Golla (caste)

The Golla are a Telugu-speaking pastoral community[1][2] primarily living in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with smaller numbers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.[3][4][5][6] They are related to other pastoral-herding castes like Gulla, Gullar (in Karnataka), Gollewar, Gavli and Dhangar (in the Marathwada area of Maharashtra State) and are a part of the larger Yadav community.[7][8] They are classified as a Backward Caste.[9]

Golla
ReligionsHinduism
LanguagesTelugu
CountryIndia
Populated statesAndhra Pradesh • Telangana • Karnataka • Tamil Nadu

Gollas are traditionally cowherds, but they engage in both sheep/goat and cattle pastoralism, in that they either herd exclusively sheep, a mixed herd of sheep and goats, or cattle.[10][11][5]

Etymology

One etymology for Golla name comes from the Sanskrit "Gopala", which in North India passed through Prakrit "Gwala". Several other variants of the name exist in South India, in such forms as Gollavaru, Godlavaru, etc.[12] There are many synonyms by which they are referred to within their community, namely Kadugolla, Oorugolla, Adivigolla, Handigolla and Gopala. Others refer to them only as Golla or Gollaru.[13]

The Gollas also call themselves Yadava. In the early 1920s, castes such as Ahir, Gavli, Golla, Gopa and Goala, which were traditionally engaged in cattle-related occupations, started referring to themselves as Yadav/Yadava. They claimed that they were related to the Yadav of the Puranas, which were held to be synonymous and associated with Lord Krishna, a cowherd.[14]

Sub-castes

The community, due to its size, has a great number of sub-castes, including: Yerra, Mushti, Masaram, Karine, Pakinati, Puja, Modateetta, Nallasadana, Gujarathi, Gampa, Peyya, Veyya, Kuruma and Sidda.[15] The Kannada-speaking Hanabaru or Krishna Golla are also considered to be a sub-caste.[16]

History

The Gollas trace their genealogical links with the Yadavas. In the context of Puranic Yadava lineages, attention was drawn (Romila Thapar 1978) to a South Indian tradition, according to which eighteen Yadava (Velir) clans are believed to have migrated from the North to the Deccan around 800 B.C. under the leadership of Agastya. Then some of the medieval dynasties (c. 1200 A.D.) of Western Deccan-Rastrakutas of Malkhed, Hoyasalas of Dwarasamudram and Yadavas of Devagiri-claim Yadava descentand their contemporaries in Eastern Deccan, who ruled over some parts of Pakanadu (present day Nellore Taluq, Nellore District) and parts of Kammanadu (Ongole, Addanki and Darsi Taluqs of Prakasam District) as feudatories. Telugu Codas of Nellore and Kakatiyas of Warangal, also belonged to a branch of the Yadavas of Devagiri. These Yadava dynasties of both the Western and Eastern Deccan claimed that they belonged to the moon born lineage (Candra vamsa). In the late medieval and precolonial period, some lineages of Gollas emerged as powerful chieftains (Poligars) and they held sway over some parts of Rayalaseema.[17][18]

Some scholars believe that people of different origins are linked together by similar professions and constitute the Golla caste.[19]

Assimilation into Yadav community

In 1923, leaders from the North Indian Ahir and Maharashtraian Gavli communities formed All India Yadav Mahasabha (AIYM) to promote Yadava identity amongst regional castes whose occupation was associated with cattle, i.e, cowherds, herdsmen, milk-sellers. They claimed that they were related to the Yadu dynasty of the Puranas, hence the term Yadav. Lord Krishna, a cowherd, was the hero-god of Abhiras.[20] The AIYM insisted that all these regional castes known by different names, call themselves Yadav/Yadava and that each person have Yadav as his last name, and this was enthusiastically followed by various communities who were traditionally involved in cattle related occupations. The Gollas of Hyderabad state, under the leadership of their regional association, the Hyderabad Rashtra Yadava Mahajana Samajam, requested to the Census Commissioner for a change in their caste names Golla, Gawli, Gollawar and Ahir to Yadava. Similarly, in 1930, the government of Madras state directed the adoption of the term "Yadava", in place of Golla, Idaiyan, Gopa, Gopi or Gowla, in all official documents. This was in response to an appeal made by the Yadukula Maha Sangham of east Godavari District.[15]

Religion

Gollas are both Vaishnavites and Saivites. They put on a vertical yellow or red streak on their forehead, indicating Vaishnavism, and worship a deity, Mallanna, who is a form of Shiva.[21] The Yerra (or Kilari Gollas) regard themselves as superior to other Gollas and put on a sacred thread during marriages.[22]

Social status

Gollas were looked upon fairly high; equally with the agricultural castes such as the Kamma, Kapu, and Balija, Gollas were allowed to intermingle with these castes.[23] The Gollas are classified as Other Backward Class in the Indian System of Reservation.[24][4][25]

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams
  • In June 2020, Andhra Pradesh state government restored 'Golla Mirasi', also known as 'Golla Mandapam', the hereditary rights of the Golla community pertaining to certain rituals at Tirumala temple.[26]

See also

References
  1. Ramamoorthy, L. (2000). Language Loyalty and Displacement: Among Telugu Minorities in Pondicherry. Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture. ISBN 978-81-85452-10-4.
  2. Srivastava, Vinay Kumar (1997). Religious Renunciation of a Pastoral People. Oxford University Press, 1997. p. 7. ISBN 9780195641219.
  3. India, Anthropological Survey of (1989). All India Anthropometric Survey: Analysis of Data. South Zone. Anthropological Survey of India.
  4. Central Commission for Backward Classes (20 October 2020). Central List of OBCs Karnataka (Report). Archived from the original on 22 December 2018.
  5. Murthy, M.L.K. (1 February 1993). "Ethnohistory of pastoralism: A study of Kurubas and Gollas". Studies in History. 9 (1): 33–41. doi:10.1177/025764309300900102. S2CID 161569571.
  6. "LIST OF BACKWARD CLASSES APPROVED". www.bcmbcmw.tn.gov.in. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  7. General, India Office of the Registrar (1962). Census of India, 1961. Manager of Publications.
  8. Singh, K. S.; India, Anthropological Survey of (1998). India's Communities. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-563354-2.
  9. "Central List of OBCs". 24 December 2020. Archived from the original on 25 December 2020.
  10. Singh, K. S. (1992). People of India: Andhra Pradesh. Anthropological Survey of India. ISBN 978-81-85579-09-2.
  11. The Eastern Anthropologist. Ethnographic and Folk Culture Society. 1966.
  12. Vignesha, M. S. (1993). Sociology of Animal Husbandry: Studies Made in Five Villages in Karanataka. Associated Publishing Company. ISBN 978-81-85211-33-6.
  13. Singh, Kumar Suresh (2003). People of India: (3 pts.). Karnataka. Anthropological Survey of India. ISBN 978-81-85938-98-1.
  14. Rao, M. S. A. (1987). Social Movements and Social Transformation: A Study of Two Backward Classes Movements in India. Manohar. ISBN 978-0-8364-2133-0.
  15. Rao, M. S. A. (1979). Social movements and social transformation: a study of two backward classes movements in India. Delhi: Macmillan. pp. 139, 141, 148. ISBN 9780333902554.
  16. Karnataka (India) (1987). Karnataka State Gazetteer: Belgaum. Director of Print, Stationery and Publications at the Government Press.
  17. Studies in History. Sage. 1993.
  18. Reddy, Prof Katta Narasimha; Reddy, Prof E. Siva Nagi; Naik, Prof K. Krishna (31 January 2023). Kalyana Mitra: Volume 10. Blue Rose Publishers.
  19. Coccari, Diane Marjorie (1986). The Bir Babas of Banaras: An Analysis of a Folk Deity in North Indian Hinduism. University of Wisconsin--Madison.
  20. Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes in North India. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. pp. 189, 194–196. ISBN 978-1-85065-670-8.
  21. Murty, M. L. K.; Sontheimer, Günther D. (1980). "Prehistoric Background to Pastoralism in the Southern Deccan in the Light of Oral Traditions and Cults of Some Pastoral Communities". Anthropos. 75 (1/2): 163–184. ISSN 0257-9774. JSTOR 40460587.
  22. General, India Office of the Registrar (1973). Census of India, 1971: Mysore (in German). Manager of Publications.
  24. Central Commission for Backward Classes. Central List of OBCs Telangana (Report). Archived from the original on 25 December 2020.
  25. Central Commission for Backward Classes (20 October 2020). Central List of OBCs Maharashtra (Report). Archived from the original on 10 November 2020.
  26. "Yadavas hail restoration of 'Golla Mirasi'". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
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