GONDWANA

historic region in central India, comprising portions of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra states. It is inhabited by the Gond, a group of Dravidian tribes exceeding 3,000,000 in population, first mentioned in 14th-century Muslim chronicles. From the 14th to the 18th century the area was held by powerful Gond dynasties, which during Mughal times remained independent or served as tributary chiefs. When in the 18th century the Gond were conquered by the Marathas, the greater part of Gondwana was incorporated into the dominions of the Bhonsle rajas of Nagpur or the Nizams of Hyderabad. Many Gond took refuge in inaccessible highlands and became tribal raiders. Between 1818 and 1853 the greater part of the region passed to the British, although in some minor states the Gond rajas continued to rule until Indian independence in 1947.