Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Ballāla

by Edgar Thurston

Ballāla.— Ballala, or Bellala, was returned, at the census, 1901, as the caste name of a number of individuals, indicating their claim to descent from the Hoysal Ballal kings of Mysore. Ballal is a title assumed by Bant families of position. There is a proverb that, when a Bant becomes powerful, he becomes a Ballal.^[1]

1. Manual of the S. Canara district.