Characteristics and

UNIT 4 ANTHROPOLOGY AND TRIBES OF Geographical Distribution

of Tribes*
INDIA*
Structure

4.0 Introduction
4.1 Defining the Tribes in India
4.2 Tribal Studies in India
4.2.1 Historical Significance
4.2.2 Academic Significance
4.2.3 Administrative Significance
4.2.4 Anthropological Significance
4.3 Classical Socio-Cultural Studies of Tribal Communities in India
4.4 Summary
4.5 References
4.6 Answers to Check Your Progress
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
In this unit, you will learn about the followings:
 importance of tribal studies from various vantage points such as historical, academic,
administrative, and anthropological;
 role of anthropology in the tribal studies in India; and
 anthropological contributions in understanding the tribes of India.

4.0 INTRODUCTION
India has 8 per cent of the total tribal population of the world. As the tribes are listed in
the fifth and sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India they came to be known as
Schedules Tribes (STs). The tribal population is spread across the country in almost all
the states in India. The tribal population in India, like anywhere else in the world, is
considered distinct from the ‘mainstream population’ of the country. Their culture,
religion, language, world views differ drastically from the ‘others.’ They are considered
to live in coherence with nature, closed, isolated, egalitarian (social, economic, and
gender) smaller communities that are mainly confined to the forest and hill areas. The
social organisation of the tribal societies is considered to be drastically different from
that of the village societies.
When anthropologists discussed the evolutionary theory, they needed societies and
cultures that they considered primitive or in infant stages of society. Placing their own
societies and cultures in advanced and civilised, the colonial anthropologists viewed
the native communities that were living in other continents as primitive. The evolutionary
theory strongly advocated that societies and cultural traits pass through specific patterns

*Contributor: Dr. Sipoy Sarveswar, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Visva-

Bharati, Central University, Santiniketan, West Bengal 53
Anthropology of Indian and progress in a particular direction. The colonial anthropologists believed that their
Tribes
society too passed through these designated stages and arrived at the complex, advanced
and civilised society stage. Nonetheless, they need to understand the primitive
communities and their social structure and organisation. Therefore, they flocked to
study the communities considered to be native in African, Australian, American, and
Asian continents. The presence of the British administrators as colonisers also favored
the anthropologists to come to India.
Those who came to India as administrators and anthropologists were flabbergasted
with the diversity of ideas, cultures, and people they encountered. They were unable to
understand why some people prefer to live far from the so-called modern infrastructure,
why some people could not comprehend the preaching of the modern religion. Why
do some tribal communities (Rampa Fithuri in Rampachodawaram in Andhra Pradesh
led byAlluri Seetha Rama Raju, or the Munda Rebellion in the Erstwhile Bengal Province
led by Birsa Munda) resist the British and their authority over them, while most of the
mainstream population accepts it? These are a few of the reasons British anthropologists
focused on understanding the society and culture of the tribal population in India. Post-
independence, our Indian Government too encouraged the studies on tribal communities
to come up with welfare measures and empowerment policies for the tribal population
in India.
The first and foremost problem that arises is defining India’s tribal population is defining
and identifying who they are and how they are different? Why administratively and
anthropologically the tribes should be considered separate categories becomes
imperative for two reasons: (i) administratively, to provide necessary assistance for
their overall welfare; and (ii) anthropologically, to understand the social structure and
organisation of the tribal societies and also to offer solutions for the problems faced by
the tribals in this modern world.

4.1 DEFINING THE TRIBES IN INDIA

An attempt to define anything results in understanding that concept significantly. Many
anthropologists spend considerable time providing definitions to their area of study.
Defining the tribes across the globe (in Australia, the Americas, and Africa) was not
necessary as there is a traceable history of non-indigenous people migrating or colonising
the indigenous lands. Apart from the traceable history, the indigenous and non-indigenous
populations’ racial features are quite stark in comparison. Hence, the anthropologists
that studied the indigenous populations in these continents never focused on defining
‘tribals’ in their respective studies.
However, the tribals in Indian society are a little different when compared with their
counterparts from the other continents. Tribal societies are different from mainstream
societies (or village societies), and tribals managed to preserve their culture and cultural
traits from the acculturation process from the mainstream societies. The tribals and
non-tribals share more or less the same regional, racial features. Tracing the history of
migration of the non-tribals to the tribal areas is next to impossible. This is because the
local population is as much indigenous as the tribals themselves. Applying the term
indigenous to the tribal population in India is also highly debatable. Many scholars and
activists are aware of it and use terms such as ‘Vanvasi,’ ‘Adivasi,’ and ‘Girijan,’
indicating their place of living and the claim that they were present in these lands much
54 before the influx of the non-tribals into their area.
Andre Beteille makes a great attempt to define tribes with special reference to India. Anthropology and Tribes
of India*
He points out that our Indian Constitution does not define who tribes are but merely
states in article 342(1) that:
‘The president by public notification, specify the tribes or tribal communities
or part of or groups within tribes or tribal communities which shall for the
purpose of this constitution be deemed to be scheduled tribes in relation to
the state of union territory as the case may be.’
He further adds that Constitution Article 342(2) states,
‘Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of scheduled
tribes specified in a notification issues under clause (1) any tribe of tribal
community or part of or group within any tribe or tribal community, but
save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be
varied by any subsequent notification.’
This article and the two clauses fail to provide the definition required to identify the
tribal communities. It is merely left to the discretion of State Government to recommend
to President through the Governor, who can be considered and who cannot be
considered as tribes in their respective states. This presents a major confusion and
makes the State Government often depend on the expert commissions to decide whether
a particular group/community is a tribe or not?
Andre Beteille also tries to analyse the vague explanations provided by the various
expert committees from time to time in identifying the tribal communities. He adds, in
1951, the commission for SCs and STs proposed common elements to the definition
of tribes as ‘tribal origin, primitive way of life, remote habitation and general
backwardness in all respects’. In 1965 Lokur Committee says ‘indication of
primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, and shyness of contact
with the community at large and backwardness’ are the criteria for identifying a
tribe. These are considered a vague interpretation of the definition of tribes in India as
they can be counter-argued. Some examples of tribes that may be presented suggest
otherwise, other than the above provided definitions.
Andre Beteille also analyses the social conditions compared to the non-tribal societies
and tries to offer a comprehensive definition. ‘The tribes as a society with a political,
linguistic and somewhat vaguely defined cultural boundary; further, as a society
based upon kinship, where social stratification is absent.’ However, Andre Beteille
also warns us that there are no ideal types of tribes as conceptualised by anthropologists.
The tribes are evidently in transition. Therefore, the tribes in India should be defined by
considering several factors. One cannot fit them into a blanket definition that fits all the
tribal communities in India. Their ‘Historical Perspective’ should be taken into
consideration when studies attempt to understand or define the tribal population in
India.
Check Your Progress
1) What are the key aspects that one needs to keep in mind before defining tribes in
India?
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55
Anthropology of Indian ........................................................................................................................
Tribes
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4.2 TRIBAL STUDIES IN INDIA

A systematic and scientific study of the tribal areas was carried out by Western scholars
in British and post-British India. Continuing the legacy, Indian anthropologists too took
a special interest in understanding the tribal communities in India. The discipline of
anthropology emerged as synonymous with tribal studies. With anthropology venturing
into vast areas of studies, Indian academia came up with a specialisation of tribal
studies to focus their research exclusively on the tribals. The tribal studies are carried
out for various reasons in India. We can broadly divide tribal studies having significance
from historical, ccademic, administrative, and anthropological vantage points.

4.2.1 Historical Significance

Carrying out tribal studies in India has a very important historical significance as the
concept of tribe is little different from the other parts of the globe. Understanding how
India’s tribal communities and mainstream society learned to co-exist and learn from
each other cultures could be a crucial lesson for the world. The tribal and non-tribal
conflict is still a reality in most of the world. In the past, the indigenous communities
were subjected to cultural and physical genocide by the colonisers who tried to take
over indigenous lands.
In India, it is evident that the tribals are a very important part of the Indian civilisation as
they have been mentioned in famous mythologies. Moreover, there is strong evidence
suggesting that they were a part of the administration and governance in many of the
princely states before the pre-Mughal and Mughal eras.
Tribals are one of the first communities to rise in rebellion against the British administration
and their policies in various parts of India. This is during the time the mainstream societies
more or less accepted the supremacy of the British. The British, as a response, adopted
a separate tribal administration and governance policy and started to treat them as
separate entities in the Indian civilisation. British created excluded areas and partially
excluded areas to govern them. Following the British, our Constituent Assembly in
independent India tried to understand why the British came up with this governing
policy towards tribals and suggested that independent India follow the British’s footsteps
and govern the tribals separately. This study on the tribal from the historical perspective
facilitated the creation of the Fifth and Sixth Schedules, which prevent the tribals’
exploitation by the non-tribals.
Understanding tribals from a historical point of view is imperative in formulating and
implementing the policies. This will help us develop policies to help them preserve their
culture and address the rapid cultural transformation that the tribals are subjected to
through the process of modernisation and globalisation.

4.2.2 Academic Significance

Tribal studies should be incorporated as a major part of study in anthropology and
exclusive centers of tribal studies and should also be made a part of the other social
science subjects. The tribals and their contribution to the independence movement has
56
been ignored and neglected. The tribals’ way of life offers a deeper philosophical Anthropology and Tribes
of India*
understanding of how to live with nature and how to become part of nature rather than
considering ourselves as masters of nature. The tribal way of understanding life has
been pursued under various headings such as minimalism, sustainability, gender equality,
focusing on the present rather than stressing the future, and various other modern
discourses have been based on the ways of tribal communities.
The academics also benefit from understanding the indigenous knowledge and its
significance in advancing science and decolonising the mind from various aspects. Tribal
economy, tribal polity, and tribal environmentalism are undoubtedly other areas where
academicians would benefit from studying the tribal communities. It also becomes
imperative for mainstream and non-tribal societies to be educated about tribals and
their culture to minimise the conflicts that may arise because of lack of understanding
between these parties.

4.2.3 Administrative Significance

There is a dire need for tribal studies to be carried out to provide better tribal
administration. The forest department takes a cue from the colonial era laws and
conceptions about the forest and still considers and treats the tribals as trespassers and
illegal residents. With the enactment of ‘The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional
Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006,’ the harassment against
tribal communities seems to have been minimised. However, the harassment is continuing
to date in various forms. The non-tribal population that is posted in various administrative
posts treats the tribal communities as inferior. The policy formulation and implementation
are carried out with the notion and approach that tribals do not know anything and
need to be given ‘development’ by the outside intervention.
The non-tribal functionaries working in the tribal areas need to be sensitised about the
tribal life and culture. Not unless the non-tribals understand and step into the shoes of
the tribals they will be able to provide sensible administration to the tribals. Having
realised and acknowledged the significance of tribal welare and development, many
states came up with special Tribal development programs and are alocating considerable
funds in this regard. Nonetheless, time and again, the Government reports kept on
considering and reporting that tribals are still backward compared to the general
population in various parameters such as education, health, life expectancy, etc.
In order to avoid leakage and wastage of funds, administrators are required to adopt
the decentralisation and inclusive approach. They need to talk to the tribals to find out
what they need and try to customise the administration as per the requirements of the
tribal people. One of the main hurdles for implementing the ‘The Provisions of the
Panchayats (Extension of the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996,’ which came to be
known as the PESA Act of 1996, are politicians and the bureaucrats in the tribal
regions. PESA Act allows the formation of local governance structures in the form of
panchayats in the tribal and scheduled areas. Instead of facilitating the process of
decentralisation and self-governance among the tribal areas, the politicians and the
bureaucrats act as barriers to implementing the PESA Act. This is because of the
various misconceptions prevailing about the tribals and their culture.
‘The Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups in India: Privileges and Predicaments’
(2016) report by Anthropological Survey of India mentions that there is no baseline
survey of 35 PVTG communities in India. Base line survey provides basic information
57
Anthropology of Indian about the demographic and other important features of a community that will aide in
Tribes
the policy formulation and implementation that cater to their needs. Tribal studies are
pivotal for providing better administration for the tribals; a country can not claim to be
on the path to advancment when a considerable population is left behind.

4.2.4 Anthropological Significance

Anthropology as a discipline claims to have a fourfold approach in understanding a
concept or a topic. Studying the tribal communities from the fourfold approach offers
a comprehensive insight that any other discipline cannot provide. The anthropologists
are pioneers in studying the tribal communities across the country. The tribal studies in
anthropology started with identifying and defining tribal communities. Then, later
anthropologists advanced the tribal studies by understanding the social structure and
organisation of the tribal societies to a deeper level. Tribal communities were considered
and shown as a critical or indigenous dimension of the Indian civilisation. Furthering the
studies in tribal areas, anthropologists also focused on understanding cultural change,
transition, and transformation. They also identified the external and internal factors that
are propelling the process of cultural change among the tribal societies.
Our National Tribal Draft Policy, 2006, starts with a dilemmatic question ‘in preparing
any policy for the Scheduled Tribes in India is how to strike the right balance
between preservation of tribal identity, culture, and values, protecting the tribes
from being swamped by mainstream lifestyles while increasing and ensuring their
access to mainstream education, health care, and income generation so that the
quality of their life is improved.’ Anthropological knowledge can provide solutions
for such dilemmas with their tribal studies and strike a balance between bringing
development while preserving their culture and identity. Anthropology has been involved
in providing amicable solutions for the Government and the tribals with their extensive
knowledge of various conflicts that arise between both parties.
Check Your Progress
2) What is the anthropological significance of tribal studies in India?
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4.3 CLASSICAL SOCIO-CULTURAL STUDIES OF

TRIBAL COMMUNITIES IN INDIA
The nature of studies on the tribal communities varies from time to time. The earlier
anthropologists were mainly concerned with identifying and briefly introducing the tribal
communities to the academic and general world.
Sarat Chandra Roy, the father of Indian Ethnography with his work the Munda and
their Country (1912), has kick-started the scores of anthropological works being
carried out. SC Roy has enthused many anthropologists (both Indian and abroad) with
his meticulous explanations to emphasise tribal studies. It set the growth of anthropology
58 as a discipline and laid the foundation for tribal studies in India.
Scholars such as Ananth Krishna Iyer contributed to tribal studies in India with his Anthropology and Tribes
of India*
works, The Cochin Tribes and Caste (Vol. I & II, 1908-1912); Ethnology of South
India, a Contribution to the Encyclopedia of South India (1920); and Mysore
Tribes and Caste (Vol. I to IV, 1926-1931).
Christoph von Furer-Haimendorf, the Austrian anthropologist and ethnographer, wrote
many books on the tribal communities of India. In the researcher’s capacity and the
empowered advisor to the Nizam, he suggested various measures to address the
problems of the Raj Gond tribe in the Adilabad district of the current Telangana state.
His works include Tribes of India: The Struggle for Survival (1982); The Chenchus:
Jungle folk of Deccan (1943); The Raj Gonds of Adilabad: Myth and Ritual (1948);
The Reddis of the Bison Hills: A Study of Acculturation (1945); The Gonds of
Andhra Pradesh (1979). However, latter anthropologists also criticised him for being
ethnocentric and also for portraying the tribal communities in exotic and bad light for
the world anthropologists.
Verrier Elwin, with his extensive fieldwork among the central India tribes and tribal
communities of Odisha, has contributed enormously to tribal studies in India. Some of
his works are, The Agaria (1942); The Baiga (1939); The Muria and their Ghotul
(1974); and Tribal Myths of Orissa (1954). With his extensive knowledge of tribal
culture and society, Verrier Elwin also contributed to the formulation of the Panchasheel
in collaboration with Prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Panchasheel acts as an unofficial
tribal policy to govern the tribal communities in post-independent India. He also strongly
advocated for the isolation approach in governing the tribal populations and played a
key role in the formulation of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution that provides
autonomous Tribal Councils for some of the northeastern states in India.
W.H.R. Rivers studied the socio-cultural aspects of The Todas (1906) of Niligiri Hills.
He explains the social organisation, religious practices, polyandry, and inter-ethnic
relations the Todas share with the other communities in the Nilgiri hills of Tamil Nadu.
This book is still considered a benchmark for carrying out ethnographic work among
the Todas and many other tribal communities in India.
A.R. Radcliffe-Brown studied ‘The Andaman Islander’ (1922) and contributed to
understanding the less studied tribal communities of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Following this study, many scholars realised the importance of studying the tribal
communities in these islands.
Following the lead of the league of scholars that have contributed enormously for the
tribal studies in India, many scholars such as N.K. Bose, D.N. Majumdar, L.P. Vidyarthi,
T.N. Madan, and so on have carried out fieldwork among the tribal studies and
contributed to the understanding of the tribal cultures and societies. Several other scholars
also focused on cultural change, problems faced by the tribal communities in the
modernisation, industrialisation, and globalisation era. Hundreds of dissertations on
tribal studies are being submitted every year across the universities in the country.
In addition to this, time and again, Government appoints committees to recommend
measures to be adopted for the overall betterment of the tribal communities in India.
‘Report of the High-Level Committee on Socio-Economic, Health and Educational
Status of Tribal Communities of India’ (2014), chaired by Prof. Virginius Xaxa
commissioned by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, takes into account
the current tribal conditions and suggests measures for the improvement of their condition
in India. 59
Anthropology of Indian Anthropological Survey of India carries out periodical studies on tribal communities.
Tribes
The Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups in India: Privileges and Predicaments
(2016) edited by Prof. K.K. Misra throws light on the conditions of the PVTGs in
India and emphasises the prevailing conditions and the need for the Government’s
immediate attention towards these tribal communities.
The Idate Commission Report 2017, headed by Bhiku Ramji Idate, submitted to the
National Commission for Denotified Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Tribes in India,
stressed the importance of studying the nomadic tribes, denotified nomadic tribes and
semi nomadic tribes in India.
It is next to impossible to list all the classical socio-cultural studies of tribal communities
in India. This section attempted to provide a gist of the tribal studies that have been
carried out by various scholars and anthropologists across time. These studies include
monographs on tribal communities explaining their socio-cultural issues, studies focused
on issues faced by the tribals, or cultural change and its impacting factors, as well as
the studies that have been carried out to understand predicaments of tribal population
and aim to suggest measures for the overall betterment of the tribals.

Activity
Observe the policies and acts such as National Forest Policy, Forest Right Acts,
PESA Act, and Draft National Tribal Policy. Note how the tribes are interpreted
both from administrative and the anthropological sense and keenly observe the
role of anthropology as a discipline in uncovering the cultural nuances of the tribes
and how it aided in policy formulation and implementation.

Check Your Progress

3) List any five scholars and their works that throw light on the tribal studies in India?
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4.4 SUMMARY
The tribals and their society and culture are considered to be marginalised not only
from the mainstream point of view but also from the academic point of view. There are
very few works carried among the tribal societies by the other social science and
humanities disciplines such as political science, economics, sociologists, philosophy,
and linguists. Anthropology kick-started its academic journey in India by evidently
studying the tribal communities and culture. For various reasons, the discipline of
anthropology was often equated with and used as synonymous with tribal studies in
India. As anthropology ventured into other areas of study, exclusive centers aiming at
studying the tribal communities have emerged within the academic discourses.
It is imperative to understand the tribal communities and carry out studies among the
tribal population from various vantage points such as academic, administrative, historical,
and anthropological. Either for formulating or implementing a policy or welfare measure
60 among the tribal studies, one needs to have a comprehensive understanding of the
tribal communities. Anthropology, with its contributions from various works on tribal Anthropology and Tribes
of India*
society already established that it can offer a different perception about the tribal societies
and culture with its four-fold approach.

4.5 REFERENCES
Beteille, A (1977) The Definition of Tribe. In R., Thapar (Ed.). Tribe, Caste, and
Religion in India (pp.7-14), Meerut: MacMillan.
Beteille, A (1991) Chapter-3, The concept of tribe with special reference to India (pp.
57-78). Society and Politics in India: Essays in a Comparative Perspective.
London: The Athlone Press.
Bokil, M (2002) De-notified and nomadic tribes: A perspective. Economic and
Political Weekly 37(2), 148-154.
GoI (1949) The Constitution of India. New Delhi: Ministry of Law and Justice.
GoI (2006) The National Tribal Policy. New Delhi: Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
Misra, K.K (2016) The Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups in India: Privileges
and Predicaments. New Delhi: Anthropological Survey of India & Manohar.
Singh, K.S (1985) Tribal Society in India: An Anthropological Perspective (Read,
Chapter 11- the Post-Colonial Scenario, pp. 242-291). New Delhi: New: Manohar
Publications.
Xaxa, V (1999) Transformation of tribes in India: Terms of discourse. Economic and
Political Weekly, 34(24), 1519-1524.
Xaxa, V (2014) Report of the High level committee on Socio-Economic, Health and
Educational Status of Tribal Communities of India. New Delhi: Ministry of Tribal Affairs,
GoI.

4.6 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1) A group of people who live as a society based on kinship; social stratification is
absent and they function with their own political, linguistic, and vaguely defined
cultural boundaries viewed from the historical perspective; can be defined as tribes
in India. Refer to section 4.1
2) With the fourfold approach, anthropology attempts to offer a comprehensive
understanding of the tribes, their problems, or their cultural transition and
transformation in the era of modernisation and globalisation. Refer to section 4.2.4
3) Refer to section 4.3
A.R. Radcliffe-Brown- The Andaman Islander (1922)
WHR Rivers— The Todas (1906)
Christoph Von Furer-Haimendorf— The Chenchus: Jungle folk of Deccan (1943)
Sarat Chandra Roy— Munda and their country (1912)
Verrier Elwin— The Agaria (1942) 61