a branch of the Kol tribe. Thus it would
seem that two separate settlements of the Kolarian races may have
occurred; the earlier one would be represented by the Bhars, Bhuiyas,
Baigas and kindred tribes who have entirely lost their own languages
and identity, and have names given to them by the Hindus; and a later
one of the Kols or Mundas and their related tribes, whose languages
and tribal religion and organisation, though in a decaying state, can
be fully recognised and recorded. And the Dravidian immigration would
be subsequent to both of them. To judge from the cases in which the
fissure or subdivision of single tribes into two or more distinct ones
can still be observed, it seems quite a plausible hypothesis that the
original immigrants may have consisted only of a single tribe on each
occasion, and that the formation of new ones may have occurred after
settlement. But the evidence does not warrant any definite assertion.

37. Dravidian tribes.

The principal Dravidian tribes are the Gonds, Khonds and Oraons. The
Gonds were once dominant over the greater part of the Central
Provinces, which was called Gondwana after them. The above three
names have in each case been given to the tribes by the Hindus. The
following tribes are found in the Province:

Gond, Oraon or Kurukh, Khond, Kolam, Parja, Kamar. _Tribal Castes_:
Bhatra, Halba, Dhoba. _Doubtful_: Kawar, Dhanwar.

The Gonds and Khonds call themselves Koi or Koitur, a word which
seems to mean man or hillman. The Oraon tribe call themselves Kurukh,
which has also been supposed to be connected with the Kolarian _horo_,
man. The name Oraon, given to them by the Hindus, may mean farmservant,
while Dhangar, an alternative name for the tribe, has certainly this
signification.

There seems good reason to suppose that the Gonds and Khonds were
originally one tribe divided through migration. [72] The Kolams are
a small tribe of the Wardha Valley, whose dialect resembles those of
the Gonds and Khonds. They may have split off from the parent tribe
in southern India and come northwards separately. The Parjas appear to
represent the earliest Gond settlers in Bastar, who were subjugated by
later Gond and Raj-Gond immigrants. The Halbas and Bhatras are mixed
tribes or tribal castes, descended from the unions of Gonds and Hindus.

38. Origin of the Kolarian tribes

The Munda languages have been shown by Sir G. Grierson to have
originated from the same source a