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Gondi

Total population
4 million
Regions with significant populations
India            Madhya Pradesh            Maharashtra            Chhattisgarh            Andhra Pradesh            Orissa
Languages
/Goindi language, Hindi
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Dravidian people · Khonds ·

The Gondi (Gōndi) or Gond people are people in central India, spread over the states of Madhya Pradesh, eastern Maharashtra (Vidarbha), Chhattisgarh, northern Andhra Pradesh, and Western Orissa. With over four million people, they are the largest tribe in Central India.^[1]

Gond or Rajgond are same tribes. The term Raj Gond ,was widly used in 1940's but has now become almost obsolete, probably because of the political eclipse of the Gond Rajas.^[2]

The Gondi language is related to Telugu and other Dravidian languages. About half of Gonds speak Gondi languages^[3], while the rest speak Indo-Aryan languages including Hindi.

History[link]

For many years during the British colonial period of India the Gonds were considered to have performed human sacrifices, although this notion was later discredited.^[4]

History Of Gondwana and Rani Durgawati[link]

Gondwana was conquered in 1564 by Akbar.This State included the regions of Sagar,Damoh,Mandla,Seoni, Narmada Valley and possibly a portion of Bhopal. This state had 53 forts. Dalpat Shah was its ruler. He died leaving behind his widow Durgawati and his infant son Bir Naryan. Durgawati became the Regent. Abul Fazal says that Durgawati ruled her country with wisdom and ability. She delighted in hunting and bringing down wild animals with her own gun.Asf Khan, the Governor of Kara or Allahabad, was tempted by wealth of Gondwana. Occasionally he revaged the borders of his kingdom. Rani Durgawati started negotiations with Akabarfor a peacefulsettlement and when those negotionas failed, she retailted by making forays against Bhilsa,Asaf Khan marched against Gondwana. Durgawati defended her territoty bravely. She was outnumberd and defeated in a battle betwen garh and Mandal in the morden Jabalpur District.Rani Durgawati was wounded and she plunged a dagger in her breast and ended her life to save herself from disgrace. her country was devatate and a lot of booty fell into the hands of Mughals. Bir Narayn died fighting in the defence of his country. According to V.A.Smith,"Akbar;s attack on a princess of a character so noble was mere aggresson, wholly unprovoked and devoid of all justifications other than the lust for conqust and plunder."^[5]

Status[link]

The Gonds have scheduled tribe status in most of the Indian states^[6] and are the second largest tribe in the country and are believed to be of Dravidian stock.

According to the 1971 census, their population was 51.54 lakhs. By the 1991 census this had increased to 93.19 lakhs ^[7]

Gonds of Uttar Pradesh[link]

The Gond are also found in major population in Uttar Pradesh (UP).Like in other parts of India, the UP Gond have Scheduled caste as opposed to Scheduled tribe status,in 13 district of U.P. Gonds are Scheduled tribe and remaining district those are treated as Scheduled caste. They no longer speak Gondi, but now speak Hindi. The UP Gond are divided into seven sub-groups, the Dev Gond, Dholi, Kolan, Kailabhut, Mudipal, Padal and Raj Gond. Traditionally, the Raj Gond( also found in Maharshtra state^[8]) have had a higher status, and were rulers of a number of states in the region. Each of these clans is exogamous. The Gonda of UP are a landowning community, and most of them practise settled cultivation. Historically, the community practiced slash and burn agriculture, these practices have long been discontinued.^[9] In U.P. Gond has five sub caste namely Dhuriya, Nayak, Ojha, Pathari and Rajgond but the population of Dhuriya Gond in U.P. is greater than other four sub castes of Gond tribe.

• Gotul. Traditionally the Gondi people had a social institution known as Gotul, a kind of mixed dormitory system for the unmarried youth which was the main means of education and introduction to adult life.^[10]

See also[link]

• Godha
• Gondwana (India maharsashtra)
• Gondwana, originally Gondwanaland, in paleogeography
• Ajanbahu_Jatbasha
• Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf

Further reading[link]

• Beine, David K. 1994. A sociolinguistic survey of the Gondi-speaking communities of central India. M.A. thesis. San Diego State University. 516 p.
• Banerjee, B. G., and Kiran Bhatia. Tribal Demography of Gonds. Delhi: Gian Pub. House, 1988. ISBN 81-212-0237-X
• Elwin, Verrier. Phulmat of the Hills; A Tale of the Gonds. London: J. Murray, 1937.
• Fürer-Haimendorf, Christoph von, and Elizabeth von Fürer-Haimendorf. The Gonds of Andhra Pradesh: Tradition and Change in an Indian Tribe. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1979. ISBN 0-04-301090-3
• Kaufmann, Walter. Songs and Drummings of the Hill Maria, Jhoria Muria and Bastar Muria Gonds. And, the Musical Instruments of the Marias and Murias. 1950.
• Mehta, B. H. Gonds of the Central Indian Highlands: A Study of the Dynamics of Gond Society. New Delhi: Concept, 1984.
• Museum of Mankind, Shelagh Weir, and Hira Lal. The Gonds of Central India; The Material Culture of the Gonds of Chhindwara District, Madhya Pradesh. London: British Museum, 1973. ISBN 0-7141-1537-1
• Pagdi, Setumadhava Rao. Among the Gonds of Adilabad. Bombay: Popular Book Depot, 1952.
• Perry, William James, The Children of the Sun: a study in the early history of civilization, London: Methuen, 1927.
• Pingle, Urmila, and Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf. Gonds and Their Neighbours: A Study in Genetic Diversity. Lucknow, India: Ethnographic & Folk Culture Society, 1987.
• Russell, R. V., The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, London, 1916.
• Sharma, Anima. Tribe in Transition: A Study of Thakur Gonds. India: Mittal Publications, 2005. ISBN 81-7099-989-8
• Singh, Indrajit. The Gondwana and the Gonds. Lucknow, India: The Universal publishers, 1944.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gondi people

• Gond Tribal Art — Madhya Pradesh, http://www.artribal.com/ .
• Sinlung — Indian tribes, http://www.sinlung.com/ .
• Gond - The History, http://www.gondindia.org/ .

This article includes material from the 1995 public domain Library of Congress Country Study on India.