Khond people

Common card · No. 469739

Khonds (also spelt Kondha and Kandha; Odia: kôndhô, IPA: [kɔn̪d̪ʰɔ]) are a Dravidian ethnic group and indigenous tribal community in India. Traditionally subsistence farmers, they are divided into the hill-dwelling Khonds and plain-dwelling Khonds for census purposes, but the Khonds themselves identify by their specific clans. Khonds usually hold large tracts of fertile land, but still practice hunting, gathering, and slash-and-burn agriculture in the forests as a symbol of their connection to, and as an assertion of their ownership of the forests wherein they dwell. Khonds speak the Kui language and write it in the Odia script. The Khonds are the largest tribal group in the state of Odisha. They are known for their rich cultural heritage, valorous martial traditions, and indigenous values, which center on harmony with nature. The Kandhamal district in Odisha has a fifty-five per cent Khond population, and is named after the tribe they revolted against the Britishers in 1846 due to the...

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