UPSC Previous years question:
- Identify the major tribal communities in India by region and examine the problems common to all of them and the ways of their solution. ( UPSC)
The following are essential characteristics of tribal society:
- Primitive trait
- Distinctive culture
- The shyness of contact with major communities
- Geographical isolation
- Backwardsness
Vulnerable tribal group characteristics:
- Pre Agriculture level of technology
- Stagnant or declining population
- Extremally low literacy
- Subsistence level of economy
The following are other characteristics of tribal society:
- Tribal society did not follow the social rules and rituals prescribed by Brahmanas.
- Members of each tribe are united by clan or kinship bonds. Kinship means a group of families or households claiming descent from the same common ancestor.
- Tribals are also not divided into unequal classes.
- Whatever natural resource they had under clan, they divide equally to the household as per kinship norms.
- The livelihood of tribes is obtained from agriculture and forest
- They are mostly hunter gathers or herders.
- Tribal general live in forests, hills, and the desert place that was difficult to reach.
- They retained their freedom and preserve their separate culture.
- Tribal people did not have written record but they preserved rich culture and oral tradition and they passed it to the new generation.
As per the 2011 Tribal population census:
- There are 705 tribal group
- Population 10.43 crore
- 8.6 % of total population( 8.2 % in 2001)
- Urban areas: 10.03 %
- Rural Areas: 89.97 %
- The growth rate of 23.6 % from 2001 to 2011.
- Sex ratio: 990
- Literacy rate: 59 %
Tribal population Growth share trends:
Continuous growth in population share:
- 1961: 6.9 % population share
- 2001: 8.2 % population share
- 2011: 8.6 % population share
Descending order states with tribal population ratio:
- Lakshadweep( 95%)
- Mizoram (94.4 %)
- Nagaland (86.5)
- Meghalaya (86%)
- Arunachal Pradesh (68%)
Ascending order states with tribal population ratio:
- Uttar Pradesh; 0.6 %
- Tamil Nadu: 1.1 %
- Bihar: 1.3 %
- Kerala: 1.5 %
- Uttaranchal: 2.9 %
No tribal population in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Puducherry, and Delhi
Largest tribal population share states in descending order:
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharastra
- Odisha
- Rajasthan
- Gujarat
Major Tribes in India:
The following are major tribes of India as per the 2011 census in descending order of population;
- Bhil; the largest tribal community in India
- Gond; the second-largest tribal community in India
- Santhal
- Mina ( Rajasthan/MP)
- Naida ( Karnataka)
The following maps indicate the spatial distribution of major tribes:
Gonds:
- They live in vast forested areas called Gondwana
- Practice shifting cultivation
- It is also divided into smaller clan
- Each clan has its own Raja or Rai
Ahoms:
- Migrated to Brahmaputra valley from Myanmar in the 13th century
- Established a great political system
- The rich history of administration and war
- Society is very sophisticated
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