lOMoARcPSD|21205078

Tribes in India

Sociology of India. (University of Jammu)

Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university

Downloaded by ALEEM (indore290@gmail.com)
 lOMoARcPSD|21205078

1. Details of Module and its Structure

Module Detail

Subject Name Sociology

Paper Name Sociology of India

Module Name/Title Tribes in India

Pre-requisites Concepts of identity, inclusion and exclusion, protective

discrimination, debates on mainland
Objectives The module seeks to analyze the tribal situation in India throwing
light on their existence from the since the colonial era, evolution of
their epistemology, tribal reservations, analyzing the politics
involved in all these processes.
Keywords Identity, Protective Discrimination, Exclusion, Mainland,
Sankritization, Hinduization, Tribal Movements.

Structure of Module / Syllabus of a module (Define Topic / Sub-topic of module)

Tribes in India: From Introduction, Epistemology, The term, Overview, Empirical

the Colonial era to the Facts, STs and the Politics of Inclusion, Sanskritization and
Twenty-first century- Hinduization, Issue of Gender, Tribal Movements, North East:
An analysis Issues of exclusion and inclusion, Religion amongst Tribes, the
Complexity of Tribal Identity, Summary

Downloaded by ALEEM (indore290@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|21205078

2. Development Team

Role Name Affiliation

Principal Investigator Sujata Patel Professor, Department of Sociology,

University of Hyderabad
Paper Coordinator Anurekha Chari Assistant Professor, Department of
Wagh Sociology, Savitribai Phule Pune
Univiersity
Content Writer/Author Anindita M.Phil Scholar Department of
(CW) Chakravarthy Sociology, Savitribai Phule Pune
Univiersity
Content Reviewer (CR) Anurekha Chari Assistant Professor, Department of
Wagh Sociology, Savitribai Phule Pune
Univiersity
Language Editor (LE) Erika Mascarenas

Downloaded by ALEEM (indore290@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|21205078

Tribes in India: From the Colonial era to the Twenty-first century- An analysis
(Word Count: 5858)

1. Introduction:

This module aims towards an in-depth study of the tribal situation in India through a critical
analysis of literature on tribes in a vertical time-frame from the colonial era to the twenty-first
century. The module situates the debate on identity vis-à-vis concepts of inclusion and exclusion
within the larger issues on protective discrimination, and also brings out the complexities that exist
and emanate when tribe is studied in the context of politics, state and law, religion and gender.
2. Epistemology:
Tribes came to be conceptualised residually, in terms of the contrast with the general/universal
features of Indian society than the particular features that they embodied. This is not to say that the
particular features were overlooked but they were not at the centre stage of their conceptualisation.
For people at the grassroots level, however, it was not so much the common features, viz, caste and
religion that mattered. Rather it was language and culture, now often referred to as ethnicity, which
mattered the most and was hence the most pronounced marker of distinctiveness. Tribes in the
regional context were invariably posited against the dominant regional community, which also
happened to be a distinct linguistic and cultural community. This is evident from the fact that tribals
are addressed by their ethnic/tribe names, which generally correspond with their distinct
language/dialect1. Yet, this aspect of the labelling of tribals has been overlooked in sociological
discourse on tribes. In the attempt to differentiate on the basis of general/universal features (albeit in
a limited sense), what was overlooked was the differentiation on basis of which people themselves
differentiated.
3. The term:
The term Scheduled Tribes (‘‘ST’’) describes an administrative and legal category to confer certain
constitutional privileges and protection to a group of people who are considered to be backward and
disadvantaged. The politico-administrative category of ST includes relatively isolated and backward
people. This term is of recent origin, coming into being with the birth of the republican constitution
of India on January 26, 1950. Prior to that, the colonial administration identified tribal people with a
variety of different names2, such as ‘‘Animist’’3, ‘‘Tribal Animists’’ or ‘‘people following tribal
religion’’4, ‘‘Hill and Forest Tribes’’5, ‘‘Primitive Tribes’’6, ‘‘Backward Tribes’’7 and ‘‘Tribes’’8.
There was also a debate in the Constituent Assembly on using the term ‘‘ST’’. Jaipal Singh, the
tribal representative in the Constituent Assembly, favored the use of the term ‘‘Adivasis’’ instead of
ST. But the concept of ‘‘ST’’ was unanimously accepted, and the reason given by Dr B. R.
Ambedkar, Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Indian constitution, was that the word
‘‘Adivasi’’ is really a general term which has no specific legal de jure connotation, whereas ‘‘ST’’
1
Xaxa, Virginius. "Tribes as indigenous people of India." Economic and Political Weekly (1999): 3589-3595.
2
Verma, R. C. "Tribes of India through the ages." (1990).
3
Census Report 1901.
4
Census Report 1911.
5
Census Report 1921
6
Census Report 1931
7
Government of India Act, 1935.
8
Census Report of 1941

Downloaded by ALEEM (indore290@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|21205078

has a fixed meaning because it enumerates the tribes9. The term was used mainly as a mark of
identification and differentiation, that is, to mark out a group of people different in physical
features, language, religion, custom, social organization and so on10.
4. Overview:
The scheduled tribes are also called the “Adivasis,”11 and they are often perceived as backward
people who live in remote and isolated regions and engage in primitive occupations, animism, and
nomadic habits. The tribal groups are known to be the original inhabitants of the country prior to the
coming and settlement of the Aryans in different parts of India. The Aryans considered the
indigenous people primitive and forced them to move to isolated areas in forests and mountains. In
the context of Hindu civilization, the experiences of the tribal population have been quite different
from that of the scheduled caste population. While the latter was discriminated against and placed in
the bottom rung of the social and cultural hierarchy by Hindus, the tribal population, by large, has
been socially distanced and isolated by Hindu society. Tribal people exhibit family, social, and
cultural values that are clearly different from the mainstream Hindu population in India. In general,
the Adivasis are characterized by lack of hierarchical social and cultural practices, a non-acquisitive
value system, absence of taboos in food and social practices, and a relatively high status of women
in many communities. The scheduled tribes originate from four distinctive racial backgrounds: the
Negritos, the Proto-Austroloids, Mongoloids and the Caucasoid12. They are dispersed all across the
country. Each tribe has its own religion, culture, occupations, and life style. Thus, it is important to
emphasize that the tribal people do not constitute a homogeneous community.
5. Empirical Facts:
According to the 2001 census, the ST population in India is 8.43 crore (84.3 million), which is
about 8.2% of the total population. The population of tribes had grown by 24.45% during the period
1991–2001. Except Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Pondicherry, and Chandigarh, all states and union
territories have tribal populations. They are unevenly distributed in different states in India. More
than half of the tribal people of India reside in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa,
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Gujarat. They are drawn from 701 communities with many
communities overlapping in more than one state. Their number was 212 in 1950, 314 in 1967 and
427 in 1981. The largest numbers of STs are in the state of Orissa, where there are 6213. Some of
the large tribal communities are distributed over wide regions and often profess varied occupations.
Tribal communities live in about 15% of the country’s area, in various ecological and geographical
conditions ranging from plains and forests to hills and inaccessible areas. They belong to different
racial stocks, speak languages of different families, and show considerable variations in their basic
economy. Tribal groups are at different stages of social, economic and educational development14.

9
Saksena, H. S. Safeguards for Scheduled Castes and Tribes: Founding Fathers' Views: an Exploration of the
Constituent Assembly Debates. Uppal Publishing House, 1981.
10
Ambagudia, J. (2007). Scheduled tribes, protective discrimination and social justice: Exploring constituent
assembly debates. In B. T. Lawani (Ed.), Social justice and empowerment (pp. 135–59). New Delhi: Om Publications.
11
Bhukya, Bhangya. "The Mapping of the Adivasi Social: Colonial Anthropology and Adivasis." Economic and
Political Weekly (2008): 103-109.
12
Ibid.
13
Mitra, Aparna. "The status of women among the scheduled tribes in India." The Journal of Socio-Economics 37.3
(2008): 1202-1217.
14
Ibid.

Downloaded by ALEEM (indore290@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|21205078

6. STs and Politics of Inclusion:

6.1. The evolution

The practice of discrimination and disadvantage led to the emergence of inclusion and exclusion of
certain social groups in India. The politics of inclusion is the productive link- age of the politics of
recognition and redistribution. Within this framework, the periodic inclusion and exclusion of
different groups from the ST category has emerged as one of the dominant facts of the Indian
state15. Ambagudia identifies three approaches to study tribes in India, namely, isolation,
assimilation and integration16. The British government realized that administration in far-flung
interior tribal areas would be difficult. It was further realized that isolation would protect the tribal
people against hostility and exploitation. The isolationist view of British policy reflects the
compartmentalist approach to the problem of development of tribal areas and the tribal people
prevalent amongst administration, which found it easy to conceptualize clear distinctions between
different groups within society. Since very few people were allowed to visit the isolated areas, this
policy led to extreme exploitation by non-tribal money-lenders, contractors, zamindars and
middlemen. Following in the footsteps of the colonial administration, the Indian state also practised
a modified version of the isolation policy in the early period of independence.
It is evident that the tribe is a colonial concept, defined for the first time in the census of 1901, in
contradiction to caste. The notion of tribe has evolved over the censuses, from a hill and forest tribe,
to a primitive tribe, to a backward tribe, and finally to the scheduled tribe. A tribe is a larger concept
comprising relatively isolated and backward communities. The scheduled tribes are the tribes,
scheduled under the Constitution of India, and are marked by three traits, namely, isolation,
awkwardness and cultural distinctiveness17. The inclusion of tribes into the ranks of scheduled
tribes is an ongoing process, as is evident from the successive lists of the communities notified as
the scheduled tribes.
In order to accelerate the nation-building process and maintain national independence, it was
thought that the primordial ethnic identities must be replaced by the loyalty to the ‘‘national
mainstream’’ or at least made compatible with the ‘‘national interest’’. Hence, they immediately
started with assimilation policies in order to bring the STs into the national mainstream as a part of
the nation-building process. Vidyarthi and Rai18 observed that in India, the tribal people have been
exposed to different Hindu and other communities and situations, and different degrees of cultural
contact have led to assimilation in different parts19. The tribes are not perceived by the mainstream
Hindus in the same way as the scheduled caste population. The caste system that characterizes the
Hindu culture is based on the existence of a hierarchical social class, barriers to entry in privileged
occupations, and notions of purity and dirt based on the individual’s social background. The
scheduled caste population is often considered to be impure and unclean by mainstream Hindus.
Although the scheduled caste population has been discriminated against by the Hindus, the former
has been integrated into larger society and share some common customs and traditions with the
Hindus. The Adivasis or scheduled tribes, on the other hand, are not regarded as ‘unclean’ by upper

15
Ambagudia, Jagannath. "Scheduled Tribes and the Politics of Inclusion in India." Asian Social Work and Policy
Review 5.1 (2011): 33-43.
16
Ibid
17
Singh, K. Suresh. "Tribal movements in India/edited by KS Singh." (1982).
18
Vidyarthi, Lalita Prasad, and Binay Kumar Rai. The tribal culture of India. Concept Publishing Company, 1977.
19
Ibid.

Downloaded by ALEEM (indore290@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|21205078

caste Hindus, but they are marginalized and kept socially distanced from the mainstream
population. They are also considered backward and primitive by the mainstream population. The
Indian epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata portray the Adivasis as non-humans and often refer to
them as ‘rakshas’ (demons), ‘vanaras’ (monkeys), and ‘nagas’ (serpents)20.
6.2. Protective discrimination:
In regards to protective discrimination, Virginia Xaxa points out that the groups identified as
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes suffered from certain disabilities21. The Constitution of India
hence made certain provisions for their welfare and upliftment. All the same, the provisions are far
from uniform for the two groups. Indeed, there are more provisions for the scheduled tribes than for
the scheduled castes. The Articles 15(4), 16(4), 19(5), 23, 46, 330, 332, 334, 335 and 338 are
common to the two categories and Articles 29, 164, 244, 244(A), 275(1), 339(1), 339(2) pertain
only to the scheduled tribe category. Besides, there are Articles 371(A), 371(B) and 371(C), which
are in force only in certain states of the north-eastern region either in the whole state or part of it22.
The numerical strength that the scheduled castes enjoy over the scheduled tribes gives them an
advantage over the latter in national politics. It is true that the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
do not constitute a homogeneous and cohesive social group both in the parliament and in the state
legislatures. They are fragmented along lines of political party and linguistic/regional
considerations. Though reservations have been provided for the scheduled castes and scheduled
tribes, the filling up of these seats especially in service and higher education is not routine and
mechanical, in favor of the scheduled castes. The relative positions of the scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes in availing of the benefits provided by governments are to a great extent dependent
upon two factors23. One is the relative role of the two groups with respect to their general
educational attainment, especially at the level of higher education. The other factor is their overall
performances at these levels.
7. Sanskritization and Hinduization:
‘Sanskritisation’ or ‘Hinduisation’ are terms used by scholars to describe the social and cultural
transformation experienced by tribal groups who are in close proximity to the main- stream Hindu
population. Sanskritisation24 is seen as a process where the tribes or castes who are at the bottom of
the social hierarchy imitate the practices and social customs of the Hindus so they can move up the
social and caste hierarchy within the mainstream Hindu population. Among the tribal population,
some groups such as the Bhils of western India and the Raj Gonds of central India have been
assimilated, and some are recognized as members of high social class within the traditional Hindu
society25. Thus, there are some tribes who are partially Hinduized and are in close contact with the
mainstream Hindu population.
Some scholars contend that many of the tribal groups who are in close proximity with the Hindu
population suffer from moral depression26. Their depression originates from the fact that many of

20
Ibid.
21
Xaxa, Virginius. "Protective discrimination: why scheduled tribes lag behind scheduled castes." Economic and
Political weekly (2001): 2765-2772.
22
Verma, R. C. Indian tribes through the ages. Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,
Government of India, 1990.
23
Ibid.
24
Srinivas, Mysore Narasimhachar. "A note on Sanskritization and Westernization." The Journal of Asian Studies 15.04
(1956): 481-496.
25
Ibid.
26
Ghurye, Govind Sadashiv. The scheduled tribes of India. Transaction Publishers, 1980.

Downloaded by ALEEM (indore290@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|21205078

the tribes lost their land and were displaced from their original roots. Hence, the tribal groups feel
that they have lost their identity without being accepted by the dominant culture. Some tribal groups
have resisted merging with the dominant culture and have fought to maintain their own
individualities and social cultures. It would be interesting to compare the social, economic, and
cultural trends of tribal groups who have been in close contact with the Hindus and the scheduled
caste population in their daily activities with those who are still isolated from the Hindus and form
the vast majority of population in their states. This would be the topic of a future study and would
partially address the issues related to assimilation and isolationism27.
8. Issue of Gender:
Gender equality among tribal groups is a complex phenomenon that needs to be addressed in the
context of various issues such as family structure, fertility, child mortality, literacy, sex-ratio, labor
force participation, economic worth generated within the household, religion, culture, and exposure
to the mainstream population. A few empirical studies have focused on the multi-dimensional
nature of gender inequality in India28. While the effect of patriarchy on female autonomy and
gender equality is seen as a powerful variable, social indicators such as female literacy and child
mortality also affect fertility, and indirectly affect women’s marriage age, female educational share,
and social development. Some recent studies show that many tribes, in an effort to conform to the
mainstream Hindu social customs, have been reversing earlier trends of gender equality, such as
relatively higher mean age at marriage for women, low fertility, and higher level of work
participation for women. As Gerald Berreman remarked, the process of Sanskritisation has been
“especially damaging to females because it encourages and enforces patriliny, early marriage, and
widow celibacy, dowry marriage, preferences for male children, low priority to female education
and total economic, political and social dependence of females on males”29. Many scholars contend
that there has been an increase in child marriage among some tribes who have been in contact with
the Hindu population30. “The growing contact with Hindu ideas is generally modifying the old
principles and ... the custom of marrying girls before they are mature is steadily gaining ground”31.
There has also been an increasing trend in early marriage practices among some tribes, thus
contributing to higher fertility and higher infant mortality as many of the young mothers are
susceptible to complications and infections during child-birth32. Roy contends that with
Sanskritisation, many tribes are discouraging widow remarriage and divorce among women33. The
sex-ratio pattern among the tribal population that has generally been in stark contrast with the
Hindu norm of favoring boys over girls is also changing among certain tribes who are
demonstrating increasing preferences for boys. Finally, the work-participation rate of women
among certain tribes is decreasing as many women look down upon outdoor or menial work with
contempt and show distinct preferences for white collar jobs and jobs that entail high status. The
recent revival of many Hindu practices among the tribal women is ascribed to the process of

27
Ibid.
28
Malhotra, K. C. "Inbreeding and marriage distance among three tribes of Maharashtra." Journal of the Indian
Anthropological Society 13.1 (1978).
29
Berreman, Gerald D. "17 Sanskritization as female oppression in India." Sex and gender hierarchies (1993): 366.
30
Ibid.
31
Furer-Haimendorf, C. von. "Tribes of India: The struggle for survival." O. UP, Delhi1985, Pp-198 and The Raj
Gonds of Adilabad 3 (1982): 62.
32
Chaudhuri, R. P. "Child mortality determinants among two tribes of Rajmahal Hills (Bihar)." Indian Journal of
Physical Anthropology and Human Genetics 14 (1988).
33
Kanjamala, Augustine. "Christianization as a Legitimate Alternative to Sanskritization." Missiology: An International
Review 14.1 (1986): 21-36.

Downloaded by ALEEM (indore290@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|21205078

Sanskritization and Hinduization as many tribes are conforming to the prevalent Hindu practices in
order to be accepted and assimilated in the mainstream population.
Tribal women display considerable heterogeneity in terms of their role and status within the tribal
community. The same tribe in different regions may show significant differences in their fertility
patterns, educational attainment, labor force participation, and other important variables. This may
occur due to migration patterns, different environmental and ecological circumstances that force
tribal women to change their modes of behavior and social customs. This can also occur due to the
process of Sanskritisation or Hinduisation. This study shows that in some of the northeastern
regions where the tribes constitute a majority in terms of total population, tribal women seem to fare
better in terms of literacy rate, sex-ratio, work patterns and fertility rates. The isolation of scheduled
tribes from the mainstream population for many years led to the continuation of the relatively high
status of tribal women and the absence of gender discrimination in many tribal communities. The
evidence of gender discrimination in some tribal communities today may have occurred due to the
assimilation of many tribal groups within the mainstream Hindu culture and traditions34 35. Future
studies will need to focus on specific regions and tribes in order to find any meaningful pattern in
the so called process of assimilation with or isolation from mainstream Hindu traditions.

9. Tribal Movements:
The tribal movement is a collective action of a tribal society which is integrated through kinship and
ethnicity and is disintegrated through these characteristics from the non-tribal society. As such, a
tribal movement represents a tribal society, its values, structure, and its linkages within and outside.
There have been no organized movements of tribals in the very long pre-colonial period, though
there are references to ‘episodes’ involving conflict, the reason for these being abundance of
resources such as forest and land a tribal could always fall back upon if he had to move out of his
habitat. The tribal uprisings and movements are essentially a colonial phenomenon36. The colonial
regime opened up tribal regions, exploitation, law and order, initiated the policy of intensive
exploitation of tribal resources including forest and land, introduced cash based market, economy
and brought in moneylenders, traders, peasants, government functionaries, and other people who
joined in the exploitation of tribal’s resources. These processes have been at work and the
exploitation of tribal’s resources has multiplied manifold in the post-colonial period.
The post-colonial tribal movements have been generally divided into the movements for autonomy
of varying degrees, movement for social reform, and cultural safeguard, and movements based on
languages and scripts. In recent years, with the rise of the international movement of indigenous
people in the post-modernist phase, the focus has shifted to self-determination for self-management
of the resources, identity, and ethnicity. The environmental movement has focused on communities
in situ, their relationship to resources, their rapport with nature and their world view. Therefore,
with growing concern for the environment, particularly bio-diversity, pluralism, ethnicity, and
identity, tribal movements are assuming a new character. They are all now becoming more and
more identity based movements, with various issues concerning control over resources, and so on
being considered as ramifications of this central issue37. Share in power structure, control over

34
Thamizoli, P. "Gender inequality, tribal and caste women, past and present: A case study of the Nilgiris, Tamil
Nadu." Man in India 77.1 (1997): 51-62.
35
Maharatna, Arup. Demographic perspectives on India's tribes. Oxford University Press, USA, 2005.
36
Ibid.
37
Ibid.

Downloaded by ALEEM (indore290@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|21205078

resources, and self-management are the key elements in the tribal movements today. Therefore,
there is a growing demand for self-rule, for autonomy, for extensions of the Sixth Schedule to
middle India. There had been a long and well articulated demand for the separate state of
Jharkhand. However, the ‘traditional’ types of movements have not entirely diminished, but some
are alive and vibrant.
Thus, the issues around which the tribals organize may be related to the following factors, namely,
identity and preservation of cultural distinctiveness; autonomy and self-rule; self-engagement of
resources, their conservation and resistance to displacement; and gender question.
10. North East: Issues of exclusion and inclusion
As Dr. Sanjib Baruah points out that there is a disturbing relationship between conflicts over
homeland that may often turn violent and that of displacement. These conflicts are not only between
tribals, but also between non-tribals38. The discourse of homelands creates in every territorial entity-
existing and potential- groups that belong and those who do not. The agenda of these conflicts
comprise the desire to protect an existing homeland against the homeland claims of a rival group,
the project of a new homeland or the fear that one ethnically defined group’s homeland or a part of
it can be claimed by another. The aspirations for homeland are expressed in the Sixth Schedule’s
language of Autonomous Districts and in the newer language of statehood since the cosmetically
federal regional order came into being. Bringing an ethnically defined group scattered in many
states into a homeland, maintaining territorial integrity of a homeland that exists, creating a new
homeland for a group that does not yet have one are all part of this political discourse.
Ethnicity is an important factor that influences the complex social and political relations in north-
eastern India. However, the various struggles for self-determination and events like the
unprecedented protests against the extension of the Indo-Naga ceasefire in Manipur and Assam,
seem to lend credibility to politically expedient notions that dismiss ethnicity as reactionary, inward
looking and ultimately destructive element in democratic politics. Ethnicity is seen as the last
bastion for veiled parochialism and insular chauvinism39. For instance, one has seen the debate over
the issue of a 'greater homeland' for the Naga peoples coincide with the competing legitimacy of
other ethnic groups in the region that lay claims to the ‘territorial integrity’ of their respective
homelands. The long-pending deliberations on how ethnic relations between communities develop
the language and politics of ‘exclusion’ are overdue. At the core of this development or
transformation of ethnic relations lies the fact that certain basic questions, relating to socio-political
rights of the indigenous peoples, have not been resolved in the north-east. With the transformation
of ethnic relations and development of further conflicts, it has been easier to defer the fundamental
contradictions that have come about as a result of the existing policies of the state in dealing with
ethnic groups, in the seven states in the region of one (ethnic) group against others in the district.
Instead, by focusing on the internal and external changes one hopes to arrive at the manner in which
certain processes have affected social relations within the larger Dimasa community and by
extension, between the Dimasa and other ethnic groups in the region. More importantly, one hopes
to apportion responsibility where it is due. Official and administrative policies need not be the only
factor that generates impoverishment and ethnic conflict. Subjective factors, such as years of

38
Baruah, Sanjib. "Citizens and denizens: Ethnicity, homelands, and the crisis of displacement in Northeast
India." Journal of Refugee Studies 16.1 (2003): 44-66.
39
Ibid.

Downloaded by ALEEM (indore290@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|21205078

communal distrust or contested histories may also add to this conflict40. Yet, it is at the level of
administrative and official policy that one finds a greater lack of debate and accountability.
Throwing light on tribal movements in the north-east, K. S. Singh suggests that the tribals are in an
overwhelming majority, and that the tribal system, both social and economic is relatively secure.
Tribal movements in this area have been essentially political and secular in nature41. Tribal
movements in this area are entirely different from those elsewhere in the country and stand in a
category by themselves because of its unique geopolitical situation and historical background. The
region was also not completely integrated within the politico-economic system of colonialism, it
remained relatively isolated from the cultural systems of the mainland and the political upheavals of
the freedom struggle. The entire system of non-regulation administration had its origin in the
experiences of the tribal uprising of 1820s in the Arakan hills. Considering the geopolitical factor,
the relative isolation from the political system and cultural influences from the mainland, the
dominant form of movement has been political, seeking goals ranging from autonomy to
independence and relying on means ranging from constitutional agitation to armed insurgency.
Even the cultural movements in this region are only a dimension of these political processes.
11. Religion amongst tribes:
Religion constitutes an important parameter for studying tribes in the Indian context. To the
colonial administrators cum ethnographers, tribes came to be constituted as peoples who practised
animism or tribal religion. In such conceptualising, the colonial administrators placed tribes as those
outside of the historical and textual religions and their social organizations42. The colonial tradition
classified tribes as animists, a pointer that they belonged to a religious tradition other than that of
the major religions of India43. The advocates of Hindutva, however, conveniently overlook this fact
and categorize them as Hindus.
Chaube argued that Christianity had played a progressive and, in fact, integrative role in north-east
India within the framework of regional autonomy44. Since ancient times Indian tribes have been
assimilated into the Hindu society and caste system according to their political and economic
strengths. The religious bintegration involved, on the part of the tribes, the adoption of brahminical
rituals and gods and, on the part of the host society, the lending of brahminical services45. Beyond
the north-west frontier Islam did not penetrate the tribal societies in India. Only Lakshadweep came
under the influence of Islam through contact with the Arab traders.
Contrary to general impression, the advent of Christianity into the tribal territories of India was late.
The East India Company did not encourage missionary activities in British India. It was only after
the passing of the Charter Act of 1813 that they were forced to allow Christian missions in their
territories. Initially, the Christian missions attempted proselytisation of ‘gentlemen’ and not the
‘lower class people’46. They did not enter any tribal territory before the administration. Their
activities picked up only towards the end of the 19th century. The financial support of the
government was directed, officially at least, towards the missions' educational and welfarist

40
Barbora, Sanjay. "Ethnic Politics and Land Use: Genesis of Conflicts in India's North-East." Economic and Political
Weekly (2002): 1285-1292.
41
Ibid.
42
Chaube, S. K. "The scheduled tribes and Christianity in India." Economic and Political Weekly (1999): 524-526.
43
Ibid.
44
Ibid.
44
Ibid.
45
Bose, Nirmalkumar(1949):H induS aunajerGadan (in Behgali),L ok SikshaGranthamala, Vishwa Bharati.
46
Ibid.

Downloaded by ALEEM (indore290@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|21205078

activities only. Some government officers detested the missionaries for creating a class of literati
that challenged the traditional tribal leadership and disturbed social harmony47. Even in 1951 only
two districts of India had Christian majority - the Lushai (Mizo) and the Naga districts in Assam.
While ‘Hindu’ is a society within which different religions (faiths and modes of worship) operate,
Islam or Christianity is a religion within which different social structures operate. 'Hindwi' (Hindu)
is a geographical term first used by India's western neighbours and carried into the early western
writings about India. Indologists like Max Muller saw it as a social order defined by the ‘varna’
system which upheld brahminical hegemony and within which 'jatis' (castes) had different slots
permitting what Bose called "the Hindu method of tribal absorption”48. The British census officials
ignored the view, adopted caste as peculiar to Hindu religion49 and decided to record them as tribals
groups, which had not been castised.
A pronounced spirit of secularism characterizes most of the post-colonial tribal movements,
centered on the issues of ethnicity, identity, self-engagement of resources, of languages and scripts.
A careful scrutiny of the existing literature on tribal movements imply an endeavour to define one’s
identity in relation to ‘others’, and to explore the mythical, folkloric, historical, cultural linkages
with other communities and with regional and pan-Indian traditions. The Bodos, for instance,
describe themselves as ‘Mahabharat people’50.
11.1. Challenges:
The categorisation of tribes as Hindus leads to difficulties both conceptual and empirical. To begin
with, whether tribes are to be treated as Hindus or not is a debatable question. There are both
similarities and differences in the religious practices of the Hindus and tribes51.
Secondly, if tribes are to be regarded as Hindus then the whole historical process depicted by the
historians to understand Indian civilisation is open to contest and even rejection. The same would be
the case with the conceptual apparatus of Hinduisation, acculturation, assimilation and absorption
that has been developed and used to understand the dynamics of Indian society52.
In the days of competitive religious politics inaugurated in the 1920s, enrolling the tribals into any
of the major religious denominations, namely, Christian and Hindu, available to the tribals, became
a political task of the census staff resulting in a steady decline in the number of the followers of
‘other religions and persuasions’53 (i e, other than Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain and Muslim).
12. The complexity of Tribal Identity:
The dominant line of thinking in social science inquiries recognizes difference as the hallmark of a
distinct tribal identity. However, the interaction with non-tribes poses the problem of coming to
terms with difference. The interaction eventually leads to their absorption into the larger society.
Identity politics among tribes have generally been described as the politics of tribal identity, but
such a description is a misnomer54. Apparently there is a rupture between the way tribal social
consciousness is represented by the tribal people themselves and the way it is represented by

47
McCall. Major A G (1949): Lushat Chrysalis, Luzac and Company, London
48
Ibid.
49
Dumont. Louis (1972): Homo Hierarchicus, Granada Publishing, London.
50
Singh, Kumar Suresh. The scheduled tribes. Vol. 3. Oxford University Press, USA, 1994.
51
Xaxa, Virginius. "Politics of language, religion and identity: Tribes in India."Economic and Political Weekly (2005):
1363-1370.
52
Ibid.
53
Ibid.
54
Xaxa, Virginius. "Transformation of Tribes in India: Terms of Discourse."Economic and Political Weekly (1999):
1519-1524.

Downloaded by ALEEM (indore290@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|21205078

scholars, administrators and others. The latter invariably describe tribal identity as the means of
describing these people. However such articulation/expression of identity is not co-terminus with
the consciousness of the tribals. Tribals often have no idea of the category of scheduled tribes, or its
Hindi or regional-language counterparts, such articulation are a part of legal and administrative
practices. The articulation of a tribal identity also related primarily to the state and its resources or
the benefits that it may make available55. Hence, it emerges more in the context of tribal peoples'
relations with the state, facilities of reservation and other form of affirmative action. In the domain
of social and cultural life this does not enter as part of the consciousness. Hence tribal
consciousness is more a middle class consciousness than the consciousness of tribals at large.
12.1 Tribal other
The correspondence between a negative ethnic identity and a marginalised social status is crucial
for any interventionist strategy that seeks to empower people to break out of the poverty trap. For
tribals this implies integration in the larger society, but not necessarily with a loss of their
distinctiveness.
The implementation of the government policies has not been adequate mainly because of the
following reasons:
Firstly, the very model of development adopted, i.e, a top-down one that perpetuates unequal
exchange relations between social groups and geographic areas, and marginalizes the poor and the
powerless56. The development debate in the last decade has resulted in an effective critique of this
model, though planners and politicians are slow to abandon it because of their own vested interests
perhaps. For the tribals the top-down interventions have been disastrous.
Secondly, Tribals have long been at a severe disadvantage when the outside world has intruded into
their society, whether this was the colonial government or the national state57. In many ways the
clash of cultures that the development process introduces often leaves them worse off than before.
Stephen Fuchs distinguishes various responses of the tribals to their critical situation in
contemporary India58. The one of rejection and regress into isolation will only leave them
‘practically condemned to total extinction’59. Only a few, if any, of the nomadic forest tribes would
opt for this. By far the largest proportion of them is ‘ready to change their tribal ways of life and to
go along with the national mainstream’60. But they would not want to lose their tribal identity. What
they do seem to want is integration, and not assimilation. But there are also tribals who look ‘for
another alternative, in the hope of saving their tribal identity and independence’61. These are
generally from among the larger, more geographically concentrated tribes. Some of these
movements have even sought to secede from the Indian union, as in the north-east, others have
fought to express their solidarity in a tribal state within it, as the Jharkhand in Chhotanagpur.

55
Ibid.
56
Ibid.
57
Ibid.
58
Fuchs, Stephen (1992): 'The Religion of Indian Tribals' in Buddhadeb Chaudhuri (ed), Tribal Development in India,
op cit, Vol V, pp 23-51.
59
Ibid.
60
Ibid.
61
Ibid.

Downloaded by ALEEM (indore290@gmail.com)

 lOMoARcPSD|21205078

13. Summary:

Despite being segregated, discriminated and oppressed, the scheduled castes are invariably
considered as being a part of the Hindu society. And since the Hindu society can be effectively
understood at the regional level, the scheduled castes too are in effect an integral part of the regional
community. This regional community is also at the same time a linguistic community62. Hence,
though divided on the basis of castes, the scheduled castes share language, culture, and tradition,
etc, of the linguistic community. They constitute a part of the dominant nationality of the region. It
is not so with tribes and that turns out to be one of the most serious handicaps before tribes63. In
fact, an average Indian is unable to figure where the tribes fall. Tribes are therefore invariably seen
as outsiders, ones who not only do not speak their language but also do not share their customs,
tradition and values

62
Ibid
63
Ibid.

Downloaded by ALEEM (indore290@gmail.com)