G’BYE GOA: DHANGARS/GONVLLIS By Valmiki Faleiro After a millennium of peaceful existence by Mhars in Goa, arrived a pastoral tribe, the Dhangars/Gonvllis. They, too, came from South India. And subjugated the Mhars. Dhangars had mastered the skill of domesticating otherwise productive wild animals, particularly cattle, goats and sheep. The story is told of how, when the Dhangar sage, Tapa, propitiated god Khandoba with his own daughter, the original ancestor and his descendants were granted the gift of domesticating and husbanding animals. The tribe name Dhangar probably comes from ‘Dhenu’ (cow, in Sanskrit) or ‘Dhan’ (wealth, which until the monetary age, was measured by the number of animals one possessed.) Dhangars believe they descend from royalty, perhaps because the kingdom of Holkar was founded by one of their own. Indo-Aryans, however, believe that Dhangars are an admixture of Sudra fathers and Vaishya-Kshatriya mothers. Dhangars worshipped Mother Nature – including the human reproductive organs, the female organ being ‘Gan’ or ‘Gandh’ (Bavka Devi) and the male counterpart, in the form of an erect stone, called ‘Tonko’/’Topo’ or ‘Moko’/’Makhaji’ after the banana plantlet. Makhaji is also called ‘Rakhnea Dev’ (shepard’s god), transformed by Indo-Aryans into Betal, the deity with the huge phallus. Interestingly, the temple demolished to make way for Margao’s Holy Spirit church, was dedicated to ‘Damodar Makhaji.’ It was said to be the most beautiful of the town’s 13 temples. The temple name also tells the story of how the later age Indo-Aryans took over not just the villages and fields of the tribal settlers but also their temples and deities, and made them their own. Their leader, Ram, who wielded a ‘Parashu’ (axe), had only told them to respect deities of the locals. An inventory of confiscated properties of the Damodar Makhaji temple showed one as possessed by ‘Roxo Goully,’ who performed rituals at the temple. Gonvllis had a marked association with various temples and rituals in Margao, a Brahmin village in the Indo- Aryan era. Even today, the Shigmo of Zambaulim must necessarily begin with Gonvllis dancing in the front yard of the temple, throwing ‘gulal’ (vermillion) at one another. Another fact: while members of all other castes and tribes were, in varying numbers, converted to Christianity during the Portuguese era, not a single Dhangar ever was – they lived in the hills and forests, where the missionaries did not reach! Local communities were regulated by the seniormost male, called a ‘Budhvont’ (the wise one.) All issues affecting individuals or the community were adjudicated by him. Males, at least until recently, sported earrings and the ‘shendi’ (a tuft of hair on top of the head) and wore their headgear in a manner distinct to the community. Gonvllis were socially superior to Kols, who arrived in Goa some centuries later but subjugated the former. After Goa’s integration into the Indian Union, Gonvllis were re- designated as Dhangars, a similar tribe widely prevalent, but not officially recognised as a Scheduled Tribe in India. Only in the late 20th century did the local government call for a study of the community by Goan sociologist Dr. Bernadette Gomes. Chased to the hills and still largely undeveloped, only two from this community in Goa came into some prominence at the turn of the millennium – Shakuntala Karwat, the first to graduate in law, and Chandrakant (“Babu”) Kavlekar, the first to be elected to the Goa Legislative Assembly. A part of this tribe is believed to have evolved into two rough classifications: the patriarchal, which integrated into the Naik-Bhandari (toddy tappers) caste, and the matriarchal, identified with the caste of temple servants (Bhavins, Kalavants.) Mhars and Gonvllis were the first to settle in Goa. Both originated from South India. All other non-Aryan tribes that followed in later centuries – Asuras, Kols, Mundaris and Kharvis (Mundas all) – came from the north, from about the same geographical region of Chota Nagpur, in present day Madhya Pradesh/south Bihar plains. PS: Some feedback: “Matters little if Mhars arrived in Goa 10000 BC or 100 years ago. Today, 1 year brings tenancy rights and 1 day of domicile fetches a Ration Card and an Election Card. Goans have just voted their ‘best from the worst.’ We will deserve what we will get. But these elections were truly ‘free’ … no cash distributed this time!” (ENDS.) The Valmiki Faleiro weekly column at: http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=330 ====================================================================== The above article appeared in the May 3, 2009 edition of the Herald, Goa
