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{{for|Paleozoic era supercontinent|Gondwana}}
{{About|a region of India||Gondwana (disambiguation)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Refimprove|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox settlement

| name = Gondwana
| official_name =
| type = [[Proposed states and union territories of India|Proposed state]]
| coordinates = {{coord|21|81|display=title,inline}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flagu|India}}
| subdivision_type2 = Region
| subdivision_name2 = [[Central India]]
| blank_name_sec1 = Language
| blank_info_sec1 = [[Gondi language|Gondi]]
| seat_type = Proposed [[Capital (political)|capital]]
| seat = [[Nagpur]]
| parts_type = Proposed Divisions
| parts_style = list
| p1 = [[Vidarbha]] of [[Maharashtra]]
| p2 = Parts of [[Madhya Pradesh|MP]]
| p3 = West of [[Chhattisgarh]]
| p4 = Northern [[Telangana]]
| p5 = western [[Odisha]] and
| p6 = southern [[Uttar Pradesh]]
}}
'''Gondwana''' is a region of [[India]], named after the [[Gondi people]] who live there (though they can also be found in other parts of India). The name of the ancient continent of [[Gondwana]]land was derived from Gondwana, because some of the earliest rock formations of this continent were first investigated in part of the region, in modern [[Odisha]].

As Gondi people are spread widely across central India, and are a minority almost everywhere, there is no unambiguous boundary to the region. However, the core region can be considered to be the eastern part of the [[Vidarbha]] region of [[Maharashtra]], the parts of [[Madhya Pradesh]] immediately to the north of it, and parts of the west of [[Chhattisgarh]]. The wider region extends into parts of northern [[Telangana]], western [[Odisha]] and southern [[Uttar Pradesh]].

The region is part of the northern [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan plateau]], with an average height of about 600–700 metres. Much of it is rugged and hilly. Geologically it is mostly Pre-Cambrian rock, with some areas dated to [[Permian]] and [[Triassic]] periods. Part of it is overlaid with alluvium, and in the west it is overlaid with the igneous rocks of the [[Deccan Traps]].

The climate is hot and semi-arid. The natural vegetation is dry monsoon forest, or monsoon scrub forest. Large parts of it are still forest, and it contains several national parks, including [[tiger]] populations.

Gondwana has a relatively high proportion of peoples of the "scheduled tribes" of India, which include the Gonds. The scheduled tribes are recognised as economically and socially disadvantaged. They form a majority of the population in many districts.

Gonds are followers of the nature-based religion Koyapunem.

==History==
[[File:India in 1525 Joppen.jpg|thumb|400px|Gondwana kingdom 1525, as depicted in central India, on a map drawn in 1907]]
A number of old kingdoms were established by, or together with, ruling families of the Gondis and other scheduled tribes in this region. The first of these is mentioned in 1398, when [[Narsingh Rai]], King of Kherla, Madhya Pradesh, is said by a [[Ferishta]] to have ruled all the hills of Gondwana. He was finally overthrown and killed by [[Hoshang Shah]], king of [[Malwa Sultanate|Malwa]]. Between the 14th and the 18th centuries, three main Gond kingdoms existed; [[Garha]]-[[Mandla]] occupied the upper [[Narmada River]] Valley, [[Deogarh, Madhya Pradesh|Deogarh]]-[[Nagpur]] occupied the [[Kanhan River]] and upper [[Wainganga River]] valleys, and Chandra-Sirpur occupied present-day [[Chandrapur District|Chandrapur]], [[Gadchiroli District|Gadchiroli]], and eastern [[Adilabad District|Adilabad]] districts.

The three Gondi principalities of Garha-Mandla, Deogarh, and Chanda-Sirpur were nominally subject to the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] emperors. In addition to the acquisitions made in the north at the expense of Garha-Mandla, the Mughals, after the annexation of [[Berar Subah|Berar]] in 1595, established governors at Paunar in [[Wardha District]] and Kherla in [[Betul District]]. Having thus hemmed in the Gond states, however, they could not assert any effective sovereignty over them; the Gond kings enjoyed practical independence within their own dominions. After the defeat and subsequent fall of the Mughals, Gondwana came under the rule of the [[Bundela]] and [[Maratha]] empires.

In the 17th century [[Chhatar Sal]], the Bundela chieftain, deprived the Mandla principality of part of the [[Vindhya|Vindhyan Plateau]] and the Narmada Valley. In 1733 the Maratha [[Peshwa]] won [[Bundelkhand]]; and in 1735 the Marathas had established their power in [[Saugor]]. In 1742 the Peshwa advanced to Mandla and exacted tribute, and from this time until 1781, when Gond dynasty of Garha-Mandla was finally overthrown, Garha-Mandla remained practically a Maratha dependency. Meanwhile, the other independent principalities of Gondwana had in turn succumbed. In 1743 [[Raghoji Bhonsle]] of Berar established himself at Nagpur, and by 1751 had conquered the territories of Deogarh, Chanda, and [[Chhattisgarh]].

The economic disadvantage to which the tribal people are now subject is often ascribed to the [[Maratha]] conquest of the region in the 18th century {{Citation needed|date=March 2021|reason=By who and on what basis?}}, followed by the [[British East India Company|British]] imposition of the permanent settlement in the 19th century. A number of rebellions against British rule took place throughout the 19th century. Some of these rebellions focused on protection of forests against commercial logging. In their efforts to exploit them, entire communities were labelled "criminal classes" by the British in the spirit of [[scientific racism]].

==Popular movements==
Political and communal movements directed against the dominant political structure still occur in the region, including the Gondwana Praja Party, founded in 2014 in Maharashtra state.
Gondwana Praja Party founded for the demanded the new formation of old Gondwana State for the tribal people of central India instead of old Vidarbha region. [[Gondwana Ganatantra Party]] is also established. The founder of Gondwana Gadtantra Party is Heera Singh Markam. He is the only Member of Parliament of this party.

==Sources==
* McEldowney, Philip F. (1980) [http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/Ideas/CP/intro.html ''Colonial Administration and Social Developments in middle India: The Central Provinces, 1861-1921'']. Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Virginia.
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Gondwana}}

{{Proposed states and territories of India}}

[[Category:Regions of India]]
[[Category:Regions of Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Regions of Odisha]]
[[Category:Proposed states and union territories of India]]
[[Category:Regions of Maharashtra]]

Gondwana (India) - Revision history

Sarada22 at 02:29, 9 February 2026

>Leo Aquilinae at 03:42, 12 April 2021