.dombii as scavenger woman

[balakrishnan raju]

>From: Raveen Satkurunathan <tawady at YAHOO.COM>
>Reply-To: Indology <INDOLOGY at LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK>
>To: INDOLOGY at LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK
>Subject: Re: .dombii as scavenger woman
>Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 16:57:51 +0100
>
>On Wed, 19 Apr 2000 11:29:59 +0000, Bharat Gupt <abhinav at DEL3.VSNL.NET.IN>
>wrote:
>
> >Ven. Tantra wrote:
> >>
> >> Could any list members help me out?
> >>
> >> The Sanskrit term .dombii has been translated (Eliade
> >> and Walker) as “washer woman.” But I cannot understand
> >> how they get “washer woman” from .dombii. One list
> >> member has suggested that .dombii actually refers to a
> >> female member of the .Dom community. They are workers
> >> at cremation places, scavengers, or weavers of ropes
> >> and baskets.

According to Madras Census Report,1892, by M.A.Stuart: "The Dombs are a
Dravidian caste of weavers and menials, found in the hill tract of
Vizagapatnam and in Koraput..."
In the current Indian context Dombs are classified as Scheduled caste. They
live as  neighbours of Kondh. They play a subordinate role to Kondhs and
acts as a messenger for Khondhs.I have visited such Domb settlements in
Koraput and Rayagada districts of Orissa.
There are villages named after Dombs. A search for 'Domb' prefixed village
names yields following results:
Tamilnadu(1)- Dombucheri
Orissa(5) Dombaguda,Dombobisoiput, Dombo Turunji, Dombuai guda(koraput and
Donma diha.
West Bengal(2) Domberya, Dombandi
Assam (1) Dombaha
Bihar(7)- Dombaha, Domba Pahari, Dombi Duar etc.,
Karnataka (11- Domba Kuppa, Dombara Halli, Dombar Hop, Dombara mattur etc.,
It is pertinent to note that normally suffixes like 'Cheri' (as in the case
of Dombucheri) and Kuppa (as in Domba kuppa) are associated with the
settlements of so called 'low-caste' people (though always not the case).

Regards

R.Balakrishnan


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