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Gowda
Gowda, also spelled as Gauda (Kannada: ಗೌಡ) is a titular surname widely used
in the state of Karnataka in India. The word Gowda which traces its origin with
Kannada, one of the Dravidian languages, refers to the administrative head of a
typical Karnataka village. In practice, the title might annex through the generations
as the hereditary Surname of the headman's family. Typically, a Gowda in person
commands huge clout, respect and landholding in the village and has been vested
with the authority of decision making in the village by the virtue of his rights
over Gowdike. Vokkaligas, Lingayats, kurubas the dominant, landholding and politically
conscious communities of Karnataka widely use the surname in practice.
Vokkaliga is an umbrella term for various agricultural, previously endogamous
social groups with a martial past, found mainly in the Old Mysore Region of southern
Karnataka.
The Vokkaligas are primarily agriculturists.They form a politically and numerically
dominant caste group and are the most populous group in Karnataka. Vokkaliga is
a Kannada word of considerable antiquity finding mention in some of the earliest
available literary works of the language, such as the Kavirajamarga, Pampa Bharata,
and has been used as an appellation for the cultivator community since time immemorial.Generally
the term has come to mean an agriculturist though various etymological derivations
are available. A few likely derivations are as follows:
The word Okka or Okkalu in Kannada (Dravidian in origin) means a family or a clan
and an Okkaliga being a person belonging to such a family.
Okkalutana in Kannada means agriculture and the epithet Okkaliga has been used to
refer to a person belonging to the cultivator community.
Alternate etymologies include Okku which means threshing, said to refer to their
agricultural activities from which is derived Okkaliga.
Gowda = People of the Vokkaliga community ascribe various honorifics to their castemen,
the most popular of which is Gauda anglicized as Gowda. Titles such as Reddy, Hegde,
Shetty and so on are also popular, generally used according to their sub group,
language spoken and geographical area they belong to.
The words VokkaligThe words Vokkaliga and Gowda are almost synonymous in usage and
in colloquial; Gowda has come to mean a Vokkaliga.
