Tuluva ತುಳು?
Total population
1,347,480[1]
Regions with significant populations
Native to: Coastal Karnataka (historically known as Tulu Nadu) Other populations in: Maharashtra Kerala Arab States Anglosphere
Languages
Tulu
Religions
Hinduism, Jainism, Christianity [2], [3]
Related ethnic groups
Dravidian people Brahui people • Gonds • Kannadigas • Malayalis • Tamils • Telugus

The Tuluvas (Tulu: ತುಳುವ) are speakers of the Tulu language. Since ancient times they have been spread through the Northern Kasaragod, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka, India. Today, there is a sizeable Tuluva population in Mumbai and elsewhere in the world, where they have migrated .
In recent times, The first set of migration started in the beginning of Twentieth century to places like Mumbai( Bombay then ),Chennai ( Madras then ) and other parts of South India. The Tulu speaking Shivalli brahmins mostly migrated to south of Tulunadu like Madras, Bangalore,Tamilnadu ,Andhra pradesh,Kerala etc and other Tulu speakers to north of Tulunadu especially to Mumbai and surrounding areas like Thane,Navi Mumbai and Pune.Tulu people also migrated to other parts of Karnataka like Mysore, Dharwad, Shivamogga etc.

The second set of migration started with World war II to escape rationing of food by British.The third set of migration after imposing of Land reform act in early 70's, where thousands of people lost their land to tenants.The fourth wave of migration especially to Bangalore started with IT boom in 1990s and 2000. The migrants in this wave were educated skilled people required for IT sector. There were another two types of migration one to Gulf states ( Middle east countries) in mostly 1980s and 1990s.Another one's to U.S.A following IT boom in India, particularly in Bangalore.

People

The majority of Tuluvas are Hindus. There is also a minuscule population of Jains and Protestant Christians. There are no Tulu Muslims.

Tuluvas today

Tuluvas are generally bilingual in both Tulu and Kannada in Karnataka. Also, the caste affiliations of the people of this region go beyond linguistic boundaries. Dalits living in this region mostly have Tulu as their mother tongue. A landowning caste called Bunts have community members among Tulu and Kannada speakers. The Bunts having surnames like shetty are traditionally land owning and usury collectors.They are the business class of the society and usually are monetary lenders. Living amongst Kannada, Malayalam and Konkani speakers for centuries has made Tuluvas very tolerant and cosmopolitan. Bunts, Moolya(Kulala),Mogaveeras, Billavas, Devadiga,s etc are some of the communities of Tuluva ethnic group.

A high literacy (more than 90%), and economic success brought about by development and migrations, has resulted in loosening of caste structure.

Prominent Tuluvas

• Krishna Deva Raya
• Daiva Raja Koteda Babbu : Dalit folk hero
• Koti and Chennayya : Folk heroes
• Veerendra Heggade : Dharmadikari of Shri Khetra Dharmasthala
• U. R. Bhat Noted Financial consultant.
• K R Rama Moorthy: Gen Secretary, Association for inclusion of Tulu Language in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution

Politics

• Jeevaraj Alva
• Justice K.S.Hegde :Was the first Judge from Karnataka to be appointed to the Supreme Court (1967) and Loksabha Speaker(1977).Also founder of Nitte Education Trust.
• Veerappa Moily : A former Chief minister of Karnataka
• Janardhana Poojary : A former cabinet minister of India

Literature

• Ratnakaravarni : A Kannada poet
• Shivaraya Kulakunda : A Kannada/Tulu literary figure
• Kayyara Kinyanna Rai : A Kannada nationalist and literary figure
• Bannanje Govindacharya: An expert on Madhva philosophy
• Nandalike Lakshmi Naranappa: A Kannada literary figure

Health Care

• Dr Rahul Shetty: Cardiovascular Surgeon
• Devi Prasad Shetty : A famous heart specialist

Movies

Directors and Producers

• Vittalacharya : A South Indian Director
• Pawan Shetty
• Sohan Ullal
• Gagan Shetty
• Manmohan Shetty
• Santhosh rai pathaje
• rohith shetty * hruday shetty

Kannada Actors

• Suman : Kannada Film Actor
• Prakash Rai: Kannada Film Actor
• Vinod Alva
• Jayamala
• Vadiraja
• Harini
• Leelavathi
• Vinodraj
• Rohan Bangera
• Radika

Music directors

• Gurukiran
• V.Manohar
• Sandeep Chowta

Choreographers

• Pratap Shetty: Active on the international scene with choreography in the Asian Games Doha opening ceremony, Selena Jaitley in New York, Yana Gupta in the Punjabi Music Awards Ceremony, residency work in the UK and choreography of Rakhi Sawant/Abhishek in Star Plus' Nach Baliye 3 (10 points in lead in judges vote after 3 episodes)
• Ganesh Hegde

Bollywood Actors

• Shilpa Shetty : A Bollywood actress and Winner of Celebrity Big Brother show in London
• Shamita Shetty: Bollywood Actress
• Sneha Ullal :Bollywood Actress
• Suniel Shetty : A Bollywood actor
• Aishwarya Rai : A Bollywood Actress

Science and Technology

• U.R.Rao : Former Chairman of Indian Space research Organisation.
• U.V.Rao former chairman of Larsen and Toubro.

Sports

• Budhi Kunderan : Former Indian Test cricket player (Wicket keeper)
• A.Raghuram Bhat: Former Indian left arm spinner
• Ravi Shastri : Former Indian Test cricket player

Others

• Vyasaraya Ballal

See also

Tulu

Kasaragod Tulu

External links

References