Note 83 — G

Gond; Gonr.—Probably meaning an “inhabitant of Gauda” or Western Kosala; according to Mr. Hislop from the Telugu Konda, “a hill.” Dr. Oppert83 suggests that the names of tribes with the first syllable Ko or Go, such as the Kodulu, Konda, Gonda, Ganda, Kurava, etc., are derived from the Gauda Dravidian root Ko, Konda, etc., in the sense of “mountain.” In the Census Returns under the name Gond two quite distinct classes of people seem to be mixed up,—the true Gonds of the Central Indian hill country, and the Gonr of the Eastern Districts of these Provinces, who is usually classed with the fishing tribes of Kahâr and Mallâh and is a domestic servant, stone-cutter or grain-parcher. In the detailed Census Returns the sections of these two distinct tribes are inextricably mixed up together and defy analysis.