Gowari. [114]--The herdsman or grazier caste of the Maratha country,
corresponding to the Ahirs or Gaolis. The name is derived from gai
or gao, the cow, and means a cowherd. The Gowaris numbered more
than 150,000 persons in 1911, of whom nearly 120,000 belonged to the
Nagpur division and nearly 30,000 to Berar. In localities where the
Gowaris predominate, Ahirs or Gaolis, the regular herdsman caste,
are found only in small numbers. The honorific title of the Gowaris
is Dhare, which is said to mean 'One who keeps cattle.' The Gowaris
rank distinctly below the Ahirs or Gaolis. The legend of their
origin is that an Ahir, who was tending the cows of Krishna, stood
in need of a helper. He found a small boy in the forest and took
him home and brought him up. He then gave to the boy the work of
grazing cows in the jungle, while he himself stayed at home and made
milk and butter. This boy was the ancestor of the Gowari caste. His
descendants took to eating fowls and peacocks and drinking liquor,
and hence were degraded below the Gaolis. But the latter will allow
Gowaris to sit at their feasts and eat, they will carry the corpse of
a Gowari to the grave, and they will act as members of the panchayat
in readmitting a Gowari who has been put out of caste. In the Maratha
country any man who touches the corpse of a man of another caste is
temporarily excommunicated, and the fact that a Gaoli will do this
for a Gowari demonstrates the close relationship of the castes. The
legend, in fact, indicates quite clearly and correctly the origin of
the Gowaris. The small boy in the forest was a Gond, and the Gowari
caste is of mixed descent from Ahirs and Gonds. The Ahirs or Gaolis
of the Maratha country have largely abandoned the work of grazing
cattle in the forest, and have taken to the more profitable business
of making milk and ghi. The herdsman's duties have been relegated to
the mixed class of Gowaris, produced from the unions of Ahirs and
Gonds in the forests, and not improbably including a considerable
section of pure Gond blood. At present only Gaolis and no other caste
are admitted into the Gowari community, though there is evidence that
the rule was not formerly so strict.