Gond.--The principal tribe of the Dravidian family, and perhaps
the most important of the non-Aryan or forest tribes in India. In
1911 the Gonds were three million strong, and they are increasing
rapidly. The Kolis of western India count half a million persons
more than the Gonds, and if the four related tribes Kol, Munda, Ho,
and Santal were taken together, they would be stronger by about the
same amount. But if historical importance be considered as well as
numbers, the first place should be awarded to the Gonds. Of the whole
caste the Central Provinces contain 2,300,000 persons, Central India,
and Bihar and Orissa about 235,000 persons each, and they are returned
in small numbers from Assam, Madras and Hyderabad. The 50,000 Gonds
in Assam are no doubt immigrant labourers on the tea-gardens.