Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 2 of 7Thurston, Edgar
History
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 2 of 7
Thurston, Edgar
Caste -- India, South; Ethnology -- India, South; India, South -- Social life and customs; Tribes -- India, South
The Gadabas have a devil dance, which they are willing to perform
before strangers in return for a small present. It has been thus
described by Captain Glasfurd. [132] "At the time of the Dusserah,
Holi, and other holidays, both men and women dance to the music of a
fife and drum. Sometimes they form a ring by joining hands all round,
and with a long hop spring towards the centre, and then hop back
to the full extent of their arms, while they at the same time keep
circling round and round. At other times, the women dance singly or
in pairs, their hands resting on each other's wrists. When fatigued,
they cease dancing, and sing. A man steps out of the crowd, and sings
a verse or two impromptu. One of the women rejoins, and they sing
at each other for a short time. The point of these songs appears to
consist in giving the sharpest rejoinder to each other. The woman
reflects upon the man's ungainly appearance and want of skill as a
cultivator or huntsman, and the man retorts by reproaching her with
her ugliness and slatternly habits." In connection with dancing,
Mr. Henderson writes that "all the Gadaba dancing I have seen was the
same as that of the Porjas, and consisted of a sort of women's march,
at times accompanied by a few men who wander round, and occasionally
form a ring through which the line of women passes. Sometimes the
men get on each other's shoulders, and so form a sort of two-storied
pyramid. The women's song is comparatively quite melodious."
In recent years, some Gadabas have emigrated to Assam, to work in
the tea-gardens. But emigration has now stopped by edict.
For the information contained in this article, I am mainly indebted to
notes by Mr. C. A. Henderson, Mr. W. Francis, Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao,
and the Kumara Raja of Bobbili.
Gadi (cart).--An exogamous sept of Mala.
Gadidhe Kandla (donkey's eyes).--An exogamous sept of Boya.
Gadu.--A common suffix to the name of individuals among various Telugu
classes, e.g., Ramigadu, Subbigadu.
Gaduge (throne).--A gotra of Kurni.
Gaita.--A sub-division of Konda Razu.
Gajjal (a small bell).--A sub-division of Toreya.
Gali.--Gali or Galollu, meaning wind, devil, or spirit, is recorded
as an exogamous sept of Kamma, Kuruba, and Mala.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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