Kathodi | આદિમજૂથ જાતિઓ | ગુજરાતની આદિજાતિઓ | ગુજરાતના આદિવાસી ડેમોગ્રાફી

Brief Details of Kathodi

Kathodi / Katkari

The name 'Kathodi' is derived from the word 'Kath', i.e. catechu, and Kathodi are the makers of catechu. Kath is the thickened om the Khair (Acacia Catechu) trees. According to Enthoven (1922). "The Kathodis or Katkaris are a tribe of catechu makers". Stephen Fuchs regards the 'Kathodi' as a subsection of Bhils. They are also known as Katkari and Kathodia. According to Sherring (1881) "the Kathodia is the Gujarati form of Kathodi and is in use only in Gujarat". They have migrated from Kolaba. Thana and Khandesh areas and especially from the border villages of the Khandesh area of Maharashtra. According to Masvi and Pandya (1981) they were brought into Gujarat by some Bohra contractors and traders to make catechu from Khair trees. In the beginning only males came into the forests of Dangs. Gandevi, Chhota-Upepur and Vijaynagar talukas. They had to work eight months a year, i.e. from October to May. This seasonal migration proved to be inconvenient for them as they had to remain separated from their families. The contractors therefore coaxed the Kathodis to migrate along with their families. They employed in the forests on meager rations and poor wages.

The Kathodis are distributed in the Magrol and Uchhal talukas of Surat district, in Sagbara taluka of Bharuch district. Vijaynagar taluka of Sabarkantha district and in the district of Dangs. According to the 2001 census their population is 5820. They speak Marathi mixed with Gujarati. They follow Gujarati and Hindi to some extent. They use Gujarati script. The Kathodi women wear chaniya (skirt) and blouse. Some women wear phadaki (saree) in the Maharashtran style. The Kathodi is a scheduled tribe in Gujarat.

The Kathodi are dark-brown in colour, medium to tall stature, stout looking and slim in appearance. Fuchs (1973) writes that "they are slight in build and of medium height". Their complexion is brown to very dark, with deep-sun eyes, a shallow nasal bridge and full lips. In both sexes hair is often curly. Their physical appearance would link them rather with the south Indian tribes. "According to the Bombay Gazetteer; (1901) the Kathodis are small, hard featured and black. The men shave the head and grow a slight straggling beard. The women dress their hair after oiling it and braiding it in a long fillet."

The Kathodi are non-vegetarian in food habits. They used to depend much on the hunting in the forests, on wild fruits, roots and tubers, wild grass and green leaves in past; but due to deforestation and certain other factors, these resources have become considerably less. Maize is staple cereal among those who live in north Gujarat while among those of South Gujarat the staple cereal is nagli and jowar. They also eat wheat and rice. Sometimes, they prepare a gruel of jowar called 'bhadku' after boiling the jowar flour in water especially in times of scarcity. Use of pulses and vegetables is quite low though they occasionally take pulses like urad, tur and moong. In the rainy season, they eat the green leaves of karadai (Carthamus tinctorius) and ambadi (Bahiscus Cannabinus). Masvi and Pandya (1980) have mentioned that fruits such as bor and guller, wild roots such as kadva kanda (wild onion), wild flowers and even grains of wild grass such as sava are eaten by them from summer to the close of monsoon.

They take tea when they visit the markets. They brew liquor from the mahuva (Bassia latifolia) for their own consumption. They smoke bidi and chew tobacco.

The Kathodi community is basically divided into two groups, viz. Son Kathodi and Dhor Kathodi. The Son Kathodi do not eat beef, while the Dhor Kathodi take carrion. Mostly they have migrated from Khandesh which is the land of Dhor Kathodis. They however like to be called only as Kathodi. They have a number of clans like Nagher, Gangada, Chanda, Nayak, Mishal, Kever, Lakhan, Gavit, Savra, Power, Bhil, Dhum, Kokhi, Deve, Mukanya which areequal to each other in status. The clans are not strictly exogamous. Marriages within a clan have been reported by Masvi and Pandya. (1981). They occupy a very low social status in the local social hierarchy.

The Kathodi are monogamous, Cases of polygamous marriages are quite a few in the community. Age at marriage for the girls is from 13 to 16 years while for the same for boys is 15 to 29 years. They practice arranged marriage, but marriage by mutual consent, marriage by exchange and marriage by service are also prevalent in the community. In some cases, the boy and the girl cohabit as husband and wife, without formal marriage. Sometime actual marriage is performed even after the birth of children. Married women annocent vermillion in their hair parting and wear ganthi. The amount of bride price varies from Rs. 60/- to Rs. 125/-. Rules of residence after marriage is patrilocal. Either wife or the husband can seek divorce on grounds of mal-adjustment and adultery. The children live with either of them. Permission is taken from the panch (council of elders) for divorce. Widow marriage is permitted. In case there is a younger brother of her husband and is of suitable age, remarriage with him (levirate) takes place. Junior Sororate is also prevalent. Cross-cousin marriage is also found among them. Marriage alliance with sons and daughters of mother's brother as well as father’s sister are preferred.

Extended and nuclear type of families are common in the Kathodi community. A married son soon constructs a new house for himself. The younger people in the family pay respect to the elderly persons. Joking relationship exists between vahani (elder brother's wife) and devar (hubsand's younger brother). The younger brother's wife does not address her husband's elder brother and maintains a social distance in her movements from him. Rule of inheritance is male, previously, only the eldest son used to inherit his father's property (Masvi and Pandya, 1981). The eldest son succeeds to authority in the family after the death of his parents. Inter-family linkages within the community are reported.

Their women do not inherit parental property. After marriage they become a part of their conjugal family and take their surname. Men and women work together in economic activities, both in agricultural fields and forests. The men chop down the boughs of trees, bamboos in the forest and the women bring them to house. The women work as agricultural labourers and forest labourers. Apart from this, they also attend to their household duties. They tend the children prepare food and purchase food materials from the village shop. They grind maize, jowar and nagli. They collect minor forest produce. Thus, they actively contribute to the family income and also manage the family affairs. They enjoy full freedom in many matters. However, the women occupy a status lower than the males.

The first delivery takes place in the husband's house attended by a dai (local midwife). A metal dish is beaten on birth of a child. The mother of the child is given gruel of rice or maize during this period Panchuro is celebrated on the fifth day in case of daughter but on the third day in case of a son. The mother worships Mari mata and the child is given a bath. The dal and other old women are paid for their services. Naming of the child is either done on this day or after two-three months by the child's father's sister. Pollution ends with the performance of barwa, i.e. a purificatory rite performed on the twelfth day. The mother takes bath, house is cleaned and the floor is basmeared with a mix of cow-dung and mud. They have started performing tonsure ceremony. Marriage is locally known as pen. The parents obtain the consent of both the boy and the girl.

Marriage negotiations are generally held with the help of mediators who are locally called hathio. After mutual visits and satisfaction with each other, groom's party (10-12) go to girl's house to fix up the date for nani-pen (engagement ceremony). At the time of engagement, the bride and the bride-groom are made to sit on a piece of cloth spread over mortar. It is officiated by an elderly experienced man of the community. A part of the bride price is paid to the bride's father. The bridegroom's party is offered a feast. The party is given a send-off in the next morning.

Marriage (varady or moti pen) takes place after a month or two of the engagement. Accompanied by the both men and women, the bo's party goes to the girl's house, dancing and singing. They take a turban for bride's father and phadki (saree) for bride's mother. Marriage rituals are performed in a pandal (marriage booth) late in the evening or at night. The bride and the bridegroom are seated on a cloth and their hands are clasped after making prayers to the deities, gods and goddesses. Liquor is served to all persons present there. The bridegroom's party pays the remaining amount of the bride price. Then, the bride and the bridegroom take bath by pouring water on each other. Next day morning the bride goes to her husband's house for staying for five days. The bride goes back to her home after a few days; the bridegroom goes with some friends to bring back his wife. When they come back nuptial-rite is performed at the bridegroom's house.

The Kathodis bury their dead facing in north-south direction. The hammock is prepared of white or red cloth in case of male and female respectively. Pollution is observed for seven days. A feast is arranged either on the twelfth day or after two to three months.

In recent times, many families have been provided with houses and agricultural lands by the State Government under the programmes for development of primitive tribes. Some of them work as small agriculturists as well as agricultural labourers in the fields of both tribal and non-tribal land owners. They also work as forest labourers. Labour work in the forest is available to them for four months. i.e. from November to February. They also collect minor forest produce like gum, honey, karanjia (Pomagania glabra), Mahuwa (Bassia latifolia), white musil etc. and sell to the local traders. They collect timbru leaves which are used for making bidi. The Kathodi used to do hunting in the forest and get hare, monkey, deer, wild pig and a variety of birds. They also catch fish in the rivers. They do bamboo-cutting, tree-cutting and charcoal-making in the forest. The Kathodi are considered expert in charcoal-making, but this work is available only for two to three months in a year. The Kathodi also do full time cattle-grazing. The masters of the cattle pay them both in cash and kind. They earn also by selling fire-wood in the villages. The income of the Kathodis is so low that they face a lot of difficulties, even though they get edible leaves and roots free of cost from the forests. Masvi and Pandya (1981) have pointed out that the Kathodi spend mainly on food and drink and nominally on clothes. In spite of working hard and after pooling their earnings from different sources they are unable to meet the basic minimum needs.

Every village has a Mulhi (headman). The council of elderly person's panch of the village sit at one place and decide the cases of disputes with the help of the Mukhi. Generally, the cases of quarrels, divorce, illicit sex-relations are settled by the panch. The statutory village panchayat deals with development and welfare programmes of the villagers.

The Kathodis profess their own tribal religion. But under the influence of Hindu religion, they worship Lord Ram, Hanuman along with their tribal deities like Dungardev, Vagh dev, Dungardev protects the cattle and provides a number crops when he is happy. To propitiate him a goat or a hen is sacrificed. They worship Vaghdev because they are much dependent on the forest. They offer fire leaf-vegetable of tree to Vaghdev and then start eating the same. Gamdev is believed to be the protector of the village. The Kathodis have strong faith in goddess, Marimata. It is installed in a basket filled with grains. She is worshipped at the time of Navratri festival. They also worship Shiva and celebrate Mahashivratri. A big festival is held at Vijaynagar on the fifth day after Holi. The Kathodi men and women dance to the accompaniment of music. They use chunghuru, dholki and taroa as musical instruments. They also celebrate Navratri with great pomp and show. They keep feast for nine days. They erect a mandap (booth) and sing devotional songs for nine days. During this period, old persons live in the village. The young people visit different villages dancing and singing. They worship the dead ancestors on the day of Holi festival. They also celebrate Diwali and Akha-tij. On the day of Akha-tij, they do not do any work and just relax at home. They suspend agricultural work and other economic activities on this day. The Kathodis believe in supernatural powers like ghosts and witches. They also believe in spirits. They take the help of bhagats (exorcists) in these matters. The Kathodis visit temples of Sarvneshwar. Vireshwar, Mahadeo, Khed Brahma, Ambaji and Shamlaji for offering worship. They also attend all the local fairs.

The Kathodis know the art of preparing catechu by boiling the chips of khair wood in small earthen pots with water and going through the whole process to get small cakes after cutting and drying the subsided sediment of catechu. They know the art of charcoal-making. They know how to weave mats and to make ropes. They have a rich oral tradition. They dance and sing. Their musical instruments are taroa, adhol and chunghuru.

The Kathodi have economic links with the Bohra and persons of other mercantile groups who engage them for various works and also for the purchase of minor forest produce gathered by Kathodis. They are also associated with the neighboring groups Koli, Dungri, Garasia, Gamit, Vasava, Bhils, Kanbi etc. whom they serve as agricultural labourers. They depend upon the potters and blacksmiths for earthenwares and iron implements. As they are placed very low in the local social hierarchy, other groups do not take food and water from them, but consume the liquor sold by them. The Kathodi accept food and water from all. Very few inter-community marriages have taken place in recent years. As a result of development programmes. Kathodis now get the supply of drinking water from public village well. They have got a separate burial ground. A few Kathodis have become teachers and government employees in the forest department. Cultivator labourer and employer-worker relationships are found in the community. Child labour is found among them due to their poverty.

Children are sent to attend schools but most of them drop out at the primary level. A very small number are found to continue upto Higher Secondary level. By and large Kathodis believe that most of diseases are due to the wrath of the evil spirits and the deities. Due to such belief they contact the Bhagat or Bhuva (village priest) for minor diseases. They take herbs and indigenous medicines in most of the cases. They take allopathic medicines in case of serious illness. Some persons have undergone vasectomy operation. The Kathodi fetch drinking water from the public wells. They also collect water from springs. As a result of the special development schemes for the primitive tribes, the Kathodis are given poultry birds, goats and bullocks. New houses have been constructed for them. Some of them have also received agricultural land from the goverment. They got employment under IRDP scheme also. They use coal, wood, cow-dung cakes and kerosene as fuels, but mostly it is wood which the main fuel is. They have now started using organic manures. Kathodi children avail of the benefits of the mid-day meal scheme. They also have access to the public distribution system (ration). They are dependent on the money lenders and contractor for obtaining loans to purchase clothes and other commodities of day-do-day consumption.

Rituls among Kathodi Tribe

1.1 Rituals after the birth of child.
1.2 On fifth day Bhagat-Bhuva supervise the ritual, Drinks are prepared and distributed the residents of whole and relatives. A name to child is given. Daya (local nurse is paid Rs.101 and her assistant is given Rs. 51.
2.1 Lagna Vidhi
2.1 Age- Boy who has moustaches, but now Government rules are followed Boy should be 21 and girl be 18 years of age.
2.2 Parents of boy and girl discuss the matter, it is discussed by near relatives- elder brother-sister, Mama-mami, Uncle-aunt, grandfather-mother etc.