Draft:Gatty community

Gatty

ಗಟ್ಟಿ
Regions with significant populations
India: Tulunadu (Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka; Kasaragod, Kerala)
Languages
Tulu, Kannada
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Bunt, Mogaveera

Gatty (also spelled Gatti or Gattiyal) are a Tulu-speaking Hindu community traditionally found in the Tulunadu region of present-day Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka and Kasaragod district of Kerala. The community has historically been associated with the Someshwara Temple at Ullal and has been documented in ethnographic and academic studies, including Edgar Thurston's Castes and Tribes of Southern India (1909) and a 2014 study, "Gatti Community of Tulunadu: A Study". Traditionally, members of the community were associated with agriculture, hereditary temple administration, and community organisation.

History

One of the earliest published descriptions of the community appears in Edgar Thurston and K. Rangachari's Castes and Tribes of Southern India (1909). Thurston described the Gattis as a small caste of cultivators found chiefly near Kumbla and Someswara in the Kasaragod taluk of the former South Canara district, also known by the names Poladava and Holadava ("men of the field"), following the aliya santana (matrilineal) law of inheritance, and divided into exogamous septs (balis).

A 2014 study by Naveen, published in the International Journal of Multidisciplinary Educational Research, is the first dedicated study of the community. According to this study, the community organised itself as Gattiyavara yane Poladavara Sangha, an association established in 1942, with parallel bodies in Kumble and Madhur. The community is traditionally divided into two regional groups: Magane Gattis, living up to Manjeshwar in Kasaragod, and Seeme Gattis, living to the south of Manjeshwara.

The last caste-based census to record the community's population was conducted in 1881, recording 417 males and 446 females. A community-organised census in 2010 recorded approximately 1,200 households across two districts, including 75 taravad (extended family) houses.

Traditional occupation

Agriculture formed one of the traditional occupations of the Gatty community, alongside hereditary responsibilities connected with temple administration and community organisation. According to the 2014 study, members of the community later diversified into business, education, government service, and other professions while continuing to preserve their cultural traditions.

Association with Someshwara Temple

The Someshwara Temple at Ullal occupies a central place in the traditions of the Gatty community, who regard Lord Somanatheshwara as their patron deity. Members of the community traditionally held two hereditary offices at the temple, Nayaga and Melanta, appointed with elaborate rituals; this practice reportedly continues today even though the temple has come under the Karnataka Government's Department of Muzrai and Religious Endowments.

The earliest reference to these offices dates to the 16th century. According to community tradition recorded in the 2014 study, when the Portuguese attacked Ullal in 1556, the temple's Nayaga, who was also responsible for guarding Ullal port, died fighting the invaders; several men of the community are said to have subsequently served in the army of Queen Abbakka I of Ullal. Families particularly associated with this service and the temple's hereditary offices include those of Pilar, Nurgemajal, Gattikudru, and Sevantiguttu.

This tradition is corroborated by an independent source, the 2011 volume Abbakka Sankathana — a multi-author historical compilation on Queen Abbakka edited by Kannada scholar Dr. Amrutha Someshwara along with Prof. A. V. Navada and Dr. Vamana Nandavara — which names a Gatti community leader, Timmanna Nayaka, as a war commander who, alongside Mogaveera commander Chenna Gurikara, strategised on Queen Abbakka's behalf during the conflict with the Portuguese. The same volume states that the Poladavaru, also called Gatti Samaja, have from ancient times been considered the original devotee lineage (mula bhajaka vamsha) of Sri Somanatha, and that the Gatti Samaja, as loyal followers of the Alupa king Kulashekhara, were granted certain distinctive positions of status in the temple.

Traditionally, the community maintained a structured system of self-governance through Gurikaras, who acted as heads of individual maganes (regional divisions), presiding over community meetings, resolving disputes, representing the community before temple authorities, and supervising religious observances.

Customs

The Gatty follow the aliya santana (matrilineal) system of inheritance; the extended family household (taravad) is headed by the senior-most woman in the lineage, called kudaltedarti. The community worships Naga (serpent deities) and household spirits called Bhootas — categorised as Arasudaivas, Rajan Daivas, and Kutumbadaiva — alongside Lord Venkataramana of Tirupati. The community is traditionally organised into seven septs (balis): Bangerannaya, Kojjarannaya, Swadannaya, Kayyarannaya, Perbannaya, Upyanyaya, and Karibannaya, the last two of which are said to be nearly extinct. Intra-bali marriages are prohibited, and the community leader, called gurikara, plays a central role in marriage ceremonies.

Government recognition

The Karnataka State Government has recognised the Gatty community as a socially and educationally backward class, and it has been included in Category II-A of the Karnataka Backward Classes list; the community, listed as "Gatti/Gattiyavaru", also appears in the Central List of Other Backward Classes for Karnataka maintained by the National Commission for Backward Classes, Government of India, under Resolution No. 12011/68/93-BCC(C), notified in the Gazette of India on 10 September 1993.

See also

• Tulu Nadu
• Someshwara Temple

References

Category:Tulu society Category:Social groups of Karnataka Category:Hindu communities