Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/279

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253
GAMALLA

Gadu.— A common suffix to the name of individuals among various Telugu classes, e.g., Rāmigādu, Subbigādu.

Gaduge (throne). — A gōtra of Kurni.

Gaita.— A sub-division of Konda Rāzu.

Gajjal (a small bell). — A sub-division of Toreya.

Gāli.——Gāli or Gālollu, meaning wind, devil, or spirit, is recorded as an exogamous sept of Kamma, Kuruba, and Māla.

Gamalla.— The Gamallas are a class of toddy-drawers, and distillers and vendors of arrack in the Telugu country and are supposed to be Īdigas who have bettered themselves, and separated from that caste. Both Gamallas and Īdigas worship the deity Kāttamayya. At the census, 1891, some returned Īdiga as their sub-division. In the Cuddapah district some toddy-drawers style themselves Asilivāndlu. Possibly the Īdiga, Gamalla, and Asili toddy-drawing classes only represent three endogamous sections of a single caste. In the Nellore district, the toddy-drawers style themselves Gamandla or Gavandlavāndlu, and say that they have one gōtra Kaumandlapu or Gaumandlapu. It is probable that the name Gamandla or Gavandla has been coined by Brāhman purōhits, to connect the caste with Kaumandala Mahārishi of the Purānas. The Gamallas say that they were created to draw toddy by the sage Kavundinya, and that they belong to the Gaundla varnam (caste). I am informed that a Purānam, called Gamandla or Gamudi Purānam, has been created. In the social scale, the toddy-drawers appear to occupy a higher position in the Telugu than in the Tamil country, and they are sometimes said to be Telagas or Balijas, who have adopted toddy-drawing as a profession. The more prosperous members of the community are toddy