Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Dhūliya

by Edgar Thurston

Dhūliya. — Dhūliya or Dūlia is a small class of Oriya cultivators, some of whom wear the sacred thread, and employ Boishnobs as their priests. Marriage before puberty is not compulsory, and widows can remarry. They eat flesh. The dead are cremated. *^[1] The name is said to be derived from dhuli, dust, with which those who work in the fields are covered. Dhūliya also means carriers of dhulis (dhoolies), which are a form of palanquin.

1. * Madras Census Report, 1891.