Banjara(Vana chara)

SUNDAY, JANUARY 16, 2011

Banjara-Lambadi
The word Banjara is a deprecated, colloquial form
of the word of Sanskrit origin. The sanskit bi-word
Vana chara transliterated as "Forest wanderers",
presumably because of their primitive role in the
Indian society as forest wood collectors and
distributors.
The Banjara are a class of usually ascribed as
nomadic people from the Indian state of
Rajasthan, North-West Gujarat, and Western
Madhya Pradesh and Eastern Sindh province of
pre-independence Pakistan. They claim to belong
to the clan of Agnivanshi Rajputs, and are also
known as Banjari, Pindari, Bangala, Banjori,
Banjuri, Brinjari, Lamani, Lamadi, Lambani,
Labhani, Lambara, Lavani, Lemadi, Lumadale,
Labhani Muka, Goola, Gurmarti, Gormati, Kora,
Sugali, Sukali, Tanda, Vanjari, Vanzara,and Wanji
Together with the Domba, they are sometimes
called the "Gypsies of India".
DISTRIBUTION
The Banjara have spread to Andhra Pradesh,
Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and other
states of India. About half their number speak
Lambadi, one of the Rajasthani dialects, while
others are native speakers of Hindi, Telugu and
other languages dominant in their respective
areas of settlement. Rathore, Parmar, Pawar,
Chauhan, castes belong to Vanjara community in
Rajasthan and Gujarat now are in General Seats
after the communal rights taken place in
Rajasthan for Reservation in 2008 as they were
landlords in Amarkot, Fathaykot and Sialkot
before Partition of India and Pakistan. They are
an ST in Andhra Pradesh (where they are listed
as Sugali), Orissa, Karnataka (SC), Haryana,
Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh.

Culture in Andhra Pradesh

In Andhra Pradesh, Lambadas in the Telangana
region were only recently recognised as
Schduled Tribes; earlier we were recognised as
Denotified Tribes. Lambadas are of North-west
Indian origin, who lived primarily by Our earnings
from transportation on the pack bullocks. There
is evidence to show that we supplied food grains
etc. to the Moghuls when we invaded the
Deccan. However, there is some dispute about
the nature of Our Moghul connection. Whether
we accompanied the Moghuls as an ordinance
corps in the conquest of the Deccan, and some
of them later stayed back to continue trade, or
whether we were already present as traders,
having come in an earlier period, and assisted
the Moghuls when the latter came South.

Women, Lambadi / Gor women (Thandri) wear a

very colourful red style dress and lots of
jewellery. The clothes we wear are decorated
with pieces of mirror and cowl. we wear ivory
bangles and ornaments, which are innumerable.
The dance performed by Lambadis is more a
rhythm based one. But when performed to the
beat of the drums, it gains momentum.

Dance, Lambadi is a special kind of dance of

Andhra Pradesh. In this form of dance, mainly
the female dancers dance in tune with the male
drummers to offer homage to Our Lord for a
good harvest. At Anupu Village near
Nagarjunakonda, Lambadi dance originated. we
are actually semi-nomadic tribes who are
gradually moving towards civilization and
decency. This dance is mainly restricted among
the females and rarely the males participate in
Lambadi Dance. Lambadi is a special kind of
Folk Dance which involves participation by tribal
women who bedeck themselves in colorful
costumes and jewelry.

Food
The traditional food of Lambadis is Bati which is
Roti. Daliya is a dish cooked using many cereal
(wheat, jawar). Banjara people are very much
fascinated about non-vegetarian food. Saloi
(made from goat blood and other parts of goat) is
a non-vegetarian dish made exclusively by
Banjara people. They prefer eating spicy food.

Dress
Women are known to wear colorful and beautiful
costumes like phetiya (as ghagra) and kanchalli
(as top) and have tattoos on their hands. The
dress is considered fancy and attractive by
Western cultures. They use mirror chips and often
coins to decorate it. Women put on thick bangles
on their arms (patli). Their ornaments are made
up of silver rings, coins, chain and hair pleats are
tied together at the end by chotla.
Men wear Dhoti and Kurta (short with many
folds). These clothes were designed specially for
the protection from harsh climate in deserts and
to distinguish them from others.
Arts, literature and entertainment
Their customs, language and dress indicate they
originated from Rajasthan. They live in
settlements called thandas. They lived in zupada
(hut). Now many of them live in cities. They have
a unique culture and dance form. On many
occasions they gather, sing and dance.
Their traditional occupation is agriculture and
trade. Banjaras are also a group of nomadic cattle
herders.
The accurate history of Lambanis or Lambadis or
Banjaras is not known but the general opinion
among them is that they fought for Prithvi Raj
against Muhammad of Ghor. The trail of the
Lambadi/Banjara can be verified from their
language, Lambadi borrows words from
Rajasthani, Gujarati, Marathi and the local
language of the area they belong to.
Banjaras originally belong to Rajasthan and they
were Rajputs who migrated to southern parts of
India for trade and agriculture. They settled down
in the southern or central area of the country and
slowly loosened contacts with Rajasthan, and
their original community. Over a period of time
both the communities separated and they
adopted the local culture. The language spoken
by Banjaras settled in Yavatmal district of
Vidarbha, Maharashtra is an admixture of Hindi,
Rajasthani and Marathi. The word "Banjara" must
have evolved from Prakrit and Hindi and
Rajasthani words "Bana/Ban or Vana/Van"
meaning Forest or Moorlands and "Chara"
meaning 'Movers'. The Banjara are (together with
the Domba) sometimes called the "Gypsies of
India".
Lambadi Dance is a special kind of dance of
Andhra Pradesh. In this form of dance, mainly the
female dancers dance in tune with the male
drummers to offer homage to their Lord for a good
harvest. At Anupu village near Nagarjunakonda,
Lambadi dance originated. They are actually
semi-nomadic tribes who are gradually moving
towards civilization. This dance is mainly
restricted among the females and rarely the
males participate in Lambadi dance. Lambadi is a
special kind of Folk Dance which involves
participation by tribal women who bedeck
themselves in colorful costumes and jewelry.

BANJARA MARRIAGE CULTURE

The banjaras are grouped into 4 categories called
gotras. The lambadi language term for gotra is
Goth/Pada. The gotras are
1. Rathod/Bhukya
2.Chavan
3.Pawar
4.Vadtya.
Under each of these gotras there are several
Jaaths. People falling in the same Gotra Dont
marry, they are considered brother and sister. The
term for this is Bhaipana meaning brotherhood. If
people fall under different gothras and can marry,
the term used is Laagach means can marry.
People usually have their jaath name as the
surname, A detailed Jaath check of which jaath
can marry which jaath and whom they fall under
can be done at banjarapoint website in their jaath
check / gotras check page. This was traditionally
done by people called dhadi bhaats who were
kind of knowledge agents/Knowledge experts.
The Rahtod/Bhukya Gotra/category has been
said to have split into 2 making Banoth as a
separate gotra by itself. So some people say
there are 5 gotras.Turi(badawat)is also said to be
an additional gotra.it means there are 6 gotras
can be said
EXAMPLES OF BANJARA MARRAIGE CULTURE
Bhaipana example Ghugloth (Vadtiya) and
Aajmera (Vadtiya) cannot marry as fall under
same category i.e Vadtiya and they are brother
and sister.
Laagacha example Ghugloth (Vadtiya) and
Bhukya (Rathore) can marry as they fall under
different categories, i.e Ghugloth falls under
Vadtiya and Bhukya Falls under Rathore/Rathod.
here are some of the sub-caste of gotras:

Rathod/Bhukya (27) Chavan/Chauhan (6)

Aaloth
Dumaavath/Chauradiya
Bhaanaavath Kayloth
Bhilavath Korra
Degaavath Mood
Depaavath Paalthyaa
Devsoth Sabavat
Dungaavath Banoth (15)
Jhandavath Aadoth
Kaanaavath Ade
Karamtoth Baanoth
Khaatroth Bhojaavath
Khethaavath Daanaavath
Khilaavath Dharmasoth
Kodaavath Dheeravath
Kumaavath Jaatroth
Meghaavath Karnaavath
Meraajoth Kuntaavath
Meraavath Lavori
Nenaavath Mudavath
Paathloth Paanaavath
Pithaavath Rupavath
Raajavath Sabdasoth
Raamavath
Raathla/Phulia
Ranasoth
Sangaavath
Sotki
Pawar (12)
Aamgoth
Aivath Pammar
Baanni
Chaivoth Pammar
Injraavath
Inloth Pammar
Jharapla
Lunsavath/Nunsavath
Pamaadiyaa
Tarabaanni
Vankdoth
Vislaavath
Vadithya/Jadhav(52)
Ajmera
Baadaavath
Barmaavath
Bhagvaandas
Bharoth
Bodaa
Dhaaraavath
Dungaroth
Gangaavath
Goraam
Gugloth
Halaavath
Jaadhav
Jaloth
Jayt
Kagla
Kunsoth
Lokaavath
Lonaavath
Loolaavath
Maaloth
Mohandas
Pipaavath
Poosnamal
Salaavath
Sejaavath
Tejaavath
Tepaavath
Teraavath
Tuvar
Undaavath
VaderJhaad
Vadithya Jaajigiri
…there r some more which i dont know…If u knw
plz send me the other sub categories of this gotra
madhubabu at 12:09 PM

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323 comments:

Unknown January 1, 2013 at 9:38 AM

u have made an excellent collectiion
Reply

Replies

madhubabu January 4, 2013 at 3:31

AM
thanks...:)

Unknown June 22, 2018 at 7:02 AM

Sapavat

Anonymous July 30, 2018 at 3:54 AM

Can any one tell relation between mudavath
and banothu

Unknown October 20, 2018 at 10:38 AM

Brothers

Unknown December 10, 2018 at 12:12 PM

Can Naik marry with Pawar

Unknown February 5, 2019 at 8:00 AM

Bro eslavath and sabavath m autharu

Unknown March 6, 2019 at 11:56 AM

As for my knowledge banoth and mudavath
were not brother hood. They can marry each
other

Unknown April 4, 2019 at 2:33 AM

Haii my name is Vadathya janardhan naik,
and Shall i marry Banavath girl....?????

thirupathi guguloth May 6, 2019 at 2:36

PM
surely you can marry her....

Unknown June 16, 2019 at 7:13 PM

Iam maloth.bhavusingh
Can i marry nenavath grl ??

Reply

aeronaut February 4, 2013 at 7:05 AM

great work....
but BANOTH also there...
Reply

Replies

Unknown December 18, 2018 at 8:54 AM

What is it for BANOTHU

Reply

madhubabu February 5, 2013 at 9:59 AM

Banoth is gotra n sub-caste der under it...
Reply

Replies

Anonymous April 20, 2015 at 12:04 PM

Can pls any one explain on what basis
banoth has separated from Bhukya?,as I
heard previously they were considered as
brother hood.

shiva December 21, 2016 at 11:07 PM

bhukya and baanoths are brothers onece
upon a time but not now because banoths
ware separated form bhukya, they are no
more no more brothers. you can find more
details online book

Anonymous February 8, 2017 at 10:51 PM

as per my knowledge and hered from elders
one there were no grooms for bukya girls, so
ancestors called some bhukya guys as
Banavath, hence they seperated like that..
may be or may not be true..

Anonymous August 8, 2018 at 3:39 AM

Relation between banothu and mudavath

Reply

Unknown February 22, 2013 at 12:40 AM

i found something wrong
daanavath an mudavath doesn't falls under
banoth
as i am from nalgond ,Andhra pradesh i have
seen they marry
Reply

Replies

Unknown February 2, 2016 at 10:19 AM

u saw that surname marriage plz
immediately stop ...they are brother hood.
daanavath and banoth brothers. banoth is
main surname of daanavath., danavath is
just pade.,no is the direct surname is
banoth, me also sabdasoth but wrote main
gotra banoth plz save our community &
culture

Unknown March 23, 2017 at 7:32 PM

Good ...

Anonymous August 31, 2017 at 2:35 AM

What is the relation between Banoth and
karamtoth bhukya?

Unknown June 20, 2019 at 1:41 PM

Ramavath karamtoth brother na bro

Reply

Unknown November 2, 2013 at 2:13 AM

GREAT WORK .........
THANKS FOR PROVIDING THIS
INFORMATION....
Reply

Anonymous November 10, 2013 at 8:43 AM

very nice and great collection. Keep it up.
Reply

Unknown December 6, 2013 at 5:16 AM

Thanks i didnt know about history of our previous
life style and our ancester am very happy to read
it thanks for providing such a information
Reply

Replies

madhubabu December 30, 2013 at

3:15 AM
Thank you very much..:)

Linga July 26, 2014 at 11:19 PM

am having text book of our histroy

Unknown January 27, 2019 at 9:32 PM

Nunavath di em vastadi bro

Reply

Anonymous December 20, 2013 at 2:25 AM

Thank you madhu...for collecting all this
information ..and sharaing with us..!!

can any one tell me that what is gotram for

mood..because supoose we wnt temple ,the
poojari is asking for gotram..? at the time of
archana..!!
so what would be the correct gotram...?
Reply

Replies

Anonymous July 30, 2014 at 2:46 PM

Mudavath

Reply

Simbu April 1, 2014 at 1:57 AM

can you kindly send me the address peoples
where living in rajasthan.
email:slmbrsnv2@gmail.com
Reply

Anonymous May 7, 2014 at 11:01 AM

how can i learn lambadi language,please help
me my girl speaks lambadi,i want to suprise her
email:vamsi07323@gmail.com
pleassssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
ss.
Reply

Replies

Anonymous February 17, 2017 at 12:39

AM
Bro if you get one tell me also na, even I
wanna learn it for my guy ��

Reply

Gowri June 2, 2014 at 8:54 AM

excellent work Madhu!
How can i reach you to ask permission to use
some of the information
from your blog?
Reply

Anonymous July 4, 2014 at 3:52 AM

hi sir i have one doubt i belongs to mood
(chavan) could i marry to mudavath....
Reply

Replies

Anonymous December 11, 2016 at 9:01

PM
no it Belongs to ur Same Cast....

Reply

Anonymous September 19, 2014 at 2:42 AM

Thanks for the history . l read in wiki that, some
of us are originally from Afghanistan itseems..Is
that true??

Reply

Replies

Anonymous September 19, 2014 at 3:22

AM
Thank you very much.. As i said banajara
are "gypsies of India" origin may not be
Afgan.

Reply

Anonymous October 10, 2014 at 3:31 AM

thanks for the great job...but actually in the sub
group of chavan, chaudaria is also called as
laudiya...and really thanks for the great
collection... @Sridhar naik keluth chavan.
Reply

Anonymous November 7, 2014 at 8:21 AM

I put rathod instead of naik in my son name,is
there any problem in future for getting caste
certificate. Actually my name is bukya jagadeesh
naik I change my son name as bukya gunashish
rathod.
Reply

Replies

I havte SBI July 7, 2017 at 1:38 PM

Believe me, I never had an issue with my
surname. In fact Rathod gives us a
uniqueness.

Reply

Dr Banoth Nehru Rathod MD November 25,

2014 at 10:47 AM
hello jagadeesh you have done a good job that
you have named your son as bhukya gunashish
rathod.iam requesting all our gorbhais to suffix
the main jath ie jadav,rathod,pamar or chouhan
with their names as you did for your son to avoid
confusion among our future generation .
Dr Banoth Nehru Rathod MD TELANGANA
Reply

Replies

Anonymous April 12, 2015 at 12:19 PM

Hello sir,as banoth not falls under
rathod....hw it can be written as above?

Unknown February 26, 2016 at 12:07 PM

sir... rathod aint ur family name.. it would be
something else . only bhukya should use
that

Reply

biothirupal@gmail.com March 11, 2015 at 9:38

AM
You done very good job.i need some more
information about festivals, marriage
and who is father of god
Reply

Unknown March 15, 2015 at 10:06 AM

Ram-rami

thanks for the goodinformation..

Reply

Anonymous April 10, 2015 at 12:40 PM

Banoth vs mudavath?kethavath vs nenavath? If
first one is happening y not the second,?pls
recorrect the information..
Reply

Anonymous April 16, 2015 at 1:19 AM

Y can't be this changed?each and every jath
should be considered a separate gotra,as every
thing is being changed from 18th century to 21st
century. Now a days people don't bother about
his own brother ,but talks about the brother hood
of ancient days...
Reply

Replies

Anonymous May 8, 2015 at 12:12 AM

Hi.. Plz contact me on 7075850567, I have a
problem with dz gotta. Or give ur num I will
be contacting u..

Banjara Badsha May 8, 2015 at 12:46 AM

If people really get loved then this gotta
won't be a problem at all.. Gotta most of
people married in the same style way you
said..

Anonymous January 17, 2018 at 12:07 PM

Hi
I am Rathod n I fell in love with guy who is
also Rathod
I want to marry him at any cost