Gavara Explained

Gavara is a term used to refer to four different South Indian communities.

• Gavara is a trading community and is a sub-caste of Balija.^[1] They are present in Tamil Nadu. The Telugu-speaking Gavara community of Tamil Nadu is related to Balijas. The often use the title Naidu.^[2] Kavarai is the Tamil name for Balijas who have settled in Tamil Nadu and is the Tamilised rendition of Gavara. Gavara Balijas are distinct from both Gavara Komatis and the Gavara caste of former Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh.
• Gavara is also the name of a Komati sub-caste.^[3] They are a trading community.^[4] Gavara Komatis are distinct from Gavara-Balijas as well as the Gavara caste of former Visakhapatnam district.^[5]
• Alternatively, Gavara is also the name of a small caste mostly present in former Visakhapatnam district (present-day Anakapalli and Visakhapatnam districts) and in some parts of the former Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh.^{[6] [7]} They are not related to Balija caste. They are predominantly agriculturists and are also involved in petty trade.
• Kavara (also known as Gavara) is a Tulu speaking caste mostly present in Ernakulam, Palakkad and Thrissur districts of Kerala.^[8] They are classified as a Scheduled Caste in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.^[9] They are not related to Balija caste.

Notes and References

1. • Book: Mukund, Kanakalatha. Kanakalatha Mukund . The Trading World of the Tamil Merchant: Evolution of Merchant Capitalism in the Coromandel . 1999 . Orient Blackswan . 978-81-250-1661-8 . 46. Kavarai (the Tamil word for Balija merchants).
   • Book: Brimnes, Niels . Constructing the Colonial Encounter: Right and Left Hand Castes in Early Colonial South India . 1999 . Psychology Press . 978-0-7007-1106-2 . 106 . en . The Kavarais were Tamilized Balija Chettis of Telugu origin, returned in the census as 'Wadugas' or 'Northerners'..
   • Book: Christopher John Baker, D. A. Washbrook . South India: Political Institutions and Political Change. 1880-1940. Springer . 1976. 223. 978-1-349-02746-0. Kavarai was merely the Tamil equivalent of the Telugu word Balija.
   • Book: Venkatesa Iyengar . The Mysore Tribes and Castes. Mittal Publications . 1932. 102. In the Tamil Districts, Balijas are known as Kavarais .
   • Book: Census of India, 1901: Madras (3 v.) . India Census Commissioner . 1902 . 161 . en . Kavarai - A Tamil synonym for Balija; probably a corrupt form of Gavara..
   • Book: Ananda Ranga Pillai . The Private Diary of Ananda Ranga Pillai, Dubash to Joseph François Dupleix, Governor of Pondicherry: A Record of Matters, Political, Historical, Social, and Personal, from 1736-1761. 2 . Asian Educational Services . 1984. 67. The Kavarais, known also as Balijas, are the trading caste of the Telugus, and belong to the right hand..
   • Book: SirCharles Fawcett . The Travels of the Abbarrn India and the Near East, 1672 to 1674. Routledge . 2017. 595. 9781351539890. The name 'Gavarai' may be a misspelling of 'Kavarai', which is now the Tamil name for Balijas (a Telegu trading caste) settled in the Tamil country.
   • Book: Jervoise Athelstane Baines . Ethnography: Castes and Tribes. 28. K.J. Trübner . 1912. 36. The largest trading community of the Telugu country is the Balija, which is widely spread over the Tamil districts also, and there called Vadugan, or Northerners, or Kavarai .
   • Book: Julian James Cotton . List of Inscriptions on Tombs Or Monuments in Madras. 3 . 1905. 246. Kavarais are the same caste as the Balijas .
   • Book: Colburn's United Service Magazine and Naval and Military Journal. University of California . 1895. 286. Kavarai is the Tamil name for the great Telugu trading caste, Balija, who are spread throughout the Presidency.
   • Book: Kumari . A. Vijaya . Social Change Among Balijas: Majority Community of Andhra Pradesh . Sepuri Bhaskar . 1998 . M. D. Publications . 978-81-7533-072-6 . 8. Kavarai is the name for Balijas (Telugu Trading Caste), who have settled in Tamil Nadu . en.
   • Book: Alpana Pandey . Medieval Andhra: A Socio-Historical Perspective. Partridge Publishing . 2015. 44. 9781482850178. Balijas: Their main profession was and commerce. They added “Settis” to their names, which showed their supremacy over other castes in trade. The subsects of the Balijas indicate the professions pursued by them. some prominent subdivision were Gajula Balija, Gandhamvallu, Kavarai, etc. .
   • Book: P. Rajaraman . The Justice Party: A Historical Perspective, 1916-37. Poompozhil Publishers . 1988. 19. The Balija Naidus, the chief Telugu trading caste were found scattered throughout the Presidency of Madras. In the Tamil districts they were known as Vadugan and Kavarais.
   • Book: Peter Francis . Asia's Maritime Bead Trade: 300 B.C. to the Present. University of Hawaii Press . 2002. 36. 9780824823320. The Kavarai and the Balija are equivalent and occupied low positions (Baines 1912, 97).
   • Book: S. N. Sadasivan . A Social History of India . APH Publishing . 2000. 284. 978-81-7648-170-0.
   • Book: R. Nagaswamy . Studies in South Indian History and Culture. V.R. Ramachandra Dikshitar Centenary Committee . 1997. 321.
   • Book: N. Rajasekharan Nair, A. G. Natarajan . Dravidian Phonology. Centre of Advanced Study in Linguistics, Annamalai University . 2007. 214.
2. Vijaya . M. . Kanthimathi . S. . Srikumari . C. R. . Reddy . P. Govinda . Majumder . P. P. . Ramesh . A. . 2007 . A Study on Tamil – Speaking Immigrants of Andhra Pradesh, South India . International Journal of Human Genetics . 7 . 4 . 303–306 . 10.1080/09723757.2007.11886010 . 55044174.
3. • Book: K. Ramachandra Murty . Parties, Elections, and Mobilisation. Anmol Publications . 2001. 18. 9788126109791. The Vysyas (Komati) are the most important traditional Telugu trading caste comprising 3 per cent of the State population. They are broadly divided into two endogamous sub-castes, viz., Gavara Komatis and Kalinga Komatis..
   • Book: C. Dwarakanath Gupta, Sepuri Bhaskar . Vysyas: A Sociological Study. Ashish Publishing House . 1992. 11. 9788170244509. Komatis are mainly divided into two sections called Gavara and Kalinga.
   • Book: Krishna Prakash Bahadur . Caste, Tribes & Culture of India: Karnataka, Kerala & Tamil Nadu. 4 . Ess Ess Publications . 1977. 16. They are two main sections among the Komatis, namely the Gavara and the Kalinga.
   • Book: Yandell . Keith E. Yandell Keith E. . Religion and Public Culture: Encounters and Identities in Modern South India . Paul . John J. . 2013-11-19 . Routledge. The main part of the Komati caste community in Masulipatnam were Gavara Komatis, one of the two main Komati groups on the Coromandel coast. The Gavara Komatis did not eat fish or meat. . 978-1-136-81801-1 . 35 . en.
   • Book: Census of India, 1961: Andhra Pradesh . 1962 . . 7–9 . en . The two major sects among Komati caste are Gavara Komati and Kalinga Komati. The Gavara Komatis are strict vegetarians while the Kalinga Komatis are non-vegetarians..
   • Book: Ramendra Nath Nandi . State Formation, Agrarian Growth, and Social Change in Feudal South India, C. AD 600-1200. Manohar Publishers & Distributors . 2000. 161. 9788173042904. Gavara Komatis, who are a prominent section of the Telugu speaking merchant community..
   • Book: Journal of the Andhra Historical Research Society. 8 . Andhra Historical Research Society . 1934. 138. There are several sects amongst the Komatis - such as Yajna Komati, Gavara Komati, Kalinga Komati, Arava Komati, Neti Komati, Vidura Komati, Raipak Komati etc..
4. Book: Singh, K. S. . People of India: Andhra Pradesh . 1992 . . 978-81-7671-006-0 . en . Kumar Suresh Singh.
5. Book: Tapper, Bruce Elliot . Rivalry and Tribute: Society and Ritual in a Telugu Village in South India . 1987 . Hindustan Publishing Corporation . 978-81-7075-003-1 . en . Bruce Elliot Tapper.
6. Book: Murthy, B. E. V. V. Narasimha . Entrepreneurship in Small Towns . 1989 . Mittal Publications . 91 . en.
7. News: 2019-04-02 . Kapu, Gavara votes to determine Anakapalli assembly seat's fate . The Times of India . 2023-06-10 . 0971-8257.
8. • Book: K. S. Singh . People of India: pt.1-3 Kerala. 27 . Anthropological Survey of India . 1992. 596. The Kavara also known as Gavara are distributed mainly in Ernakulam, Palakkad and Thrissur districts . The community perceives its distribution at medium range and its identification is at the regional level. Iyer (1981) writes that Kavara is a Tulu caste, found in the Chittur taluk of the Cochin State, who speak mutilated form of Tulu and make wicker work of all kinds. The Kavara still speak a mutilated form of Tulu language, called Kavara dialect with family members . With others they speak malayalam..
   • Book: David Levinson . Encyclopedia of World Cultures: South Asia. Kavara A Tulu - speaking caste found in northern and central Kerala . They do wicker work . G.K. Hall . 1991. 325 .
   • Book: P. R. G. Mathur . Applied Anthropology and Challenges of Development in India. Punthi-Pustak . 1994. 356. 9788185094793.
9. • Book: Nagendra Kr Singh . Global Encyclopaedia of the South Indian Dalit's Ethnography. Global Vision Pub House . 2006. 340 .
   • Book: Ajit K. Danda, S. B. Chakrabarti . L.K. Ananthakrishna Iyer: 125th Birth Anniversary Tribute. Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Culture, Government of India . 1989. 118. Kavaras and Gavaras have been again listed as separate Scheduled Castes lifting the area restrictions within Kerala. As already mentioned that the Kavara / Gavaras subsist on basket making . They speak some kind of Tulu - Malayalam dialect..
   • Book: Pradip . K Bhowmick . Man and Life. 28. Institute of Social Research and Applied Anthropology . 2002. 58, 59. Kavara is one of those castes belonging to the sixty - eight Scheduled Castes of Kerala. They subsist on basket - making and are mainly found in the district of Palhgat. .