UNIT-26 HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHICAL SPREAD . Structure 26.0 Objectives 26.1 Introduction 26.2 Cultural Pattern . 26.3 Geographical Spread:Tribal Zones 263.1, Northern and North-Eastern 2633' Central _ 2633 . South-Western 263.4 . Scattered 26.4 History, Language and Ethnicity 26.4.1 Northern and North-eakern Tribes 26.42 Central Indian Tribes 26.43 South-Western Tribes 26.4.4 Scattered Tribes 265 Let Us Sum Up 26.6 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises A DaMa Tribal Girl, Gqjarat. Appendix ( 26.0 OBJECTIVES ; i, This Unit attempts to analyse history and geographical spread of tribes. After reading this unit you uould know about : / cultural spread of tribes, and , the tribal culture with respect to its history and geographical spread in the Northern, NorthiEastem, Central, South-Westem, and scattered zones, and 1 languhges and ethnicity of a few tribes. { 26.1 INTRODUCTION -+ The tribal groups are presumed to form the oldest ethnological sector of the national population. Tribal population of India is spread all over the country. However, in Haryana, Punjab,Chandigarh, DeUli,Goa and Pondicherry there exist very little tribal population.The rest of the states and union territories possess fairly good number of tribal population. You wiU find that forest and hilly areas possess greater concentration of tribal population; while in the plains their number isquite less. Madhya Pradesh registers the largest number oftribes (73) followed by Anrnachal Pradesh (62), Orissa (56), Maharashtra (52), Andhra Pradesh (43), etc. The vast variety and numbers of Indian tribes and tribal groups have\always been a matter of great social and literary discourse for the past several decades. In this Unit our ainiis to have an in-depth studyofonlya fewdistinct and historically important tribes. Here our purpose is to acquaint you with various tribes found in India with respect to its history and geographical spread. (262 CULTURAL PATIERN ' The tribes in India broadly belong to three stocks namely, the Negritos, the Mongoloids,and the Mediterranean. The Negritos are believed to be the earliest inhabitants of the Indian peninsula who were unable to defend themselves and were gradually forced to recede before I the invading bordes of Indo-Aryans, Mongoloids, etc. coming horn the North-West and I North-East. These tribes were not only superior to them in numerical strength but also in mechanical equipment. These tribals took shelter in the mountains and thick forests where a considerable number ofthem are still found and haw beenestimated to beabout ten million. Those who were left behind in the plains gradually disappeared either by absorption or by acculturation. Some tracts of them are still found among the tribals of the Andaman and Nicnhar Islands known as the On~e-the Great Andamane-se. the Sentinelese and the Jarwas ~ribdCultures and also in Kerala among the Kadars, the Irulars and the Paniyans. Theu identifyiogfeatures t Tibeto-Burman i 6f iamese Chinese The Mongoloid race is represented by the tribal people ofsub- Himalayan region. They may be divided into tmcategories, namely -the Palaeo MongoIoids and the Tibeto -Mongoloids. The Palaeo Mongoloids are represented by the tribes living in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur. The Tibeto - Mongoloids are represented by the tribals living in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. They are believed to have migrated from Tibet. They have ~11 typical eyes and facial features. They speak Mon-Khmer and Tibeto-Burmese dialects. The Mediterranean people form the bulk of the tribal population and are generally known as the Dravidians. Dravidian is, however, the name of the language group spoken by these people and has no ethnic significance. The tribes believed to be belonging to the Dravidian race are found in the Chhotanagpur Plateau, Rajmahal Hills region,Arawlli ranges, Central Vindhyachal, Deccan Plateau region and Nilgiri Hills. Dravidian language still survives not only in Southern India where Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada are its leading representatives, but also in Central India where its traces are found in the dialects spoken by the Oraons,Gonds, Mundas,Malers,Khonds and other tribes. The Dravidiansare presumed to be of two stocks, the Kolarians who speak a dialect called Mundari and the Dravidian proper whose languages are represented by Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. The Mundas, Santhals, Oraons and other tribes inhabiting Chhotanagpur Plateau region are considered to be of the Kolarian stock. The Gonds, Kondhs, and other tribes belonging to the Dravidian stock are found in Central Vindhyachal and the Deccan Plateau regions. f 263 GEOGRAPHICAL SPREAD:TRIBAL ZONES 3 In India there is almost a continuous belt of high tribal concentration starting from the Western coast -from Thane district in Maharashtra passing through Surat and Dangdistricts in Gujarat to Mayurbhanj in Orissa on the Eastern coast and Bihar. The chief concentration is in Dhulia in Maharashtra; West Nimar, Betul, Chhindwara, Seeni, Mandla, Shahdol and Sarguja in Madhya Pradesh; and Ranchi, Santhal Parganas-and Singhbhum district in Bihar. Another long range of tribal belt is found in the North-East spreading over Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizo Hills, United Mikir and North Cachar Hills of Assam and hilly regions of Manipur and Tripura. These belts are also linked up by a chain of pockets 7 of tribal concentration at Taluk or subdivisional levels. Tribal concentrations are also found in Bastar district of Madhya Pradesh, Korapur, Bauch- Khandenals, and Agency tracts of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh which are linked up with the Central belt by a chain of small pockets oftribal concentration. The scheduled tribes live in exclusive pocketsof the territory, upon which they have traditional ownership rights. In fact infringements of this traditional right had led to many warfares in the past. We can broadly categorise tribes into three major zones; while the fourth Sub-section cowrs the miscellaneous tribes spread owr the scattered areas. 263.1 Northern and North-Eastern -3 In the mountain valleys and other areas of North-East, Indian tribes largely belong to Mongolian social stock. The tribal people are distr~butedall over the sub-Himalayan region , and the mountain valleys in the North-East from Simla in the West to the Lushai hills and the ' Mishmi track in the East which merge imperceptiblywith those of Burma in the Sauth-East. It covers Assam,Arunachal Pradesh,Meghalaya, Nagaland,Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram, Eastern Jammu and Kashmu, Himachal Pradesh, Tarai areas of Uttar Pradesh and the . mountaineous West Bengal. 14 History and Geographical Spmd ' An Idu woman of Lohit (Northat) A Khowa woman of KameG (North-East) An Aqa couple, Kameng (North-East) An Adi woman of Siyang (North-East) ~ribdCi~ltures Baro-Barokachari is numerically the strongest tribe in Assam then comes Miri and Mizo. : The hill districts, i.e., Mikir Hills and North Cachar Hills are predominantly inhabited by scheduled tribes. In the plains Goalpara, Lakhimpur, Darrang and Kamrupdistricts possess fairly large number of scheduled tribes. ,<.,F<- , 2 ', .V - , , .. ... l i, i-.' In Manipur, the highest distribution of scheduled tribes is found in Manipur west districts followed by Manipur east'districts. The third highest position goes to ma nip,^ south districts. North Manipur contains the lowest number of scheduled tribe population. The major tribes inhabiting the region are Anal, Kabui, Gangte, Zarao, Moyan-Mansang, etc; In Meghalaya the most important tribes are the Khasis, Garos and Jaintias. Mizos, Pawis-and Lakhers-are of importance in Mizoram. I Nagaland, basically a tribal state, is inhabited by Nagas. In Himachal Pradesh Gaddi, Kinner, Pangwaland Lahuli tribes are important. Gaddisseside exclusively on the snowyrange which divides Chamba from Kangra. Kinners are settled in the frontier district of Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh. The Pangwals are the aboriginals of the Pangi region of the Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh. The Lahulis inhabit the Lahul-Spiti region of Himachal Pradesh. In Jammu and Kashmir there are a number of tribes specially in the region of Ladakh (see appendix). In U .P. declared scheduled areas are hills, Tarai Bhabar, and Southern U.P. The hill mne is represented by the Jaunsari, Bhotia, and Raji tribes. Bhotias are a late introduction in the scheduled tribes following the set back they suffered after Indo-China war. The eastern and northern parts of Tarai Bhabar tract are inhabited by Tharu and Bun tribes. 2632 Central ) In the Chhotanagpur Plateau, along the dividing line between peninsular India and Indo-Gangetic basin, live many tribal communities like the Bhumij, Gond, Ho, Oraon, Munda, Santhal, Bhil, etc. They belong to Proto-Australoid group. This group occupy the ., L ,,-/ mountain belt between Narbada and the Godavari - the central barrier that divides the north from the Peninsular India has provided a shelter for these tribes from very ancient times. It includes West Bengal, Southern Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and ~aharashtra. I ,, 3 This region further extends to the Santhal Pargana (Bihar) in theeast,Hyderabad in the South A Muria girl from Bastar and Rajasthan and Gujarat with a strong Bhil population in the West. In ~ihar'oraon,~unda, Chero, Parchaiya, Santhaland Asuras are very dominant. Banjaras, Moghias and Sathiyas are important tribes of Rajasthan. They mostly inhabit the Thar desert. Bhil is the most important tribe in Gujarat. Anal; Chiru-and Konkanas-are important tribes ;inhabiting Maharashtra. Group of Bhils The important tribes of Madhya Pradesh include Murias, Dorlas-and Bhils. The word ~iria. is used in Bastar for a tribesman. Murias reside in the Muria Hill and Abujhmar mountains. Dorla is a tribe of south Bastar in Madhya Pradesh. The word Dorla, appears to have been deriwd from the Telugu word Dora meaning Lord. The Koitars or Dorlas who reside in south Bastar are very much influenced by Telugu Kojas ofGodavari area,who are generally A woman :Orissa considered to be a sub-tribe of Gond.