page_title: Govigama
section_title: Etymology
hierarchical_section_title: Govigama / Etymology
caption_attribution_description: English: A peasant and a Govigama - tax collecting state offiiicial of sri lanka
context_page_description: Govigama is a Sinhalese caste found in Sri Lanka. They form approximately half of the Sinhalesee poulation and are traditionally involved in agriculture. The term Govigama became popular during the last period of the Sinhalese Kingdom of Kandy. Its members have dominated and influenced national politics and Sinhalese Buddhism.
  Geographically Govigama is highly concentrated in to Upcountry including Kandy, Colombo and some other interior areas of low country. These Govi and the Bathgama have traditionally been responsible for cultivation in accordance with the traditional tenure system of land-holding known as Rajakariya. The Govigama caste has several endogamous sub divisions which include the Radalas, Rate atto, Patti, Katupulle, Nilamakkara, Porovakara, Vahal and Gattara.
context_section_description: The caste name is occupational derived. Govigama is derived from the Sinhala word Goyigama meaning farm-land, in reference to their traditional occupation as farmers and land owners. Early Sinhalese texts such as the 13th century Pujavaliya mention a caste system of the Sinhalese society; the Raja (rulers), Bamunu (Brahmins), Velanda (traders) and the Govi (Farmers). being the forward castes.
  The appellation Govi is probably derived from the Prakritic Gahapati which literally means 'householder'. We find in the 13th century Saddharma-Ratnāvaliya of Dharmasena, the Pali term gahapati being rendered as Govi (gahapatika = Govi kulehi upan tänättō). Gahapati occurs in ancient Pali literature as the third ranking caste after the Khattiya and Brāhmaṇa and appears to have been synonymous with the Vessakula i.e. Vaiśya.
  When it comes to the present day, it appears that the Govigama caste has transformed into a compound caste made out of all castes mentioned in Saddharma-Ratnāvaliya (raja, bamunu, velanda and govi) consisting of four sub-castes, Radalavaru (Governing elite), Mudaliperuwa (Knighted elite), Rate aththo (officers of state), and Goviyo( farmers).
caption: An 18th-century illustration of a Hondrew (goyigama) officer of the kandyan king supervising a man extoring a fine, from An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon by Robert Knox (1641–1720)[19][20]
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