Soliga

Soliga is the language spoken by the people of the same name in southern Karnataka. Originally the Soliga occupied the forest of the BR Hills of Yelandur taluk and Kollegal taluk. There is no written version of Soliga, although there has been some attempt to appply the Kannada alphabet to the language.

The Soliga have suffered greatly during the population explosion of this century. Originally, they practiced shifting cultivation in the forest, supplementing their diet with hunting and honey gathering. As their forest has been cleared by Tamils and Kannadigas, they have been resettled into permanent villages by the government.