The Mavchi are one of the sub-groups of the community found in the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. They are also known as Gavit.People of India Maharshtra Volume XXX Part One edited by B.V Bhanu, B.R Bhatnagar, D.K Bose, V.S Kulkarni and J Sreenath pages 312-319 They mostly found in

Sakri Sakri is a census town and a taluka in the Dhule District of the Nashik division, Maharashtra state, India. The town of Sakri is the administrative headquarters for Sakri Taluka. Another Sakri is in Bihar, which is now a railway junctio ...

Navapur Navapur is a ''nagar panchayat'' (municipality) and headquarters for Navapur Taluka in Nandurbar district, in the state of Maharashtra, India. Geography Navapur municipality is situated on the border with the state of Gujarat. It is approxi ...

talukas.

Origin

The community is also referred to as Gavit, which means a headman, on account of the fact that village headmen were often chosen from the Mavchi community. They speak their own dialect, Mavchi, which is distinct from other Bhil dialects, having less

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

loanwords. the community is similar to Gamit community of neighbouring Tapi District of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. The dialect of both communities is similar. Mavchi has more Marathi words since people are educated in Marathi while for Gamits education is done in Gujarati and they use more

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

words. however basic words are same mostly used by elderly and illiterate people. The village heads were appointed from these communities. for village "GAV" in Marathi and therefore Gavit in Maharashtra and similarly 'GAM' in Gujarati and Gamit in Gujarat. Both communities has social ties including marriages etc. Bothsides they have relations in Gujarat and Maharashtra. In 1960 the Uchhal taluka was full of Mavchi community. The Taluka was transferred to Gujarat from Maharashtra and suddenly they became Gamits.

Present circumstances

The Mavchi are an endogamous community, and practice clan exogamy, There customs are similar to neighbouring Bhil groups such as the Vasave, Valvi, Gavit. The Mavchi are a community of small and medium-sized farmers. Some are now beginning to migrate to the cities of

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

and

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, and work in the sugar mills. The Mavchi are divided into two groups, the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Mavchi. This is recent phenomena with the spread of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

among community. Among the

s, there also exists a number of ancestral non-Hindu tribal deities, such as Hiwaryo dev, Gaondev, Kuwarli, Devalimadi, Yahamogi, etc. Waghdev is worshipped on full moon day of Sravan month and celebrated as festival. With spread of education among community

Ganapati Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu de ...

festival,

Navratri Navaratri is an annual Hindu festival observed in the honour of the goddess Durga. It spans over nine nights (and ten days), first in the month of Chaitra (March/April of the Gregorian calendar), and again in the month of Sharada. It is ob ...

etc. are also celebrated.

References

{{Bhil Clans Tribal communities of Maharashtra Scheduled Tribes of India