Kathiકાઠી

The account

The Kathis are a community clearly distinct from the Rajputs; the central district of the peninsula — Kathiawar — is named after them. They appear to have entered Saurashtra about the fifteenth century as grazers and incipient plunderers with a marked ability to fight, and only later settled in the districts of Jetpur, Mendarda and Bilkha ceded to them by the Nawab of Junagadh.

Their customs set them apart from the Rajputs at almost every point: they are sun-worshippers, little influenced by the Brahmins; they permit levirate and cross-cousin marriage — both forbidden among the Rajputs — and they do not seclude their women. Above all they were famed for their horses, and the Kathi states were long reputed for their stables. Their notable seats were Jasdan, Jetpur, Thanha Devli and Pithadia.

The Kathis have a dual organisation — a land-owning aristocratic branch and a landless one — who intermarry. The aristocratic Sakhayat branch was formed in part by a mixture of Rajput blood.