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March of Patriots

Living Style of The Past

The Nadavara history of thirteen centuries was like a rollercoaster ride that brusquely
swung up and down. However, their mental bench was set for nothing but autonomy. The
stressful situations faced by the Nadavara warriors of the past will never be fully
understood. The combative profession made them gutsy and also alert. The possibilities of
failure seldom crossed their mind but they were always cautious of their surroundings.
Their living sanctuaries were alertly guarded. Strangers were refused as a protocol of
security. Like a sentry on duty, impulsively, the first thought that downed on mind was
“friend or enemy”. They constantly pondered on the next course of confrontation and at
the same time, were engrossed in defending their families from the probable enemy attack.
Their attitude, feelings and emotions emerging from the generations of martial lifestyle
developed into a distinct Kshatriya community with detached personality. All along the
history, many events associated with them indicate their well-organized retaliation against
injustice. From ancient times Nadavaras were moderately literate and never failed to tell the
stories of Hindu epics to their children. Ramayana and also Mahabharata, which are
composed of bunch of stories of legendary Kshatriya royal families, repetitively reflect on
carrying out justified personal vendettas against the wrong doers. The main characters of
the mythical epics, Rama and Krishna, who rationalized vengeance against the evil doings,
were their role models.

The notion of revenge for Nadavaras was perhaps a mode of seeking justice against the
harm inflicted on them or on their community. Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626), an English
philosopher said, “Revenge is a kind of wild justice.” However, hatred and bitterness
associated with the vindictive attitude caused more harm than good. The unrelenting
rivalry with Virashaivas because of the murder of Bijjala, covert support for Haidar Ali
against the Keladi rulers, devoted participation in Satyagraha after being suppressed by the
English are some of the examples of revenge seeking retaliations of Nadavaras. There was
no statute of limitation for the offense inflicted on them. One of the things that they left

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behind with their children was their unfulfilled revenge. It was fairly unusual to carry
along the responsibility of revenge for such a long stretch of time through many
generations. The very trait of vengeance made them Kshatriyas, the seekers of sovereignty
in the past. Even though, “revenge is punishing wrong doers,” sounds like a fallacy, it was
an accepted concept of justice as recently as the repressive rule of the British in India. Still
many backward countries practice vengeance based justice system. The eccentric Kshatriya
attitude of seeking retribution was fairly common among Rajputs and Jats of the northern
India. In the Gandhian world vengeance sheds negative perspective. Gandhi once said “eye
for eye leaves you blind.” But paradoxically Nadavaras became the followers of Gandhi in
the twentieth century.

A bunch of men getting together at a shrine in the evenings was a common incident in
Nadavara villages. The village shrine complex was the social center that provided sense of
unity and comfort. The Nadavara men and women went to the family shrines to pray and
at difficult times even to complain. Occasionally shouted and cried to express their anger at
Bera for not taking good care of them. Perhaps it was their way of overcoming emotional
distress. They were emotionally bonded to that granite statue erected inside the shrine. The
shrine served the psychotherapeutic needs during depression. They always connected the
village shrine to their ancestry. In a Nadavara home, even now many anecdotal stories of
their ancestors can be heard. The village meetings were held in a shrine. Group-thinking,
similar to brainstorming was commonly exercised at the meetings. In group-thinking
everyone involved was a thinker, everyone was a problem solver and everyone had his
own opinion. Usually the opinion of the majority approved by the leader of the meeting
became the verdict. Adolescent boys were invited to the meetings for training them to be
independent thinkers but adolescent girls were left out. Even education and marriages of
children were decided after going through the group-thinking process. The participation in
Salt Satyagraha was unanimously determined at the meeting of Nadavaras held in a shrine
at Soorve. The group-thinking organizational model was essential to arrive at good
decisions and also to avoid major disparity within the community. The process was
effective in promoting collective consciousness and communal cohesiveness. It might have
been one of the main reasons why such a small community preserved its heritage for such a
long time. The group thinking at times led to differences within the community.

Since ancient times the joint family structure was the established living style in India. Even
though now it’s not in vogue, in some parts of India it is still being practiced, but is
gradually receding. Nadavaras for many centuries lived in joint families; old parents, adult
sons and their families resided under one roof. Among Nadavaras, even though joint family
was commonly practiced domestic organization, separation between brothers was not so
infrequent. Daughters did not have equal rights over the inheritance of properties like

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sons but still had special privileges over their ancestral property. Daughters were entitled to
participate in resolving family differences, usually among sons and even parents. A typical
ancient Nadavara joint family home was two storied with thick stonewalls and wooden
ceilings supported by carved pillars. It had a large living area with a room for ladies and a
kitchen on either side. Behind the living room they had a dark room surrounded by small
rooms. The dark room was used as the treasury where they kept money and gold in a
sturdy wooden chest. The Garuda Kamba (Giant-eagle pillar), about three feet high and six
inch square stone post with an abstract eagle carving on the top was erected next to the
wooden chest. The Garuda Kamba was believed to be the protector of the family and its
treasures. The post was worshiped on religious occasions. The faith in the Giant-eagle
might be a tradition inherited from the times of Rashtrakutas.

The oldest man was the head or patriarch of a family. All decisions ranging from the
matrimonial matchmaking to travel plans were made with the consent of the family head.
He was also responsible for educating the young children. Adults read religious epics and
taught alphabets at home to young children. The grown-up sons tried to share family
responsibilities equally. Often the uneven contributions of the family members led to
disputes. It was the responsibility of the patriarch to resolve disputes. The women cooked
food for the entire family. Grandmothers in the evenings told stories carrying moral and
spiritual messages. They lived in isolated small villages with none other than trusted
relatives. The ancient habitation set up reflects on the protective measures used in planning
settlements. They huddled in groups in strategically secluded areas to protect themselves
from a probable enemy invasion or danger. The joint family organization and arrangement
of a village were symbolic of unity. All the relatives lived in close proximities in a village
like one extended family. The villages were well planned to create harmonious relationship
between the nature, religion and safe living. The villages were shaped in circular or oval
geometric patterns for the purpose of security. An Ashwatha tree standing on raised
podium by the fringes marked the entrance to the village.

The community within itself had a strong sense of camaraderie but beyond the communal
boundaries it responded with cautious mind-set. Strangely, even in Konkan, Nadavaras
stuck to their old monotonous routine of living in isolated groups. The subordinate
communities dependent on Nadavaras were scattered on the fringes of the villages. If a
stranger walked into the village, they interrogated his intentions and detained until
receiving a proper answer from him. Prior to the beginning of the twentieth century people
other than Nadavaras were afraid of visiting Nadavara villages. Similar modus operandi
was in practice in many parts of the world, especially among the cowboys of the America’s
Wild West, till the end of the nineteenth century. Nadavaras intentionally avoided living in
busy centers such as marketplaces or near temples. They donated lands and built temples at

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a relaxed distance from their villages on the speculation that the human activities and
population would grow around the temples. The temples collected Moola Geni (land rent)
from the people living on their territories.

The Nadavara men and women in the past might have performed communal dances even
though dancing wasn’t their normal tradition. Queen Shantala, Salwa Chennabhaira Devi
and her sister were famous dancers. Nadavara men in the recent past had shown
noteworthy interest in Yakshgana dance renditions. Nrityashastra in Hindu religion was
the sole concern of Devadasis but Nadvaras being Jains, possibly Hindu customs did not
restrain their women from dancing. The traditions of music and dance were deeply
embedded in the fabric of ancient Jain culture. Vivid display of the ornate carvings of the
classical dance postures on the walls of the ancient Jain temples of Rajasthan, Gujarat,
Maharashtra and Karnataka were trendy during medieval times. The girls were also
trained in martial arts and were prepared for the battlefields. A newborn female child was
an asset and not a liability. Among Nadavaras, marriages of girls before puberty were not
common, but in the beginning of the twentieth century, there were quite a few child-
marriage incidences. Usually the child-marriages took place between blood relatives. After
a formal discussion with the other villagers, the head of the joint family made the
matrimonial decisions. “Varadakshina” to the groom and “Stridhana” to bride were offered
as gifts at the weddings but dowry, the mandatory payment to the bridegroom’s family was
not in vogue.

Sahagamana or Sati, the self-immolation by a widow on her husband’s funeral pyre, was
practiced all over India by the Hindu royalties and was prevalent among the Rajputs.
Absurdly after her death, she became Sati, a highly revered person in the community. It is
hard to believe that the self-immolation was voluntary. Sadly, it was an accepted homicide
of a young innocent woman. During the medieval period, only certain significant Nadavara
families to boost their importance in the society might have practiced Sahagamana. But
when such a gruesome system came to an end, is not known. In Hampi, there were
incidences of women committing Sati after the fall of Vijayanagara. The Nadavara Sati
stone of Vijayanagara that stood near Chandragutti till recently was associated with a
Nadavara family of Bargi. There are only a handful of genuine Sati stones in Uttara
Kannada. In the beginning of the twentieth century many new Sati shrines mushroomed
with alternative objectives.

Even though polygamy was not a common custom, it repeatedly transpired in some
families and might have prevailed till the beginning of twentieth century. Nadavara
widows were not allowed to remarry within their own caste. If remarried outside the caste,
they were outcasted. The widows were put into a no-win situation. Sadly, young widows

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remained unmarried but they did not shave their heads like the widows of the Brahmin
castes. Ramakrishna Kavari of Torke, Uttara Kannada, in the late nineteenth century
appealed to the community for the remarriage of young Nadavara widows, but ironically
his young niece, who lost her husband at a very early age, remained unmarried. In 1950s
there were two incidences of young widows remarrying. Since then the marriages of
widows even though not common, it’s well accepted.

The legendary “Nadavara Woman” was the lifelong companion of her husband in every
aspect of his life. She fought wars for her husband; ruled the land after the death of her
husband; immolated herself in her husband’s funeral pyre; went to prison with her
husband for a patriotic cause and danced to the music of life to amuse her husband. She
was always there when he needed her. The Nadavara woman played the role of a curator of
the traditions. She was not shy in the public spotlight like the traditional Indian woman.
That was one of the contributing factors, which enabled the women such as, Shantala,
Chennabhairadevi, Honnamma and Savitri to claim their respected places in history. In the
past, how the Nadavara women might have soothed their men is reflected in the
temperament and ostentatious behavior of the present day Nadavara women. Their ways of
understanding, communicating and influencing their partners and make them feel
important are to some extent still ingrained in the contemporary living style.

The traditional clothing of India varied with the regional climatic conditions that changed
vastly from Kashmir to Kerala. Perhaps from the period between Rashtrakuta and
Vijayanagara, there might not be noticeable changes in the wardrobe of Nadavaras who all
along lived in the plateau of Karnataka. The humid rainy weather of Konkan might have
forced them to change their clothing style; also because of the declining financial
conditions, the accessory lifestyle was downsized. Nadavaras, especially the women were
fastidiously particular about their clothes and appearances. Nadavaras had rich sense of
culture defined by self-sufficiency, audacity, literacy, hospitality and art and music of
Yakshagana. Yet Nadvaras seemed uncivilized to the partially westernized people living in
the regional towns. It was the reflection of Nadavara old fashioned attire and impure
Kannada dialect. Till the first half of the twentieth century they dressed in old-fashioned
conservative attires of the eighteenth century. Perhaps the eighteenth century fashion was
consciously attached to them like a security blanket that provided the feelings of emotional
relief. Still the Sheikhs wear turban and Arabian women cover their faces with Burqa (veil),
even in the western countries without any feelings of humiliation.

The costumes of Nadavara men and women before the turn of the twentieth century
demanded beyond their basic needs. Men wore Pagdi, a white turban that was made up of
a narrow fabric 15 feet long. On special occasions, such as weddings and festivals, they

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dressed in white silk Pagdi with ornate borders. A gold colored lace was affixed to the
Pagdi as a mark of self-distinction of a privileged individual. Only a bridegroom wore a
red or saffron colored turban at his wedding. Wearing Pagdi was prevalent among
Nadavara men for centuries until the homogenization of the occidental fashions. In the
ancient times the turban was used to signify the status of a person in the society. The
Kshatriyas like Rajputs, Jats and Sikhs still wear turban. However, men laboring in the
fields wore a short headgear, Mundasa to protect the head from the sun.

Nadavara men draped their upper body with Choga. It was basically a fine white cotton
wrap, twelve feet long with thin-colored edges. They wore Choga since the remote past.
They dressed in Dhotara, which was equivalent of pair of pants, but Nadavara Dhotara
barely reached the knees like casual shorts. The carvings in the Bera shrines display men on
horses wearing petite Dotaras. The underwear, Kachi was tightly worn between the legs
and stuck into the front and back of Navla (silver waist belt). The word Navla was derived
from the Sanskrit word, Nabhila (navel). The boys didn’t wear Navla till they reached
adulthood. The Navla ceremony was observed when a boy reached adulthood. Men wore
golden necklace and earrings. The women made up their hair in one or two long braids
falling on the back. Adult women dressed in full Seeri (Sari) or Kapada, and Choli (blouse)
with short sleeves covering the breasts and shoulders. Unmarried young women wore
Chuggi, a narrow long skirt and Ghagri, a multilayered long skirts that extending down to
their ankles. The upper clothing was Pyrahana or Angi (Polka blouse), a medium sleeved
shirt long enough to cover the navel. Nadavara women wore mostly blue and green
colored clothes. The women accumulated lots of gold jewelries and they particularly loved
head, neck, and ankle ornaments. Widows did not wear any ornaments, but unlike a
typical Hindu widow, did not wear red or white colored saris. In the second half of the
twentieth century the financial crises affected Nadavara clothing fashion. The poor
conditions stripped them out of their original style. During the non violence movement,
Mahatma Gandhi urged on public burning of the imported mill made cloth and replacing
with Khadi, the home spun and hand woven coarse fabric. Almost for half a century,
Nadavaras faithfully wore Khadi that symbolized patriotism and self reliance.

Horses and horse-carts were the main modes of transportation of Nadavaras during the
medieval times. Later on living in the Malenad region, they rode horses till the beginning of
nineteenth century. The Nadavara shrines still have Kudari Kamba (horse pillar), granite
posts for tying down horses. The Nadavara shrines portraying the legends of their ancestry
display the carvings of their ancestors riding horses. The unrecorded tales told by the
Nadavara women were usually associated with a prince riding on a white horse. “Horse
eaters” was a derogatory nickname given to Nadavaras. Nadavara colloquial phrase “tie
ones horse” was inferred to a person in hurry. Many metaphors relating to horse, such as

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“pee like a horse” (lack of planning), “making face like a horse” (in a bad mood), and
“groom on a horse” (look elegant) used in Nadavara vernacular suggest their intimacy to
horses. After settling in Konkan, Nadavaras had to part from their longtime friend. The
maintenance of horses was hard in the monsoon climatic conditions of Malenad and
Konkan. The endemic horse-flu which was spread by ticks and mosquitoes was a scourge to
horses in Uttara Kannada.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Nadavaras gave up warfare. Oxen, because of
its suitability to the damp climate and minimal maintenance, replaced their valued long
time partner, horse in the beginning of the nineteenth century. The cattle became
instrumental in the agrarian economy. Every Nadavara home had bulls and bullock carts in
the nineteenth century. The possession of bulls and bullock carts was the measure of a
family’s wealth. At the end of the nineteenth century, Timmanna Nayak of Aversa who was
a wealthy man owned one hundred and one bullock carts. The bullock carts were used
extensively for the transportation of goods and people even after the introduction of
automobiles during the early decades of the twentieth century. The cart had two large iron
rimmed wooden wheels mounted on an axle and was pulled by two bullocks. The cart rider
sat in the front and steered the cart with ropes tied to the bulls and the passengers sat in the
back of the cart. On special days the family members took rides to visit family friends and
relatives on decorated carts with padded cushions. On the day of Divali festival, they
decorated and worshipped bulls and bullock carts. There was no mention of worshiping
horses in the past but the horse sculptures in the Bera temples and carvings in other
structures reveal their high regard for horses.

The Sanskrit epic, Raghuvamsa or also known as Kalidasa Ramayana was written by
Kalidasa in Brahmi script at the end of fourth century AD. It was fairly different from its
precursor, Valmiki Ramayana written probably in the first century BC after the eras of the
famous Sanskrit grammarians, Panini and Patanjali. Ramacharitmanas, also known as
Tulsidas Ramayana, which was written in Old Hindi in the Awadhi script at the end of the
sixteenth century, is fairly diverse from both of its predecessors. Ramakrishna Kavari was
well versed in all three versions of Ramayana and was a passionate critique of the
variations in the narratives of different authors. In the evenings, he read Ramayana to the
residents of Torke. By the end of nineteenth century Torke was captivated by Ramayana
and Mahabharata. For the people of Torke, Rama was god and Ramayana was yet another
holy book. They tried to memorize verses of Ramayana and sang them in the evenings in a
monotone. Influenced by the recitals of Ramakrishna, his young nephew, Gopal Kencha
Naik (Gopal Master) developed curiosity and became a connoisseur of the Hindu epics. He
composed two Yakshagana dramas, Viratha Parva (episode of Vrattha), and Seeta
Swayonvara (Seeta’s nuptial). He was a locally well-known Yakshagana recitalist and

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dramatist. Nadavara villages produced a few such Yakshagana experts in the first half of
the twentieth century. The epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata epitomize human
emotions, anger, joy, distress and love to address morals as preached by the Vedic religions.
Yakshagana plays are musical presentation mainly of behavior, aspirations and morals held
up by the Vedic epics.

Hawyaka Brahmins and Nadavaras were the main supporters of the art of Yakshagana in
Uttara Kannada. The Sonda king, Madhulinga Nayaka organized the earliest known recital
of Ramayana in the seventeenth century in Banavasi. The recital was conducted to
celebrate the rejuvenated Madhukeshwara Temple. Nadavaras were captivated by the
Yakshagana plays. Usually the plays staged Ramayana and Mahabharata stories.
Yakshagana was the source of entertainment and was a topic of discussion at casual
meetings. The characters in those epics brought out their certain repressed soldierly
impulses. Around Dasara and Divali festivities, Nadavara villages performed marathon
plays of Yakshagana in open theatres that lasted for six to seven hours. Originally
Yakshagana was composed in Telagu in the fifteenth century from the Hindu epics written
in Sanskrit. In Hampi, the Yakshagana, “Sugriva Vijayamu” written in Telagu by Rudra
Kavi was performed for Krishna Devaraya in the sixteenth century. In all probability, the
soldiers of Vijayanagara who settled in the western Karnataka at the end of the sixteenth
century brought Yakshagana. For almost two hundred years the Nadavara men wrote,
directed, facilitated and performed in the Yakshagana plays. With rhythmic footwork to the
beats of percussion music, emotional facial expression and flowing narratives, Yakshagana
displays unique Kathak like story telling folk dance. Now the art of Yakshagana is
commercialized and its creative artistry is headed towards standardization. The sameness
due to standardization limits the artist’s creativity to advance the ancient art.

The Nadavara transition from Jainism to Hinduism lasted for hundred and fifty years,
starting from the seventeenth century. During this period the community was split between
Hindu and Jain religions. The process of changing from one religious conviction to the
other might have caused some anxiety and disorganization. In early 1800s still there were
about 15% of the Nadavara families following the Jainism. The religious divide didn’t
outwardly disturb the community and still remained as one integral entity. Nuptials among
the two religious wings of the community were as usual. The main difference was their
food habit. Initially in Konkan the Nadavaras converted to Hindu faith relished on fish and
it took many years before they started eating chicken and mutton. The Jain-Nadavaras were
still vegetarians and when they visited their Hindu relatives, obviously vegetarian food was
prepared. In the early nineteenth century, a few families in Torke were still vegetarians.
Probably because of the dietary restraints within the community, Nadavaras carried out
“Hulasin Madki” (dirty pot) cookery routine which was practiced well into the twentieth

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century. Nadavaras built second kitchen detached from the home for cooking non-
vegetarian food and used separate utensils, which they called Hulsin Madki. Even after
changing to non vegetarian diet, they didn’t accept the food prepared by none other than
vegetarians, which narrowed down to Jains of South Kanara, Havyakas and Virashaivas.
Till the first quarter of the twentieth century, eating in a non-vegetarian’s house was
forbidden by the Nadavara community.

The community practiced its own antiquated moral codes, specifically focused on marriage
contracts, eating practices, sexual morality, occupation and source of income of its
members. Outcasting in the Nadavara community was relatively frequent. Even small
deviations from the communal guidelines such as working as a laborer in others farms,
begging in public, marrying into other castes, sexual relation of a woman out of her
wedlock and dining in a non-vegetarian’s house were subject to disciplinary actions and at
times breach of code of conduct resulted in outcasting. The Nadavara social limitations
were derived from their ancestral unwritten codes of conduct. The innate codes to some
extent were partially practiced till 1950s. The dishonored men and women for certain
wrong doings were pardoned after a specified period of probation and were accepted back
into the caste. However the inter-caste marriages were not forgiven. It was Nadavara way
of enforcing restriction on the community members to preserve their heritage. Even after
adopting Hinduism, they were worried of the community’s self-diminishment. It was the
minority complex extended from the earlier times in Uttara Kannada when they were still
Jains.

In 1920s a teenager was reprimanded for working as a waiter in a restaurant but a few years
later the teenager opened his own restaurant. In the early 1900s, a Gonehalli woman for
staying as a guest at a non-vegetarian family in Gokarna was thrown out of the community.
She committed suicide soon after, leaving behind a year old daughter. The baby girl was
nurtured by the Gokarna family for a year before giving her away in adoption to a childless
couple from Dharwar while they were visiting the Mahabaleshwara Temple in Gokarna. In
early 1920s, a woman for having an extramarital affair with a laborer working in her farm
was outcasted and ironically after her divorce she became the concubine of a Nadavara
leader. Gati Sahib was outcasted in 1907 for going abroad. These are just a few examples to
distinguish the severity of chastisement for naive slip-ups. For minor unconscious mistakes,
the responses were unreasonably blown up which led to outrageous ordeals. The
community became hostage to its own misused mandates. Such acute overreactions to
natural human behaviors had damaging effect on the community. The pattern of intense
reaction was a blurred reflection of the demeanor of their ancestral crusaders. In brief they
were hung up on the self preservation of the Nadavara ethnicity.

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The Untouchables or Dalits since the ancient times have occupied the lowest place in the
hierarchy of the Hindu caste system. Mahatma Gandhi took the first step on the road to
emancipation of Dalits from the clutches of caste system just by calling them Harijans
(people of god). India after adopting the new constitution in Jan 1950, special legislature
was put in place to uplift the social standing of Harijans. The Government of India was
partially successful in moderating the stigma of untouchable castes. About 16% of the
people in India are Harijans and still they are alienated from the rest of the population.
Before the India’s independence Dalits were considered to be unworthy of human rights
and were deprived of their human-hood. Torturing of Dalits was a wide spread malady all
across the country. They were not allowed inside Hindu temples and even in certain
exclusive places. Traditionally Dalits performed menial functions such as cleansing the filth
produced by the human habitation. During the medieval times, Dalits played an accessory
and catalytic role in warfare. They invigorated soldiers at the prewar rituals with euphoric
drumbeats. Also they gathered putrid remains of the dead soldiers from the war fields.
Dalits probably during wars served the soldiers of Vijayanagara. The Nadavara attitude
towards Dalits was fairly empathetic.

The Dalit community of Agers currently living in Uttara Kannada came from Bellary,
Karnataka centuries ago. Apparently Agers were the prisoners of war captured by Bukka
Raya after defeating Sultan of Madhurai in the fourteenth century. In Vijayanagara they
were forced into performing lowly jobs of Dalits. The Ager population was 3630 as
recorded by the 1961 census. In recent years a sizeable portion of the Ager community was
converted to Christianity by the local evangelists. In Konkan Nadavaras kept close
connection with Agers. For generations they were indentured laborers of many Nadavara
families. Nadavaras tried to protect Agers from the unkind social treatments and atrocities;
they gave them places to live and land to cultivate. Ager marriages were arranged and were
funded by their patron families. Brahmin priests did not perform the Ager weddings. So the
non Brahmin temple aids carried out their wedding ceremonies. Agers played the role of
mock-mourners at the Nadavara funerals and still the mock mourner ritual subsists in some
Nadavara villages. During the medieval times the fake-mourners attended noble family
funerals. The ritual is a residue that was left behind from the times of Vijayanagara. Though
the social bigotry kept a tight lid on mingling with Dalits, Nadavaras interacted with Agers
leniently. Perhaps due to the Jain background, their attitude towards the Hindu caste
system was somewhat casual.

The Ager colonies even now are found in the outskirts of Nadavara villages. To mention
but a few villages Belekeri, Bhavikeri, Bole, Vandige, Hichagad, Shatgeri, Basgod and
Vasari, have reclusive Ager outposts. The Nadavara community to its credit played a vital
role in the welfare of Agers. The deprived situation made the indebted Agers bonded

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laborers of the Nadavara families. The bonded labor is comparable to master and slave
relationship. In the nineteenth century, Nadavaras assigned Agers to the maintenance of
the grounds surrounding the local Temples, ignoring many objections. However, they were
not allowed inside the temples. Agers felt privileged just to gain entry into the temple
complexes. The assignment to the unexpected projects led to positive interactions between
Agers and the other communities and in turn improved their interpersonal relations. Agers
were not allowed inside the Nadavara homes and remained as untouchables until the mid
Twentieth century. For the past half a century Nadavaras have been hiring Ager maids to
work in their houses. The influence of the Gandhian philosophy had helped to unwind the
prejudice against the Harijan castes.

The majority of Indians were influenced by the gravitas of the Gandhian principles, which
even reflected on the politics of governance and the constitution of India. “The legislators”,
Gandhi said, “are the servants of the people and should earn the wages just enough to meet
their basic needs.” After the Independence of India, the new blood of politicians,
intoxicated by the legislative clout and attracted by the lifestyle of the elites, were
blindfolded from the Gandhi’s preaching. India turned out to be one of the most corrupt
countries in the world. But to the credit of the Nadavara community, a few politicians who
became legislators stubbornly fought against corruption. While the country was totally
drenched in surging tide of corruption, they were hard-pressed against demoralizing
environment but never deviated from their principles. The community openly disapproved
the corruptive practices of some government employees of its own. A few Nadavara
enthusiasts who were involved in the political affairs were actively absorbed in social work
and at times were overzealous but due to the lack of cooperation from societal
establishments their aspirations were not rewarded. Nadavara is a cheerful, cooperative,
affectionate, independent, and sympathetic community. Their hospitality was unmatched.
Guests arriving at the Nadavara homes were cared with great respect and awareness and
before their departure, were presented with small containers of sweets usually filled with
coconut squares and rice rounds.

The Kalachuri families (Salwa) living in the southern Maharashtra and the northern
Karnataka migrated to Uttara Kannada in the twelfth century and at the end of the
fourteenth century they moved to Vijayanagara from Uttara Kannada. The Salwa Dynasty
of Vijayanagara belonged to the Nadavaras of Uttara Kannada; Salwa Narasihma Devaraya
and his two sons, Timma Bhupa and Narasihmaraya II, ruled Vijayanagara for twenty years
(1485- 1505 AD). The Tuluvas (Bant) from Dakshina Kannada joined the Vijayanagara
cavalry in the fifteenth century and ruled Vijayanagara, in the Sixteenth century (1505- 1543
AD). In Vijayanagara, possibly both clans, Nadavara of Uttara Kannada and Bant of
Dakshina Kannada became a single flock celebrated warriors of Hampi. The Salwa and

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March of Patriots

Tuluva factions living in such close quarters of Hampi obviously had established cordial
relations and might have even led to marriages between them. Yet the matrimonial
relations did not continue after Vijayanagara.

During the medieval times Nadavara and Bant communities belonged to a single sect, is the
belief of some historians. The Bunt community of Dakshina Kannada and the Nadavara
community of Uttara Kannada are alike in many ways. Apparent parallels can be drawn
between the two communities concerning their historic background, social behavior, food
habits and traditions. According to the Gazeteer of 1883, the Jains of North Kanara (Jain-
Nadavara) intermarried with the Jains of South Kanara. However, marriages between
Nadavaras and Bunts were uncommon as the matrilineal property inheritance of Bants did
not agree with the patriarchal social system of Nadavaras. Moreover the Nadavaras of
Uttara Kannada were vegetarians prior to their migration to Konkan. The arrogance of the
Nadavaras of the nineteenth century may also to be blamed for the demeanor of
detachment between the two communities. Nonetheless, minor cultural differences kept
them apart. The Bunt community is much larger than Nadavara of Uttara Kannada. Both
communities have shown cordial concerns towards each other, perhaps for a reason from
the remote past.

The 1901 census that was compiled by Riseley, Ibbetson and Nesfield, included the
ethnographic survey of 11645 Hindu castes. The survey was based on discretely outlined
27-point checklist. The status quo information gathered under the checklist produced
subjective results. The census of 1931 consolidated the castes of India into 2800 castes.
Nadavara and Bunt communities were two separate but similar castes under the agrarian
category. The census was not thorough enough to reflect on historical background beyond
the 1881 census data. The Bant or Tulu Nadavar communities of Udupi and Dakshina
Kannada and the Nadavaras in Ankola and Kumta, Uttara Kannada lived for centuries, like
two discretely separate communities. If Nadavaras and Bants belonged to the same sect,
why did they split into two separate branches? Or were they always two separate groups
with similar profession and lifestyle? Why did they speak two different languages? Even
the Kannada speaking Bants of Udupi don’t have the same dialect as of Nadavaras. The
customs of two somewhat similar Kshatriya castes viewed through the prism of British
observers perhaps blurred the subtle distinction that existed between them. The historic
link between Nadavaras and Bants is ambivalent under the present pretext. Their close
connection in Vijayanagara might have led historians to link the two sects. In the eighteenth
century, a few Jain families of Udupi merged with the Nadavaras of Uttara Kannada but
such evidences are not sufficient to arrive at any conclusion. An exploratory research of the
two communities would be essential to support any kind of existing belief. It is fairly
possible that Nadavaras might be an eclectic mix of a few Kshatriya clans as they were

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March of Patriots

historically on a relentless crusader like move. However, the cross-cultural friendship of


Nadavara and Bant sects may mutually reinforce their footings in the region. There is a
small humble sect of people in Ankola called Upa Nadavaru (Uppa Nadavaru) which is not
associated with Nadavara or Bunt communities. The ethnicity and ancestry of Upa
Nadavaru are very different from that of Nadavara or Bunt communities. Since the
Marriages among these sects are literally nonexistent.

A brief experiment of litmus test instantly determines acidity or alkalinity of a chemical


solution but the slow changing dynamic systems such as society and culture are hard to
portray on limited data or status quo observations. “Buddhists are vegetarians; Hindus
worship snakes” are fallacies based on limited or biased data. Buddhists of Southeast Asia
are mostly non vegetarians. Based on a few Naga (serpent) worshiping Hindu sects,
generalizing Hindus as the snake worshippers is misleading. “The Nadavaras were
militants, moneylenders and once matrilineal people” were biased conclusions based on
inadequate data and vague assumptions. Being Kshatriyas they might have formed militia
to oppose the alien rulers. Probably they lent money to their farm workers. In the sixteenth
century, a few families associated with the Gersappa Queen followed the matrilineal
traditions. Many such arguable details of Nadavara history were originated from partial or
inconclusive records. According to some, the end of nineteenth century census documented
during Colonial India on Nadavara or Jain-Nadavara community of Uttara Kannada is
dotted with errors. The reason may be because of the exiled existence in Malenad
continued by the defensively isolated communal living in Konkan, the Nadavara
community always remained enigmatic in the region. The Nadavara past assorted with
peaks and valleys is hard to believe without questioning whether really they were the
Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta, Kalachuris of Kalyan or the Salwas of Vijayanagara.” China’s
last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Pu Yi was totally forgotten after the 1912 Xinhai
revolution prior to the 1949 victory of Communist Party. In 1963, the young guards did not
know of Pu Yi, then the aged gardener visiting the Forbidden City to see the famous golden
throne that once he occupied as the boy king of China. Many events of the Nadavara
history that occurred before the 19th century are nearly forgotten.

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