Gondwana (India)

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Gondwana ( Dravidian Land of the Gond ) is a historic landscape in central India . It is named after the Gond , a people who live here.

geography

Gondwana on a map of the British Central Provinces (1880)

The core area of ​​historical Gondwana lay south of the Ganges and comprised the eastern region of Vidarbha of today's state of Maharashtra , the areas of Madhya Pradesh to the north and the western part of Chhattisgarh . Gondwana in the broader sense also included parts of northern Andhra Pradesh and western Orissa .

The rough and mountainous area is part of the Northern Deccan and has an average altitude of 600 to 700 meters. From a geological point of view, the area - with the exception of a few parts from the Permian and Triassic Periods - consists mainly of Precambrian rock. Part of it is covered by alluvial sediments , in the west additionally with igneous basalt of the Deccan Trapps . For the first time, some of the earliest rock formations of the ancient continent Gondwana were examined in the area of ​​what is now the state of Orissa . This is how the geologist Eduard Suess proposed the name Gondwana for the former major continent of the southern hemisphere .

The climate is hot and semi-arid . The natural vegetation consists of dry monsoon forests and shrubs, large areas are covered by forest and are home to several national parks where populations of Bengal tigers live.

history

From the 14th to the 18th century, the area was ruled by the Gond dynasties, which were also independent during the Mughal Empire . In the 18th century the Marathas conquered Gondwana and many Gond fled to the mountains. Between 1818 and 1853 large parts of Gondwana were incorporated into the British colonial empire, but a few Rajas of the Gond ruled until Indian independence in 1947 .

Even today, a high proportion of India's natives ( Adivasi ) live in the area of ​​historical Gondwana , including the Gond. Tribes considered economically and socially disadvantaged by the Indian government make up the majority of the population in many counties. At the moment there are isolated local political movements directed against ruling structures, for example the Gondwana Ganatantra Party was founded in Madhya Pradesh in 1991 .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Brockhaus. The encyclopedia in twenty-four volumes. (Vol. 8., FRIT – GOTI), 20th edition, study edition, FA Brockhaus GmbH, Leipzig 2001, p. 706, ISBN 3-7653-2418-3