Gondi people

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The Gonds
Regions with significant populations
India 1,32,56,928[1][2]
              Madhya Pradesh 50,93,124[2]
              Chhattisgarh 42,98,404[2]
              Maharashtra 16,18,090[2]
              Odisha 8,88,581[2]
              Uttar Pradesh 5,69,035[2]
              Andhra Pradesh (old) 3,04,537[2]
              Bihar 2,56,738[2]
              Karnataka 1,58,243[2]
              Jharkhand 53,676[2]
              West Bengal 13,535[2]
              Gujarat 2,965[2]
Languages
Gondi, Telugu, Marathi, Hindi
Religion
Gondi ( Koya Punem ). [3]
Related ethnic groups
Rajput

The Gondi (Gōndi) or Gond people are Adivasi people of central India, spread over the states of Madhya Pradesh, eastern Maharashtra (Vidarbha),[4] Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Western Odisha.

The Gond are also known as the Raj Gond. The term was widely used in 1950s, but has now become almost obsolete, probably because of the political eclipse of the Gond Rajas.[5][page needed] The Gondi language is closely related to the Telugu, belonging to the Dravidian family of languages. About half of Gonds speak Gondi languages while the rest speak Indo-Aryan languages including Hindi.[citation needed]

According to the 1971 census, their population was 5.1 million. By the 1991 census this had increased to 9.3 million[5][page needed] and by 2001 census this was nearly 11 million. For the past few decades they have been at the receiving end of the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency in the central part of India.[6] Gondi people are made to act as a militia against Naxalites by the Government of Chhattisgarh through Salwa Judum.[citation needed]

History

Scholars believe that Gonds settled in Gondwana, now known as eastern Madhya Pradesh, between the 13th and 19th centuries AD. Muslim writers described a rise of Gond state after the 14th century.[citation needed]

Gonds ruled in four kingdoms (Garha-Mandla, Deogarh, Chanda, and Kherla) in central India between the 16th and 18th centuries. They built number of forts, palaces, temples, tanks and lakes during the rule of the Gonds dynasty. The Gondwana kingdom survived till late 16th century. They also gained control over the Malwa after the decline of the Mughals followed by the Marathas in 1690.[citation needed] The Maratha power swept into Gondland in the 1740s.The Marathas overthrew Gond Rajas (princes) and seized most of their territory. While Some Gond zamindaris (estates) survived until recently.[7]

Science

Many astronomy ideas were known to ancient Gonds.[8] Gond tribals had their own local terms for Sun, Moon, Constellations and Milky way. Most of these ideas were basis for their time keeping and calendrical activities. Other than Gonds the Banjaras and Kolams are also known to have knowledge of astronomy.[9]

Classification

They are a designated Scheduled Tribe in Andhra Pradesh, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Odisha and West Bengal.[10]

The Government of Uttar Pradesh had classified the Gondi people as a Scheduled Caste but by 2007, they were one of several groups that the Uttar Pradesh government had redesignated as Scheduled Tribes.[11] As of 2017, that tribal designation applies only to certain districts, not the entire state.[12] The 2011 Census of India for Uttar Pradesh showed the Scheduled Caste Gond population as 21,992.[13]

See also

Further reading

  • The tribal art of middle India - Verrier Elwin - 1951
  • Savaging the Civilized, Verrier Elwin, His Tribals & India - Ramachandra Guha - The University of Chigago Press - 1999
  • Beine, David m. 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.
  • Pingle, Urmila, and Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf. Gonds and Their Neighbours: A Study in Genetic Diversity. Lucknow, India: Ethnographic & Folk Culture Society, 1987.
  • 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.
  • Kangalee,Motiram Chhabiram,Paree Kupar Lingo Gondi Punemi Darshan (In Hindi),Publisher ujjvala society Nagpur,2011
  • Vatti,jalpati,Mava sagaa padeeng, in Gondwana sagaa Patrika published (In Hindi) in October 1986

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC), 2011
  4. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=X39c2VODLT0C&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=royal+gonds&source=bl&ots=0Ma0RGj47o&sig=rurWYLnJxqTJZnGHtkrfXUECmOI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=sf29VJDEHZfh8AXC8oHQCw&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=royal%20gonds&f=false
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/theatre/bringing-rural-realities-on-stage-in-urban-india/article7592193.ece?homepage=true
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1306/1306.2416.pdf
  9. ↑ http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1406/1406.3044.pdf
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Videography

External links

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

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