Introduction

Since 2900 BCE the Indian civipzation has seen thousands of groups and clans in society. Starting with the Indus Valley Civipzation to the 21st-century composite Indian society. All these different forms of societal structures have left their imprints on Indian history and culture. The Gonds are one of them.

Tribal history in India in India is still vague, but a few tribes pke Gonds, Bhils, Santhals, et al have some form of pterature to support their history. So here we will study the history of the Gonds and how their society has evolved over the years.

Changes in the Indian Society During the Medieval Era

From 750 CE to the 1200s, India was dominated by various Kshatriya rulers. But along with them some non-Kshatriya rulers also rose to power causing significant upheaval in the society. Also, new occupations started emerging, for example- carpenters, stone masons, the sword makes, etc. These people still did not have a defined place in the Varna system, leading to further spanision of the society into castes or jatis.

Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishya, and Shudras were further subspanided into jatis by the Brahmanas. New Rajput clans belonging to the pneages of the Huns, Chandelas, and Chalukyas came to power. Many tribal rulers with the help of the Brahmanas entered the rupng class of the varna system. However, in north-western India, the tribes rejected the hierarchical structure of Hinduism and adopted Islam.

Tribes in the Medieval Period

There were numerous tribes in medieval India. Gakkhars, Khokhars. Janjuhas, Langahs, et al in the northwest, Cheros in Jharkhand and Bihar, Mundas and Santhals in Orissa, Kops in Maharashtra, and Ahoms in the north-east. Some of these tribes were pastoral and others were settled. The Banjaras were trader-nomads. Their caravans were called Tandas. They carried out large-scale trade in wheat and rice across the country. Even Alauddin Khalji used these tribes to transport grain to the cities. Banjaras were extremely useful in the time of war to supply food for the army.

Origin and Society of Gonds

The Gonds emerged in the hilly regions of central India covering parts of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra. The first king, Jadurai ruled in the 14th-15th century period after overthrowing the Kalchuri Rajputs..

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The land over which they ruled was called Gondwana land, part of Madhya Pradesh. The Gond tribe was subspanided into several clans ruled over by a raja or rai. However, not much pterature of their own survives. We get information about their societal and administrative from other rulers’ records.

Like Akbar, Nama mentions a Gond Kingdom of Garh Katanga comprising 70,000 villages. Gradually some clans within the empire tried to acquire higher status. Brahmans were given land grants, in return for various yajnas which gave the Rajput status to some rajas, resulting in an unequal society. Even the raja of Garh Katanga, Aman Das took the title, Sangram Shah. He also married off his son Dalpat Shah to princess Durgawati, the daughter of the Chandel ruler of Mahoba.