Gond people
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| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| India | Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, , Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Karnataka,Bihar Andhra Pradesh |
| Languages | |
| Gondi, Telugu, Marathi, Hindi | |
| Religion | |
|
Gondi ( Koya Punem ). |
|
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Khonds | |
Gondi ( Koya Punem ).
The Gondi (Gōndi) or Gond people are Adivasi people of central India, spread over the states of Madhya Pradesh, eastern Maharashtra (Vidarbha),Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Western Odisha. With eleven million people, they are the second largest tribe in Central India. They are a designated Scheduled Tribe in Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Odisha and West Bengal. 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. 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. According to the 1971 census, their population was 5.1 million. By the 1991 census this had increased to 9.3 million 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. Gondi people are made to act as a militia against Naxalites by the Government of Chhattisgarh through Salwa Judum.Gonds are the largest and most well known tribal communities in India.The name Gonds comes from telugu word 'konda' which means hills. The name thus indicates the hilly region where most of Gonds live.
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