Dr. Editor at 05:31, 2 June 2026

2026-06-02T05:31:24Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2019}}
{{infobox caste
| caste_name = Golla (Goala)
| classification =
| religions = [[Hinduism]]
| languages =
[[Telugu language|Telugu]]{{*}}[[Kannada language|Kannada]]
| country =
[[India]]
| populated_states = [[Andhra Pradesh]]{{*}}[[Telangana]]{{*}}[[Karnataka]]{{*}}[[Tamil Nadu]]
}}
The '''Golla''', also spelt as '''Goalas'''<ref>{{cite book|first=Vinay Kumar |last=Srivastava |title=Religious Renunciation of a Pastoral People |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EFzkAAAAMAAJ |year=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press, 1997 |isbn=9780195641219 |page=7 }}</ref> are a [[Telugu language|Telugu]]-speaking pastoral community<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ramamoorthy|first=L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yYgOAAAAYAAJ&q=Golla|title=Language Loyalty and Displacement: Among Telugu Minorities in Pondicherry|date=2000|publisher=Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture|isbn=978-81-85452-10-4|language=en}}</ref> inhabited in the states of [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Telangana]], [[Karnataka]] and [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=India|first=Anthropological Survey of|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U0uAAAAAMAAJ&q=golla+balijas|title=All India Anthropometric Survey: Analysis of Data. South Zone|date=1989|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Karnataka OBC"/><ref name="Ethnohistory of pastoralism"/><ref>{{Cite web|title=LIST OF BACKWARD CLASSES APPROVED|url=http://www.bcmbcmw.tn.gov.in/bclist.htm|access-date=2020-12-28|website=www.bcmbcmw.tn.gov.in}}</ref> They represent 13.4% of the total population of Andhra Pradesh state.<ref name="The Hindu 2014">{{cite web | title=Seemandhra Yadavs demand 7 MP, 25 Assembly seats | website=The Hindu | date=2014-03-18 | url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Vijayawada/seemandhra-yadavs-demand-7-mp-25-assembly-seats/article5799591.ece | access-date=2021-01-08}}</ref> This caste is called by separate names in different regions, namely Gulla, Gullar (in Karnataka), [[Gollewar]], [[Gavli|Gavali]] and [[Dhangar]] (in the Marathwada area of Maharastra State).<ref>{{Cite book|last=General|first=India Office of the Registrar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cQUdAQAAMAAJ&q=Dhangar|title=Census of India, 1961|date=1962|publisher=Manager of Publications|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Singh|first1=K. S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mt9G1e6JF-QC&q=gauvali|title=India's Communities|last2=India|first2=Anthropological Survey of|date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-563354-2|language=en}}</ref> They are classified as a [[Other Backward Class|Backward Caste]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=24 December 2020|title=Central List of OBCs|url=http://www.ncbc.nic.in/user_panel/GazetteResolution.aspx?Value=mPICjsL1aLvZW9%2fwXcIbxcNal%2fTghxZUuV7adcx5Bs1cEGdzKqq0GufcXEZAUTq0|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225025539/http://www.ncbc.nic.in/user_panel/GazetteResolution.aspx?Value=mPICjsL1aLvZW9%2FwXcIbxcNal%2FTghxZUuV7adcx5Bs1cEGdzKqq0GufcXEZAUTq0|archive-date=24 December 2020}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=K. S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cvcejt9krDkC&q=golla+cowherds|title=People of India: Andhra Pradesh|date=1992|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India|isbn=978-81-85579-09-2|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9rYjAQAAIAAJ&q=golla+cowherd|title=The Eastern Anthropologist|date=1966|publisher=Ethnographic and Folk Culture Society|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Ethnohistory of pastoralism">{{cite journal |last1=Murthy|first1=M.L.K.|date=1993-02-01 |title=Ethnohistory of pastoralism: A study of Kurubas and Gollas |journal=Studies in History |volume=9|issue= 1|pages=33–41 |doi= 10.1177/025764309300900102|s2cid=161569571}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The Gollas are called Gawalis. One etymology for their 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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Vignesha|first=M. S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BCXbAAAAMAAJ&q=golla+gopala|title=Sociology of Animal Husbandry: Studies Made in Five Villages in Karanataka|date=1993|publisher=Associated Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-85211-33-6|language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Kumar Suresh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FRQwAQAAIAAJ&q=Yadava|title=People of India: (3 pts.). Karnataka|date=2003|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India|isbn=978-81-85938-98-1|language=en}}</ref>

The Gollas also call themselves Yadava. In the early 1920s, castes such as [[Ahir]], [[Gavli]], Golla, [[Gopas|Gopa]] and [[Gopas|Goala]], which were traditionally engaged in cattle-related occupations, started referring to themselves as Yadav/Yadava. They claimed that they were related to the [[Abhiras]] and [[Yadavas]] of the [[Puranas]], which were held to be synonymous and associated with [[Lord Krishna]], a cowherd.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rao|first=M. S. A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wWEiAQAAMAAJ&q=yadu|title=Social Movements and Social Transformation: A Study of Two Backward Classes Movements in India|date=1987|publisher=Manohar|isbn=978-0-8364-2133-0|language=en}}</ref>

==Sub-castes==
The community, due to its size, has a great number of sub-castes, including: Yerra, Mushti, Karine, Pakinati, Puja, Modateetta, Nallasadana, Gujarathi, Gampa, Peyya, Veyya, Kuruma and Sidda.<ref name="Rao"/> The Kannada-speaking [[Hanabaru]] or Krishna Golla are also considered to be a sub-caste.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Karnataka (India)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Lm1AAAAIAAJ&q=hanabaru|title=Karnataka State Gazetteer: Belgaum|date=1987|publisher=Director of Print, Stationery and Publications at the Government Press|language=en}}</ref>{{pn|date=August 2021}}

==Assimilation into Yadav community==

In 1923, leaders from the [[North Indian]] [[Ahir]] and [[Marathi people|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 [[Yadava|Yadu dynasty]] of the [[Puranas]], hence the term ''Yadav'', through the [[Abhira]] tribe. [[Lord Krishna]], a cowherd, was the hero-god of Abhiras.<ref>{{cite book|first=Christophe |last=Jaffrelot|author-link1=Christophe Jaffrelot|title=India's Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes in North India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJZp5tDuY-gC|year=2003|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|isbn=978-1-85065-670-8|pages=189,194–196}}</ref> 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]].<ref name="Rao">{{cite book|last=Rao|first=M. S. A.|author-link1=M. S. A. Rao|year=1979|title= Social movements and social transformation: a study of two backward classes movements in India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tZAiAAAAMAAJ |location=Delhi |publisher=Macmillan |pages=139,141,148|isbn=9780333902554}}</ref>

==Religion==
Gollas are both [[Vaishnavas|Vaishnavites]] and [[Shivaism|Saivites]]. They put on a vertical yellow or red streak on their forehead, indicating [[Vaishnavism]], and worship a deity, [[Mailar Mallanna Temple|Mallanna]], who is a form of [[Shiva]].<ref name="Murthy-Sontheimer">{{Cite journal|last1=Murty|first1=M. L. K.|last2=Sontheimer|first2=Günther D.|date=1980|title=Prehistoric Background to Pastoralism in the Southern Deccan in the Light of Oral Traditions and Cults of Some Pastoral Communities|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40460587|journal=Anthropos|volume=75|issue=1/2|pages=163–184|jstor=40460587|issn=0257-9774}}</ref> The Yerra (or Kilari Gollas) regard themselves as superior to other Gollas and put on a [[sacred thread]] during marriages.<ref>{{Cite book|last=General|first=India Office of the Registrar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ixZAAAAAMAAJ&q=gollas|title=Census of India, 1971: Mysore|date=1973|publisher=Manager of Publications|language=de}}</ref>
==Social status==
Gollas were looked upon fairly high; equally with the agricultural castes such as the [[Kapu (caste)|Kapu]], [[Kamma (caste)|Kamma]], and [[Balija]], Gollas were allowed to intermingle with these castes.<ref name=":0" />

Some sources suggest that they might have immigrated from [[North India]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kumari|first=M. Krishna|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCbuAAAAIAAJ&q=fairly+high|title=Facets of Andhra Culture|date=1997|publisher=Gyan Sagar Publications|isbn=978-81-86987-04-9|language=en}}</ref>

The Gollas are classified as [[Other Backward Class]] in the [[Reservation in India|Indian System of Reservation]].<ref name="Telangana OBC">{{cite report |author=Central Commission for Backward Classes|archive-date=2020-12-24|title=Central List of OBCs Telangana|url=http://www.ncbc.nic.in/user_panel/GazetteResolution.aspx?Value=mPICjsL1aLvZW9%2fwXcIbxcNal%2fTghxZUuV7adcx5Bs1cEGdzKqq0GufcXEZAUTq0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225025539/http://www.ncbc.nic.in/user_panel/GazetteResolution.aspx?Value=mPICjsL1aLvZW9%2FwXcIbxcNal%2FTghxZUuV7adcx5Bs1cEGdzKqq0GufcXEZAUTq0}}</ref><ref name="Karnataka OBC">{{cite report |author=Central Commission for Backward Classes |date= 2020-10-20|title=Central List of OBCs Karnataka|url= http://www.ncbc.nic.in/User_Panel/GazetteResolution.aspx?Value=mPICjsL1aLsThxqt53NPf0ggPwu7BzPqq3bdU2%2bMS4jCYieqRNO1XcIozUEJpyYh|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181222014246/http://www.ncbc.nic.in/User_Panel/GazetteResolution.aspx?Value=mPICjsL1aLsThxqt53NPf0ggPwu7BzPqq3bdU2%2bMS4jCYieqRNO1XcIozUEJpyYh|archive-date= 25 December 2020}}</ref><ref name="Maha OBC">{{cite report |author=Central Commission for Backward Classes |date= 2020-10-20|title=Central List of OBCs Maharashtra|url=http://www.ncbc.nic.in/user_panel/GazetteResolution.aspx?Value=mPICjsL1aLsN%2BCCWgSsv8%2BuAyaBuDqnRoSLrvXbEEJTY%2By0eazrlMjhC5BUvBdUU|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201110054503/http://www.ncbc.nic.in/user_panel/GazetteResolution.aspx?Value=mPICjsL1aLsN%2BCCWgSsv8%2BuAyaBuDqnRoSLrvXbEEJTY%2By0eazrlMjhC5BUvBdUU|archive-date= 10 November 2020}}</ref>
==Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams ==
* The [[Yadav]] community hailed the State Government decision regarding restoration of '''Golla Mirasi''' or also called as '''Golla Mandapam''' the hereditary rights of the community pertaining to certain rituals at Tirumala temple, In the presence member of [[All-India Yadav Mahasabha]] Youth President of [[Andhra Pradesh]] Y Shanmugam Yadav.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/yadavas-hail-restoration-of-golla-mirasi/article31816586.ece|title=Yadavas hail restoration of ‘Golla Mirasi’|accessdate=12 June 2020}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Gollewar]]
*[[Naidu]]
*[[Yadava Naidu]]
*[[Gavli]]
*[[Dhangar]]
*[[Yadava]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Social groups of Andhra Pradesh]]
[[Category:Other Backward Classes of Karnataka]]
[[Category:Social groups of Telangana]]
[[Category:Social groups of Tamil Nadu]]

Golla caste - Revision history

Dr. Editor at 05:31, 2 June 2026