Holeya are a scheduled caste of India, mainly belonging to present day

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 ''Karnat ...

State,Indian Encyclopaedia, Volume 1
By Subodh Kapoor, Page 5504.

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, Maharashtra,

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 ...

and also

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

. The Mysore Gazetteer claimed the Holeyas were the first to settle the villages. In Medieval period of India History, they were the warrior classes of fallen Kingdoms, hence were made & treated as, out-caste, commonly an agricultural labor. The term ''Hola'' means an agricultural field and the term ''Holeya'' is derived from ''Hola''. Other colonial-era authors claimed it derived also from ''Hole'', meaning "pollution." In

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, Holeyas lived in

Canara Kanara, also known as Karavali is the historically significant stretch of land situated by the southwestern coast of India, alongside the Arabian Sea in the present-day Indian state of Karnataka. The region comprises three civil districts, ...

Coorg Province Coorg Province was a province of British India from 1834 to 1947 and the Dominion of India from 1947 to 1950. Mercara was the capital of the province. It was administered by a Commissioner and later, Chief Commissioner appointed by the Governme ...

and

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

. They were one of the lowest class, a partial slave, who could be sold by the owner of the estate in which they were located. Holeya community is one of the oldest communities in the subcontinent, which has been showing 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 and are said to be the source of numerous kingdoms in the Deccan. In medieval history, Holeya was considered to be a sub-division of Dher. Among Dhers there were three principal class of slaves called Holiyas, Yemaru and Paleru. Holeya is also known by the name of

Paraiyar Paraiyar, or Parayar or Maraiyar (formerly anglicised as Pariah and Paree), is a caste group found in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and Sri Lanka. Etymology Robert Caldwell, a nineteenth-century missionary and grammarian who ...

in some areas. The old

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 ...

poems and early Christian writing do not mention the word Pariah or 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.

References

Dalit communities Scheduled Castes of Karnataka Scheduled Castes of Madhya Pradesh Scheduled Castes of Kerala Scheduled Castes of Tamil Nadu Scheduled Castes of Maharashtra {{India-ethno-stub