TRIBE OF INDIA: "PATELIA"

 The word 'Patelia' comes from the word Patel, which means 'headman' in their local languange. Patelias are primarily found in Panchamahal district. They're also scattered across the districts of Surat, Kheda, Sabarkantha, and Ahmedabad.

They communicate with each other in Bhili and use Gujarati with outsiders. Bhili is written in the Gujarati script. They also communicate in Hindi.

They are classified as a scheduled tribe in the Indian constitution, with a population of 70,230 people in the 1981 census and 1,09,390 people in 2001.

 The Patelia are mostly non-vegetarian, and consume mutton, chicken, eggs, and fish. They eat maize and wheat as their staple bread. Rice is consumed on occasion. Urad, chawala, tur, gram and moong pulses are among their favorite foods. Cooking is usually done with ground nut oil. They eat all the vegetables that grow in their vicinity. They also use roots and tubers that they collect from the wild. Alcoholic beverages are also commonly consumed by them. Mahua (Bassia latifoliaj) or mollasses are used to distill liquor.

A number of exogamous clans exist in the community. These clans are all treated equally. The Patelia clans are divided into six groups, all of which appear to have been sprung from Rajputs. Solanki, Chauhan, Rathor, Gohil, Jadav, and Farmers are their names.

Patelia are monogamous in nature. They practice clan exogamy and community endogamy. In marital relationships, they also exclude members of the mother's brother's clan.

Patelia has a samajj panch or nate panch; the samaji panch's headman is Pramukh or Patel, and his position is hereditary. Agewans (five panch members) are chosen by voice vote. It is responsible for resolving conflicts between village residents.

Patelias pray to a variety of gods, including Ramedeo Pir, Shiva, and others. They're mostly devi worshippers. Kalka devi, Chamunda devi, Ambaji(Sabarkantha) are a few deities. They require association with certain sects such as Swami Muktanande Panari and others: Ram, Krishna, and Ganpati are their deities.

Throughout the year, the Patelias celebrate a variety of events. Holi, Rakhi, Dussehra, Dhuleti, Janmashtami, Diwasa, Dashera, Navratri, Shivratri,and Ramnavmi are a few of them. During the Navratri celebration, they also do garba dance. The ladies perform folk music. Traditional inter-community links can be discovered in a number of communities in the area. During the naming ritual of the child, death rites, and marriage, a Brahman priest is consulted.

Within the area, the Patelia have relations to the Vaniya, Desari, Jain, Bhil, and Modiye communities. In Panchmahal district, there is an M.L.A. from the Patelia community. At the local, taluka, and district levels, the Patelia are involved in political activities. The Patelia are provided with educational opportunities at schools and institutions. They send their kids to universities and, when required, they even place them in dormitories. They also educate women. According to the 2001 census, 36,523 males and 20,513 females out of a total population of 1,09,390 were literate.

They take advantage of the public distribution system's services (ration). They have access to banking services in urban areas and towns.