The popular ghoomar is the characteristic dance of the Bhils although it is especially associated with the royal ladies of Jaipur, who perform it on certain auspicious occasions. The reason for that might be that the Bhils and the Jaipur royalty have been close for centuries.

The story goes that the Bhils were an indomitable war-like tribal race. Apparently they made a nuisance of themselves by making areas controlled by them dangerous for Jaipur’s traders and people. When the Kachhwahas tried to discipline them, they simply faded away in their impregnable hills. Realizing the futility of this exercise, the Kachhwahas sued for peace. The Bhils were exempted from paying tribute – no big deal since they were not about to pay it anyway! to the Kachhwahas and were accepted as friends of the royalty. This last is important since the tribals were considered low-caste people and the royalty are kshatriyas (the warrior caste of the Indian varna system). The Bhils were further accorded the honour that unless their chieftain put a tilak (a vermillion mark put on the forehead on an auspicious occasion) on his forehead, the coronation of no future Kachhwaha king would be considered legal. Since then, by all accounts, the Bhils have remained loyal to the side of the Kachhwahas.