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| ⚫ | '''Vokkaliga''' (also ] as Vokkaligar, Vakkaliga, Wakkaliga, Okkaligar, Okkiliyan) is a community, or a group of closely-related castes, from the Indian state of ]. They are also present in the neighbouring state of ].<ref name="The Genesis, Divisions, Movement and Transformation of Okkaligar Community">{{cite journal|first=Sundaramurthy|last= V.T|year=2007|title=The Genesis, Divisions, Movement and Transformation of Okkaligar Community|url=http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/T-Anth/Anth-09-0-000-000-2007-Web/Anth-09-4-000-07-Abst-PDF/Anth-09-4-305-07-399-Sundaramurthy-V-T/Anth-09-4-305-07-399-Sundaramurthy-V-T-Tt.pdf|journal=The Anthropologist|volume=9|issue=4|pages=305–313|doi=10.1080/09720073.2007.11891017|s2cid= 74219783}}</ref> | ||
| Science|volume=49|issue=2|pages=231–267|jstor=41855369}}</ref><ref name="social activist. 1998 311">{{cite book|first=Saki|last=(social activist.)|date=1998|title=Making History: Stone age to mercantilism, Volume 1 of Making History: Karnataka's People and Their Past|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ywNvAAAAMAAJ&q=Polity+Vokkaliga|location=Bangalore|publisher=Vimukthi Prakashana|page=311}}</ref><ref name="dna">{{Cite web|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report-born-to-be-a-force-to-reckon-with-1375664|title=Born to be a force to reckon with|date=2010-04-26|website=DNA India|language=en|access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> It is believed by some historians that the ]<ref name="Shetty 1994 121">{{cite book |last=Shetty|first=Sadanand Ramakrishna|date=1994|title=Banavasi Through the Ages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cUhuAAAAMAAJ&q=vokkaliga+rashtrakuta |location=Banavasi (India)|publisher=Printwell|page=121}}:"The community of the land tillers or agriculturists was known as vokkaligas. The importance given to the cultivation of land is amply demonstrated by the fact that numerous tanks were dug and irrigational facilities | |||
| were provided at various places. Some of the Rashtrakuta inscriptions found in the Banavasimandala carry the depiction of a plough at the top. There is a view that the | |||
| Rashtrakutas were originally prosperous cultivators, who later on dominated the political scene. Some of the inscriptions refer to them as Kutumbinah which is interpreted as meaning cultivators."</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=L. K. Ananthakrishna Iyer|author2=H. V. Nanjundayya|date=1930|title=The Mysore Tribes And Castes|volume=3|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22885/page/n452/mode/1up?|location=Mysore|publisher=Mysore University|pages=350–351}}:"Engraved on the ladle are the badges of the different castes composing this section, such as the plough of the Okkaliga, the scales of the Banajiga, the shears of a Kuruba, the spade of a Odda, the razor of a barber, the washing stone-slab and pot of an Agasa, and the wheel of a Kumbara."</ref> and ]<ref name="Ganga-arasu"/><ref name="westernganga"/> were of Vokkaliga origin. The Vokkaligas occupied administrative positions in the Vijaynagar Empire.<ref>{{cite book |last=Madhava |first=K. G. Vasantha |date=1991|title=Western Karnataka, Its Agrarian Relations, 1500-1800 A.D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t0AaAAAAIAAJ&q=bunt+sudra|location=New Delhi |publisher=Navrang |page=176|isbn=9788170130734 }}:"For instance , the tax structure and the process of its collection of the Vijayanagara rulers and their feudatories enabled the Brāhamans , the Jains and the highcaste Sudras namely the Bunts the Nāyaks and the Gowdas to emerge as powerful landed gentry."</ref><ref name="Stein 1990 82–83, 96–97">{{Cite book|title=The New Cambridge History of India:Vijayanagara|last=Stein|first=Burton|year=1990|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=9781139055611|pages=82–83, 96–97}}</ref><ref name="Ludden 1999 91,198,205">{{Cite book|title=An Agrarian History of South Asia (The New Cambridge History of India)|last=Ludden|first=David|year=1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=9781139053396|page=91,198,205|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eHi62S7vZlsC&q=agrarian+gentry+warrior-farmers&pg=PA197}}</ref><ref name="social activist. 1998 311"/> They later formed the early rulers of the ].<ref>{{cite book |date=1921|title=The quarterly journal of the Mythic society Vol.XI|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.277202/page/n55/mode/2up |location=Bangalore|publisher=The Mythic Society, Daly Memorial Hall|pages=47–48}}:"Venkatappa. ruled from 1504 to 1551. | |||
| His son Bhadrappa died before him. During his reign the Moghals under | |||
| Ranadullakhan seized Ikkeri and set up a, viceroy there. Then Virabhadrappa | |||
| Nayaka ascended the Gadi and -retiring to Bidarur ruled over his country | |||
| more peacefully than before.* His rule lasted for 15 years from 1551 to 1566. | |||
| During his reign the rule of Vokkaligas came to an end and was replaced by the rule of Banajigas"</ref> The Vokkaligas had the most families in the ruling classes of the 17th century when the Arasu caste of the Wodeyars was created to exclude them.<ref name="Prasad 2018">{{cite book |last=Prasad|first=S.Shyam |date=2018|title=Enigmas of Karnataka: Mystery meets History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-NIDwAAQBAJ&q=Enigmas+of+Karnataka+Division+on+Caste+lines&pg=PT62|location=Chennai|publisher=Notion Press|isbn=9781642491227}}:"In the 17th Century, Chikkadevaraja created the Urs caste and classified it into 31 clans. Of these, 13 clans were deemed superior, while the remaining 18 were placed lower in the hierarchy. This latter comprised ruling families in the domain he was rapidly expanding. The most populous caste in this region, the Gowdas (the caste name Vokkaliga was later affixed to it during the British Census), clearly had more families in the ruling classes. But that did not deter Chikkadevaraja from omitting them from the new caste of 'Urs' that he had created."</ref><ref name="Routledge">{{cite book|last1=Ikegame|first1=Aya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bV5ElF17ezwC&pg=PA72|title=Princely India Re-imagined: A Historical Anthropology of Mysore from 1799 to ...|date=7 May 2013|publisher=Routledge|pages=76–77|isbn=9781136239090}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |type=PhD |last=Ikegame|first=Aya|year=2007 |title=Royalty in Colonial and Post-Colonial India: A Historical Anthropology of Mysore from 1799 to the present|publisher=University of Edinburgh|page=77-78,99-100}}</ref><ref name="Heitzman 2004 32">{{cite book |last=Heitzman |first=James |date=2004|title=Network City: Planning the Information Society in Bangalore|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M065AAAAIAAJ&q=Vokkaliga+Urs|location=New Delhi|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=32|isbn=9780195666069}}:"The royal house came from an extremely small group, the Arasus (Urs), which claimed warrior (Kshatriya) status but were viewed by the state's two largest landowning castes, the Lingayats and the Vokkaligas, as an inferior cowherd (Yadava) caste."</ref> Under the ] they operated autonomously<ref>{{Citation|title=Dominance and state power in modern India : decline of a social order / editors, Francine R. Frankel, M.S.A. Rao|author1=Frankel, Francine R |author2=Rao, M. S. A|year=1989|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0195620984|language=English|pages=330|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7whuAAAAMAAJ&q=non-interference+}}:”The Lingayats and Vokkaligas enjoyed an unwritten and unspoken but very real promise of non-interference from the states princely rulers who came from a cow-herding jati-indeed, some believe that they were originally potters, an even humbler caste-and who now claimed Kshatriya status.”-James Manor</ref> and also served in the army and militia.<ref>{{cite book|first=Saki|last=(social activist.)|date=1998|title=Making History: Stone age to mercantilism, Volume 1 of Making History: Karnataka's People and Their Past|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ywNvAAAAMAAJ&q=Vokkaliga+mysore|page=420,536}}</ref> The Vokkaligas formed the landed-gentry<ref name="Government of Karnataka">{{cite book|date=1986 |title=Report of the second backward classes commission|volume=3|location=Bangalore|publisher=Government of Karnataka|page=48}}: "Vokkaligas are the landed gentry and the agriculturist caste of Karnataka."</ref><ref name="villagehead"/><ref name="social activist. 1998 173,311,431">{{cite book|first=Saki|last=(social activist.)|date=1998|title=Making History: Stone age to mercantilism, Volume 1 of Making History: Karnataka's People and Their Past|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ywNvAAAAMAAJ|location=Bangalore|publisher=Vimukthi Prakashana|page=173,311,431}}</ref> and warrior class<ref name="Gundimeda"/><ref name="Gavunda"/> of Karnataka.<ref name="Stein 1980 131, 448–449">{{Cite book|title=Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India|last=Stein|first=Burton|date=1980|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=131, 448–449|location=Delhi}}</ref><ref name="Stein 1990 82–83, 96–97"/><ref name="Ludden 1999 91"/> | |||
| Vokkaligas were historically the serf community of Karnataka and indulge in forms agriculture<ref>{{Cite web |title=TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING THE POLITICAL CULTURE OF SOUTH INDIA |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41855369 |url-status=live}}</ref> The name "Vokkaliga" is derived from the word Okkalu meaning "tenets". They usually lived in the lands owned by their owners. In Hindu caste system they belong in the Shudra Varna <ref>{{Cite web |title=The Indian Journal of Political Science |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/i40087745 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A social history of India |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/A_Social_History_of_India/Be3PCvzf-BYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Vokkaliga+shudra&pg=PA254&printsec=frontcover}}</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | Most subsects of the Vokkaliga community |
||
| ⚫ | Most subsects of the Vokkaliga community are designated as Other Backward Class by the Karnataka Government.<ref name="Caste List">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ncbc.nic.in/Writereaddata/cl/karnataka.pdf|title=PDF - National OBC list for Karnataka}}</ref><ref name="Reservation">{{cite news |last=Joshi |first=Bharath |date=17 February 2021 |title=Now, Vokkaligas gear up to fight for more quota|url=https://www.deccanherald.com/state/top-karnataka-stories/now-vokkaligas-gear-up-to-fight-for-more-quota-952387.html|work=Deccan Herald|location=Bengaluru |access-date=7 May 2021}}:"Not all 115 sub-sects of the Vokkaliga community have been included under OBC. As a result, many sub-sects are deprived of government benefits. All sub-sects must be included under OBC and we must campaign for this,campaign for this," the statement said. The pontiff also said that Vokkaligas in urban areas were in dire straits and they needed more reservation. At present, some 20 sub-sects of Vokkaligas come under Category 3A with a 4 per cent reservation in Karnataka.</ref> . | ||
| Vokkaligas commonly carry titles such as ],<ref>{{cite book |url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/104976/9/09_chapter%203.pdf |chapter=Tenants movements in Uttara Kannada district and the Kagodu Satyagraha |title=Peasant movements in Karnataka since 1900 their nature and results |author=D K Kulkarni |page=80 |publisher=Karnatak University / Shodhganga |year=1992 |accessdate=24 October 2016 |quote=Gowdas, literary means a village headman usually from Vokkaliga community in Southern district of Karnataka and Lingayat in Northern part }}</ref> ]<ref name="India's Communities">{{cite book |author1=K. S. Singh|date=1998|title=India's Communities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mt9G1e6JF-QC&q=Gowda+heggade|location=|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India Oxford University Press|page=3677|isbn=978-0-19-563354-2|quote=They are also known as Namdhari Gauda or Nadavaru. Heggade and Gowda are the titles , which they suffix to their names.}}</ref> and ].<ref name="Gounder">{{cite book|first=Kumar Suresh|last=Singh|title=People of India|volume=40, part 2|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India|date=2001|page=640|isbn=9788185938882|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CBIwAQAAIAAJ&q=Vokkaliga+Gounder}}:”The community has titles viz. Gowda , Gowdar , Gounder and Kounder.”</ref> | Vokkaligas commonly carry titles such as ],<ref>{{cite book |url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/104976/9/09_chapter%203.pdf |chapter=Tenants movements in Uttara Kannada district and the Kagodu Satyagraha |title=Peasant movements in Karnataka since 1900 their nature and results |author=D K Kulkarni |page=80 |publisher=Karnatak University / Shodhganga |year=1992 |accessdate=24 October 2016 |quote=Gowdas, literary means a village headman usually from Vokkaliga community in Southern district of Karnataka and Lingayat in Northern part }}</ref> ]<ref name="India's Communities">{{cite book |author1=K. S. Singh|date=1998|title=India's Communities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mt9G1e6JF-QC&q=Gowda+heggade|location=|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India Oxford University Press|page=3677|isbn=978-0-19-563354-2|quote=They are also known as Namdhari Gauda or Nadavaru. Heggade and Gowda are the titles , which they suffix to their names.}}</ref> and ].<ref name="Gounder">{{cite book|first=Kumar Suresh|last=Singh|title=People of India|volume=40, part 2|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India|date=2001|page=640|isbn=9788185938882|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CBIwAQAAIAAJ&q=Vokkaliga+Gounder}}:”The community has titles viz. Gowda , Gowdar , Gounder and Kounder.”</ref> | ||
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| ==Etymology== | ==Etymology== | ||
| ===Vokkaliga=== | ===Vokkaliga=== | ||
| The most popular theory among the etymology of vokkaliga is that they were derived from the word Okkalu meaning tenent<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Social History of India |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/A_Social_History_of_India/Be3PCvzf-BYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Vokkaliga+shudra&pg=PA254&printsec=frontcover}}</ref> .Another theory is that the word ''Okkalutana'' in Kannada which means agriculture is also an origin for their name <ref name="Nighantu">{{cite book |title=Kannada Nighantu |publisher=Kannada Sahitya Parishat, Bangalore |year=1970}}</ref>. | |||
| Vokkaliga is a ]-language word found in some of the earliest available literary works of the language, such as the '']'', '']'', and ''Mangaraja's Nighantu''. It has been used as an appellation for the cultivator community since time immemorial.<ref name="Namadhari">{{cite book|author=Dr. Ambalike Hiriyanna|title=Malenadina Vaishnava Okkaligara Samskruti|year=1999|publisher=Kannada Pustaka Pradhikara, Government of Karnataka}}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2021}} Generally, the term has come to mean an agriculturist though various etymological derivations are available, including: | |||
| ] chieftain under the Vijayanagara Empire. The city of Bengaluru was founded by Kempe Gowda in 1537.]] | |||
| * The word ''okka'' or ''okkalu'' is a Kannada word for a family or a clan<ref name="Nighantu">{{cite book|title=Kannada Nighantu|year=1970|publisher=Kannada Sahitya Parishat, Bangalore}}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2021}} and an ''okkaliga'' is a person belonging to such a family.<ref name="Namadhari" />{{page needed|date=September 2019}} This is an allusion to the totemistic ] clans which together form an endogamous sub group, of which there are many amongst the Vokkaligas. These clans are called Bali, Bedagu, Kutumba, Gotra or simply Okkalu all of which mean ''family''. They are named after their progenitor, primary occupation or in most cases after various birds, animals or objects.<ref>{{cite book|first=John Vincent |last=Ferreira|title=Totemism in India|year=1965|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2021}} ''Vokkaliga'' is analogous to ''Kutumbin'' in Sanskrit.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Bhavani Banerjee|date=1966 |title=Marriage and Kinship of the Gangadikara Vokkaligas of Mysore|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkVXAAAAMAAJ&q=Analogous|location=Pune|publisher=Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute|page=24|isbn=|quote=Vokkaliga or Vokkalumaga is thus a man whose main occupation is agriculture that is a cultivator or a farmer. This word is analogous to the northern words Kunabi in Marathi , Kanabi in Gujarati , and Kutumbin in Sanskrit meaning a householder, a man with permanent dwelling, - a man settled permanently on land as against other castes who were not bound to land in the same way.}}</ref> | |||
| * ''Okkalutana'' in Kannada means agriculture<ref name="Nighantu" /> | |||
| * Alternate etymologies include {{Transl|ka|okku}}, which means "threshing" in Kannada, and {{Transl|ka|Vokkaliga}} means someone from a family that threshes<ref name="Nighantu" /> | |||
| ===Gowda=== | ===Gowda=== | ||
| According to historian ], the word ''Gowda'' derives from ''Gavunda''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kamath|first1=Suryanath U.|last2=Naik|first2=R.A|date=1983|title=Gazetteer of India Government of Karnataka, Karnataka State Gazetteer Part II|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.csl.3241/page/n265/mode/2up?q=Gauda |location=Bangalore|publisher= Parishree Printers |pages=243–244}}: "Villages had gramakuta or gavunda (gauda), the village headman. | According to historian ], the word ''Gowda'' derives from ''Gavunda''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kamath|first1=Suryanath U.|last2=Naik|first2=R.A|date=1983|title=Gazetteer of India Government of Karnataka, Karnataka State Gazetteer Part II|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.csl.3241/page/n265/mode/2up?q=Gauda |location=Bangalore|publisher= Parishree Printers |pages=243–244}}: "Villages had gramakuta or gavunda (gauda), the village headman. | ||
| He had under him the village militia^ later called as talaras and tolls."</ref> The German Indologist ] opined that the root of ‘Gowda’ is a ] word meaning "mountain".<ref>{{cite book |author1=Kumar Suresh Singh |author2=Anthropological Survey of India |title=People of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fRQwAQAAIAAJ&q=Mountain |year=2002 |publisher=Anthropological Survey of India |isbn=978-81-85938-99-8 |page=408 }}</ref> | He had under him the village militia^ later called as talaras and tolls."</ref> The German Indologist ] opined that the root of ‘Gowda’ is a ] word meaning "mountain".<ref>{{cite book |author1=Kumar Suresh Singh |author2=Anthropological Survey of India |title=People of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fRQwAQAAIAAJ&q=Mountain |year=2002 |publisher=Anthropological Survey of India |isbn=978-81-85938-99-8 |page=408 }}</ref> | ||
| The term "Gowda" and its archaic forms in Old Kannada such as ''Gamunda'', ''Gavunda'', ''Gavuda'', ''Gonda'', appear frequently in the inscriptions of Karnataka. The '']'' is replete with references to land grants, donations to temples, hero-stones (''Veeragallu''), stone edicts and copper plates dating back to the age of the ] (est. 350 CE) and earlier.<ref>{{cite book|author=Benjamin Lewis Rice, R.Narasimhacharya|title=Epigraphia Carnatica|year=1894–1905|publisher=Government Central Press, Bangalore & Mysore}}</ref> The Gavundas were landlords that collected taxes and rendered military service to the Kings.<ref name="Gavunda">{{cite journal |last1=Adiga |first1=Malini|year=1997 |title= 'GAVUNDAS' IN SOUTHERN KARNATAKA: LANDLORDS AND WARRIORS (AD 600 to 1030)|url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/44143897|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=58|pages=139–145|jstor=44143897|access-date=10 March 2021}}</ref> ] says the Gavundas had functions corresponding to that of the Chola Vellala Nattars.<ref name="Karashima">{{cite book |last=Karashima|first=Noboru|year=2014|title=A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations|url= |location=India|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=144–145|isbn=978-0198099772}}:"They are, for example, Gavunda chiefs and heggade revenue officers vis-à-vis the Chola Vellala nattars; kalnad military tenure vis-à-vis padai-parru or parigraham tenure in the Chola state"</ref> The majority of the gavundas were derived from the Vokkaligas; but by the 10th century, the term gavunda also came to denote chiefship of a community or group and was adopted by the heads of other communities assimilated into the early medieval state.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Adiga |first1=Malini|year=1997 |title= 'GAVUNDAS' IN SOUTHERN KARNATAKA: LANDLORDS AND WARRIORS (AD 600 to 1030)|url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/44143897|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=58|pages=145, 147|jstor=44143897|access-date=10 March 2021}}</ref> | |||
| The Vokkaligas of ] use ''Gowdar'' and ''Gounder'' as their surname.<ref name="Gounder"/> The ] origins to the word ''Gounder'' claim its derivation from ''kavundan'' or ''kamindan'' (one who watches over).<ref name="Madhavan">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl2516/stories/20080815251611400.htm|title=Steeped in history|last=Madhvan|first=Karthik|date=2 August 2008|work=Frontline|publisher=The Hindu Group|access-date=22 January 2011|location=Chennai, India |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203050939/http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl2516/stories/20080815251611400.htm|archive-date=3 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| Whether the name ''Gauda/Gowda'' is an allusion to the ]<ref>{{cite book|title=Vokkaligara Directory|year=1999|publisher=Vokkaligara Sangha, Bangalore }}</ref> or not has not been conclusively proved. | |||
| ==Subgroups== | ==Subgroups== | ||
| The term Vokkaliga was used to refer to Canarese cultivators. Vokkaliga community has several sub-groups within its fold such as Gangadhikara, Namdhari Vokkaliga, Morasu Vokkaliga, ], Halikkar(Palikkar) Vokkaliga, Reddy Vokkaliga,<ref name="Second Backward Classes Commission"/><ref name="Balfour"/><ref name="Lindsay(Mysore)"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bhatt |first1=S.C.|last2=Bhargava|first2=Gopal K.|date=2006|title=Land and People of Indian States and Union Territories: In 36 Volumes. Karnataka, Volume 13|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zo5lvtslcEUC&pg=PA145|location=Delhi|publisher=Kalpaz Publications|page=145|isbn=81-7835-369-5}}</ref> Gounder,<ref name="Second Backward Classes Commission"/> ].<ref name="Balfour">{{cite book |last=Balfour|first=Edward|date=1885|title=The Cyclopaedia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia|volume=2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qeA0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA261|location=Graz, Austria|publisher=Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt|page=261|isbn=}}</ref><ref name="Lindsay(Mysore)">{{cite book |last=Lindsay|first=Alexander William Crawford |date=1874|title=Report on the Mysore General Census of 1871|volume=2-10|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xAAJAAAAQAAJ&q=wakkaliga&pg=RA2-PA72|location=Mysore|publisher=Mysore Government Press|page=72}}</ref><ref name="Lindsay(Coorg Census)">{{cite book |last=Lindsay|first=A.W.C |date=1874 |title=Report on the Coorg General Census of 1871, with Appendices|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hQk3AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA26 |location=Kodagu |publisher=Mysore Government Press|page=26}}</ref> etc.<ref name="Second Backward Classes Commission">{{cite book|date=1986 |title=Report of the Second Backward Classes Commission|volume=3|location=Bangalore|publisher=Government of Karnataka|pages=49|url=http://14.139.60.153/bitstream/123456789/5712/1/REPORT%20OF%20THE%20SECOND%20BACKWARD%20CLASSES%20COMMISSION%20VOLUME-III_SN-11}}:"The main sub-divisions are 'Morasu Vokkaliga', 'Gangadikara Vokkaliga', Kudu Vokkaliga, Kunchitiga, Hallikar(Pallikar) Vokkaliga, Namdhari Vokkaliga, Reddy Vokkaliga, Telugu Vokkaliga, Sarpa Vokkaliga, Uppinakolagada Vokkaliga, Mustiku Vokkaliga, Kapu Vokkaliga, Pakanatha Reddy Vokkaliga, Nadashetty Vokkaliga, Gowdas, Gounder and Vokkaliga Hegde."</ref> ] converts of the various Vokkaligas are categorised as Lingayats.<ref name="Lingayat Vokkaligas">{{cite book|date=1986 |title=Report of the Second Backward Classes Commission|volume=3|location=Bangalore|publisher=Government of Karnataka|pages=49|url=http://14.139.60.153/bitstream/123456789/5712/1/REPORT%20OF%20THE%20SECOND%20BACKWARD%20CLASSES%20COMMISSION%20VOLUME-III_SN-1162.pdf}}:"Lingayat converts of the various Vokkaligas are treated separately and kept under Lingayats."</ref> | |||
| Exogamy at the family/clan level is strictly controlled by using the idiom of Mane Devaru (the patron god of the given exogamic clan) which dictates that the followers of same ''Mane Devaru'' are siblings and marriage is thus forbidden, allowing marital alliances only with another clan and not within.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Banerjee, Bhavani|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/833158967|title=Marriage and kinship of the Gangadikara vokkaligas of Mysore|date=1966|publisher=Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Inst|pages=31|oclc=833158967}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Nanjundayya|first1=H.V|first2=L.K Ananthakrishna|last2=Iyer|date=1931|title=The Mysore Tribes and Castes|volume=4|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.38701/page/n43/mode/2up|location=Mysore |publisher=The Mysore University|pages=20–21}}</ref> | Exogamy at the family/clan level is strictly controlled by using the idiom of Mane Devaru (the patron god of the given exogamic clan) which dictates that the followers of same ''Mane Devaru'' are siblings and marriage is thus forbidden, allowing marital alliances only with another clan and not within.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Banerjee, Bhavani|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/833158967|title=Marriage and kinship of the Gangadikara vokkaligas of Mysore|date=1966|publisher=Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Inst|pages=31|oclc=833158967}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Nanjundayya|first1=H.V|first2=L.K Ananthakrishna|last2=Iyer|date=1931|title=The Mysore Tribes and Castes|volume=4|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.38701/page/n43/mode/2up|location=Mysore |publisher=The Mysore University|pages=20–21}}</ref> | ||
| === |
===Varna Classification=== | ||
| Vokkaligas were part of the Shudra community, however some historians do question the legitimacy of their origin suggesting they may be just another tribal community from South who were sanskritzed during the arrival of Aryans from the north.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Social history of South India Vol 49 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/i40087745}}</ref> | |||
| The Gangadikara Vokkaligas, also known as the Gangatkars are numerically the largest among the Vokkaliga.<ref name="Gangadikara">{{cite book |last1=Nanjundayya|first1=H.V|first2=L.K Ananthakrishna|last2=Iyer|date=1930|title=The Mysore Tribes and Castes|volume=3|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22885/page/n255/mode/2up|location=Mysore |publisher=The Mysore University|pages=175–185}}</ref> The Gangadikaras are mostly found in the Mysore, Mandya, Chamarajnagar, Hassan, Bangalore, Ramanagara and Tumkur districts of Karnataka. Gangawadi was the name for the area covering these districts, ruled over by the ] and Gangadikara is a contraction of the term Gangawadikara (A man of Gangawadi).<ref name="Gangadikara"/> According to ] and ] the Ganga rulers were Gangadikara Vokkaliga chiefs.<ref name="westernganga">{{Cite book|title=Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India|last=Stein|first=Burton|date=1980|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4SsKAQAAIAAJ&q=peasant+state+and+society+gangadikara+break|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=318|location=Delhi|isbn=978-0-19-563507-2}}:"Indeed, the very lacklustre of the Ganga rulers who preceded the Cholas and Hoysalas suggests that they were essentially peasant chiefs who neither sought nor managed to break their ties with the dominant peasant folk of the territory. That peasantry still identifies itself with the ancient Ganga designation; they are called, garigadikaras who in 1891 comprised forty-four per cent of the total population of the land-controlling peasantry of Mysore State (i.e. Vokkaligas). Gangadikara is a slight contraction of the term gangavadikara, ‘men of the Ganga country’."</ref><ref name="Ganga-arasu">{{cite book |author1=L. K. Ananthakrishna Iyer |date=1935|title=The Mysore Tribes And Castes|volume=1 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.209458/page/n187/mode/1up?|location=Mysore|publisher=Mysore University|page=69|oclc=551178895}}:"The Gangadikara seem to be a more recent stratum, whose name reminds us of the Ganga-kings, who ruled in Mysore in the 10th century. We may regard their connections with the former ancient ruling house as very similar to those of the Arasu, the present-day aristocracy of Mysore, with the present- day ruling family. "</ref> The Gangadikara Gowdas claim to be descendants of the erstwhile Ganga rulers.<ref name="Namadhari" /><ref name="Itihasa">{{cite book|author=Dr.B. Pandukumar|title=1600 Varshagala Vokkaligara Itihasa|year=2007|publisher=Vedavati Prakashana, Bangalore}}</ref><ref name="People" >{{cite book|author=Kumar Suresh Singh|title=People of India, Volume XXVI, Part 2|year=2003|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India}}</ref><ref name="Economic">{{cite book|author=E.Stanley|title=Economic Development and Social Change in South India|year=1962|publisher=University of Manchester Press, Manchester|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ekG8AAAAIAAJ&q=gangadikar}}</ref> The administrative setup of Gangas vested power in the Ooru Gauda, Nadu Gauda, Pergade (archaic for Hegde, Pergade->Peggade->Heggade) and so on, at various levels of administration and apart from administrative duties, the Gauda was expected to raise militia when called for.<ref name="Talakad">{{cite book|author=B.Sheik Ali|title=History of the Western Gangas|year=1976|publisher=University Of Mysore}}</ref> | |||
| The Gangadikaras and other Vokkaligas were considered analogous to the ] Chieftains of Tamil Country.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India|last=Stein|first=Burton|date=1980|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4SsKAQAAIAAJ&q=Peasant+State+and+Society+in+Medieval+South+fall+into+the+same+pattern|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=449|location=Delhi|isbn=9780195610659}}:"Sharing an equally prestigious role in Karnataka, the Vokkaligas are divided into a number of territorial divisions. The Gangadikara Vokkaiigas (Karalar) are concentrated in the south-central portion of Karnataka abutting modern Andhra having long shared the territory with Telugu speaking Reddis; Nonaba Vokkaiigas inhabit the tract on the northern bank of the Tungabhadra, medieval Nolambavadi. Other Vokkaliga groups are similarly clustered in other parts of modern Karnataka"</ref><ref name="Karashima"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Rao|first=C. Hayavadana|date=1927|title=Mysore Gazetteer|volume=1|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.275385/page/n269/mode/2up?q=Vokkaliga|location=Bangalore |publisher=Governmet Press|page=243|isbn=}}</ref> They are Deccan Kshatriyas corresponding to ]s of Maharashtra.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rodrigues|first1=Tensing |date=July 2020 |title=Understanding the Vokkaliga|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343162506|pages=2 |doi=10.6084/m9.figshare.12698237.v1|access-date=17 April 2021}}</ref><ref name="Gangadikara"/> The Gangadikaras and the ] could possibly share a common origin.<ref name="link">{{Cite book|title=Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India|last=Stein|first=Burton|date=1980|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4SsKAQAAIAAJ&q=Gangadikara+peasantry+of+Gangavadi+|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=319|location=Delhi|isbn=978-0-19-563507-2}}:"The Gangadikara peasantry of Gangavadi appears to have been more significantly linked to the Kongu peasantry to the south than to peasant peoples in the central and northern parts of medieval Karnataka. Similarly, the Marasu Vokkaligas of eastern Bangalore and central and southern Kolar districts appear to have been linked to Tondaimandalam"</ref> In fact, the word ''Konga'' is the Tamil equivalent for ''Ganga''.<ref>{{cite book|first=P. Shungoonny|last=Menon|title=History of Travancore from the Earliest Times|url=https://archive.org/details/historyoftravanc0000pshu|date=1 January 1998|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-0169-7|pages=33–}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first=V.|last=Ramamurthy|title=History of Kongu: Volume 1|year=1986|page=19}}</ref> | |||
| The Gangadikaras have two primary sections – the Bujjanige (or Dhaare Shastradavaru) and the Pettige (or Veelyada Shastradavaru) based on differences in rituals performed during the wedding ceremony. They can be Shaiva or Vaishnava in religious affiliation (called Mullu and Dasa sects). Cheluru Gangadikaras (also called Chelaru), another small sub-sect, are said to be strictly vegetarian, a vestige of the times when the Gangas followed Jainism. Oral traditions of the people maintain that after the decline of the Ganga power they reverted to Hinduism retaining certain Jain practices.<ref name="Gangadikara"/><ref name="People" /> The Gangadikara Vokkaligas have as many as 40 ''kulas'', exogamous clans, known in Kannada as ''Bedagu''.<ref name="Gangadikara"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Jeelani|first=S. A|date=2009 |title=Karnataka State Gazetteer: Mandya District|chapter=Chapter 3|url=http://gazetteer.kar.nic.in/gazetteer/pdf/2009-22-0/Mandya_2009_Chapter3_People.pdf|location=Karnataka, India|publisher=Government of Karnataka, Karnataka Gazetteer Department|page=211|isbn=}}</ref> | |||
| ===Morasu Vokkaliga=== | |||
| The border regions of Karnataka around modern-day Bangalore, Tumkur and Hosur was known as Morasu-nadu and was dominated by Morasu Vokkaligas.<ref name="Burton">{{cite book|author=Burton Stein|title=Vijayanagara|year=1987|publisher=Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York|page=82|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OpxeaYQbGDMC&q=Morasu|isbn=9780521266932}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.krishnagiri.tn.nic.in/history.htm|title=Krishnagiri District Website |publisher=Krishnagiri.tn.nic.in|date=2004-02-09 |access-date=12 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312193151/https://www.krishnagiri.tn.nic.in/history.htm|archive-date=12 March 2017}}:"The heart of 'Krishnagiri', 'Hosur' and 'Uthangarai' were known as 'Eyil Nadu', 'Murasu Nadu' and 'Kowoor Nadu' respectively."</ref> | |||
| The chief endogamous divisions of the Morasu Vokkaligas are Morasu proper, Musuku, Palyada sime and Reddy. They speak both ] and ]. Telugu is restricted to the two sections of Reddy and Palyada Sime.<ref name="Raop244">{{cite book |last=Rao|first=C. Hayavadana|date=1927|title=Mysore Gazetteer|volume=1|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.275385/page/n269/mode/2up?q=Vokkaligas|location=Bangalore |publisher=Government Press|page=244|isbn=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Mysore Narasimhachar Srinivas|date=1942 |title=Marriage And Family in Mysore |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.280868/page/n26/mode/1up?|location=Bombay|publisher=New Book Co.|page=25|oclc=4565441}}:"They have four endogamous groups, Musuku, Reddi, Palyadasime and Morasu. The first and fourth speak Kannada, while the second and third speak Telugu"</ref> The usual caste titles are ] for the Kannada section and ] for the Telugu section.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rao|first=C. Hayavadana|date=1927|title=Mysore Gazetteer|volume=1|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.275385/page/n271/mode/2up?q=Vokkaligas|location=Bangalore |publisher=Government Press|page=246|isbn=}}:"The usual caste titles are Gauda (Kannada section) and Reddi (Telugu section)."</ref> | |||
| Many Palegars belonged to the Musuku group.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Mysore Narasimhachar Srinivas|date=1942 |title=Marriage And Family in Mysore |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.280868/page/n26/mode/1up?|location=Bombay|publisher=New Book Co.|page=25|oclc=4565441}}:"To the Musuku group belonged several Palyegar chiefs."</ref> The Palegars of Devanhalli, Dodballapur, Yelahanka, Magadi, Hoskote, Kolar, Anekal and Koratagere were Morasu Vokkaligas. The famous ], the founder of Bangalore City, was the most distinguished of the Palegars of Magadi.<ref name="Raop244"/> The family of Kempe Gowda migrated from Kanchi in the 15th century.<ref name="Burton"/> The ] was built by Malla Bhaire Gowda to immortalise Bhaire Gowda, the headman of one of the seven clans that migrated from ].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nanjundayya|first1=H.V|first2=L.K Ananthakrishna|last2=Iyer|date=1931|title=The Mysore Tribes and Castes|volume=4|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.38701/page/n299/mode/2up?q=Malla+Bhaire|publisher=The Mysore University|pages=227–228}}:"One of these clans, under their headman Bhaire Gauda, settled in Avati about the close of the 15th century. Near this village was a small hamlet called Devana-Doddi (ie., the cattle pen of Deva). Malla Bhaire Gauda persuaded to immortalise his memory by constructing a fort to be named after him."</ref> | |||
| Burton Stein noted a link between Morasu Vokkaligas and the ].<ref name="link"/> | |||
| ===Kunchitiga Vokkaliga=== | |||
| ]s are concentrated mostly in Tumkur, Chitradurga, Bangalore and Mysore. They are also found in Salem, Coimbatore and Theni districts of Tamil Nadu.<ref name="Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 5">{{cite book|first=Edgar|last= Thurston|year=1909|title=Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 5|publisher=Government Press|location=Madras|volume=5|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42995/42995-h/42995-h.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Nanjundayya|first1=H.V|first2=L.K Ananthakrishna|last2=Iyer|date=1931|title=The Mysore Tribes and Castes|volume=4|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.38701|location=Mysore |publisher=The Mysore University|page=17}}</ref> They were traditionally agriculturists and were known for being a successful and enterprising group.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rice|first=Benjamin Lewis|date=1876|title=Mysore and Coorg: A Gazetteer Compiled for the Government of India, Volume 2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SlkoAAAAYAAJ&q=kunchigar+merchants&pg=PA219|location=Bangalore |publisher=Mysore Government Press |page=219}}:"The large merchants , who live chiefly in Mysore city , are for the most part of the Kunchigar caste ."</ref><ref name="Raop247">{{cite book |last=Rao|first=C. Hayavadana|date=1927|title=Mysore Gazetteer|volume=1|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.275385/page/n273/mode/2up?q=Vokkaligas|location=Bangalore |publisher=Governmet Press|page=247|isbn=}}:"A good proportion of them are also educated and occupy a responsible place in society. They call themselves Kunchitigas or Kunchati Vokkalu"</ref> | |||
| ===Namdhari Vokkaligas=== | |||
| The Namdhari Vokkaliga is the oldest and second largest Vokkaliga sub-group<ref name="Namadhari"/> and are concentrated in ]. They are also called Malava Gowdas.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Benjamin Lewis Rice|date=1881|title=Report on the Mysore Census of 1881: Compiled for Government, Volumes 5-13|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jfYIAAAAQAAJ&dq=namdhari+malava&pg=RA1-PA15|location=Mysore (Princely State)|publisher=Mysore Government Press|page=15|quote=}}</ref><ref name="Malava">{{cite book |author1= |date=1864 |title=Selections from the Records of the Mysore Commissioner's Office|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RpdeAAAAcAAJ&dq=aboriginal+northern+lingavant+the+others+are+still+called+namadari+malavar&pg=RA3-PA81|location= Karnataka (India) |publisher=Printed at the Mysore Government Press|pages=60, 81}} p60. "The rest of the land belongs to Shivabhact and Namdari malava gowdas who are also sometimes called nadavar" p81. "It is said the Malavar are the aboriginal land - holders of Nagara. Those of the Northern Taluks, Nagara, Sagar & c, adopted the lingavant religion. The others are still called Namadari Malavar."</ref> They use the surnames 'Hegde' and 'Gowda'.<ref name="India's Communities"/> The Namdharis were ] who converted to Vaishnavism along with their ] King Vishnuvardhana<ref>{{cite news |last=Gowda|first=Chandan|date=5 January 2015 |title=Ghar Vapsi: The myth of a single home|url=https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/opinion/views/namdharis-christian-missionary-jainism-forbids-namdhari-vokkaligas/articleshow/45765444.cms?|work= Bangalore Mirror|access-date=17 April 2021}}</ref> and are followers of ].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kamat |first1=Suryanatha |title=Karnataka State Gazetteers: Kodagu District |date=1993 |publisher=Office of the Chief Editor, Karnataka Gazetteer |pages=154 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Karnataka_State_Gazetteers_Kodagu_Distri/QVVuAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=ramanuja+Namadhari&dq=ramanuja+Namadhari&printsec=frontcover}}</ref> | |||
| The Hoysalas were possibly of Namdhari Vokkaliga origin. Historians refer to the founders of the ] dynasty as natives of Malenadu based on numerous inscriptions calling them ''Maleparolganda'' or "Lord of the Male (hills) chiefs" (''Malepas'').<ref name="male">Rice B.L. in Kamath (2001), p123</ref><ref name="male1">Keay (2000), p251</ref><ref name="tract">Quotation:"The home of the Hoysalas lay in the hill tracts to the north-west of Gangavadi in Mysore" (Sen 1999, p498)</ref><ref name="male2">Thapar (2003), p367</ref><ref name="west">Stien (1989), p16</ref><ref name="chop">Natives of south Karnataka (Chopra 2003, p150 Part 1)</ref> Some historians believe Hoysala originated from Sosevuru (Modern Angadi, ] taluk).<ref name="early origin">The Hoysalas originated from Sosevuru, identified as modern Angadi in ] ] (Kamath 2001, p123)</ref><ref name="earlyorigin2">An indigenous ruling family of Karnataka from Sosevuru (modern Angadi) (Ayyar 1993, p600)</ref> Hoysalas also strongly supported Kannada language.<ref name="floral">Ayyar (2006), p. 600</ref><ref name="courtly">Pollock (2006), p. 288–289</ref><ref name="bilingual">However by the 14th century, bilingual inscriptions lost favor and inscriptions were mostly in the local language (Thapar 2003, pp393–95)</ref> The early Hoysala chiefs had alliances with the ]<ref name="Early Chiefs">Seetharam Jagirdhar, M.N. Prabhakar, B.S. Krishnaswamy Iyengar in Kamath (2001), p123</ref> and claimed to be heirs to the Gangas.<ref>{{cite book |editor=Suryanath U. Kamath|date=1981|title=Karnataka State Gazetteer: Chikmagalur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nosBAAAAMAAJ&q=+veera-ganga|location=|publisher=Director of Print., Stationery and Publications at the Government Press|page=44|quote=Ereyanga was already 60 years old when he succeeded to the throne and ruled only for two years. He assumed the title of Veera-Ganga to indicate the Hoysala claim as heirs to the earlier Ganga kingdom.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Malini|last=Adiga|date=2006|title=The Making of Southern Karnataka: Society, Polity and Culture in the Early Medieval Period |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UEpuAAAAMAAJ&q=hoysala+vira+ganga|location=Chennai|publisher=Orient Blackswan Private Limited|page=340|oclc=67052150|isbn=8125029125|quote=However, the significance of the earlier, formative period of the Gangas can be seen from the fact that the region gained its name Gangavadi from them, which it retained even after the demise of the dynasty; that the Hoysalas, ás heirs to the Ganga legacy, included Vira Ganga among their other royal titles speaks volumes for the lasting impact of the Gangas in this region.}}</ref> Several of the major feudatories of the Hoysalas were Vokkaligas.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Radhika Seshan|author2=Shraddha Kumbhojkar|year=2018 |title=Re-searching Transitions in Indian History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RyZhDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT47|location=London ; New York|publisher=Routledge|oclc=1041706962|isbn=9780429487569|pages=45, 46|quote=}}</ref> Many Vokkaligas migrated into Tamil Nadu under Hoysala rule.<ref name="Hoysala madurai">{{cite book |editor=B S Chandrababu |author=South Indian History Congress. Annual Session|date=2002 |title=South Indian History Congress : proceedings volume of the Twenty First Annual Session, hosted by School of Historical Studies, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, 18-20 January, 2001 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRFuAAAAMAAJ&q=vokkiligas|oclc=631658499|location=Thiruvananthapuram|publisher=General Secretary, South Indian History Congress|page=6|quote=During the Hoysala rule at madurai , Gowdas , Vokkaligas , Pattunoolkarar , Sedas and other Kannadigas migrated into Tamil Nadu }}</ref> | |||
| Some of the Malenadu Vokkaligas took to Lingayatism.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gowda|first=Chandan|date=5 January 2015 |title=Ghar Vapsi: The myth of a single home|url=https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/opinion/views/namdharis-christian-missionary-jainism-forbids-namdhari-vokkaligas/articleshow/45765444.cms?|work= Bangalore Mirror|access-date=17 April 2021|quote=For instance, the Namdhari Vokkaligas retained their meat-eating and hunting habits across two faiths that shunned animal killing whereas vegetarianism was non-negotiable for the Lingayat converts.}}</ref><ref name="Malava"/> The ] were Malava Gowdas of ] faith.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Krishnaji Nageshrao Chitnis|date=1974|title=Keḷadi Polity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WJAFAAAAMAAJ&q=+malava|location=Keladi (India)|publisher=Karnatak University|page=24|quote=According to another account given by Rice himself , Bhadraiya , a Malava Gauda of Keladi, was the founder.}}</ref><ref name="Malava"/> | |||
| ===Hallikkar Vokkaliga=== | |||
| Hallikkar Vokkaligas or Pallikar Vokkaligas are a subsect of Vokkaligas. They were mainly engaged in the rearing of cattle.<ref name="Raop246"/> According to ], the Hallikar were related to the ]s and ]s.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Mysore Narasimhachar Srinivas|date=1942 |title=Marriage And Family in Mysore |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.280868/page/n24/mode/1up?|location=Bombay|publisher=New Book Co.|page=23|oclc=4565441}}:"The Hallikara Okkaligas are Okkaligas in nothing except name. They are related to the Gollas, Kadu Gollas and Kurubas with whom they perhaps had marital relations formerly."</ref> The ] is the best in the far-famed ] cattle.<ref name="Raop246">{{cite book |last=Rao|first=C. Hayavadana|date=1927|title=Mysore Gazetteer|volume=1|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.275385/page/n271/mode/2up?q=Vokkaligas|location=Bangalore |publisher=Government Press|page=246|isbn=}}:"Hallikara Vokkaligas.—This is a section that is mainly engaged in the rearing of cattle. The breed of that name is the best in the far-famed Amrut Mahal Cattle."</ref> | |||
| They are also called Servegars as they were chief herdsmen in the Amrit Mahal Department.<ref>{{cite book |author1= L. K. A. Iyer|date=2005|title=The Mysore Tribes and Castes|volume=3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGSuAwWHa0kC&pg=PA270|location=New Delhi|publisher=Mittal Publications|page=270|quote=In some places , they call themselves Servegars , Servegara meaning chief herdsman in the Amrit Mahal Department , from their occupation of cattle breeding.|isbn=}}</ref> They use ] and ] as surnames.<ref>{{cite book |author1= L. K. A. Iyer|date=2005|title=The Mysore Tribes and Castes|volume=3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGSuAwWHa0kC&pg=PA270|location=New Delhi|publisher=Mittal Publications|page=270|quote=Gauda and Naika are the titles affixed to their names , and the common honorific suffixes Appa and Ayya for males and Avva and Akka for females are also in use|isbn=}}</ref> | |||
| ===Tulu and Kodagu Vokkaliga=== | |||
| ] (Gauda) are the subsect of the Vokkaliga community located primarily in the South Canara District, Kodagu District, Indian state of ] and ] village of Kasaragod, Kerala State.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/opinion/aravind-gowda/story/karnataka-sadananda-gowda-faces-caste-war-in-bjp-141190-2011-09-15|title=Caste war heats up as Sadananda isn't Gowda enough|date=15 September 2011|first=Aravind|last=Gowda|website=India Today|access-date=27 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gough |first=Kathleen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GZwD7EqLcAUC&q=Rural+Society+in+Southeast+India+Draupadi |title=Rural Society in Southeast India |date=2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-04019-8 |language=en}}</ref> They are said to have 10 Kutumba and 18 Bari as their primordial root families, from which a Nūru Mane or "hundred families" arose. | |||
| ===Jogi (Jogi Vokkaliga)=== | |||
| Jogi Vokkaligas are mostly found in parts of Chitradurga, Shivamogga, Tumkur and Mandya districts. They worship ]. They were the teachers (mattpati) of ] matt during its early days. The Jogi are disciples of ] and traditionally wear saffron-colored clothing. | |||
| ===Nonaba Vokkaliga=== | |||
| They were residents of the ancient Kingdom of Nonambavadi which was ruled by the Pallavas up till 10th century A.D. The Pallavas also called themselves as Nonambadhi Raja, Nonamba Pallava, Pallavadhi Raja, etc. This section of the Vokkaligas are ]s by faith. In most respects, they follow the same customs as the Gangadhikara Vokkaligas.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rao|first=C. Hayavadana|date=1927|title=Mysore Gazetteer|volume=1|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.275385/page/n271/mode/2up?q=Vokkaligas|location=Bangalore |publisher=Governmet Press|page=246|isbn=}}:"These are so-called because they are residents of the ancient Kingdom of Nozahambapadi or Nonambavadi. This was ruled over by the Pallavas up to the 10th century A.D. The Pallayas also called themselves as Nonambadhi Eaja, Nonamba Pallava, Pallavadhi Eaja, etc. This section of the Vokkaligas are Lingayats in religion. In most respects, they follow the same customs as the Gangadikara Vokkaligas. Their usual caste title is Gauda,"</ref> | |||
| ===Sadars=== | |||
| They are Vokkaligas found chiefly in the Shimoga and Chitradurga Districts. They were originally Jains, though many converted to the ] and Hindu faiths. The Hindus worship both Siva and Vishnu, while the Jains worship the Jain Tirthankaras and Hindu Gods as well. The non-Lingayats, are divided into | |||
| Huvvinavaru ("Those of flowers") and Hongeyavaru ("Those of the ]"). Sadas had a high social status due to their strict vegetarianism and total abstinence. They have the usual Kattemane form of caste organization. The use the caste title Gowda.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rao|first=C. Hayavadana|date=1927|title=Mysore Gazetteer|volume=1|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.275385/page/n271/mode/2up?q=Vokkaligas|location=Bangalore |publisher=Governmet Press|page=246,247|isbn=}}</ref> | |||
| ==Varna Classification== | |||
| The ] system of ] ritual ranking never really took hold in South Indian society. The two intermediate ] varnas—the Kshatriyas<ref name="Omvedt">{{Citation| title=Dalits and the democratic revolution : Dr. Ambedkar and the Dalit movement in colonial India / Gail Omvedt | author1=Omvedt, Gail | date=January 1994 | publisher=Sage Publications | isbn=0803991398 | language=English|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=leuICwAAQBAJ&q=dalits+and+the+democratic+revolution+ksatriya+jatis+south&pg=PT56}}:”In addition the three way ' caste division ( Brahman , non - Brahman , Untouchable ) seems particularly prominent here. There are no recognized 'Ksatriya' jatis anywhere in the south, and the three states (in contrast to the more inequalitarian hierarchies of Tamil Nadu and Kerala) are characterized by the dominance of large peasant jatis with landholding rights who historically supplied many of the zamindars and rulers but remained classed remained classed as 'Shudra' in the varna scheme.”</ref><ref name="Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4">{{cite book|first=Edgar|last= Thurston|year=1909|title=Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4|publisher=Government Press|location=Madras|volume=4|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42994/42994-h/42994-h.htm}}:”In the Madras Census Report, 1891, it is recorded that “the term Kshatriya is, of course, wholly inapplicable to the Dravidian races, who might with as much, perhaps more, accuracy call themselves Turks.”</ref> and Vaishyas—did not exist. | |||
| James Manor said that | |||
| {{blockquote|"Varnas – the four large traditional divisions of Hindu society, which exclude Dalits – have less importance in South India than elsewhere because there are no indigenous Kshatriyas and Vaisyas in the South"<ref name="Manor">{{cite conference|first=James| last=Manor|title=Accommodation and conflict|conference=CASTE MATTERS, a symposium on inequalities, identities and disintegrating hierarchies in India|url=https://www.india-seminar.com/2012/633/633_james_manor.htm|date=May 2012}}</ref>}} | |||
| There were essentially three classes: Brahmin, non-Brahmin and Dalit.<ref>{{citation |title=Varna Schemes and Ideological Integration in Indian Society |first=Richard G. |last=Fox |journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History |volume=11 |number=1 |date=January 1969 |pages=27–45 |doi=10.1017/S0010417500005132}}: "When recognition of a regional ''varna'' scheme has been unavoidable—such as the tripartite division into Brahmins, non-Brahmins, and Untouchables in much of the South— it has been explained in terms of an historical corruption or breakdown of the standard four-class system, rather than regarded as a functional entity in its own right."</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Ayesha |last=Jalal |title=Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia: A Comparative and Historical Perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mHPok4epvlIC&q=South+india |year=1995 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-47862-5 |page=204}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Jean Alphonse |last=Bernard |title=From Raj to the Republic: A Political History of India, 1935–2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dP9tAAAAMAAJ |year=2001 |publisher=Har Anand Publications |page=37|isbn=9788124107669 }}</ref><ref name="isbn_978-0-521-22692-9 pages 27-28">{{cite book |first1=Tapan |last1=Raychaudhuri |first2=Irfan |last2=Habib |author-link2=Irfan Habib |first3=Dharma |last3=Kumar |title=The Cambridge Economic History of India: c.1200–c.1750 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L-s8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA26 |year=1982 |publisher=Cambridge University Press Archive |isbn=978-0-521-22692-9 |pages=27–28}}</ref><ref name="Dirks 2001 205">{{cite book |last=Dirks |first=Nicholas B.|date=2001|title=Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lekITKy2rd4C&q=castes+of+mind|location=Princeton, New Jersey|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=205|isbn=0691088950}}:"Aside from Brahmans and Rajputs, few actual caste groups could be readily correlated with varna distinctions and few of these castes could be found across wide parts of India. Dominant caste groups in most regions were specific to those regions, as for example the Marathas of Bombay, the Vellalars of Madras, and the Vokkaligas of Mysore. Even the assumption that occupational differentiation provided both the most ready key to caste distinction and the most usable measure of caste significance for imperial purposes flew in the face of the recognition that formal caste titles only rarely indicated true occupation"</ref> Vokkaligas were considered non-Brahmin upper-castes.<ref name="chatterji">{{cite book |first=Rakhahari|last=Chatterji |date=2001 |title=Politics India: The State-society Interface |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dzVuAAAAMAAJ&q=vokkaliga+kshatriya|location=New Delhi|publisher=South Asian Publishers |page=322|isbn=9788170032458}}:"Urs also reduced the proportion of upper caste Lingayat and Vokkaliga aspirants to the state government of the Congress ticket"</ref><ref name="sabanna">{{cite book |author1=Talwar Sabanna |date=2007 |title=Women Education, Employment, and Gender-discrimination |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CmzaAAAAMAAJ&q=vokkaliga+kshatriya |location=New Delhi|publisher=Serial Publications |page=78,184|isbn=9788183870610}}:"Women belonging to upper caste like Kshatriya , Lingayats , Vokkaliga caste groups are increasingly represented in modern occupations "</ref><ref name="Prasad">{{cite book |last=Prasad |first=Chandra Bhan|date=2006 |title=Dalit Phobia: Why Do They Hate Us?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V-VtAAAAMAAJ&q=Vokkaliga |location=New Delhi |publisher=Vitasta Pub|page=81 |isbn=9788189766016}}:"The Shudra castes like Kamma and Reddy ( Andhra Pradesh ) , Vokkaliga and Lingayat ( Karnataka ) , Thewar and Vanniyar ( Tamil Nadu ) , Maratha ( Maharashtra ) and Patels ( Gujarat ) are described as upper castes."</ref> | |||
| Quoting ] | |||
| {{blockquote|"In addition the three way ' caste division ( Brahman , non - Brahman , Untouchable ) seems particularly prominent here. There are no recognized 'Ksatriya' jatis anywhere in the south, and the three states (in contrast to the more inequalitarian hierarchies of Tamil Nadu and Kerala) are characterized by the dominance of large peasant jatis with landholding rights who historically supplied many of the zamindars and rulers but remained classed as 'Shudra' in the varna scheme."<ref name="Omvedt"/>}} | |||
| Therefore Vokkaligas along with other ruling castes like Bunts, Marathas and Nairs were classified as "Upper shudra"/"Sat shudra" during the British Raj.<ref>{{cite book |last=Punja|first=P. R. Ranganatha |date=1948|title=India's legacy, the world's heritage : Dravidian |volume=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yLg1h6j5HcQC&q=brahminical+scale|location=Mangalore |publisher=Basel Mission Book Depot |page=123}}:"Like the Nairs in Malabar , the Bunts and Tulu Gowdas in Canara and the Vakkaligas ' and Gowdas of Nagara , the Coorgs are : in the brahminical scale - Sudra's"</ref><ref name="Prasad"/><ref name="Gundimeda">{{Cite book|last=Gundimeda|first=Sambaiah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FjjbCgAAQBAJ&q=kammas+sat-shudra&pg=PA19|title=Dalit Politics in Contemporary India|date=2015-10-14|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-38105-1|pages=19|language=en}}</ref><ref name="isbn_978-0-521-22692-9 pages 27-28"/> This ritual status was not accepted by the Vokkaligas<ref>{{cite book |author1=Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd|author2=Karthik Raja Karuppusamy |date=2021 |title=The Shudra: Vision for a New Path |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V34fEAAAQBAJ&dq=Vokkaligas+kshatriyas&pg=PT151|location=|publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited |page=|isbn=9789390914241 |quote=In Karnataka, the Vokkaligas strongly believe that they are the neo-Kshatriyas and take pride in their surname, 'Gowda'.}}</ref><ref name="Heitzman 2004 32"/><ref>{{cite book |author1=P. P. Nārāyanan Nambūdiri |date=1992|title=Aryans in South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=El9uAAAAMAAJ&q=gangadhikar|location=India, South|publisher=Inter-India Publications|page=81|isbn=9788121002660|quote=A few South Indian castes claim Ksatriya origin ; such are the Gaudas , the Gollas , Bóndilis , the Gūdigars , the Gangadhikar Vokkaligars , the Kõna Chieftains , the Rāzus , the Bhatia , the Chuvanos , the Koronos , the Bāligas etc.}}</ref> and was misleading<ref>{{cite book |last=Dirks |first=Nicholas B.|date=2001|title=Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lekITKy2rd4C&q=castes+of+mind|location=Princeton, New Jersey|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=203|isbn=0691088950}}:"Varna was evacuated of meaning and utility even as it seemed the obvious ordering principle. In order to deal with the pitfalls of varna, Waterfield attempted a desultory inven- tory of different important castes in discrete regions of India. He mentions the Babhans of Behar, the Kayasths of Bengal, the Buniyas across India, the Chandals of eastern Bengal, the Aheers and Chamars of the Northwest and of Oudh, the Koormees of Bengal and the Central Provinces, the Wakkaleegas of Mysore, and, from Madras, the Vellalars, Chetties, and Vunniars. Waterfield complained that the use of occupations in Madras was invariably misleading, as it "must not be supposed that even a majority of any particular caste now follow the occupation according to which they are thus arranged."</ref><ref name="Dirks 2001 205"/> as historically, dominant land-holding castes like the Vokkaligas, Vellalars and Reddys belonged to the ruling classes<ref>{{cite book |last=Prasad|first=S.Shyam |date=2018|title=Enigmas of Karnataka: Mystery meets History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-NIDwAAQBAJ&q=Enigmas+of+Karnataka+Division+on+Caste+lines&pg=PT62|location=Chennai|publisher=Notion Press|isbn=9781642491227}}:"In the 17th Century, Chikkadevaraja created the Urs caste and classified it into 31 clans. Of these, 13 clans were deemed superior, while the remaining 18 were placed lower in the hierarchy. This latter comprised ruling families in the domain he was rapidly expanding. The most populous caste in this region, the Gowdas (the caste name Vokkaliga was later affixed to it during the British Census), clearly had more families in the ruling classes."</ref><ref name="Gundimeda"/><ref name="Gavunda"/><ref name="Stein 1990 82–83, 96–97"/> and were analogous to the ] of the Brahmanical society.<ref name="Gundimeda"/><ref name="sabanna"/><ref name="Ludden 1999 91,198,205"/><ref name="Stein 1980 131, 448–449"/><ref name="Shetty 1994 121"/> | |||
| {{blockquote|"In the 17th Century, Chikkadevaraja created the Urs caste and classified it into 31 clans. Of these, 13 clans were deemed superior, while the remaining 18 were placed lower in the hierarchy. This latter comprised ruling families in the domain he was rapidly expanding. The most populous caste in this region, the Gowdas (the caste name Vokkaliga was later affixed to it during the British Census), clearly had more families in the ruling classes."<ref name="Prasad 2018"/>}} | |||
| == Economy == | == Economy == | ||
Revision as of 17:41, 7 March 2023
Vokkaliga (also transliterated as Vokkaligar, Vakkaliga, Wakkaliga, Okkaligar, Okkiliyan) is a community, or a group of closely-related castes, from the Indian state of Karnataka. They are also present in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu.
Vokkaligas were historically the serf community of Karnataka and indulge in forms agriculture The name "Vokkaliga" is derived from the word Okkalu meaning "tenets". They usually lived in the lands owned by their owners. In Hindu caste system they belong in the Shudra Varna
Most subsects of the Vokkaliga community are designated as Other Backward Class by the Karnataka Government. .
Vokkaligas commonly carry titles such as Gowda, Hegde and Gounder.
Etymology
Vokkaliga
The most popular theory among the etymology of vokkaliga is that they were derived from the word Okkalu meaning tenent .Another theory is that the word Okkalutana in Kannada which means agriculture is also an origin for their name .
Gowda
According to historian Suryanath U. Kamath, the word Gowda derives from Gavunda. The German Indologist Gustav Oppert opined that the root of ‘Gowda’ is a Dravidian word meaning "mountain".
Subgroups
Exogamy at the family/clan level is strictly controlled by using the idiom of Mane Devaru (the patron god of the given exogamic clan) which dictates that the followers of same Mane Devaru are siblings and marriage is thus forbidden, allowing marital alliances only with another clan and not within.
Varna Classification
Vokkaligas were part of the Shudra community, however some historians do question the legitimacy of their origin suggesting they may be just another tribal community from South who were sanskritzed during the arrival of Aryans from the north.
Economy
Before the 20th century Vokkaligas were the landed gentry and agricultural caste of Karnataka. Despite the community enjoying the status of chieftains and zamindars, there were also a lot of small landholding farmers. They, along with the Lingayats, owned most of the cultivated land in the state. Therefore they were considered forward castes and dominant-majority communities. In 1961, Karnataka passed a new Land Reforms Act under the then Revenue minister and idealist Kadidal Manjappa (a Vokkaliga). This was followed by another Land Reform Act passed in 1973 by Ex-Chief Minister Devaraj Urs. These acts redistributed land from the Vokkaliga landlords to the landless and land-poor.
See also
References
- V.T, Sundaramurthy (2007). "The Genesis, Divisions, Movement and Transformation of Okkaligar Community" (PDF). The Anthropologist. 9 (4): 305–313. doi:10.1080/09720073.2007.11891017. S2CID 74219783.
- "TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING THE POLITICAL CULTURE OF SOUTH INDIA".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "The Indian Journal of Political Science".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "A social history of India".
- "PDF - National OBC list for Karnataka" (PDF).
- Joshi, Bharath (17 February 2021). "Now, Vokkaligas gear up to fight for more quota". Deccan Herald. Bengaluru. Retrieved 7 May 2021.:"Not all 115 sub-sects of the Vokkaliga community have been included under OBC. As a result, many sub-sects are deprived of government benefits. All sub-sects must be included under OBC and we must campaign for this,campaign for this," the statement said. The pontiff also said that Vokkaligas in urban areas were in dire straits and they needed more reservation. At present, some 20 sub-sects of Vokkaligas come under Category 3A with a 4 per cent reservation in Karnataka.
- D K Kulkarni (1992). "Tenants movements in Uttara Kannada district and the Kagodu Satyagraha". Peasant movements in Karnataka since 1900 their nature and results (PDF). Karnatak University / Shodhganga. p. 80. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
Gowdas, literary means a village headman usually from Vokkaliga community in Southern district of Karnataka and Lingayat in Northern part
- K. S. Singh (1998). India's Communities. Anthropological Survey of India Oxford University Press. p. 3677. ISBN 978-0-19-563354-2.
They are also known as Namdhari Gauda or Nadavaru. Heggade and Gowda are the titles , which they suffix to their names.
- Singh, Kumar Suresh (2001). People of India. Vol. 40, part 2. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 640. ISBN 9788185938882.:”The community has titles viz. Gowda , Gowdar , Gounder and Kounder.”
- "A Social History of India".
- Kannada Nighantu. Kannada Sahitya Parishat, Bangalore. 1970.
- Kamath, Suryanath U.; Naik, R.A (1983). Gazetteer of India Government of Karnataka, Karnataka State Gazetteer Part II. Bangalore: Parishree Printers. pp. 243–244.: "Villages had gramakuta or gavunda (gauda), the village headman. He had under him the village militia^ later called as talaras and tolls."
- Kumar Suresh Singh; Anthropological Survey of India (2002). People of India. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 408. ISBN 978-81-85938-99-8.
- Banerjee, Bhavani (1966). Marriage and kinship of the Gangadikara vokkaligas of Mysore. Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Inst. p. 31. OCLC 833158967.
- Nanjundayya, H.V; Iyer, L.K Ananthakrishna (1931). The Mysore Tribes and Castes. Vol. 4. Mysore: The Mysore University. pp. 20–21.
- "Social history of South India Vol 49".
- Cite error: The named reference
Government of Karnatakawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - Ikegame, Aya (7 May 2013). Princely India Re-imagined: A Historical Anthropology of Mysore from 1799 to the Present. Routledge. pp. 93–94. ISBN 9781136239090.:”The political advantage of these two dominant castes was not only derived from their numbers. They are numerous, but their combined numbers still only amount to 26 per cent of the state population. It arose from the fact that their caste members have a strong influence in local society, as most of them are landlords and village heads.”
- Cite error: The named reference
Gavundawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - Biswal, S.K.; Kusuma, K.S.; Mohanty, S. (2020). Handbook of Research on Social and Cultural Dynamics in Indian Cinema. Hershey PA, USA: Information Science Reference, an imprint of IGI Global. p. 46. ISBN 9781799835141.:"Though the Vokkaliga community enjoyed the status of Chieftains and landlords as well as Zamindars, a lot of them were small landholding farmers."
- Cite error: The named reference
Karnataka Backward Classeswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - Thimmaiah, G.; Aziz, Abdul (1983). "The Political Economy of Land Reforms in Karnataka, A South Indian State". Asian Survey. 23 (7): 810–829. doi:10.2307/2644290. ISSN 0004-4687. JSTOR 2644290.
- Manor, James (February 1980). "Pragmatic Progressives in Regional Politics: The Case of Devaraj Urs". Economic and Political Weekly. 15 (5/7): 202. JSTOR 4368367. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
- Frankel, Francine R; Rao, M. S. A (1989), Dominance and state power in modern India : decline of a social order / editors, Francine R. Frankel, M.S.A. Rao, Oxford University Press, pp. 322–361, ISBN 0195620984