The Kolis seem to have attained an important socio political status by the fourteenth century, at least on Konkan coast in
Maharashtra. A Koli kingdom is known to have been founded by Jayba Popera in North Konkan in 1342. During the reign of
Shivaji, Kolis had served the
Maratha army under their Koli commanders
Yesaji Kank and
Tanaji Malusare and exercised considerable control over the
Konkan coast. The
Bahmanis conferred the rank of
Sardar on Koli chiefs who held charge of hill tracts. In contrast, Kolis of Gujarat were mostly perceived as a predatory tribe. From the literature of the medieval period and in travellers' accounts, there is suspicion that some descendants of medieval
Bhil chiefs, particularly those of
Ahmedabad, could have claimed the status of Koli. Records of Koli people exist from at least the 15th century, when rulers in the present-day Gujarat region called their chieftains marauding robbers,
dacoits, and pirates. Over a period of several centuries, some of them were able to establish chiefdoms throughout the region, mostly comprising just a single village. Although not
Rajputs, this relatively small subset of the Kolis claimed the status of the higher-ranked Rajput community, adopting their customs and intermixing with less significant Rajput families through the practice of
hypergamous marriage, which was commonly used to enhance or secure social status. There were significant differences in status throughout the Koli community, however, and little cohesion either geographically or in terms of communal norms, such as the establishment of
endogamous marriage groups.
Criminal Tribes Act The Koli caste of
Maharashtra and
Gujarat was classified as
Criminal Tribes under
Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 by the Government of India because of their anti-social activities such as
robberies, murder,
blackmailing, and crop and
animal theft. In 1914, Kolis of Maharashtra revolted against
British rule and attacked government officials. In retribution, the government again declared the Kolis as a criminal tribe under the Bombay Criminal Tribes Act.
Twentieth century Throughout the colonial
British Raj period and into the 20th century, some Kolis remained significant landholders and tenants, although most had never been more than minor landowners and labourers. By this time, however, most Kolis had lost their once-equal standing with the
Patidar community due to the land reforms of the Raj period. The Kolis preferred the landlord-based tenure system, which was not so mutually beneficial. They were subject to interference from the British revenue collectors, who intervened to ensure that the stipulated revenue was remitted to the government before any surplus went to the landlord. Being less inclined to take an active role in agriculture personally and thus maximise revenues from their landholdings, the Koli possessions were often left uncultivated or underused. The Kanbi land takeovers also reduced the Kolis to being the tenants and agricultural labourers of Kanbis rather than landowners, thus increasing the
economic inequality between the communities. The difference was further exacerbated by the Kanbis' providing better tenancy arrangements for members of their own community than for Kolis. During the later period of the
British Raj, the Gujarati Kolis became involved in the process of what has subsequently been termed
sanskritisation. At that time, in the 1930s, they represented around 20 percent of the region's population. Members of the local Rajput community were seeking to extend their own influence by co-opting other significant groups as claimants to the
ritual title of
Kshatriya. The Rajputs were politically, economically, and socially marginalised because their own numbers — around 4 to 5 per cent of the population — were lesser to the dominant Patidars, with whom the Kolis were also disenchanted.
Post Independence The
Patidars of central and north Gujarat were agricultural labour on the lands of Koli
landlords or Koli
chieftains. After
India achieved independence, Patidars occupied Koli lands through the
Urban Land Ceiling Act, reducing the Kolis in social status. The Kolis, upset at their loss of rights, formed gangs to plunder Patidar villages. The
Rajputs of Gujarat, similarly in contention with the Patidars over land rights, allied with Kolis. In central and north Gujarat, the Kolis and their allies had several battles with the Patidars on the issue of land tenancy, land rights, and use of common village resources.
KKGKS In 1947, around the time that
India gained independence, the Kutch, Kathiawar, Gujarat Kshatriya Sabha (KKGKS) caste association emerged as an
umbrella organisation to continue the work begun during the Raj.
Christophe Jaffrelot, a French political scientist, says that this body, which claimed to represent the Rajputs and Kolis, "...is a good example of the way castes, with very different ritual status, join hands to defend their common interests... The use of the word
Kshatriya was largely tactical and the original caste identity was seriously diluted." The relevance of the Kshatriya label in terms of ritual was diminished by the practical actions of the KKGKS which, among other things, saw demands for the constituent communities to be classified as
Backward Classes in the Indian
scheme for positive discrimination. The Kolis gained more from the actions of the KKGKS than did the Rajputs, and Jaffrelot believes that it was around this time that a Koli
intelligentsia emerged. Ghanshyam Shah, a professor at
Jawaharlal Nehru University, describes the organisation today as covering a broad group of communities, from disadvantaged Rajputs of high prestige to the semi-tribal
Bhils, with the Kolis in the middle. He notes that its composition reflects "a common economic interest and a growing secular identity born partly out of folklore but more out of common resentment against the well-to-do castes". In the election years of 1962 and 1967, the
Gujarat Swatantra Party, dominated by the Patidars, won over some of the Koli leaders of the Gujarat Kshatriya Sabha, allowing Sabha to be controlled by Kolis of North Gujarat. The Party nominated a large number of the Kolis as party candidates and also gave them positions within the party organization. The alliance between the Koli and the Party quickly broke down. The party and the Kshatriya Sabha's Koli leaders could not resolve ground-level conflicts between the Koli peasants and Patidar peasants. The Patidar's issues were resolved by Gujarat Kshatriya Sabha but the large population prevented the issues of the Kolis from being solved. For example, the majority of the Patidar's children were engaged in college education while few Kolis received similar education. The Kolis of Gujarat remained educationally and occupationally disadvantaged compared to communities such as the
Brahmins and Patidars. Their many
Jātis include the
Bareeya, Khant and
Thakor, and they also use
Koli as a suffix, giving rise to groups such as the Gulam Koli and Matia Koli. Some do not refer to themselves as Koli at all. == Military ==