K.S. Singh informs that after the downfall of the Gupta Empire, the whole of eastern India witnessed the emergence of the rural foci of political power, led by autonomous chieftains who acted as champions of neo-Brahminism.
Such communities as Doms, Bhars and Cheros in south Bihar, Kharwars in the Sone-Damodar valley, Gonds and Rak- shels in the Chattisgarh region and the Bhumij in Jungle Mahals of
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Bengal filled the vacuum in the countryside in the medieval period.
The Doms, Bhars, Cheros and Gonds were either Scheduled Tribes or Scheduled Castes. They were atheists and casteless people. These tribal groups ruled over a substantial part of the country. They had their own territory as well as government. Characteristically, these tribal rulers were against the Hindu castes.
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There was no participation of caste Hindus in the running of the tribal governments. Coming to western India where we had the Bhil rulers; for example, the princely states of Dungarpur and Banswara in southern Rajasthan and the Panch Mahals of Dohad district in Gujarat. David Hardiman (1977) has studied the Bhils of western India.
He gives a vivid description of the political organization of the Bhils. He informs that the Bhils consisted of a large number of localities, i.e., villages, each of which was under a hereditary chief, Naik.
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In this band there was no system of taxation which would have enabled them to accumulate a large surplus and, thus, set themselves apart physically from other fellows. The Naik, received occasional offerings from their Bhil fellows. Hardiman observes:
The principal power of the chief was his ability to call on the Bhils of his area to serve as bowmen under him. This could be either to defend their territory or to carry out a raid on the peasants of the adjoining plains.
It was through such raids that the chiefs and their followers made both ends meet, particularly in years of shortage. Some of the more successful chiefs maintained small bands of mercenaries who were paid out of a plunder rather than taxation.
From Hardiman’s account, we infer that the tribal endogenous state pattern was not similar all over tribal India. For example, in Gujarat, Bhils had bands, and the chief was not hereditary.
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It was on his muscle power that he kept the Bhils of his band together. He even did not have right to levy taxes. However, the chief had a territory and a kind of government vested in him.