The essentials
"Tribe" is a modern term for communities that are seen as distinct from caste-based Hindu society, usually living in forests and hills. Tribal communities in India are highly diverse. Sociologists classify them in two ways. Permanent traits include region, language, physical (racial) features and ecological habitat. Acquired traits include mode of livelihood (food gathering, shifting cultivation, settled agriculture, industrial work) and the extent of incorporation into Hindu society.
Most tribal people live in central India (for example Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha) and in the north-east, where in several states they form a majority of the population. They speak languages of four families: Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Austric and Tibeto-Burman. Large tribes include the Gonds, Bhils and Santhals.
A long debate concerned policy. Some scholars, notably Verrier Elwin, favoured isolation to protect tribes from exploitation by traders, moneylenders and outsiders. Others, notably G.S. Ghurye, argued that tribes were "backward Hindus" who should be assimilated or integrated. The independent state chose integration, combining development with protection.
Key points
- Tribes were often not "primitive" or isolated; many had states (such as Gond kingdoms) and traded with neighbours.
- Tribal identity today is shaped by forced incorporation into the wider economy and by resistance to it.
- Displacement by dams, mines and forest laws has hurt tribal livelihoods.
- A tribal middle class has emerged, partly through education and reservations.
Exam tips
Learn the two-way classification and match examples to it: language is permanent, livelihood is acquired.
Common mistakes
Do not treat all tribes as hunters and gatherers; many are settled farmers or industrial workers.