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

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 ...

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

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

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 ...

and also

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

. 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 in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, Holeyas lived in

Canara Kanara or Canara, also known as Karāvali, is the historically significant stretch of land situated by the southwestern Konkan coast of India, alongside the Arabian Sea in the present-day Indian state of Karnataka. The subregion comprises thr ...

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 Govern ...

and

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

. 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 Dher is one of the backward classes and scheduled castes of India. They were one of the lowest and despised sections of Hindu out-caste society. They are primarily found in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat Gujarat () is ...

. Among Dhers there were three principal class of slaves called Holiyas, Yemaru and Paleru. Holeya is also known by the name of

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

in some areas. The old

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 ...

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

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

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