Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/220

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DONGA ODDE
194

Dāsari woman is very loose, but, if she go astray with a Brāhman, Lingayat, Kabbēra, Kuruba, Upparava, or Rājput, her tongue is burnt, and she is taken back into the community. Widow remarriage freely prevails. They avoid eating beef and pork, but have no objection to other kinds of flesh."

Donga Oddē.— The name for Oddēs who practice thieving as a profession.

Dongayato. — A sub-division of Gaudo.

Dongrudiya. — A sub-division of Māli.

Dora.— Dora, meaning lord, has been returned as the title of numerous classes, which include Bōya, Ekāri, Jātāpu, Konda Dora, Mutrācha, Patra, Telaga, Velama, and Yānāti. The hill Kois or Koyis of the Godāvari district are known as Koi Dora or Doralu (lords). I am told that, in some parts of the Telugu country, if one hears a native referred to as Dora, he will generally turn out to be a Velama; and that there is the following gradation in the social scale: —

Velama Dora = Velama Esquire,
Kamma Vāru = Mr. Kamma,
Kapu ==. Plain Kāpu, without an honorific suffix.

In Southern India, Dorai or Durai (Master) is the equivalent of the northern Sāhib, and Dorasāni (Mistress) of Memsāhib.

It is noted by Sir A. J. Arbuthnot *[1] that "the appellation by which Sir Thomas Munro was most commonly known in the Ceded districts was that of Colonel Dora. And to this day it is considered a sufficient answer to enquiries regarding the reason for any Revenue Rule, that it was laid down by the Colonel Dora."

  1. • Memoir of Sir Thomas Munro.