Vokkaliga

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Vokkaliga (also transliterated as Vokkaligar, Vakkaliga, Wakkaliga, Okkaligar, Okkiliyan) is a community of closely related castes, from the Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.[1]

As a community of warriors[2][3] and cultivators[4] they have historically had notable demographic, political, and economic dominance in Old Mysore (region).[5][6][7][8][9] It is believed by some historians that the Rashtrakutas[10][11] and Western Gangas[12][13] were of Vokkaliga origin. The Vokkaligas occupied administrative positions in the Vijaynagar Empire.[14][15][16][8] They later formed the early rulers of the Nayakas of Keladi.[17] 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.[18][19][20][21] Under the Kingdom of Mysore they operated autonomously[22] and also served in the army and militia.[23] The Vokkaligas formed the landed-gentry[24][25][26] and warrior class[2][3] of Karnataka.[27][15][4]

Most subsects of the Vokkaliga community are designated as Forward castes[28][29][30] by the Central Government of India. While some subsects in rural areas, are designated as Other Backward Class by the Karnataka Government.[31][30] Vokkaligas of the Lingayat faith are treated separately.[32]

Vokkaligas commonly carry titles such as Gowda,[33] Hegde[34] and Gounder.[35]

  1. ^ 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. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Gundimeda was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Gavunda was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Ludden, David (1999). An Agrarian History of South Asia (The New Cambridge History of India). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 91. ISBN 9781139053396. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  5. ^ Robert, Bruce L. (1982). Agrarian organization and resource distribution in South India: Bellary District 1800-1979. University of Wisconsin--Madison. p. 88. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Frankel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ K, Seshadri (April–June 1988). "Towards Understanding the Political Culture of South India". The Indian Journal of Political Science. 49 (2): 231–267. JSTOR 41855369. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  8. ^ a b (social activist.), Saki (1998). Making History: Stone age to mercantilism, Volume 1 of Making History: Karnataka's People and Their Past. Bangalore: Vimukthi Prakashana. p. 311. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  9. ^ "Born to be a force to reckon with". DNA India. 26 April 2010. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  10. ^ Shetty, Sadanand Ramakrishna (1994). Banavasi Through the Ages. Banavasi (India): Printwell. p. 121. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2021.:"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."
  11. ^ L. K. Ananthakrishna Iyer; H. V. Nanjundayya (1930). The Mysore Tribes And Castes. Vol. 3. Mysore: Mysore University. pp. 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."
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ganga-arasu was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference westernganga was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Madhava, K. G. Vasantha (1991). Western Karnataka, Its Agrarian Relations, 1500-1800 A.D. New Delhi: Navrang. p. 176. ISBN 9788170130734. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2021.:"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."
  15. ^ a b Stein, Burton (1990). The New Cambridge History of India:Vijayanagara. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 82–83, 96–97. ISBN 9781139055611.
  16. ^ Ludden, David (1999). An Agrarian History of South Asia (The New Cambridge History of India). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 91,198,205. ISBN 9781139053396. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  17. ^ The quarterly journal of the Mythic society Vol.XI. Bangalore: The Mythic Society, Daly Memorial Hall. 1921. pp. 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"
  18. ^ Prasad, S.Shyam (2018). Enigmas of Karnataka: Mystery meets History. Chennai: Notion Press. ISBN 9781642491227. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2021.:"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."
  19. ^ Ikegame, Aya (7 May 2013). Princely India Re-imagined: A Historical Anthropology of Mysore from 1799 to ... Routledge. pp. 76–77. ISBN 9781136239090. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  20. ^ Ikegame, Aya (2007). Royalty in Colonial and Post-Colonial India: A Historical Anthropology of Mysore from 1799 to the present (PhD). University of Edinburgh. p. 77-78,99-100.
  21. ^ Heitzman, James (2004). Network City: Planning the Information Society in Bangalore. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 32. ISBN 9780195666069. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2021.:"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."
  22. ^ 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, p. 330, ISBN 0195620984, archived from the original on 8 March 2023, retrieved 4 May 2021:”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
  23. ^ (social activist.), Saki (1998). Making History: Stone age to mercantilism, Volume 1 of Making History: Karnataka's People and Their Past. p. 420,536. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  24. ^ Report of the second backward classes commission. Vol. 3. Bangalore: Government of Karnataka. 1986. p. 48.: "Vokkaligas are the landed gentry and the agriculturist caste of Karnataka."
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference villagehead was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ (social activist.), Saki (1998). Making History: Stone age to mercantilism, Volume 1 of Making History: Karnataka's People and Their Past. Bangalore: Vimukthi Prakashana. p. 173,311,431. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  27. ^ Stein, Burton (1980). Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India. Delhi: Oxford University Press. pp. 131, 448–449.
  28. ^ "Karnataka Caste Wise Report". karepass.cgg.gov.in (Karnataka ePASS, Electronic Payment and Application System of Scholarships). Department of Backward Classes Welfare, Government of Karnataka. 2021. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  29. ^ P, Radhakrishnan (11 August 1990). "Karnataka Backward Classes". Economic and Political Weekly. 25 (32): 1749–1754. JSTOR 4396609. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  30. ^ a b Joshi, Bharath (17 February 2021). "Now, Vokkaligas gear up to fight for more quota". Deccan Herald. Bengaluru. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. 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.
  31. ^ "PDF - National OBC list for Karnataka" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  32. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lingayat Vokkaligas was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ^ 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. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016. Gowdas, literary means a village headman usually from Vokkaliga community in Southern district of Karnataka and Lingayat in Northern part
  34. ^ K. S. Singh (1998). India's Communities. Anthropological Survey of India Oxford University Press. p. 3677. ISBN 978-0-19-563354-2. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2022. They are also known as Namdhari Gauda or Nadavaru. Heggade and Gowda are the titles, which they suffix to their names.
  35. ^ Singh, Kumar Suresh (2001). People of India. Vol. 40, part 2. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 640. ISBN 9788185938882. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2021.:”The community has titles viz. Gowda, Gowdar, Gounder and Kounder.”