The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 3

by R. V. Russell

[3] Linguistic Survey of India, vol. iv. Dravidian Language, p. 386.

GOND

[Bibliography.—The most important account of the Gond tribe is that contained in the Rev. Stephen Hislop’s Papers on the Aboriginal Tribes of the Central Provinces, published after his death by Sir R. Temple in 1866. Mr. Hislop recorded the legend of Lingo, of which an abstract has been reproduced. Other notices of the Gonds are contained in the ninth volume of General Cunningham’s Archaeological Survey Reports, Sir C. Grant’s Central Provinces Gazetteer of 1871 (Introduction), Colonel Ward’s Mandla Settlement Report (1868), Colonel Lucie Smith’s Chānda Settlement Report (1870), and Mr. C. W. Montgomerie’s Chhīndwāra Settlement Report (1900). An excellent monograph on the Bastar Gonds was contributed by Rai Bahādur Panda Baijnāth, Superintendent of the State, and other monographs by Mr. A. E. Nelson, C.S., Mandla; Mr. Ganga Prasād Khatri, Forest Divisional Officer, Betūl; Mr. J. Langhorne, Manager, Ahiri zamīndāri, Chānda; Mr. R. S. Thākur, tahsīldār, Bālāghāt; and Mr. Dīn Dayāl, Deputy Inspector of Schools, Nāndgaon State. Papers were also furnished by the Rev. A. Wood of Chānda; the Rev. H. J. Molony, Mandla; and Major W. D. Sutherland, I.M.S., Saugor. Notes were also collected by the writer in Mandla. Owing to the inclusion of many small details from the different papers it has not been possible to acknowledge them separately.]

List of Paragraphs

• [(a) Origin and History] [41]
  • [1. Numbers and distribution.] [41]
  • [2. Gondwāna.] [41]
  • [3. Derivation of name and origin of the Gonds.] [42]
  • [4. History of the Gonds.] [44]
  • [5. Mythica traditions. Story of Lingo.] [47]
  • [6. Legend of the creation.] [49]
  • [7. Creation of the Gonds and their imprisonment by Mahādeo.] [50]
  • [8. The birth and history of Lingo.] [51]
  • [9. Death and resurrection of Lingo.] [55]
  • [10. He releases the Gonds shut up in the cave and constitutes the tribe.] [56]
• [(b) Tribal Subdivisions] [62]
  • [11. Subcastes.] [62]
  • [12. Exogamy.] [64]
  • [13. Totemism.] [67]
  • [14. Connection of totemism with the gods.] [68]
• [(c) Marriage Customs] [71]
  • [15. Prohibitions on intermarriage, and unions of relations.] [71]
  • [16. Irregular marriages.] [72]
  • [17. Marriage. Arrangement of matches.] [73]
  • [18. The marriage ceremony.] [73]
  • [19. Wedding expenditure.] [74]
  • [20. Special customs.] [76]
  • [21. Taking omens.] [78]
  • [22. Marriage by capture. Weeping and hiding.] [79]
  • [23. Serving for a wife.] [80]
  • [24. Widow remarriage.] [80]
  • [25. Divorce.] [82]
  • [26. Polygamy.] [82]
• [(d) Birth and Pregnancy] [83]
  • [27. Menstruation.] [83]
  • [28. Superstitions about pregnancy and childbirth.] [83]
  • [29. Procedure at a birth.] [85]
  • [30. Names.] [86]
  • [31. Superstitions about children.] [87]
• [(e) Funeral Rites] [89]
  • [32. Disposal of the dead.] [89]
  • [33. Funeral ceremony.] [89]
  • [34. Mourning and offerings to the dead.] [91]
  • [35. Memorial stones to the dead.] [92]
  • [36. House abandoned after a death.] [93]
  • [37. Bringing back the soul.] [94]
  • [38. The dead absorbed in Bura Deo.] [95]
  • [39. Belief in a future life.] [96]
• [(f) Religion] [97]
  • [40. Nature of the Gond religion. The gods.] [97]
  • [41. Tribal gods, and their place of residence.] [98]
  • [42. Household gods.] [100]
  • [43. Nāg Deo.] [101]
  • [44. Nārāyan Deo.] [101]
  • [45. Bura Deo.] [102]
  • [46. Charms and magic.] [103]
  • [47. Omens.] [105]
  • [48. Agricultural superstitions.] [106]
  • [49. Magical or religious observances in fishing and hunting.] [107]
  • [50. Witchcraft.] [110]
  • [51. Human sacrifice.] [112]
  • [52. Cannibalism.] [114]
  • [53. Festivals. The new crops.] [115]
  • [54. The Holi festival.] [116]
  • [55. The Meghnāth swinging rite.] [116]
  • [56. The Karma and other rites.] [117]
• [(g) Appearance and Character, and Social Rules and Customs] [118]
  • [57. Physical type.] [118]
  • [58. Character.] [119]
  • [59. Shyness and ignorance.] [120]
  • [60. Villages and houses.] [121]
  • [61. Clothes and ornaments.] [122]
  • [62. Ear-piercing.] [123]
  • [63. Hair.] [123]
  • [64. Bathing and washing clothes.] [124]
  • [65. Tattooing.] [124]
  • [66. Special system of tattooing.] [125]
  • [67. Branding.] [127]
  • [68. Food.] [128]
  • [69. Liquor.] [129]
  • [70. Admission of outsiders and sexual morality.] [130]
  • [71. Common sleeping-houses.] [131]
  • [72. Methods of greeting and observances between relatives.] [132]
  • [73. The caste panchāyat and social offences.] [132]
  • [74. Caste penalty feasts.] [134]
  • [75. Special purification ceremony.] [135]
  • [76. Dancing.] [136]
  • [77. Songs.] [137]
  • [78. Language.] [138]
• [(h) Occupation] [139]
  • [79. Cultivation.] [139]
  • [80. Patch cultivation.] [140]
  • [81. Hunting: traps for animals.] [141]

(a) Origin and History

1. Numbers and distribution.

Gond.—The principal tribe of the Dravidian family, and perhaps the most important of the non-Aryan or forest tribes in India. In 1911 the Gonds were three million strong, and they are increasing rapidly. The Kolis of western India count half a million persons more than the Gonds, and if the four related tribes Kol, Munda, Ho, and Santāl were taken together, they would be stronger by about the same amount. But if historical importance be considered as well as numbers, the first place should be awarded to the Gonds. Of the whole caste the Central Provinces contain 2,300,000 persons, Central India, and Bihār and Orissa about 235,000 persons each, and they are returned in small numbers from Assam, Madras and Hyderābād. The 50,000 Gonds in Assam are no doubt immigrant labourers on the tea-gardens.