Gowari

Gowari is an Indian caste of cattleman or herdsmen, predominantly living in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.[1]

A Gowari man with his dog

Overview

Gowari was one of more than 700 tribal groups in India. In the censuses conducted in India from 1871 to 1941, tribals have been counted as a separate religion from other religions, such as Other religion-1871, Aboriginal 1881, Forest Tribe-1891, Animist-1901, Animist-1911, Primitive-1921, Tribal Religion -1931, "Tribe-1941" etc. have been described. However, after the 1951 census, tribals have been counted in Hinduism. Despite occasional errors in the literature, they do not speak a distinct language.[2] The principal deities of the Gowāris are the Kode Kodwan or deified ancestors. They are worshipped at the annual festivals, and also at weddings.

The original ancestors are said to be Kode Kodwan, the names of two Gond gods, Bāghoba (the tiger-god), and Meghnāth, son of Rāwan, after whom the Gonds are called Rāwanvansi, or descendants of Rāwan.There are only two main castes in the Gonds (1) Aadi Gond or Dhur Gond (2) Raj Gond. Adi Gonds are those who are called ordinary Gonds, most of them are those who live in the forest away from modern civilization while Raj Gonds are those who were kings who had their own land and kingdom. The Gond people called him Rajgond, who was earlier a chieftain or a king living among the Gond tribes. Because he used to run the royal palace among the Gonds and the elite branch of the same king or chieftain that grew, they also came to be called Rajgond. And later the same kings came in contact with other kings, the kings of many Gond dynasties adopted Shaivism and many adopted Hinduism, leaving their Gondi culture. according to the additional profession, there is more difference between the Gonds. (1) Ojha or Baiga - exorcist (2) Pardhan - priest (3) Solaha - carpenter (4) Gowari - shepherd (5) Agaria - blacksmith

Distribution and reservations

Gowari has been included in the special backward class group 2% reservation category in Maharashtra, and the other backward class group 14% reservation category in Madhya Pradesh.[3]

Gond-Gowari has been included in the scheduled tribes 7.5% reservation category in the Central Government since 1956,[4] whereas Gowari has been included in the Other backward class group 27% reservation category in the Central Government since 1993.[5]

Gowari stampede
Shaheed Gowari Memorial at Zero Mile, Nagpur

There was a stampede during a protest in Nagpur on 23 November 1994 in which 114 people from the Gowari community were killed and more than 500 were injured. [6] A monument, the Gowari Shaheed Smarak, has been built in Nagpur near Zero Milestone,[7] (the geographical centre of India) to commemorate those who died in this tragedy.

See also

References
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Gowlan". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. "OBC Cast List".
  4. (PDF) http://socialjustice.nic.in/writereaddata/UploadFile/SC%20ST%20LISTS%20(MODIFICATION)%20ORDER%201956.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. (PDF) http://www.ncbc.nic.in/Writereaddata/cl/madhya.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. [title=The IPHRC Reports the Gowari Killings] (PDF) http://www.unipune.ac.in/snc/cssh/HumanRights/02%20STATE%20AND%20ARMY%20-%20POLICE%20REPRESSION/G%20MAHARASHTRA/4.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. Archived 16 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
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