Dhodia

Clans and Kinship

Enthoven (1920) found no endogamous divisions among the Dhodia but a long list of exogamous kuls, several of them in pairs, Mota (elder or greater) and Nana (younger or lesser). Solanki (1985) records that the Dhodia are patrilineal and patrilocal, that sons inherit, that they keep kul exogamy, with more than a hundred kuls known, and that each kul has its own deity which helps regulate social relations; adoption may be from any lineage or kul. Disputes go first to the village or falia (hamlet) panch, made up of the male heads of lineages, and on appeal to the chora panch and the samast jati panch of the whole community. A respected go-between, the vahtalio, is essential to every arranged marriage.

Kuls from Enthoven's list (1920, vol. 1, 'Dhodias'), in his alphabetical order, keeping only the names the scanned text shows clearly; about fifteen more names on his list could not be read with confidence and are left out. Mota and Nana pairs are given once with the division. Solanki (1985) says researchers have noted more than a hundred kuls, so this is a partial list.

In the Official Lists

• Scheduled Tribe

  Gujarat, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Maharashtra, Goa

  Listed as: Dhodia

  'Dhodia, Dhodi' in the Gujarat census table of 2011. Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu were separate union territories in 2011; the Dhodia are listed in both.

Checked against the 2011 census tables of each state and union territory and Wikipedia's compilation of the order; amendments after 2011 were not checked.

Checked on 2026-11-07 against the sources below. The lists are amended from time to time and can differ by district; for a certificate, the current order or the state's list is what counts.

Name and Origin

Neither Enthoven (1920) nor the Gujarat research institute's study (Solanki, 1985) records an origin story or the meaning of the name. Enthoven noted that many Dhodia kuls bear the names of other castes and communities, such as Brahmania, Kanbi, Bhat, Joshi, Parsi and Vanjara, and concluded that the community had long admitted members from outside.

History

Enthoven (1920) counted 94,381 Dhodias in 1901, chiefly in Surat, Thana and the Surat Agency, and described them as one of the largest of the early tribes, working largely as field labourers and as hereditary farm servants, halis. S. S. Solanki's study for the Tribal Research and Training Institute of Gujarat Vidyapith (1985) gives 356,773 in 1971, mainly in Valsad and Surat districts, and records that Dhodias were also found in the neighbouring districts of Maharashtra and in Dadra and Nagar Haveli. By 2011 the census counted 680,090.

Faith and Worship

Enthoven (1920) names Bharam Dev (Brahmadev), Iria Dev, the Diwali goddess, Kakabalia and Maoli Mata among the favourite Dhodia deities, worshipped against witches, ghosts and disease, and records that the Dhodias of Surat district visited the shrine of Samradev at Rudvel in Chikhli taluka between Kartik and Phalgun. Solanki (1985) adds Khetarpal, also called Simario Dev, who guards the fields, Vaghdev, who guards grazing cattle, the clan deities of each kul, and the deities kept as plain stones in which the priest feels the god has come to dwell. Dhodias keep most of the festivals of their Hindu neighbours.

Deities named in the sources: Brahmadev, Vaghdev, Khetarpal

Customs

In Enthoven's account (1920) the boy's father makes the offer of marriage through a go-between and pays a bride-price, dej; weddings are held on a Thursday and conducted by two women of the community, and a man may serve in his future father-in-law's house as khandadia. Marriage with any first cousin was not allowed. Widow remarriage and divorce were permitted with the consent of the caste headmen. Solanki (1985) describes Vaghbaras as the biggest festival, held for the animals on a day the village elders fix, and records that on Dhanteras Dhodias neither lend nor borrow money.

Festivals