Gond Jhare

The roots of the Gond go back to a group of tribes that, over the centuries, adopted a shared language of Dravidian origin and shaped a common identity. Between the 13th and 19th centuries, Gond kingdoms such as Gondwana, Garha and Chanda ruled wide stretches of central India, and the memory of these kingdoms still feeds pride in their origin among their descendants.

The Jhare form the branch that remained most closely tied to the forest, and it is from that relationship with the woods that the group's very name comes. While other Gond groups moved closer to cities and the farming life of the plains, the Jhare kept living on the edges of the forest, between farming the land and hunting.

Most of the Jhare live off the land: they grow rice, grains and legumes, and raise goats and cattle whenever the harvest allows. Hunting still holds a place of honor at the table, and game meat is considered a delicacy. Among the traditional crafts are basket weaving and mat weaving, activities passed down from generation to generation.

Social life revolves around the clan and broader family units, which regulate marriages and responsibilities among relatives. Women take an active part in fieldwork, and traditionally many wear tattoos that mark the group’s identity. Hospitality and belonging to the clan remain central to daily life.

Although they identify as Hindu, the Jhare live out, in practice, a faith marked by traditional beliefs older than the very Hinduism they profess. Spirits and forces of nature hold a central place in the people’s worldview: it is believed that evil spirits cause illness and misfortune, and that only ritual sacrifices can drive them away from the village.

A local priest, called a perumal, leads these sacrifices on behalf of the community, in rituals attended by the whole gathered village. This layer of traditional religion exists side by side with elements of broader Hinduism, in a mix that reflects the people’s position on the margins of dominant Hindu society, officially recognized as a low-status tribe.

The heart language of the Jhare is Northern Gondi, spoken by tens of thousands of people spread across four Indian states. Portions of Scripture have existed in this language since the 19th century, and a New Testament was published in the 1990s, but the complete Bible has not yet been translated. Since many Jhare also live in contact with Marathi, Odia and Telugu, access to God’s Word depends both on translation in Gondi and on what reaches them through these other languages.

To be Jhare is to belong to a tribe whose identity is intertwined with the Hindu faith and the ancestral traditions of the forest, which makes any religious change a rupture with family and clan. Life scattered across isolated villages in the woods, combined with the low social status given to tribes in India, makes it difficult for any new message to reach them. Without a complete Bible translation in Gondi and without known churches working among them, the Jhare remain among the peoples who have not yet had a clear first contact with the gospel.

Like many forest tribes of India, the Jhare face needs tied to the land: uncertain harvests, limited access to health care and education, and the weight of fear before illnesses attributed to spirits. The complete translation of the Bible in Gondi remains a concrete need, as do materials that reach those who do not read the written language.

Above all, the Jhare people lack the presence of a local Christian community and discipleship in their own language and culture, something that today is practically nonexistent among them.