>Marcocapelle at 19:50, 7 July 2021

2021-07-07T19:50:09Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{primary sources|date=November 2017}}
[[File:Holeyas, Hindoos, Coorg. (husband and wife) (NYPL b13409080-1125679).jpg|thumb|Holeyas, [[Coorg Province|Coorg]]]]
'''Holeya''' are a [[Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes|scheduled caste]] of India, mainly belonging to present day [[Karnataka]] State,<ref name=A>[https://books.google.com/books?id=i2l3ssvO6jMC&pg=PA5504&lpg=PA5504&dq=holiya+caste&source=bl&ots=vy4Ocs1nqC&sig=T9GjdiH3G-4C3BJegchcSWJg57w&hl=en&ei=0q2rTdubMomqrAeE2P2nCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CDMQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=holiya%20caste&f=false Indian Encyclopaedia, Volume 1] By Subodh Kapoor, Page 5504.</ref> [[Kerala]], [[Maharashtra]], [[Tamil Nadu]] and also [[Madhya Pradesh]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?ei=p7arTeLMHY2rrAeUrYSoCA&ct=result&id=xrxHAAAAYAAJ&dq=holiya+caste&q=holiya+#search_anchor Census of India, 1991]: Madhya Pradesh, Issue 2</ref>

The Mysore Gazetter claimed the Holeyas were the first to settle the villages.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ananthakrishna Iyer|first=L. Krishna|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/39859761|title=The Mysore tribes and castes|date=1928–1935|publisher=Mysore University|oclc=39859761}}</ref> In Medieval period of India History, they were the warrior classes of fallen Kingdoms, hence were made & treated as, [[Dalit|out-caste]], commonly an agricultural labor. The term ''Hola'' means an agricultural field and term ''Holeya'' is derived from ''Hola''.<ref name=A/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Omvedt|first1=Gail|title=Dalits and the Democratic Revolution: Dr Ambedkar and the Dalit Movement in Colonial India|date=1994|publisher=SAGE Publications India|isbn=9788132119838|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=leuICwAAQBAJ&q=holeya+dalits&pg=PT63|access-date=25 December 2017|language=en}}</ref> Other colonial-era authors claimed it derived also from ''Hole'', meaning "pollution."

In [[British India]], Holeyas lived in [[Kanara|Canara]], [[Coorg Province]] and [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysore]]. They were one of the lowest class, a perdial slave, who can be sold by the owner of the estate in which they were located.<ref name=A/>

Holeya community is one of the oldest community in the subcontinent, which has been showed its presence through the mentions of the community name, in Ashoka's Gavi Mut Inscription of Koppal, and Halmidi Inscription in Halmidi, Hassan. They are said to be the oldest agricultural community of the state.
In medivial history, Holeya were considered to be a sub division of [[Dher]]. Among Dhers there were three principal class of slaves{{Verify source|date=December 2017}} called Holiyas, Yemaru and Paleru.<ref name=A/>

Holeya are also known by name of Paraiyar in some areas.<ref name=A/> The old [[Tamil language|Tamil]] poems and early Christian writing do not mention the word [[Paraiyar|Pariah]] or [[Paraiyar|Paraiyan]] but mention the name of a tribe called Eyninas, who were quite distinct from the rest of people and did not live in villages, but in forts of their own. Mr Francis, a historian, regards them as ancestors of present-day Holeyas.<ref name=A/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Dalit communities]]
[[Category:Scheduled Castes of Karnataka]]
[[Category:Scheduled Castes of Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Scheduled Castes of Kerala]]
[[Category:Scheduled Castes of Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Scheduled Castes of Maharashtra]]

{{India-ethno-stub}}

Holeya - Revision history

>Marcocapelle at 19:50, 7 July 2021