TRIBE, DEFINITION AND

CLASSIFICATION
 Population of India as per
Census of India 2011
(as on 00.00 hours of March 1, 2011)

 Total Population: 1,210,569,573

 ScheduledTribe Population:
104,281,034 (8.61%) of the TP

 ScheduledCaste Population:
201,378,086 (16.63%) of the TP
 India accommodates 104 millions (104,281,034)
of Scheduled Tribes, which form 8.61 per cent
of the total country’s population. In total there are
698 Scheduled Tribes spread all over the country
barring the States and Union Territories namely
Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Pondicherry and
Punjab.

 Quite frequently we refer to how they live, how they

regulate their social life, and also how they try to
beautify their life in a hundred different ways.

 Despite ecological and cultural isolation, almost all

tribal groups make the most effective use of their
natural resources in compliance with their
technological know how and social resources.
 Nearly all the tribal people of India have
been in almost continuous contact with
their neighbours of varied ethnic origin,
who live by farming or eke out their
living by some other means. This
probably developed situations of both
hostility and friendliness, which
eventually brought about great changes
in the character and composition of
Indian civilization.
 Social scientists in general and
anthropologists in particular who have worked
among these people attest that they also differ
from others in their social systems. This justifies
that they form socially distinct communities in
contrast to their neighbours.

After the independence of the country the

Government of India while dealing with these
communities who have been designated as tribes,
listed them in a Schedule for special privileges, so
that they can come within the ambit of the
mainstream of the society that constitute political,
economic and social life of India.
 Indologists claim that possibly Kautilya’s Artha
Shastra is the first monumental work which refers to
tribals as a category of people who knew each and
every part of the area they lived in and whose
services could be sought for local tasks including
spying.

In the epic Mahabharata we also get the

reference of Ekalavya, the Bhil archer.

Historians also claim that Emperor Asoka was

the first one to initiate the process of tribal
development might be under a different
nomenclature, by creating the post of Anta
Mahamatya, the minister to look after the
downtrodden.
But nothing is known about the steps taken in this
regard. Since then no mention of tribals in general and
the indigenous population of this landmass in particular
appeared anywhere till the British arrived on the scene
and the credit of conceptualizing the phenomenon of
tribal development goes to them. But it was not a
gesture of mercy towards the sons of the soil. Rather
they were kept isolated from the mainstream of the
society making them much away from the national
movement of freedom struggle; or by a different
process they were proselytized to the religion of
Christianity furthering the process of identifying them
more with the Crown and its interests in the country.
Until 1920’s the forerunners of the national freedom
struggle kept these indigenous population away from
manifesting their plight.
 During the colonial period particularly
in the 19th century whatever is known
about the tribal population of India, it is
known from the references mentioned
in the census records, Gazetteers,
reports of the colonial administrators
and ethnographers.
 However, there was no clear cut
distinction between a caste and a tribe
until the census of 1901.
 There was also no definite definition of

tribe in their writings.

With the achievement of the national
independence in 1947 and moreover
with the acceptance of the
Constitution of India in 1950, Articles
38 and 46 were incorporated for the
weaker sections of the society not only
as a mode of protection against
exploitation but also to help them in
economic development.
 Traditionally colonial ethnographers and
anthropologists have quite frequently considered the
tribals of India to be evolutionary preliminaries who
are detached from the mainstream of the society and
development of civilization.
In anthropological literature a tribe is
characterized with the feature of being an isolated
ethnic group with common language, territory,
social customs, economy, political organization,
belief in supernaturalism and so on.
In India tribals comprise those groups of people
who by virtue of the declaration by the President of India
are notified as Scheduled Tribes. Similarly, there is no
common consensus for defining the term development,
which however, may be delineated as ‘change in
desired direction within a stipulated time’.
The Imperial Gazetteer of India(1909:308)
A Tribe, as we find in India, is a collection of families, or
groups of families, bearing a common name which, as a
rule, does not denote any specific occupation; generally
claiming common descent from a mythical or historical
ancestor and occasionally from an animal, but in some
parts of the country held together rather by the
obligation of blood-feud than by the tradition of kinship;
usually speaking the same language; and, occupying or
claiming to occupy, a definite tract of country. A tribe is
not necessarily endogamous, i.e. it is not an invariable
rule that a man of a particular tribe must marry a woman
of that tribe.
 The Constitution of India under Article
366 (25) refers to Scheduled Tribes as
communities who are scheduled as per the
Article 342 of the Constitution.

The Lokur Committee identified a

community to be scheduled on the basis of
the following characteristics.
1. Primitive traits.
2. Distinctive culture, shyness of contact
with public at large.
3. Geographical isolation.
4. Backwardness – social and economic.
The term Scheduled Tribe appeared for the first
time in the Constitution of India under Article 366
(25) which defines scheduled tribes as ‘such tribes or
tribal communities or parts of or groups within such
tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under
Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purpose
of this Constitution’. Empowered by Clause 1 of
Article 342, the President may, with respect to any
State or Union Territory, and where it is a state, after
consultation with the Governor, notifies tribes or tribal
communities or parts of these as Scheduled Tribes.
Clause 2 of the Article empowers the Parliament to
pass a law to include or exclude from the list of
Scheduled Tribes, any tribe or tribal community or
parts of these.
About eight decades ago eminent anthropologist Biraja Shankar Guha
identified six major racial elements in the population of India, namely
the Negrito, Proto-Australoid, Mongoloid, Mediterranean,
Western Brachycephals and the Nordic. The first three, i.e., the
Negrito, Proto-Australoid, and the Mongoloid are the older
inhabitants of this country. Today the Negrito racial element is
confined to small pockets represented by the Kadar, Irula and the
Paniyan in Kerala, and the Onge, Jarawa, Great Andamanese and
the Sentinelese in the Andaman Islands. The Proto-Australoid racial
element is much pronounced in central India and parts of eastern India.
Tribal groups in the Himalayan region and the north east belong to
Mongoloid racial stock comprising both Paleo-Mongoloid and
Tibeto-Mongoloid branches. The later arrivals into India were the
Mediterraneans represented by the Dravidian languages and
cultures; the Western Brachycephals sub-divided into the Alpinoid,
Dinaric and the Armenoid groups; and lastly the Nordics, who are
also referred to as Indo-Aryans. The Alpinoid and Dinaric
characteristics are seen among communities living in northern and
western India. The Parsis belong to Armenoid stock. Probably the
profound impact on Indian culture and society was laid by the Nordics,
otherwise called the Indo-Aryans.
 Classification of Tribes in India

Today the Scheduled Tribes of India

are classified into different groups
on the basis of geographical
location, language, race and levels
of their socio-economic
development.
Classification of Tribes on the Basis of Geographical
Location:

The tribal population in India is widely dispersed. Hence, there

is concern among scholars to arrange the tribes along regions.
There is no single, definite and acceptable way of classifying
the regions inhabited by the tribes. The more commonly used
classifications are:
Eminent anthropologist L. P. Vidyarthi classified it as the
Himalayan region, middle India, Western India, South India and
Islands.
K. S. Singh, an administrator turned anthropologist,
classified it as North Eastern India, Middle India, Southern India,
North Western Himalayas, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
However, the administrative boundaries do not
necessarily coincide with the demarcation of traditional
habitats of the tribal people living in different ecological zones.
 Territorially, one can say that the tribes in
India are divided into three main zones, namely
(1) North and North Eastern Zone, (2) Central
Zone and (3) Southern Zone.

1. North and North Eastern Zone:

Eastern Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Northern
Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland, Assam, etc. constitute
this zone. The Aka, the Mishmi, the Chulikata and
the Naga are some of the tribes of this zone.
2. Central Zone:

Bihar, Bengal, Southern U.P., southern

Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa
come under this zone. The Kondh, the
Santhal, the Bhil, the Gond, the Muria and
the Baiga are only a few of the large
number of tribes of this zone. The bulk of
the tribal population lives in this zone.
There is a very high concentration of tribal
population in central India. Over 85 per
cent of the total tribal population inhabit
the eight States that constitute this zone.
3. Southern Zone:

The Southern zone is consisted of five southern

States namely Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Tamil
Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. The Toda, the
Chenchu, the Kadar and the Koraga are some of
the important tribes of this zone.

Besides these main zones, there is another

isolated zone constituting the Andaman and
Nicobar Island in the Bay of Bengal. The Onge,
Jarawa, Great Andamanese, Sentinelese,
Shompen and the Nicobarese are the six tribes
of this zone.
The Three fold classification on the basis of
geographical distribution was further modified
into six zones, which are as follows.
 1. North Eastern Zone comprising the states of
Tripura, Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Sikkim,
Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. The
important tribes here are the Garo, Khasi, Mikir, Kuki,
Abor, Naga, Mishmi and others.
 2. Central Zone comprising the areas of Madhya
Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha and
parts of Bengal. The important tribes are Ho, Oraon,
Munda, Kondh, Baiga, Gond, Santhal and others.
 3. Himalayan Zone comprising the areas of Kashmir,
Northern Bengal, some parts of Uttaranchal and
Himachal Pradesh. The important tribes are Lepcha,
Bhotia, Garo, Lohar, Gujjar and others.
 4. Western Zone comprising the areas of Goa,
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Dadra & Nagar
Haveli. The important tribes are Bhil, Mina, Korku,
Pardhi and so on.

 5. Southern Zone comprising the states of

Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and
Telengana. The important tribes are Raj Gond, Toda,
Kota, Kadar, Chenchu, Kurumba and so on.

 6. Isolated Zone comprising the Andaman & Nicobar

Archipelago and Lakshadweep. In the A & N Islands
there are four Negrito tribes namely the Onge, Jarawa,
Sentinelese and the Great Andamanese all having a
marginal population. The Nicobarese and the
Shompen are of Mongoloid origin who inhabit the
Nicobar group of islands.
Classification on the Basis of
Language:

Conventionally there are three tribal

linguistic groups closely corresponding to
three main territorial zones. The tribes of
each zone speak languages and dialects
belonging to three speech families. These
are:
(I) the Sino-Tibetan
(II) the Austric
(III)the Dravidian.
1. The Sino-Tibetan:

Almost all tribes of the North and North

Eastern Zone speak languages and
dialects which belong to Sino-Tibetan
speech family. The Khasi and Pnar (Jaintia)
of Meghalaya are, however, an exception.
They speak a language which belong to
the Austric speech family.
2. Austric Linguistic Group:

Most of the languages and dialects

spoken by the tribals of Central Zone
belong to the Austric speech family.
However, some important tribes of this
region like the Kondh and Gond speak
languages belonging to the Dravidian
speech family.
3. The Dravidian Linguistic Group:

The tribal population of the Southern

Zone speak Dravidian languages like
Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam in one
form or other that may be called
dialects/languages of Dravidian origin.
The Linguistic classification was further
elaborated into four categories with the
incorporation of ideas from linguists.
1. Austro-Asiatic Family:

a. Mon Khmer Branch: Khasi and Pnar

of Meghalaya, and the Nicobari.

b. Munda Branch: Santhali, Ho, Mundari.

The speakers are Asur, Kora, Bhumij, Ho,
Munda, Savar, Santhal and others.
 2. Tibeto Chinese Family:
a. Siamese Chinese Sub Family: Khampti.
b. Tibeto-Himalayan Sub Family: Bhotia.
c. Western Group of Pronominalized Himalayan
Group: Chamba, Lahauli, Kinnauri.
d. Non Pronominalized Himalayan Group: Lepcha,
Toto.
e. Arunachal Branch: Aka, Abor, Miri, Dafla, Mishmi.
f. Assam-Burmese Branch:
(i) Bodo Group: Kachari (both Plain & Hill), Dimasa, Garo,
Mech, Rabha, Mag.
(ii) Naga Group:
1. Naga Sub Group: Angami, Ao, Sema, Rengma.
2. Naga-Bodo Sub Group: Kabui.
3. Kochin Sub Group: Singpho.
4.Kuki-Chin Sub Group: Thado, Ralte, Lushei,
Manipuri.
3. Dravidian Family:

This linguistic family includes tribes of south

India and central India. The important tribes
are Gond, Badaga, Toda, Kota, Kondh,
Korwa, Irula, Oraon, Mal Paharia and others.

4. Indo-European Family:

The speakers inhabit different regions of

India. The important tribes are Hajong, Bhil,
Lohar, Birjia, Bedia and so on.
Classification on the Basis of Race:

On the basis of the physical features the

racial classification of tribes of India was done
by J. H. Hutton and B. S. Guha in the pre-
independence period. Later D. N. Majumdar
and S. S. Sarkar also attested their views.
They broadly classified the tribes of India into
three racial groups, namely:

(1) The Mongoloid

(2) The Proto-Australoid
(3) The Negrito.
1. The Mongoloid:
The North and North Eastern tribes living in the
Himalayan regions belong to the Mongoloid race.
They have brachycephalic head with flat face and
epicanthic eye fold.

2. The Proto-Australoid:
The tribes of central India are mainly Proto-
Australoid in their racial ancestry. They have dark
skin, sunken nose, lower forehead.

3. The Negrito:
A few tribes like the Kadar of the south and the
Andamanese of the Andaman Islands belong to this
race. They have frizzly hair, small stature and dark
skin colour.
On the basis of technological achievements into
consideration, eminent anthropologist D. N. Majumdar
made an economic classification of Indian tribes.

1. Tribes hunting in forests: The main tribes engaged in hunting

in India are Chenchu of Andhra Pradesh; Kadar, Paniyan and
Kurumba of Kerala; and Onge, Jarawa, Sentinelese of Andaman
Islands; Raji of Uttar Pradesh; Hill Garo of Meghalaya; Birhor,
Korwa, Hill Kharia of Chotanagpur; and Juang of Odisha.

2. Tribes engaged in hilly cultivation (Shifting Cultivation or

Jhum): Most of the tribes living in the hilly areas of Assam,
Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and
Tripura are dependent on shifting cultivation (Jhum). The Juang of
Odisha; Asur and Baiga of eastern and central India; the Riang,
Tripuri, Jamatia and Halam of Tripura are also engaged in this type
of cultivation..
3. Tribes engaged in cultivation in plain areas:
Bodo and Miri of Assam; Gond of Chhattisgarh;
Santhal, Munda and Oraon of Jharkhand.

4. Simple artisan tribes:

Asur and Birjia of Jharkhand and Agaria of Madhya
Pradesh are traditional iron smelters; Kolam of
Maharashtra are traditional mat-weavers; and the
Irula of Tamil Nadu make beautiful mats and baskets
on bamboo.

5. Pastoral tribes:
Bakarwal, Gaddi (Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal
Pradesh); Maldhan (Gujarat); Toda (Nilgiri Mountains
in Tamil Nadu); Nagesia of Madhya Pradesh are some
of the tribes who rear cattle like cow, buffalo, sheep,
goat and other domesticated animals for reaping
economic benefits.
6. Tribes living as folk artists:
There are some tribes who earn their livelihood by
performing dances, acrobatics, snake charming, etc., and
hence they are termed as ‘folk-artists’. The Nat and Sapera
of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are good examples of
this category. The Mundupptu of Odisha are expert acrobats;
the Kota of Tamil Nadu are snake charmers.

7. Agricultural and non-agricultural labour oriented

tribes:
Among the tribes engaged in agriculture labourer are those
who are tradi­tionally agriculturists, but due to their
landlessness they work as agricultural labourer on others
land. Non-agricultural tribal labour force include those tribals
who are working in local factories and mines of Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, West
Bengal and other places and tea plantation in Assam and
West Bengal.
8. Tribes engaged in service and trade:

Comparatively, a marginal percentage of the

tribal population is engaged in government and
semi-government jobs. Tribes in this category
include the Mina of Rajasthan; Khasi, Garo and
Pnar of Meghalya; Mizo of Mizoram; Riang,
Jamatia and Tripuri of Tripura; and Naga of
Nagaland and Manipur.
Four divisions as per the Indian Conference of Social Work

The Tribal Welfare Committee constituted by the Indian Conference of

Social Work was of the view that the tribes in India can be divided
into four main divisions for planning the welfare programmes:

(i) Tribals who confine themselves to original habitats and are still
distinctive in their pattern of life. These may be termed as ‘tribal
communities’.

(ii) Tribals who have more or less settled down in rural areas taking
to agriculture and other allied occupations. This category of people
may be recognized as ‘semi-tribal’ communities.

(iii) Tribals who have migrated to urban or semi-urban areas and are
engaged in 'civilized' occupations in industries and other vocations
and who have discriminatingly adopted the traits and culture of the
rest of the population. These may be classed as ‘acculturated’ tribals.

(iv) Totally ‘assimilated’ tribals.

 Major Tribes of India
1. Bhil (M.P., Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat).
2. Gond (M.P., Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh,
Gujarat, Odisha).
3. Santhal (Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal).
4. Oraon (Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal,
M.P.).
5. Mina (Rajasthan, M. P.).
6. Munda (Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal,
M.P.).
7. Khond (Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal,
M.P., Maharashtra).
8. Ho (Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal).
9. Naga (Nagaland, Manipur).
 Minor Tribes of India
1. Shompen (Nicobar Island).

2. Jarawa (Andaman Island).

3. Onge (Andaman Island).

4. Sentinelese (Andaman Island).

5. Great Andamanese (Andaman Island).

6. Toto (West Bengal).

Thank You All