Gonds of the Central Indian Highlands: A Study of the Dynamics of Gond Society (Set of 2 Volumes)

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Dr. Behram Mehta's voluminous work on the Gonds of the Central Indian Highlands is the outcome of ten years of arduous research both at the Tata School of Social Sciences as well as in the field. What began as a socio- economic survey of the Tamia Development Project area in Chindwara district, Madhya Pradesh virtually assumed the proportions of a gazetteer of the area and its inhabitants, the Gonds. In effect, Dr. Mehta's volumes constitute a multidisciplinary study of the dynamics of Gond society with special reference to the habitat, socio-economic conditions, religion, economy and culture of the population of the Tamia Project.

The original report completed in 1966 and running into two massive volumes, was produced by the Department of Tribal Welfare, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Bombay and sponsored by the Research Programmes Committee of the Planning Commission, Government of India. This excellent study includes the historical background of Gond society, the acculturisation of the Gonds in Central India; the application of Geddes' Valley Section theory to the region and its people, and a detailed documentation and analysis of the available material on Gond society. Fundamental social research, applied research and action research have all been utilised in this monumental work on the Gonds.

The posthumous publication of Dr. Mehta's painstaking work will, it is hoped, benefit geographers, sociologists, anthropologists, social workers and development administrators. Environmentalists and others will find it of interest too as will the lay reader.

Behram H. Mehta, M.A., Ph.D. (1906-1981) was a Chancellor's Gold Medallist and Sir Pherozeshah Mehta Research Scholar at the University of Bombay from 1933-36. An anthropologist by training, Dr. Mehta was deeply influenced by Sir Patrick Geddes' work on Valley Section and sought to apply the theory in his work on the Tamia Multipurpose Project. During his lifetime he had been Adviser to the Planning Commission of the Government of India and also Director of Research of the Tamia Project. He was later Professor of Research and Head of the Tribal Community Organisation, Tata School of Social Sciences, Bombay and Director of the Gondwana Centre.

THE Research Programmes Committee of the Planning Commission, and the present study of the Gonds of the Central Indian Highlands.

The problem of Scheduled Tribes affects a vast population of millions in India; many of them might be the aborigines of the country. They have been studied by anthropologists, ethnologists, historians and administrators. The Government of India is now concerned with the problem of their welfare, the development of their homelands and economy, and with the achievement of national integration. The Research Programmes Committee of the Planning Commission is there- fore concerned with a fresh approach and a new study of their living conditions, problems and needs. Efforts are now being made to evolve effective programmes which can eliminate poverty and exploitation, restore social justice, and provide for social services which can enable them to play an effective role in the larger programme of national development.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT STUDY

AS is well-known, the Government of India began to evince N keen interest in the uplift of the tribal populations in the country and in their integration into the mainstream of Indian life soon after the attainment of Independence. In the achievement of this objective funds were allocated, plans and programmes of action were drawn up and knowledgeable person were invited to tackle the tribal problem as it manifested itself on the subcontinent. While the work of Verrier Elwin in this direction is widely known, the work of other pioneers like Dr. B.H. Mehta who was perhaps a less flamboyant personality but no less energetic and practical-minded, was in serious danger of being entirely forgotten. This was so largely because as he himself told me, when we once discussed the idea of publishing this work, the costs of publication were prohibitive: I am, therefore, glad that it has now become possible to publish this work which I know was very dear to him, although he was: not in a position to see it in print when he was still living.

This work arose directly from the fact that Dr. Mehta, as an anthropologist at that time in the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, was commissioned, among others, by the Governement of India to frame a training programme for workers what would later go out and work among the tribes themselves. Thus in 1956-57 such a training programme of academic studies was held at the Tata Institute. However, it was strongly felt- and rightly so-that such academic studies needed to be supple mented or complemented by the addition of field experience. It was for this reason that a field station was established at Tamia in Chhindwara District in the habitat of the Gond tribe!! The aim of this centre was to generate a corpus of information and knowledge through study and research. But study and; research often degenerate into mere accumulations of facts and statistics, as in so many governmental publications, if they are not animated by a coherent orientation.

FREEDOM and independence bring new opportunities to direct human energies and social change towards defined human adinational goals. Social change is a continuous process and inevitable element of history. The aboriginal, primitive and tribal population of India, like the present Gond society unders study, have lived in Central India for innumerable centuries, shaping their destiny according to opportunities offered to them by their environments and history. According to sociological principles of regionalism as well as the newly. developing theories of community organisation, small groups who in the past belonged to such societies, can be now assisted to develop their present habitat and environments so that they may be able to evolve effective social organisations to promote their own economy and culture. Due to the recent progress of the social sciences, attempts can be made to define social goals with a view to deal with vital social problems and help regional human groups to achieve social health, development and progress as a result of rational planning.

The problem of approach to the tribal problem is of very great importance. Anthropologists, enthnologists and administrators have carried out useful studies; important policies have been laid down and decisions have been taken to deal with such distinctive cultures, regions and their people. Even before Independence, this population had received a new kind of sympathy and understanding from the whole of India. Immediately after independence, these have been translated into vast and purposeful measures to achieve more comprehensive welfare through legislation as well as through the implementation of new policies and programmes to remove the country. As adviser on social programmes of the Ministers of Community Development, the Director had an opportunit to study the great difficulties which the Community Development Administration had to face in the initial stages.

In 1955, at last the need arose for workers, partly trained in anthropology, who could undertake sustained social work activities in tribal areas. A Department of Tribal Welfare was established at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences which in co-operation with the Vanvasi Seva Mandal-the Madhyas Pradesh Branch of the Adim Jyati Sevak Sangh, organised a Seminar on Tribal Welfare at Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh in 1955. It was attended by leaders and workers fo tribal welfare in India. A scheme was prepared thereafter to train officials of the Departments of Tribal Welfare in the various states of India, as well as workers belonging te private agencies in tribal areas. A course of study involving a whole year training at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences was commenced in 1956-57. Such a training programme comprising only of academic studies could hardly be satisfactory to achieve the purpose of welfare and development in the difficult tribal areas of India. Important regions inhabited by tribals were therefore visited, and the Central Indian highlands of Madhya Pradesh with its vast tribal population was found to be the most suitable area for developing a programme of practical training for all officers and workers at all levels.

**Contents and Sample Pages**