The Naikda ''or'' Nayaka, including choliwala nayaka,kapadia nayaka,mota..are a

scheduled tribe The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

found in the state 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 ...

and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

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 ...

. In

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 ...

the Naikda are also called ''Katkari'', which is derived from the word ''kathori'', which means animal skins."People of India: Maharashtra, Part 3"
K.S. Singh

History and origin

The Naikda are found mainly in Surat district in south

. They trace common ancestry from the

Dhodia Dhodia are an Adivasi people who have been placed in the Indian communities recognition, under Schedule Tribes. The majority of the Dhodia tribes are located in the southern part of Gujarat ( Navsari, Surat and Valsad districts), Dadra and Nagar H ...

, another tribal community found in the region. The two communities claim descent from two brothers, the Naikda from Rupa Khatri, and the Dhodia from Dhana Khatri. According to some sources, the word ''naikda'' is derived from the word ''naik'', which means a commander. They were said to have once been soldiers in the armies of the local rajahs.

Present circumstances

The Naikda speak Naiki, a dialect which is a mixture of

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 * * ...

and

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 ...

. Land is the major source of the Naikda community. The community are a combination of land owning and landless, with many now working in industry in the nearby city of Surat. These Nayaka in Rajasthan claim that they are related to

Bhil Bhil or Bheel is an ethnic group in western India. They speak the Bhil languages, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages. As of 2013, Bhils were the largest tribal group in India. Bhils are listed as tribal people of t ...

The Naikda still practice

child marriage Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child. * * * * The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a mal ...

, with boys marrying at 16 to 18 years and girls at 12 to 14 years. They most commonly practice

monogamy Monogamy ( ) is a form of dyadic relationship in which an individual has only one partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (serial monogamy) — as compared to the various forms of non-monogamy (e.g., polyg ...

, though

polygyny Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women. Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any ...

is not completely unheard of.

Divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

is permitted on the grounds of infertility,

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

or mental illness of either the husband or wife. After divorce the custody over the children is most commonly given to the father. Widow remarriage is allowed and called pat, though a ceremony is only done at night or in some cases not at all.

Related grups

* Nayakas * Nayak

References

{{Social groups of Gujarat Social groups of Gujarat Scheduled Tribes of India Tribal communities of Gujarat