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Colonialism and
Tribal Societies 4
q Tribal societies q Tribal societies in the nineteenth century
q Tribal revolts
Introduction TRIBAL SOCIETIES
The tribals or Adivasis constitute a substantial part A group of people living in a specified area is
of the Indian population. At present, they are about designated as tribal on the basis of certain
8 percent of the entire population. According to the characteristics. These characteristics include
census of India, 2011, the tribals are about 10.42 language, social organisation, religious affiliation,
crore in number. Their distribution is not uniform customs, economic patterns, geographic location
throughout the length and breadth of India. They and self-identification. The tribals speak different
are rather found in clusters. The three important dialects which are mostly primitive in nature.
clusters are in the north-eastern states (mainly Their religious affiliation is with certain tribal
Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, deities, though many of them follow Hinduism
Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland), Central India and other religions. They follow certain customs
(Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh) and which seem strange to the common people, but
western India (Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal the tribals have guarded these customs zealously.
Pradesh and western Uttar Pradesh).
Info Bits
The density of tribal population varies from one Info Bits
place to another; for example, it is more than 90
Research scholars who conduct research on tribes
percent in some north-eastern states (Arunachal
are called anthropologists.
Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland), while
it is less than ten percent in Central India, and even The tribals generally live in heavily forested areas
less in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The most or hilly areas. They are generally inaccessible to
numerous tribes are the Gonds, the Bhils, the the other parts of the country. They are under little
Santhals and the Mizos. political or economic influence. A tribal group is
self-sufficient to a great extent, excepting some
articles such as salt, iron tools etc. which they
procure by limited contact with the outside world.
Their economy thrives on agriculture, hunting,
fishing and food-gathering. They also rear cattle,
such as cows, sheep and goats etc. Their needs
Mizo Bhil
are based on the local resources. The agricultural
practices of the tribals are primitive in nature.
They often practise slash and burn technique, that
is, they clear a tract of land, cultivate it for three-
four years and then abandon it and clear another
tract of land.
Santhal Gond
Colonialism and Tribal Societies
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