Bhovi

The Bhovi (Voddar) are a scheduled caste from Indian states Karnataka and Mysore. They are also known as Od, Odde, Vaddar, Waddar, Woddar. ^[1] ^[2] The Bhovi were 955,752 in Karnataka at the 2001 census (11.2 per cent of the scheduled caste population of Karnataka), ^[3] 74.9 per cent of the Karnataka Bhovi population was rural, 49.2 % were literate. ^[4] Only 2.9 % were graduates .^[5] They used to work as palanquin carriers and farm workers about 200 years ago.^[6] Their village councils consist of men only. ^[7] Women are allowed to attend, however. ^[8] They claim to have originated in areas such as Orissa. ^[9] Bhovi also is the name of a male leader of a Bhovi community.^[10] The languages spoken by Bhovi include Waddar language, Telugu language and Kannada language.^[11] ^[12]

The Bhovi used to be nomads. ^[13] They are distributed in almost all districts of Karnataka having a major concentration in Kolar and Chitradurga districts.^[14]

Sub-castes

The sub-castes of Bhovi caste are the following: The Kallu Waddars, the Mannu Waddars, the Uppu Waddars, the Bandi Waddars, the Girini Waddars, the Raja Waddars, the Aragu Waddars, the Tudugu Waddars and the Oru Waddars. ^[15] They probably are named after occupations. ^[16] The first three sub-castes form the majority of the Bhovi population in Mysore state. ^[17] Kallu Waddar subcaste is the largest Bhovi sub-caste in Karnataka. ^[18] The second largest sub-caste in Karnataka are the Mannu Waddars. ^[19] The Kallu Waddars have the highest rank among the Bhovi sub-castes. ^[20]

References

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