Dang States

Origins

The Dangs, a hilly teak forest between Gujarat and Khandesh, were held by a number of Bhil chiefs, Rajas and Naiks, who raided the plains in the 18th century. After the British took Khandesh in 1818, they made agreements with these chiefs, recognising them as petty rulers.

Rule and society

From the 1840s the British leased the Dang forests from the chiefs for timber in return for annual payments, and administered the area through the collector of Khandesh. The population was almost entirely Adivasi, Bhil, Kokna and Varli, living from shifting cultivation and forest produce. The chiefs gathered each year at the Dang Darbar.

Decline and legacy

The Dangs were merged into Bombay State in 1948 and became a district of Gujarat in 1960. The former chiefs' families still receive political pensions, presented at the annual Dang Darbar at Ahwa.