>Old Man Consequences at 17:20, 19 February 2021

2021-02-19T17:20:57Z

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{{orphan|date=February 2021}}

'''Gangota''' is a community from [[Bihar]]. Most are cultivators or landless agricultural labourers, while some few hold lands. Their name is said to be derived from the [[Ganges]], near where many of the community have settled.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Risley|first=H. H.|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.granth.84340|title=The Tribes and Castes of Bengal, Ethnographic Glossary, Vol. I|date=1891|publisher=Bengal Secretariat Press (Calcutta)}}</ref> The community is now listed as an OBC caste at the Centre and an EBC caste in Bihar. In Old [[Purnia district]], a large number of Gangota community members were Bataidars, or subtenants.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chakravarti|first=Anand|date=1986|title=The Unfinished Struggle of Santhal Bataidars in Purnea District, 1938-42|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4376236|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=21|issue=42|pages=1847–1865|issn=0012-9976}}</ref> Many, due to their residence by riverbanks, are marginal fishermen who have faced significant oppression from private fishery owners and later fish mafias who extort fishermen out of catches.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dey|first=Subhasis|last2=Choudhary|first2=Sunil Kumar|last3=Dey|first3=Sushant|last4=Deshpande|first4=Kadambari|last5=Kelkar|first5=Nachiket|date=2019-10-02|title=Identifying potential causes of fish declines through local ecological knowledge of fishers in the Ganga River, eastern Bihar, India|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/fme.12390|journal=Fisheries Management and Ecology|volume=27|issue=2|pages=140–154|doi=10.1111/fme.12390|issn=0969-997X}}</ref>

In the late 19th century, the Gangotas had two sub-castes: Gangaji and Jahnavi. A man could not marry a woman of the same section or with descent from that section up to four generations back. Widowers can marry their late wife's younger sisters. Although in the late 19th century most claimed to practice infant marriage, adult marriage was similarly common. ''Sindoordan'', or the giving of sindoor, was the binding portion of the marriage ceremony. Widows could remarry but were expected to marry their late husband's younger brother. There was no recognized divorce.<ref name=":0" />

They worship [[Jagdamba]] with husked rice and incense once or twice a month. On weddings, sickness or other significant occasions, Bhagwati is propitiated with goats, rice, ghee, tulsi leaves and sindoor.<ref name=":0" />

Their social status was similar to those of similar communities like the [[Koeri]] and [[Kurmi]].<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Social groups of Bihar]]

{{India-ethno-stub}}

Gangota - Revision history

>Old Man Consequences at 17:20, 19 February 2021