Gaita.—Subcaste of Gond.
Gaiwāle.—(Cow-keeper.) A subcaste of Moghia.
Gajarha.—(Gājar, a carrot.) A section of Teli in Mandla.
Gajjām.—A sept of the Dhurwa clan of Gonds in Betūl named after Gajjāmi. (Bow and arrows in Gondi.)
Gānda.—(A messenger.) A low caste of village watchmen. In the Uriya country the Gāndas are known as Dom. A subcaste of Pardhān. Title of Kharia.
Gandhi.—A scent-seller. (From gandh, a Sanskrit word for scent.) Synonym of Atāri. A section of Maheshir Bania.
Gāndli.—The Telugu caste of oil-pressers, numbering about 3000 persons in the Central Provinces, in the Chānda, Nāgpur and Bhandāra Districts. They are immigrants from the Godāvari District of Madras and have been settled in the Central Provinces for some generations. Here many of them have prospered so that they have abandoned the hereditary calling and become landowners, traders and moneylenders. Like the well-to-do Telis they are keenly desirous of bettering their social position and now repudiate any connection with what may be known as ‘the shop,’ or the profession of oil-pressing. As this ranks very low, among the more despised village handicrafts, the progress of the Gāndlis and Telis to the social standing of Banias, to which they generally aspire, is beset with difficulties; but the Gāndlis, in virtue of having migrated to what is practically a foreign country so far as they are concerned, have achieved a considerable measure of success, and may be said to enjoy a better position than any Telis. A few of them wear the sacred thread, and though they eat flesh, they have abjured liquor except in Chānda, where they are most numerous and the proportion of wealthy members is smallest. Here also they are said to eat pork. Others eat flesh and fowls.
The Gāndlis are divided into the Reddi, Chetti and Telkala subcastes, and the last are generally oil-pressers. It is probable that the Reddis are the same as the Redu-eddu or Rendu-eddu subcaste of Madras, who derive their name from the custom of using two bullocks to turn the oil-press, like the Do-baile Telis of the Central Provinces. But it has been changed to Reddi, a more respectable name, as being a synonym for the Kāpu cultivating caste. Chetti really means a trader, and is, Mr. Francis says,[35] “One of those occupational or titular terms, which are largely employed as caste names. The weavers, oil-pressers and others use it as a title, and many more tack it on to their names to denote that trade is their occupation.” Marriage is regulated by exogamous groups, the names of which are said to be derived from those of villages. Girls are generally married during childhood. A noticeable point is that the ceremony is celebrated at the bridegroom’s house, to which the bride goes, accompanied by her party, including the women of her family. The ceremony follows the Marātha form of throwing fried rice over the bridal couple, and Brāhman priests are employed to officiate. Widow-marriage is permitted. The dead are both buried and burnt, and during mourning the Gāndlis refrain from eating khichri or mixed rice and pulse, and do not take their food off plantain leaves, in addition to the other usual observances. They have the shāntik ceremony or the seclusion of a girl on the first appearance of the signs of adolescence, which is in vogue among the higher Marātha castes, and is followed by a feast and the consummation of her marriage. They now speak Marāthi fluently, but still use Telugu in their houses and wear their head-cloths tied after the Tulugu fashion.[36]
Gangabālu.—(Sand of the Ganges.) A family name of Gānda.
Gangābasia.—(Living on the banks of the Ganges.) A section of Ahīr.