The Dravidian languages, Gondi, Kurukh and Khond, are of one family
with Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Canarese, and their home is the
south of India. As stated [541] by Sir E. Gait, there is at present
no evidence to show that the Dravidians came to southern India from
any other part of the world, and for anything that is known to the
contrary the languages may have originated there. The existence of
the small Brahui tribe in Baluchistan, who speak a Dravidian language
but have no physical resemblance to other Dravidian races, cannot
be satisfactorily explained, but as he points out this is no reason
for holding that the whole body of speakers of Dravidian languages
entered India from the north-west, and, with the exception of this
small group of Brahuis, penetrated to the south of India and settled
there without leaving any traces of their passage.
The Dravidian languages occupy a large area in Madras, Mysore and
Hyderabad, and they extend north into the Central Provinces and
Chota Nagpur, where they die out, practically not being found west
and north of this tract. As the languages are more highly developed
and the culture of their speakers is far more advanced in the south,
it is justifiable to suppose, pending evidence to the contrary, that
the south is their home and that they have spread thence as far north
as the Central Provinces. The Gonds and Oraons too have stories to the
effect that they came from the south. It has hitherto been believed,
at least in the Central Provinces, that both the Gonds and Baigas
have been settled in this territory for an indefinite period, that is,
from prior to any Aryan or Hindu immigration. Mr. H. A. Crump, however,
has questioned this assumption. He points out that the Baiga tribe have
entirely lost their own language and speak a dialect of Chhattisgarhi
Hindi in Mandla, while half the Gonds still speak Gondi. If the
Baigas and Gonds were settled here together before the arrival of
any Hindus, how is it that the Baigas do not speak Gondi instead of
Hindi? A comparison of the caste and language tables of the census of
1901 shows that several of the Munda tribes have entirely lost their
own language, among these being the Binjhwar, Baiga, Bhaina, Bhuiya,
Bhumij, Chero and Khairwar, and the Bhils and Kolis if these are held
to be Munda tribes. None of these tribes have adopted a Dravidian
language, but all speak corrupt forms of the current Aryan vernaculars
derived from Sanskrit. The Mundas and Hos themselves with the Kharias,
Santals and Korkus retain Munda languages. On the other hand a half
of the Gonds, nearly all the Oraons and three-fourths of the Khonds
still preserve their own Dravidian speech. It would therefore seem
that the Munda tribes who speak Aryan vernaculars must have been
in close contact with Hindu peoples at the time they lost their own
language and not with Gonds or Oraons. In the Central Provinces it
is known that Rajput dynasties were ruling in Jubbulpore from the
sixth to the twelfth century, in Seoni about the sixth century and
in Bhandak near Chanda from an early period as well as at Ratanpur
in Chhattisgarh. From about the twelfth century these disappear and
there is a blank till the fourteenth century or later, when Gond
kingdoms are found established at Kherla in Betul, at Deogarh in
Chhindwara, at Garha-Mandla [542] including the Jubbulpore country,
and at Chanda fourteen miles from Bhandak. It seems clear then that
the Hindu dynasties were subverted by the Gonds after the Muhammadan
invasions of northern India had weakened or destroyed the central
powers of the Hindus and prevented any assistance being afforded to
the outlying settlements. But it seems prima facie more likely that
the Hindu kingdoms of the Central Provinces should have been destroyed
by an invasion of barbarians from without rather than by successful
risings of their own subjects once thoroughly subdued. The Haihaya
Rajput dynasty of Ratanpur was the only one which survived, all the
others being supplanted by Gond states. If then the Gond incursion
was subsequent to the establishment of the old Hindu kingdoms,
its probable date may be placed from the ninth to the thirteenth
centuries, the subjugation of the greater part of the Province being
no doubt a gradual affair. In favour of this it may be noted that some
recollection still exists of the settlement of the Oraons in Chota
Nagpur being later than that of the Mundas, while if it had taken place
long before this time all tradition of it would probably have been
forgotten. In Chhindwara the legend still remains that the founder of
the Deogarh Gond dynasty, Jatba, slew and supplanted the Gaoli kings
Ransur and Ghansur, who were previously ruling on the plateau. And the
Bastar Raj-Gond Rajas have a story that they came from Warangal in the
south so late as the fourteenth century, accompanied by the ancestors
of some of the existing Bastar tribes. Jadu Rai, the founder of the
Gond-Rajput dynasty of Garha-Mandla, is supposed to have lived near
the Godavari. A large section of the Gonds of the Central Provinces are
known as Rawanvansi or of the race of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon,
who was conquered by Rama. The Oraons also claim to be descended
from Rawan. [543] This name and story must clearly have been given
to the tribes by the Hindus, and the explanation appears to be that
the Hindus considered the Dravidian Gonds and Oraons to have been the
enemy encountered in the Aryan expedition to southern India and Ceylon,
which is dimly recorded in the legend of Rama. On the other hand the
Bhuiyas, a Munda tribe, call themselves Pawan-ka-put or Children of
the Wind, that is of the race of Hanuman, who was the Son of the Wind;
and this name would appear to show, as suggested by Colonel Dalton,
that the Munda tribes gave assistance to the Aryan expedition and
accompanied it, an alliance which has been preserved in the tale of
the exploits of Hanuman and his army of apes. Similarly the name of
the Ramosi caste of Berar is a corruption of Ramvansi or of the race
of Rama; and the Ramosis appear to be an offshoot of the Bhils or
Kolis, both of whom are not improbably Munda tribes. A Hindu writer
compared the Bhil auxiliaries in the camp of the famous Chalukya
Rajput king Sidhraj of Gujarat to Hanuman and his apes, on account
of their agility. [544] These instances seem to be in favour of the
idea that the Munda tribes assisted the Aryans, and if this were the
case it would appear to be a legitimate inference that at the same
period the Dravidian tribes were still in southern India and not
mixed up with the Munda tribes in the Central Provinces and Chota
Nagpur as at present. Though the evidence is perhaps not very strong,
the hypothesis, as suggested by Mr. Crump, that the settlement of the
Gonds in the Central Provinces is comparatively recent and subsequent
to the early Rajput dynasties, is well worth putting forward.