Vokkaliga

Vokkaliga (Kannada: ಒಕ್ಕಲಿಗ) (pronounced Okkaliga) 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 were the most populous group until the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 which enlarged the erstwhile State of Mysore by the inclusion of predominantly Canarese districts of the State of Bombay, State of Hyderabad and Coorg, (Mysore State was renamed Karnataka in 1973) following which the Lingayats became the most populous social group. Together the two communities dominate Karnataka State politics.