THE SECRET HEART OF INDIA comprises eastern Madhya Pradesh and the new State of Chattisgarh (The 36 Forts), which came into being on November 1, 2000 with the city of Raipur as its capital - see Gateways to Secret India.

Chattisgarh (CG), a third of whose 20.6 million population are tribal people, has 18 Revenue Districts (in May 2007 western Dantewara (Dw) became Bijapur and northern Bastar (Bs) became Narayanpur District).

We call our Region 'GreenGondwana'. It is larger than the historical area once known as Gondwana, but Gondwana means the 'land of the Gond people', and to this day the Gonds are the major tribal group to be found here.

GreenGondwana is a region of spectacular forests, Parks and Sanctuaries, the habitat of countless wildlife species, with more than half the known population of the Royal Bengal Tiger. And it is still home, in this 21st Century, to many indigenous tribal peoples, notably in the forests of the former Bastar state (right).

The transliteration of local names from Hindi, Sanskrit, even Gondi, into English is a matter of much debate. Click here for
An Important Note about Spelling.

Follow the Links for more on the Geography of Secret India. Dip into our Brief History of Secret India with sections on Chattisgarh, Gondwana and Bastar, and browse our comprehensive Timelines of comparative contemporaneous events covering several millennia.

Roll your cursor over the map to reveal the CG District names and click on the codes for detailed District information.