Komati caste
| Komati Vaishya Community | |
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| Religions | Hinduism, Jainism |
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The Komati is an Indian trading community found primarily in South and Central India, that is currently organised as a caste. The members of the Komati caste are commonly engaged in banking, money lending and other business pursuits. The community consists of three sects who are followers of Hinduism, namely the Gaura or Gavara, the Thrivarnika and the Kalinga, along with the Jaina Komatis who are followers of Jainism.
The origin of the word "Komati" is uncertain, and there are several speculative theories about it.
The affinity of the word "Komati" to "Gomata" has led to speculation that the word is derived from "Gomata" (Gomateshwara), the name of a Jain deity. This theory is supported by scholars such as C. Dwarakanath Gupta, and Jaisetty Ramanaiah; B.S.L. Hanumantha Rao also mentions this as the most reasonable of the theories. Gupta theorizes the Komatis were originally traders from Gouda, who adopted Jainism and followed the cult of Gomata. They later gave up Jainism, and embraced the Vedic religion.
An alternative etymology mentioned by Gupta derives the name of the caste from the name of a river. He states that the Komatis are said to have originally lived on the banks of Gomati, a local name for the Godavari river. Yet another theory states that the name of the community is derived from the Telugu word "konu-ammu-atti" ("persons engaged in the exchange of goods"). British authors Edgar Thurston and R. V. Russell derived "Komati" from the Sanskrit term "Gomathi," believed to have the meaning of possessor or keeper of cows or Ko-mati to be fox minded which suggests having good business acumen to succeed in trade A mythological legend mentioned in Kanyaka Purana states that Shiva gave them the name "Go-mati", which means "cow-minded".
There is epigraphic evidence that the term `Komati' was in use by the 11th century CE. The Komati merchants were associated with the town of Penugonda in the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. Inscriptions from the Godavari, Krishna and Guntor districts from 11th century refer to the merchants referred to as the "Lords of Penugonda." The wealthier sections of the Komatis were addressed as `Setti', `Chetti' or `Chettiyar,' all derived from the Sanskrit term Sreshthi. Their trade associations bore the name nagaram. They also participated in long-distance trade networks called pekkandru (literally "the many"). During the times of the Vijayanagara Empire, they physically relocated themselves for commercial efficiency in various parts of South India. They are presently found in the states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh.
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