Page 28 - SST Class 08

The houses of tribals are generally irregular yet they resisted any type of interference in their
clusters among the trees, characterised by stone-
paved or mud-plastered floors, mud walls and
thatched roofs.
The social unit of a tribal society is generally the
family, in which the women play the more
important role. Women work shoulder to shoulder
with men, and are sometimes more important
social constituent as compared to men. As women
are considered workers, it is a matter of pride for a
man to possess two or more wives. This is the
reason that the institutions of polygamy and sale
of bride are prevalent.
TRIBAL SOCIETIES IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Some changes have certainly occurred in the
lifestyle of tribals in the present times; however,
most of them continue to follow their primitive
customs and lifestyle. They are backward even
today, and they were very primitive in the
nineteenth century because they were not yet
interfered with till the arrival of the British.
By the middle of the nineteenth century, the
British had established their empire in India, yet
their greed could not be satisfied, so they were
looking for more areas which they could exploit
for their profit. Their eyes fell on forest resources
where the tribals lived traditionally. They wanted
to clear these forests and use the cleared land for
the cultivation of cash crops.
Traditionally, the tribals enjoyed rights over the
land and forests where they lived. However, the
British interfered with this right, and with this
dissatisfaction started to brew in the tribals.
Moreover, the tribals did not want their customs
and lifestyle to be known to other people, so they
least liked any stranger coming into contact with
them. Consequently, a number of revolts took
place in different parts of India.
F ind Outind Out
How are the tribals different from us?
Changes in Tribal Economies
Though the tribal people were aloof from the
other people and had self-sufficient economies,
Contemporary Social Science-8
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life. They chiefly depended on agriculture, forest
products and minerals for their livelihood, which
were practised in the most primitive form. When
the British tried to restrict their rights on forests
and land, they had no other way but to look for
other means for their livelihood. The British
deprived them of their tenancy rights, so they
were reduced to the status of landless labourers
who shared crops. The lion’s share in the crops
and forests products was taken away by the British
and their agents. As agriculture chiefly depended
on natural factors, crops often failed, which
aggravated the tribals’ condition further.
The land acquired by the British was used for the
cultivation of indigo, jute and poppy, which
played havoc with the fertility of land. Thus, the
tribals had been exploited in every possible way
by the British. After the British interference started
in the tribal economies in the nineteenth century,
the tribals formed the poorest of the poor in terms
of income and human resources.
The construction activities, such as building of
dams and roads, laying of railways and other
economic activities such as mining led to the
depletion of tribal resources, leading to their
starvation and poverty. It had disastrous effect on
their health, as the death rate, maternal mortality
rate and infant mortality rate increased
tremendously.
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Opportunities for education and employment have
brought many changes in the tribal societies, still
much more requires to be done.
Changes in Tribal Societies
Though the tribals resisted any interference in
their life by outsiders, yet they were not successful
before the mighty British. Their contact with the
outside world influenced their customs, traditions
and cultures. As they opened up to the outside
world, they came to know about new things. They
realized the importance of education, and a very
small number of them acquired basic education.