GONDWANA, the historical name for a large tract of hilly country in India which roughly corresponds with the greater part of the present Central Provinces. The name is derived from the aboriginal tribe of Gonds, who ruled the country from the 12th to the beginning of the i8th cen tury in three or four separate kingdoms. They maintained a barbaric civilization and though nominally subject to the Moguls they were not much disturbed, but when the Mahratta invaders appeared in the i8th century the Gond kingdoms succumbed and the aboriginal population fled for safety to the hills. Gondwana was included in the dominions of the Bhonsla Raja of Nagpur which passed to the British be tween 1818 and 1853.
The Gonds, who call them selves Koitur or "highlanders," are the most numerous tribe of Dravidian race in India. In 1931 they numbered 2,261,138. Their language, akin to the Southern languages of India, is unwritten and, except for missionary productions, there is no literature, but it is still the spoken language of 7% of the population of the Cen tral Provinces. The Rajgonds, claiming to have Rajput blood, are on the skirts of Hinduism, but most of the Gonds are animistic in belief. They are a courageous race, and, when unspoilt by con tact with civilization, extremely honest.
The term "Gondwana" is likewise used by geologists as a name for certain rock formations.