Tribal Society

Meaning, Features, Classification, Issues and Changes

Meaning of Tribe

The word tribe is derived of the Latin word tribuz meaning ‘one third’ . Tribe can be defined as a social group, which occupies a definite area and is primitive in nature characterised by cultural homogeneity and a unifying social organisation. The identity and culture of tribes are closely liked to the natural resources and the environment in which they live.

Different names for Tribals

• G.S. Ghurye termed the tribals as ‘ Backward Hindus’.
• M.K. Gandhi popularised the word Girijan.

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• J.H. Hutton preferred to call tribals Primitive Tribals .
• The Constitution of India has accepted the term Scheduled Tribes.

Features

• Common Territory: Tribals reside in a definite area. They don’t like the interference of outsiders. For example- The Nagas reside in Nagaland.
• Collection of Families: The families of tribal societies vary in sizes. The families can be both matriarchal and patriarchal.
• Common Name: Every tribal society is identified by their different names. For example- The Gonds, The Santhals etc.
• Common Language: Different tribal groups speak different languages or dialect. For example- The Santhals speak Santhali.

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• Common Religion: The tribes follow a common nature. They worship spirits, nature etc. Some also follows fetishism, animism and toteism.
• Chieftainship: Each tribe has a leader who is elected on the basis of physical strength or experience or age . He enjoys absolute authority. The final decision resides in his hands.
• Homogeneous Societies: Each tribe has a common name, language, dialect ,religion, territory etc.

• Man-land Relationship: Tribals are dependent on Natural resources. Their survival depends on the environment’s natural resources.
• Endogamous groups: Tribals marry in between their groups or sub-groups to maintain the purity of their blood, culture etc.
• Division of Labour: The Division of Labour is so simple, it is based on age and sex not on skills.
• Common Culture: Tribals follow a common culture, same way of thinking, feeling, reacting etc.

• Subsistence Economy: Tribals depend on hunting, gathering, fishing etc. It also includes barter system.
• Feeling of Unity: The common language , name , dialect , territory etc. Gives them a community feeling and help them to identify themselves with their groups.

Classification

Racial Classification

The Indo-Aryan

This type is the most close to the traditional Aryans who colonized India. The people are tall statured with fair complexion, dark eyes, and plentiful hair on face and body. They also possess predominant longhead (dolichocephalic), narrow and long (leptorrhine) nose. The type is confined to Punjab, Rajasthan and Kashmir where the members are known as the Kashmiri Brahmins, Rajputs, Jats and the Khatris.

The Dravidian

The stature of these people is short or below medium. The complexion is dark, approaching to black. The hair is similarly dark and plentiful with an occasional tendency to curl. The eye color is also dark. The head is long and the nose is very broad, sometimes depressed at the root. The people of Dravidian type are distributed in the region from Ceylon to the valley of the Ganges covering the southern part of India, which especially includes the Western Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad), Central India and Chottanagpur. The best example of this type is the Paniyans of Malabar (South India) and the Santhals of the Chottanagpur. Risley believed these people as original inhabitants of India who are found to be modified at present by the infiltration of the Aryans, the Scythians and the Mongoloids.

The Mongoloid

The most important characteristic features of this type are broad-head, dark complexion with yellowish eyes and scanty hair on face and body. The stature is usually short or below medium. The nose shows a wide range of variation, from fine to broad. The face is typically flat where the eyes are oblique with epicanthic fold. The people of this type are found along the Himalayan region, especially in the regions namely North East Frontier, Nepal and Burma. The best examples are the Kanets of Lahul and Kulu Valleys, Lepchas of Darjeeling and Sikkim, the Limbus, the Murmis and the Gurungs of Nepal and the Bodo of Assam.

The Aryo- Dravidian

This type is known as the Hindustani type. Generally the heads of the people are long with a tendency

towards medium. The complexion varies from light brown to black. The nose is usually medium,

although the broad nose is not uncommon. But in this case, the broad nose is always broader than the

nose of Indo-Aryans. In stature, the people are shorter than the Indo-Aryans who usually show a

below average height; i.e. the height ranges from 159cm to 166cm. Thus, the Aryo- Dravidians is

differentiated from the Indo-Aryans. The type is considered as an intermixture of the Aryans and the

Dravidians in varying proportions. The people of this type are found in Uttar Pradesh, in some parts of

Rajasthan and in Bihar.

The Mongolo-Dravidians

This type is known as the Bengalian type characterized by broad and round heads with a tendency towards medium dark complexion and plentiful hair on face. The nose is usually medium with a tendency towards flatness. The stature is also medium but sometimes short. Such people are found in Bengal and Orissa. The notable representatives of this type are the Bengali Brahmins and Bengali Kayasthas. According to Risley this type is not only an admixture of the Mongolians and the Dravidians, some blood strains of Indo-Aryan type are also mixed with it.

The Scytho-Dravidian

The people of this type possess medium to broad head, low to medium stature, fair complexion, and a

moderately fine nose, which is not conspicuously long. The hair is scanty on face and body. It is held

that the type has been evolved by the intermixture of two distinct racial strains—the Scythians and the

Dravidians. Typical example of this type is found in Western India comprising the Maratha Brahmins,

the Kunbis and the Coorgs, who are distributed in the tracts of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra-Gujrat

border region upto the Coorg. The Scythian element is more prominent in higher social groups of

these regions while the Dravidian features predominate among the lower social groups in the region.

The Turko- Iranian

This type is characterized by broad heads and fine to medium nose, which is long and prominent. The

stature is fairly tall and the average height of the males varies from 162cm to 172cm. Although the

eyes are dark in colour, grey eyes are not uncommon. Complexion of the people is generally fair;

plentiful hair is found on face and body. The type includes the inhabitants of Afghanistan, Baluchistan

and Northwest Frontier Provinces (now in Pakistan) who are represented by the Balochis, Brahai,

Afghans and some other people of NWFP. In the view of Risley, this type has been formed probably

by the fusion of Turki and Persian elements in which the former’s features predominate. Risley’s

classification faced a considerable criticism from different authorities, especially in respect of the

Dravidians, the Scytho-Dravidians and the Mongolo-Dravidians. Besides, the Indo-Aryans is

distributed only in Punjab, Rajputana and the Kashmir Valley according to Risley.

Economic Classification

• Forest-Hunting: The tribals of this type engage in hunting , food gathering and fishing. There is an absence of technological aids. They also live in deep forest.
• Hill Cultivation: The tribals who live in hilly areas practice shifting cultivation. Shifting Cultivation or Jhum cultivation is an age old institution among the Indian tribals.
• Plain Agriculture: These tribals live in undulating plateaus and are predominantly dependent on plough cultivation.

• Simple Artisan and Folk Artist: The tribals who engage in handicrafts and their folk arts to eke out their subsistence come under this category. These tribals depend very much on the local market and village people.
• Industrial and Urban Workers: The tribals who have accepted industrial life come under this category. Primarily the tribe may be an agriculturalists or a forest hunting type or so on.

Levels of Integration

• Tribal Communities: Tribals who confine themselves to original habitats and are still distinctive in their pattern of life.
• Semi-Tribal Communities: Tribals who have more or less settled down in rural areas, taken up agriculture and other allied occupations.
• Acculturated Tribal Communities: Tribal communities those have migrated to urban and semi-urban areas are engaged in “ modern” occupations.
• Totally Assimilated Tribals: These are tribals who have adopted Hindu religion in terms of their orientation toward the Hindu social order.

Issues

Displacement

Deforestation

Deforestation

Deforestation is one of the major causes of the environmental degradation. It implies the cutting down of trees. Besides, expansion of cropped areas and pastures are also the major sources of deforestation. During earlier times, the tribals were able to survive because of the availability of forest and natural resources. They were totally dependent on forests for their livelihood. But due to industrialisation, urbanisation, agriculture, commercial logging, increase in population, fuel-wood collection, etc. the deforestation has increased and affected the tribal's livelihood directly and indirectly. The loss of forest covers also influences the climate and contributes to loss of the biodiversity.

Causes of Deforestation

Displacement

Displacement is defined as the act of uprooting from one area to another. It is also one of the major problems for the tribals. Displacement of people from traditional habitats causes much trauma to the affected persons. The effect of industrialisation and urbanisation has been felt by the tribal population. As tribal areas are rich in natural resources, various measures were taken to exploit those areas for raw materials, power, and irrigation projects. Therefore, the tribals have been deprived of their land and paid meagre amounts as compensation, which they spent on drinking and certain ritual practices. Thus, they became moneyless and landless. For subsistence, they worked as labour in the factories. No doubt, industrialisation initially provided employment opportunities for tribal youth in unskilled jobs, but due to illiteracy and lack of awareness, they are not in a position to take up skilled or semi-skilled jobs.

Causes of Displacement

Changes in Tribal Society

• Social Stratification: Some studies conducted on tribal societies have revealed that change is taking place in tribal social stratification. The tribals seem to have attained the status of class from that of ethnicity. The difference in material possessions creates new patterns of consumption in food, dress, housing etc., and also other parallel differences, for instance, the level of education, religious orientation and preferences in political life.
• Non-Agricultural Occupations: The tribals in India took to agriculture during the first quarter of the 20" century. At that point they had enough land in their possession. Increasingly, the caste Hindus made their entry into the tribal land and since then the tribal land slipped into the hands of these non-tribals. Hence, the tribals experienced land alienation. This has made them employed workers instead of peasants. This process of taking up of non-agricultural occupation is called de-peasantisation.

• Migration: Traditionally, social anthropologists have defined tribals as an immobile stock of people. They hardly move beyond their areas. But the search for employment has pushed them to work in big cities. Today, these tribals are working as migrant groups outside their village. Government jobs have also encouraged them to move from one place to another .
• Economic System: The tribal subsistence economy has become diversified. Tribals were for a very long time dependent on the forests and forest products, They were experts in hunting and gathering. But unlike the caste Hindus, they do not have any hereditary occupations. This has enabled them to take any occupation they may find suitable at a given point in time.

• Political System: Political factors are also causing change among the Indian tribals. The universal right for voting, party functioning and social activism have all initiated a strong process of political socialisation among the tribals. This, along with Community Development Programme for tribal welfare and development has provided opportunities for politicisation and leadership among tribals.
• Local to global place: In the era of globalisation, the tribals cannot be kept in isolation. The small places, that is, the tribal homelands are linked with the region, state, nation and the world. The tribals are no longer an encapsulated mass of people restricted to hill and forests. They have become a part of the larger process of globalisation.

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