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=Teli or Gandla=
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This article is an extract from <br/>

THE CASTES AND TRIBES <br/>

OF <br/>

H. E. H. THE NIZAM'S DOMINIONS <br/>

BY <br/>

SYED SIRAJ UL HASSAN <br/>

Of Merton College, Oxford, Trinity College, Dublin, and <br/>

Middle Temple, London. <br/>

One of the Judges of H. E. H. the Nizam's High Court <br/>

of Judicature : Lately Director of Public Instruction. <br/>

BOMBAY <br/>

THE TlMES PRESS <br/>

1920<br/>
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[[Category:India|T]]
[[Category:Communities|T]]

Gandla, Ganigaru, Tilwan, Teli, Tilghatak— a very large func- 
tional caste of oil-pressers and traders found almost in every village 
of the Hyderabad territory, but especially numerous in the Warangal 
District, whiqh produces oil-seeds in great abundance. The members 
of the caste call themselves Gandlas in Telingana, Ganigaru in the 
Carnatic and Tilwans in Ma/iarashtra, while the names Teli and 
Tilghatak are used by outsiders. It appears that the Telugu designa- 
tion 'gandla' is simply a variant of the Carnatic 'ganigaru,' both 
being derived from the Canarese ' ganiga,' the oil mill. 

==Origin==

According to Manu, the Gandlas are the off-spring 
of a ' parashava ' father and an ' ugra ' mother. Other authorities 
make them the descendants of a Brahmin father by a Tamboli mother. 
Their own traditions bear mostly an imaginative character. One of 
these traces their o-jigin to Paulastya, a descendant of the king 
Kramaganth Manu of the lunar race. Another legend describes that 
the Gandlas werfe originally Kshatriyas of the solar race and, a» 
devout worshippers of the God Siva, visited his temple daily with 
their guru Kapil Mahamuni. Once upon a time Kapil Muni, being 
unable to pay his customary visit to the temple, desired them to offer 
sesame seeds to the god and bring him a portion of the offering. The 
• Kshatriyas made the offering but consumed the whole themselves 
reserving no share for the sage. The Mahamuni, much offended at 
this wilful disobedience of his disciples, cursed them and condemned 
them to a degraded existence on til produce. These legends are 
instructive for their attempt to show how the caste was recruited 
from the respectable members of the Hindu community. 

==Internal Structure==

In Telingana the caste is divided into the 
following endogamous groups. Deva Gandla, Balija Gandla, Telkula 
Gandla, Reddi Gandla, Vanliyaddu Gandla, Siva Gandla, Lad 
Gandla, and Chalka Gandla. Deva Gandlas 3Se Shaivaits, acknow- 
ledging Aradhi Brahmins as their spiritual |guides. Like Lingayits 
they wear the lingam on their body but unlike them they iCtain 
their hair-locks. The Balija Gandlas are Lingayits in creed 
and have Jangams for their priests. They wear the Imgam but do 
not wear the hair lock. These two groups claim social precedence 
over the other Gandla sub-castes. Telkula Gandlas were origipally 
oil-pressers, but prosperity and weajth have bettered "their position 
and they have now exchanged their hereditary calling for shop-keeping 
and deal in oil and oil-cakes. Opinions differ regarding the origin 
of the Reddi Gandlas. The members of this sub-caste profess to be 
descended from Reddis, as the respectable members of the Kapu caste 
are styled; but by some authorities they are believed to be the same as 
the Randu-eddu sub-caste (Randu — two and Yeddu — bullock) of 
Madras, whose name has reference to their custom of using two bullocks 
to turn the oil-mill. Vanti-Yeddus (Vanti — one and Yeddu — bullock) 
are so called as they use only one bullock for their oil-press. Chetti 
Gandlas appear to have assumed the title 'chetti*,' or trader, to denote 
that they belong to the respectable class of traders. Shiva Gandlas 
are said to extract oil only from til seeds and consider it derogatory 
to use other seeds for the purpose. 

The Telis of Maharashtra have three sub-divisions, Tilwan Telis, 
Lad Telis, and Mirje, or Lingayit, Telis. Tilwan Telis profess to 
trace their origin to the demon Tilasur, but the story appears to be a 
mere play upon the word til. The sub-caste is doubtless evolved ' 
from the Maratha Kunbis by reason of their having followed the 
humble occupation of oil-pressing. Tilwan Telis use both one or 
two bullocks, or even bull-buffaloes, to turn their mills. Lad Telis 
seem to have originally come from Lat Desh, or southern Gujerath, 
and are identical with the Lad Gandlas of Telingana. In their social 
standing they are inferior to other sub-castes of Telis. Mirje, or 
Lingayit Telis, are either immigrants from the Carnatic, or descendants 
of the local Telis who, in some past time, adopted the creed of 
Lingayitism. 

In the Carnatic, where the predominant faith is Lingayitism, the 
majority of Telis are Lingawants and are designated as ganigam. 

Their social rank in" the Lingayit community is determined by the 
test whether they are entitled to the Ashtawarna rites, or eieht-foW 
sacrament of the Lingayit sect (this is fully described in the report 
on that sect). 

In the District of Adilabad is found a community of oil-pressers 
by name 'San' Telis, who have a tradition that they were originally 
residents of Berar and the Central Provinces, but were compelled by 
famine and irftestine disputes to abandon their country and seek a new 
home. Thejr heme speech is jMarathi and their customs and usages 
are haijflly distinct from thf Khaira and Dhanojya Kunbis, to whom 
they are inferior in social rank. 

The Telis of the Dominions might, therefore, be more appro- 
priately described as a collection of castes than as one caste. There 
is, for instance, nothing in common, beyond occupation, between the 
Tilwan Telis of Maharashtra and the Deva Gandlas of Telingana. 
These several sub-castes neither eat together nor intermarry. 

It is said that the Gandlas have, in all, one thousand exogamous 
sections, of which nearly four hundred are known at the present 
day. It is curious to notice that these section names all end 
in the termination 'nulla which means gingelly seed in Telugu. 
The sections are mostly of the eponymous type, a few of them only 
being totemistic. The totems are not reverenced by the members 
of the caste holding their names. 
No member of the caste can marry within the section or outside 
the sub-caste to which he belongs. Marriage with the daughter of a 
father's or mother's sister is not allowed. It is allowed with the 
daughter of a maternal uncle. 

==Marriage==

Except among the San Telis of Adilabad, who recog- 
nise adult marriage, girls are manied before they attain the age of 
puberty. Among Gandlas sexual intercourse before puberty is enjoined 
on pain of social degradation, a special ceremony called Nashika 
being performed on the occasion. By other sub -castes it is tacitly 
tolerated. Polygamy is permitted without any restriction being 
imposed on the number of wives a man may have. 

The Gandla marriage ceremony is of the orthodox type and 
conforms closely to that of the higher caste Hindus of the locality. ■ 
After a suitable bride has been selected and the betrothal or 
chttpavidam has been performed, a maniage booth, made of salai 
leaves (BosWellia thmijera) with a salai post planted in its centre, is 
erected at the girl's house. Round the central post is dug a circular 
pit in which are ceremonially thrown pearls, flowers, and other 
auspicious articles (fcajj). On the wedding day the bridegroom, riding 
usually on a oullock and sometimes on a horse, is escorted in 
proc&sion to the bride's house where, on arrival, the bride's people 
welcome Wm and wave rice and curds round his face to avert the 
evil eye. He is then taken to the wedding pandal where the bride 
joins him and both are made to stand face to face screened from 
each other by a curtain held between them. The officiating Brahmin 
recites mantras and throwii grains of rice, coloured with turmeric, on 
their heads. This is followed iDy Kanyadan, Jiragudam, Padghaianam, 
Pvstiftnetalu, and Kankaflbandhanam, the first being regarded by the 
caste as the essential and binding portion of the ceremony. On the 
fourth day the Nagbali is celebrated, when the bride and bride- 
groom are seated side by side on two wooden stools, facing the east, 
and surrounded by conical heaps of rice crested with lighted lamps. 
The parents of the young couple, with five other married couples, 
march five times round them and make them presents of clothes, 
money and o'.her jrticles. After the bride and bridegroom have 
retired inside the house, the bah is claimed by a Dhobi, who re- 
moves the rice Aid cleanses the ground. The Gandlas do not allow 
their widows to marry again ; but it is observed that the 
Gandla widows of the Nirmal Taluka are permitted to remarry 
by the rite current among other Telugu castes of the same social 
standing. Divorce is recognised, a divorced woman being simply 
turned out of her husband's house and subsequently forbidden to 
marry again. 

The maniage ceremony of the Maratha Telis differs little from 
that of the Maratha Kunbis, except that the wedding procession of 
the former is made on a bullock and that their marriage guardian 
deity, or Devaka, is represented by a beam of scales with a wheaten 
or jawari cake tied to it. Widows are allowed to marry again and 
divorce is recognised by the caste. 

The San Telis of the Adilabad District perform their marriage 
ceremony at midnight, on the model furnished by the Khaira oi 
Dhanojya Kunbis. Widow-marriage is permitted and divorce is 
recognised by the members of the caste. 
==Religion==

Almost all Gandlas, except those who are brought 
within the fold of Lingayitism, are Vibhatidharis, or devotees 
of the God Siva, whom they worship every day v^ith a variety*of 
offerings. All Gandlas, male and female, are invested before 
marriage with the Lingam by Aradhi Bjahmins, who 3ct as their 
gurus, or spiritual advisers. Special reverence is paid by the whole 
caste to their tutelary deity Veerbhadra, to whom offerings of flowers 
and sweetmeats are made every Monday in the month, of Shravana 
(July-August). Raj Rajeshwar, Narsinh • Swami and other Hindu 
gods are also reverenced by the caste. On Ganesh Chcmlh, or the 
fourth of the light half of Bhadra, they worship oil mills, wooden 
rollers and other implements of their trade. A man of the Tamadi 
caste daily visits their houses, offers puja to the oil mill and claims 
as his due eight tolas of oil from them. The patron deity of the 
Gandla females is Gauramma, the consort of Mahadeva, to whom 
clothes, flowers and other sacred objects are presented in the month 
of Kartika (October-November). Telugu Brahmins are employed as 
priests for the performance of marriage and other «reIigious ceremonies. 
The priests of Balija, or Lingayit Gandlas, are Jangams, "under whose 
presidency all their sectarian and ceremonial obsmances are con- 
ducted. The Maratha Telis pay devotion to Mahadeva, whose sacred 
shrine is at Shinganapur in the Satara District of the Bombay Presi- 
dency. Deshastha Brahmins are engaged for religious and ceremonial 
purposes. 

The religion of San Telis is animism combined with ancestor 
worship. Kurbhan (a form of Tuljapur Bhavani) and Waghoba 
(the deity presiding over the^tiger demon) are their principal deities, 
represented by small slabs of stone set up generally outside the 
villaae. Before the celebration of the marriage ceremony the souls 
of departed ancestors are propitiated, in the form of wheaten flour 
balls bedaubed with vermilion, with various offerings and sacrifices. 

==Disposal of the Dead==

The Gandlas bum their dead and 
throw the ashes in a sacred stream that is handy. Children dying 
before they have cut their teeth, persons dying of cholera and small- 
pox and those that die unmarried, are buried in a lying posture. A 
tomb is usually erected on the spot where the dead body 
is buried or burnf. On the thirteenth day after death Sradha is 
perfonned and rice b^lls are offered for the benefit of the departed 
sqjjl. Lingayat. Gandlas bury their dead in a sitting posture wfth 
the lice turned towards the north. After the corpse has been seated 
in the nichs made in the side of the grave, Bilava leaves and a Lingam 
are placed in the left hand, which is closed by the right hand. The 
grave is then filled in and a Jangam priest, standing on it, announces, 
wifli the blowing of his conch, that the departed spirit has reached 
Kailas, the blessed abode of Siva. 

The Marafha Tells, both San and Tilwan, usually burn the 
dead *bodies; but when rfiey cannot afford to bear the expenses of 
cremation they bury them. Sradha is performed on the thirteenth 
day after death and subsequently in the months of Vaishakha and 
Bhadrapad. Brahmins attend their funeral obsequies. 

Social Status. — The social status of the caste varies in different 
parts of the country and for different sub-castes. The Gandlas, for 
instance, rank higher than Kapus, Welmas, Gollas, Sales and 
Munnurs, and eat cooked food (kachi) only from the hands of Aradhi 
Brahmins and sweetmeat prepared by the Komati and Balija castes. 
They abstain from liquor and from all kinds of animal food and it is 
for this abstinence that Kapus, Gollas and other low castes will take 
cooked food from their hands. The Deva Gandlas claim to be of 
higher social standing than other Gandla sub-castes. The Tilwan 
and San Telis stand on a lower social level than Kunbis, Malis, 
Hatkars, Wanjaris and Dhangars, eating goats, sheep, fowl, deer, 
hare and fish and drinking fermented and spirituous liquors. Lingayit 
Gandlas, or Telis, do not eat food cooked even by a Brahmin but 
they take it when prepared by Lingayit Vanis or Balijas. They are 
vegetarians and consider it a blessing to eat Prasad, or the leavings 
of their priests or Jangams. No members of the caste wear the 
sacred thread. 

==Occupation==

The traditional occupation of the caste is to 
express oil from oil-seeds, the chief seeds being Til, 
(Sesamum indicum), Bhuimug, ground-nuts, (Arachis hypogaca), 
Karad, safflower (Carthamus tindorius). Ram Til, (Guizotia 
ab})sssorica), Karanj (Pongamia glabra), Arandi, castor seeds (Ricinus 
commanh), Ambadi, brown hemp, (Hibiscus cannabimis)f and 
Moha (Bassia latifolia). The oil press consists of ^a wooden 
mortar and a heavy pestle to crush the seeds and is driven by bullocks 
or bull-buffaloes with blinkers to blind their eyes. It is of two 
kinds, the one, known as Kolhu with a hole at the bottom thrifugh 
which the oil trickles out and the other of primitive pattern having 
no hole for the removal of the oil, wfjich is taken OTit by a cocoanut 
shell or a small metal cup on the pestlr being withdrawn The 
increase of oil traffic, since the introduction of railways, is bringing 
the former machine into extensive use at the present day. To extract 
the oil from safflower the seeds are ground and husked and, after 
being sifted, thrown into the press. The castor seeds yield the 
castor oil in use for burning and medicinal purposes. This oil is 
obtained by roasting the seeds and thoroughly pounding them in a 
hand-mill. The Arad or crushed product is put in a pan containing 
boiling water and the whole is boiled slowly over the fire until the 
straw-coloured oil has risen to the surface. The oil refuse, Khalli 
or Penda, is used in feeding cattle. 

The pressing of oil is one of the most important industries in the 
Hyderabad Territory, vast quantity of oil being annually exported 
from the Dominions, and has given occupation to numerous families 
of oil-pressers. The Deva Gandlas use two bullocks to turn their 
mills while other sub-castes practically observe no restrictions. 
A few members of the caste have given up their original 
profession and become traders and shop-keepers. Some have taken 
to agriculture and are occupancy and non-occupancy raiats and farm 
labourers. They have a caste Panchayat, the headman of which is 
called a Chaudhari. The sight of a Teli, when starling on a 
journey or at the outset of any undertaking, is popularly regarded 
as an evil omen causing failure in the business.