Round and between the kingdoms of the peninsula lie forest, hill and dry scrub, and the peoples who live there answer to no king on 1 January 1200.
They are drawn in one pale colour, each with its own range outlined in its own record. In the north and the middle they are the Gond, Kolam and Andh of the Vidarbha forest and the great forest of the Wainganga, Indravati and Godavari, the Koya of the Godavari gorge, the Chenchu of the Nallamala, the Savara of the Eastern Ghats of Kalinga, the Bhil of the Satmala, Akrani and Ajanta hills, the Korku of the Melghat and the Koli of the Ghats. On the Andhra coast the Yanadi live in hamlets among the Velanati and Nellore country, and the Chenchu and Yanadi hold the Veligonda and Seshachalam hills.
In the south they are the Kodava clans of Kodagu, the Soliga and Kuruba of the forest hills, the hill peoples of Wayanad and the Kerala Ghats and the Todas, Kotas, Kurumbas and Irulas of the Nilgiris; in Lanka the Veddas of the eastern forest. Some are claimed from outside or pay what they choose: the Gond, Korku and Chenchu stand under Yadava or Kakatiya claims, the Savara pay irregular tribute, the Koli share the pass tolls, the Hoysalas collect tribute at the edge of the Soliga and Kuruba hills when they can, and the Silahara king is lord of the north Konkan hill peoples on paper. None is ruled by a king.
Who rules
- Name
- None named for 1199 to 1200 in the sources read
- Title
- No king: each people follows its own clan, village and hamlet headmen
- Confidence
- low
What the realm holds
- The Gond, Kolam and Andh forests of Vidarbha and Adilabad, and Mahakantara, the forest of the Wainganga, Indravati and Godavari
- The Koya country of the Godavari gorge
- The Chenchu of the Nallamala, the Veligonda and the Seshachalam hills, and the Yanadi of the Guntur and Prakasam coast
- The Savara of the Eastern Ghats of Kalinga
- The Bhil of the Satmala, Akrani and Ajanta hills and the Korku of the Melghat
- The Koli of the Ghats and the hill and creek peoples of the north Konkan (Kolis, Thakurs, Warlis, Katkaris)
- Kodagu (the Kodava clans) and the Soliga and Kuruba forest peoples of the southern hills
- The Nilgiri hill peoples and the hill peoples of Wayanad and the Kerala Ghats
- The Veddas of the eastern forest of Lanka
The realm that morning
No war, raid or revolt is recorded for these peoples in the winter of 1199 to 1200.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: No chief, headman or elder of these peoples is named for 1 January 1200 in anything the researchers could read, and for the sixteen ranges most of the research rests on general knowledge, flagged thin. The names (Gond, Koya, Chenchu, Savara, Bhil, Korku, Koli, Yanadi, Todas, Kodavas) are the names of later records and the census; what these peoples called themselves in 1200 is not settled.
On the map: One colour for many peoples that answer to no king. The outlines are the researchers' rough ranges and the modern districts of the uplands, cut at the state lines of this sheet: the Gond, Koya, Savara, Bhil, Korku and Mahakantara forests run on north and east into Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, which belong to the Northern India map.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.