{"id":360981,"date":"2026-04-17T14:41:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T09:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=360981"},"modified":"2026-04-17T14:41:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T09:11:41","slug":"mahua-tree-madhuca-longifolia-and-gond-tribe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/mahua-tree-madhuca-longifolia-and-gond-tribe\/","title":{"rendered":"Mahua Tree (Madhuca longifolia) and Gond Tribe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>News:<\/strong> Mahua plays a pivotal role in the life of tribal communities from birth to death.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">About Mahua Tree (Madhuca longifolia)<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_360987\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-360987\" style=\"width: 270px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-360987\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Source-Greenverz.jpg?resize=270%2C323&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Mahua Tree (Madhuca longifolia)\" width=\"270\" height=\"323\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Source-Greenverz.jpg?resize=251%2C300&amp;ssl=1 251w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Source-Greenverz.jpg?w=613&amp;ssl=1 613w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 270px) 100vw, 270px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-360987\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source &#8211; Greenverz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a<\/span><b> multipurpose tropical tree <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mainly cultivated or harvested in the wild for its <strong>edible flowers and oil seeds<\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is commonly known as <\/span><b>mahuwa or madhuka, Butter Tree, Mahua and Mahwa.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Family:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It belongs to the<\/span><b> Sapotaceae family.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Scientific name: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its scientific name is <\/span><b>Madhuca longifolia.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Distribution:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><b>It is indigenous to India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Myanmar.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <strong>two major species<\/strong> of the genus Mahua found in India are <\/span><b>Madhuca latifolia and Madhuca longifolia.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is widely distributed across India, including<\/span><b> West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar,<\/b> <b>Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Climatic Requirements:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a<\/span><b> frost-resistant species <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that can grow in <\/span><b>marginal areas of dry tropical and subtropical forests<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> up to an <\/span><b>altitude of 1200-1800 m.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Growth Height: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It grows to approximately 20 meters in height.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Rainfall: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It requires annual rainfall between <strong>500 mm to 1500 mm.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Temperature:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> For its proper growth, the temperatures should be in the range of 2-46 \u00b0C.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Soil: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It grows well on<\/span><b> deep loamy or sandy-loam soils with good drainage.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Flowering period: <\/b>It grows slowly, begins to <strong>flower after 10 to 15 years,<\/strong> but lasts for decades. <\/span><b>\u00a0<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The average flowering period of the tree is<\/span><b> about five weeks.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Production in India:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0 It is a non-edible oil with an <strong>annual production of 60 million tonnes<\/strong> in India.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Mahua flowers are one of the top 5 minor forest products (MFP)<\/strong> in terms of volume produced in the nation each year.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Mahua nutra beverage<\/strong> is a value-added product made out of Mahua flowers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Uses:<\/strong> Mahua flowers are mainly used to <strong>prepare liquor<\/strong>, as well as <strong>cakes, vinegar, jam, syrup, and honey.<\/strong>\n<ul data-start=\"81\" data-end=\"276\">\n<li data-section-id=\"10js1nx\" data-start=\"184\" data-end=\"276\">Seeds are processed to <strong>extract oil<\/strong>, which is used for ghee, soap, grease, and cosmetics.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"10js1nx\" data-start=\"184\" data-end=\"276\"><strong>Medicinal use:<\/strong> Its <strong>bark, flowers, seeds, and leaves <\/strong>are used medicinally for <strong>respiratory problems, cold and cough, pain relief, lactation,<\/strong> and conditions like <strong>diabetes, bronchitis, rheumatism, headache, and haemorrhoids.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><b>Ecological significance: <\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its <strong>strong-smelling flowers<\/strong> bloom at night and hang openly, <\/span><b>which attracts bats that help in pollination and seed dispersal.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Animals such as sloth bears also <\/span><b>depend on these flowers and often compete with humans in collecting them.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">About Gond Tribe<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_360982\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-360982\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-360982 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot_17-4-2026_132018_.jpeg?resize=300%2C169&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Gond Tribe\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot_17-4-2026_132018_.jpeg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot_17-4-2026_132018_.jpeg?resize=1024%2C577&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot_17-4-2026_132018_.jpeg?resize=768%2C433&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot_17-4-2026_132018_.jpeg?w=1231&amp;ssl=1 1231w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-360982\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Researchgate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Gondi (G\u014dndi) or Gond or Koitur<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are a<\/span><b> Dravidian ethno-linguistic group<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of India.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\"><b>Distribution:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> They are spread over the states of <\/span><b>Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha.<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are mainly divided into four tribes, namely <\/span><b>Raj Gonds, Madia Gonds, Dhurve Gonds, and Khatulwar Gonds.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are <\/span><b>one of the largest groups in<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> India and<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0are currently listed as a<\/span><b> Scheduled Tribe of India.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Population: According to the 2001 census, their population was <\/span><b>nearly 11 million.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\"><b>Origin:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> They are believed to<\/span><b> belong to the Dravidian stock.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\"><b>Historical Background:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Scholars believe<\/span><b> Gonds settled in Gondwana <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">between the<\/span><b> ninth and thirteenth centuries AD.<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gond dynasties ruled in four kingdoms &#8211;<\/span><b>Garha-Mandla, Deogarh, Chanda, and Kherla in central India between the sixteenth and mid-eighteenth century.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maratha power swept into the Gond land in the 1740s<\/span><b>. They overthrew the Gond rajas (princes) and seized most of their territory.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Some Gond zamindaris (estates) survived until recently.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the British rule in India, the Gonds actively resisted the British and fought several battles against them.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\"><b>Languages:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Most Gonds <\/span><b>speak different dialects of Gondi,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> an unwritten language belonging to the Dravidian family, and many of these dialects are<\/span><b> not intelligible.<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some <\/span><b>Gonds have lost their native language and instead speak regional languages<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> such as Hindi, Marathi, or Telugu, depending on the dominant language of their area.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\"><strong>Society:<\/strong> The Gond society is divided into<strong> several exogamous patrilineal units known as sagas.<\/strong>\u00a0The saga is divided into <strong>several clans (pari).<\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Religion:<\/strong> The religion of the Gonds is mainly based on the<strong> worship of clan and village deities, along with reverence for their ancestors.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Festivals:<\/strong> Pola, a cattle festival, Jathra, Nagapachami, and Dasahara are some of their major festivals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: Mahua plays a pivotal role in the life of tribal communities from birth to death. About Mahua Tree (Madhuca longifolia) It is a multipurpose tropical tree mainly cultivated or harvested in the wild for its edible flowers and oil seeds. It is commonly known as mahuwa or madhuka, Butter Tree, Mahua and Mahwa. Family:&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/mahua-tree-madhuca-longifolia-and-gond-tribe\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Mahua Tree (Madhuca longifolia) and Gond Tribe<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10366,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,4182,11209,12039],"tags":[11872,10504],"class_list":["post-360981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-environment","category-geography-in-news","category-knolls","tag-9pm-daily-factly","tag-down-to-earth","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360981\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}