Tribals of India-Classification

- Mrunal - http://mrunal.org -[Culture] Tribals of India: Classication, Geographical Spread For GS Mains Paper I (Culture + Human Geography)

Posted BySupport StaOn 27/07/2012 @ 4:46 pm In Geography | 24 CommentsClassication A: Based on Ethnicity1.Group I: Negritos2.Group II: The Mongoloid3.Group III: Mediterranean (Dravidians)4.Classication B: Based on Location5.Zone 1: Northern and North-Eastern6.Himachal Pradesh7.Uttar Pradesh8.Zone II: Central9.Bihar10.Rajasthan11.Gujarat and Maharashtra12.Madhya Pradesh13.West Bengal14.Orissa15.Zone III: South-Western16.Zone IV: Scattered Tribes of Andaman and Nicobar17.This article is important for GS (Mains) Paper I : Culture + Human GeographyThis article contains truckload of 2 markers, although it is not possible to prepare allof them but do as many as you can.This article wont help you, unless you keep looking at a Map of india whilereading it.This article is created using content from IGNOUs Tourism studies course. Somedata is outdated- new states have been created. Keep the map ready and makecorrections accordingly.

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Classication A: Based on EthnicityGroup I: Negritos

are believed to be the earliest inhabitants of the Indian peninsula who were unableto defend themselves and were gradually forced to recede before the invadinghordes of Indo-Aryans, Mongoloids, etc. coming from the North-West and North-East.These tribes were not only superior to them in numerical strength but also inmechanical equipment.These tribals took shelter in the mountains and thick forests where a considerablenumber of them are still found and have been estimated to be about ten million.Those who were left behind in the plains gradually disappeared either by absorptionor by acculturation.Some tracts of them are still found among the tribals of the Andaman and NicobarIslands known as the Onne, the Great Andamanese, the Sentinelese and the Jarwasalso in Kerala among the Kadars, the Irulars and the Paniyans.identifying features

are dark skin, curly hair, broad nose and medium height.Group II: The Mongoloid

represented by the tribal people of sub- Himalayan region.They may be divided into two categories


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MongoloidSub-categories represented by the tribes living inPalaeoMongoloids1. Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur.

Tibeto-Mongoloids2.Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.They are believed to have migrated from Tibet.They have typical eyes and facial features. They speakMon-Khmer and Tibeto-Burmese dialects.

Group III: Mediterranean (Dravidians)They form bulk of the tribal population and are generally known as the Dravidians.Dravidian is, however, the name of the language group spoken by these people andhas no ethnic signicance.

LocationThe tribes believed to be belonging to the Dravidian race are found in theChhotanagpur Plateau, Rajmahal Hills region, Aravalli ranges, Central Vindhyachal,Deccan Plateau region and Nilgiri Hills.Dravidian language still survives not only in Southern India where Tamil, Telugu,Malayalam and Kannada are its leading representatives, but also in Central Indiawhere its traces are found in the dialects spoken by the Oraons, Gonds, Mundas,Malers, Khonds and other tribes.The Dravidians are presumed to be of two stocks,

Dravid TribesDravidianSub-Categories Characteristics

Kolarians speak a dialect called Mundariexamples: Mundas, Santhals, Oraons and other tribesinhabiting Chhotanagpur Plateau region

Dravidian proper Speak dailects of Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and KannadaGonds, Kondhs, and other tribes found in CentralVindhyachal and the Deccan Plateau regions.

Classication B: Based on LocationTribal population of India is spread all over the country. However, in Haryana,Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa and Pondicherry there exist very little tribalpopulation.The rest of the states and union territories possess fairly good number of tribalpopulationMadhya Pradesh registers the largest number of tribes (73) followed by Arunachal


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Pradesh (62), Orissa (56), Maharashtra (52), Andhra Pradesh (43).In India there is almost a continuous belt of high tribal concentration starting fromthe Western coast from Thane district in Maharashtra passing through Surat andDang districts in Gujarat to Mayurbhanj in Orissa on the Eastern coast and Bihar.The chief concentration is in Dhulia in Maharashtra; West Nimar, Betul, Chhindwara,Seeni, Mandla, Shandol and Sarguja in Madhya Pradesh; and Ranchi, SanthalParganas_ and Singhbhum district in Bihar.Another long range of tribal belt is found in the North-East spreading overArunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizo Hills, United Mikir and NorthCachar Hills of Assam and hilly regions of Manipur and Tripura.These belts are also linked up by a chain of pockets of tribal concentration at Talukor sub-divisional levels.Tribal concentrations are also found in Bastar district of Madhya Pradesh, Korapur,Bauch- Khandenals, and Agency tracts of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh which arelinked up with the Central belt by a chain of small pockets of tribal concentration.The scheduled tribes live in exclusive pockets of the territory, upon which they havetraditional ownership rights.Zone 1: Northern and North-Eastern

In the mountain valleys and other areas of North-East, Indian tribes largely belong toMongolian social stock. The tribal people are distributed all over the sub-Himalayanregion and the mountain valleys in the North-East from Simla in the West to the Lushaihills and the Mishmi track in the East which merge imperceptibly with those of Burma inthe South-East. It covers Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura,Manipur and Mizoram, Eastern Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Tarai areas ofUttar Pradesh and the mountaineous West Bengal.North East tribe

paro-Barokachari is numerically the strongest tribe in Assam then comes Miri andMizo.The hill districts, i.e., Mikir Hills and North Cachar Hills are predominantlyinhabited by scheduled tribes.In the plains Goalpara, Lakhimpur, Darrang and Kamrup districts possess fairly largenumber of scheduled tribes.In Manipur, the highest distribution of scheduled tribes is found in Manipur westdistricts followed by Manipur east districts. The third highest position goes toManipur south districts. North Manipur contains the lowest number of scheduledtribe population..The major tribes inhabiting the region are Anal, Kabui, Gangte, Zarao, Moyan-Mansang, etc. In Meghalaya the most important tribes are the Khasis, Garos andJaintias. Mizos, Pawis_and Lakhers are of importance in Mizoram.Nagaland: A tribal state, inhabited by NagasHimachal Pradesh

Following tribes are important1. Gaddi reside exclusively on the snowy range which divides Chamba fromKangra


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Kinner2. settled in the frontier district of Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh.

Pangwal3. the Pangi region of the Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh

Lahuli4. Lahul-Spiti region of Himachal Pradesh

Uttar Pradeshdeclared scheduled areas are hills, Tarai Bhabar, and Southern U.P. The hill zone isrepresented by the Jaunsari, Bhotia, and Raji tribes.Bhotias are a late introduction in the scheduled tribes following the set back theysuered after Indo-China war.The eastern and northern parts of Tarai Bhabar tract are inhabited by Tharu andBuxa tribes.Zone II: Central

In the Chhotanagpur Plateau, along the dividing line between peninsular India andIndo-Gangetic basin, live many tribal communities like the Bhumij, Gond, Ho, Oraon,Munda, Santhal, Bhil, etc.They belong to Proto-Australoid group.This group occupy the mountain belt between Narbada and the Godavari thecentral barrier that divides the north from the Peninsular India has provided ashelter for these tribes from very ancient times.It includes West Bengal, Southern Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa andMaharashtra. This region further extends to the Santhal Pargana (Bihar) in the east,Hyderabad in the South and Rajasthan and Gujarat with a strong Bhil population inthe West.Bihar

Oraon, Munda, Chero, Parchaiya, Santhal_and Asuras are very dominant.Rajasthan

Banjaras, Moghias and Sathiyas are important tribes of Rajasthan.They mostly inhabit the Thar desert.Gujarat and Maharashtra

Bhil is the most important tribe in Gujarat.Anal, Chiru_and Konkanas_are important tribes inhabiting Maharashtra.Madhya Pradesh

1. Muria The word Muria is used in Bastar for a tribesman. Murias reside in theMuria Hill and Abujhmar mountains.


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Dorla2. a tribe of south Bastar in Madhya Pradesh. The word Dorla, appears to havebeen derived from the Telugu word Dora meaning Lord.Bhil3.

West Bengal and OrissaWest Bengal: Mala and Savara tribes. Now speaking of Odisha:

out ofthe 62 Scheduled tribes, Bhuiya, Baiga, Dharua, Gaaro, Ho, Koli, Lodha, etc.are more populous. The Baiga appears to be a branch of the great Bhuiya tribe ofMadhya Pradesh.Baiga means a sorcerer or medicine man.The name Baiga also applies to anyone who serves as a village priest in the CentralProvinces.Zone III: South-Western

In the hills and converging line of the Western Ghats live the Chenchus, Irulas,Kadars, Ketas, Kurumbas, Jedas, etc. having Negrito, Caucasoid, and proto-Australoid features.This group is chiey concentrated in the southern-most parts of the Western Ghatsstretching from Vindhyas to Cape Comorin.From the fact that they occupy the marginal areas and also from the records in theoldest Tamil literature of the Sangam period, they appear to be one of the mostancient and primitive inhabitants of present day India.Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamilnadu fall within this zone.South Western Tribes

State Important tribesAP Chenchus_and LambadiKarnataka Koragas, KurubaKerala Koragas

Zone IV: Scattered Tribes of Andaman and NicobarThere are various scattered tribal groups like the Andamanese and such other tribes ofAndaman and Nicobar Islands, and other Union territories.The aborigines of the Andaman Islands may be described as a race by themselves, andcan be divided into two groups, i.e.,Subgroups

NegritoAndamanese, the Onges and the Sentinelese.This group is found in the Andaman group of Islands.has an anity with the Semangos and Sakais of Malaya, the Vedas ofSri Lanka and other Negrito groups of South-East AsiaIt is believed that these aborigines migrated from the lower regions ofBurma. On their arrival at these islands, they moved to dierent part ofthe islands and very likelyon account of the dierent types of physical


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environment they developed dierent traits.Mongoloid inhabitants of Nicobar group of islands, i.e., the Shorn Pens and theNicobarese.

Tribals of Andaman NicobarJarawa conned to the western part of the south, middle and north Andamans.The Andamanese, who are extremely limited in number, live along thecoastal areas.Onge inhabit the little Andaman and Rutland islandSentinelese are found in the Sentinel island.Shorn Pens conned along the eastern and south-eastern coast of Great Nicobarisland. They are also reported from the banks of Dagmar, Alexandraand Galathoa rivers respectively.Nicobarese(Holchu) inhabiting these small islands are highly unevenly distributed and onlyin the two islands, the Car Nicobar and Chowra.

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