The Gola, or Indian Gola, is a medium-sized domestic flying pigeon from northern India and Pakistan. It weighs about 14 oz (400 g) and has orange-red eyes, crimson legs and tight, hard feathering. Most Golas are grizzled or tiger-marked. They fly fast and straight, and American breeders used them to create the larger Indian Mondaine.
Gola pigeon quick facts
| Feature | Gola |
|---|---|
| Origin | Northern India and Pakistan: Punjab, south to Delhi; related types around Lucknow |
| Group | Flying pigeon, also kept for squabs |
| Weight | About 14 oz (400 g) at most |
| Eyes | Bright orange-red; deep red in the blue-bar type |
| Beak and cere | Horn-coloured beak, dark cere |
| Legs | Crimson |
| Feathering | Very tight and hard |
| Colours | About 85% grizzled or “sprinkled”; also blue-bar, black, white and red grizzle |
| Flight | Fast and straight; does not tumble or soar |
| Main offshoot | Indian Mondaine (USA) |
How to recognise a Gola
The best early description comes from Captain J. H. W. Morgan, who served in India with the British Indian Army for 37 years and wrote about the Gola in the American Pigeon Journal in 1925. He described a medium-sized pigeon of about 14 oz at its best, with a horn-coloured beak, a dark cere, crimson legs and very tight, hard feathering. The iris is a bright orange-red.
Colour is the Gola’s best-known feature. Morgan put about 85% of the birds he saw as speckled, grizzled or “sprinkled”: grey-white, blue-white or roan. Blue-bars, blacks, whites and red grizzles also occurred. The grizzle in the Gola is very old, according to the geneticist Willard Hollander, and fanciers have used Golas to bring grizzle into other breeds. See pigeon colour genetics for how grizzle is inherited.
Morgan thought the Gola looked much like the Cumulet, a high-flying European breed, but the Cumulet has pearl eyes where the Gola’s are orange.
Types of Gola
“Gola” was never a single fixed breed. Morgan found that the name covered slightly different types from Peshawar to Lucknow, partly because Golas were crossed with Flying Tipplers, Cumulets and long-bodied, crested, feather-footed breeds such as the Paemozah and the Fantail. He also described a separate variety, the Goolee, which resembled the Lahore.
History of the Gola
Pigeon flying has a long history in northern India. The Ain-i-Akbari, Abu’l Fazl’s 16th-century account of Akbar’s court, describes more than 20,000 pigeons kept there. The breeder Carl Schoelkopf says Fazl referred to the Gola as early as 1590; we could not confirm that the name appears in the text.
Golas were cheap, hardy birds. Morgan wrote that 90% of them were sold in the markets for killing, and he praised their hardiness and prolific breeding. Schoelkopf describes farm flocks that foraged for spilt grain by day; keepers sometimes gave them heavily salted water in the evening so that they brought the grain back up, then washed and dried it for other uses.
Accounts differ on when Golas reached the West. Schoelkopf says Morgan imported birds to Britain around 1900 to supply the squab trade, and that W. Edison Kain of New York bought stock from him in 1901. The 1949 profile says that in 1925 Morgan was breeding Golas commercially in England, with squabs weighing 10 lb a dozen, and had outcrossed them to a “Portuguese cock”.
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 16th century | Ain-i-Akbari records more than 20,000 pigeons at Akbar’s court | Scroll.in |
| c. 1590 | Fazl said to refer to the Gola (not confirmed) | Schoelkopf |
| Around 1900 | Morgan takes Golas to Britain for squab breeding | Schoelkopf |
| 1901 | W. Edison Kain imports Golas from Morgan to New York | Schoelkopf |
| 1925 | Morgan describes the Gola in the American Pigeon Journal and breeds it commercially in England | APJ 1949 |
| 1934 | Kain writes that colouring is the main Gola trait kept in the Indian Mondaine | APJ 1949 |
| 1949 | H. P. Macklin’s “Pigeon Portraits: The Indian Gola”; Henry Diehl of Fresno is breeding Golas | APJ 1949 |
The Indian Mondaine
Kain wanted a bigger squab. According to Schoelkopf, he crossed Golas with Carneaus, Maltese, Runts and French Gros Mondaines (see the French Mondain), discarding crosses that lost the Gola’s good qualities. The result was a black and brown tigered and mottled bird he called the Indian Mondaine. Cocks weighed 28 to 30 oz (about 800 to 850 g) and hens 25 to 28 oz, and their squabs weighed about a pound.
Kain wrote in 1934 that colouring was the main Gola feature the Indian Mondaine kept. Schoelkopf notes that without outcrosses the breed tends to shrink back towards Gola size, and that there are no more than about half a dozen breeders in North America.
Flight: speed and endurance
Morgan described the Gola’s flight as swift and straight. It never soars, he said, unlike the Tippler or the Birmingham Roller. That makes it a straight flyer rather than a tumbler or roller.
We have not found reliable published figures for the Gola’s speed or endurance. For typical figures, see how fast pigeons fly.
Keeping Golas
Outside South Asia the Gola is best known through the Indian Mondaine, which Schoelkopf describes as rare and close to extinction. Morgan and Schoelkopf both describe the birds as hardy and prolific. Their needs are those of any domestic pigeon: a dry, airy loft, a grain-based diet (what pigeons eat) and regular flying for a flying breed. See pigeons as pets and how long pigeons live for general advice, and types of pigeon for related breeds.
Frequently asked questions
What is a gola pigeon?
A medium-sized domestic flying pigeon from northern India and Pakistan, also called the Indian Gola. It is known for grizzled or tiger-marked plumage, orange-red eyes, crimson legs and fast, straight flight.
How can you identify a Gola?
Look for a medium-sized bird of about 14 oz with very tight feathers, an orange-red iris, a horn-coloured beak, a dark cere and crimson legs. Most Golas are grizzled. A similar bird with pearl eyes is more likely a Cumulet.
Is the Gola a tumbler or a high flyer?
Neither. Captain Morgan described its flight as swift and straight and said it never soars like a Tippler or tumbles like a Roller.
How big is a Gola pigeon?
About 14 oz (400 g) at most, according to Morgan. The Indian Mondaine bred from it is roughly twice as heavy.
Is the Gola the same as the Indian Mondaine?
No. The Indian Mondaine was developed in the United States from Gola stock crossed with large squab breeds such as the Carneau, Maltese and Runt. It kept the Gola’s colouring but is much larger.
Can Gola pigeons be raced?
They are not used in organised racing.
Sources
We checked each source on 4 November 2026.
- Macklin, H. P. (1949). Pigeon Portraits: The Indian Gola. American Pigeon Journal 38(10): 294 (quoting J. H. W. Morgan, 1925, and W. E. Kain, 1934), via Wikimedia Commons (opens in new tab)
- Schoelkopf, C. The Indian Mondaine (Gola)
- Scroll.in: article on the Mughal fascination with pigeons, from somersaults to sending messages (opens in new tab)
- Kabir, A. (2023). Indian fancy pigeons with their past and present status. The Pigeon Genetics Newsletter (opens in new tab)
Last updated 4 November 2026 · Types