| Group: | Chenchu |
| Population: | c. 65,000 |
| Popplace: | Andhra Pradesh, Telangana |
| Langs: | Telugu, Chenchu |
| Religions: | Hinduism[1] |
| Related: | |
| Native Name: | చెంచు ప్రజలు |
The Chenchus are a Dravidian tribe, a designated Scheduled Tribe in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Odisha.[2] They are an aboriginal tribe whose traditional way of life been based on hunting and gathering. The Chenchus speak the Chenchu language, a member of the Dravidian language family. In general, the Chenchu relationship to non-tribal people has been largely symbiotic. Some Chenchus have continued to specialize in collecting forest products for sale to non-tribal people. Many Chenchus live in the sparse and deciduous Nallamala forest of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The Chenchus are referred to as one of the Primitive Tribal Groups that are still dependent on forests and do not cultivate land but hunt for a living. Non-tribe people living among them rent land from the Chenchus and pay a portion of the harvest. Other people also settled among them with the help of the Chenchus and learned agriculture from them, and the nomadic Banjara herders who graze their cattle in the forest also have been allotted land there. The Chenchus have responded unenthusiastically to government efforts to induce them to take up agriculture themselves.
The culinary habits of Chenchus were simple. Chenchus eat Ambali (gruel) sankati, roti and cooked rice called Annam. Ambali is prepared with jowar, ragi or bajra. The grains are pounded to remove outer layer, washed in water and again re pounded. The repounded grain is cooked in water and consumed after adding salt to it. [3]