Bunt (community)#Matrilineal inheritance

The word Bunt means powerful man or warrior in Tulu language. Bunts are also referred to as okkelme, which means farmers or cultivators and references their agrarian origins.{{Cite book|last1=Upadhya|first1=Carol|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QDBiDwAAQBAJ|title=Provincial Globalization in India: Transregional Mobilities and Development Politics|last2=Rutten|first2=Mario|last3=Koskimaki|first3=Leah|date=2018-06-27|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-351-63107-5|pages=245|language=en}}

File:Buntfamilyofkodialguttu.jpg, India File:KULOOR BOODU HOUSE 2022.jpg]]

American anthropologist Sylvia Vatuk states that the Bunt community was a loosely defined social group. The matrilineal kin groups that constituted the caste were linguistically, geographically and economically diverse, which were united by their arrogation of aristocratic status and power.{{cite book|last1=Vatuk|first1=Sylvia|title=American Studies in the Anthropology of India|date=1978|publisher=Manohar|pages=236–239|isbn=9780836403190|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZlCDAAAAMAAJ|access-date=16 February 2018}} The Bunts speak Tulu and Kundagannada as their native language and were traditionally an agrarian caste engaged in rice cultivation.{{Cite book|last1=Research|first1=Indian Council of Agricultural|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4P1IAAAAMAAJ&q=bunt+caste+agricultural|title=Farmers of India,: Madras, Andhra Pradesh, Mysore & Kerala, by M. S. Randhawa and others|last2=Randhawa|first2=Mohindar Singh|last3=Nath|first3=Prem|date=1959|pages=269|language=en}}{{cite book|last1=J. Sreenath, S. H. Ahmad|title=All India anthropometric survey: analysis of data. South Zone|date=1989|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India|isbn=9788185579054|page=41|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3EyAAAAAMAAJ|access-date=14 May 2015}}{{cite book|last1=Sri Sathyan|first1=B. N.|title=Karnataka State Gazetteer: South Kanara|year=1973|publisher=Director of Print., Stationery and Publications at the Government Press|page=108|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jooBAAAAMAAJ|access-date=16 February 2018}}{{Cite book|last=Bhat|first=N. Shyam|title=South Kanara, 1799–1860: A Study in Colonial Administration and Regional Response|date=1998-01-01|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-7099-586-9|pages=212|language=en}} The Bunts follow a matrilineal system of inheritance called Aliyasantana.{{cite book|last1=Iyer|first1=L. A. Krishna|title=The Coorg tribes and castes|date=1969|publisher=Gordon Press Madras and Johnson|pages=67–70|edition=reprint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4HowAQAAIAAJ|access-date=14 May 2015}} They have 93 clan names or surnames and are divided into 53 matrilineal septs called Bari.{{cite book|last1=Siraj|first1=S. Anees|title=Karnataka State: Udupi District|date=2012|publisher=Government of Karnataka, Karnataka Gazetteer Department|page=179|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LGiex76a5-kC|access-date=16 February 2018}} Members of the same bari did not intermarry.{{efn|S. Anees Siraj quotes Ganapathi Rao Aigal, one of the earliest historians to document the history of the Kanara region}} According to S. D. L. Alagodi, the Bunts "originally belonged to the warrior class. Being the martial race of Tulu Nadu, they served the ruling chiefs which brought them considerable benefits and allowed them to become the landowners and nobles of the region."{{cite book|last=Hegde|first=Krishna|title=Feudatories of Coastal Karnataka|year=1990|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|page=10 |quote=Coastal Karnataka was home to number of feudatory rulers. All of them being Bunts following matrilineal inheritance called Aliya Santana and favouring both the Hindu and Jain Faith}}

Bunt clans claim descent from the ancient Alupa dynasty (circa 2nd century CE – 15th century CE). Historian P. Gururaja Bhat mentions that the Alupa royal family were of local origin possibly belonging to the Bunt caste.{{cite book|last1=Bhatt|first1=P. Gururaja|title=Antiquities of South Kanara|date=1969|publisher=Prabhakara Press|page=iii|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UdMCAAAAMAAJ |access-date=14 February 2018}} The title Alupa (Alva) survives until this day among the Bunts according to historian Bhaskar Anand Saletore.{{cite book|last1=Saletore|first1=Bhaskar Anand|title=Ancient Karnāṭaka, Volume 1|date=1936|publisher=Oriental Book Agency|page=154 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=whZHAAAAIAAJ}} Some ruling and feudal clans of North Kerala adjacent to Tulu Nadu were also likely descended from Bunts. Indian anthropologist Ayinapalli Aiyappan states that a powerful and warlike clan of the Bunts was called Kola Bari and the Kolathiri Raja of Kolathunadu was a descendant of this clan.{{cite book |last1=Ayinapalli |first1=Aiyappan |title=The Personality of Kerala |date=1982 |publisher=Department of Publications, University of Kerala |page=162 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SXFuAAAAMAAJ |access-date=27 July 2018 |quote=A very powerful and warlike section of the Bants of Tulunad was known as Kola bari. It is reasonable to suggest that the Kola dynasty was part of the Kola lineages of Tulunad.}}

Norwegian anthropologist Harald Tambs-Lyche, states that the Bunts were warriors of the Jain kingdoms.{{cite book |last1=Tambs-Lyche |first1=Harald|title=Transaction and Hierarchy: Elements for a Theory of Caste(Feudal Fiefs and Mosaic Patterns in South Kanara) |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781351393966|pages=376|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AOsrDwAAQBAJ|access-date=14 February 2018}} Jainism gained a foothold in the Canara region during the rule of the Hoysala dynasty who were themselves Jains.{{cite book |last1=Hānūru |first1=Kr̥ṣṇamūrti |title=Encyclopaedia of the Folk Culture of Karnataka |date=1991 |publisher=Institute of Asian Studies (Madras, India) |page=555 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pVZuAAAAMAAJ |access-date=22 June 2018}} The Hoysala Ballal kings are known to have appointed Bunts as military officers. A section of Bunts believe that they were originally Jains who later became a caste group.{{cite book|last1=Sabharwal|first1=Gopa|title=Ethnicity and Class: Social Divisions in an Indian City|date=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195678307|pages=138–139|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gEhPAAAAMAAJ|access-date=14 February 2018}} A legend prevalent among the Bunts states that one of the Jain kings of the Bunts abandoned Jainism and took to eating peacock meat to cure a disease. Veerendra Heggade, the hereditary administrator of the Dharmasthala Temple has also publicly spoken about the Jain origin of the Bunts.{{cite news|last1=Bantwal|first1=Rons|title=Mumbai: Dharmadhikari Dr Veerendra Heggade Lauds Social Welfare of Bunts Sangh|url=http://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay.aspx?newsID=118641|access-date=14 February 2018|agency=Daijiworld Media Network Mumbai (RD)|date=11 October 2011}} Heggade is the current head of the Pattada Pergade family of Bunt heritage which continues to practice the Jain religion.{{cite news|last1=R. Krishnamurthy|title=In the lap of the Western Ghats|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/look-at-temples-in-dakshin-kannada-district/article7180658.ece|access-date=14 February 2018|agency=The Hindu|date= 21 May 2015}}

The concept of personal landed property existed in South Canara district from at least the 12th century and also a military tenure not very different from the feudal system of Europe.{{cite book |title=Perspectives on Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu |date=1991 |publisher=Mangalore University |page=145 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q2tuAAAAMAAJ |access-date=22 June 2018}}{{clarify|reason=this is gibberish |date=September 2018}} The Bunts, being a martial caste, were exempt from paying land taxes. Around the 15th century, the Bunts had consolidated themselves as a land-owning feudal caste grouping. Among the Bunts existed rich landlords as well as poor labourers who were often exploited by the former.{{Cite book|last=Bhagat-Ganguly|first=Varsha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7b29CwAAQBAJ&dq=Bunts+upper+caste&pg=PA122|title=Land Rights in India: Policies, movements and challenges|date=2015-12-14|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-35402-4|pages=122|language=en}}:"The Bunts were also a landlord class but there were tenants and labourers among them who were subject to exploitation by their own bunt landlords." Bunt families controlled several villages and lived in a manor house. Several villages were generally united under a single Bunt chiefdom, and the chiefdoms had considerable autonomy despite being vassals to the Jain kings. The Bunt chiefs and petty princes became virtually independent after the rise of the Nayakas of Keladi. The Haleri Rajas, who were likely a cadet branch of the Nayakas of Keladi invited Bunt families to settle in Kodagu district after establishing the Kingdom of Coorg.{{cite book |last1=Cariappa |first1=Ponnamma |title=The Coorgs and their origins |date=1981 |publisher=Geetha Book House |page=31 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z8otAAAAMAAJ |access-date=22 June 2018}}{{cite book |last1=Kāmat |first1=Sūryanātha |title=Karnataka State gazetteers, Volume 1 |date=1993 |publisher=Office of the Chief Editor, Karnataka Gazetteer |page=147 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QVVuAAAAMAAJ |access-date=22 June 2018 |quote=The Bants migrated from Dakshina Kannada and Kasargod to Kodagu. It is said that Haleri kings sent for these people from Manjeshwara, Kumble, Bantwala and Puttur to come and inhabit in Kodagu region.}}

At the start of the 16th century, the Tuluva dynasty came to control the Vijayanagara Empire with its capital at Hampi in North Karnataka.{{cite book |last1=Pollock |first1=Sheldon |title=Forms of Knowledge in Early Modern Asia: Explorations in the Intellectual History of India and Tibet, 1500–1800 |date=2011 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=9780822349044 |pages=74–81 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=740AqMUW8WQC |access-date=16 June 2018}}{{cite book |last1=Peter Fibiger Bang |first1=Dariusz Kolodziejczyk |title=Universal Empire: A Comparative Approach to Imperial Culture and Representation in Eurasian History |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107022676 |pages=222–223 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xiKtT85kYloC |access-date=16 June 2018}} It has been suggested by scholars Mysore Hatti Ramasharma and Mysore Hatti Gopal that the Tuluva rulers were of Bunt origin.{{cite book |last1=Mysore Hatti Gopal |first1=Mysore Hatti Rama Sharma |title=The history of the Vijayanagar Empire, Volume 1 |date=1978 |publisher=Popular Prakashan |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PmVuAAAAMAAJ |access-date=22 June 2018 |quote=The word Tuluva includes all the natives of the Tulu region. In a restricted sense, however, this word has been confined to the Bunts who form the majority of the cultivating class of the districts of North and South Kanara. Some of these Bunts prospering in trade have called themselves shetties or shresties and tried to raise themselves in the social scale. Although the later kings of Tuluva dynasty have called themselves Yadavas of the Lunar line and as having descended from Turvasu, there is little doubt that they were related by blood to this class of shetties.}} A section of Bunts called Parivara Bunt have also traditionally claimed to be Nayaks (chieftains) of the Vijayanagara Empire.{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Kumar Suresh |title=India's communities, Volume 1; Volume 5 |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=575–577 |isbn=9780195633542 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jw9uAAAAMAAJ |access-date=22 June 2018}}

The feudal life and society of Bunt began to disintegrate during the colonial period, leading to a period of increasing urbanisation.{{cite web|author=M Raghuram|date=19 April 2010|title=Bunts feel at home wherever they are – DNA|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-bunts-feel-at-home-wherever-they-are-1373019|access-date=23 July 2016|publisher=DNA}}

File:Belle Badagumane Ballal Jumadi.jpg at the Badagumane shrine in Belle, Udupi]]

The Bunts practice Hinduism as well as Jainism.{{cite book|last1=S. Jayashanker |title=Temples of Kasaragod District|date=2001|publisher=Controller of Publications, Directorate of Census Operations, Kerala|pages=7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WnLXAAAAMAAJ|quote=Bants of Kasaragod are a military class. They are mostly Hindus except for few Jains and they include four divisions, Masadika Bants, Nadava Bants, Parivara Bants and Jaina Bants}} Alagodi wrote in 2006 of the Tulu Nadu population that, "Among the Hindus, a little over ten per cent are brahmins, and all the others, though nominally Hindus, are really propitiators or worshippers of tutelary deities and bhutas."{{cite book |chapter=The Basel Mission in Mangalore: Historical and Social Context |first=S. D. L. |last=Alagodi |title=An Indian to the Indians?: on the initial failure and the posthumous success of the missionary Ferdinand Kittel (1832–1903) |volume=9 |series=Studien zur aussereuropäischen Christentumsgeschichte |editor-first=Reinhard |editor-last=Wendt |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |year=2006 |isbn=978-3-447-05161-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XCHZ_pDUnVAC |page=142 |access-date=2018-03-15}} Amitav Ghosh describes the Tulu Butas as protective figures, ancestral spirits and heroes who have been assimilated to the ranks of minor deities. The cult worship of the Butas is widely practiced in Tulu Nadu by a large section of the population. The Bunts being the principal landowners of the region were the traditional patrons of the Buta Kola festival which included aspects akin to theatrical forms like Yakshagana.{{cite book|last1=Ghosh|first1=Amitav|title=The Imam and the Indian: Prose Pieces |date=2002|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=9788175300477|pages=192–200|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQHp9wsWaZcC|access-date=15 March 2018}}

Butas and daivas (tutelary deities) are not worshiped on a daily basis like mainstream Hindu gods.{{Cite journal|last=Suzuki|first=Masataka|date=2008|title=Bhūta and Daiva: Changing Cosmology of Rituals and Narratives in Karnataka.|journal=Senri Ethnological Studies |volume=71 |pages= 51–85}} Their worship is restricted to annual ritual festivals, though daily pujas may be conducted for the ritual objects, ornaments, and other paraphernalia of the būta. Unlike with the better-known Hindu gods of the puraṇic variety, buta worship is congregational and every caste in the Tulu speaking region has its own set of butas and daivas that they worship.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

Depending on the significance of the people who worship them, butas or daivas can be family deities (kuṭuṃbada buta), local or village deities (jageda buta, urada buta), or deities associated with administrative units such as manorial estates (Guțțus, e.g., Adve Moodra Guthu ,Andemaar Guthu , Kinnimajal Guthu, Kudal Guthu.) (Beedus, e.g., Malarbeedu, Kuloor Beedu). groups of estates (Magane, e.g., Aila Magane uppala, districts (sime) or even small kingdoms (royal butas or rajandaivas).{{Cite book|title=Fürstliche Fest: Text und Rituale der Tuḷu-Volksreligion an der Westküste Südindiens.|last=Brückner|first=Heidrun|publisher=Harrassowitz|year=1995|location=Wiesbaden|pages=199–201}} The deity Jumadi is cited as an example of a Rajandaiva, i.e. a royal deity who reigns over a former small kingdom or large feudal estate. Jumadi is worshiped mainly by the rich land-owning Bunts who are the chief patrons of his cult. In the myth, as well as in the religious Buta Kola dance, Jumadi is always accompanied by his warrior attendant, called Bante, who appears to be specially related to the patrons of the Bunt caste.{{cite book |last1=Brückner |first1=Heidrun |title=On an Auspicious Day, at Dawn -: Studies in Tulu Culture and Oral Literature |date=2009 |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=9783447059169 |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MehF3uSdHxgC |access-date=2 July 2018}} Kodamanthaye, Kukkinanthaye, Jaranthaye, Ullaya and Ullalthi are some of the other deities from the royal Buta cult.{{cite book |last1=K. Sanjiva Prabhu |title=Special Study Report on Bhuta Cult in South Kanara District |date=1977 |publisher=Controller of Publications |pages=39–60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xwgaAAAAMAAJ |access-date=2 July 2018}}

File:Nayarbettu.JPG

Most Bunts followed a matrilineal system of inheritance and the eldest male member in the female line was the head of the family. This head of the family was called Yajmane and he would preside over the manorial court during the feudal era.

The Nadibettu Aramane house in Shirva was built in the 14th century and has copper plate inscriptions of the Vijayanagara Empire{{cite news|last1=Siraj|first1=M. A.|title=You can go back in time here|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-propertyplus/you-can-go-back-in-time-here/article2955938.ece|access-date=14 May 2015|work=The Hindu|date=3 March 2012}} Chavadi Aramane of Nandalike, the manorial house of the Heggade chieftaincy has inscriptions from the 16th century.{{cite book |last1=P. Gururaja Bhatt |title=Antiquities of South Kanara |date=1969 |publisher=Prabhakara Press |page=16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UdMCAAAAMAAJ |access-date=5 July 2018}} Suralu Aramane of the Tolaha dynasty is another house of chieftains in Udupi district; it dates from the 15th century.{{cite web |title=Suralu Aramane (Mud Palace) |url=https://www.udupitourism.com/Explore?Udupi-Suralu-Palace |website=www.udupitourism.com/ |publisher=Department of Tourism, Government of Karnataka |access-date=5 July 2018}} The Suralu Mud Palace is currently under the ownership of Sudarshan Shetty, a descendant of the Tolahas who is leading a restoration project.{{cite news |last1=Moodubelle |first1=Sheeja |title=This 600-year old mud palace desperately needs a face-lift |url=https://www.newskarnataka.com/features/this-600-year-old-mud-palace-desperately-needs-a-face-lift |access-date=5 July 2018 |agency=NewsKarnataka}} The Suralu Palace is a State protected Monument which was partially restored in 2016 with help from the Government of Karnataka.{{cite news |last1=Prabhu |first1=Ganesh |title=Udupi's 500-year-old mud palace gleams anew |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/udupis-500yearold-mud-palace-gleams-anew/article8622961.ece |access-date=5 July 2018 |agency=The Hindu |date=20 May 2016}}

Some other houses of the Bunts that preserve medieval architecture include the Kodial Guthu house of Mangalore.{{cite web|last1=Monteiro|first1=John|title=Mangalore: Kodial Guthu House Restored to Glory|url=http://www.daijiworld.com/chan/exclusive_arch.asp?ex_id=878|publisher=Daijiworld Media|access-date=14 May 2015}}{{cite web|last1=Monteiro|first1=John|title=Mangalore: Once a Place of Pride, Kodialguttu now under Siege|url=http://www.daijiworld.com/chan/exclusive_arch.asp?ex_id=442|publisher=Daijiworld Media|access-date=14 May 2015}} Badila Guthu{{cite web|last1=Team Mangalorean|title=Badila Guthu House – a Century-old Heritage|url=http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=176932|website=Mangalorean.com|access-date=14 May 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108093630/http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=176932|archive-date=8 November 2014|df=dmy-all}} in Kannur, Shetty Bettu,{{cite web|url=http://indianquarterly.com/mansions-at-dusk/|title=Mansions at Dusk|last1=ARNI|first1=CLARE|website=www.indianquarterly.com|publisher=The Indian Quarterly|access-date=5 July 2018}} Puthige Guthu, Markada Guthu and Kodethur Guthu.{{cite news |last1=Kamila |first1=Raviprasad |title=Guthu mane: a historical treasure |url=https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/homes-and-gardens/guthu-mane-a-historical-treasure/article19203377.ece |access-date=5 July 2018 |agency=The Hindu}}{{cite news |last1=Kamila |first1=Raviprasad |title=This Guttu Mane is 100 years old |url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/this-guttu-mane-is-100-years-old/article13387789.ece |access-date=5 July 2018 |agency=The Hindu |issue=31 January 2012}}

The traditional community council of the Bunts have been replaced by a body of elected members called the Buntara Yane Nadavara Mathr Sangha (Bunt and Nadava Association). It was established in 1908 in Mangalore{{cite book |last1=K. Abhishankar |first1=Sūryanātha Kāmat |title=Karnataka State Gazetteer: South Kanara |date=1973 |publisher=Director of Print, Stationery and Publications at the Government Press |page=697 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RrG1AAAAIAAJ |access-date=5 July 2018}} and has been called the apex body of the Bunt community by The Hindu newspaper.{{cite news |title=Corridors of power |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/corridors-of-power-raids-rumours-and-television/article19440394.ece |access-date=5 July 2018 |agency=The Hindu |date=6 August 2017}} Similar regional and international organisations operate in areas where the Bunts have migrated.{{cite news |last1=Prasad |first1=Shodhan |title=Dubai: Glamour blended with tradition at UAE Bunts' 44th anniversary celebration |url=http://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay.aspx?newsID=509752 |access-date=5 July 2018 |agency=Daijiworld Media |issue=16 May 2018}}

The Bunt association, including its regional bodies, also runs schools, colleges, hostels and dispensaries.{{cite news |last1=Bhandary |first1=Shreya |title=Colleges want MU to push first semester exam to December |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/colleges-want-mu-to-push-first-semester-exam-to-december/story-tI2E7fnVq0jW12Fbf8yEdM.html |access-date=5 July 2018 |agency=Hindustan Times |date=22 September 2016}}{{cite news |last1=Monteiro |first1=John B |title=Mangalore: Bunts Hostel marks aborted centenary – A brief history |url=http://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay.aspx?newsID=233662 |access-date=5 July 2018 |agency=Daijiworld Media |issue=8 May 2014}}

The traditional chaturvarna system is largely not found in South India. According to Buchanan and historians like P.N Chopra, Gundimeda Sambaiah and Sanjay Subrahmanyam etc., Bunts belong to the Sat-Shudras or "Upper" Shudras category in the Hindu varna system.{{Cite book|last=Gundimeda|first=Sambaiah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FjjbCgAAQBAJ|title=Dalit Politics in Contemporary India|date=2015-10-14|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-38105-1|pages=19|language=en}}{{cite book|author=Sanjay Subrahmanyam|title=Merchants, Markets and the State in Early Modern India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FbZIAAAAYAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-562569-1|pages=24, 46|quote=p.24.Inland , and away from the narrow strip of Brahmin settlements along the coast , the land was held and cultivated by the Bants , a caste of ' clean ' Sudras . p.46.The agrarian economy was dominated on the one hand by communities of Saiva Brahmins and their institutions, particularly off the coast, and on the other by a Sudra cultivating caste, the Bants, to the inland}}{{cite book |date=2007|title=The quarterly journal of the Mythic society., Volume 98|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gm8EQrkyJO0C&q=buntars|location=Bangalore|publisher=The Mythic Society, Daly Memorial Hall|page=54}}:"He says Buntars are of the highest rank of sudras in Tuluva."{{cite book |last=Chopra|first=Pran Nath|date=1982|title=Religions and Communities of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggtuAAAAMAAJ&q=Early+Christian+era|location=India |publisher=Orient Paperbacks |page=122 |isbn=9780391027480}}:"The Bunts are Sudras , although they played the role of Kshatriyas early in the Christian era when they and the Nadavas were the military Chieftains of the area"{{cite journal |last1=Udaya|first1=Barkur|title=Landlords and Peasantry in Medieval Karnataka Coast|year=2006|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/44147941 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=67|publisher=Indian History Congress|pages=226 |doi= |jstor=44147941|access-date=18 April 2021}}:"The rich peasant farmers particularly the Brahmans and the high caste sudras such as Nadavas or Bunts , Billavas and Mogavirs owned paddy fields, large areas of gardens of coconut, arecanut and other products."{{cite book |author= G. Shiri|date=1985|title=Wholeness in Christ: The Legacy of the Basel Mission in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IYAcAAAAMAAJ&q=Aliya+kattu+law|location=India|publisher=Karnataka Theological Research Institute|page=195|isbn=|quote=The Aliya Kattu law (inheritance law), which was widely practised by Billavas , Mogers and Bunts , and number of other Shudra castes , was not applied to... }}{{cite book |last=Madhava |first=K. G. Vasantha |date=1991|title=Western Karnataka, Its Agrarian Relations, 1500–1800 A.D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t0AaAAAAIAAJ&q=bunt+sudra|location=New Delhi |publisher=Navrang |page=176|isbn=9788170130734 }}:"For instance , the tax structure and the process of its collection of the Vijayanagara rulers and their feudatories enabled the Brāhamans , the Jains and the highcaste Sudras namely the Bunts the Nāyaks and the Gowdas to emerge as powerful landed gentry."{{cite book |last=Punja|first=P. R. Ranganatha |date=1948|title=India's legacy, the world's heritage : Dravidian |volume=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yLg1h6j5HcQC&q=brahminical+scale|location=Mangalore |publisher=Basel Mission Book Depot |page=123}}:"Like the Nairs in Malabar , the Bunts and Tulu Gowdas in Canara and the Vakkaligas ' and Gowdas of Nagara , the Coorgs are : in the brahminical scale – Sudra's" In Southern India, the upper Shudras were generally the landholding ruling classes of South India and were analogous to Kshatriyas and Vaishyas in North India. According to Dr. D. N. Yogeeswarappa, Bunts are Nagavanshi kshatriyas.{{Cite book|last=Yogeeswarappa|first=D. N.|title= The Study of Nayakatana in the Vijayanagara empire with special reference to Tuluva Dynasty|date=2012|pages=28–29|url=http://sscwtumkur.org/sscwcms/uploads/activities/permanent/2018/12/13/7_1544721945_nayakatana.pdf|language=en}}{{Better source needed|reason=Citation is not peer reviewed. It is an unpublished minor research work replete with errors.|date=August 2021}}

Bunts today are considered a forward upper caste community.{{Cite book|last=Bhagat-Ganguly|first=Varsha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7b29CwAAQBAJ&dq=Bunts+upper+caste&pg=PA122|title=Land Rights in India: Policies, movements and challenges|date=2015-12-14|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-35402-4|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Rani|first=K. Suneetha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8RpBDwAAQBAJ&dq=Bunts+upper+caste&pg=PT136|title=Influence of English on Indian Women Writers: Voices from Regional Languages|date=2017-09-25|publisher=SAGE Publishing India|isbn=978-93-81345-34-4|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RwJuAAAAMAAJ&q=Bunts+upper+caste|title=Indian Journal of Secularism: IJS : a Journal of Centre for Study of Society & Secularism|date=2000|publisher=The Centre|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Shand|first=Richard Tregurtha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g22GAAAAIAAJ&q=Bunts+upper+caste|title=Off-farm Employment in the Development of Rural Asia: Papers Presented at a Conference Held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, 23 to 26 August 1983|date=1986|publisher=National Centre for Development Studies, Australian National University|isbn=978-0-86784-729-1|language=en}}{{Cite book|last1=Kukreja|first1=Veena|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JUMeAAAAMAAJ&q=Bunts+forward+caste|title=The Congress Century|last2=Basu|first2=Rumki|date=1988|publisher=National Book Organisation|isbn=978-81-85135-24-3|language=en}}

Bunts are categorized as Other Backward Class (OBC) in the state of Karnataka (not be confused with central list of OBC's){{Cite web|url=https://bcw.karnataka.gov.in/storage/pdf-files/caste%20list.new.pdf|title=Backward Classes, Karnataka|page=2,15}}:p2."Candidates belonging to Category-ll(A),. 1(B), III(A), and III(B) shall be entitled to reservation in the manner specified in the new Comprehensive Creamy Layer policy";p15. Bunt/Bant is listed under III(B){{cite web |url=https://karepass.cgg.gov.in/CasteReport.do?actionParameter=CasteWise&castecat_code=5|title=Caste Report|year=2021|website= Karnataka ePASS(Electronic Payment and Application System of Scholars)|publisher=Department of Backward Classes Welfare, Government of Karnataka|access-date=6 March 2021|quote=}}

They are not included in the Central List of OBCs of the state of Karnataka.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ncbc.nic.in/Writereaddata/cl/karnataka.pdf|title=PDF – National OBC list for Karnataka}} However their central status is contested as legal petitions have allowed members of the Bunt community to avail OBC reservation at the national level as 'Nadavas'.{{cite court |litigants=Ananya R Shetty vs The State Of Karnataka|reporter=WRIT PETITION NO.25977/2014 (GM-CC)|court=Karnataka High Court|date=11 June 2014|url=http://judgmenthck.kar.nic.in/judgmentsdsp/bitstream/123456789/1220/1/WP25977-14-11-06-2014.pdf|access-date=19 April 2021|quote=Hence, a direction is issued to respondent No.2 to reconsider the application of the petitioner seeking issue of OBC Certificate by keeping in view the observations as made by this Court and by perusing the documents furnished by the petitioner in respect of the application.}}{{cite court |litigants=Sri. Naveen Kushal Shetty vs The State Of Karnataka|reporter=WRIT PETITION NO.39894/2012 (GM-CC)|court=Karnataka High Court|date=10 October 2012|url=http://judgmenthck.kar.nic.in/judgments/bitstream/123456789/779388/1/WP39894-12-10-10-2012.pdf|access-date=20 May 2021|quote=Petitioner claims that he belongs to ‘Nadava’ community/caste. It finds place at Sl. No. 122 in the Central List of OBCs for the state of Karnataka. The Tahsildar rejected the petitioner's application by one line order stating that there is no option for bunts in OBCs list...The Tahsildar shall grant an opportunity to the petitioner to file additional documents, if he so desires and also personal hearing before passing order on the petitioner's application. The Tahsildar shall pass a speaking order and communicate the same to the petitioner immediately thereafter.}}

• Tulu people
• List of Bunts
• Kolathiri
• Alupa dynasty

Notes

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Citations

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{{reflist|group=Note}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book |title=Kinship organization of the Bunt-Nadava caste complex |last= Claus |first= Peter J. |publisher= Duke University|year= 1975 }}
• {{cite book |title=History Of Bunts – Medieval Age To Modern Times |last= Hegde |first= Krishananda |publisher= Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|year= 2008 }}
• {{cite book |title=Bunts in History and Culture|last= Rao |first= Surendra |publisher= Rastrakavi Govind Pai Research Institute|year= 2010 | isbn=9788186668603}}
• {{cite book |title=Bunts: (a Socio-cultural Study)|last= Heggaḍe|first= Indirā|publisher= Kuvempu Bhasha Bharati Pradhikara|year= 2015 | isbn=9788192627212}}

{{refend}}

{{commons category|Bunt community}}

Category:Ethnic groups in India

Category:Tuluva

Category:Hindu ethnic groups

Category:Jain communities

Category:Mangalorean society

Category:Social groups of Karnataka

Category:Social groups of Kerala

Category:Hindu communities

Category:Ethnic groups in South Asia

Category:Indian castes

Category:South Indian communities