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ChanGe in tRibal soCities
With time even tribal groups were introduced to new cultures. With the result of it, they
started to live a settled life. Many of them adopted better methods of agriculture. Many
ceremonies and tribal customs and gods became part of the existing culture.

During the medieval period, some tribes became dominant. Those who controlled the
forest resources and key trade route became very powerful. The Mughals tried to impose
either taxes or obtained services of these tribal people.

The Gonds and Ahoms were two tribal groups who established these two powerful kingdoms.
1. Gonds

The Gonds lived in Gondwana, which included the forests of central India and Chhattisgarh.
The region was rich in precious metals and forest products. Rajput dynasties ruled over
the region in the fifteenth century, various Gond tribes of the region united to form a large
Gond kingdom called Garh Katanga. Usually a Gond kingdom was divided into territorial
units each having a garh (fortress) and several villages. Garh Katanga had many towns and
cities and about 70,000 villages.

The Gonds came into close contact with the Rajputs, and some Gond chiefs were able to
marry into Rajput families. Aman Das, one of the earliest Gond kings of Garh Katanga,
took the title Sangram Shah. His son Dalpat Shah married the Rajput princess Durgavati
of Bundelkhand. Dalpat died young, leaving behind his queen and minor son Bir Narayan.
Garh Katanga grew prosperous under the able leadership of Rani Durgavati, who rulled on
behalf of Bir Narayan.
The kingdom of Garh Katanga was known for its riches. It had to fight frequent wars
against the neighbouring kingdoms of Rewa and Malwa. Akbar’s armies conquered Malwa,
subjugated Rewa and invaded Garh Katanga. Rani
Durgavati bravely defended her kingdom, but killed
herself when her defeat became certain. Her son also
died fighting. The Mughals got a large booty of gold,
silver and elephants. Akbar expanded his province of
Malwa by annexing parts of Garh Katanga. He restored
the rest of Garh Katanga to Chandra Shah, a brother of
Dalpat Shah. Later, the Gond territories were gradually
Rani Durgavati taken over by the Marathas.

Influence of Brahmans : The Gond kings employed Brahmans from Varanasi as priests, and
gave them land grants. These kings also patronised the Sanskrit language. King Sangram
Shah was himself a talented author of Sanskrit verses.

lanGuaGe
Gondi language is the prime language spoken by Gonds tribes of India. Beside this, these
Indian tribes also have a good command on Telgu, Hindi, Marathi, Parsi and many other
Dravadian languages.

Social Studies-7 71