In 1911 Gondi was spoken by 1,500,000 persons, or more than half
the total number of Gonds in India. The other Gonds of the Central
Provinces speak a broken Hindi. Gondi is a Dravidian language, having
a common ancestor with Tamil and Canarese, but little immediate
connection with its neighbour Telugu; the specimens given by Sir
G. Grierson show that a large number of Hindi words have been adopted
into the vocabulary of Gondi, and this tendency is no doubt on the
increase. There are probably few Gonds outside the Feudatory States,
and possibly a few of the wildest tracts in British Districts, who
could not understand Hindi to some extent. And with the extension of
primary education in British Districts Gondi is likely to decline still
more rapidly. Gondi has no literature and no character of its own;
but the Gospels and the Book of Genesis have been translated into it
and several grammatical sketches and vocabularies compiled. In Saugor
the Hindus speak of Gondi as Farsi or Persian, apparently applying
this latter name to any foreign language.
(h) Occupation