Gond Tribes:
The Gujarat High Court recently sought a response from a power distribution company, the Ahmedabad district collector, and a residential society after 95 families of the Rajgond tribe sought HC directions for electricity connections to their households.
- The Gond or Gondi (Gōndi) or Koitur are a Dravidian ethno-linguistic group.
- They are one of the largest tribal groups in India. According to the 2001 census, their population was nearly 11 million.
- The states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Odisha are home to the largest Gond populations.
- Gond tribes also live in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Gujarat.
- Gonds are mainly divided into four tribes, namely Raj Gonds, Madia Gonds, Dhurve Gonds and Khatulwar Gonds.
- Gonds settled in the Gondwana region in the 9th and 13th century AD.
- In the 14th century they ruled several parts of central India.
- They built a number of forts, palaces, temples, tanks, and lakes during the rule of the Gonds dynasty.
- The Gondwana kingdom survived till the late 16th century.
- Gond dynasties ruled in 4 kingdoms – Garha-Mandla, Deogarh, Chanda, and Kherla – in central India.
- They also gained control over the Malwa after the decline of the Mughals followed by the Marathas in the year 1690.
- During the British regime in India, Gonds challenged the Britishers in several battles.
- The majority of Gond people speak dialects of Gondi, an unwritten language of the Dravidian language family.
- Some Gond have lost their own language and speak Hindi, Marathi, or Telugu, depending on which is dominant in their area.
- The basis of the Gond economy is agriculture, but they also practice animal husbandry.
- Some Gond also gather wild plants to eat.
- The religion of the Gond tribes centers on clan and village gods, together with ancestor worship.
- Keslapur Jathra and Madai are important festivals of the Gonds.
- Apart from this, they also celebrate Hindu festival called Dusshera.
