The Gaddi
This article is an extract from PANJAB CASTES SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I. Being a reprint of the chapter on Lahore : Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, 1916. |
Caste No. 81
These figures appear to include two entirely distinct classes of people. The Musalnian Gaddis of Dehli, Karnal., and Ambala are apparently a tribe found in the upper dodb of the Jamna and Ganges, closely resembling the Ghosi, and perhaps like them a sub division of the Ahirs. They are called Gndi almost as often as Gaddi. They are by hereditary occupation milkmen ; but in Karnal, where they are most numerous, they have settled down as cultivators and own several vil lages. They are poor husbandmen. And a further confusion may' possibly have taken place from the fact that a descendant of a Rajput father by a widow of another caste married by kareioa is called Garra with the hard r. Indeed it is not quite impossible that here we may have the con necting link between the two classes. At any rate the word Gaddi, as used in the Panjab proper, is applied to the inhabitants of the mountain range bet ween Kangra and Chamba and of its continuation in the latter State. The term is commonly applied to almost any inhabitant of thai region ; but the true Gaddis, whom General Cunningham is inclined to identify with
the ancient Gandavidio, or Gangaridco, are apparently of Khatri origin. Mr.
Barnes thus describes them : —
The GadH .are the mn<t remarkable race in the hilh. In featnre-j, manners, dross, and dialect
they differ essentially from all the rest of the population. The Gadis reside exclusively n))on the
snowy range which divides Chamba from Ivangra. A few of them have wandered down into
the valleys which skirt the Itase of this mighty chain, but the great majority live on the
heights above; they are found from an elevation of 3,500 or 4,000 foot up to 7,000 feet.
Above this altitude' there is little or no cultivation, the increasing acclivity of the range
opposing insurmountable obstacles. They preserve a tradition among themselves that their
ancestors originally came from the Panjab, and that during the horrors of the Maliomedan
invasions the population of the cities fled from the open country before their invaders and
took refuge in these ranges, nt that period almost uninhabited. The term 'Gadr is a
generic name, and under this appellation are included Brahmins, Khatris, and a few Rajputs and
Rathis. The majority, however, are Khatris, aid the sub-divisions of the caste correspond
exactly with the trnies among the Khatris existing in the plains of the Panjab at the
present day. Impure castes are not styled Gadis, but are known by the names of Badi,
Sipi, Hali,' &c. They are a semi-pastoral, semi-agricultural race. The greater portion of
their wealth consists of flocks of sheep and goats, which they feed half the year (the
winter months) in the valleys of Kangra, and for the other half drive across the range
into the territories of Chamba. They hold lands on this side and also in Chamba, and in
former days were considered subject to Ijoth States. At present our rule has materially
weakened the te .ure of the Chamba Chief, and many continue all the year round on this
side of the range acknowledging no allegiance whatever to Chamba. It was a rule with
these simple people, whenever fined by the Kangra authorities, to pay a similar penalty
into the Chamba treasury. I am afraid our institutions have taught them greater independence,
and the infraction of this custom is now more frequent than the observance. Many Gadis
cultivate the winter crops or wheat in Kangra, and returning with their flocks grow the
summer or rain crop at ' Barmor,' as the province on the other side of the snow is designated.
They all wear woollen clothes, which they make up at homo out of the wool from their own
flocks. The men don a remarkable high-peaked cap, with flaps to pull down over the ears
in case of severe weather. The front is usually adorned with a garland of dried flowers,
or with tufts of the Impeyau pheasant, or red beads, the seeds of parasitical plants growing
in the forests. The rest of their dress is a frock, made very capacious and loose, secured
round the waist, with a black woollen cord. In the body of this frock the Gadi stores
the most miscellaneous articles ; his own meal, tied up in an untanned leather pouch, with
two or three young lambs just born, and perhaps a present of walnuts or potatoes for his
master are the usual contents. His legs are generally bare, but occasionally he wears woollen
trowsers very loose at the knee, to allow free motion in walking, and fitting tight at the ankle
over which it lies in folds so as not to restrict the action of the limbs. The women
wear the same frock, only reaching to their ankles, secured with the same woollen cord.
Their garment fits rather tighter about the body, and is both modest and becoming. The
head-dress is a ' chaddur,' or sheet, thrown loosely over the upper portion of the body,
and sometimes fastened in the shape of a turban, with a loose streamer behind by way
of ornament. The Gadis are a very simple and virtuous race; they are remarkable, even
among the hill population, for their eminent regard for truth; crime is almost unknown
among them ; their women are chaste and modest, seldom deserting their husbands. Like
all the inhabitants of mountainous regions they are frank and merry in their manners,— they
constantly meet together, singing and dancing in a style quite peculiar to themselves.
They are grear tipplers, and at these festive meetings the natural hilarity is considerably
enhanced by deep iDotations. In person they are a comely race- The women frequently are
very faif and beautiful,— their featnres are regular, and the expression almost^ always mild
and engaging. The Gadis wear the thread of caste, and are much stricter in Hindu customs
and observances than most of the inhabitautf of the higher ranges of the Himalaya. They
are not a very widely-diffused race. They extend over the greater part of Chamba,
inhabit the skirts of the Kangra snowy range, and are found also on the southern face
of the Badrawar hills across the Ravi. Their peculiar caste, ' Khatri,' and their posi
tion in the ranges immediately above Lahore favour the tradition that originally they were
fugitives from the cities of the plains before the Mahomedan iareads.
They are almost all shepherds, and do not in any way resemble the Khatris of the pIains. They are all Hindus, but locally distinguished from the jdndre or cotton-clad Hindus. The Khatri and Rajput Gaddis intermarry ; and in some places the Brahman Gaddi will marry the Khatri Gaddi. The Khatri or true Gaddis are the best of the classes, and number among them the best -shepherds, and the richest and most influential men.^It is not improbable that in Chamba, their true home, the Rnjput and Brahman Gaddis are less numerous than in Kangra. The Gaddi are a simple and rustic people. The proverb says : The Gaddi is a good natured fool ; ask for his cap and he gives vou his coat.'And asrain : In no-man's-land one makes friends with Gujars and Gaddis.'^
