Koli people - Revision history

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	=== Early ===		=== Early ===
	Records of Koli people exist from at least the 15th century, when rulers in the present-day Gujarat region called their chieftains marauding robbers ~~and~~ [[dacoit]]s. Over a period of several centuries, some of them were able to establish petty chiefdoms throughout the region, mostly comprising just a single village. Although not [[Rajput]]s, this relatively small subset of the Kolis claimed the status of the higher-ranked Rajput community, adopting their customs and intermixing with less significant Rajput families through the practice of [[hypergamy\|hypergamous]] marriage,{{sfn\|Shah\|2012\|p=169\|ps=}}{{sfn\|Jaffrelot\|2003\|pp=180-182\|ps=}} which was commonly used to enhance or secure social status.{{sfn\|Fuller\|1975\|pp=293-295\|ps=}} There were significant differences in status throughout the Koli community, however, and little cohesion either geographically or in terms of communal norms, such as the establishment of endogamous marriage groups.{{sfn\|Shah\|2012\|p=170\|ps=}}		Records of Koli people exist from at least the 15th century, when rulers in the present-day Gujarat region called their chieftains marauding robbers, [[dacoit]]s, and pirates. Over a period of several centuries, some of them were able to establish petty chiefdoms throughout the region, mostly comprising just a single village.<ref>{{Cite journal\|last=Shah\|first=A. M.\|last2=Shroff\|first2=R. G.\|date=1958\|title=The Vahīvancā Bāroṭs of Gujarat: A Caste of Genealogists and Mythographers\|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/538561\|journal=The Journal of American Folklore\|publisher=American Folklore Society\|volume=71\|pages=265\|via=JSTOR}}</ref> Although not [[Rajput]]s, this relatively small subset of the Kolis claimed the status of the higher-ranked Rajput community, adopting their customs and intermixing with less significant Rajput families through the practice of [[hypergamy\|hypergamous]] marriage,{{sfn\|Shah\|2012\|p=169\|ps=}}{{sfn\|Jaffrelot\|2003\|pp=180-182\|ps=}} which was commonly used to enhance or secure social status.{{sfn\|Fuller\|1975\|pp=293-295\|ps=}} There were significant differences in status throughout the Koli community, however, and little cohesion either geographically or in terms of communal norms, such as the establishment of endogamous marriage groups.{{sfn\|Shah\|2012\|p=170\|ps=}}

	Through the colonial [[British Raj]] period and into the 20th century, some Kolis remained significant landholders and tenants,{{sfn\|Jaffrelot\|2003\|pp=180-182\|ps=}} although most had never been more than minor landowners and labourers.{{sfn\|Shah\|2012\|p=170\|ps=}} By this time, however, most Kolis had lost their once-equal standing with the [[Patidar]]{{efn\|The Patidars were formerly known as [[Kanbi]], but by 1931 had gained official recognition as Patidar.{{sfn\|Basu\|2009\|pp=51-55\|ps=}}}} community due to the land reforms of the Raj period.{{sfn\|Basu\|2009\|pp=51-55\|ps=}}		Through the colonial [[British Raj]] period and into the 20th century, some Kolis remained significant landholders and tenants,{{sfn\|Jaffrelot\|2003\|pp=180-182\|ps=}} although most had never been more than minor landowners and labourers.{{sfn\|Shah\|2012\|p=170\|ps=}} By this time, however, most Kolis had lost their once-equal standing with the [[Patidar]]{{efn\|The Patidars were formerly known as [[Kanbi]], but by 1931 had gained official recognition as Patidar.{{sfn\|Basu\|2009\|pp=51-55\|ps=}}}} community due to the land reforms of the Raj period.{{sfn\|Basu\|2009\|pp=51-55\|ps=}}

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{{about|the Koli people|the Indian weaving community called Kori|Kori caste|the ethnic group found in Goa|Kharvi}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Koli
| languages = [[Hindi]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Kachi Koli language|Koli language]], [[Konknni]], and [[Kannada]]
| religions = [[Hindus|Hindu]], [[Muslim]], [[Christian people|Christian]]
| related_groups =
| image = A koli woman (fisherwoman).jpg
| caption = A Koli woman

}}

The '''Koli people''' are an Indian ethnic group in [[Rajasthan]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Gujarat]], [[Maharashtra]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Haryana]], [[Karnataka]], [[Odisha]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Odisha - List of Scheduled Tribes|url=http://stscodisha.gov.in/pdf/ScheduledTribe_List.pdf |website=ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Department Government of Odisha |access-date=16 May 2021}}</ref> and [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]] states in [[India]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2019/jan/27/jammu-and-kashmir-bjp-in-favour-of-reservation-for-people-living-along-international-border-1930747.html|title=Jammu and Kashmir BJP in favour of reservation for people living along international border|website=The New Indian Express|access-date=2019-04-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/koli-community-hopeful-of-getting-st-tag-in-karnataka/articleshow/59305521.cms|title=Koli community hopeful of getting ST tag in Karnataka - Times of India|website=The Times of India|access-date=2019-04-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YAoZ5m9u8OwC&q=Koli+Shakya&pg=PA37|title=Basic Buddhism: Exploring Buddhism and Zen|last=Nan|first=Huaijin|date=1997-01-01|publisher=Weiser Books|isbn=9781578630202|language=en}}</ref>

== History ==
There has historically been some difficulty in identifying people as Koli or as [[Bhil people]] in what is now the state of Gujarat. The two communities co-existed in the hills of that area and even today there is confusion regarding their identity, not helped, in the opinion of sociologist [[Arvind Shah]], by there being "hardly any modern, systematic, anthropological, sociological or historical study" of the Kolis.{{sfn|Shah|2012|p=168|ps=}} Sources from the medieval period suggest that the term ''koli'' was applied generically to lawless people, whilst British colonial studies considered it to be a vague collective noun for varied communities whose sole common feature was that they were inferior to the [[Kunbi]]s. At some stage, ''koli'' became accepted as a [[Caste system in India|caste]] and thus superior to the tribal Bhils.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tcTz54VVHF4C&pg=PA11|title=Being Tribal |page=11 |first=Shereen |last=Ratnagar |author-link=Shereen Ratnagar |publisher=Primus Books |year=2010 |isbn=978-9-38060-702-3}}</ref>

=== Early ===
Records of Koli people exist from at least the 15th century, when rulers in the present-day Gujarat region called their chieftains marauding robbers and [[dacoit]]s. Over a period of several centuries, some of them were able to establish petty chiefdoms throughout the region, mostly comprising just a single village. Although not [[Rajput]]s, this relatively small subset of the Kolis claimed the status of the higher-ranked Rajput community, adopting their customs and intermixing with less significant Rajput families through the practice of [[hypergamy|hypergamous]] marriage,{{sfn|Shah|2012|p=169|ps=}}{{sfn|Jaffrelot|2003|pp=180-182|ps=}} which was commonly used to enhance or secure social status.{{sfn|Fuller|1975|pp=293-295|ps=}} There were significant differences in status throughout the Koli community, however, and little cohesion either geographically or in terms of communal norms, such as the establishment of endogamous marriage groups.{{sfn|Shah|2012|p=170|ps=}}

Through the colonial [[British Raj]] period and into the 20th century, some Kolis remained significant landholders and tenants,{{sfn|Jaffrelot|2003|pp=180-182|ps=}} although most had never been more than minor landowners and labourers.{{sfn|Shah|2012|p=170|ps=}} By this time, however, most Kolis had lost their once-equal standing with the [[Patidar]]{{efn|The Patidars were formerly known as [[Kanbi]], but by 1931 had gained official recognition as Patidar.{{sfn|Basu|2009|pp=51-55|ps=}}}} community due to the land reforms of the Raj period.{{sfn|Basu|2009|pp=51-55|ps=}}

=== Twentieth century ===
During the later period of the Raj, the Gujarati Kolis became involved in the process of what has subsequently been termed [[sanskritisation]]. At that time, in the 1930s, they represented around 20 percent of the region's population and members of the local Rajput community were seeking to extend their own influence by co-opting other significant groups as claimants to the [[Varna (Hinduism)|ritual title]] of [[Kshatriya]]. The Rajputs were politically, economically and socially marginalised because their own numbers — around 4 - 5 per cent of the population — were inferior to the dominant Patidars, with whom the Kolis were also disenchanted. The Kolis were among those whom the Rajputs targeted because, although classified as a [[Criminal Tribes|criminal tribe]] by the British administration, they were among the many communities of that period who had made genealogical claims of descent from the Kshatriya. The Rajput leaders preferred to view the Kolis as being Kshatriya by dint of military ethos rather than origin but, in whatever terminology, it was a marriage of political expedience.{{sfn|Jaffrelot|2003|pp=180-182|ps=}}

In 1947, around the time that [[Independence of India|India gained independence]], the Kutch, Kathiawar, Gujarat Kshatriya Sabha (KKGKS) caste association emerged as an [[umbrella organisation]] to continue the work begun during the Raj. [[Christophe Jaffrelot]], a French political scientist, says that this body, which claimed to represent the Rajputs and Kolis, "... is a good example of the way castes, with very different ritual status, join hands to defend their common interests. ... The use of the word Kshatriya was largely tactical and the original caste identity was seriously diluted."{{sfn|Jaffrelot|2003|pp=180-182|ps=}}

The relevance of the Kshatriya label in terms of ritual was diminished by the practical actions of the KKGKS which, among other things, saw demands for the constituent communities to be classified as [[Other Backward Class|Backward Classes]] in the Indian [[Reservation in India|scheme for positive discrimination]]. Kshatriyas would not usually wish to be associated with such a category and indeed it runs counter to the theory of Sanskritisation, but in this instance, it suited the socio-economic and political desires. By the 1950s, the KKGKS had established schools, loan systems and other mechanisms of communal self-help and it was demanding reforms to laws relating to land. It was also seeking alliances with political parties at the state level; initially, with the [[Indian National Congress]] and then, by the early 1960s, with the [[Swatantra Party]]. By 1967, the KKGKS was once again working with Congress because, despite being a haven for Patidars, the party leadership needed the votes of the KKGKS membership. The Kolis gained more from the actions of the KKGKS in these two decades than did the Rajputs, and Jaffrelot believes that it was around this time that a Koli intelligentsia emerged.{{sfn|Jaffrelot|2003|pp=180-182|ps=}} Ghanshyam Shah, a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, describes the organisation today as covering a broad group of communities, from disadvantaged Rajputs of high prestige to the semi-tribal [[Bhil people|Bhil]]s, with the Kolis in the middle. He notes that its composition reflects "a common economic interest and a growing secular identity born partly out of folklore but more out of common resentment against the well-to-do castes".{{sfn|Shah|2004|p=178|ps=}}

The Kolis of Gujarat remained educationally and occupationally disadvantaged compared to communities such as the [[Brahmin]]s and Patidars.{{sfn|Shah|2004|p=302|ps=}} Their many [[Jāti]]s include the [[Baria (caste)|Bareeya]], [[Khant caste|Khant]] and [[Thakor]], and they also use ''Koli'' as a suffix, giving rise to groups such as the Gulam Koli and Matia Koli. Some do not refer to themselves as Koli at all.{{sfn|Shah|2004|p=221|ps=}}

== Classification ==
{{As of|2012}}, various communities bearing the Koli name appear in the central lists of Other Backward Classes maintained by the [[National Commission for Backward Classes]], although at least one is also in part recognised as a [[Scheduled Tribe]]. These classifications have been in force since at least 1993.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ncbc.nic.in/Pdf/gujarat.pdf |title=Central List of OBCs for the State of Gujarat |access-date=12 December 2012 |publisher=National Commission for Backward Classes}}</ref>

The [[Government of India]] classified the Koli community as [[Scheduled Caste]] in the [[2001 census of India|2001 census]] for the states of Delhi,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/dh_sc_delhi.pdf |title=N.C.T. Delhi : DATA HIGHLIGHTS: THE SCHEDULED CASTES : Census of India 2001 |publisher=Censusindia.gov |access-date=2015-10-03}}</ref> [[Madhya Pradesh]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/dh_sc_madhya_pradesh.pdf |title=Madhya Pradesh : DATA HIGHLIGHTS: THE SCHEDULED CASTES : Census of India 2001 |publisher=Censusindia.gov |access-date=2015-10-03}}</ref> and Rajasthan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/dh_sc_rajasthan.pdf |title=Rajasthan : DATA HIGHLIGHTS: THE SCHEDULED CASTES : Census of India 2001 |publisher=Censusindia.gov |access-date=2015-10-03}}</ref>

== Notable people ==
* [[Kanhoji Angre]], Admiral of [[Maratha Navy]] of [[Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj|Shivaji]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://theprint.in/opinion/as-nda-cadet-i-was-witness-to-vice-admiral-awatis-kindness/145378/|title=As NDA cadet, I was witness to Vice Admiral Awati's kindness|last=K.J SINGH|first=L.T General|date=5 November 2018|work=ThePrint}}</ref>
*[[Jhalkaribai]], a woman soldier who played an important role in the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iAQrpDW4-_YC&pg=PP1|title=Women heroes and Dalit assertion in north India: culture, identity and politics|last=Narayan|first=Badri|publisher=SAGE|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7619-3537-7|page=119}}</ref>
*[[Yakut Khan]], Admiral of [[Mughal Navy]] and [[Jagirdar]] of [[Janjira Fort]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-3CPc22nMqIC&pg=PA174|title=The African Dispersal in the Deccan: From Medieval to Modern Times|last=Ali|first=Shanti Sadiq|date=1996|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=9788125004851|language=en}}</ref>
* [[Tanaji Malusare]], commander in the [[Maratha Army]] of [[Shivaji]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QNA-AQAAIAAJ&q=Tanaji|title=Histories for the Subordinated|last=Hardiman|first=David|date=2007|publisher=Seagull Books|isbn=9781905422388|page=103}}</ref>
*[[Yashwantrao Martandrao Mukne]], [[Maharaja]] of the [[Jawhar State]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pErODQAAQBAJ&pg=PA179|title=The Statesman's Year-Book: Statistical and Historical Annual of the States of the World for the Year 1949|last=Steinberg|first=S.|date=2016-12-28|publisher=Springer|isbn=9780230270787|language=en}}</ref>
*[[Ramesh Patil]], former member of [[Maharashtra Legislative Council]] and president of ''Koli Mahasangh''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/mumbai-bjp-rallies-fishermen-opposing-coastal-road-project-5538710/|title=Mumbai: BJP rallies around fishermen opposing coastal road project|date=2019-01-15|website=The Indian Express|language=en-IN|access-date=2019-04-28}}</ref>
*[[Govindas Ramdas]], Indian revolutionary<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SM9jDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT127|title=Political Mobilization and Identity in Western India, 1934-47|last=Krishan|first=Shri|date=2005-04-07|publisher=SAGE Publishing India|isbn=9789352803071|language=en}}</ref>
* [[Parshottambhai Solanki]], former minister of Fishery in the Government of Gujarat<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/solanki-skips-cabinet-meeting-ups-ante/articleshow/62357681.cms|title=Koli leader Parshottam Solanki skips cabinet meeting, ups ante - Times of India|website=The Times of India|access-date=2019-01-03}}</ref>

== Notes and references ==
'''Notes'''
{{notelist}}

'''References'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
{{refbegin}}
*{{citation |title=Villages, Women, and the Success of Dairy Cooperatives in India: Making Place for Rural Development |first=Pratyusha |last=Basu |publisher=Cambria Press |year=2009 |isbn=9781604976250 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zJxY9IWzGewC}}
*{{citation |title=The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste |first=Christopher John |last=Fuller |journal=Journal of Anthropological Research |volume=31 |issue=4 |date=Winter 1975 |pages=283–312 |doi=10.1086/jar.31.4.3629883 |jstor=3629883 |s2cid=163592798 }}
*{{citation |title=India's Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes in North India |first=Christophe |last=Jaffrelot |author-link=Christophe Jaffrelot |edition=Reprinted |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. |year=2003 |isbn=9781850653981 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-rMW03l_gx0C&pg=PA181}}
*{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EjORKo7maRUC&pg=PA168 |title=The Structure of Indian Society: Then and Now |last=Shah |first=Arvind M. |author-link=Arvind Shah |year=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-13619-770-3}}
*{{citation |title=Caste and Democratic Politics In India |first=Ghanshyam |last=Shah |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Anthem Press |year=2004 |isbn=9781843310860 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aX-ZAEit4fgC&pg=PA302}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite book |title=Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age |first=Susan |last=Bayly |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2001 |isbn=9780521798426}}
*{{cite journal |title=Marriage Customs of Christian Son Kolis |first=V. |last=James |journal=Asian Folklore Studies |volume=36 |issue=2 |date=1977 |pages=131–148 |doi=10.2307/1177821 |jstor=1177821 }}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
* [http://www.biodiversityofindia.org/index.php?title=Article:103 Plants and animals important to the Koli-Agri community in Maharashtra] on ''Biodiversity of India''
* Indian Express. [http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/a-community-called-koli------------------------/214908/0 A community called Koli]

{{Gotras of Kolis}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koli people}}
[[Category:Koli people| ]]
[[Category:Scheduled Castes of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Social groups of Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Hindu ethnic groups]]
[[Category:Social groups of Gujarat]]
[[Category:Fishing communities in India]]
[[Category:Social groups of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Scheduled Castes of Delhi]]
[[Category:Scheduled Tribes of India]]
[[Category:Denotified tribes of India]]
[[Category:Scheduled Castes of Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Shudra castes]]
[[Category:Scheduled Tribes of Odisha]]