ground. On the day following cremation, the mourners revisit the spot, and, after the fire has been extinguished, make an image of a man with the ashes on the spot where the corpse was burnt. To this image food is offered. Seven small flags, made of cloths dyed with turmeric, are stuck into the shoulders, abdomen, legs, and head of the image. A fragment of calcined bone is carried away, put into a lump of cow-dung, and kept near the house of the deceased, or near a tank (pond). On the ninth day after death, towards evening, a bamboo, split or spliced into four at one end, is set up in the ground outside the house beneath the projecting roof, and on it a pot filled with water is placed. On the spot where the deceased breathed his last, a lamp is kept. A hole is made in the bottom of the pot, and, after food has been offered to the dead man, the pot is thrown into a tank. On the tenth day, a ceremony is performed on a tank bund (embankment). The piece of bone, which has been preserved, is removed from its cow-dung case, and food, fruits, etc., are offered to it, and thrown into the tank. The bone is taken home, and buried near the house, food being offered to it until the twelfth day. Onthe eleventh day, all the agnates bathe, and are touched with ghī (clarified butter) as a sign of purification. Srādh (memorial service) is performed once a year on Sankarānthi (Pongal) day. Food, in the form of balls, is placed on leaves in the backyard, and offered to the ancestors. Some food is also thrown up into the air.All sections of the Gaudos have adopted infant marriage. If a girl fails to secure a husband before she attains puberty, she has to go through a form of marriage called dharma bibha, in which the bridegroom is, among the Sollokhondias, represented by an old man, preferably the girl’s grandfather, and among the other sections by a sahāda or shādi tree (Streblus asper) or an arrow (khando).Like various other Oriya castes, the Gaudos worship the goddess Lakshmi on Thursdays in the month of November, which are called Lakshmi varam, or Lakshmi’s day. The goddess is represented by a basket filled with grain, whereon some place a hair ball, which has been vomited by a cow. The ball is called gāya panghula, and is usually one or two inches in diameter. The owner of a cow which has vomited such a ball regards it as a propitious augury for the prosperity of his family. A feast is held on the day on which the ball is vomited, and, after the ball has been worshipped, it is carefully wrapped up, and kept in a box, in which it remains till it is required for further worship. Some people believe that the ball continues to grow year by year, and regard this as a very good sign. Bulls are said not to vomit the balls, and only very few cows do so.Gauliar.—A synonym for Lingāyat Gollas, or Kannadiyans.Gaundala.—A synonym of Gamalla.Gauri.—A division of Okkiliyan, named after Gauri, Siva’s consort. The equivalent Gaura occurs among the Kōmatis, and Gauriga among the Mēdaras. One division of the Kabbēras is called Gaurimakkalu, or sons of Gauri.Gautama.—A Brāhmanical gōtra adopted by Bhatrāzus, Khatris, and Kondaiyamkōttai Maravans. Gautama was a sage, and the husband of Ahalya, who was seduced by Indra.Gavala(cowry shell:Cypræa arabica).—An exogamous sept of Mādiga. A cotton thread string, with cowries strung on it, is one of the insignia of a Mādiga Mātangi.Gavalla.—A synonym for Gamalla.Gavara.—It is noted, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, that “this caste is practically confined to the Vizagapatam district, and they have been classed as cultivators on the strength of a statement to that effect in the District Manual. Gavara is, however, an important sub-division of Kōmatis (traders), and these Gavaras are probably in reality Gavara Kōmatis. These are so called after Gauri, the patron deity of this caste.”For the following note I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. A tradition is current that the Gavaras originally lived at Vēngi, the ancient capital of the Eastern Chālukyan kings, the ruins of which are near Ellore in the Godāvari district. The king was desirous of seeing one of their women, who was gōsha (in seclusion), but to this they would not consent. Under orders from the king, their houses were set on fire. Some of them bolted themselves in, and perished bravely, while others locked up their women in big boxes, and escaped with them to the coast. They immediately set sail, and landed at Pūdimadaka in theAnakāpalli tāluk. Thence they marched as far as Kondakirla, near which they founded the village of Wādapalli or Wōdapalli, meaning the village of the people who came in boats. They then built another village called Gavarla Anakāpalli. They received an invitation from king Pāyaka Rao, the founder of Anakāpalli, and, moving northwards, established themselves at what is now known as Gavarapēta in the town of Anakāpalli. They began the foundation of the village auspiciously by consecrating and planting the sandra karra (Acacia sundra), which is not affected by ‘white-ants,’ instead of the pāla karra (Mimusops hexandra), which is generally used for this purpose. Consequently, Anakāpalli has always flourished.The Gavaras speak Telugu, and, like other Telugu castes, have various exogamous septs or intipērulu.Girls are married either before or after puberty. The custom of mēnarikam, by which a man marries his maternal uncle’s daughter, is in force, and it is said that he may also marry his sister’s daughter. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a woman who has had seven husbands is known as Beththamma, and is much respected.Some Gavaras are Vaishnavites, and others Saivites, but difference in religion is no bar to intermarriage. Both sections worship the village deities, to whom animal sacrifices are offered. The Vaishnavites show special reverence to Jagganāthaswāmi of Orissa, whose shrine is visited by some, while others take vows in the name of this god. On the day on which the car festival is celebrated at Pūri, local car festivals are held in Gavara villages, and women carry out the performance of their vows. A woman, for example, who is under a vow, in order that she may be cured of illness or bearchildren, takes a big pot of water, and, placing it on her head, dances frantically before the god, through whose influence the water, which rises out of the pot, falls back into it, instead of being spilt.The Vaishnavites are burnt, and the Saivites buried in a sitting posture. The usual chinna (little) and pedda rōzu (big day) death ceremonies are performed.Men wear a gold bangle on the left wrist, and another on the right arm. Women wear a silver bangle on the right wrist, and a bracelet of real or imitation coral, which is first worn at the time of marriage, on the left wrist. They throw the end of their body-cloth over the left shoulder. They do not, like women of other non-Brāhman castes in the Vizagapatam district, smoke cigars.The original occupation of the caste is said to have been trading, and this may account for the number of exogamous septs which are named after Settis (traders). At the present day, the Gavaras are agriculturists, and they have the reputation of being very hard-working, and among the best agriculturists in the Vizagapatam district. The women travel long distances in order to sell vegetables, milk, curds, and other produce.The caste titles are Anna, Ayya, and occasionally Nāyudu.Gāya(cow).—An exogamous sept of Kondra.Gayinta.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small caste of hill cultivators, speaking Oriya and Telugu. The name is said to be derived from gayinti, an iron digging implement. Gayinta is reported to be the same as Gaintia, a name of Enētis or Entamaras.Gāzula.—Gāzula or Gazul (glass bangle) has been recorded as a sub-division of Balija, Kāpu, and Toreya. The Gāzula Balijas make glass bangles. The Toreyashave a tradition that they originated from the bangles of Machyagandhi, the daughter of a fisherman on the Jumna, who was married to king Shantanu of Hastinapūr.Gēdala(buffaloes).—A sept of Bonthuk Savara.Geddam(beard).—An exogamous sept of Bōya and Padma Sālē.Gejjala(bells tied to the legs while dancing).—An exogamous sept of Balija and Korava.Gejjēgāra.—A sub-caste of the Canarese Pānchālas. They are described, in the Mysore Census Report, 1891, as makers of small round bells (gungru), which are used for decorating the head or neck of bullocks, and tied by dancing-girls round their ankles when dancing.Gennēru(sweet-scented oleander).—An exogamous sept of Bōya.Gentoo.—Gentoo or Jentu, as returned at times of census, is stated to be a general term applied to Balijas and Telugu speaking Sūdras generally. The word is said by Yule and Burnell16to be “a corruption of the Portuguese Gentio, a gentile or heathen, which they applied to the Hindus in contradistinction to the Moros or Moors,i.e., Mahomedans. The reason why the term became specifically applied to the Telugu people is probably because, when the Portuguese arrived, the Telugu monarchy of Vijayanagar was dominant over a great part of the peninsula.” In a letter written from prison to Sir Philip Francis, Rājah Nuncomar referred to the fact that “among the English gentry, Armenians, Moores and Gentoos, few there is who is not against me.” Gentoo still survives as a caste name in the Madras Quarterly Civil List (1906).Ghair-i-Mahdī.—The name, meaning without Mahdī, of a sect of Muhammadans, who affirm that the Imām Mahdī has come and gone, while orthodox Muhammadans hold that he is yet to come.Ghāsi.—SeeHaddi.Ghontoro.—A small caste of Oriyas, who manufacture brass and bell-metal rings and bangles for the hill people. The name is derived from ghonto, a bell-metal plate.Gidda(vulture).—A sept of Poroja.Gikkili(rattle).—A gōtra of Kurni.Giri Rāzu.—A contraction of Puragiri Rāzu or Puragiri Kshatriya, by which names some Perikes style themselves.Goa.—A sub-division of Kudubis, who are said to have emigrated from Goa to South Canara.Gō Brāhman.—A name given to Brāhmans by Kammālans, who style themselves Visva Brāhmans.Gōdagula.—The Gōdagulas are recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being the same as the Gūdalas, who are a Telugu caste of basket-makers. According to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao, to whom I am indebted for the following note, they are a distinct caste, speaking Oriya, and sometimes calling themselves Oddē (Oriya) Mēdara. Like the Mēdaras, they work in split bamboo, and make sundry articles which are not made by other castes who work in this medium. Unlike the Gūdalas, they are a polluting class, and have the following legend to account for their social degradation. God told them to make winnows and other articles for divine worship. This, they did, and, after they had delivered them, they attended a marriage feast, at which they eat flesh and drank liquor. On their return, God called on them to vomit the food which they had partaken of, andthey accordingly brought up the meat and drink, whereon God cursed them, saying “Begone, you have eaten forbidden food.” They craved for forgiveness, but were told in future to earn their living as bamboo-workers. The custom of mēnarikam, according to which a man should marry his maternal uncle’s daughter, is so rigidly enforced that, if the uncle refuses to give his daughter in marriage, the man has a right to carry her off, and then pay a fine, the amount of which is fixed by the caste council. A portion thereof is given to the girl’s parents, and the remainder spent on a caste feast. If the maternal uncle has no daughter, a man may, according to the ēduru (or reversed) mēnarikam custom, marry his paternal aunt’s daughter. Six months before the marriage ceremony takes place, the pasupu (turmeric) ceremony is performed. The bridegroom’s family pay six rupees to the bride’s family, to provide the girl with turmeric, wherewith she adorns herself. On the day fixed for the wedding, the parents of the bridegroom go with a few of the elders to the bride’s house, and couple the request to take away the girl with payment of nine rupees and a new cloth. Of the money thus given, eight rupees go to the bride’s parents, and the remainder to the caste. The bride is conducted to the home of the bridegroom, who meets her at the pandal (booth) erected in front of his house. They are bathed with turmeric water, and sacred threads are put on their shoulders by the Kula Maistri who officiates as priest. The couple then play with seven cowry (Cyprœa arabica) shells, and, if the shells fall with the slit downwards, the bride is said to have won; otherwise the bridegroom is the winner. This is followed by the mūdu ākula hōmam, or sacrifice of three leaves. A new pot, containing a lighted wick, is placed before thecouple. On it are thrown leaves of the rāyi āku (Ficus religiosa), marri āku (Ficus Bengalensis), and juvvi āku (Ficus Tsiela). The Kula Maistri of the bridegroom’s party spreads out his right hand over the mouth of the pot. On it the bride places her hand. The bridegroom then places his hand on hers, and the Kula Maistri of the bride’s village puts his hand on that of the bridegroom. The elders then call out in a loud voice “Know, caste people of Vaddādi Mādugula; know, caste people of Kimedi; know, caste people of Gunupuram and Godairi; know, caste people of all the twelve countries, that this man and woman have become husband and wife, and that the elders have ratified the ceremony.” The contracting couple then throw rice over each other. On the morning of the following day, the saragatha ceremony is performed. The bridegroom’s party repair to the bank of the local stream, where they are met by the caste people, who are presented with betel, a cheroot, and a pot of jaggery (crude sugar) water as cool drink. The sacred threads worn by the bride and bridegroom are removed at the conclusion of the marriage ceremonies. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother, orvice versâ. Divorce is also allowed, and a divorcée may remarry. Her new husband has to pay a sum of money, a portion of which goes to the first husband, while the remainder is devoted to a caste feast. The dead are burnt, and the chinna rōzu (little day) death ceremony is observed.Gōda-jāti(wall people).—A sub-division of Kammas. The name has reference to a deadly struggle at Gandikōta, in which some escaped by hiding behind a wall.Gōda-poose(wall polishing).—An exogamous sept of Tsākala.Gōdāri.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as Telugu leather-workers in Ganjam and Vizagapatam. They are stated, in the Vizagapatam Manual, to make and sell slippers in that district. Gōdāri is, I gather, a synonym of Mādiga, and not a separate caste.Goddali(spade or axe).—An exogamous sept of Oddē and Panta Reddi.Gōdomālia(belonging to, or a group of forts).—A sub-division of Bhondāri, the members of which act as barbers to Rājahs who reside in forts.Gōlaka.—Recorded in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a name meaning bastard, and clubbed with the Moilis, or temple servants in South Canara descended from dancing-girls. In the Mysore Census Report, 1901, it is defined as a term applied to the children of Brāhmans by Malerus, or temple servants.Gōli(Portulaca oleracea: a pot-herb).—An exogamous sept of Gauda.Gōlkonda.—A sub-division of Tsākala.Golla.—“The Gollas,” Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,17“are the great pastoral caste of the Telugu people. The traditions of the caste give a descent from the god Krishna, whose sportings with the milk maids play a prominent part in Hindu mythology. The hereditary occupation of the Gollas is tending sheep and cattle, and selling milk, but many of them have now acquired lands and are engaged in farming, and some are in Government service. They are quiet, inoffensive, and comparatively honest. In the time of the Nabobs, this last characteristic secured to them the privilege of guarding and carrying treasure, and one sub-division, Bokhasa Gollas, owes its origin to this service. Evennow those who are employed in packing and lifting bags of money in the district treasuries are called Gollas, though they belong to other castes. As a fact they do hold a respectable position, and, though poor, are not looked down upon, for they tend the sacred cow. Sometimes they assert a claim to be regarded as representatives of the Gō-Vaisya division. Their title is Mandādi, but it is not commonly used.” Mr. Stuart writes further18that “the social status of the Gollas is fairly high, for they are allowed to mix freely with the Kāpu, Kamma, and Balija castes, and the Brāhmans will take buttermilk from their hands. They employ Sātānis as their priests. In their ceremonies there is not much difference between them and the Kāpus. The name Golla is generally supposed to be a shortened form of Sanskrit Gōpāla” (protector of cows). The Gollas also call themselves Kōnānulu, or Kōnarlu, and, like the Tamil Idaiyans, sometimes have the title Kōnar. Other titles in common use are Anna, Ayya, and occasionally Nayudu.In the Manual of the Kurnool district, it is stated that the Gollas “keep sheep, and sell milk and ghī (clarified butter). They eat and mess with the Balijas, and other high caste Sūdras; but, unlike their brethren of the south, in the matter of street processions, they are classed with goldsmiths, or the left-hand section. When any one is reduced to poverty, the others give him each a sheep, and restore his flock. They occasionally dedicate their girls to Venkatēsa as Basavis” (prostitutes).It is noted, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that “in the country round Mādgole, legends are still recounted of a line of local Golla chieftains, whogave their name to Golgonda, and built the forts, of which traces still survive in those parts”. Each Telugu New Year’s day, it is stated, Gollas come across from Godāvari, and go round the Golla villages, reciting the names of the progenitors of the fallen line, and exhibiting paintings illustrative of their overthrow.“At Vajragada (diamond fort) are the ruins of a very large fortress, and local tradition gives the names of seven forts, by which it was once defended. These are said to have been constructed by the Golla kings. A tale is told of their having kidnapped a daughter of the ruler of Mādgole, and held out here against his attacks for months, until they were betrayed by a woman of their own caste, who showed the enemy how to cut off their water-supply. They then slew their womenkind, says the story, dashed out against the besiegers, and fell to a man, fighting to the last.”Concerning the Gollas of Mysore, I gather19that “there are two main divisions in this caste, viz., Ūru (village) and Kādu (forest). The two neither intermarry, nor eat together. A section of the Gollas, by guarding treasure while on transit, have earned the name of Dhanapāla. In fact, one of the menial offices in Government treasuries at the present day is that of Golla. The caste worships Krishna, who was born in this caste. The Kādu Gollas are said to have originally immigrated from Northern India, and are still a nomadic tribe, living in thatched huts outside the villages. Some of their social customs are akin to those of the Kādu Kurubas. It is said that, on the occurrence of a childbirth, the mother with the babe remains unattended in a small shed outside the village from seven to thirty days,when she is taken back to her home. In the event of her illness, none of the caste will attend on her, but a Nāyak (Bēda) woman is engaged to do so. Marriages among them are likewise performed in a temporary shed erected outside the village, and the attendant festivities continue for five days, when the marriage couple are brought into the village. The Golla is allowed to marry as many wives as he likes, and puberty is no bar to marriage. They eat flesh, and drink spirituous liquors. The wife cannot be divorced except for adultery. Their females do not wear the bodice (ravikē) usually put on by the women of the country. Nor do they, in their widowhood, remove or break the glass bangles worn at the wrists, as is done in other castes. But widows are not allowed to remarry. Only 98 persons have returned gōtras, the chief being Yādava, Karadi, Atrēya, and Amswasa. The first two are really sub-sects, while Atrēya is the name of a Brāhmin Rishi.” Yādava, or descendant of King Yādu, from whom Krishna was descended, also occurs as a synonym for Idaiyan, the great Tamil shepherd class.Golla juggler.Golla juggler.Concerning the Adivi, or forest Gollas, Mr. F. Fawcett writes as follows.20“The people of every house in the village let loose a sheep, to wander whither it will, as a sort of perpetual scapegoat. When a woman feels the first pains of labour, she is turned out of the village into a little leaf or mat hut about two hundred yards away. In this hut she must bring forth her offspring unaided, unless a midwife can be called in to be with her before the child is born. For ninety days the woman lives in the hut by herself. If any one touches her, he or she is, like the woman, outcasted, and turnedout of the village for three months. The woman’s husband generally makes a little hut about fifty yards from her, and watches over her; but he may not go near her on pain of being outcasted for three months. Food is placed on the ground near the woman’s hut, and she takes it. On the fourth day after parturition, a woman of the village goes to her, and pours water on her, but she must not come in contact with her. On the fifth day, the village people clear of stones and thorny bushes a little bit of ground about ten yards on the village side of the hut, and to this place the woman removes her hut. No one can do it for her, or help her. On the ninth, fifteenth, and thirtieth days, she removes the hut in the same way nearer to the village, and, again, once in each of the two following months. On the ninetieth day, the headman of the village calls the woman to come out of the hut. The dhōbi (washerman) then washes her clothes. She puts on clean clothes, and the headman takes her to the temple of their tutelary deity Junjappa, where the caste pūjari breaks cocoanuts, and then accompanies her to her house, where a purificatory ceremony is performed. Junjappa, it is said, takes good care of the mother and child, so that death is said to be unknown.”It is stated21that, in the Chitaldrūg district of Mysore, “the wife of the eldest son in every family is not permitted to clean herself with water after obeying the calls of nature. It is an article of their belief that their flocks will otherwise not prosper.”Writing in the early part of the last century about the Gollas, Buchanan informs us that “this caste has a particular duty, the transporting of money, both belongingto the public and to individuals. It is said that they may be safely intrusted with any sum; for, each man carrying a certain value, they travel in bodies numerous in proportion to the sum put under their charge; and they consider themselves bound in honour to die in defence of their trust. Of course, they defend themselves vigorously, and are all armed; so that robbers never venture to attack them. They have hereditary chiefs called Gotugaru, who with the usual council settle all disputes, and punish all transgressions against the rules of caste. The most flagrant is the embezzlement of money entrusted to their care. On this crime being proved against any of the caste, the Gotugaru applies to Amildar, or civil magistrate, and having obtained his leave, immediately causes the delinquent to be shot. Smaller offences are atoned for by the guilty person giving an entertainment.”The Golla caste has many sub-divisions, of which the following are examples:—Erra or Yerra (red). Said to be the descendants of a Brāhman by a Golla woman.Āla or Mēkala, who tend sheep and goats.Pūja or Puni.Gangeddu, who exhibit performing bulls.Gauda, who, in Vizagapatam, visit the western part of the district during the summer months, and settle outside the villages. They tend their herds, and sell milk and curds to the villagers.Karna.Pākanāti.Rācha (royal).Peddeti. Mostly beggars, and considered low in the social scale, though when questioned concerning themselves they say they are Yerra Gollas.At the census, 1901, the following were returned as sub-castes of the Gollas:—Dayyālakulam (wrestlers), Perike Muggalu or Mushti Golla (beggars and exorcists), Podapōtula (who beg from Gollas), Gavādi, and Vadugāyan, a Tamil synonym for Gollas in Tinnevelly. Another Tamil synonym for Golla is Bokhisha Vadugar (treasury northerners). Golla has been given as a sub-division of Dāsaris and Chakkiliyans, and Golla Woddar (Oddē) as a synonym of a thief class in the Telugu country. In a village near Dummagudem in the Godāvari district, the Rev. J. Cain writes,22are “a few families of Bāsava Gollalu. I find they are really Kois, whose grandfathers had a quarrel with, and separated from, their neighbours. Some of the present members of the families are anxious to be re-admitted to the society and privileges of the neighbouring Kois. The word Bāsava is commonly said to be derived from bhāsha, a language, and the Gollas of this class are said to have been so called in consequence of their speaking a different language from the rest of the Gollas.”Like many other Telugu castes, the Gollas have exogamous septs or intipēru, and gōtras. As examples of the former, the following may be quoted:—Agni, fire.Āvula, cows.Chinthala, tamarind.Chevvula, ears.Gundala, stones.Gurram, horse.Gorrela, sheep.Gōrantla, henna (Lawsonia alba).Kōkala, woman’s cloth.Katāri, dagger.Mūgi, dumb.Nakkala, jackal.Saddikūdu, cold rice or food.Sēvala, service.Ullipōyala, onions.Vankāyala, brinjal (Solanum melongena).Some of these sept names occur among other classes, as follows:—Āvula, Balijas, Kāpus, and Yerukalas.Chinthala, Dēvāngas, Kōmatis, Mālas, and Mādigas.Gōrantla, Padma Sālēs.Gorrela, Kammas, Kāpus.Gurram, Mālas, Padma Sālēs, and Tōgatas.Nakkala, Kāttu Marāthis, and Yānādis.Those who belong to the Rāghindala (Ficus religiosa) gōtra are not allowed to use the leaves of the sacred fig or pīpal tree as plates for their food. Members of the Pālāvili gōtra never construct pālāvili, or small booths, inside the house for the purpose of worship. Those who belong to the Akshathayya gōtra are said to avoid rice coloured with turmeric or other powder (akshantalu). Members of the Kommi, Jammi, and Mūshti gōtras avoid using the kommi tree,Prosopis spicigera, andStrychnos Nux-vomicarespectively.Of the various sub-divisions, the Pūja Gollas claim superiority over the others. Their origin is traced to Simhādri Rāju, who is supposed to have been a descendant of Yayāthi Rāja of the Mahābaratha. Yayāthi had six sons, the last of whom had a son named Kariyāvala, whose descendants were as follows:—

Gānga bride and bridegroom.Gānga bride and bridegroom.

Gānga bride and bridegroom.

The marriage rites conform, for the most part, to the Telugu type. But, while the wrist thread is being tied on, common salt is held in the hand. A dagger (bāku) is then given to the bridegroom, who keeps it with him till the conclusion of the ceremonies. On the wedding day, the bridegroom wears the sacred thread. The tāli is not an ordinary bottu, but a thread composed of 101 thin strings, which is removed on the last day, and replaced by a bottu. On the third day, the bride and bridegroom worship a jammi tree (Prosopis spicigera), and the latter, removing his sacred thread, throws it on the tree. Five young men, called Bāla Dāsulu, also worship the tree, and, if they are wearing the sacred thread, throw it thereon. The dead are as a rule buried, in a sitting posture if the deceased was an orthodox Saivite. If a young man dies a bachelor, the corpse is married to an arka plant (Calotropis gigantea), and decorated with a wreath made of the flowers thereof. The final death ceremonies are performed on the eleventh day. Food is offered to crows and the soul of the dead person, who is represented by a wooden post dressed with his clothes. The bangles of a widow are brokennear the post, which is finally thrown into a tank or stream.

Gāniga further occurs as an occupational name for Lingāyat oil-vendors, and for Mogers who are employed as oil-pressers.

Ganta.—Ganta or Gantla, meaning a bell, has been recorded as an exogamous sept of Kamma and Balija. Gantelavāru, or men of the bell, is given by Mr. S. M. Natesa Sastri12as the family name of one section of the Donga (thieving) Dāsaris, and of the Kabbēras, who are said to join the ranks of this criminal class. Gantugāzula occurs, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Koracha. In the Vizagapatam Manual, the Tiragati Gantlavallu are described as repairing hand-mills, catching antelopes, and selling their skins.

Ganti(a hole pierced in the ear-lobe).—An exogamous sept of Gūdala.

Gāradi.—Gāradi or Gāradiga is the name of a class of mendicants in the Telugu country and Mysore who are snake-charmers, practice sleight of hand, and perform various juggling and mountebank tricks.

Garappa(dry land).—A synonym of Challa Yānādi.

Gatti.—A small caste of cultivators, found chiefly near Kumbla and Someswara in the Kasaragod tāluk of South Canara. Other names for the caste are Poladava and Holadava, both signifying men of the field. Like the Bants, they follow the aliya santāna law of inheritance (in the female line), have exogamous septs or balis, and, on the day of the final death ceremonies, construct car-like structures, if the deceased was an important personage in the community. The Bants and Gattis interdine, but do not intermarry. Theheadman of the Gattis is called Gurikāra. The God of the Someswara temple is regarded as the caste deity, and every family has to pay an annual fee of four annas to this temple. Failure to do so would entail excommunication.

Gattu(bank or mound).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.

Gaud.—A title of Sādar.

Gauda.—The Gaudas or Gaudos are a large caste of Canarese cultivators and cattle-breeders. “Gauda and Gaudo,” Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,13“are really two distinct castes, the former being Canarese and the latter Uriya. Each name is, however, spelt both ways. The two names are, I presume, etymologically the same. The ordinary derivation is from the Sanskrit go, a cow, but Dr. Gustav Oppert contends14that the root of Gauda is a Dravidian word meaning a mountain. Among the Canarese, and to a less extent among the Uriyas also, the word is used in an honorific sense, a custom which is difficult to account for if Dr. Oppert’s philology is correct.” “Gaudas,” Mr. Stuart writes further,15“also called Hālvaklumakkalu (children of the milk class), are very numerously represented in the South Canara district. They have a somewhat elaborate system of caste government. In every village there are two headmen, the Grāma Gauda and the Vattu or Gattu Gauda. For every group of eight or nine villages there is another head called the Māganē Gauda, and for every nine Māganēs there is a yet higher authority called the Kattēmanēyava. The caste is divided into eighteen baris or balis, which are of the usual exogamous character.The names of some of these are as follows: Bangāra (gold), Nandara, Malāra (a bundle of glass bangles, as carried about for sale), Sālu, Hemmana (pride or conceit), Kabru, Gōli (Portulaca oleracea, a pot-herb), Basruvōgaru (basru, belly), Balasanna, and Karmannāya. Marriage is usually adult, and sexual license before marriage with a member of the caste is tolerated, though nominally condemned. The dhārē form of marriage (seeBant) is used, but the bridal pair hold in their joined hands five betel leaves, one areca nut and four annas, and, after the water has been poured, the bridegroom ties a tāli to the neck of the bride. Divorce is permitted freely, and divorced wives and widows can marry again. A widow with children, however, should marry only her late husband’s elder brother. If she marries any one else, the members of her former husband’s family will not even drink water that has been touched by her. They burn their dead. On the third day, the ashes are made into the form of a man, which is cut in two, buried, and a mound made over it. In the house two planks are placed on the ground, and covered with a cloth. On one of these, a vessel containing milk is placed, and on the other a lamp, rice, cocoanut, pumpkin, etc., are deposited. The agnates and some boys go round the plank three times, and afterwards go to the mound, taking with them the various articles in a cloth. Three plantain leaves are spread in front of the mound, and cooked food, etc., placed thereon. Four posts are set up round the mound, and cloths stretched over them, and placed round the sides. On the sixteenth day, sixteen plantain leaves are placed in a row, and one leaf is laid apart. Cakes, cooked fowl’s flesh, toddy and arrack (liquor) are placed on the leaves in small leaf-cups. The assembled agnates then say “We have done everything as we should do, and soour ancestors who have died must take the man who is now dead to their regions. I put the leaf which is apart in the same row with the sixteen leaves.”

“Once a year, in the month of Mituna (June-July), the Gaudas perform a ceremony for the propitiation of all deceased ancestors. They have a special preference for Venkatarāmaswāmi, to whom they make money offerings once a year in September. They employ Brāhmins to give them sacred water when they are under pollution, but they do not seek their services for ordinary ceremonies. They are, for the most part, farmers, but some few are labourers. The latter receive three or four seers of paddy a day as wages. Their house language is Tulu in some places, and Canarese in others, but all follow the ordinary system of inheritance, and not the custom of descent through females. Their title is Gauda.”

As bearing on the superstitious beliefs of the people of South Canara, the following case, which was tried before the Sessions Judge in 1908, may be cited. A young Gauda girl became pregnant by her brother-in-law. After three days’ labour, the child was born. The accused, who was the mother of the girl, was the midwife. Finding the delivery very difficult, she sent for a person named Korapulu to come and help her. The child was, as they thought, still-born. On its head was a red protuberance like a ball; round each of its forearms were two or three red bands; the eyes and ears were fixed very high in the head; and the eyes, nose, and mouth were abnormally large. Korapulu and the girl’s younger sister at once carried the mother out of the out-house lest the devil child should do her harm or kill her. The accused called for a man named Isuf Saiba, who was standing in the yard outside. He came in, and she asked him to call some of the neighbours, to decidewhat to do. The child, she said, was a devil child, and must be cut and killed, lest it should devour its mother. While they were looking at the child, it began to move and roll its eyes about, and turn on the ground. It is a belief of the villagers that such a devil child, when born and brought in contact with the air, rapidly grows, and causes great trouble, usually killing the mother, and sometimes killing all the inmates of the house. The accused told Isuf Saiba to cover the child with a vessel, which he did. Then there was a sound from inside the vessel, either of the child moving or making some sound with its mouth. The accused then put her hand under the vessel, dragged the child half way out, and then, while Isuf Saiba pressed the edge of the earthenware vessel on the abdomen of the child, the accused took a knife, and cut the body in half. When the body was cut in two, there was no blood, but a mossy green liquid, or a black liquid, oozed out. The accused got two areca leaves, and put one piece of the child on one, and one on the other, and told Isuf Saiba to get a spade, and come and bury them. So they went out into the jungle close to the house, and Isuf Saiba dug two holes about half a yard deep, one on one hillock, and one on another. In these two holes the two pieces of the child were separately buried. The object of this was to prevent the two pieces joining together again, in which case the united devil child would have come out of the grave, and gone to kill its mother. The birth and death of this devil child were not kept secret, but were known throughout the village.

Gauda or Gaudu further occurs as a title of Īdiga, Kuruba, and Vakkaliga, an exogamous sept and gōtra of Kuruba and Kurni, and a sub-division of Golla.

Gaudi.—It is recorded, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, that a Maleru (temple servant) woman,who cohabits with one of a lower class than her own, is degraded into a Gaudi.

Gaudo.—The Gaudos are described, in the Madras Census Reports, 1891 and 1901, as “the great pastoral caste of the Ganjam Oriyas. Like those of all the cowherd classes, its members say that they are descended from the Yādava tribe, in which Krishna was born (cf.Idaiyan). The majority of the Gaudos in the northern districts are now cultivators, but there is evidence that the keeping and breeding of cattle is their traditional occupation. The most important sub-division is Sollokhondia; many of them are herdsmen and milk-sellers. Fourteen sub-divisions have been reported. They are Apoto, Bēhara, Bolodiya, Dongāyato, Dumālo, Gōpopuriya, Kolāta, Komiriya, Kusilya, Lādia, Madhurāpurya, Mogotho, Pattilia, and Sollokhondia.” In the Census Report, 1871, it is noted that “there are many Gowdus of high social standing, who have gotten unto themselves much wealth in cattle. These men own, in many instances, large herds of buffaloes, which, being reared in the boundless pastures of the hills, are much prized by the cartmen of the low country for draught purposes.”

Of the sub-division noted above, Bēhara is apparently a title only. Bolodiya is the name of a section of the Tellis, who use pack-bullocks (bolodi, a bull) for carrying grain about the country. Pattilia must be a mistake for Pachilia. The sections among the Gaudos which are recognised by all castes in the Ganjam district are Sollokhondia, Bhatta, Gōpopuriya, Madhurāpuriya, Mogotho, Apoto, and Pachilia. These, with the exception of Gōpopuriya and Madhurāpuriya, seem to be endogamous sub-divisions. The Bhatta Gaudos go by the name of Gōpopuriya in some places and Madhurāpuriya in others, both these names being connected withthe legendary history of the origin of the caste. The Apoto and Bhatta Gaudos are sometimes employed as palanquin-bearers. The Mogotho Gaudos, who live on the hills, are regarded as an inferior section, because they do not abstain from eating fowls. The Sollokhondia section is regarded as superior, and consequently all Oriya castes, Brāhman and non-Brāhman, will accept water at the hands of members thereof. An orthodox Oriya non-Brāhman, and all Oriya Brāhmans, will not receive water from Telugu or Tamil Brāhmans, whom they call Komma Brāhmans, Komma being a corrupt form of karma,i.e., Brāhmans who are strict in the observance of the various karmas (ceremonial rites).

The Sollokhondia Gaudos are agriculturists, rear cattle and sheep, and sometimes earn a living by driving carts. They have gōtras, among which the most common are Moiro (peacock), Nāgasiro (cobra), and Kochimo (tortoise). Their caste council is presided over by a hereditary headman called Mahānkudo, who is assisted by a Bhollobaya, Desiya, and Khorsodha or Dhondia. The Khorsodha is the caste servant, and the Desiya eats with a delinquent who is received back into the fold after he has been tried by the council. The Sollokhondias are for the most part Paramarthos,i.e., followers of the Chaitanya form of Vaishnavism. They show a partiality for the worship of Jagannāthaswāmi, and various Tākurānis (village deities) are also reverenced. Bairāgis are the caste priests.

The marriage prohibitions among the Sollokhondias are those which hold good among many Oriya castes, but marriage with the maternal uncle’s daughter (mēnarikam) is sometimes practiced. On the evening preceding the marriage day (bibha), after a feast, the bride and bridegroom’s parties go to a temple, taking withthem all the articles which are to be used in connection with the marriage ceremonial. On their way back, seven married girls, carrying seven vessels, go to seven houses, and beg water, which is used by the bridal couple for their baths on the following day. Either on the day before the wedding day, or on the bibha day, the bridegroom is shaved, and the bride’s nails are pared. Sometimes a little of the hair of her forehead is also cut off. The marriage rites do not materially differ from those of the Bhondāris (q.v.).

The dead, excepting young children, are burnt. The eldest son carries a pot of fire to the burning ground. On the day following cremation, the mourners revisit the spot, and, after the fire has been extinguished, make an image of a man with the ashes on the spot where the corpse was burnt. To this image food is offered. Seven small flags, made of cloths dyed with turmeric, are stuck into the shoulders, abdomen, legs, and head of the image. A fragment of calcined bone is carried away, put into a lump of cow-dung, and kept near the house of the deceased, or near a tank (pond). On the ninth day after death, towards evening, a bamboo, split or spliced into four at one end, is set up in the ground outside the house beneath the projecting roof, and on it a pot filled with water is placed. On the spot where the deceased breathed his last, a lamp is kept. A hole is made in the bottom of the pot, and, after food has been offered to the dead man, the pot is thrown into a tank. On the tenth day, a ceremony is performed on a tank bund (embankment). The piece of bone, which has been preserved, is removed from its cow-dung case, and food, fruits, etc., are offered to it, and thrown into the tank. The bone is taken home, and buried near the house, food being offered to it until the twelfth day. Onthe eleventh day, all the agnates bathe, and are touched with ghī (clarified butter) as a sign of purification. Srādh (memorial service) is performed once a year on Sankarānthi (Pongal) day. Food, in the form of balls, is placed on leaves in the backyard, and offered to the ancestors. Some food is also thrown up into the air.

All sections of the Gaudos have adopted infant marriage. If a girl fails to secure a husband before she attains puberty, she has to go through a form of marriage called dharma bibha, in which the bridegroom is, among the Sollokhondias, represented by an old man, preferably the girl’s grandfather, and among the other sections by a sahāda or shādi tree (Streblus asper) or an arrow (khando).

Like various other Oriya castes, the Gaudos worship the goddess Lakshmi on Thursdays in the month of November, which are called Lakshmi varam, or Lakshmi’s day. The goddess is represented by a basket filled with grain, whereon some place a hair ball, which has been vomited by a cow. The ball is called gāya panghula, and is usually one or two inches in diameter. The owner of a cow which has vomited such a ball regards it as a propitious augury for the prosperity of his family. A feast is held on the day on which the ball is vomited, and, after the ball has been worshipped, it is carefully wrapped up, and kept in a box, in which it remains till it is required for further worship. Some people believe that the ball continues to grow year by year, and regard this as a very good sign. Bulls are said not to vomit the balls, and only very few cows do so.

Gauliar.—A synonym for Lingāyat Gollas, or Kannadiyans.

Gaundala.—A synonym of Gamalla.

Gauri.—A division of Okkiliyan, named after Gauri, Siva’s consort. The equivalent Gaura occurs among the Kōmatis, and Gauriga among the Mēdaras. One division of the Kabbēras is called Gaurimakkalu, or sons of Gauri.

Gautama.—A Brāhmanical gōtra adopted by Bhatrāzus, Khatris, and Kondaiyamkōttai Maravans. Gautama was a sage, and the husband of Ahalya, who was seduced by Indra.

Gavala(cowry shell:Cypræa arabica).—An exogamous sept of Mādiga. A cotton thread string, with cowries strung on it, is one of the insignia of a Mādiga Mātangi.

Gavalla.—A synonym for Gamalla.

Gavara.—It is noted, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, that “this caste is practically confined to the Vizagapatam district, and they have been classed as cultivators on the strength of a statement to that effect in the District Manual. Gavara is, however, an important sub-division of Kōmatis (traders), and these Gavaras are probably in reality Gavara Kōmatis. These are so called after Gauri, the patron deity of this caste.”

For the following note I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. A tradition is current that the Gavaras originally lived at Vēngi, the ancient capital of the Eastern Chālukyan kings, the ruins of which are near Ellore in the Godāvari district. The king was desirous of seeing one of their women, who was gōsha (in seclusion), but to this they would not consent. Under orders from the king, their houses were set on fire. Some of them bolted themselves in, and perished bravely, while others locked up their women in big boxes, and escaped with them to the coast. They immediately set sail, and landed at Pūdimadaka in theAnakāpalli tāluk. Thence they marched as far as Kondakirla, near which they founded the village of Wādapalli or Wōdapalli, meaning the village of the people who came in boats. They then built another village called Gavarla Anakāpalli. They received an invitation from king Pāyaka Rao, the founder of Anakāpalli, and, moving northwards, established themselves at what is now known as Gavarapēta in the town of Anakāpalli. They began the foundation of the village auspiciously by consecrating and planting the sandra karra (Acacia sundra), which is not affected by ‘white-ants,’ instead of the pāla karra (Mimusops hexandra), which is generally used for this purpose. Consequently, Anakāpalli has always flourished.

The Gavaras speak Telugu, and, like other Telugu castes, have various exogamous septs or intipērulu.

Girls are married either before or after puberty. The custom of mēnarikam, by which a man marries his maternal uncle’s daughter, is in force, and it is said that he may also marry his sister’s daughter. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a woman who has had seven husbands is known as Beththamma, and is much respected.

Some Gavaras are Vaishnavites, and others Saivites, but difference in religion is no bar to intermarriage. Both sections worship the village deities, to whom animal sacrifices are offered. The Vaishnavites show special reverence to Jagganāthaswāmi of Orissa, whose shrine is visited by some, while others take vows in the name of this god. On the day on which the car festival is celebrated at Pūri, local car festivals are held in Gavara villages, and women carry out the performance of their vows. A woman, for example, who is under a vow, in order that she may be cured of illness or bearchildren, takes a big pot of water, and, placing it on her head, dances frantically before the god, through whose influence the water, which rises out of the pot, falls back into it, instead of being spilt.

The Vaishnavites are burnt, and the Saivites buried in a sitting posture. The usual chinna (little) and pedda rōzu (big day) death ceremonies are performed.

Men wear a gold bangle on the left wrist, and another on the right arm. Women wear a silver bangle on the right wrist, and a bracelet of real or imitation coral, which is first worn at the time of marriage, on the left wrist. They throw the end of their body-cloth over the left shoulder. They do not, like women of other non-Brāhman castes in the Vizagapatam district, smoke cigars.

The original occupation of the caste is said to have been trading, and this may account for the number of exogamous septs which are named after Settis (traders). At the present day, the Gavaras are agriculturists, and they have the reputation of being very hard-working, and among the best agriculturists in the Vizagapatam district. The women travel long distances in order to sell vegetables, milk, curds, and other produce.

The caste titles are Anna, Ayya, and occasionally Nāyudu.

Gāya(cow).—An exogamous sept of Kondra.

Gayinta.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small caste of hill cultivators, speaking Oriya and Telugu. The name is said to be derived from gayinti, an iron digging implement. Gayinta is reported to be the same as Gaintia, a name of Enētis or Entamaras.

Gāzula.—Gāzula or Gazul (glass bangle) has been recorded as a sub-division of Balija, Kāpu, and Toreya. The Gāzula Balijas make glass bangles. The Toreyashave a tradition that they originated from the bangles of Machyagandhi, the daughter of a fisherman on the Jumna, who was married to king Shantanu of Hastinapūr.

Gēdala(buffaloes).—A sept of Bonthuk Savara.

Geddam(beard).—An exogamous sept of Bōya and Padma Sālē.

Gejjala(bells tied to the legs while dancing).—An exogamous sept of Balija and Korava.

Gejjēgāra.—A sub-caste of the Canarese Pānchālas. They are described, in the Mysore Census Report, 1891, as makers of small round bells (gungru), which are used for decorating the head or neck of bullocks, and tied by dancing-girls round their ankles when dancing.

Gennēru(sweet-scented oleander).—An exogamous sept of Bōya.

Gentoo.—Gentoo or Jentu, as returned at times of census, is stated to be a general term applied to Balijas and Telugu speaking Sūdras generally. The word is said by Yule and Burnell16to be “a corruption of the Portuguese Gentio, a gentile or heathen, which they applied to the Hindus in contradistinction to the Moros or Moors,i.e., Mahomedans. The reason why the term became specifically applied to the Telugu people is probably because, when the Portuguese arrived, the Telugu monarchy of Vijayanagar was dominant over a great part of the peninsula.” In a letter written from prison to Sir Philip Francis, Rājah Nuncomar referred to the fact that “among the English gentry, Armenians, Moores and Gentoos, few there is who is not against me.” Gentoo still survives as a caste name in the Madras Quarterly Civil List (1906).

Ghair-i-Mahdī.—The name, meaning without Mahdī, of a sect of Muhammadans, who affirm that the Imām Mahdī has come and gone, while orthodox Muhammadans hold that he is yet to come.

Ghāsi.—SeeHaddi.

Ghontoro.—A small caste of Oriyas, who manufacture brass and bell-metal rings and bangles for the hill people. The name is derived from ghonto, a bell-metal plate.

Gidda(vulture).—A sept of Poroja.

Gikkili(rattle).—A gōtra of Kurni.

Giri Rāzu.—A contraction of Puragiri Rāzu or Puragiri Kshatriya, by which names some Perikes style themselves.

Goa.—A sub-division of Kudubis, who are said to have emigrated from Goa to South Canara.

Gō Brāhman.—A name given to Brāhmans by Kammālans, who style themselves Visva Brāhmans.

Gōdagula.—The Gōdagulas are recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being the same as the Gūdalas, who are a Telugu caste of basket-makers. According to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao, to whom I am indebted for the following note, they are a distinct caste, speaking Oriya, and sometimes calling themselves Oddē (Oriya) Mēdara. Like the Mēdaras, they work in split bamboo, and make sundry articles which are not made by other castes who work in this medium. Unlike the Gūdalas, they are a polluting class, and have the following legend to account for their social degradation. God told them to make winnows and other articles for divine worship. This, they did, and, after they had delivered them, they attended a marriage feast, at which they eat flesh and drank liquor. On their return, God called on them to vomit the food which they had partaken of, andthey accordingly brought up the meat and drink, whereon God cursed them, saying “Begone, you have eaten forbidden food.” They craved for forgiveness, but were told in future to earn their living as bamboo-workers. The custom of mēnarikam, according to which a man should marry his maternal uncle’s daughter, is so rigidly enforced that, if the uncle refuses to give his daughter in marriage, the man has a right to carry her off, and then pay a fine, the amount of which is fixed by the caste council. A portion thereof is given to the girl’s parents, and the remainder spent on a caste feast. If the maternal uncle has no daughter, a man may, according to the ēduru (or reversed) mēnarikam custom, marry his paternal aunt’s daughter. Six months before the marriage ceremony takes place, the pasupu (turmeric) ceremony is performed. The bridegroom’s family pay six rupees to the bride’s family, to provide the girl with turmeric, wherewith she adorns herself. On the day fixed for the wedding, the parents of the bridegroom go with a few of the elders to the bride’s house, and couple the request to take away the girl with payment of nine rupees and a new cloth. Of the money thus given, eight rupees go to the bride’s parents, and the remainder to the caste. The bride is conducted to the home of the bridegroom, who meets her at the pandal (booth) erected in front of his house. They are bathed with turmeric water, and sacred threads are put on their shoulders by the Kula Maistri who officiates as priest. The couple then play with seven cowry (Cyprœa arabica) shells, and, if the shells fall with the slit downwards, the bride is said to have won; otherwise the bridegroom is the winner. This is followed by the mūdu ākula hōmam, or sacrifice of three leaves. A new pot, containing a lighted wick, is placed before thecouple. On it are thrown leaves of the rāyi āku (Ficus religiosa), marri āku (Ficus Bengalensis), and juvvi āku (Ficus Tsiela). The Kula Maistri of the bridegroom’s party spreads out his right hand over the mouth of the pot. On it the bride places her hand. The bridegroom then places his hand on hers, and the Kula Maistri of the bride’s village puts his hand on that of the bridegroom. The elders then call out in a loud voice “Know, caste people of Vaddādi Mādugula; know, caste people of Kimedi; know, caste people of Gunupuram and Godairi; know, caste people of all the twelve countries, that this man and woman have become husband and wife, and that the elders have ratified the ceremony.” The contracting couple then throw rice over each other. On the morning of the following day, the saragatha ceremony is performed. The bridegroom’s party repair to the bank of the local stream, where they are met by the caste people, who are presented with betel, a cheroot, and a pot of jaggery (crude sugar) water as cool drink. The sacred threads worn by the bride and bridegroom are removed at the conclusion of the marriage ceremonies. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother, orvice versâ. Divorce is also allowed, and a divorcée may remarry. Her new husband has to pay a sum of money, a portion of which goes to the first husband, while the remainder is devoted to a caste feast. The dead are burnt, and the chinna rōzu (little day) death ceremony is observed.

Gōda-jāti(wall people).—A sub-division of Kammas. The name has reference to a deadly struggle at Gandikōta, in which some escaped by hiding behind a wall.

Gōda-poose(wall polishing).—An exogamous sept of Tsākala.

Gōdāri.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as Telugu leather-workers in Ganjam and Vizagapatam. They are stated, in the Vizagapatam Manual, to make and sell slippers in that district. Gōdāri is, I gather, a synonym of Mādiga, and not a separate caste.

Goddali(spade or axe).—An exogamous sept of Oddē and Panta Reddi.

Gōdomālia(belonging to, or a group of forts).—A sub-division of Bhondāri, the members of which act as barbers to Rājahs who reside in forts.

Gōlaka.—Recorded in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a name meaning bastard, and clubbed with the Moilis, or temple servants in South Canara descended from dancing-girls. In the Mysore Census Report, 1901, it is defined as a term applied to the children of Brāhmans by Malerus, or temple servants.

Gōli(Portulaca oleracea: a pot-herb).—An exogamous sept of Gauda.

Gōlkonda.—A sub-division of Tsākala.

Golla.—“The Gollas,” Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,17“are the great pastoral caste of the Telugu people. The traditions of the caste give a descent from the god Krishna, whose sportings with the milk maids play a prominent part in Hindu mythology. The hereditary occupation of the Gollas is tending sheep and cattle, and selling milk, but many of them have now acquired lands and are engaged in farming, and some are in Government service. They are quiet, inoffensive, and comparatively honest. In the time of the Nabobs, this last characteristic secured to them the privilege of guarding and carrying treasure, and one sub-division, Bokhasa Gollas, owes its origin to this service. Evennow those who are employed in packing and lifting bags of money in the district treasuries are called Gollas, though they belong to other castes. As a fact they do hold a respectable position, and, though poor, are not looked down upon, for they tend the sacred cow. Sometimes they assert a claim to be regarded as representatives of the Gō-Vaisya division. Their title is Mandādi, but it is not commonly used.” Mr. Stuart writes further18that “the social status of the Gollas is fairly high, for they are allowed to mix freely with the Kāpu, Kamma, and Balija castes, and the Brāhmans will take buttermilk from their hands. They employ Sātānis as their priests. In their ceremonies there is not much difference between them and the Kāpus. The name Golla is generally supposed to be a shortened form of Sanskrit Gōpāla” (protector of cows). The Gollas also call themselves Kōnānulu, or Kōnarlu, and, like the Tamil Idaiyans, sometimes have the title Kōnar. Other titles in common use are Anna, Ayya, and occasionally Nayudu.

In the Manual of the Kurnool district, it is stated that the Gollas “keep sheep, and sell milk and ghī (clarified butter). They eat and mess with the Balijas, and other high caste Sūdras; but, unlike their brethren of the south, in the matter of street processions, they are classed with goldsmiths, or the left-hand section. When any one is reduced to poverty, the others give him each a sheep, and restore his flock. They occasionally dedicate their girls to Venkatēsa as Basavis” (prostitutes).

It is noted, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that “in the country round Mādgole, legends are still recounted of a line of local Golla chieftains, whogave their name to Golgonda, and built the forts, of which traces still survive in those parts”. Each Telugu New Year’s day, it is stated, Gollas come across from Godāvari, and go round the Golla villages, reciting the names of the progenitors of the fallen line, and exhibiting paintings illustrative of their overthrow.

“At Vajragada (diamond fort) are the ruins of a very large fortress, and local tradition gives the names of seven forts, by which it was once defended. These are said to have been constructed by the Golla kings. A tale is told of their having kidnapped a daughter of the ruler of Mādgole, and held out here against his attacks for months, until they were betrayed by a woman of their own caste, who showed the enemy how to cut off their water-supply. They then slew their womenkind, says the story, dashed out against the besiegers, and fell to a man, fighting to the last.”

Concerning the Gollas of Mysore, I gather19that “there are two main divisions in this caste, viz., Ūru (village) and Kādu (forest). The two neither intermarry, nor eat together. A section of the Gollas, by guarding treasure while on transit, have earned the name of Dhanapāla. In fact, one of the menial offices in Government treasuries at the present day is that of Golla. The caste worships Krishna, who was born in this caste. The Kādu Gollas are said to have originally immigrated from Northern India, and are still a nomadic tribe, living in thatched huts outside the villages. Some of their social customs are akin to those of the Kādu Kurubas. It is said that, on the occurrence of a childbirth, the mother with the babe remains unattended in a small shed outside the village from seven to thirty days,when she is taken back to her home. In the event of her illness, none of the caste will attend on her, but a Nāyak (Bēda) woman is engaged to do so. Marriages among them are likewise performed in a temporary shed erected outside the village, and the attendant festivities continue for five days, when the marriage couple are brought into the village. The Golla is allowed to marry as many wives as he likes, and puberty is no bar to marriage. They eat flesh, and drink spirituous liquors. The wife cannot be divorced except for adultery. Their females do not wear the bodice (ravikē) usually put on by the women of the country. Nor do they, in their widowhood, remove or break the glass bangles worn at the wrists, as is done in other castes. But widows are not allowed to remarry. Only 98 persons have returned gōtras, the chief being Yādava, Karadi, Atrēya, and Amswasa. The first two are really sub-sects, while Atrēya is the name of a Brāhmin Rishi.” Yādava, or descendant of King Yādu, from whom Krishna was descended, also occurs as a synonym for Idaiyan, the great Tamil shepherd class.

Golla juggler.Golla juggler.

Golla juggler.

Concerning the Adivi, or forest Gollas, Mr. F. Fawcett writes as follows.20“The people of every house in the village let loose a sheep, to wander whither it will, as a sort of perpetual scapegoat. When a woman feels the first pains of labour, she is turned out of the village into a little leaf or mat hut about two hundred yards away. In this hut she must bring forth her offspring unaided, unless a midwife can be called in to be with her before the child is born. For ninety days the woman lives in the hut by herself. If any one touches her, he or she is, like the woman, outcasted, and turnedout of the village for three months. The woman’s husband generally makes a little hut about fifty yards from her, and watches over her; but he may not go near her on pain of being outcasted for three months. Food is placed on the ground near the woman’s hut, and she takes it. On the fourth day after parturition, a woman of the village goes to her, and pours water on her, but she must not come in contact with her. On the fifth day, the village people clear of stones and thorny bushes a little bit of ground about ten yards on the village side of the hut, and to this place the woman removes her hut. No one can do it for her, or help her. On the ninth, fifteenth, and thirtieth days, she removes the hut in the same way nearer to the village, and, again, once in each of the two following months. On the ninetieth day, the headman of the village calls the woman to come out of the hut. The dhōbi (washerman) then washes her clothes. She puts on clean clothes, and the headman takes her to the temple of their tutelary deity Junjappa, where the caste pūjari breaks cocoanuts, and then accompanies her to her house, where a purificatory ceremony is performed. Junjappa, it is said, takes good care of the mother and child, so that death is said to be unknown.”

It is stated21that, in the Chitaldrūg district of Mysore, “the wife of the eldest son in every family is not permitted to clean herself with water after obeying the calls of nature. It is an article of their belief that their flocks will otherwise not prosper.”

Writing in the early part of the last century about the Gollas, Buchanan informs us that “this caste has a particular duty, the transporting of money, both belongingto the public and to individuals. It is said that they may be safely intrusted with any sum; for, each man carrying a certain value, they travel in bodies numerous in proportion to the sum put under their charge; and they consider themselves bound in honour to die in defence of their trust. Of course, they defend themselves vigorously, and are all armed; so that robbers never venture to attack them. They have hereditary chiefs called Gotugaru, who with the usual council settle all disputes, and punish all transgressions against the rules of caste. The most flagrant is the embezzlement of money entrusted to their care. On this crime being proved against any of the caste, the Gotugaru applies to Amildar, or civil magistrate, and having obtained his leave, immediately causes the delinquent to be shot. Smaller offences are atoned for by the guilty person giving an entertainment.”

The Golla caste has many sub-divisions, of which the following are examples:—

Erra or Yerra (red). Said to be the descendants of a Brāhman by a Golla woman.Āla or Mēkala, who tend sheep and goats.Pūja or Puni.Gangeddu, who exhibit performing bulls.Gauda, who, in Vizagapatam, visit the western part of the district during the summer months, and settle outside the villages. They tend their herds, and sell milk and curds to the villagers.Karna.Pākanāti.Rācha (royal).Peddeti. Mostly beggars, and considered low in the social scale, though when questioned concerning themselves they say they are Yerra Gollas.

Erra or Yerra (red). Said to be the descendants of a Brāhman by a Golla woman.

Āla or Mēkala, who tend sheep and goats.

Pūja or Puni.

Gangeddu, who exhibit performing bulls.

Gauda, who, in Vizagapatam, visit the western part of the district during the summer months, and settle outside the villages. They tend their herds, and sell milk and curds to the villagers.

Karna.

Pākanāti.

Rācha (royal).

Peddeti. Mostly beggars, and considered low in the social scale, though when questioned concerning themselves they say they are Yerra Gollas.

At the census, 1901, the following were returned as sub-castes of the Gollas:—

Dayyālakulam (wrestlers), Perike Muggalu or Mushti Golla (beggars and exorcists), Podapōtula (who beg from Gollas), Gavādi, and Vadugāyan, a Tamil synonym for Gollas in Tinnevelly. Another Tamil synonym for Golla is Bokhisha Vadugar (treasury northerners). Golla has been given as a sub-division of Dāsaris and Chakkiliyans, and Golla Woddar (Oddē) as a synonym of a thief class in the Telugu country. In a village near Dummagudem in the Godāvari district, the Rev. J. Cain writes,22are “a few families of Bāsava Gollalu. I find they are really Kois, whose grandfathers had a quarrel with, and separated from, their neighbours. Some of the present members of the families are anxious to be re-admitted to the society and privileges of the neighbouring Kois. The word Bāsava is commonly said to be derived from bhāsha, a language, and the Gollas of this class are said to have been so called in consequence of their speaking a different language from the rest of the Gollas.”

Like many other Telugu castes, the Gollas have exogamous septs or intipēru, and gōtras. As examples of the former, the following may be quoted:—

Some of these sept names occur among other classes, as follows:—

Those who belong to the Rāghindala (Ficus religiosa) gōtra are not allowed to use the leaves of the sacred fig or pīpal tree as plates for their food. Members of the Pālāvili gōtra never construct pālāvili, or small booths, inside the house for the purpose of worship. Those who belong to the Akshathayya gōtra are said to avoid rice coloured with turmeric or other powder (akshantalu). Members of the Kommi, Jammi, and Mūshti gōtras avoid using the kommi tree,Prosopis spicigera, andStrychnos Nux-vomicarespectively.

Of the various sub-divisions, the Pūja Gollas claim superiority over the others. Their origin is traced to Simhādri Rāju, who is supposed to have been a descendant of Yayāthi Rāja of the Mahābaratha. Yayāthi had six sons, the last of whom had a son named Kariyāvala, whose descendants were as follows:—

Back to IndexNext