22
The umbrella term ‘Solega’ can actually be applied to two quite different ethnic
groups, each with its own language and customs. The Solega who live in the B. R.
Hills are the Aidu Kula ‘fi ve clan ’ Solega, and the bulk of their population lives
within the borders of the state of Karnataka. There is another community, the E:ḷu
Kula ‘seven clan’ Solega, who live primarily in the neighbouring state of Tamil
Nadu to the south, and whose distribution overlaps slightly with that of their north-
ern counterparts. Apart from the fact that the E:ḷu Kula Solega have a very different
social structure, their language is also noticeably different, even at a fi rst hearing.
Just as the Aidu Kula Solega language is closely allied with Kannada , the speech of
the E:ḷu Kula Solega has many affi nities with Tamil. The two Solega communities
do not intermarry, and appear to have little to do with each other, in spite of a lack
of animosity. Henceforth, ‘Solega’ will be used to refer exclusively to the Aidu Kula
‘fi ve clan’ Solega of the B. R. Hills.
The Solega inhabit a large area in the B. R. Hills and surrounding plains, and
many settlements are either a few hours’ or a few days’ walk distant from each
other. An average Solega person will have relatives—close and distant—living in
several other villages, but may not see them except in case of an illness, a festival
or a family celebration. Nevertheless, many people will regularly expend the effort
and/or monetary cost of traveling long distances to attend important events
occurring in distant villages. The Solega are aware of the existence of other tribal
groups living in the Western Ghats, but state that they have historically had little
interaction with them.
1.7.2 Previous Studies
Very little published material exists on the Solega language, culture or traditional
knowledge. A thin volume called ‘The Soliga of the Biligiri Rangana Hills ’ was
published by the Archeological Society of India shortly after the creation of the
BRT wildlife sanctuary [ 86 ]. This informative, but occasionally inaccurate, ethno-
graphic sketch gives a useful account of Solega life in the 1970s. A ‘Sketch Grammar
of the Soliga language’ was published by the Russian Dravidianist Kamil Zvelebil
[ 87 ], who unfortunately had access to only one young ‘Shōlega’ speaker who was
also bilingual in Tamil. The data presented in this paper differ greatly from my own
experience of B. R. Hills Solega, and it is very likely that Zvelebil has in fact
described a variant of Seven Clan Solega. Zvelebil reports that his consultant’s pho-
neme inventory contained the vowels transcribed as ï, ë, ä and ö, and this matches
my own passing impressions of Seven Clan Solega. Such phonemes occur in the
speech of only a few B. R. Hills Solega, and in only a few words. Zvelebil’s data
also include several Kannada -like elements, and it is entirely likely that his consul-
tant may have even spoken a mixed, intermediate form of Solega.
In recent years, the media, researchers, many of whom have affi liations to
ATREE and VGKK, and the general public have become increasingly aware of
the existence of the Solega, due to their involvement in a land-rights movement
1 Introduction