Gamit
Encyclopedia
The Gamits or Gavits are a small Indian tribal population residing in Surat
, Bharuch
and Tapi
districts of south Gujarat and Dhule
and Nandurbar
districts of north Maharashtra
. These indigenous people speak Gamit
, which has no written script and belongs to Bhil subgroup of the central Indo Aryan
languages. As far as education is considered most of them study in Gujarati language. Now with influence of external world the education is increased and many go for education in English Medium. A decade or two back this population was very backward in terms of lifestyle, education, clothings etc., but now have merged with the modern world. The use of Gamit language is being slowly replaced with the Gujarati language
.
The patron Saint of the Gamits is Ghuriya Bhagat, born with the name Ghuriya Gamit. He was given a few idols by a Sanyasi (sage) and then became observant worshipper himself, and created a temple which has become a pilgrimage centre for the gamits. Him and his family also carried out reform activities to try and educate the Gamits in society.
Surat district
Surat is a district in the state of Gujarat India with Surat city as the administrative headquarters of this district. It is surrounded by Bharuch, Narmada , Navsari and Dang districts. To the west is the Gulf of Cambay. It is the second-most advanced district in Gujarat...
, Bharuch
Bharuch district
Bharuch in India, is a district in the southern part of the Gujarat peninsula on the west coast of state of Gujarat with a size and population comparable to that of Greater Boston...
and Tapi
Tapi district
Tapi district is one of the 26 districts of Gujarat state in western India. Vyara town is the district headquarters.-History:Located in the southern part of Gujarat. On 27th September 2007, the district of Surat was bifurcated into two new districts, viz. Surat district with its headquarter at...
districts of south Gujarat and Dhule
Dhule district
Dhule district is a district of Maharashtra state in central India. The city of Dhule is the administrative headquarters of the district.The Dhule district previously comprised tracts of land predominantly inhabited by tribal population...
and Nandurbar
Nandurbar District
Nandurbar is an administrative district in the northwest corner of Maharashtra state in India . On 1 July 1998 Dhule was bifurcated as two separate districts now known as Dhule and Nandurbar. The district headquarters are located at Nandurbar city...
districts of north Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
. These indigenous people speak Gamit
Gamit language
Gamit is a Bhil language of Gujarat, mainly the area of Surat. It is mostly spoken by the Gamit caste; according to Ethnologue "most speakers have high school or college education". Gamti proper has most of the speakers; Mawchi Gamti of Gujarat and Maharashtra has about 80,000....
, which has no written script and belongs to Bhil subgroup of the central Indo Aryan
Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...
languages. As far as education is considered most of them study in Gujarati language. Now with influence of external world the education is increased and many go for education in English Medium. A decade or two back this population was very backward in terms of lifestyle, education, clothings etc., but now have merged with the modern world. The use of Gamit language is being slowly replaced with the Gujarati language
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
.
The patron Saint of the Gamits is Ghuriya Bhagat, born with the name Ghuriya Gamit. He was given a few idols by a Sanyasi (sage) and then became observant worshipper himself, and created a temple which has become a pilgrimage centre for the gamits. Him and his family also carried out reform activities to try and educate the Gamits in society.