There is no documented history of the origins of Dhodia. However folklores passed from generation to generation as well as archealogical evidences propose various theories.

The  most  popular  theory  among old  people  we  met  is  that  in the old old days the Jadhav Rajput descendents  of  Lord Krishna called  Dhana and Roopa came from Dwarka  to settle down  in Dholka Dhandhuka  near  the  Narmada. They  came  with  thousands  of  people  from  their  community  to the region of  South Gujarat and married women called Sani and Jheeni of the local Naika community. Since they came with a lot of cattle (dhor),this community was called "Dhorwala" which then changed to Dhodia. There could be some truth in this theory because, essentially the Jadhav's are known to be cowherds.  In  the  northern  part  of  India, there  are  Rajput comminities called Garasiya and a lot of Dhodia kuls (individual clans) have names that have Garasiya. In present day Saurastra, there are Rajput communities which bear the second name of  Dodiya which also sounds close to Dhodiya but I have no idea if this has relevance.

ધોડિયાઓના ઉદભવનો કોઇ નોંધેલ ઇતિહાસ નથી. તેમ છતા પેઢી દર પેઢી લોકકથાઓ બદલાતી રહે છે અને બાંધકામના ચિન્હો પણ વિવિધ સિદ્ધાંતો આપે છે.

અમે જે પણ લોકોને મળ્યા તેમનામા સૌથી પ્રચલિત સિદ્ધાંત એ છે કે ઘણા પહેલાના દિવસોમા જાધવ રાજપુત, ભગવાન ક્રુષ્ણના સંતાનો ધણા અને રૂપા દ્વારકાથી નર્મદા પાસે ધોળકા - ધંધુકામા સ્થાયી થયા. તેઓ તેમના સમાજના હજારો લોકો સાથે દક્ષિણ ગુજરાતમા આવ્યા અને નાયકા સમાજની શની અને ઝીણી સ્ત્રીઓ સાથે તેમણે લગ્ન કર્યા. તેઓ તેમની સાથે ઘણા પશુઓ લયીને આવેલા, એટલે તેમને 'ઢોરવાળા' તરીકે ઓળખવામા આવ્યા જેમને પાછળથી 'ધોડિયા' બન્યા. આ સિદ્ધાંતમા થોડુ સત્ય હોય પણ શકે કારણ કે જાધવો ગોવાળો તરીકે ઓળખાતા હતા. ઉત્તર ભારતમા રાજપુત સમાજ છે જેને ગરાસિયા તરીકે ઓળખવામા આવે છે અને ઘણા ધોડિયા કુળો ગરાસિયા નામ ધરાવે છે. આજના સમયે સૌરાષ્ટ્રમા ડોળિયા નામના રાજપુતો રહે છે, જે પણ ધોડિયાને મળતુ આવે છે પણ મને કોઇ વિચાર નથી કે તેમની વચ્ચે કોઇ સંબધ છે.

The  other  possibility  which has some support is that Dhodia came from the town of Dhulia  in present day Maharashtra. Two Rajput princes called Dhan Singh and Roop Singh came over to  the  forests  around  Valsad  and  Surat. These  princes  married the local damsels from the Naika community. Their  descendents  came  to  be  known  later  as Dhodia. Supported by the fact that the language  of  the Dhodia  resembles Marathi, and the close proximity of Valsad-Surat and Dhulia, this also seems an equally likely possibility.

અન્ય શક્યતા તે છે કે ધોડિયા લોકો આજના મહારાષ્ટ્રના ધુલીયાથી આવેલા છે. ધનસિંઘ અને રૂપસિંઘ નામના બે રાજપુત રાજકુમારો વલસાડ અને સુરતના જંગલોમા આવ્યા અને નાયકા સમાજની સ્ત્રીઓ સાથે પરણ્યા. તેમના સંતાનો પાછળથી ધોડિયા તરીકે જાણીતા થયા. ધોડિયાને મળતી આવતી મરાઠી ભાષા અને ધુલીયાની સુરત - વલસાડ સાથેની નિકટતા તેને ટેકો આપે છે.

It  might be hard to really prove or disprove either  of these theories at the moment, but hopefully when at  some  point  of  time  the  community  or  government  becomes  prosperous  enough  to afford the available genetic, evolution mapping techniques, we might get answers to these complex questions in origin of Dhodia which time  has now erased.

હાલના તબક્કે આ સિદ્ધાંતો સાચા છે કે ખોટા, તે કહેવુ મુશ્કેલ છે, પણ સમયના કોઇ ક્ષણે જ્યારે સમાજ કે સરકાર વધુ એટલી ધનવાન બની જશે કે જે જનિની, ઉત્ક્રાંતિ માપક તકનિકોનો ઉપયોગ કરી શકે, ત્યારે આપણે કદાચ ધોડિયાઓના ઉદભવના પ્રશ્નોનો ઉત્તર મેળવી શકીશુ.

Apart from these there are other theories proposed  which make things even more confusing.

a)It is assumed that the word Dhodia derived from the Dravidian (ancient Indian civilisation) word  Dhuda. The Dhodias  were  referred  to  as  Dhoda in the Dravidian dialect, which translates to "big". Dhoda is later said to have become Dhodia. 

b)The Dravidian word Dhundi translates to sickle, which is a tool largely utilised by the Dhodias in their everyday life. Uses of the sickle range from farming to craftsmanship; it was even used in the kitchen  

c)It could be possible that the word Dhodia arrived from "Dhundi "which means a small thatched hut. 

d)Another possibility is that the word could be derived from "Dhur" which refers to soil.

આ બન્નેને છોડીને અન્ય ઘણા સિદ્ધાંતો બનાવવામા આવ્યા છે જે વસ્તુને વધુ ગુંચવી રહ્યા છે.

અ) એમ માનવામા આવે છે કે ધોડિયા શબ્દ દ્રવિડીયન (પ્રાચીન ભારતીય સંસ્ક્રુતિ) શબ્દ ધુડા પરથી આવ્યો છે.ધોડિયાઓ દ્રવિડીયન સમાજમા 'ધોડા' નામથી જાણીતા હતા, જેનો અર્થ 'વિશાળ' થાય છે. કહેવામા આવે છે કે ધોડા પાછળથી ધોડિયા બન્યા. 

બ) દ્રવિડીયન શબ્દ ધુંડીનો અર્થ દાંતરડુ થાય છે, જે ધોડિયાઓ રોજબરોજના જીવનમા વ્યાપક રીતે વાપરે છે. દાંતરડાનો ઉપયોગ ખેતીથી માંડીને શિલ્પકલામા પણ થાય છે, તે રસોડામા પણ વપરાય છે.

ક) તે પણ શક્યતા છે કે ધોડિયા શબ્દ 'ધુંડી' પરથી આવ્યો છે જેનો અર્થ છાપરાવાળુ ઝુંપડુ થાય છે.

ડ) અન્ય શક્યતા તે પણ છે કે તે શબ્દ 'ધુળ' પરથી આવેલો હોય જેનો અર્થ જમીન થાય છે.

My views on
History of Dhodia
Heavily influenced by works of Magjibhai Patel

authored by Jitendra Patel

ધોડિયાના ઇતિહાસ પર મારા વિચારો
મગજીભાઇ પટેલના કાર્યોથી પ્રભાવિત
લેખક - જીતેન્દ્ર પટેલ

The curiosity to have knowledge about the origin of “Dhodia” (present name of the community) inspired me to search for the literature available at present on the scientific study of the tribe of our region. This led  me  to  interact  with  many  old  and  young people of  the community who were forthcoming with the information that  they had at  hand. I referred various books written  on the history and language of the  Dhodia. The most significant study I found is of  Mr. Mancharam Patel ( on Dhodia language) and Mr. Magjibhai Patel (On the History). There  have been many surveys done by Govt. of India, Bombay presidency, by some private  foreign agencies and also local people like us who are interested  in  the diversity of cultures and lifestyles across Gujarat, India and also the globe. I have tried to write my own interpretations regarding  the  history of Dhodia in this  e-book. According to my knowledge, belief and reasoning, the contents of this e-book may not be accurate on scientific grounds but on social grounds and stories heard from our ancestors it is likely to be close to truth.

ધોડિયા(સમાજનુ વર્તમાન નામ)ના ઉદભવ વિશે જાણવાની ઇચ્છાએ મને વર્તમાન સમયના સાહિત્ય શોધવા માટે પ્રેરણા આપી. તે મને સમાજના વ્રુદ્ધ અને યુવાન વ્યક્તિઓ તરફ દોરી ગયી જેમણે મને તેમના પાસે રહેલી માહિતી આપી. મે ઘણી ધોડિયાના ઇતિહાસ આધારિત પુસ્તકોનો સંદર્ભ લીધો. મને સૌથી વધુ અર્થપુર્ણ અભ્યાસ શ્રીમાન મન્છારામ પટેલ (ધોડિયા ભાષા પર) અને શ્રીમાન મગજીભાઇ પટેલ (ઇતિહાસ પર) મળ્યો. ભારત સરકાર, બોમ્બે અધ્યક્ષ, થોડી ખાનગી વિદેશી સંસ્થાઓ અને આપણા જેવા સ્થાનિક લોકો જે ગુજરાત, ભારત અને આખા જગતની વિવિધતામા રસ ધરાવે છે, તેમણે પણ ઘણા સર્વેક્ષણો કર્યા છે. અહીં મે મારા વિચારો પ્રસ્તુત કરવાનો પણ પ્રયત્ન કર્યો છે. મારી માન્યતાઓ અને કારણોને લીધે એકદમ સત્ય ન હોઇ શકે પણ સામાજિક સ્તરે અને સાંભળવામાં આવતી વાર્તાઓ પ્રમાણે લગભગ સત્ય જ છે.

As stated by most of the social analysts, I also believe that there is no concrete evidence of the roots of  Dhodia  people. However, one  common  thing  that  every one believes is that these tribals are not actual  local  inhabitants  and  have  come  down in south Gujarat from somewhere else. . Some facts might be drawn from stories heard from our old people stories and the folksongs sung by the Bhagats (priests) who help to offer prayers.

સામાજિક વિષ્લેશકોની જેમ જ હું પણ માનુ છુ કે ધોડિયાના ઇતિહાસનો કોઇ પાક્કો પુરાવો નથી. તેમ છતા, એક સામાન્ય વાત એ છે કે આ આદિવાસીઓ સ્થાનિક નિવાસીઓ નથી, પણ અન્ય કોઇ સ્થળેથી દક્ષિણ ગુજરાતમા આવી વસ્યા છે. કેટલીક હકીકતો વ્રુદ્ધ લોકોની વાર્તાઓ પરથી અને 'ભગત'(પુજારી) લોકોના ગીતો પરથી પણ મળી શકે છે.

The word Dhodia has come from the word Dhorwala according to almost all the surveyors and students of social science including us (me and my collegues) who are involved in this work on a very small scale.

ધોડિયા શબ્દ 'ઢોરવળા' શબ્દ પરથી આવ્યો છે તેમ મોટા ભાગના બધા જ વિષ્લેશકો, સમાજિક સાહિત્યના વિદ્યર્થીઓ સહિત અમે (હુ અને મારા સહયોગીઓ) જે ઘણા નાના પાયા પર સામેલ હતા.

“Dhor” means “Cattle” & “Dhorwala” means “Owners of Cattle”

'ઢોર' એટલે 'પશુઓ' અને 'ઢોરવાળા' એટલે 'પશુઓના માલિકો'

Yaduraj and His Era

To understand the history of {“Dhorwala” “Dhodia”} community of South Gujarat we have to go around 5000 years back as the history says that we are Aryan and  to establish that connections we have to get into the Aryan era.

About 5000 years ago India was called Bharat and at that time there were many small kingdoms in Bharat, Mathura nagri was one of them, situated on the banks of river Yamuna. At that time there were rulers from Somvansh, kuruvansh, Bhojvansh Yaduvansh etc. Yadu was the king ruling in Mathura at that time. Yadu was a very powerful king and very healthy ruler, he was justice friendly and nitiwan he was a good care taking king and so people in his kingdom were very prosperous and happy. Family members of yadu are called “Yadavs or Jadavs” after his name. During yadu’s rule only his family members used to posses important posts in the Ministry and Army. And all the families were recognized by the post they held. After yadu many kings of Yadu’s family came in power in and around Mathura. Yadavs were very strong powerfull and good leaders but also with the wealth they earnd had many bad habbits like drinking and keeping many wifes. Letter Ugrasen captured Mathura he was from Somvansh and Bhoj Kul. Sursen ruled the area on one bank while Ugrasen held the kingdom on the otherside of river Yamuna. Their empire was very prosperous and people were very happy and the economy was very healthy. Other kings around Mathura used to attack and tried to invade Mathura many times but failed to do so because they were very strong and powerfull. “Kans” was elder son of king Ugrasen he also was very powerfull but at the same time he was very cruel, selfish and kingdom hungry. He was married to two daughters named “Aarti and Prapti” of king Jarasangh holding the rule kingdom Maghad. Jarasangh was also very powerful when Kans got married to Jarasangh’s daughters he got the backing of father in law so he became all the more powerful. Kans was so cruel and kingdom hungry that he imprisoned his own father king Ugrasen to become the king of Mathura. During Kans’s rule all the people in his kingdom and other surrounding kings along with the people living there lived in a state of terror as kans was very selfish and cruel. He started doing all the just unjust things that he felt right and never thought of the wellbeing of anyone else. That resulted in a situation of disparity and people started revolting against him to re crown Ugresen as their king but failed to do so.

At the same time king Sursen who came from the Yadav family held his kingdom “Kuntalpur” on the other bank of river Yamuna he had two children elder daughter named “Kunti” latter married to “Pandu” son of king Bharat of Hastinapur, and son Vasudev who got married to Rohini.

To develop a relation with Yadavs who were very powerful at that time King Ugrasen decided to marry Devki the beautiful daughter of Devak who was younger brother of king Ugrasen to Vasudev. Thus a strategy of political alliance was developed between the two kingdoms and Kans also was very happy with this marriage.

Once Kans decided to know his future so he asked Rishi Narad about it and looking to the stars of Kans Naradji told him that 8^th child of Devki will be the reason of Kans death. Kans as said earlier was very cruel and for his selfish motive could do anything so he decided to kill all the babies of his sister “Devki”. He called Vasudev and Devki for a treat and the imprisoned both of them in Mathura so that he can kill all the babies as soon as they born. Nandji was a big farmar and was also owner of a lot of cattle he was a friend of Vasudev and lived in Gokul a village in Vasudev’s kingdom. His wifes name was Jasoda, when Vasudev was imprisoned Vasudevs first wife Rohini was pregnant and as a precaution Vasudev made an arrangement of hiding for Rohini at Nandji’s house thinking that Kans is so cruel that he may kill Rohini’s child also. Rohini gave birth to a child in Nandji’s house and was letter Named “Balram”.

Birth of Krishna and Death of Kans

Kans killed all the 7 babies of “Devki” but with in midnight of (Shravan vad Astami) 8^th day of second half of the month of Shravan when all were fast asleep and heavy rains were falling Devki gave birth to her 8^th child and Vasudev with the help of prison guards was able to take him out of the prison and he went to Nandji’s house so that he can save his child. Here at the same time Jasoda gave birth to a girl child thinking that Kans would not kill a girl child Vasudev and Nandji decided that Vasudev will go back to the prison with this baby of Nandji and Jasoda. Early in the morning when Kans got a message that Devki gave birth to a child this night he came to kill the child so according to the plan Vasudev and Devki pleaded Kans that this is a girl you have no need to fear. But Kans was very cruel he didn’t listen to them and killed the child of Nandji and Jasoda assuming it to be Devki’s child.

But as some prison guards helped Vasudev the others were loyal to Kans and they somehow managed to know that Devki’s baby is in Gokul but where that was not known. Kans tried a lot to know it but faild to do so.

Now both the sons of Vasudev lived with Nandji, Jasoda & Rohini in Gokul and started growing up they were very naughty and mischievous in his childhood. Krishna was black so was called “Kaliyo” and was brought up by Nandji so was called “Nandlal”. Krishna was very naughty and mischievous he and his brother used to go to the forest with other children of Gokul to breed their Cattle. Both these sons of Vasudev were very brave right from their childhood and started dominating the other children of their age. They were very friendly with them and made a team to make mischief and they used to steel butter and Buttermilk from the pots kept in all the houses where they lived. They used to break the pots of the girls who went to the market to sell milk and other milk products. Every one got annoyed of Krishna’s team but could not do any thing as Nandji was a big man and no one could go against him. Moreover Jasoda loved Krishna so dearly that she won’t listen to any complains received against him. Krishna used to take away the cloths of girls who removed them on the banks of Yamuna while take a bath in the river, just to harass them and to teach them a lesson for taking his complains to Jasoda. Krishna used to play flute and wear a peacock’s feather on his head and gather children of his age and dance and play with them. Once while taking cattle to drink water on banks of Yamuna a huge snake bite many of their cows so Krishna started playing flute and dance, when the snake was concentrating on the movements of Krishna he very tactfully got hold of this snake and put a thread in the snakes face as it is done with the bullocks. This act of his gave him one more name “Nathiyo”.

All this type of stories about Balram and Krishna’s bravery and fighting skills went to the ears of King Kans of Mathura. Kans knew that Devki’s child was somewhere in Gokul he was intelligent as wall as very cunning and cruel he was very smart so thought that maybe they are Devki’s sons and according to Naradji they will kill him. So he tried to kill these up growing young boys of Gokul by various means but failed to do so.

One fine day he made a plan to call both of them to his palace and kill them. So he sent Akurji to invite Nandji with his sons Balram and Krishna. They were given a worm welcome according to kans’s plan to kill both Balram & Krishna. But Nandji knew that Kans was not reliable so he warned his sons about the nature of King Kans. So when Kans tried to kill Krishna & Balram the alerted Krishna killed King Kans himself.

Now as Kans was no more Ugrasen was released from imprison along with Vasudev & Devki. Then Ugrasen was crowned the king once again. Vasudev and Devki went to their kingdom along with Nandji and then revailed the fact before Krishna & Balram that Vasudev, Rohini & Devki are the actual parents of both of them and not Nandji & Jasoda. And letter they all went to their palace.

Now Vasudev made arrangement of his son’s education with Rishi Sandapani and so both Krishna & Balram went to his Ashram for education. When they completed their studies they came back to Kuntalpur and started ruling their kingdom. Balram was elder son so was crowned king of Kuntalpur.

Instead of fighting for the kingdom wise Krishna decided to go for a separate kingdom somewhere else and he came down to “Dwarka” in west part of “Saurastra” and started developing his kingdom over there. Krishna was from childhood a leader of cattle breeding people in Gokul and many of them along with some of his family members came down to Dwarka under his leadership. They all were very rich from the beginning and by developing business in Dwarka a totally raw area, they grew richer under a smart and wise ruler Krishna.

Now the Yadavs became so powerful that they started ruling the whole area on the west of river Yamuna to Dwarka and Saurastra region. It is said that Krishna was very naughty rite from his childhood and when grew young no one preferred to marry him so he used to drive away the beautiful girls from their residences and keep them with him as wives even “Ruxmani his favorite wife was made wife in same pattern ”. But after coming to his palace and knowing him better while living with him they started acknowledging his wise ness and boldness. Even the wealth that Krishna possessed played a part in motivating them to live as his wife along with his art loving nature that got reviled before them and he took care that all his wives lived happily.  Krishna had this bad habit to drive away girls but otherwise he was very talented and had vast knowledge of religion and religious books like Vedas.

Krishna was very wise but his support staff was mighty and was very proud. They had a bad habit of drinking wine. They were very luxury and pleasure loving people. Under Krishna’s leadership they become wealthier and more spoilt also the feelings of being joules started developing within them.

Along with these bad habits they had some specially appreciating good qualities like bravery, truthfulness; keep their words, being helpful, respecting women, remaining calm and wait for appropriate time that kept them in commanding position. They always preferred truth and never said lies, so they were very trustworthy. Only thing not acceptable was their habit of drinking and then showoff their power. As they grew very powerful due to Krishna and his wise ness they started loosing control on their minds they become heavy drunker as they had lot of money. Yadavs were very heavily buildups, spontaneous and brave people also they were very friendly helpful and fearless also they were very stubborn and if someone become their enemy they would not patch up lifelong, and even did not hesitate to the extent of killing their opponent so all the other rulers were afraid of them.

Respect of women was at its peak during their time. Women were free to select their husbands, for that they used to arrange Swayamvar so that they can select their husbands themselves, in a way they preferred love marriages. Along with the wealth bad behavior and habit of drinking, followed by joules nature they started holding a feeling that they were the best and unbeatable.

They now started avoiding Krishna’s advice of avoiding drinking and behaved as if no one was better then them. Yadavs were so stubborn that they preferred to loose all their wealth and life but stick to their words. They when come to proving some point they forgot themselves, their strength and even their families they believed in do or die. They became so powerful and wealthy in Krishna’s Dwarka that from the hut’s they built huge palaces and even gold and diamonds were imposed to furnish them and make them look beautiful. The whole village or city was full of such huge palaces that were furnished with beautiful paintings and best artwork. All the houses looked heavenly.

Yadav’s used to keep elephants, horses, camels & cattle in a large number and owned huge agriculture lands along with cattle breeding lands at that time. They used to drink with their wives and children along with friends and their families also fight within themselves after drinking and become friendly when the drain of wine got down of their heads.

Yadav’s Downfall

When Krishna was young and Kans was rulling Mathura, there was a kingdom called Hastinapur where king Shantnu used to rule Shantnu had two sons Dhrutrastra (Kuru) and Pandu. Kuru got married to daughter of the king of Gandhar (presently it is Bundelkhand) and was named Gandhari. Dhrutrastra was blind and very selfish and his descendents adopted his nature. While Pandu got married to Vasudev’s elder sister daughter of Sursen named Kunti and Madri. Kunti is sister of Vasudev (Father of Krishna) and thus was from a Yadav family and was named Kunti as she was from Kuntalpur. Children of Pandu were called Pandavs and that of Kuru were called Kavravs.

Kuru and Pandu did not had a good relation within them as Duryodhan elder son of Kuru was not a good person he held a high jealousy feeling and was very selfish. So as days passed he fought with Pandavs for the throne of Hastinapur. Krishna was directly related to Pandavs as they were sons of Pandu who married Kunti (Sister of Vasudev, Father of Krishna) so Pandavs were Brothers of Krishna. And when Pandavs had a Battle with Kavravs he supported Pandavs so was involved in that for a long time trying to avoid war and settle things etc. but failed to do so and the battle of Kuruxatra was fought and ultimately Pandavs under Krishna’s guidance turned out victorious.

Simultaneously while Krishna’s mind was concentrating on helping out his brothers his concentration on his own kingdom got diverted and in his absence Jadavs started fighting among themselves (lagam vagarna ghodao ni jem varatta thai gaya) they along with the habbit of drinking started teasing everyone and forgot the difference between the minded and holy saints they stared teasing anyone in their pride to be the best worriers and the richest community.

Once Rishi Durvasa came down to Dwarka and was meditating under a tree there in the leadership of Sambji (son of Krishna), some of the drunk Jadavs thought of making a joke out of this Saint. So Sambji dressed himself like a pregnant Girl by tying a pot on his waist and went before him where he was meditating and the Jadavs asked him “you seem to be very knowledgable so please tell us to whome will this lady give birth in future”. Rishi Durvasa knew the mentality of Jadavs and their michivious nature as well and he recognized Sanbji also and got very angry with the act that Sambji got involved in so he angrily told them. “This lady will give birth to a “Mushal” (instrument used to grind Grains) and that will be the cause of Jadavs downfall”. All the Jadavs and Sambji ran away from there and went to the palace. They removed the pot and clothes that Sambji was wearing and laughed out the whole act. But when the whole story was heard by so elders and good knowledgeable people they regretted the whole episode and decided to beg pardon from Rishi Durvasa but he had left the place. So the elders decided that Sambji and his friends will break a “Mushal” in small particals and throw it in the sea. This was their punishment for harassing the Saint. (Jadavs gave a lot of respect to elders and keep their words; also they considered their knowledgable people as Gods) Sambji and his friends also realized their mistake and accepted the punishment given to them they did what they were told to do. And only after that they came back home. Then the elders decided to give donations to Brahmins and poor so that they can show their regret for the mistake done by their children.

Thinking this they got together and along with them took lots of things to donate and a lot of cattle with them and went to Jadavsthali (at present Somnath Patan, Veraval, Saurastra.) there many Brahmins came to accept the donation given by the Jadavs and other poor people also came down as Jadavs were fond of helping poor. Here also after offering rituals to their ancestors and donations to the Brahmins and poor they started thinking that they have done lot of good things to regret the mistakes done by them and their children. Jadavs used to believe that their ancestors and smart knowledgeable people were gods and they used to respect them till they were alive and even after their death they used to offer prayers to them.

At Jadavsthali also they offered prayers to their ancestors in their discreet pattern and give denotations as said by knowledgeable persons then as their custom (habit) sat together and started drinking wine. After drinking wine with their wives and children they lost control on their minds and the proud nature provoked them to prove themselves best so they started singing and dancing together in various style some shake their waist and the others lifted their legs, some slept on the ground and some joined hands together to dance, while some others started showing strength by jumping up and down, as time passed the dance turned into a fight within themselves and they fought hard and killed each other they became so angry that they forgot whom they are killing even ladies and children were killed in the caoise thus created it was late night by that time and they started fighting with what ever they found bamboo sticks, spears, swards and bows everything they had was used and resulted in mass killing by morning no one could understand how the killing started and whom they killed.

When most of them got killed and the drain of wine got down their heads they saw that almost every family had lost members some lost their parents and some their children some lost their brothers and some their in-laws. One who remained alive started crying and searching for the members alive and the dead bodies of their relative? But it was a mass killing and so some elderly and knowledgeable people said all the dead bodies has to be buried and they did it. Every one had lost someone or the other so no one who was alive was ready to go back to their home town. So they started moving eastward with what ever was with them all of them has come to Jadavsthali with wives and children so had to take their cattle also so everything was with them and they moved from there crying for their dead relatives. After a long walk of days through the forests they came to a place named Dhandhuka. There they resided for some time but the remembrance of their family members and dead relatives could not get out of their minds and so they decided to move away from Dhandhuka. The one alive knew that who was responsible for whose killing and it could provoke other fight in time to come so they decided to move in different area about 2 -  3 thousand families must have reached Dhandhuka. Some decided to settle in and around Dhandhuka and some decided to go northward towards Jesalmer some went to the eastern side of Arravalli towards Dhuliya and Ratnagari while the remaining went southwards under the direction of Dhana and Rupa both knowledgeable brave and intelligent, passing Mahi, Vadodra, Narmada, Chanod, Rajpipla Songhad, Tapti came down to Rajpuri a village between two rivers “Tan” and Man” now it is in ( Dharampur Taluka and Valsad District) it must have been a dense forest at the time of their arrival. About 300 families must have reached this place. (We can assume that because up to recent times even in my knowledge the villages here are hilly and forest area).

From “Yadavs” – “Dhorwala” – “Dhodia”

This is how Jadavs and their Kingdom was destroyed and were separated from each other. We are provoked to assume this due to some specific reasons and historical evidences described in Mahabharata and Bahgwat Geeta. There is clear description of Krishna’s ancestors and the story how Jadavs were in western belt of river Yamuna then Krishna came down to Dwarka and established his Kingdom. After the battle of Kurukshetra between kavrav and pandavs Krishna went back to Dwarka where he was told that every member of his family has gone to Jadvasthali and yet not returned so he along with Arjun went to that place and came to know what actually happened there. When he heard the story of fighting and death of his relatives he told Arjuna to go back to Hastinapur and leave him alone. So Arjun went back to Hastinapur and Krishna sat down below a tree regretting what happened in his absence. He could not find a single person of his family because most of them died and the rest who were managed to live went away in different directions without leaving any message. When sad Krishna was sitting below a tree behind a bush a hunter mistaken him for a dear and shot an arrow that resulted in Krishna’s Death at Jadavasthali. (Place near present Somnath Patan, Veraval, and Savrastra) it was thus said in Mahabharata that Jadav vansh was destroyed at Jadavasthali.

Now the actual story of Jadavs becoming Dhorwala then Dhodias comes up.

A group of Jadavs headed towards South Gujarat in the leadership of Dhana and Rupa the two brave Jadav leaders. They were looking to settle down in a place where they can get a lot of food for their Cattle and appropriate place to keep them. So they walked down to River Mahi, and crossed it to reach Vadera (present Baroda) region then still going down the hilly jungles crossed Narmada River to reach Chanod. Then they walked down to Pipaliya (presently Rajpipla) over to river Tapi, then passed Songhad, Viyara, and reached Rajpur. Dhana and Rupa liked the location of this place as it was vacant and population of local inhabitants was almost nil. Rajpur is between two rivers Tan at North and Man in its South. The land was flat and highly fertile and rich for agriculture. There were dense forest on the two mountains where they decided to graze their Cattle and latter they were named Dhor Dungri, one slightly big on banks of Tan was named Moti dhor Dungri and the other near Man was called Nani Dhor Dungri. These places are still recognized by these names even today. When asked to people around why they are called Dhor Dungri they say that (Dhor charulag rakeliya hata ulle) meaning they were ment for greasing cattle. This also is related to the Cattle breeding people in some way. There is a village named Pati or Party on the northern side of river Tan and was named so because when Dhana - Rupa came to Rajpur they came down with about two hundred families and all these families owned a lot of cattle so it was decided that some will stay on northern side and the rest will stay across between tan and man thus locals residing in Rajpur said two parties came and the other party stayed on other side.

Way of Living in Rajpur

The geographical position of Rajpur has to be understood clearly that will revail the motive of select this place for residence for the Rajpurs or Yadavs who came here. To the east of Rajpur are the mountain ranges of Sahyadri and Rajpur is between two rivers Tan and Man, that marges near Rajpur the place where it marges is now known as Titu Khadak it was part of Rajpur in the days past. From there the river heads towards Arabian Sea in the west and is presently known as River Auranga which meets Arabian Sea near Valsad, specifically speaking Kosamba to it’s South and Hingraj-Bhadeli Villages to it’s North. This river Auranga is very historical according to my knowledge as when I read Mahabharat written by Ved Vyas we can find that it is existing since that time and was known as Aur Ganga. It is said that mother of Ved vyas give birth to Rishi Ved vyas on the banks of this river and the first bath and given by Matshyagandha to Ved Vyas was with its water so it is known as Aur Ganga. (“Aur” means placenta & umbilical Cord that comes out with the child at the time of birth.) Now coming to the point again as two rivers meet here the land is a very fertile and contains lot of grass the area is largely plain so best for agriculture and Cattle breeding also. The place did not had much population of local inhabitants accept some Naika, kolcha, kukana, varli and Dangi families so Dhana and Rupa decided to reside here and as these Yadavs came in a large number these families of local communities could not oppose. And the language of communication was also different so did not mix with them also they were very heavily built up and had many arms so were afraid of them and accepted them willingly or unwillingly. They came down with lot of cattle i.e. “Dhor” in local Naiki Language and so they called them Dhorwala at that time.

As time passed they made huts in plains of Rajpur and started living there they used to keep milk giving cows and buffalos with them along with the horses and camels and rest animals were kept on the small hills it present even today and as they were used to keep cattle later named Dhor Dungri still we can find this Dhor Dungri in this place in Dharampur and is still called Nani & Moti Dhor Dungri. Nani dhor Dungri is near Man and Moti dhor Dungri is almost 1.5 kms to its north near Tan. Now these places also inspire us to believe the folklores heard. It is said that they used to have lot of milk product and utensils were washed on the banks of Tan at a place where water was stored and that was called Dudhio Ovaro Dudh (Milk). It was named dudhiyo ovaro because when they washed the utensils in here the water used to gain white colour due to milk and buttermilk they used to split nearby and in water also. This place is even today called Dudhiyo Ovaro and 60 years back Magjibhai wrote in his book why it called dudhiyo ovaro. This Dudhiyo ovaro is on banks of Tan where as on banks of Man near Nani Dhor Dungri there is similar place Called Gaydho Ovaro (“Gay” means “Cow” and “Dho” meaning “Wash”) . Though today no one is able to explain the reason I considering the situation believe he was correct as he says he meet people of Rajpur and he got to know this from some old elderly people at that time today I think no one of them is alive to establish his statement as correct.

It is said that Dhana and Rupa should be prayed and their Temples should be made in Rajpur by some local people even today. To acknowledge them for the knowledge they had it is also heard in local folklores that they had big religious books with them at that time and Magjibhai says they may be the Vedas. I don’t have any information about it so am taking him for granted. And I believe his reasoning is not out of this world. I will like to quote a flock song saying so.

“tan+ ne man+ be vIrla ho +,

te te gaye> carva vn =y ho +.

te te gayona gova5Iya ho +

te te gaye> carI lavta ho +

te te !ore> pele> Dogre go#avta ho +

                                    =>julI ma>julI tumI ro3la lavara ho +.”

In English

Tanji ne manji be virla ho ji

Te te gaye charva van jay ho ji

Te te gayona govaliya ho ji

Te te gaye chari lavta ho ji

Te te dhore pele doghre gothavta ho ji

Jajuli majuli tumi rotla lavara ho ji.

Now looking at the contents of the song it gives out names of two persons Tanji and Manji they may be source of inspiration for name of the two rivers. Tan and Man.  Now the song says they used to graze cows in the forest. Further it is said they used to arrange them on that hills and so on. The song is long and many other things are said where a story of Budhyo Goval and Zazan-Madan is reviled. This is absolutely reasoning and we can’t establish it as correct.

Now as per our reasoning we go further to say that when Yadavs came here they were they richer people who came down to the backward forest region and as they were more advanced then the local they provided source of income and help to local people to live better living by giving them employment in the work they did. It is not out of the blue that I say so the reason behind this reasoning again takes me to my childhood days when I used to go with the boy “Ziniyo” (servent) that used to graze cattle for my family. We I mean me and my cousins used to play and go with the cattle he took to graze in the forests on a small hill near our house along with this boy who was by cast a “Kukana”. Now this inspires me to believe the story that they give employment to the local inhabitants. I thus am having a belief that the yadavs who came down were thus called Dhor wala by the locals and slowly as time passed the name Yadavs vanished and the identity changed to “Dhor wala” and misspoken as “Dhoriya” then “Dhodia”.

Considering the fact that my father was the first graduate from my village I believe that after death of Dhana and Rupa lack of education and the life in hilly forest region that did not require any education for survival or say problem of survival and establishing in new atmosphere and habit of drinking wine and mischievous nature they did not concentrated on education and that resulted in no books written about the migration process or livelihood and the development of the people was blocked. Also when they came here they were facing a very bad time and were in a sad mood and all this factors gathered at one place at a time made them reluctant towards thinking any thing else then find ways to somehow survive and recover from the difficulties they had and were facing. The locals were uneducated and backward and over that they were not speaking the same language so could not communicate properly with them. This may also be one of the reasons that increased their difficulties in this new place.

Language

Considering the way Dhodia language is spoken it is obvious that Naiki, Kokni, varli, and Dangi words are largely used by dhodias along with some Sanskrit ascent words that.

Now all the survey done by language annalists say that the mother of Dhodia, Naiki, Konkni, Varli, and Dangi language is Bhili so a theory is developed that Dhodias also are the local inhabitants and considering the similarities in way of speaking and lack of documentary evidences what ever was derived is that Dhodia word comes from “Dhor” to “Dhoriya” and they are local tribes.

Or says word Dhodia is derived from the Dravidian (ancient Indian civilisation) word Dhuda. The Dhodias were referred to as Dhoda in the Dravidian dialect, which translates to "big". Dhoda is later said to have become Dhodia.

The Dravidian word Dhundi translates to sickle, which is a tool largely utilised by the Dhodias in their everyday life. Uses of the sickle range from farming to craftsmanship; it was even used in the kitchen.

It could be possible that the word Dhodia arrived from "Dhundi "which means a small thatched hut.

Another possibility is that the word could be derived from "Dhur" which refers to soil. As per the information we have been able to collect the origin of Dhodia language may be “Bhili”. Bhili is the language that was existent before the Aryan era that is derived by the research made by the historians and according to them “Bhili” has contents of Dravidian or Munda. Though later Bhili was influenced by Aryan languages it still has the original essence of the Dravidian or Munda languages.

According to the study made by certain people Dhodia language has come into existence from Indo - European and Indo - Iranian branch of the Aryan language.

All the factors assembled together and considering the history that we have discussed according to us the language or form of communication developed by the Yadavs to communicate with the local inhabitants created a mass out of each local language and some different way of communication came out and then it became a different dialect named after their popular name of Dhorwala.

Considering the facts that Naiki and Dhodia dialect is very much similer and presently also Naika’s are mostly found living close to Dhodias in almost all villages we believe that Dhorwala largely adopted the dialect of Naika community and were influenced by the other local languages at the same time, so most of the words in “Dhodia dialect” are similar to that of Naika, Kokani, Varli and Dangi also words from original language of the Aryans was put into practice and that makes it a different dialect. Lack of education resulted in not having proper scripting of Dhodia language.

We came to this conclusion with the reasoning that the history in folklores and geographical evidences found we believe that they came from Dwarka now cross checking our belief with other stories developed with different reasoning people similar to Dhodia are found in Dhulia and that is verified with our saying that a group headed towards Maharastra via Madhiya Pradesh and other group headed towards Jeselmare in Rajasthan. So similarity in traditions and language to some extent is obvious. Now our belief that they continued with the original words of their language also makes a sense when we find people of the belief that Dhodia language has come into existence from Indo - European and Indo - Iranian branch of the Aryan language. To some extent we feel that we have an if not concrete, solid base for thinking and reasoning behind what we believe and say. We never neglect the Dravidian source in the dialect and also the Aryan inputs are also not overlooked. It is very obvious and practical that where we migrate we accept and learn the language of that region but the ascent of speaking and some words of our original language can be easily noticed. A non Gujarati person while speaking Hindi will normally be noticed using Gujarati words in communication. And south Indian speaking Hindi or Gujarati will carry the ascent of Tamil, Telegu or whatever language they normally speak. And an Indian born and brought up if moves to USA will carry his unique style of speaking English that is very different from that of Americans. But when a child is born in the same family and brought up in USA will largely speak in American pattern and a few words are likely to be of the Indian ascent. Same must have happened with the Yadavs is what we are tempted to believe. This is sure short our way of thinking and reasoning that how the language emerged and what must have happened. We can’t prove it scientifically as time passed since yadavs came is in centuries and none of them is alive to prove any point no documentary evidences are available and every thing said by every one is according to their reasoning from whatever little evidences are available with them. But the fact is that no one can ever neglect the possibility of what we say.

Relativity in Work Characteristics and Nature

To find out actual roots of our ancestors today is very difficult but the history is said that leys in our customs traditions and characteristics of nature we possess. When we are tempted to believe from our ancestors saying that we are not locals we have to reason and try to relate ourselves to other people who migrated to this place and whose reflection is largely seen in our way of living and our nature. According to our belief about 200 families of “Dhor wala” came and settled in Rajpur since that time almost 5000years has passed and the generation thus developed has increased their population in thousands since then up to today. An unauthorized figure of population of Dhodia community in Gujarat is 15,00,000 this year i.e. in 2008. Now as population grew we started moving in nearby places and villages but mostly resided in the nearby to Sahiyadari ranges in the plains land as they adopted agriculture along with cattle breeding that was their main occupation which letter became secondary when land for grazing cattle remained limited and requirement of food generating land for human increased with the increasing population. We come to this reasoning because population of Dhodias is more then other communities in Dharampur, chickhli, Pardi, Valsad and Vansda Taluka of Valsad and Navsari District. As we go further we find some people of this community in Vyara, Bardoli, and Songhad, Mahuva Region of Surat District. Else were now we find Dhodias in Baroda, Bharuch Surat Ahmedabad and other city of Gujarat but their native is found in south Gujarat region and all have settled in cities regarding their jobs or business. And now very few but people are found all over India and even abroad.     

Still we find big farmers of Dhodia Community in this area but most of them are now small or landless laborers and that is because of the habit of drinking wine and illiteracy. As said earlier Dhor wala facing problems of migration and survival concentrated on developing infrastructure for the same and living with the local tribes became reluctant towards education and then when educated people who came down to Rajpur died without developing facility for education in the forest and hilly region downfall of literate people also started and literacy gradually vanished from Dhor wala Community.

Once education vanished and population gradually started growing with other local tribes we started adopting their way of living in the forests and slowly the wealth that we came with started being parted within the growing family and share with each division grew smaller no source was there in these backward area to earn wealth so we became poor day by day. And finally in present days after independence we started getting educated and the raw forest region started seeing development and people started joining the economic main stream.

Talk of character if taken up with habits the relativity with Yadavs can thus be seen that “we or say Dhodias have a well known history of being heavy drunker and is said and even observed by us that people seek occasions to drink whatever it may be. In case of death or birth or in marriages and festivals we have seen Dhodias enjoying drinks and the fighting after that just as Yadavs did in Jadavsthali. No occasion of Dhodias was found completing without fighting started from drinking till recent few years. This directly reflects the nature of Jadavs who gathered for a good cause then fought after drinking and again settled things and started of living together when the drain of wine went down of their heads the next day. One more characteristic of Dhodias that is not hidden is to show off and try to prove that they are on top of the world and best among themselves just as the Jadavs who thought they were unbeatable. Pulling legs is one more habit of Dodias they will not join hands and acknowledge or encourage anyone one of their community but talk and make plans how they can pull the person to other peoples level or below that, and according to me even Krishna was not an exception of that. Jadavs used to keep more then one wife, even in Dhodias this practice is acceptable. Like Yadavs Dhodias also select wives and husbands for themselves and the final decision of marriage is that of the bride and the groom and not their parents. They generally marry within themselves but avoid marring girls from father’s relation. i.e. marriage in same Kul or family is not acceptable ant the same tradition was practiced by Yadavs. All this characteristics of Dhodias strengthen our belief that we or Dhorwala are decedents of Yadavs.

Customs

Death Rituals (dhaDa pa`InI ik/ya)

When Dhor wala came to Rajpur the first community they came in touch with was Naika and they gradually developed relations with Naika people. Naika people started working for these Dhorwalas. When they came here they faced problem of communication with local people but gradually as Naikas started working for them they learnt the way Naika speak and then told them the stories how Dhor wala migrated from Jadavasthali to Rajpur and what difficulties they faced in the way up to there in detail. How they came to Jadavsthali the market held there and the donations they offered to the Brahmins, how they had celebrated the occasion by drinking wine and the way they fought with each other among themselves with bamboo sticks and other arms and how maximum of them died. Then how they decided to move in different direction with their Cattle and the suffering they faced while passing through the forests and everything they had gone through. When Dhor walas leaders Dhana and Rupa died they decided to give offerings and show their regards towards all their dead relatives who died in Jadavsthali and these two leaders also holding a belief that unless donations are offered behind the dead they don’t go to heaven and they were not in a position to offer these prayers and donations as they faced survival problem. But when they settled in Rajpur for a considerable time they now felt relaxed and decided to offer all the things left out. Now normally the offerings were done in presence of a Brahmin by his hands but in this forest they did not find any moreover the place was new for them and even the locals did the offerings on their own without Brahmins so they came in a helpless position. Then they asked the Naika’s about their difficulty at that time a Naika head suggested if they would like to make offerings the way Naika’s offered to their dead relatives. Dhorwala accepted this suggestion and a Naika person who was expert in this activity was called upon and they followed the instruction that Naika person gave and completed the formality of offering by the way Naika’s Offered.

The instrument used by Naika in the process of offering is called kangu (ka>gu>). And the person expert in playing this musical instrument is called pitarwalo (pItrva5Iyo) one other person who helps him to doing all this process is called Bhagat (wgt). {Pitarwalo means pitruo ni kriya karva walo ( pIt<AonI ik/ya krva va5o) and Bhagats duty is to Dance and shake his head and offer the offerings mainly Water. (wgtnu> kam 2u`vanu>, nacvanu> ne pIt<Aone t4a wega 4yela lokone pa`I Aapvanu>)}. It is believed that the water given to the gathered people reaches to the soul of the dead and he then moves to heaven. Now normally it is seen and believed that Naika’s are untouchables according to Dhodias belief so the pitarwalo is of Naika community and Bhagat is always a Dhodia. It was believed that if the offerings was done by Naika as Naiks were considered untouchables the offerings do not reach the dead person (AwDay =y Aevu> kheta hta).  Pitarwalo sings the whole story of migration and the difficulties Dhor wala faced accocited by the music of Kangu. Here we give the parts of this song that is still sung in some of the remote villages of Vansda and Dharampur Taluka as per my knowledge. The contents of this song give the history of migration of Dhor wala according to me.

waya waya ma`a>, tu> waya tu> ma`a>,– waya

b2e> wege mI5I nI>gnele>, hge>vale mI5nele> ra – waya

b2e> ArIma> nI>gne>le ra, harI mI5Ine hIDnele> ra – waya

b=r ha4e goyn>ele ra, Aayte> mo3e> mI5ne>le> ra – waya

drIye drIye fIrnel>e ra, 6DIye 6DIye mI5ne>l>e ra – waya

ha4e ha4e fIrnele> ra, qjur qopre> qa2ele> ra – waya

kaka AvIh, mama AavIh, wav raqIne hadnele> ra – waya

2mRe kmRe mI5nele> ra, dan 2rmwI k2ela ra– waya

vDIlayI pu>= k2elI h>arI,dan 2rm wI k2ela> ra– waya

2mRe kmRe gaya AofelI,huna rupa> wI hub va>3ela> ra – waya

b2e> hge>vale> mI5ne>l>e ra, p>gote bohI qa2ela> ra – waya

Dglo jamo p2elo ra, pa6DI kohI 4velI ra– waya

pa6De va5e howe khak, howa AerIne hrqa] b2e> ra – waya

qjur qopra> qa2ela>ne,da5Iya mumra le2ela ra– waya

qa>2e poTya> laqela ne, kDe =ma ba>2ela ra – waya

cva~ya> lavI caqela ra, ha=> ma#a pI2ela> ra – waya

harI>j qa2elo pI2elo +vDo,brke bom paDe ra – waya

ku`I> ka>`a nav na[ Aayke, fave tha> fuhe ra – waya

han wan na[ rona ne, pohe> 3ohe> vIhra[ne ra – waya

ku`I> wmrI marI nace, ku`I> !gre> 2o5I nace,

ku`>I 3a3Iye> ]ckI nace, ku`I> ma>DIye ma>DIye nace,

ku`I> ka>x5Iye pDI nace,ku`I> kIkyarI paDI nace,

harI>j qa2elo pI2elo +vDo,6DIye 6DIye nace ra – waya

ku`I> ]bDa pDI pDIne nace, ku`I> !gre> 2o5Ine nace,

ku`I #umka marIne nace,te tema> z6Do 6ale ra – waya

pa#I Aaquna ka rona,jbrI maramarI kru> lagna ra

jbrI maramarIne jbrI pDapDIve,jo fave to mare ra

vahDe> moDI moDI lave,dgDe> !e>fa FoDI lave,

ku`I> lakDI pro`I> mare,ku`I> tlvar ku`I> 0urI mare,

ku`I> gda,ku`I wala ]0a5e,ku`I> ba` ne gofa` ka!e,

=e +ya fave te mare,hga parka ku`I na[ Aere ra – waya...

6rne> barne wulnera, pohe> Dohe> wI wulnera,

z6Do Aoho v2no ne, pohe> Dohe> po>dI layqe>ra – waya...

harI>j qa2elo pI2elo +vDo, ka`a> wI nay manera,

tIDko tpe ne,2rtI tpe, pa`IwI nay jDna>ra,

pa`Iya vgar vlqa maru>, ku`I> pa`I nay pajera,

ku`I> ka`I dya nay =y`I,Ak5ayelo +vDo nI6no ra – waya...

pa`Iyayo te jbro 2rm, ku`I> rqe wulara,

6rbar soyDa>,hge>vale> soyDe>, ku`I dya na>[ =y`Ira – waya...

ku`I> ka>`a na[ ronane,rat dIh nI>d na[ Aave ra,

haCco +vDo soDIgo,benI 0eDova5a Ae – waya...

Then he waits and all the ladies gathered there with a big noise start crying then after some time he again he starts with a new song

duqne mayre> nI>6nele> ra, wa[ ma`a> tu> waya...

6rne barte soyDara, wa[ ma`a> tu> waya...

+> bcna tI>, AarI le2a>,hta> tula> qamna le2a>,

gavDe>,bokDe> Aa>kI le2a>,wege>vIne va3e pDna,

duqne mayre> nI>6nele> ra, wa[ ma`a> tu> waya...

tp pDene 2rtI tpera, wa[ ma`a> tu> waya...

Aaga5 Dgle> na[ calu> kre,pase> fIrI fIrIne Aere,

Ha4 ne pa te g5ay pDe,Do5e Aa>he> qrI pDe,

duqne mayre> nI>6nele> ra, wa[ ma`a> tu> waya...

la>be la>be gamDe lage,gDlI mDlI j>gl =y,

Aayte mo3e Do6re fIru>, va6 vru te 2av2I Aave,

bokDe> AaDI AaDI mre,kvlI me>klI gayne> va0eDe>,

A2rat m2rat su3I p5e,2am`Iya va>ke tIya> ba>2ura,

duqne mayre> nI>6nele> ra, wa[ ma`a> tu> waya...

wImda, qo[ne,br5,zgDIra,na[ ne na5e Ago5Ine,

2nukama AavI pDnera, 2nukama> AavI pDne,waya

duqne mayre> nI>6nele> ra,wa[ ma`a> tu> waya...

sbrI,madrI,n[ Aave, vdra,ca`u>d gamDe> Aavera,

mo3I n[ nmRda A>go5I,pIp5aj AavI rn>era.

duqne mayre> nI>6nele> ra, wa[ ma`a> tu> waya...

qaDI qnke> A>go5Ine,ma0le>, kucle> qa2ele>ra,

tapI A>go5I hunag! soDI Aaga5 calu>,

vahvD v3avI rajpurIma> vhne>lo> ra.

duqne mayre> nI>6nele> ra, wa[ ma`a> tu> waya...

haCce> 6rne bar te soyDe,hge>vale> soDIgo ra,

dyane maya soyDI,tu>te b2a> soDIgo ra +vDa,b2a> soDIgo ra.

duqne mayre> nI>6nele> ra, wa[ ma`a> tu> waya...

haCco +vDo calIgo ra,pohe> Dohe> mukIgo ra,wa[ ma`a> tu> waya.

6rma> rDte> mukIgo ra, benI 0eDa va5a Ae, waya...

And again the ladies start crying with a loud noise.

Explanation of the above given songs is as below, I will like to translate the whole song line by line:

English translation

O brother you my brother, o brother my brother.

Every one came out together, all relatives got together.

Every one came out together, all set and roams together.

Together we went to market, elders and kids all together.

All went to sea shore together, every one smiled at each other.

All of us had such fun; sitting together we eat nuts and dates.

Uncle, Aunty, known & unknown, all invited every one,

All came to offer prayers, and donations were given in favor,

Gods and the dead were remembered, all were prayed together.

Offerings to Brahmins were of cows, gold and silver was also allowed.

Everyone met each other, sat together and had dinner.

Some covered shoulders with cloth, and legs were covered with pants,

Shirts and pants to cover body, heads covered with turbans.

How good to see the turbaned, everyone had such fun.

Someone was eating dates and nuts, someone was buying something.

Some brought biting and some brought rum, everyone drank and had fun.

The one who was always together, now his absence was noticed here.

Then the rum set on minds, everyone said who I am,

Everyone started forgetting each other, even children, wife & mother.

Then all started to sing and dance, each one had a different stance.

Some went round and some shacked waist.

Some danced with their legs upright; some went down on knees in style.

Some had a dance with hands on waist, others whistled, screamed and danced.

Some ran here and there, some pushed their way to the dance floor.

Some went down on their back and someone stepped on their chest.

Now the dance was turned to fight, someone hit with all his might.

Then what was there to ask, all caught necks and dropped their glass.

Some one came with bamboo stick, other picked up stones to hit.

Some started to sway their swords, some headed with knives,

Some shot arrows and the others sharp spears,

No one could recognize each other; each one killed whoever was near.

Even ladies and children were not spared; the tiny were stepped on and were dead.

Everyone who sat and had fun together was avoiding hearing each other.

Sun shined high and the land got hot, water was not and dried were their throats.

Some died out of thirst, and all were crying, No one felt any pity.

Even relatives were killed; along with them were the old and ill.

My dear is dead see brother our dear one is dead.

Left behind are children and parents; everyone home is left crying.

O sisters my brother is dead now, how can I stop you to cry?

            At the end of this song he tells all the people to leave all the relations and accept the fact that the person is dead, so the gathered ladies start crying and the sight of that spot becomes very touching. Then the Bhagat is given some wine to drink and after drinking wine he says

Jadavaye nave, Madhavaye nave, Dhanaye nave, Rupaye nave, Hiryaye nave, and all the names of the dead from the dead persons family and splits some wine on ground indicating that he is offering wine to all the dead persons of the family. Then the Pitarwala and Bhagat both drink wine and rest for a while and again start with a new song telling the difficulties they faced while migrating.   

We set out because of the sorrow, O brother my brother.

Left our land and left our houses, O brother my brother.

What ever was left out, we assembled together.

Took some food and all cattle, and then decided a route.

We set out because of the sorrow, O brother my brother.

The sun shines hard and land gets heated, O brother my brother,

No one feels like stepping forward, and all turns back to see the disaster.

All Legs now dropping down and eyes are full of tears,

We set out because of the sorrow, O brother my brother.

Bhimda, Khoi, Baral, Zagdira, rivers and tributaries are passed.

Dhanduka is the place we landed; we landed in Dhanduka, O Brother.

We set out because of the sorrow, O brother my brother.

Sabri, Madri rivers were passed, and passed Vadera, Chanud, villages,

Passing the huge river Narmada, we landed in Piplaj.

We set out because of the sorrow, O brother my brother.

Passing rivers and tributaries, we eat fish and crabs,

We crossed tapi and Hunagadh also was left behind

Passed vahvad and we resided in Rajpuri.

We set out because of sorrow, O brother o brother.

Left behind was original home town, left behind all relations.

Left behind were all feelings, you left every thing here. You left every one.

We set out because of sorrow, O brother o brother.

You passed away, left behind are parents and children, O brother my brother.

You left every one to cry, O sisters my brother is dead now, how can I stop you to cry?

Now with the end of pitarwala’s song again the ladies start crying with a loud noise. Now the Bhagat stands up and two three persons catches him And rubs his hands and legs. Then the pitarwala starts explaining the songs.

When the pitarwala explains this song the bhagat acts for him and dances according to what the pitarwala says. Then the both Pitarwal and Bhagat sakes hands and the Bhagat stands still two three person rubs his hands and legs and is believed that now the sole of the dead is calm and at peace.

Now everyone gathered i.e. the male females and the children every one offers wine to the Pitarwala and the Bhagat which they drink from a cup like vessel made from leaves. They also give the grains of rice and some coins to the Bhagat and the Pitarwala with a belief that the offerings given to these two reaches the dead. “Pitru” is a Sanskrit word for the dead soul.

Then they say

“ ]# tu>mDa =dvaye nav,ma2vaye nav ma> na tu> pI.”

            Then four members of the family to which the dead member belongs lifts the body that is tied to a stretcher like bed made of bamboo and takes it to the crimination place on bank of any nearby river or tributary and there the body is laid on the bed made of firewood and elder son of the dead lights the firewood and thus the body was burnt to ashes then all the members comes back home after washing the ashes into the river and they all take a bath at the river. This way the death rituals were completed.

            After one or two years all the members of the dhodia kul (family) gathers on bank of any river that is predefined for final offering to the dead members this ceremony is called “Ujavna”

Ujavna ( ]jv`a>nI ik/ya)

As said above every two to three years all members of each kul gathers at a pre decided place normally on the bank of any river and celebrates a ceremony under the name of their dead members. The rituals that are to be performed are done by themselves. One family member of each family in which someone or other is dead is included in the rituals and they wear a “janoi” (Normally Brahmins wear janoi” and perform the rituals themselves according to their knowledge. (All Hindus generally call a Brahmin to perform such rituals) Dhodias when came to this forest region they could not find Brahmin to perform these rituals so they decided to do it on their own.

It is normally seen that when ever any one dies a dummy toy made out of wood is planted in a place (normally under a big tree) near their house and whenever there is celebration of any festival or mirage of family member dhorwala go to that place and offer prayers also they split wine over there saying Jadavaye nave, Madhavaye nave, Dhanaye nave, Rupaye nave, Hiryaye nave, and all the names of the dead and also offer food to this toys. In short it is believed that these toys of dummies are the dead persons.

While going for ujavna the family members go to this place after taking a bath and split wine and offer food to the dead saying Jadavaye nave, Madhavaye nave, Dhanaye nave, Rupaye nave, Hiryaye nave, and all the names of the dead then they remove the dummies and then goes for ujavna. When the day for ujavna is fixed, few days prior to the day decided for ujavana four elderly ladies of the family are given new clothes and they observe fast and prepare “Dhebra” (a dish) out of wheat, rice, kodri, udad,etc. after grinding them and fry them in oil. And special care is taken that insects do not spoil it or even insects are not found dead in it. These Dhebra are used in the rituals as offerings to the dead. Then the Bhagat cut bamboo sticks and prepare basket from it and takes these things to the place where the celebration has to be done. This place is cleaned and thatched with cow dang (cow dang is considered to be holi) then they spread a bed sheet on it over this bed sheet they put few rice grains in name of the dead members this grains are called “Punjli” and then the punjlis are covered with the basket made out of bamboo. One clay pot is tied with cotton thread and filled with water when the clay pot is full slowly the thread gets wet and the water starts dropping from its end they shout and say “pa`I pDna ra, hgevale> b2e> rDa ra” meaning water is dropping all of you start crying and all the ladies gathered there starts crying, thus the scene of Jadavsthali is recalled. And this ceremony continues for the whole night as the above stated and other such songs are sung all night and at the end of each song the ladies gathered cry. One or two persons are appointed as guards of the basket in which the punjlis are kept and he / they are called “Jangiyo or gadio varas” meaning “next to kin” or “prince” there is a team made by the family members to protect the basket and they are given posts like havaldar, sipai, naik, jamadar, karbhari, etc. and as a king makes arrangement for managing his kingdom. Even the problems within the kul members are discussed and sorted out the guilty are punished according to the level of his guilt some are asked to pay some are punished by hitting sticks and someone if is found guilty to a large extent is killed there itself by the other members. It is always watched perfectly that the basket is not disturbed and it dose not fall and the Punjli inside it is not disturbed. If the basket is disturbed an inspection is carried out that the Punjli inside it is safe or not and if the structure is not in its original position by whose mistake the structure has been disturbed is traced out and the guilty is punished by hitting him mostly he is hit so badly that he dies and then again the structure is re set and all the rituals are performed again this time the killed person is also included in the Punjli and all the rituals to be performed after his death are performed there itself. And when all this rituals and action is done they all drink wine regularly and the scene of Jadavsthali can be compared to this Ujavna celebration. All this cultural practices of Dhorwala or Dhodias resembles Jadavs of Dwarka.

Near the place of ujavna a temporary market is held as lot of people gather there to see what happens in Ujavna. Lot of firewood and hay is brought to the Ujavna place to make food and bedding as the rituals continue full nights and sometimes if someone is killed for two nights.

All these death rituals performed by the Dhodias does not resembles to that of any other tribe or community living in this region. Now the question that rises in my mind is why only the Dhorwala people recall these songs of Jadvasthali and the migration when some one dies.

When someone dies and the death rituals are completed the family members says Ram Ram  to all present there and says “AalaDIya ramram plaDIya ramram” this statement also says a lot by itself  “aaladi” means this side and “paladi” means the other side of the river. This means they say thanks to the people staying to this side of the river as well as the other side. And we can know that Dhodia families which came here resided on both side of the river when they came here.

And since that time the practice of saying these words became a tradition which remained unchanged.

Now dhodias largely follows the Hindu customs and rituals but they used to follow the above said tradition. The tradition has started changing since 1945- 50 onwards but still some practices are still prevalent and may be they too will be taken over by Hindu customs wherein the Brahmin performs the rituals. 

My reasoning says that there is some connection that has to relate the Dhodias to the Jadavsthali and the Jadavs. And neglecting the facts is out of question and the history said by maximum people says confirms the existence of Dhana and Rupa. So that also can not be neglected in same pattern we can’t neglect the Dhor dungris and the Dudhiyo and Gaydho Ovaras on banks of Tan and Man rivers.

Kul

Kul is like identity of a group of people in this case of Dhodias kul is upbringings of a specific family. According to my knowledge when Dhorwala came to Rajpur about two hundred families came here so each family that came here was identified by a different name. These names were given after the work the head of the family did in kingdom of Dwarka. We came to this conclusion because name of kuls that we see in dhodias are in that pattern for example Pradhan, Raval, Vaniya, Bhraman, Nagar Bhraman, Thakor, Suryavansi, etc. there are in my knowledge about 200 kuls that we have listed from the information collected from different sources. If only two people Dhana and Rupa came here and the generation developed then only one or two kuls can have developed but there are around 200 kuls that means at least two hundred families arrived here. Below is the list of kuls

            All these kuls basically indicate the activity the family members were involved in most of them are of the positions that were allotted to the employees of the royal families or in the kingdom of any Hindu ruler some may have developed by the occupation the family head got engaged with as time passed.

            The kuls that are shared by rajputs and other communities presently residing in Saurastra are Garasiya, Bhoi, Aahir, samvant, vanzariya, hathiwala,ranmoliya, vhad, sahi,suddh, dhariya etc. such kul found in different community of savrastra also indicates our connection to the region of saurastra and dwarka.

Belief in Untouchables (AawD0eD)

As far as I know dhodias have a belief that their community is better then the other local community and that is displayed by to the practice followed by them. They did not eat in any other then dhodia houses. Even drinking water from a non dhodia family was avoided. They avoided to use even the utensils to cook food if was used by any other community. And they didn’t even touch the Harijans, Khalpa, Chamar, kolchas. They treated most of the local communities as untouchables.  

We even can’t neglect that Dhorwala treated the Kukana, varli, Kolcha and Naikas as untouchables and did not had roti - beti relation with them by the reference of the Beradia community that is existent in Bhutsar and some other villages in Valsad district. “Beradia” word is derived from “Bedo” meaning Mixture and upcoming of bedo are Beradias. In this Beradia community it is a practice that people of Naika, Rajput, and Dhodia community married with girls or boys of different community and were thrown out of the main stream. So now all these boycotted couples married within themselves and a new community were developed and was named Beradia. It is well known that Beradias are not included in Dhodia community and they too are treated as untouchables. Also even we have seen that people of these casts working for dhodias as farm labours or cattle grazing were not allowed to enter the kitchens of dhodia houses and the utensils in which they were served food were not reused by dhodias. Also food prepared for them was in different way and different to that of the Dhodia family.

            This belief of Dhodias contradicts with the theory that Dhana & Rupa married Naika girls and the upcoming of these are Dhodias. Also the kuls that are found in Dhodias should be only two if the whole community has developed from the children of these two heads of the community according to my knowledge and belief. Again dhodias don’t marry in same kull shared i.e. if boy is of Garasiya kul he will marry any girl of any dhodia kul but not Garasiya. He may marry a Ravta girl or girl of Desai kul. This practice shows that they do not marry within the family so how can so many kuls come up from the families of two persons who came down to South Gujarat. And according to me Dhodias has maintained the purer form of the people who came down and didn’t mix with the Locals to continue their family.

            Other beliefs of dhodias that were very significant are when they sit to eat they take of the first bite of the plate served and keeps it out if the plate for the dead. If bones were found in farms they did not pick the crop from that farm and did not touch the donkey. They avoided pointing vultures also. Most of the dhodias used to drink wine and eat meat fish but they never eat meat of cow buffalo etc. and they hate people who kill and eat cow and buffalo etc.

            Now as education increased and dhorwalas started mixing with other communities things rapidly changed in recent 20 years. Most of the time before 20 years they followed these traditions very faithfully and we have noticed this in our childhood.

These practices have changed to a large extent in recent days and it is correct all human are equal and should be treated equally.

Herein we have tried to reason why they treated other communities as untouchables? If dhodia is also one of the local tribe then why such a huge difference in all the customs?

            This question thus raised definitely contradicts with the theories developed by the different people doing social analysis and saying that we have come from a mixture of rajputs and naika. If our god mother was Naika why they were treated as untouchables?

            So there is a definite indication that we are in the purer form of community and not a mixture only language can not be considered as base when we try to find root of any community. Their habits and social practices say a lot and in dhodias it is very significant that they share a different culture then the other communities residing in south Gujarat and mostly it matches to the Jadavs of Mathura and Dwarka.

Havan and jadav’s Puja (hvn Ane =dvonI pu=  )

It’s a known and old tradition of havan in Dhodia community that is still prelevent. Once in a year they get together and perform this havan, even when they lived in the forests they used to do it as suggested in the Hindu mythology and religious book we see that it was done by all Aryans including the Jadavs. But here they could not find the Brahmins to perform the rituals so they started doing by themselves. They set a temple below any big tree and plant dummy made of mud or wood and offer prayers to it. Horse, Bulls, and carts etc are prepared out of clay or mud and men out of wood these dummies are called “Khatra” or “Bhutda” and during celebration of any festival or marriage etc. they were offered prayers along with food and wine. The wooden dummy of Dhana & Rupa are not disturbed generally and always planted again after ujavna. The other Dummy planted in name of the dead members of the family are destroyed at the time of ujavna as described in the ujavna rituals earlier. This is how dhoriyas give respect to their ancestors and give them a place equivalent to God. At the time of any ceremony they visit this temple of “Khatra or Bhutda” and offer food and wine to each dummy planted by speaking its name that is given after the dead member of the family.

Before splitting wine before the dummies they split wine in all four corners of the temple like structure made under the tree and speak a slogan. Here in I will like to write it for future reference.

“=dvay nave,ma2vay nave,2naya nave, rupaya nave,[rIyay nve,vIrIyay nave,beDIyay nave,kan=y nave,mer=y nave,n>d=y nave,bavnay nave,r`0oDay nave,gopalay nave.”

With every name they spoke they split some wine with a belief that the wine reaches the dead and he is not left out of the celebration ceremony at the family. Now these rituals are slowly replaced by the rituals performed by the Brahmins so it is not known by most of the people in urban area but the elder ones living in villages know and confirm that these rituals were performed by the Dhorwalas. There is no scripts available as illiteracy was 100 % among the dhodias till independence of India and formation of Indian union then with the efforts of Indian Government slowly requirement and importance of education was realized by the Dhodias.

We can always come to the conclusion that without any reason they did not pray the Jadavs and Madhavs (madhav is one of the many names of lord Krishna). From action we can always know the reason because any action taken has some or the other reason we eat because we feel hungry, we never eat when we are thirsty so understanding the reason behind praying jadavs and madhav is easy to understand.

Kanseri vivah ( knserI matana vIvah

)

What is “kasseri” and why it is called “kasseri”?  “Kan+shree” = “kanshree or kanseri” Shree is one of the names of Laxmiji, goddess of wealth. It is written in the books of Hindu Mythology and Religious Books that when Krishna and his Jadav family came to Dwarka they were facing financial and problem of survival but after Krishna’s marriage with Shree Laxmi good luck followed him and they established the royal kingdom of Dwarka. Dwarka as referred as golden city in Mahabharata and other religious books.

Kanseri is considered as Kul Devi of dhorwala and a small temple of Devi Kanseri is kept in every dhodia house. Every year they perform a puja of establishing Kanseri Devi and at the same time the rituals of marriage are performed. All the rituals performed in marriage of dhodia boy and girl is performed where dummy of kanseri is considered as Girl and dummy of Kan or Krishna is made the boy.

This puja is so long that it takes almost 48 hours and is finished at a stretch.

            Kanseri is given a bath, then it is rubbed with turmeric, then again washed, and dressed up then a dummy of Krishna is given the same treatment and the marriage ceremony starts with all the musical instruments played and the rituals and songs sung in actual human marriages. Even the whole village is offered a dinner as a part of this ceremony as all the dhodia families are invited to attend the marriage of kanseri. I myself have attended a few of such kanseri marriages, as this practice still exists and dhorwala who believe that kanseri brings good luck and wealth in the houses. Daily they offer prayers to kanseri as the temple of kanseri is established in house itself. Also offerings are done at the time of celebrating any festival of holy occasion and marriages.

During Kanseri pujan and vivah songs are sung by the ladies and male members and they dance by making circle here I present some songs that were brought to notice by Magjibhai

go5Iyema> te ca>do nace, kano nace wmroj fIre.

Go5Iyema> te dhI>, du2 reDe, kano nace wmroj fIre.

Go5Iyema> te rvIyo nace, kano nace wmroj fIre.

rvIyo fIre,wmroj fIre,tohI fIrte fIre rajulI,wmroj fIre.

rvI fIre, rvIyo nace,tohI tohI nace jhlI,wmroj fIre.

La>bI la>bI nace, jmnI, la>bI Aay pu` howe qrI, wmroj fIre.

bakI bakI nace g>glI, ba>kI Aay pu` howe qrI, wmroj fIre.

go5Iyema> te ca>do nace, kano nace wmroj fIre.

wmroj fIre ra,wmroj fIre.wmroj fIre ra wmroj fIre.

Other song is

6DIAe 6DIAe devna 6DIAola gaje ra

6DIAe 6DIAe devna 6DIAola gaje ra

Ha>j pDene devla>ye> kaho5e vaje ra, 6DIAe 6DIAe.

dI ]gene devle>,dIvDa ma>ge ra,dIvDa ma>ge.

dI ]gene devle> narIyo5 ma>ge ra,narIyo5 ma>ge.

Ao>65Ine pu>jla pu>= ra waya,pu>jla pu>=.

6DIAe 6DIAe devna 6DIAola gaje ra

Some other song is as follows

knserI devI tu>mI kulIyak b`Iya wmrolIya

knserI devI tu>mI hate b`Iya wmrolIya

hate b`Iya lag datu>`e lava ra wmrolIya

hate b`Iya tu>mI Ao65ava ra wmrolIya.

hate nb`Iya tu>mI pNnav= ra wmrolIya.

hate b`Iya tu>mI ma4lIya lqav= ra wmrolIya.

hate b`Iya tu>mI ha>4lIya purava ra wmrolIya.

hate b`Iya tu>mI se>DulI vI`ava ra wmrolIya.

hate b`Iya tu>mI hahre v5ava ra wmrolIya.

hate b`Iya tu>mI po3lIla ba>2ava ra wmrolIya.

knserI devI tu>mI kulIyak b`Iya wmrolIya.

knserI devI tu>mI hate b`Iya wmrolIya.

These are three songs from the many songs sung by dhorwala people at the time of kanseri pujan we don’t have the songs right now but are collecting information from the Bhagats performing these puja and soon will update our data for our knowledge. Kanseri pujan is held in our village even in present time so will like to record the whole video and upload it for our reference. To support the information we have given in this E-Book.

Holi celebration (ho5InI  ]jv`I )

            One other information we will like to share is mostly Hindu of Gujarat consider Diwali to be the biggest festival but unlike them the biggest festival for dhodias is Holi. Celebration of holi is done in a unique pattern and it starts 3 days ahead of holi. On the first night the family members light holi in frount of their houses, and dance and sing songs and enjoys within the family. Then the next day the holi is lighted in the ground where in neighbours are also invited and they all dance and sing. Then the final day holi is prepared by all the families of the particular village they live and all members of the village celebrate the holi festival by singing and dancing all night. The next five days they drink wine and collect money from the elders and then drink wine and through colour on each other and celebrate holi. Collection is done in a unique way some boys and girls get together and visits each house of the village and dance in the ground in frount of the house

           I remember the parts of the song and will like to quote it herein

Maa> tu> fgvoj de nete he3 6oDI cavaDI,

Maa> tu> fgvoj de nete he3 6oDI cavaDI,

ma`I> 6oDI te AavnI tu>m`e bar ra.

Maa> te fgvoj de ne te he3 6oDI cavaDI.

Bar nI6I>ne Aer tu>,lav Aa`a mer tu>

tu`a poha> bar 2rela [ya me> te cavaDI

ma> tu> fgvoj de nete he3 6oDI cavaDI.

           The song is very long and many things are said but I can’t remember it now even me used to go to collect this donation with friends and my cousins at my native.

           It is said that the holi at rajpur is called “bar gamnI ho5I” holi of twelve villages and a mela used to be heald there at the time of holi in earlier days. And all the dhorwala people from the surrounding villages used to go there and enjoy their dance song and wine.

           We don’t have the list of songs that were sung on the place where they light holi right now but are trying to get information if someone can provide the same. We request you to allow us if you’ll have any thing more then what we share here.