Origin
The origin of Halepaiks is still shrouded in mystery. Of all the various speculations and hypothesis presently three theories are worthy of consideration. According to eminent Kannada littérateur Shankar Baladikshit Joshi's (ಶಂ.ಬಾ. ಜೋಶಿ) 'Kanmareyada Kannada'(1933) and 'Maharashtrada Moola'(1934) (ಕಣ್ಮರೆಯಾದ ಕನ್ನಡ(೧೯೩೩), ಮಹಾರಾಷ್ಟ್ರದ ಮೂಲ(೧೯೩೪)), Halepaiks migrated from the Central Provinces/ Berar region long ago and these regions still have a population (1 lakh) by name 'Halaba' speaking 'Halabi' language which is a dialect of Kannada with heavy Marathi accent . Their deity is the 'Huliyayya' or Tiger-God. The writer alludes to the legend among the Halepaiks of 'Banavasi' and 'Tulunadu' that they migrated from Gulbarga region of Karnataka. Prof D.L. Narsimhacharya in his 1935 review of the book has declined this contention
The People of India series by the Anthropological Survey of India too delves on similar lines as above. According to it, the Halepaiks/Komarpaiks are migrants from Andhra Pradesh. It refers to the legend of king Gopala Krishnaraya who was ruling Vijayanagar, when the Halepaiks were living in Kumarakshetra near the capital (read: Hampi). It says that one of the Halepaiks, Narayana, son of Ranga Naik and Laxmi Devi, impressed the king by faithfully serving him, pleased with which the King granted him the village of 'Halepaik' as inam. The above theory, in considering the legends related to Komarpaiks and Halepaiks as same loses its credibility. The 1893 'Bombay gazetteer in Karnataka' clearly mentions the legend of Komarpaiks (and not Halepaiks) originating from Gulbarga region in around 12th century (hence the name Komarpaiks or Junior Soldiers). Further, the theory hardly takes into account the references to Halepaiks in Vikramarjunavijaya which was written in 10th century.
Read more about this topic: Namadhari Naik
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