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Goala

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Tradition of origin

Gotir, Ahir (Sanskr, Abhira), the great pastoral caste of Of Inaia. According to Manu, an Xbhira is the Off spring of a Brahman by an Ambastha girl. Lassenl describes the Xbhira as a non-Aryan pastoral race, dwelling near the mouth of the Indus, and remarks that the modern word Ahir means cowherd. At the present day the designation Ahir seems to be confined to Behar and parts of Upper India, Goala being more commonly used in Bengal. The traditions of the caste bear a highly imaginative character, and profess to trace their descent from the god Krishna, whose relations with the milkmaids of Brindaban playa prominent part in Hindu mythology, Krishna himself is supposed to have belonged to the tribe of Yidavas, or descendants of Yadu, a nomadic race, who graze cattle and make butter, and are believed to have effected an early settlement in the neighbourhood of Mathura. In memory of this tradition, one of the sub-castes of Goalas in the North• Western Provinces is called Yadu or Jadu-bansi at the present time. Another story quoted by Buchanan makes out the Goalas to be Vaisyas, who were degraded in consequence of having introduced castration among their herds, aDd members of the caste who are disposed to claim this distinguished ancestor may lay stress upon the fact that the tending of flocks and herds is mentioned by the authorities among the duties of the Vaisya order.

'I'aken as a whole, the Goala traditions can hardly be said to do more than render it probable that one of their earliest settlements was in the neighbourhood of M athura, and that this part of the country was the centre of distribution of the caste. The large func-tional group known by the name Goala seems to have been recruited Dot merely by the diffusion aloDg the Ganges Valley of the semi¬Aryan Goalas of the N orth-Western Provinces, but also by the inclusion in the caste of pastoral tribes who were not Aryans at all. These of course would form distinct sub• castes, and would not be admitted to the ius connubii with the original nucleus of the caste. The great differences of make and feature which may be observed among Go,Uas seem to bear out this view, and to show that whatever may have been the original constituents of the caste, it now comprises several heterogeneous elements. Thus even in a district so far from the original home of the caste as Singbhum, we find Colonel Dalton remarking that the features of the .Mathurabasi Goa.las are high, sbarp, and delicate, and they are of light-brown complexion. Those of the Magadha sub-caste, on the other hand, are undefined and coarse. They are dark-complexioned, and have large hands and feet.

"Seeing the latter standing in a group with some Sing¬bhum Kols, there is no diRtinguishing one from the other. There has doubtless been much mixture of blood." These remarks illustrate both the processes to which the growth of the caste is due. They show how representatives of the original type have spread to districts very remota from their original centre, and how at the same time people of alien race, who followed pastoral occupations, have become attached to the caste and are recognised by a sort of fiotion as having belonged to it all along.

Internal structure

Owing to the wide range of the caste, and to the double process by which its members have been recruited, The internal structure.i s extremely complicated and the number of sub-castes and sections unusually large. 'raking the Goalas of the N orth-Western Provinoes as the type, we find the following seven divisions recognised :-DE I, NANDBANSI, J ADU¬RANSI, SURAJBANSI, GOALBANSI, AHIR, and KATHA. These again are subdivided into a very large number of sections, the names of which appear for the most part to have reference to locality rather than to descent. According to Sir Henry Elliot traoes of hypergamy may be found among these groups, but his information on this point seems to be incomplete.

Among the Goalas of Behar a diiIerent series of sub• castes has been developed, and none of the names current in the N orth• Western Prov¬inces are met with. As a rule, too, the names of the groups are in Behar of a different type, and instead of being based, as in the N orth-WeEt, upon desoent from a particular stock or from some mythioal progenitor, have reference either to the number of ?nuls or sections with which intermarriage is prohibited, or to some departure from traditional usage on the part of its members. Naomulia and Satmulia are instances of the former type, the peouliarities of which are explained more fully in the paragraphs on marriage below. Satmulia has the alternative title Kishnaut, and seems to arrogate descent from the god Krishna. Naomulia is also called Majraut, a name which I am unable to interpret. In Bhagalpur members of the Kishnaut and Majraut groups will not make butter-an occupation which they oonsider degrading-and confine themselves to dealing in milk. The Goria or Dah iara sub-caste is said to have been degraded beoause its members make butter without first scalding the milk-a practice enjoined by the Hindu soriptures and recognised as a crucial test of purity by all GoaltLs. Dr. Wise spells the name Daira, and ays it is generally believed to be merely a corrup¬tion of the Bengali d6ri, a beard, adding as a reason that many Dahiara Goalas have become Mahomedans and wear beards. This seems to be a little far-fetched: a more probable etymology is from dahi, curds. The Kantitftha derive their name from their custom of branding cows with a kanti, 01' hook, a practice confined to Ahirs and never resorted to by the higher grades of Goahis, except at sI'llddks, when the Dharm-Sanr is branded and let go. Tho Kanauj ia and Bargowar sub-castes believe their ancestoJ's to have migrated to Behar from the N orth-Western Provinces, and on this ground claim to be superior to, and hold themselves aloof from, the other sub-castes. rrhe Separi are a writer sub-caste, largely employed as patwaris in some parts of Behar. They are looked down upon by the other sub-castes, because they do not call in the Ohamai, the barber, or the Dhobi at the birth of a child, but cut the navel string and perform all necessary offices themselves.

Turning now to Bengal, we find the Pallab or Ballabh sub¬caste tracing their descent from one GMm Ghosh, who is said to have sprung from the sweat of Krishna; . the Bagre or Ujainia sub¬caste affect to have come from Ujain; while the Gaura Ghosh or Gop-Goala, also known as Lathials, pretend to be pure Sudras, and resent the suggestion that they should intermarry with any other sort of Goala. The Rarh i or Bhoga Goalas, like the Kantitflba in Behar, are cut off from intermarriage with the rest and generally looked down upon, because they brand their cows with red-hot iron and castrate bull calves. 'I'wo curious groups are found in Dacca-the Sada or white Goalas and the Lalor red Goaliis, the names being derived from the colour of the clothes worn by the bride and the members of the bridal procession. With the Sada Goalas all of these are dressed in white, while the Lal Goalcis wear red. 'I'he Sada are reokoned the higher of the two, and a lJalZ or bride-price is given when a girl of this group marries a L eU Goala. In all cases of intermarriage between Sad a and LeU Goa1<1.S tho colour of the clothes to be worn by the bridal party follows that of the group to which the bridegroom belongs.

Goalas are very strong in Orissa, and a large proportion of tho Uriyas employed as personal servants by Europeans belong to that caste. It is a question whether the Gaura or Gopopuria sub-caste or the Math urabas i rank higher. Both are very particular in all matters touching their ceremonial purity, and the Mathurahasi lay stress on the duty of making ocoasional pilgrimages to the original home of the caste at Brindaban. The Dumalft or Jadupuria Goara seem to be a group of local formation. They cherish the tradition that their ancestors came to Orissa from Jadupur, but this appears to be nothing more than the name of the Jadavas, the mythical progenitors of the GOli.la caste transformed into the name of an imaginary town.

In Chota Nagpur the distribution of sub•castes is very much what might be expected. In parts of Singbhum and the adjoining Tributary States a large Goala population exists, holding rather a subordinate po ition in relation to the dominant Hos and Bhuiyas, but on the whole the most flourishing of the peasantry in that part of the country. These people belong to the sub-castes known in Orissa, and appear to have entered Chota Nagpur from the south. According to Oolonel Dalton, the Magadha Goalas are suspiciously like Hos, and in most Ho villages a few of them will be found receiving pay for looking after the Hos' cattle. The Mathura-basi Go{daQ, who are of a much more Aryan type and claim to be pUTe Gopas, willllot condescend to take service with Dravidians. Without forsaking their hereditary calling, they frequently mall age to gaiu possession of sub tantial farms, where they keep large herds of cows and buffaloes, and deal in milk and ghi. In the north aod west of the division numerous representatives of the Behar sub¬castes are met with, who come in from the crowded and over¬cultivated districts of Behar to feed their cattle on the forest-clad table lands of Hazaribagh, Lohardaga, and Sarguja. Here they lead a nomadic life dUTing the dry season, living in tents of bamboo matting and moving from place to place as the supply of forage requires.

Marriage

The character of the exogamous subdivisions of the GoaJas and of the rules by which intermarriage is regulated differs markedly in clillerent parts of the country. In Bengal the caste recognises six g9tl'aS, borrowed from the Brahmauical system, and forbids a man to marry a girl who belougs to the same got1"lt as himself. the .qotl'a of the mother, or, to speak precisely, of the materual grandfather, is not excluded. The intermarriage of sapindas is

also prohibited, though the rules on this point observed by the Goalas are hardly so elaborate as those followed by the higher castes. In Behar the Brahmanical gotras are unknown, and marriage among the Goalas is regulated by a very large number of ?nuls or exogamous groups of the territorial type, the names of which are given in the appendix. In some places where the existing 1Il~tl8 have been found illconveniontly large, and marriage has been rendered unduly difficult, ce:'tain 1II~tl8 have broken up into pUl'ukhs or sub-sections. \\There this has taken place, a man may marry within the ?nul, but not Wlthin the pUl'ukh, the smaller and more oonvenient group taking the place of the larger one. Some difference of opinion prevails concerning the precise manner in which the rule of oxogamy is worked, and the subject is one of such extreme intricacy that it would be unreasouaule to .look for uniformity of practioe everywhere. The Satmulia or Kisbnaut Goalas in Bhagalpur forbid a man to marry a woman belonging to the following sections or '/nuls :¬

(a) Bis own ?nttl.

(b) His mother's mul.

(0) His maternal grandmother's mul.

(d) HIS maternal great-grandmother's mul.

(e) His paternal grandmother's nlul.

(f) Bis paternal gl'eat-grandmother's 7nltl.

(g) His paternal great-great-grandmother's mul. '1'0 those the Naomulia add¬

(A) The mul of his paternal grandmother's mother. (il The lIwl of his paternal great-grandmother's moteer.

In some ca es a further complioation is introduced by takiu f'f into aocount not only the bride's mul, but also that 01 some of her female ancestors, so that ii, for example, the mut of the proposed bride's maternal grandmother should happen to have been the same as that of the proposed bridegroom's paternal grandmother, no marriage could take place between the parties, although the ?nul of the bride herself might not correspond with any of those prohibited to the bridegroom.

Elaborate as the system is, an examination of the annexed table will show that the prohibitions of intermarriage based on the 7mtl or section require to be supplemented by the standard formula: Ohachel'a, mmnel'a, phuphera, maseni, :lJe clul,r nata bachake sluidi hola hai (" The line of paternal uncle, maternal unole, paternal aunt, maternal aunt,-these four relationships are to be avoided in marriage ") . To a certain extent this rule overlaps the rule of exogamy reokoned from the mul. Thus in the first gen¬eration the whole of the paternal unole's descendants, both male and female, would be excluded by the rule prohibiting marriage within the section. In the second and subsequent generations agnates would be barred, but descendants through females would not, for the paternal uncle's daughters having necessarily married out of the section, their ohildren would belong to some other section, and their second cousins would be able to marry. On the other hand, the rule of exogamy, if it stood alone, would permit the marriage of first cousins in three out of four possible cases. A reference to the table will show how this conclusion is arrived at; for Pro¬positus belonging himself to section A might, so far as the rule of exogamy is ooncerned, marry the daughters of his paternal and maternal aunts, who would not belong to any of the !nuts barred for him. The rule defining the prohibited degrees is usually calculated to foul' generations in the descending line.

Table illustmting exogamy as p"actised by Satmulia and Naomulia Godlas.

These elaborate precautions against consanguineous marriages appeal' to be unknown in Orissa and Chota Nagpur. In Chota Nagpur the Golas have totemistic sections of the type commOll in that part of the country. A man may not marry a woman who belongs to his own totem, and is also bound to observe the standard rule ooncerning prohibited degrees. Regarding Orissa the information available on this point is defeotive, and I have been unable to ascertain the names of the exogamous subdivi ions of the caste and the rules governing intermarriage. Among the Goalas of Bengal and the higher Goalas of Orissa, the orthodox view of Hindu marriage is on the whole accepted. Girls are married as infants; widow-marriage is strictly prohibited, and divorce is unknown. If a woman commits adultery with another Goala. or with a man of higher caste, the matter is hushed up: an intrigue with a low-caste man is punished with instant exclusion from caste.

In Behar infant-marriage has established itself as a usage essential to the maintenance of social respectability; but a widow is allowed to marry again, and is generally expected to marry her late husband's younger brother. Under no circumstanoes may she marry the elder brother.

With the Goalas of Chota Nagpur both adult and infant-marriage are recognised, the latter being regarded as a counsel of perfection, which well-to-do persons may be expected to aot up to. The rule that the 1'ukllsati or final ceremony oelebrating the departure of the bride to the house of the bridegroom and the commencement of regular connubial relations shall ordinarily take place four months after the weddiug shows pretty clearly that infant-marriage cannot have been introduced in the strict sense in which it is understood in Bengal. A bride-price is paid, varying' from Rs. 5 to Rs. 25, accord¬ing to the status of the families concerned, and out of thi sum the bride's father is expected to provide his daughter with ornaments. Brahmans offioiate at the wedding. The smearing of vermilion on the bride's forehead is believed to be the most important part of the ceremony. Widows mn.y mn.rry again by the meagre ritual known as sagai. At this no Brahman attends; new saris and some sweet¬meats are presented to the bride and to her mother, aud eiLher the bridegroom himself or some widow of the company puts vermi¬lion on the bl'ide's forehead. This completes the marriage; no 1'ukltsnti is required, and the parties begin to live together at once. Among the Goaills of Singbhum a widow is required to marry oue of her late husband's YOlmger brothers ; and failing these, she must select a husband from among the exogamous group to which her husband belonged. This deserves notice, as being in all probability a survival of earlier custom which has elsewhere fallen into disuse.

The usages current in Orissa do not diller very materially from those which provail in Behar. In both infant-maniage is the stand¬ard to which everyone seeks to conform, but it may be conjeotured that this has not been so in Orissa for very long. The GO<lhls there say that if by chance a girl should remain unmarriod in her father's house aftor she has attained puberty, the breach of ceremonial requirements may be got over by giving her in marriage to an old man or a man otherwise unfit for marriage. After the marriage she is at once divorced by her husband, and is then competent to marry again by the ritual appointed for widows. I have mentioned above that the higher G06Jas of Orissa affect a high standard of orthodoxy, and look down upon the Behar and Bengal divisions of the caste. Among them widow-marriage is said to be forbidden. Most U riya Goalas, however, allow a widow to remarry by the usual form.

Birth

Some curious particulars concerning the birth customs of the n• th Orissa Goalas may be given here. During labour and after delivery the mother is kept in a separate house, from which fresh air is excluded as much as possible, ana which is kept artificially heated for a period of twenty-one days. Branches of kendu (Embryopteris Glutinifera) and ligu (Ligneolaria) are hung near the front door of the house; iron nails are driven into the door-posts, and c1timuai (Hemidesmus Indicus), and Molia (Semecarpus Anacardium) are laid in the infant's bed. After the navel string has been cut the child is bathed in hot water in which leaves of basanga (Justicia Adhatode), a1"ka (Asclepios Gigantea), bigunia (Viter Negnanda), daztkari, and dhatttra (Datura nutal) have been boiled. On the fifth day after the birr.h ltarada (Cytisus Cajan), mung pulse, biri (Phaseolus Mungo), rioe, and wheat are fried together and distributed to friends. the worship of the goddess Shashthi is performed on the sixth day, when Vidhata, or Brahma, is believed to enter the house and write its destiny on the child's forehead. On this oooasion two lumps of cowdung are placed at eaoh side of the door, and for fifteen days red lead is smeared on them, and dub grass well moistened laid on the top. On the eighth day a feast is given to relatives and members of the caste. Finally, on the 21st day new cooking pots are brought into use, an elaborate entertainment is prepared, and the ohild is named. During this period of three weeks not only the mother, but also the father, is deemed to be impure, and is requu:ed to abstain from all his ordinary occupations.

Religion

There is little to be said about the Religion of the caste. In Bengal most of them are Vaishnavas, and celebrate the J anmashtami or festival of the birthday of Krishna with great circumstance. They employ Brahmans for religious and ceremonia.l purposes, but these are looked upon as degraded, and are not received upon equal terms by the higher orders of the priestly caste. In Behar the tendency to Vaishnavism does not seem to be so strong, and a considerable proportion of the caste are said to belong to the Sai va and Sakta sects. 'l'here Goala Brahmans occupy a higher position than in Bengal, und are deemed as respectable as the Brahmans who serve other castes of the same status. It is, however, only for marriage, s1'addlt, and the worship of Sat N arain and the greater gods that the services of Brahmans are required. When it is only a question of propiti¬ating the ho t of minor gods, who play so important a part in the domestic Religion of the people, the householder himself offioiates as priest. By Goahis special reverence is paid to Bisahari, Ganpat Gohil. Gosawan, the god of cattle disease, Kal umanj hi, and a number o~ gawn or ghosts. '1'0 these vague shapes flowers, sweetmeats, milk, nce, and ocoasionally sacrifioes of goats. are offered and partaken of by ~h~ worshippers. Monday and Friday are considered the most n.usplOlOUS days, Saturday being reckoned peculiarly unlucky. At the tlm~ o.f the Sankdmti on the last day of lHn-tik, October-Novembel', a p1g 1S tUl'lled loose among a herd of buffaloes, who are encouraged to gore it to death. The earcase is then given to Dosadhs to eat. the Goalas or Ahirs, who practise this strange rite, aver that it has uo religious significance, and is merely a sort of popular amusement. They do not themselves partake of any portion of the pig.

Social status

In point of social standing the Goilas of Behar rank with Kurmis, Amats, and the other castes from whose hands a Brahman can take water. In Bengal they occupy a lower position, and are counted as inferior, not only to the Naba-Sakh, but also to the cultivating division of the Kaibartta caste. The Orissa Goa.las, on the other hand, affect a high standard of ceremonial purity, and look down upon the Behar and Bengal divisions of the caste. Most Goalas combine cultivation with their hereditary pursuits, and in Orissa and Singbhuro somo members of the caste hold landed tenures of substantial value.

The following statement shows the number and distribution of

Goilas in 18i2 and 1881 :¬

Goala

(From People of India/ National Series Volume VIII. Readers who wish to share additional information/ photographs may please send them as messages to the Facebook community, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name.)

Golla, Gope, Gouda, Gour, Sodgope [Orissa]

• Subcastes: Abhir, Ahir, Bagre, Ballabh (in Bengal), Banpar, Barendra (Pallal), Bargowar, Bhoga (Sada Goala),

Bhogta (in Chota Nagpur), Chauania, Dagania), Dhanroar, Dumala (in Orissa), Gaddhi Gaura, Gawa, Ghosh Goala, Ghosi or Ghosin, Go Baidya, Goara, Godaga, Gop, Gopopuria, Goro, Gujiar, Gumia, Jadupuria, Kajol, Kanaujia, Karanja, Kishanaul, Kishnaut, Laheri, Lai Goala Lari, Madhu Goala, Magadha, Magadha Goara, Magal, Mahisha Goala, Majhwat, Majraut, Mathura, Mathurabasi, Mula, Naomulia, Pallab, Puhoa, Rarhi, Sabor, Saimulia, Saonra, Satmulia, Separi Ujaini [H.H. Risley] Titles: Baghot, Barik (in Bengal), Bharari (in Behar), Bhogta, Chaudhri, Chomar, Dhali, Ghoraila, Ghosh, Goala, Jana, Khiraha, Mahato, Mandal, Mandar, Manjhi, Marik, Paramanik [H.H. Risley] Surnames: Barik, Das, Dhali, Ghola, Jana, Khila, Mahakud [Orissa] Gotra: Baradwajm Bageshwar, Kashyap, Parasar [Orissa]

• Sections/muL- Abhepur, Aganpuria, Aind, Aindwar, Alakjrnidafhua, Alamijan, Aliman, Almasi, Am, Amba, Anrahi,

Argaria, Aunria, Bacha (calf), Badgar, Badhwadia, Baergoa, Bagh, Baghia, Baghwar, Baini Bajicpur, Balagachpargaria, Balagachpokhram Bamboria, Balwan, Ban, Banikarnaud, Banreit, Bar (totemistic) [H.H. Risley] GODRA Synonyms: Godari [Orissa] Surnames: Godari, Mahar [Orissa] Exogamous units/clans: Nagasha [Orissa] Exogamous units/lineages (kula, bansa): Behera, Dahuri, Ghasania, Kshatriya, Mohanty [Orissa]

Notes

Indian Muhammadans have no prejudice against selling milk, and the name milk-seller carries with it no disgrace as in Arabia, where the Bedouin will not sell milk, but permits the despised Egyptian to do so.

Mussulmans, generally styled Beparis, who keep milch cows, make neither butter nor "ghi," but sell milk, and prepare to order "ma-ul-joban," or whey. Whey is a remedy of the greatest reputation in all diseases due to excess of heat, and in Muhammadan families is the favourite domestic aperient.

Brahmans and Hindus of the higher Sudra castes allege that they will not touch milk sold by a Muhammadan unless it has been milked into a vessel held by themselves; but at village fairs the Brahman is often seen receiving into his brass pot milk from the earthern pitcher. When discovered, he defends his conduct on the plea that milk, the product of the sacred animal, cannot be polluted even by standing in the vessel of the unbeliever; but no excuse such as this would exonerate him from loss of caste if the pan belonged to the Farangi.

Notes

The Goala, one of the most composite and ill-defined of castes, is often confounded with the Ahir. In Bihar the names are synonymous, while in each province of Bengal the members claim to be the only pure representatives of the clean cowherds of ancient India.

Goalas known as Sat-Gop in Burdwan and Hughli are styled Gop-Goalas in Eastern Bengal, and arrogate to themselves a higher position than the Ahir. The Goala is always included among the clean Sudra castes of Bengal, but he is not the first in rank as among the Marhatas.

According to the census returns of 1872, the pastoral Goala caste numbers in Bengal 625,163 individuals, the agricultural Sat-Gop 635,985, while in Dacca the former are 22,788, the latter only 1,085, but in reality no Sat-Gop exist there, and Goalas are found indiscriminately cultivating the soil, keeping cattle, and buying milk to manufacture Ghi.

The Goalas of Eastern Bengal are all included in the following list:�

1. Gop, or Ghose, Goala,

2. Sada1 Goala,

3. Ahirs�

(a.) Gauriya or Go-baidya.

(b.) Mahisha Goalas.

4. Daira, or outcast Goalas.

The Gop-Goalas are the only pure Sudras, and never intermarry with any of the other families. It is probable that the Goala is the descendant of the Ahir, and the crucial test of purity with all the septs is the boiling of milk before the cream rises, a practice enjoined by the Sastras.

The Gop-Goalas, comprising the large majority of the tribe in Bengal, have two gotras, the Aliman and Kasyapa; the former being more numerous and more respected than the latter, and although they eat together, a milkman of the Aliman would be dishonoured, if he took a wife from the Kasyapa gotra. In Mymensingh there is an additional gotra, called Prasara, but none of the Dacca Goalas associate or intermarry with it.

The Goala Brahman is a Patit, often acting as Purohit to "Sukriti-bhanga," or outcast Brahmans. Milkmen mourn thirty days, and their domestic occurrences are celebrated in the ordinary Sudra fashion. The betrothal ceremony, however, is observed with unusual solemnity. The bridegroom's father buys sweetmeats, garlands of flowers, and sandal-wood paste,which he takes to the house of the Mundle or president of the caste "panchait," who immediately summons the Guru, Purohit, and all intimate friends to attend, when each guest is presented with a garland and sweetmeats. The Mundle, accompanied by the party, proceeds to the bride's home. She is formally bedecked with flowers, after which the betrothal is considered complete, and, should any insuperable obstacle supervene to prevent the final marriage, the girl is treated as a widow, and cannot marry any one else. The custom of giving and accepting a marriage fee is not observed by the town Goalas, although it still is by the village.

Gop-Goalas, who have a dairy, sell milk, butter, ghi, curdled milk (Dahi), curds (Chhena), "Khirsa," and "Pat-Khirsa," or ripe plantains with milk, and occasionally keep buffaloes for milk, although they object to milk goats.

Three breeds of cows are found in Eastern Bengal, the Bengali (Desi), the Hindustani (Deswali), a handsome milk-white animal, said to have been introduced by Nawab Shaistah Khan, and a cross-breed, called "Du-nasla." A Dacca milch cow rarely gives more than ten sers of milk thrice a day, but this quantity is never got unless the animal is stall fed, for which reason the finest milch cows of the "Deswali" breed are always kept in sheds. A fodder consisting of vetches (Mash-kalai1), broken rice, rice dust (Kunda), and salt, is usually given daily, while those who can afford it add rice and oilcake.

A cow is reckoned impure for three weeks after calving, and no Hindu would taste the milk, or Biestings, during that period. Gop-Goalas will not physic or brand cows, as the Ahir does, unless at Sraddhas, when the "Dharm-sanr" is branded by them. The following singular treatment of a newly born calf and its mother is in vogue: The calf's mouth is washed out, and the milkman chewing pepper and ginger expectorates into the animal's open mouth. He then cleans the cow's hoofs, and gives her a ball made of ginger, green turmeric, fennel seeds, and molasses, to which a little Indian hemp is usually added.

Like the Ahirs, the Gop-Goalas are very partial to bright, gaudy colours. The bride dresses in red, and on the great annual festivals of the Janmashtami and Gopashtami Goalas appear in red or yellow turbans.

1 Perhaps Sadhu, good.