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Religion and Social System                              With time, they have adapted themselves well in

            In the beginning, the Gonds practised many tribal        the valley and have forgotten their original
            rituals and customs, but as they started to identify     language Tai  and its script.
            themselves with the Rajputs, they embraced               History
            Hinduism and began to worship Hindu gods and
            goddesses along with natural forces like sun,            After their arrival in India in the thirteenth
            moon, wind etc. At present, some Gonds are also          century, the Ahoms settled in Kamrupa (now
            Muslims and Christians.                                  Assam). They defeated the local rulers and set up
                                                                     their kingdom. They kept consolidating and
            In the beginning, the Gonds were a homogeneous           expanding it for three centuries. They fought with
            group, but as the process of state formation began,      the other tribals, like the Nagas, Khasis and
            the rank hierarchy was established. They were            Kacharis in north-eastern India. They came into
            divided into several clans, each under a rai      or     conflict with the Mughals. Aurangzeb defeated
            chief. The Gonds marry within their respective           them but was not able to keep them under his
            clans. They are patriarchal    , that is, a clan         control for long.
            comprises    of  members     descending    from   a      The   most     important
            common male ancestor.
                                                                     Ahom ruler was Rudra
            At present, the Gonds live in forest and hilly areas     Singh  who ruled from
            and are little influenced by the modern way of           1696    to   1714.    He
            life. The government, however, is making effort to       constructed the Kareng
            bring them in the mainstream of national life.           Ghar  at Sibsagar. This is
                                                                     a  palace   with   three
                  F ind Outind Out                                   underground        floors
                                                                     known as Talatal Ghar            Kareng Ghar
            Find out how tribals live in India at present. What
            is the government doing to bring them in                 and the upper storeys are known as Kareng Ghar.
            mainstream?                                              He linked the Dikhow River  with the Kareng Ghar
                                                                     and his place at Gargaon by underground tunnels.
            Case Study : Ahoms                                       These tunnels also worked as emergency exit.
            As compared with the Gonds, the Ahoms showed
                                                                          Info Bits
            distinct features of state formation. They lived in a         Info Bits
            limited   territory  and   influenced   the   local
            population. They became prominent rulers.                Describing about the palace of the Ahom ruler in
                                                                     Gargaon, a Mughal scribe wrote : “The Raja’s
            The name ‘Assam’ has probably been derived from          audience hall stands on 66 pillars, each of them 2
            the word ‘Ahom’.                                         metres round, with abundant decorative wood and
            The Ahoms lived in the                                   stone work. The brass mirrors on the facade made
            Brahmaputra valley in                                    the entire palace shine in sunlight’’.
            Assam.      They     are                                 Sib Singh  ruled the Ahom
            believed     to    have                                  kingdom from 1718-1744.
            belonged to the Mao                                      He   built   the   Shripur
            Shan   tribe of China                                    Devalay Mandir  . As the
            who came to India in                Ahoms                legend goes, a part of the
            about thirteenth century under the leadership of         body of Sati (Parvati) fell
            Sukhapha  . They defeated the local rulers and           here.
            settled here. Soon they became an influential                                          Shripur Devalay Mandir
            group and mingled with the local population. They        The    Ahoms     remained
            married with the local people and adopted their          powerful until the eighteenth century when they
            religion and many of their customs and traditions.       were weakened by invasions from their eastern
                     Contemporary Social Science-7
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