A History of the Mahrattas v1.c5.s4.47

v1.c5.s4.47

A full description of the *Pavada* or historical ballad, which is not a written poem but has been handed down orally by the Gōndhalīs from generation to generation, will be found at pages xxxii to xxxviii of Acworth’s *Ballads of the Marāthās*, published by Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co. in 1894. Excellent examples of this form of wandering minstrelsy will be found in this valuable publication; and there is little to add to the author’s account, except to remark that since he compiled the collection the gradual relinquishment by the Gōndhalīs of their time-honoured vocation, to which he drew attention, has become even more marked. The gradual spread of education, the march of industrial enterprise, and constant immigration into the capital of the Presidency, with its theatres, cinemas and other modern forms of amusement, have together tended to render obsolete the occupation and the songs of the vagrant minstrel-caste of Mahārāshtra.