Scheduled tribes of Maharashtra
Andh
The Andh are a designated Scheduled Tribe in the Indian states of Telangana and Maharashtra. They seem to have originated in southern India in the vicinity of Madras which was once ruled by the Andhra dynasty. However the identification is only used for the people who by the start of the 20th century had a long history of residence in central India. Andh claim themselves to be the original descendants of Andhra dynasty or Satvahana dynasty that ruled between third century BC to second century AD. The word Andh is derived from the word Andhra community.
The Andhs live primarily in the hills of the Adilabad district in Andhra Pradesh. They are further subdivided into the Vertali and the Khaltali. The Vertali consider themselves as superior people and avoid marrying the Khaltali. Andhs are dark in complexion,with thick lips, and prominent cheeks bones. “It seems highly possible that the word Andh is only a corruption of the Sanskirt ‘Andhra’, a designation given by the ancient Aryans to an aboriginal Tribe dwelling in the Andhra Desh.
In Maharashtra the Andh community comprise 474110 population (census 2011). Andh people are distributed in Parbhani, Nanded, Yeotmal, Akola districts mainly. They called them self Hindu and are relatively well progressed in education.
Gondi people
The Gondi are Adivasi of India who speak Dravidian language and are listed as a Scheduled Tribe for the purpose of India’s system of positive discrimination.They are spread over the states of Madhya Pradesh, eastern Maharashtra (Vidarbha),Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa.
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. The 2011 Census of India recorded about 2.98 million Gondi speakers.
The ancient Gonds were familiar with many astronomical concepts, having their own local terms for the Sun, Moon, constellations and Milky Way, with much of their knowledge forming the basis for their time-keeping and calendrical activities. Not only the Gonds, but also the Banjaras and Kolams are known to have possessed astronomical knowledge.
Dhanka
The Dhanka are a tribe of India who believe themselves to be aboriginal, although they are unable to assert from whence they came. They are historically neither Hindu nor Muslim and their occupations have changed over time, as circumstances have dictated for survival. Although similar groups in India are often referred to as adivasi, the Dhanka generally reject this term. Anthropologist Megan Moodie says that their history and culture is poorly documented and that what does exist “tend[s] to be brief and stress their ‘insignificance’ and lowness”. She notes that they are today found throughout much of western Indian and that there has been much official confusion regarding their identity, which has tended to impact on their position as a Scheduled Tribe (ST) entitled to various positive discrimination benefits. Much of that confusion centres around various names that have been posited as synonyms for Dhanka, including Dhanuk, Dhanak, Dhankia, Tadvi, Tetaria and Valvi.
Bhil
Bhils or Bheels are primarily an ethnic group of people in West India. They speak the Bhil languages, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages. As of 2018, Bhils were the largest tribal group in India.
Bhils are listed as indigenous people of the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan – all in the western Deccan regions and central India – as well as in Tripura in far-eastern India, on the border with Bangladesh. Bhils are divided into a number of endogamous territorial divisions, which in turn have a number of clans and lineages. Most Bhils now speak the language of the region they reside in, such as Marathi, Gujarati or a Hindustani dialect.
Kolam people
Kolam are a designated Scheduled Tribe in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.They belong to the sub-category Particularly vulnerable tribal group, one of the three belonging to this sub-category.
The others being Katkari and Madia Gond. They are a Kolam community and common in the Yavatmal, Chandrapur and districts of Maharashtra. They speak the Kolami language. They are an agricultural community.The Kolam are an endogamous group. They have a high rate of returning positive to the Naked eye single tube red cell osmotic fragility test (NESTROFT) test, making them prone to high incidence of Thalassaemia.
Korku people
The Korku are an Adivasi ethnic group predominantly found in the Khandwa, Burhanpur, Betul and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh and adjoining areas near the Melghat Tiger Reserve of Maharashtra. They speak the Korku language, which is a member of the Munda languages and is written using Devanagari. They are classified as a Scheduled Tribe by the Indian government.
The Korku tribe lives in small groups of huts made of grass and wood. Every household has elevated stage like structure in the front side of the house. This elevated stage is used as a storage space of farm produce such as cattle feed. They socially consume liquor made from the flowers of the Mahua tree which is prepared in almost all the houses. Predominantly, a rural-based community with 97% living in rural areas, Korkus are primarily cultivators.
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