Note 29 — G

Gangâri.—A class of hill Brâhmans, who are inferior to the Sarolas, and are so called because they live on the banks of the Ganges. “Those who have settled in Chândpur and Lohoa call themselves Sarolas however, and it would appear that the latter are the section of the Brâhmans living along the Ganges, who obtained employment at the courts of the petty Râjas. The offspring of any Sarola who sinks by intermarriage with a lower family becomes simply a Gangâri. The offspring of a Sarola and a concubine also becomes a Gangâri. Thus, if a Gairola, a sub-caste of the Sarola, marries, his offspring by a lawful wife will be called Sarola Gangâri, whilst his offspring by a concubine are called Gangâri Gairola. Indeed the inhabitants of the sub-divisions away from the river call all the people living along the Alaknanda, whether Brâhmans, Râjputs, Banyas, or Doms, by the generic name Gangâri or Gangâl, and there is no marked line of difference between the Sarola and Gangâri. The principal sub-divisions of the latter are the Ghildyâl, the Dâdai, and the Malâsi, who came from the Tarâi. The Ghildyâls serve the temple of Kânsmardini Devi; the Unyâls at the temples of Mahikhmardini, Kâlika, Râjrajeswari, Gharârî, and Damanda Unyâl; the Aswâls at Jwâlpa and several Bhairava temples. Two explanations are given of the superior position generally assigned to the Sarolas: one that they were selected as the parent clan to prepare food for the Râjas of Garhwâl, and hence their name; another is that when a standing army became necessary, they were appointed to cook for the troops in the field by Râja Abhaya Pâl, who further enjoined that all should eat from one vessel the food prepared by his Brâhman cooks—a custom generally observed to the present day. All the Brâhmans in Garhwâl are commonly styled Gangâris, but the better classes call themselves Sarolas, amongst whom the following sub-divisions are found—Kotyâl, Simwâl, Gairala, usually cooks; Kanyûris, attached to the civil administration of the Râjas; Nautyâls, teachers; Maithânis, servants; Thapalyâls, Ratûris, Dobhâls, Chamolis, Hatwâls, Dyondis, Malaguris, Karyâls, Naunis, Somaltis, cooks; Bijilwârs, Dhurânas, Manûris, Bhattalwâlis, Mahinya ke Joshis, and Dimris. Most of these names are derived from the village of origin (thât) of the sub-division. The Dimris are the cooks of Badari Nâth, and the food prepared by them may be eaten by all classes. Some are temple priests and claim to belong to the Dravira division, the Kasyapa gotra and Madhindiniya sâkha, and to follow the Yajur veda. Many Dimris claim a southern origin for themselves, and others state that the Dimris are the offspring of the celibate Râwals of the temple and the Brâhman female attendants who settled in the village of Dimar, and hence the name. They are now the servants of Badari Nâth in particular, and some have taken to agriculture, while others wander all over India, asking for alms and selling images of the deity stamped on metal, or exposing them for the worship of the faithful. The Ratûris derive their name from Ratûra, a village of Chândpur, and claim to have come there from Mahârâshtra in the time of the Pâla Râjas to visit Badari Nâth, and to have remained in the service of the Chândpur Râja. They belong to the Bhâradvâja gotra. They now occupy themselves with agriculture and service and as priests. They and the Dimris intermarry with other Sarolas. The Gangâris, like the Khasiyas, serve in the temples of the village deities and as priests of Bhairava; but the Sarolas, though not very orthodox in their ritual, only worship the orthodox deities. The Garhwâl Brâhmans have a reputation for gaining their ends by servile flattery, and the Khasiya section are reckoned so stupid and stubborn as to be only managed by fear; hence the proverb—Garhwâl samândâta nahîn, bina lâthi deta nahîn. “The Garhwâl Brâhman will give only when you stand over him with a cudgel.”29