Life of Tribal Groups


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Life of Tribal Groups

By the nineteenth century, tribal people in different parts of India were involved in a variety of activities. Tribal people live in communities or groups.Tribals, known as Adivasis or aboriginals , were the original inhabitants of vast forests in western,central, southern , eastern,and north- eastern parts of the country.

They lead a life that is closely interwoven with, and depend on, nature. However, tribal people are careful never to overexploit nature. Tribal people  had their own land collectively.

India has a sizable tribal population:

  • Their population constitutes only 8% of the country's population.
  • They live in about 15% of area of country and almost around 500 tribes are found in India.
  • Fifty percent of the total population of tribal people live in and around the region of Arunachal Pradesh , Meghalaya,Mizoram, Nagaland and Island groups of India.
  • The largest population of tribal people resides in Orissa ( about 62%).
  • They are called adivasis or the original settlers. Towards the half of the medieval period in India: by around 1500, tribal societies had started forming kingdoms, some of which became powerful, like the Gond Kingdome of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. However, the vast majority of adivasis continued to live deep inside forests, practicing substance farming or herding. The mughals left them largely undisturbed, as long as the adivasis paid a nominal amount of money to show their allegiance to them.

    Life of Tribal Groups:

    Spread across the country’s hinterland, especially in its central and northeastern forests and hills, India’s tribes have their own distinctive language, culture, and lifestyle. But they are also among the country’s most deprived communities. By  the nineteenth century , tribal people in different parts of India were involved in a variety of activities:

  • Jhum/shifting cultivators who lived in north east and central India .
  • The hunters and gathers known as khonds, who lived in the forest of Orissa.
  • The pastoralists who moved along with their herds of cattle or sheep according to seasons.
  • The van Gujjars of the Punjab hills and Labadis of Andhra Pradesh were cattle herders, the gaddis of kullu  were shepherds and Bakarwals of Kashmir herded goats.
  • Settled cultivators such as the Munda of chhotanagpur, Gonds and Santhals.
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