Dandasi caste is surname of many people in southern India. Dandasi caste meaning is The Dandasis are summed up in the Ganjam Manual as being village watchmen, many of whom are great thieves. It is curious, Mr. S. P. Rice writes,1 to find that the word Naiko [meaning leader or chief], which is corrupted into the Telugu Naidu, is the caste distinction of the lowest class, the village watcher and professional thief. This man, for all that his cognomen is so lofty, goes by the generic name of Dandasi. This word means worthy of punishment, and assuredly no appellation ever fitted its owner more completely than does this. He is the village policeman and the village thief, a curious mixture of callings. According to other versions, the name is derived from danda, a stick, and asi, sword, from dandabadi, a stout bamboo stick, or from dandapasi, stick and rope, in reference to the insignia of the Dandasis office.
A large number of criminals, undergoing punishment in Ganjam for robbery and thieving, are Dandasis. The members of the caste, like the Tamil Kallans, believe [107]that thieving is their traditional occupation, and, as such, regard it as justifiable. There is a legend that they adopted this occupation as their profession because their ancestors assisted the Pandavas to escape from the lac fort which was constructed by the Kurus with a view to killing them, by digging a secret subterranean passage. According to another story, the Dandasis are descended from the offspring of a clandestine amour of Krishna with Dhuuthika, Radhas handmaid. The Dandasis perform an interesting ceremony of initiation into the profession of thieving, when a child is born. When it is three or five days old, the headman (Behara) is invited to attend. A breach is made in the wall, or beneath the door sill. Through this the infant is passed by the Behara three times, and received by some members of the family. Each time the Behara repeats the words Enter, baby enter. May you excel your father! The Dandasis, when questioned concerning this custom, denied its existence, but some admitted that it was carried out in former days. An old woman stated that her grandchild was passed through a breach beneath the door, but was not inclined to enter into details.
A number of exogamous septs occur among the Dandasis, of which the following may be noted. Members of the Santarasi sept must avoid using mats made of the sedge which goes by this name. Kilalendias avoid touching the bamboo posts used by washermen to support the ropes on which cloths are hung to dry. They sacrifice a pig and seven fowls to their gods on the new-moon day, on which the head of a male child is first shaved. Diyasis show special reverence for the sun, and cloths, mokkutos (forehead chaplets), garlands, and other articles to be used by the bride and bridegroom at a [108]wedding, are placed outside the house, so that they may be exposed to it. Members of the Ekopothiriya sept are regarded as low in the social scale, and the following legend is narrated to account for this. A Dandasi went, with his relations and friends, to the house of a Dandasi of the Ekopothiriya sept, to arrange a marriage. The guests were hospitably received, and the prospective bride asked her father what kind of curry was going to be served to them. He replied that barikolora (backyard Momordica)2 was to be cooked. This aroused the curiosity of some of the guests, who went to the backyard, where, instead of Momordica, they saw several blood-suckers (lizards) running about. They jumped to the conclusion that these were what the host referred to as barikolora, and all the guests took their departure. Ekopothiriyas will not partake of food from the same plate as their grown-up children, even if a married daughter comes on a visit to them.
The Dandasis worship various Takuranis (village deities), e.g, Sankaithuni, Kulladankuni, Kombesari and Kalimuki. The gods are either represented temporarily by brass vessels, or permanently by three masses of clay, into each of which a small bit of gold is thrust. When Bassia (mahua) buds or mangoes are first eaten in their season, a sacrifice is made, and a goat and fowl are killed before the produce of the harvest is first partaken of.
The Dandasis have a headman, called Behara, who exercises authority over several groups of villages, and each group is under a Nayako, who is assisted by a Dondia. For every village there is a Bholloboya, and, in some places, there is an officer, called Boda Mundi, [109]appointed by the Zamindar, to whom irregularities in the community have to be reported. When a woman is delivered of a still-born child, the whole family is under pollution for eleven days. The headman is then invited to attend, and presents are given to him. He sprinkles water over members of the family, and they are thereby freed from this pollution.
A certain portion of the property stolen by Dandasis is set apart for the headman, and, like the Tamil Kallans and Maravans, they seem to have a blackmailing system. If a Dandasi is engaged as a watchman, property is safe, or, if stolen, is recovered and restored to its owner.
Girls are married after puberty. A man may marry his maternal uncles, but not his paternal aunts daughter. The marriage ceremonies usually last three days, but are sometimes spread over seven days, in imitation of the higher castes. On the day (gondo sono) before the wedding day, seven new pots are brought from a potters house, and placed in a room. Seven women throw Zizyphus jujuba leaves over them, and they are filled with water at a tank (pond). One of the pots must be carried by the sister-in-law of the bridegroom. A brass vessel is tied up, and worshipped. Towards evening, a fowl is sacrificed at anant hill. The bridegroom is shaved on this day by his sisters husband. Like other Oriya castes, the Dandasis collect water at seven houses, but only from those of members of castes higher than their own. The pot containing this water is hung up over the marriage dais (bedi). On the wedding (bibha) day, the bridegroom sits on the dais, with the bride, seated in her maternal uncles lap or at his side, in front of him. The headman, or some respected elder of the community, places a [110]betel nut cutter, on, or with some rice and betel nut between the united hands of the contracting couple, and ties them together with seven turns of a turmeric-dyed thread. He then announces that … the granddaughter of … and daughter of … is united to … the grandson of … and son of … The parents of the bride and bridegroom pour turmeric-water from a chank (Turbinella rapa) shell or leaf over their united hands. The nut-cutter is removed by the brides brother, and, after striking the bridegroom, he goes away. The couple then play with cowry (Cypræ arabica) shells, and, while they are so engaged, the ends of their cloths are tied together, and the rice which is in their hands is tied in a knot. When the play is finished, this knot is untied, and the rice is measured in a small earthen pot, first on behalf of the bride, and is pronounced to be all right. It is then again measured, and said to have diminished in quantity. This gives rise to jokes at the expense of the bridegroom, who is called a thief, and other hard names. Those who imitate the ceremonial of the higher castes make the bridegroom go away in feigned anger, after he has broken the pot which is hanging over the dais. He is brought back by his brother-in-law.
On the occasion of the first menstrual period, a girl is under pollution for seven days. If she is engaged to be married, her future father-in-law makes her a present of jewels and money on the seventh day, and thereby confirms the marriage contract.
The dead are cremated. A widow accompanies the corpse of her husband to the boundary of the village, carrying a ladle and pot, which she throws down at the boundary, and returns home. On the day after the [111]funeral, the embers are extinguished, and an effigy of the deceased is made on the spot where he was cremated, and food offered to it. Toddy is distributed among those who have assembled at the house. On the tenth day, food is offered on ten fragments of pots. On the eleventh day, if the dead man was an important personage in the community, a ceremony, corresponding to the jola jola handi of the higher castes, is performed. A cloth is spread on the ground, on the spot where the corpse was cremated, and the ground round it swept by women, whose backs are turned towards the cloth, so that they cannot see it. Two men, with swords or big knives, sit by the side of the cloth and wait till an insect settles on the cloth. They then at once put the swords or knives on the cloth, and, folding it up, place it on a new winnowing-basket. It is taken home, placed on the floor, and connected by means of a long thread with the household god (mass of clay or vessel). It is then shaken near the god, so that the insect falls out.
Dandasi further occurs as a sub-division of the Kondras, the members of which have taken to the profession of village watchmen.
Dandasi caste is one of the many castes subcastes of India.
India has thousands of castes and subcastes, they are in existence and practice since the Vedic times. They were created to solve the problem of division of labor. Dandasi caste name could indicate the type of work people belonging to the Dandasi caste do or did in earlier times. Many last names in India indicate the place the person originally belongs to. All castes sub castes are primarily divided into 4 categories:
1.Brahmins – The learned or priestly class
2.Khastriyas – The warrior class or those with governing functions
3.Vaishyas – The trader, agriculturalists or cattle rearers class
4.Shudra – The class that serves other three categories
Dandasi caste belongs to one of the above 4 categories. Indian caste system is the best system to solve the problem of division of labor. In earlier times there was no rigidity in caste system. Indian caste system is still the best solution for the problem of division of labor, the only change that is needed as per changed times is that rather than having a vertical hierarchical system with Brahmins on top and Shudras at bottom, it would be good to have a horizontal socialist system with Brahmins, Khastriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras all at same level.
The caste system of India is in ruins at present. It is also cause of bloody quarrels in certain parts of the rural India. People of backward castes have reservations in government jobs, this facility is widely misused in India. Many of the backward caste people have become rich and still use the facility for their benefit. Many in India believe reservation in jobs should be given on the basis of poverty rather than caste because there are many poors in upper castes as well.
Many criticize the Indian caste system because of bad material condition of lower castes but if they observe in an unbiased way they would find that there are many in upper castes with bad material conditions. The problem lies in power not in castes, power can corrupt anyone be it from upper caste or lower caste.
All cultures, all countries, all religions have caste system in one form or the other. Christians have different churches depending on the region or language or skin color of people. Muslims have a priestly class that tries to control everything. Arab Muslims before the oil boom were so much divided among tribes that if you drank water from a well of a different tribe you could be shot dead. Tribal divisions still exists among Muslims. You can also see the caste system in a different form in your corporate companies. I had seen different food and drinking facilities for people at different levels.
Dandasi caste is also known as Dandasi Gotra.
Caste situation is quiet different in urban India, people in urban areas especially youngsters don?t bother about castes. Inter caste, inter religious, inter lingual marriages are quiet common in urban India. Inter caste, inter religious and inter lingual marriages in rural areas attract severe criticism and many times people are expelled from community for not marrying as per religious and caste rules.