TRIBALS

TRIBALS One observable fact innate in the nature of the plural society of the Indian subcontinent is the co-existence habitually in a tapered space of populations varying greatly in the level of material and intellectual development. Confrontation and eventual harmonization are the two possible upshot of such a state of affairs. A bursting realization of the disruption caused by this crash with in the whole fabric of tribal life cannot be gained from sweeping statement embracing the totality of the forty millions of Indian tribal populations. A tribe has by and large been defined as a more or less homogeneous community having common government, a common dialect and common culture. In the Indian milieu the term tribe has never been defined precisely and adequately. It was used, at one time, to denote a bewildering verity of social categories that were neither analogues nor comparable. The Rajput and the Jat as well as the aboriginals, for e.g., were categorized as tribes. In later usage it tended to the restricted only to the autochthonous, the aboriginal, and the primitive groups. At no stage, however, did we have a set of clear indicators of tribal ness. Most popular definition of the term tended to see in the tribes some, if not all, of the following characteristics. (1) Their roots in the soil date back to ma very early period: if they are not the original inhabitants, they are at least some of the oldest inhabitants of the land. (2) They leave in the relative isolation of the hills and the forests. (3) Their sense of history is shallow for, among them, he remembered history of five to six generations tends to get merged in mythology. (4) They have a low level of techno-economic development. (5) In terms of their cultural ethos-language, institutions, believes and customs – they stand out from the other sections of the society (6) If they are not egalitarian they are at least non-hierarchic and undifferentiated. (Dube : 1977: 2-3) It is difficult to speak of “original” inhabitants, for tribal traditions themselves make repeated mention of the migrations of their ancestors. There is considerable evidence to suggest that several groups were pushed out of the areas where they were first settled and had to seek shelter elsewhere. And there are several groups, now absorbed in Hindu society, which can make an equally tenable claim to being original or, at any rate, very old inhabitants. Tribal India, as such, did not have a common identity in the past and even today such as identity is not significantly strong. The terms adivasi, girijan, vanyajati, and so forth are of recent origin. India has been a melting pot with varied cultural and ethnic factors. In spite of the assimilation and integration of certain group with the neighboring communities there are still observed some distance pockets wherein people with particular customs and almost distinct way of life reside. A large number of these tribes and groups were, in the older regime, contained in the excluded areas/or partially excluded areas. Reserved by C.K.Rakhesh. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission of C.K.Rakhesh.