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

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Its members inhabit the mountain ranges mostly in the

Chamarajanagar Chamarajanagara is a city and headquarter of eponymous Chamarajanagar district in the Karnataka state of India. It is named after Chamaraja Wodeyar IX, the erstwhile Raja of Mysore, Chamarajanagara was previously known as 'Arikottara'. Hist ...

district of southern

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

and

Erode Erode (; īrōṭu), is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Kaveri river and is surrounded by the Western Ghats. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in Tamil Nadu. It is the administrativ ...

district of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. Many are concentrated in the Biligiriranga Hills and associated ranges, mainly in the

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

s Yelandur,

Kollegal Kollegal (or Kollegala) is the Major taluk in the Chamarajanagara District of Karnataka State in the south of India. Kollegala is well known for its silk industry which attracts traders from all over the state. History Until 1956, Kollegala ...

and

of Karnataka. The Soliga speak Sholaga, which belongs to the Dravidian family. Under Indian law, they are recognized as a scheduled tribe, 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 () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

with several

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

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 Taluk and

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

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 Finger millet (''Eleusine coracana'') is an Annual plant, annual herbaceous plant widely grown as a cereal crop in the arid and Semi-arid climate, semiarid areas in Africa and Asia. It is a tetraploid and Self-pollination, self-pollinating speci ...

, ''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, nelikai, Indian gooseberry, Malacca tree, amloki or amla, is a deciduous tree of the family Phyllanthaceae. Its native range is tropical and southern Asia. Descript ...

''), 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 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.her deities worshipped by them include Madeshwara, Basaveshwara and Nanjundeshwara and Sri Alamelu Ranganayaki smetha Sri hanuma.

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