GONDWANA  , the See also:

• HISTORICAL

historical name for a large See also:

• TRACT (from Lat. tractare, to treat of a matter, through Provencal tractat and Ital. trattato)

tract of hilly See also:

• COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country in See also:

• INDIA
• INDIA, FRENCH

India which roughly corresponds with the greater See also:

• PART

part of the See also:

• PRESENT

present Central Provinces . It is derived from the aboriginal tribe of Gonds, who still See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form the largest See also:

• ELEMENT (Lat. elementum)

element in the See also:

• POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population and who were at one See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time the ruling See also:

• POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power . From the 12th to as See also:

• LATE

late as the 18th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century three or four Gond dynasties reigned over this region with a degree of See also:

• CIVILIZATION

civilization that seems surprising when compared with the existing See also:

• CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition of the See also:

• PEOPLE

people . They built large walled cities, and accumulated immense treasures of See also:

• GOLD
• GOLD [symbol Au, atomic weight 195.7(H = 1),197.2(0 =16)]

gold and See also:

• SILVER

silver and jewels . On the whole, they maintained their See also:

• INDEPENDENCE
• INDEPENDENCE, DECLARATION OF
• INDEPENDENCE, WAR OF

independence fairly well against the Mahommedans, being subject only to a nominal submission and occasional See also:

• PAYMENT (Fr. paiement, from payer, to pay; Lat. pacare, to appease, pax, peace)

payment of See also:

• TRIBUTE (Lat. tributurn, a stated payment, contribution)

tribute . But when the Mahratta invaders appeared, soon after the beginning of the 18th century, the Gond kingdoms offered but a feeble resistance and the aboriginal population fled for safety to the hills . Gondwana was thus included in the dominions of the Bhonsla See also:

• RAJA

raja of See also:

• NAGPUR

Nagpur, from whom it finally passed to the See also:

• BRITISH

British in 1853 . The Gonds, who See also:

• CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call themselves Koitur or " highlanders," are the most numerous tribe of See also:

• DRAVIDIAN (Sanskrit Dravida)

Dravidian See also:

• RACE

race in India . Their See also:

• TOTAL

total number in 1901 was 2,286,913, of whom nearly two millions were enumerated in the Central Provinces, where they form 20% of the population . They have a See also:

• LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language of their own, with many dialects, which is intermediate between the two See also:

• GREAT

great Dravidian See also:

• LANGUAGES

languages, Tamil and See also:

• TELUGU

Telugu . It is unwritten and has no literature, except a little provided by the missionaries . More than See also:

• HALF

half the Gonds in the Central Provinces have now abandoned their own dialects, and have adopted See also:

• ARYAN

Aryan forms of speech .

This indicates the extent to which they have become Hinduized . The higher class among them, called Raj Gonds, have been definitely admitted into See also:

• HINDUISM

Hinduism as a pure cultivating See also:

• CASTE (through the Fr. from Span. and Port. casta, lineage, Lat. cast us, pure)

caste; but the great See also:

• MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

majority still retain the animistic beliefs, ceremonial observances and impure customs of See also:

• FOOD
• FOOD (like the verb " to feed," from a Teutonic root, whence O. Eng. foda; cf. " fodder "; connected with Gr. lrareicOae, to feed)

food which are See also:

• COMMON

common to most of the aboriginal tribes of India .