Soliga, also spelled Solega, Sholaga and Shōlaga, is an ethnic group of

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. Its members inhabit the mountain ranges mostly in the

Chamarajanagar Chamarajanagar or Chamarajanagara is a town in the southern part of Karnataka, India. Named after Chamaraja Wodeyar IX, the erstwhile king of Mysore, previously known as 'Arikottara'. Chamarajanagara is the headquarters of Chamarajanagar dis ...

district of southern

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karn ...

and

Erode Erode () is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in the state, after Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Tiruppur and Salem. It is also the administrative headquarters of the ...

district of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language� ...

. Many are concentrated in the

Biligiriranga Hills The Biligirirangana Hills or Biligirirangan Hills (as referred to in biology and geology) is a hill range situated in south-western Karnataka, at its border with Tamil Nadu (Erode District) in South India. The area is called Biligiri Ranganatha ...

and associated ranges, mainly in the

taluka A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its adminis ...

Yelandur Yalandur is a taluk and town in Chamarajanagar district in southern Karnataka, India. It has historic and cultural importance in this region. Along with three other taluks, it was officially included into Chamarajanagar district when the distri ...

Kollegal Kollegal is one of the major taluks in the Chamarajanagara District of Karnataka State in the south of India. It is also the largest taluk in Karnataka, Kollegal is well known for its silk industry which attracts traders from all over the s ...

and

of Karnataka. The Soliga speak Sholaga, which belongs to the Dravidian family. Under Indian law, they are recognized as a

scheduled tribe The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

, they have a population of around 40,000.

Origin

The Soliga tribe trace their origin to Karayya, son of Lord Maleya Mahadeshwara, swamy of Maleya Mahadeshwara Hills, Karnataka. Legend says that on seeing Karayya's affinity towards wild animals, Lord Maleya Mahadeshwara swamy asked Karayya to reside in forests, whereas the other son Biliyayya resided in plains and became the forefather of Lingayats.

Language

The Soliga speak the Sholaga language (Soliganudi) as a mother tongue. A member of the Dravidian family, it is most closely related to

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

with several

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

influences.

Groups

There are five sub groups of Soligas: * Male Soliga: Kannada speakers residing in

* Urali Soliga: Kannada and Tamil speakers, residing in border areas of

* Pujari group: reside in Maleya Mahadeshwara Hills * Kadu Soliga: reside near Bandipur Forest * Burude Soliga: reside in

Heggadadevanakote Heggadadevanakote or H.D.Kote is a town and a taluk headquarters in Mysore district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Kakana kote ''Kakana Kote'' ( kn, ಕಾಕನ ಕೋಟೆ) is a 1977 Indian Kannada biographical drama film adapted fr ...

Taluk and

Kodagu Kodagu (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State, at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State. It occupies ...

Furthermore, these groups have several sub-groups.

Occupation and social status

The Soliga used to practice

shifting cultivation Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned while post-disturbance fallow vegetation is allowed to freely grow while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The period of cul ...

, but have more or less given up this practice now. They grow ''Ragi'' (

Finger millet ''Eleusine coracana'', or finger millet, also known as ragi in India, kodo in Nepal, is an annual herbaceous plant widely grown as a cereal crop in the arid and semiarid areas in Africa and Asia. It is a tetraploid and self-pollinating species ...

, ''Eleusine coracana'') for subsistence. Their main source of income is harvesting and sale of Non-timber Forest Produce (NTFP) like honey, ''nellikai'' (gooseberry, ''

Emblica officinalis ''Phyllanthus emblica'', also known as emblic, emblic myrobalan, myrobalan, Indian gooseberry, Malacca tree, or amla, from the Sanskrit आमलकी (āmalakī), is a deciduous tree of the family Phyllanthaceae. Its native range is tropical a ...

''), bamboo, ''Paasi'' (Lichen), algae, wild turmeric, Indian blackberry, soapnut and nennari (wild root). They also make baskets using bamboo. They are increasingly being brought to the "mainstream" with active Government and NGO initiative. Many have been given lands closer to 'civilised areas' and most of the forest-dwelling population have been brought together into clusters called ''Podus''. Most of the forest area they stay comes under wild life protection area. The Biligiriranga Hills is a Wildlife Sanctuary under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the Male Mahadeswara Hills is a Reserve Forest, and

Bandipur Bandipur () is a hilltop settlement and a rural municipality in Tanahun District, Gandaki province of Nepal. Bandipur is primarily known for its preserved, old time cultural atmosphere. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of ...

is a National Park. Their rights on harvesting NTFP is being sought to be withdrawn citing conservation concerns, sparking a debate about the rights of indigenous people. The Soligas later won a court case to stay on their land.

Religion

Soliga people follow naturism and animism along with following Hindu practices and their main deities are Madeshwara, Rangaswamy of Biligirirangana Hills (who is considered the brother-in-law of the clan), Karayya, Kyate Devaru and Jadeswamy. Other deities worshipped by them include Madeshwara, Basaveshwara and Nanjundeshwara and Sri Alamelu Ranganayaki smetha Sri ranganatha.

References

{{reflist

External links

Indian tribe secures unprecedented rights to tiger reserve
Survival International
The Soligas of Karnataka and their intimate relationship with nature
''on Biodiversity of India wiki'' Dravidian peoples Indigenous peoples of South Asia Social groups of Karnataka