Gavli

Gavli (also spelled as Gawli or Gavali) (Marathi: गवळी) is a Hindu caste in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. They are a part of the Yadav community.

Etymology
The name Gavli may have been derived from gau(गौ/गाय), meaning cow.

Origin
Some authorities have suggested that Ahirs (today Yadavs) migrated to Maharashtra from Punjab and Sindh in early historic times. other researchers have hypothesized that these people have inhabited Maharashtra for the last 5,000 to 10,000 years. Historians such as P. M. Chandorkar, using both literary and epigraphic sources has argued that the modern Ahirs and Gavlis should be identified with the Yadavas and Abhiras of the classical Sanskrit texts. Furthermore, Khandesh region of Maharashtra, at one point ruled by the Abhiras, was formerly known as the land of the Ahirs, and Ahirs in the present day Khandesh region speak Marathi dialect which is continued to be called Ahirani. The community claims descent from the Great Yadav families to one of which lord Krishna the eighth incarnation of Vishnu belonged. The whole of the North India, Gujarat and Deccan were ruled by the Kings of the Yadav families. They have kept up their Kshatriya caste traditions, customs and occupations. They have given considerable recruits to the government and included in the Maratha regiments.

Gavli are distributed all over Maharashtra(Ahir Gawli, Lingayat Gawli). Although Reginald Edward has classified Gawlis as sub-caste of many different castes Ahir Gawli (sub-caste of famous Yadav caste of North India) whereas Hanbar, Hanbar Gawli and Singaji Gawli are different from Yadav-Ahir Gawli. Along with Maratha and Kunbis, Ahir Gawlis are considered one of the allied castes of Maratha caste and have been included in the Maratha Regiment in the past.

Relationship with Deccan Yadavas
The word Yāḍava is formed from yāḍu and yāḍu means Sheep or Goat in Tamil. In the Deccan region, the original worshippers of pastoralist god Vitthal – the Gollas and Kurubas of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and Gawlis and Dhangars of Maharashtra, especially southern Maharashtra – are continued to be called "Yāḍavas". Similar to them, several royal families who enhanced the magnificence of Vitthal's worship are called "Yādavas". The difference here is "ḍ" and "d", where "Yāḍavas" represents Dravidian version and "Yādavas" is the Sanskritized version of it. Linguistically this difference is subtle, and so "Yāḍavas" became "Yādavas", i.e., most of these royal dynasties arose from pastoralist groups and took the name Yādava in order to raise their status by connecting themselves with Krishna's clan, Yadu dynasty of the Puranas. They elevated their traditional pastoralist god (Vitthal) into a form of Vishnu-Krishna and accorded high prestige to his worship.

The Seuna Yadava dynasty, which ruled present-day Maharashtra and north Karnataka, arose out of the valorous deeds of Dridhaprahara, founder of the dynasty, who protected cattle. According to the traditional sources, Devagiri, the capital of Seuna Yadavas, was founded by a king who was a Golla/Gavli. The idea that the Seunas were a Gavli dynasty survives to this day in folk traditions of the Nashik-Khandesh area, where they are traditionally called "Gavli Kings". During the reign of Seuna Yadavas and their rival Hoysala Yadavas, the temple of Vitthal at Pandharpur, under their purview, grew from a small pastoral deity site to a major temple complex.

Notable people

 * Hansraj Ahir, NCBC President
 * Arun Gawli (born 1955), Indian politician
 * Shekhar Gawli (1975–2020), Indian cricketer
 * Vandana Gawli, Indian politician
 * Sachin Ahir, Politician, Deputy Leader of Shiv Sena in a Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, and Former Minister of State of Government of Maharashtra