Match the following dialects with their corresponding tribal regions:

(a) Nimadi

(b) Korku

(c) Bhili

(d) Gondi; (i) Mandla, Dindori (ii) Ratlam, Alirajpur (iii) Barwani, Khandwa (iv) Betul, Narmadapuram

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — A, (a)-(iii) (b)-(iv) (c)-(ii) (d)-(i). Nimadi is the speech of the Nimar tract along the Narmada — Khandwa (East Nimar), Khargone (West Nimar), Barwani and Burhanpur — so Nimadi goes with (iii) Barwani, Khandwa. Korku is the language of the Korku tribe of the Satpura belt, spoken in Betul, Khandwa, Harda and Narmadapuram, which is (iv). Bhili is the tribal speech of the western hill districts — Jhabua, Alirajpur, Dhar, Ratlam, Barwani — giving (ii) Ratlam, Alirajpur. Gondi is the language of the Gond heartland of the eastern plateau: Mandla, Dindori, Balaghat, Seoni, which is (i). Option (a) is the only one in which all four pairs hold.

Why the other options are wrong — (b) It puts Nimadi in Betul–Narmadapuram, which is Korku and Gond country in the Satpuras, and sends Bhili to Mandla–Dindori in the far east and Gondi to Ratlam–Alirajpur on the Gujarat border — both of those are reversed.  (c) Two of its pairs are not absurd on their own — Bhils do live in Barwani and Gonds in Betul — which is exactly what makes it tempting. But it makes Nimadi the dialect of Mandla–Dindori, which is impossible: Nimadi belongs to the Nimar valley, six hundred kilometres to the west. One dead pair kills the option.  (d) It hands Nimadi the Ratlam–Alirajpur (Bhili) belt, moves Korku to Mandla–Dindori (Gondi country) and pushes Gondi into Barwani–Khandwa. The whole set is rotated out of place.

Concept: Madhya Pradesh's speech map has two layers. The regional Indo-Aryan dialects are Malvi (Malwa), Nimadi (Nimar), Bundeli (Bundelkhand) and Bagheli (Baghelkhand). Cutting across them are tribal languages from three different families: Gondi is Dravidian, Korku is Munda (Austroasiatic), and Bhili is Indo-Aryan. So this single question quietly spans all three language families found in central India — a favourite MPPSC pairing with the tribal-distribution map.

State PCS 2026 Q92 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2026 Q92 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer