Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/312

GEDALA have a tradition that they originated from the bangles of Machyagandhi, the daughter of a fisherman on the Jumna, who was married to king Shantanu of Hastinapūr.  Gēdala (buffaloes). — A sept of Bonthuk Savara.  Geddam (beard). — An exogamous sept of Bōya and Padma Sālē.  Gejjala (bells tied to the legs while dancing). — An exogamous sept of Balija and Korava.  Gejjēgara.——A sub-caste of the Canarese Pānchālas. They are described, in the Mysore Census Report, 1891, as makers of small round bells (gungru), which are used for decorating the head or neck of bullocks, and tied by dancing-girls round their ankles when dancing.  Gennēru (sweet-scented oleander). — An exogamous sept of Bōya.  Gentoo.— Gentoo or Jentu, as returned at times of census, is stated to be a general term applied to Balijas and Telugu speaking Sūdras generally. The word is said by Yule and Burnell * to be "a corruption of the Portuguese Gentio, a gentile or heathen, which they applied to the Hindus in contradistinction to the Moros or Moors, i.e., Mahomedans. The reason why the term became specifically applied to the Telugu people is probably because, when the Portuguese arrived, the Telugu monarchy of Vijayanagar was dominant over a great part of the peninsula." In a letter written from prison to Sir Philip Francis, Rājah Nuncomar referred to the fact that "among the English gentry, Armenians, Moores and Gentoos, few there is who is not against me." Gentoo still survives as a caste name in the Madras Quarterly Civil List (1906). 