Tribes of the North
This tribe, whose chief Kamal Khan was made a noble by Emperor Akbar, became more important in Punjab after the Khokhars.
Who are the Gakkhars?
This is the name for the caravan of the Banjaras, who were the most important trader nomads.
What is a tanda?
The large and powerful tribe found across present-day Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh.
Who are the Gonds?
The Ahoms created their new state by suppressing the older political system of these people, who were essentially landlords.
Who were the bhuyans?
This gradually became the main basis for organising society, replacing the old varna system.
What is Jati (or sub-caste)?
This tribe of shepherd people lived in the western Himalaya.
Who are the Gaddis?
The Sultan who used the Banjaras to transport grain to the city markets, as mentioned in Chapter 3.
Who was Alauddin Khalji?
Many Bhils in Western and Central India had become this type of settled person by the late sixteenth century.
What is a settled agriculturist (or zamindar)?
The term for the individuals who were forced to work for the Ahom state as forced labour.
Who were the pāiks?
Smaller castes that emerged within the existing varna structure as the economy and society's needs grew.
What are jatis (or sub-castes)?
A large and powerful tribe in the North-West, who were divided into many smaller clans under different chiefs.
Who are the Balochis?
Peter Mundy, an English trader, described meeting a tanda of Banjaras with 14,000 of these animals, all laden with grain.
What are oxen (or bullocks)?
The historical work that mentions the Gond kingdom of Garha Katanga had 70,000 villages.
What is the Akbar Nama?
This became the predominant religion in the Ahom kingdom during the reign of King Sib Singh (1714–1744).
What is Hinduism?
The ruling clans, whose power grew from the eleventh century onwards, who set an example for tribal people to follow and often replaced older rulers.
Who were the Rajput clans?
This Mughal general, working for Akbar, attacked and defeated the Chero chiefdoms in present-day Bihar and Jharkhand in 1591.
Who was Raja Man Singh?
Besides pastoralists and Banjaras, these petty vendors also travelled from village to village selling wares like ropes, straw matting, and coarse sacks.
Who are petty pedlars (or mendicants/entertainers)?
The very capable daughter of Salbahan, the Chandel Rajput ruler, who married a Gond raja, Dalpat, and ruled for her young son.
Who was Durgawati?
Historical chronicles written by the Ahoms, first in their own language and later in Assamese.
What are Buranjis?
The term for the Ahom clan or village community, which gave land to the peasant, and without whose consent the king could not take the land away.
What is a kula?
The two dominant tribes in extensive regions of Multan and Sind before they were subdued by the Mughals.
Who are the Langahs and Arghuns?
An important nomadic group, apart from the Banjaras, who reared and sold animals such as cattle and horses to prosperous people.
Who are pastoral tribes?
The Mughal general who defeated the Gonds at Garha Katanga in 1565 and captured a huge booty.
Who was Asaf Khan?
The Mughal commander who attacked the Ahom kingdom in 1662 and defeated them, though direct Mughal control did not last long.
Who was Mir Jumla?
A group of specialized artisans, literally meaning 'chariot makers', whose status was deliberated upon by Brahmanas in a twelfth-century inscription from Tiruchirapalli.
Who are the rathakaras?