Large Tribal Groups in India


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Large Tribal Groups in India

Some powerful and large tribal groups in India were:

  • Gonds in central India.
  • Khokhars and Ghakkars in the North.
  • Bhils and koils in the West.
  • Cheros, Mundas, Snathals, Khasis, Nagas and Ahoms in the East.
  • Todas, koragas, Maravars, Badagas and Vetars in the south.
  • Who were Tribal people?: Contemporary historians and travelers give very scanty information about tribes. A few exceptions apart, tribal people did not keep written records. But they preserved rich customs and oral traditions. These were passed down to each new generation. Present day historians have started using such oral traditions to write tribal histories. Tribal people were found in almost every region of the subcontinent. These area and influence of a tribe varied at different points of time. Some powerful tribes controlled large territories. In the western Himalaya lived the shepherd tribe of Gaddis.

    In many areas of present -day Bihar and Jharkhand ,Chero Chiefdoms had emerged by the twelfth century .Raja Man Singh,Akbars famous general ,attacked and defeated the Cheros in 1591. A large amount of booty was taken from them but they were not entirely subdued.Under Aurangzeb , Mughal Forces captured many Chero fortresses and subjugated the tribe.The Mundas and Santals were among the other important tribes that lived in this region and also in Orissa and Bengal.

     
     


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