Gond

Related Category: Peoples (except New World)

(gŏnd), ethnic group in central India. The group is now divided among the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharshtra, and Madhya Pradesh; in Madhya Pradesh there was a small but powerful Gond kingdom until the 18th cent. The Gonds, predominantly Hindu, speak a Dravidian language and are mainly organized into tribes in small villages.

See V. Elwin, Leaves from the Jungle; Life in a Gond Village (2d ed. 1958); S. Fuchs, The Gond and Bhumia of Eastern Mandla (2d ed. 1968).