The Karnataka State Gazetter defines a tribe as a social group in which there are many clans, nomadic bands, sub-groups, having a definite geographical area, a separate language, a distinct culture, a common political organisation or a feeling of common determination against strangers". But the Kolis are not exactly tribals. They can be referred to as 'Tribal Caste' or the pre-Hindu tribes absorbed into Hinduism, and thus transformed into a caste (Risley, 1908:74). The Kolis do have a number of clans and sub-groups,but neither do they have a specified geographical area nor a common language, nor even a common basis for the various occupations they follow. The sub­ groups are nothing but a disjointed distribution from north to south of India, with not even a thin strand of common link, except for the prefix - Koli. Hutton (1951:19) is of the opinion that the dark complexioned, coarse featured people who were involved with various occupations such as trading, cultivation, fishing, manual labour, were none other but a group of tribes, commonly included under the general and derogatory term of Koli, which in English, is a synonum for the labourer class in India and other British colonies i.e. 'coolie'. © A similar suggestion is echoed on pp 381, which while talking about the natives of Bombay Presidency goes on to say that, "from the point of view of ethnology, the most interesting are the vast and various tribes who all bear the name of Kolis. In physique. custom, manners and in occupation, these tribes vary to an immense extent one from another". The author traces them from Kathiawad to the borders of Central India to be found also in Sindh and the neighbouring States. They constitute a major part of the Gujrat population where they are considered very close to the Rajputs. In other part i.e. Central India, "the line between the Kolis and the wilder aboriginal tribes of Bhils is shadowy and imperceptible" (ibid). Many Kolis claim to have Rajput blood, especially those found in Gujrat. Apart from personal interviews (Alibag Koliwada, Khar Danda, Murud), we have instances in Gujrat where Koli Chiefs or land owners have been accepted as Rajputs and have also had matrimonial alliances with other Rajput families (ibid). According to one opinion, the Kolis in Gujrat are the aborginals of the plain or civilised Bhils; others find them so little unlike Rajputs as to lead to the conclusion that the Kolis and Rajputs are in the main of the same stock (Gaz.Bom.Pres.IX.I:237). Moses (1941:62) opines that the Kolis of Gujrat "are apparently the descendants of the fishermen and hunters of early times. Owing to the successive invansions of Aryans from the North, who poured in on the fertile plains and sea board of Gujrat, the early inhabitants had either to take refuge in the hills (the Bhils) or were subjugated and peacefully converted into Hinduism, like the Kolis." 90 These variances and associations could be more due to their proximity to, and association with other ethnics. For e.g., the Bhils and Kolis of eastern Gujrat are almost as hard to distinguish as are the Rajputs and Kolis in western Gujrat and Kathiavad. The explanation provided by the Bombay Gazetter (Gaz. Bom. Pres. IX.I: 238) is that 'the new element was small and the inter mixture produced a Koli or half blood who can hardly be known from a Bhil'. So also during the Musalman invasion in the fourteenth century, the Rajputs took shelter with the earlier Koli settlements and were in some cases absorbed by them, while on the other, raised the Kolis to their (Rajput) standard. These Rajputs married Kolis whose descendants still claim a Rajput origin and bear Rajput family name (Govt.Sel.XII:17). And within this sub-group, another isolation began as in the case of Talabdar Kolis. But a Talabdar Koli girl married to a Rajput family, could no longer share meals with her Koli relations if and when she visited them. Gerson Da Cunha (1900:40) refers to the Kolis as being Dravidian in origin and includes them along with a large number of tribes scattered along the Vindhya plateau, Gujrat, Konkan etc. Enthoven (1922:243) elaborates it thus: "a term of vague meaning covering a number of tribes of inferior status". We have numerous references to tribes and castes called 'Koli' from various parts of India. (a) In Uttar Pradesh, the term Koli or Kori is given to a caste of weavers. Theirs is a small community found in Agra and q\ other western districts all over U.P. These Kolis are also "reputed to be partly of bias Rajput origin" (Sherring, 1879:346). (b) Baines (1912:52) describes the Kolis as "an early dark race extruded from the p l a i n ’SkS by the Kunbis . Under the same name this tribe/caste is found from Punjab Himalayas to the Sahyadri Ghats, not to mention the Kol of the Central belt". He further writes about some of the clans of Kolis intermarrying with the lower Rajputs of Gujrat. He categorises them as falling on the border of Hinduism and Animism. Kolis found at Saharanpur are said to have come from Gujrat (Elliot I, 1869:521). So also are listed other tribes that fall on the border of Hinduism and animism and amongst whom the wilder sections deny the supremacy of the brahmins -- these are the Bhils, the Kolis, the Lamani and the Vaghris. (c) The term 'Koli' in North-Western India has three distinct meanings. Firstly, it has a territorial connotation in that the Kolis are described as the inhabitants of Kullu. Sir Lyall (Rose, 1970:553) talks about the Rajas of Kullu as Koli Rajas. He also goes on to say that the term 'Koli' was used to refer to any Kullu man. He does not believe that they were of pure Rajput stock on the basis of surnames. Secondly, the 'Koli' is a term used for the Chamars in the plains of south-east Punjab who do not deal with leather but are involved in weaving. They are said to have migrated from Oudh. Thirdly, it is a name given to the Kolis of the hills. But there could be a possibility, the author goes on to say that the Kolis of the hills and plains are similarly named due to their identical mode of occupation, i.e. weaving (ibid). Another interesting fact to note is that in the Simla hills, the term 'Koli' seems to have evolved from 'Kulin' or "degraded from a family". Thus one could explain the fact that most of the banned and degraded families who were excommunicated could have regrouped themselves and were generally referred to as 'Kulin' or 'Koli'. Another account equates the Kolis and Mairs of Gujrat as originally being the same tribe,who immigrated from Sindh sometime during the fifth century as one of the white Hun Hordes and who later intermarried with the Rajputs (Gaz.Bom.Pres.XI.I; 238). (d) But more probably could be that they are a western off­ shoot of the 'Kol' tribe of Chota Nagpur to which so many others i.e. Korku, Nahale and perhaps the Bhils may also belong (Russell, 1916:534). Hiralal (cit Russell, 1916:534) suggests that the Marathi language has a peachent to add or alter so that names end in 'i'. This he substantiates with various examples, i.e. Halbi for Halba, Koshti for Koshta, Patwi for Patwa, Wanjari for Banjara, Gowari for Goala, and likewise Koli from Kol. But there is no direct evidence. Other scholars too, however, ascribe the term Koli has having connections with 'Kol' - "the Kolis of Bombay are presumably the same tribe as the Kols of Chota Nagpur, and they probably migrated to Gujrat ..." (Russell, 1916:494). Campbell (1975:61) opines that a hiatus of four to five degree of longitude between Chota Nagpur and western coast is 'caused probably by the Gonds having forcibly intervened between them.' Elliot (1852:18) accords similarity of habits and conditions of the 'Kolis' with the Kolis in the west as reason for a common origin. Hutton (1951: 283) categorises Kolis as a caste of cultivators and labourers in western India possibly of Kolarian affinities. Kolarian has been defined as possessing a language or culture associated with a group of people of which the principal entities are the Munda Kol and Santhal Tribes. (e) Central Province: The Kolis here are scattered about the Nimar and Berar districts. Some follow weaving while others join the police force at Hosangabad. At Berar the Kolis are further divided into two sub-groups which follow the occupation of agriculture (Sherring, 1879:156). There is another small tribe of agriculturists, similarly named (Kohli),in Bhandara and Chanda districts who are taken to be the Hinduised aborigines retaining a lot of Gond customs and bearing quite prominent Gond features. Alongside they profess to copy the Maratha Kunbis. They mainly cultivated sugarcane and rice and the chief produce was 'goor' (coarse unrefined sugar) (Census Cent.Province, 1872). Rowney (1974:41) belies that Kolis came from "the country north of the river Mahee and settled in large numbers along the entire north-western frontier of Gujrat". According to him "the ^4 Bheels regarded the Kolis as being the same family but the Kolis who were the original inhabitors of Gujrat refused to acknowledge this relationship. They (the Kolis and Bhils) lived alongside each other and thus shared a number of habits and characterstics. Koli could marry a Bheel woman but refused to give their women to Bheel.