question_answer 9)

 In what ways was the history of the Gonds different from that of the Ahoms? Were there any similarities?  

Answer:

The history of the Gonds was sharply different from that of the Ahoms. These differences are as follows : (i)  Gonds were not migrant. They lived in a vast forested region called Gondwana—or 'country inhabited by Gonds, But Ahoms were migrants of Brahmaputra Valley from present-day Myanmar. (ii) The Gond Kingdom was not dependent upon the forced labour. But the Ahom state depended upon forced labour. (iii) The Gond society was not as sophisticated as that of Ahoms. (iv) The Gond kings wished to be recognised as Rajputs. In order to gain power and status they had marriage alliances with Rajputs. But Ahoms never wished to established such marriage allowances. They expanded their kingdom by wedging war against the kingdoms of Chhutiyas and Koch-Hajo. (v) Gonds practised shifting cultivation, but Ahoms did not. They introduced new methods of rice cultivation. Similarities between Gonds and Ahoms: (i) Both were tribal people.                                       -   (ii) Both of them introduced centralised administrative system. (iii) Both the tribal states were attacked by the Mughals—at different times. These attacks proved to be fatal for them. They could not stand in front of the Mughals. (iv) Both of them gave due respect and honour to the Brahmanas. They granted them lands in order to raise their social status.