Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Bondili
Bondili.— In the Madras Census Report, 1891, the Bondilis are "said to derive their name from Bundelkund. They claim to be Rājputs, but appear to have degenerated. The Sivaites of this sect are said to bury their dead, while the Vishnavaites burn. In the Kadri tāluk of Cuddapah all are said to bury. The custom in this respect appears to differ in different localities. Besides Siva and Vishnu worship, three of the eight authorities who give particulars of this section agree that they worship village deities as well. All state that remarriage of widows is not permitted. They are generally cultivators, peons, or the body-guards of Zemindars." The Bondilis of the North Arcot district are described by Mr. H. A. Stuart †[1] as being "foreigners from Bundelkund, from which fact their name originates, and of various Vaisya and Sūdra castes; the former having the termination Lāla to their names, and the latter that of Rām. Many of the Sūdra Bondilis, however, improperly take the title Singh, and say they are Kshatriyas, that is, Rājputs. The Vaisya Bondilis are few in number, and only found in Vellore, Chittoor and Arni, where they are usually money-lenders. The Sūdras are mostly sepoys, constables, or revenue peons. Some say that they are not even Sūdras, but the descendants of Rājputs by women of the country, and probably many of them are such. All are very particular with respect to eating with an other professed Bondili, and refuse to do so unless they are quite certain that he is of their class. In their marriage customs they resemble the Rājputs."
I am informed that one section of the Bondilis is named Tōli, in reference to their being workers in leather. There is, at Venkatagiri, a street called Tōli mitta, or Tōli quarters, and, in former days, the inhabitants thereof were not allowed to enter the temples.
In the Census Report, 1901, Guvālo, or traders from Sambalpūr, is returned as a sub-caste of Bondili.
- ↑ † Manual of the North Arcot district.