Gavara is a term used to refer to four distinct and completely unrelated communities in South Indian.
Gavara is a trading community and is a sub-caste of Balija.[1] They have marital relationship with the Balijas.[2] They are present in Tamil Nadu. Kavarai is the Tamil name for Balijas who have settled in Tamil Nadu and is the Tamilised rendition of Gavara.[3] The often use the title Naidu.[4] The Telugu-speaking Gavara community of Tamil Nadu is related to Balijas. 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.[5] They are a trading community. Gavara Komatis are distinct from Gavara-Balijas as well as the Gavara caste of former Visakhapatnam district.[6]
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.[7][8] They are not related to Balija caste. They are predominantly agriculturists and are also involved in petty trade.[7]
P. R. G. Mathur, ed. (1994). Applied Anthropology and Challenges of Development in India. Punthi-Pustak. p. 341. ISBN9788185094793. Similarly too the Balija community, with two sub-divisions, Gajalu Balija and Gavara Balija, migrated originally from Tamil Nadu. The Balija Gavarai are popularly known as Naidus and the other as Chetties Valai Chatties, Chettiars. It is said that they originally spoke Telugu. They are mainly traders and jewellers.
Pradip K. Bhowmick, ed. (2002). Man and Life. Vol. 28. Institute of Social Research and Applied Anthropology. p. 59. Balija, a Telugu speaking migrant caste to Kerala, is segmented into two sub-castes, viz., Gavara Naidu and Gajaiu Balija (Vala Chetti).
Alpana Pandey, ed. (2015). Medieval Andhra: A Socio-Historical Perspective. Partridge Publishing. p. 44. ISBN9781482850178. 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.
^G. Karunanithi, ed. (1991). Caste and Class in Industrial Organisation. Commonwealth Publishers. p. 45. ISBN9788171691425. A section of the Naidu migrants in Tamilnadu call themselves Kavarais. They are included in the list of backward classes. They have marital relationship with the Balijas.
R. Nagaswamy, ed. (1997). Studies in South Indian History and Culture. V.R. Ramachandra Dikshitar Centenary Committee. p. 321. Turning now to another Telugu group, the Balijas, also called Kavarai, it appears that although this was a trading caste, members could also take to textile manufacture.
Jawaharlal Nehru University. Centre for Historical Studies, ed. (1995). Studies in History. Vol. 11, 6. Sage. p. 8. English trade in Madras, the much sought after, and obviously lucrative, exclusive contracts for trading with the English Company (both for supplying textiles and other goods and buying the European goods) had been cornered by the Right side merchants, especially the Balijas (often referred to as the Kavarai in Tamil).
R. Roque, K. Wagner, ed. (2011). Engaging Colonial Knowledge: Reading European Archives in World History. Springer. p. 170. ISBN9780230360075. Within the right hand division the leading individuals were from the communities of Vellalas and Kavarais. The former constituted, as in other parts of Tamil Nadu, the established agricultural elite, while the latter were Telugu-speaking Balija Chetties, who had settled in Tamil country.
Venkatesa Iyengar, ed. (1932). The Mysore Tribes and Castes. Mittal Publications. p. 102. In the Tamil Districts, Balijas are known as Kavarais
Census of India, 1901: Madras (3 v.). India Census Commissioner. 1902. p. 161. Kavarai - A Tamil synonym for Balija; probably a corrupt form of Gavara.
Jervoise Athelstane Baines, ed. (1912). Ethnography: Castes and Tribes. Vol. 28. K.J. Trübner. p. 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
Vijaya Ramaswamy, ed. (2017). Historical Dictionary of the Tamils. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 43. ISBN9781538106860. In recent years, migrant communities, like the Gajula Balijas—called Gavarai in the Tamil country—have joined the agricultural workforce, giving up their traditional profession as bangle sellers
R. Thirumalai, S. Manoharan, ed. (1997). People of India: Tamil Nadu. Affiliated East-West Press. p. 211. ISBN9788185938882. The Gajula Balija, called 'Gavarai' in Tamil, are popularly known as Naidu or Balija Naidu. Its members have such titles as Naidu, Chetty and Naicker.
P. Rajaraman, ed. (1988). The Justice Party: A Historical Perspective, 1916-37. Poompozhil Publishers. p. 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
Kumarasamy Rajaram, ed. (1982). History of Thirumalai Nayak. Ennes Publications. p. 82. Gavarais are also called Balijas.
K. Ramachandra Murty, ed. (2001). Parties, Elections, and Mobilisation. Anmol Publications. p. 18. ISBN9788126109791. 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.
C. Dwarakanath Gupta, Sepuri Bhaskar, ed. (1992). Vysyas: A Sociological Study. Ashish Publishing House. p. 11. ISBN9788170244509. Komatis are mainly divided into two sections called Gavara and Kalinga
Kumar Suresh Singh, ed. (1992). People of India: Andhra Pradesh. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 1940. ISBN978-81-7671-006-0. The Gavara and Kalinga are the two main sections of the Komati. The Gavara Komati live far north of Vizianagaram.
K. N. M. Raju, ed. (1998). Family and Household Functions: A Demographic Study. Sunrise Publications. p. 209. Gavara is an important subdivision of Komatis and these Gavaras are probably in reality Gavara Komati.
L. Krishna Anantha Krishna Iyer, ed. (1930). The Mysore Tribes and Castes. University of Mysore. p. 541. There are three main groups among the Kōmatis which constitute practically different castes, without either commensality or inter marriage, namely, Gavara, Tuppada and Trai - Varnika.
Journal of the Andhra Historical Research Society. Vol. 8. Andhra Historical Research Society. 1934. p. 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.
K. S. Singh, ed. (1992). People of India: pt.1-3 Kerala. Vol. 27. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 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.
Nagendra Kr Singh, ed. (2006). Global Encyclopaedia of the South Indian Dalit's Ethnography. Global Vision Pub House. p. 340. The Kavara, also known as Gavara, 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. They belong to the Scheduled Castes.
Ajit K. Danda, S. B. Chakrabarti, ed. (1989). L.K. Ananthakrishna Iyer: 125th Birth Anniversary Tribute. Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Culture, Government of India. p. 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.
David Levinson, ed. (1991). Encyclopedia of World Cultures: South Asia. G.K. Hall. p. 325. Kavara A Tulu - speaking caste found in northern and central Kerala. They do wicker work
Pradip K. Bhowmick, ed. (2002). Man and Life. Vol. 28. Institute of Social Research and Applied Anthropology. p. 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.