Gattara
‘Gattara’ is the word used in ancient Sri Lankan rock inscriptions and literature to refer to agricultural serfs who were involved in tillage and cattle cultivation. Serfdom status was common under feudalism in south India, and landless and poverty-stricken agricultural workers of Shudra caste, who occupied the lowest position in the existing caste hierarchy, migrated to Sri Lanka and settled the country over. The seven sub-groups of Gattara or Gasthara sub-caste are the main social group constituting the main Govigama caste in Sri Lanka. Gastharas are Theravada Buddhists by religion. They are ethnically Sinhalese people, but many of them proclaim their Dravidian people’s ethnic origin to South India. Many of them have distinctive Tamil surnames, just changed to Sinhalese names, dropping the "M" letter (Ex: Senavirathnam - M - Senavirathna) and Bandara (Pandaram) caste surnames. Gasthara, or agricultural serfs, indicate a complex migration history from India to Sri Lanka.
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