This document provides information about the Gond and Ahom tribes in India. It describes the Gond tribe as hunter-gatherers and herders who lived in villages led by a headman and council, with houses made of mud, timber, and thatch. It notes they were divided into clans and subgroups and worshipped both Hindu gods and their own high god. Their staple foods included millets, vegetables from forests and gardens, and honey. For the Ahom tribe, it summarizes that they had a centralized administration under kings and governors, introduced wet rice cultivation and irrigation technology, and adopted coins and land measurement systems from the Mughals in the 16th century.

1. Chapter = 7
Tribal and Nomadic Communities

2. Characteristics of Tribal Society
• Some tribal groups led a nomadic lifestyle as
hunter-gatherers and animal herders.
• They reared animals such as cattle, goat,
camel or sheep or horses for livelihood.
• Such nomadic pastoralists lived on milk and
other products produced by their animals.
• They exchanged wool, ghee, etc. with people
in towns and villages for grains, clothes, salt,
utensils, etc.

3. • Certain pastoral tribes also used primitive
technology to practice shifting cultivation.
• Economically, they were self-sufficient.
• The tribal groups were distinguished by their
distinct lifestyle, customs, language and
culture and consciously preserved the same.
• Their political system was based upon family
or kinship ties and was headed by a tribal
chief.

4. Major tribes of India

6. Administrative History
• After the decline of the Kaluchuris around
13th century, several Gond chieftains
established independent strongholds in
southern and western parts of the kaluchuri
kingdom.
• The capitals of the gondchiefs were usually
built near a hill or a river and were located at
deogarh, kherla, Mandela and Chanda.

7. Society
• The Gonds led simple lives.
• They built houses and cattle sheds of mud,
timber, bamboo and thatch.
• The village consisted of a headman and a
council which upheld Gond customs.
• The large Gond tribe was divided into many
clans and each clan had its own Raja or Rai.
• The Gonds were divided into four Sagas,
each with its own deity and priest.

8. Religion
• They had a distinct group of gods and spirits
whom they worshipped, along with Hindu
gods and goddesses.
• The Gonds worshipped a High God known as
Persa Pen, also referred to as Baradeo and
Sri Shambu Mahadeo.
• The village priests known as devari,
performed sacrifices and rituals for village
festivals.

9. Economy
• Gonds mostly practiced farming or worked in
the forest.
• Their staple food comprised two millets
known as kodo and kutki.
• The vegetables were either collected from
the forests or grown in the kitchen gardens.
• They gathered honey from the forests as
well.

11. Administration
• The Ahoms followed a centralized system of
administration.
• The Ahom kings, called Swargadeos (Lords of
the heaven), divided their kingdom into
provinces.
• Each province was kept under the control of
a governor called Bharpakhans.

12. Economy
• Wet rice cultivation was introduced by the
Ahoms in upper Assam.
• A combination of superior rice cultivation
technology, and a system of irrigation along with
reclamation of land using dykes and
embankment helped the Ahoms to establish the
initial state structures.
• During the 16th century, coins were introduced in
the Ahom kingdom and the kings also adopted
the Mughal system of land measurement.