▁difficulty ▁in ▁ident ifying ▁people ▁as ▁K oli ▁or ▁as ▁Bh il ▁people ▁in ▁what ▁is ▁now ▁the ▁state ▁of ▁Gu jar at . ▁The ▁two ▁communities ▁co - ex isted ▁in ▁the ▁hills ▁of ▁that ▁area ▁and ▁even ▁today ▁there ▁is ▁confusion ▁regarding ▁their ▁identity , ▁not ▁helped , ▁in ▁the ▁opinion ▁of ▁soci ologist ▁Ar v ind ▁Shah , ▁by ▁there ▁being ▁" hard ly ▁any ▁modern , ▁system atic , ▁anth rop ological , ▁soci ological ▁or ▁historical ▁study " ▁of ▁the ▁Kol is . ▁S ources ▁from ▁the ▁medieval ▁period ▁suggest ▁that ▁the ▁term ▁k oli ▁was ▁applied ▁gener ically ▁to ▁law less ▁people , ▁whilst ▁British ▁colonial ▁studies ▁considered ▁it ▁to ▁be ▁a ▁vague ▁collect ive ▁n oun ▁for ▁varied ▁communities ▁whose ▁sole ▁common ▁feature ▁was ▁that ▁they ▁were ▁inferior ▁to ▁the ▁Kun bis . ▁At ▁some ▁stage , ▁k oli ▁became ▁accepted ▁as ▁a ▁cas te ▁and ▁thus ▁superior ▁to ▁the ▁trib al ▁Bh ils . ▁ ▁Early ▁ ▁Records ▁of ▁K oli ▁people ▁exist ▁from ▁at ▁least ▁the ▁ 1 5 th ▁century , ▁when ▁r ul ers ▁in ▁the ▁present - day ▁Gu jar at ▁region ▁noted ▁their ▁ch ie ft ains ▁as ▁being ▁mar aud ing ▁ro bb ers ▁and ▁d aco its . ▁Over ▁a ▁period ▁of ▁several ▁centuries , ▁some ▁of ▁them ▁were ▁able ▁to ▁establish ▁pet ty ▁chief dom s ▁throughout ▁the ▁region , ▁mostly ▁compr ising ▁just ▁a ▁single ▁village . ▁Although ▁not ▁Raj put s , ▁this ▁relatively ▁small