Abujhmarh

The word means "the unknown hills" ( means 'unknown' and means 'hill') in the Gondi language native to the region. Forest, about equivalent to the present Bastar division. Dandakaranya, literally meaning "the abode of the demon Dandaka", also finds mention in Hindu epic, Ramayana. The dense forests of Abujhmarh have long been isolated from the outside world, inhabited largely the indigenous people, and accessible only via forest pathways starting from Narayanpur, Bijapur and Basroor. Geographically, the Indravati river segregates it from Bastar region, adding to its isolation. After independence of India, its isolation continued, except when in 1958 the government refugees from East Bengal in the Dandakaranya area in the present Bastar division, and later the hills started getting exploited for its mineral wealth, like the Bailadila Hills excavated for its deposits of high-grade iron ore. The tribals remained backward and exploited by prevalent feudalism in India, After being pushed out of Andhra Pradesh, post 2003, Naxals made these forests their hub, and even established a revenue generation system which includes land sharing, cooperative farming and running foodgrain and seeds banks. In June 2009, after a nearly 30-year restriction on the entry of outsides into the area, imposed by then Government of Madhya Pradesh, triggered by a controversial documentary made by a foreign channel, the Government of Chhattisgarh, a state carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000, eased the restrictions. The next big attack came on 18 March 2007, when the Maoists attacked a police camp at Ranibodli, killing 55 policemen, including Special Police Officers (SPOs). "Operation Green Hunt" was launched in area in April 2010, but on 7 April, in an ambush by People's Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA), 76 security persons were killed in Chintalnar. ==Geography==

This area of dense forest, mountains, and several rivers is spread over , an area larger than the state of Goa. Known for its rich in mineral deposits, it covers the Narayanpur district, Bijapur district and Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh state and is close to the borders of neighbouring Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The Indravati river, which originates from Odisha, and is a tributary of the Godavari River, separates the area from Bastar. Even today, most of tribal villages in the area remain inaccessible for six months in a year. In 2008, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India proposed to designate Abujhmarh as a biosphere reserve. ==Demographics==

The area has population density of less than , and is home to nearly 27 per cent entire tribal population of the Chhattisgarh state, dominated by Gond, Muria, Abujhmarhia, Madiya and Halba tribes. A total population of 34,000 tribal inhabits 233 villages. ==Economy==

Majority of the tribals live under dire poverty, and survive of the traditional shifting cultivation or slash-and-burnknown locally as for six months in a year, they cultivate a small grained rice, , and for the rest of the period survive by selling the rice along with forest products like tendu leaves, and occasionally come out to the weekly markets, of near by towns to sell their produce. ==See also==