Garasia Explained

Garasia,^[1] alternatively spelled Girasia,^[2] Girasiya or Garasiya, is a title used by the Koli chieftains of petty states or Jagirdars in India who held the villages as Giras granted by rulers. Many of the Chunvalia Kolis held the title of Girasia and they worshipped the Hindu goddess Shakti.^[3]

Koli Girasia
Language:	Gujarati
Feminine:	Shakti
Origin:	Gujarat
Derivation:	Giras (a grant of villages given by a ruler)
Meaning:	Ruler of granted villages
Variant Forms:	Girasia, Girasiya, Garasia, Garasiya
Related Names:	Mewasi

The Koli Garasiya were tributary to the ruler of state who gave the Giras.^[4]

Social order

Present-day Garasias are characterised by several social divisions with well-defined relationships. These divisions have appeared out of situations of culture contact and acculturation. Today Garasias are divided into Koli Garasia, Rajput Garasia, Dungri Garasia and Bhil Garasia.

See also

• Molesalam Rajput, a Muslim community

References

Bibliography

Further reading

• Book: Unnithan-Kumar, Maya . Identity, Gender, and Poverty: New Perspectives on Caste and Tribe in Rajasthan . Berghahn Books . 1997 . 978-1-57181-918-5 .

External links

• Gujarat: The Long Fifteenth Century and the Making of a Region by Aparna Kapadiya

Notes and References

1. Book: Clark, Alice Whitcomb . Central Gujarat in the Nineteenth Century: The Integration of an Agrarian System . . 1979 . New Delhi, India . 55: Koli garasias would often " hire a land from the manager of a village, trusting to the timidity of the other villagers, declare that it was O 1, 57 famiiy, bapita, land . en.
2. Book: Bayly, Susan . Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age . 2001-02-22 . . 978-0-521-79842-6 . . 84: They also tended to disparage other arms-bearers whom the Mughals and their succes sors had found both useful and problematic, especially the notables who had been vested with titles like Girasia or,Girishi Raja, meaning someone from Koli or other arms-bearing lineages with the authority of a 'kingly' self-made Rajput lord . en.
3. Book: Enthoven, Reginald Edward . Folk Lore Notes: Folklore of Gujurat . . 1989 . 978-81-206-0485-8 . New Delhi, India . 5 . en.
4. Book: Hardiman . David . Feeding the Baniya: Peasants and Usurers in Western India . Hardiman . Professor of History David . . 1996 . 978-0-19-563956-8 . New Delhi, India . 178 . en.