THE LARGEST CONCENTRATION OF TRIBAL PEOPLE in the country can be found in Secret India.

In Chattisgarh alone, one in three of the 20.8m population belongs to one of the many so-called Scheduled Tribes.

The Gonds still comprise the largest group, though outside the forests many have lost their language and their animistic customs. Today many Gonds speak Chattisgarhi Hindi and follow mainstream Hindu practices.

Of the Gondi-speaking groups, the most colourful are found in Bastar. Here the Muria still try to maintain the unique co-ed youth dormitory, the gotul, against outside pressures and moralising interference.

Despite the best efforts of administrators and anthropologists, the Gond tribes of Bastar take little notice of the names and labels the outside world has given them. They call themselves Koitor, which in Gondi means "The People" - the Gond people, of course, independent of mind, culture and language. For more detail, click A Note on Nomenclature.

South of the Indravati, the Dandami or Bison Horn Maria are famous for the head-dresses of their spectacular marriage dance, though the bison itself has all but disappeared and much of their land has gone to industrial development.

In the wild hills of Abhujmar, the Hill Maria are the most remote of the Gond forest tribes, though even they, coming out of the jungles for a festival or market, can sometimes be seen today sporting plastic sunglasses and other trappings of contemporary fashion. In living memory, many of their grandparents had little more than leaves to wear.

    Left: Difficult choices between ancient and modern face the younger generation of Bastar's tribal people. Photo: Lahar Singh, GG

The Baiga, found mainly in the Maikal Hills north of the Chattisgarh Plain, are still "Lords of the Animals", and although Hindi-speaking, live a shy traditional life largely away from modern influence. They are considered to possess magical powers and the ability to communicate closely with Nature, their Mother, and with wild beasts.

There are Gond sub-groups in neighbouring Maharashtra, Andhra, MP and South Orissa too; an eclectic assortment of often remote hill tribes, some possibly related to the Bastar tribes, others, like the Orissa Bondo, of quite different, more distant and little understood origin.