Subgroups
The Vokkaliga Community has several sub-groups within its fold. Previously they were mostly endogamous but in the modern context inter-group marriages have become a common affair, especially since the colonial times. However to this day, within any given sub-group, exogamy at the family/clan level is strictly controlled by using the idiom of Mane Devaru (the patron god of the given exogamic clan) which dictates that the followers of same Mane Devaru are siblings and marriage is thus forbidden, allowing marital alliances only with another clan and not within. This system is akin to the Brahminical Gotra System and is seen as a common feature in most Indian communities. The community is largely patrilineal, though matrilineal (Aliya Santana or Aliya Kattu) sub-groups are also present. It is opined that all the sub-groups previously formed a single unified community which broke into several factions over the ages.
The major sub-groups of the Vokkaligas include the Gangadikara (also called as Gangatkar), Morasu Vokkaliga, Namadhari Gowda, Kunchitiga and Kodagu Gowda sections, which form the corpus of the community with several other sub-groups like the Hallikara, Halu, Grama, Kotte and Kare Vokkaligas, Nonabaru, Sadaru and so on. The Bunts of Tulunadu and the Nadavaru/Nadugaudas (Kannada speaking Bunts) are also included while naming the various Vokkaliga sub-groups.
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