Dresses & Ornaments of The Gonds of Madhya Pradesh

International Referred Research Journal, July, 2011. ISSN- 0974-2832 RNI-RAJBIL 2009/29954.VoL.III *ISSUE-30
The old Madhya Pradesh (Central Provinces) was well
known as the abode of Gond tribes.It was due to the
large number of Gond tribes residing in this tract, it was
known as Gondwana. These tribes are known for their
rich socio-culture life. The dresses and ornaments of
the said tribes is a part and parcel of the socio-cultural
life of Gond tribes. Thus the researcher tries to explore
the new meaning and interpretations of their dressing
and ornamentation behaviour.The relation of the dresses
and ornaments is very much correlated. In Indian context
both of these things go hand to hand. As the Indians
attire particular dress or ornaments for particular
purpose. Even the tribes wore the same but with different
need and different purposes. The Gondi word for
cloth is dikadi and ornaments are known as Gahna.
There are many references one can refere of tribal dressings.
Sir R. Jenkins described the Gonds in 1827 AD as
naked savages. Fifty years after that in 1866 AD. , when
Rev. Hislop wrote mainly about Chanda region of the
Madhya Pradesh that the women in the wilder tracts
wear no cloths at all, but only a string round the waists.
The practice was reported to exist in the Kol
country, and also in Orissa, where it was traced up to the
command of one of their deities to reprove women for
their pride. After him Rowney wrote in 1888 AD and said
that; "the manjee and maree Gonds lived in a state of
nature with their bodies covered with ashes and dirt."
There were various other writers who mentioned that
the Hill Marias wear pieces of bark as their only dress.
From the above accounts as well as looking at the Hill
Marias of Bastar and Chanda, it was clear that they were
all over scantily attired in the early days and their bark
coat, taghali, as Marias called it, showed that the Marias
formerly roamed about in a state of nature and then, later
on they adopted leaves and barks as their garments.
However, with the changed times they adopted the
following attire.The Gonds of Madhya Pradesh wore a
strip of cloth was the usual dress of the men, but generally
the full toilet comprised a square piece of cloth
tied round the head; a cloth gathered round the waist,
and one end brought from the front between the legs
and fastened behind; a cloth thrown loosely over the
shoulder; and a blanket. The orthodox Gond custom
was to wear as little as possible. Men seldom wore more
30
Research Paper—History
Dresses & Ornaments of The Gonds of
Madhya Pradesh
* Dr. Shamrao I. Koret
July, 2011
* Asstt. Prof, P. G. Dept of History, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj, Nagpur University, Nagpur
that a piece of loincloth and a small piece of fabric round
their heads. Those who were more civilized threw a
sheet of cloth over the upper part of the body, in addition
to these. On the east of Chanda region, the men
wear no covering for their head or for the upper part of
their bodies and constantly go about with a battle-axe
in their hands. The women were decked themselves
with 30 or 40 strings of beads, to which some add a
necklace of pendent bells. Bangles of zinc adorn their
wrist, and a chain of the some metal was suspended from
the hair, and attached to a large boss struck in the ear.
The dress of the women was always decent, and consisted
of one long piece of cloth about eighteen feet
long and three and half broad. That was doubled and
fastened round the waist. The lower half hangs to the
knees, and the front end was brought between the legs,
and secured behind, while the upper half was carried
over the right shoulder.
The women wore lungra (saree) which passes
like a broad sash over the back and was rather liberally
spread out in front upon their bosom, The Gonds of
Mandla were extremely simple in their clothing, the men
usually wear a pheta or a small piece of cloth to cover
the head and a dhoti about four feet long and a foot and
half broad, round their waist. Those who could not
even afford this, were content with a langoti (a scanty
scrap) won as loin-cloth, Those who could afford, wear
bandee, or waistcoat and shirt but they wear them on
special occasions only, these did not form a part of their
daily wardrobe; women wear a saree or lungra as they
called it but it was just like a loin-cloth with the red
border dragged up over their knees exposing the greater
part of the thigh. The Hill Maria of Bastar wore nothing
but a lion cloth of coarse cotton in winter, summer and
during rains. The Dhurwa of Bastar remained bare-bodied
for most of the year. The Marias wore no cloth on
their head but it seemed that some of them were learning
the habit of wearing an apology for a pagree or turban,
by wrapping a small rag carelessly round the head leaving
the crown generally bare.The Maria women go about
with their breast uncovered. They had only a lion cloth
wrapped round waist with profusion of ornaments
around the neck and countries strings of beads. Very
old women inside the hut wear only a square piece of

International Referred Research Journal,July, 2011. ISSN- 0974-2832 RNI-RAJBIL 2009/29954.VoL.III *ISSUE-30
cloth suspended between the legs from a waist cord as lavish in getting their face, foreheads, arms and often
their sole covering. This underwear was known as breasts elaborately tattooed. There was some magicoreligious
sanctity attached to tattooing. The women
mundang and was worn only by the females. However,
with the changed time they changed their attire. believed that tattooing beautifies the body as well as
Ornaments: - As ornaments, Gond men wore tin or silver makes it healthy.There were different traditional patterns
for the arms, chest, forehead and brow and it was
bracelets, one on each wrist, called chura. On the third
or little finger of either hand they sometimes wear a ring compulsory to tattoo only the correct pattern on each
of silver or brass. It was called mundri. In their ears, they part of the body. It was believed that when they died
wear rings, i.e. bari, in the upper part of the ear; the bala, would able to show some beauty on their bodies to
piercing the middle ear; and the lurki, through the lobe. Bhagwan (God). Another motive for tattooing was social
ambition, and third cause appeared that girl's par-
They adorned their heads with small brass coins and
glass beads. Many Gond women wear a necklace of ents must be wealthy or must have loved their daughter
rupee or eight-anna pieces, linked into a chain by thin very much.
silver chains, or simply by a string through a loop Observation: - It is observed by the researcher that the
attached to each coin. The necklace of rupees was dress pattern of the tribes changed with the time. The
called rupeeya or bawal. They also wear the hasli, a dress pattern was very much natural, which could be
silver nickering in the shape of a snake, with one end obtainable from the surrounding jungle. It is to be noted
hooked into other at the back of the neck. Another neckring
was the so-called sutiya or suta, a neck let about as not a cotton growing area. It shows that the cloth was
that the geographical area meant for their dwelling was
thick as a finger, made of silver. The Gond women had a rare article for the secluded tribes living in isolation
their ears pierced at various places. The common ear since time immemorial. Scarcity of cloth made them to
ornament was called Kiwli. Gond women often wear in use more metal ornaments on their body and less dressing.
Otherwise wearing less was not a custom or culture
the nose a small flower-like stud which was called as
phuli. On the wrists, they wear bangles (churi) or silver of the Gond tribes. However with the changed time and
bracelet (gujri); at the elbow the bahota. Their toes were availability of the article, these tribes adopted the newer
decorated with one or two brass rings, usually one on pattern of the dressing. On the other hand the ornaments
used by the tribes, were not meant for aesthetic
the big toe (chutka) and one on the third toe (chutki).
These rings were of silver or any metal. Sometimes the purposes, but they wore them for various purposes.
women wear toe ornaments with a high projecting knob Many of the above mentioned ornaments protect them
on three toes, they were called as bichya.
from the surrounding inhabitants. Like the snakes will
Tattooing: - The men wore only a few tattoo mark on the go away with the vibrating anklets sound at their feet.
outer side of their legs, at knee-level and sometimes on The animals could not harm their body as many
the upper arms. However, the Gond women were conspicuous
for their tattooing over a large part of the body. not an ordinary one; instead it had some medicinal
rings, headgears covered them. The mask of the dirt was
Gond women preferred stars, crosses, and crude figures values which keep them protected from all kinds of the
of men and animals as tattoo marks. A Gond girl was first jungle flies and insects. The tattooing on their body was
tattooed when she was only a few years old: on the also very much important, which keep them unnoticed
forehead and temples, and on the right cheek. On the during games. Even the women remain safe from the
forehead just above the nose the figure of the hearth in eyes of any intruder. These dressing patterns and Ornaments
were later well supported with religious values
horse-shoe form, with the open side pointing downwards,
with a dot on each side and one below. When to be accepted by the common masses. Otherwise one
a girl reached puberty, she was tattooed on the arms, could not find special dress for special purpose among
chest and shoulders. Later, just before or after marriage, tribes. In certain times like dance and other ceremonies
she might also be tattooed on the back of her legs, from only the participant need to wear particular dresses and
the knees to the ankles, and on the thighs. Tattooing ornaments to display the models for others to follow.
was very common among the Gonds. Women were more Therefore, it is concluded that the tribal dresses and
R E F E R E N C E
ornaments were protective gadgets.
Hislop, Papers relating to the Aboriginal tribes of the central Provinces, (Nagpur: 1866), p. 8. Quoted in, M.J. Walhouse, some Account of a leaf-wearing
tribe on the Western coast of India, in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol.4 (1875), p. 376. H.B. Rowney, The Wild
tribes of India, (Delhi:1882), p.7. Indrajit Singh, op. cit., p. 22. A.C.Lyall, (Sir) , Reports of the ethnological committee on papers laid before them, and,
examination of specimens of aboriginal tribes brought to Jabalpur exhibition of 1866-67, Nagpur, 1867, pp. 21-2. Indrajit Singh, The Gondwana and the
Gonds, The Universal Publishers, Lucknow, 1944, p. 22. Captain Ward, Report on LRS of Mandla District, 1868-9, p. 132. A.C.Lyall, op. cit., p. 21-2.
Hislop, Papers, Appencix VII, p. xiii. Stephen Fuchs, Gond and Bhumia of Eastern Mandla, Asia Pub. House, New Delhi, 1960, p. 53. Indrajit Singh, op.
cit., p. 23. Kidar Nath Thusu, Gond Kingdom of Chanda, A.S.I. Calcutta, 1980, p .38. Captain Ward, Report on LRS of Mandla District, 1868-9, pp. 135-
6. Kidar Nath Thusu, op. cit., p. 40. Stephen Fuchs, op. cit., p. 61. Ibid. Suresh Mishra, The Gond Kingdom of Garha, (New Delhi: 2007), p.18. Stephen
Fuchs, op. cit., p. 62.
S H O D H S A M I K S H A A U R M U L Y A N K A N 31