POPULAR SERIES I TRIBAL PROFILE OF ANDHRA PRADESH ~6,K. MOHAN RAO, M. A..'~+D- DIRECTOR TRIBAL CULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE, Tribal Welfare Department, ANDHRA PRADESH, HYDERABAD. May, 1988 The Illdial cultural heritage comprises of a wide variety of "Great traditioil" as well as simple but rich folk- lore found among the tribnls living in the forest clad moun- tainous ancl hilly tracts of India. More than 300 main tribal communities are Ustributed from Himalayas down to Indian Ocean and from the Arabian sea to Bay of Bengal and Eastern Frontiers. The origin and original settlement patterns, peregrinations and their inter-relations with other Comxai- ties are lost in thC mist of antiquity. But the oral tradi- tions, mythologies, folk tales, historical evidences partly reveal their hoary past. The total population of Scheduled Tribes in the country is 538.16 lakhs and they constitute 7.85% of the total population as per 1981 Census reports. he Scheduled Tribe population State-wise are furnished in Annexure-I). The Tribal population of Andhra Pradesh works out to 6.10% to the total tribal population of the country. The concept of the Scheduled Tribe varies from State to State or area to area. A community may be Scheduled Tribe in one State and it may be Scheduled Caste in another State and same may be backward class or forward class in an- other State. For example, Lambadas or Banjaras or Sujalis _-------.-.-I---------- --. -------.. .: Director, Tribal Cultural Research and Training Institc~t~., ~ndhroPradesh, Hyderabad. are ScIleduled Tribes in AncLhrs Pradesh, but they are classi- fiec: as Schemed Castes in Karnataka and Union Territory of Delhi and baclmard class in neighbouring Kaharashtra. Simi- larly, 'Gou&at is Scheduled Tribe within the Agency tracts of flndhra Pradesh but they are not recowsed as Scheduled Tribes in adjoining State of Orissa eventhough they are pre- dominantly found in tribal areas of Orissa State. This kind of anamolies lead to emigration of identical Communities in order to grab the benefits. Identical nomenclature of cer- is tain Communities within the State alsolleading to much con- fusion and facilitating these non-tribal caste groups to claim Scheduled Tribe social status. The Kammara Caste, who are black-smiths in the plain areas, are also claiming as Kammaras of Agency tracts for the sake of grabbing the reservation benefits. These i~oare quite distinct Cornmuxi.- ties and they differ widely in their customs, traditions, habits and values. The social organisation of these -two Com&ties and associated ritual prgctices are dian?~tricdl~ opposite to yach Comunity. AndIra Pradesh is the traclltional home of nearly 33 tribal Croups ancl most of these co.munities are found il2- habiting in the border areas of Andhra Pradesh in the North and North-East. The list of recognised Scheduled Tribes of Andhra Pradesh i :: f Urnished in Annexure-11. Identical %rib& Groups are found in the borcler areas of Maharashtrn in the North and I4adhya Pradesh and Orissa in the North-East. Out of 33 recognised Scheduled Tribes in Andhra Pradesh, 30 groups are found livinc in the sprawling 30030 Sq.Kms. of scheduled areas and conti@ous non- scheduled sub-plan area in the districts of Srikalculam, Vizianagaram, Visakha?atnam, Ease Godavari, West Godavari, Khammam, Warangal, Adilabad and Mahboobnagar districts. The scheduled area in the State which is the chief habitat of tribal groups of Andhra Pradesh constitutes 11%of the total geographical area of the State. The density af population in tribal areas is 125 ;>er ,;quare KiLol.~etre as c,;;ailsst 194 in the-plair_ area& The details of Scheduled villages and non-scheduled Sub-Plan villages are furnished in Annexure-111. On the basis of Geo-ethnic characteristics, the Tribal areas of Andhra Pradesh can be divided into the fol- lowing five geographical regions: 1) Gond-Kolarn region - The Tribal areas of Adilabac! district. 2) Koya-Konda Reddi region - TribaX areas of Karin- nagar, Warangal, Khammam, West Godavari and East Godavnri districts - area along Godavari gorges. 3) Khond-Savara region - Tribal areas of Visakha- paenam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts. 4) Chenchu region - Tribal areas of Mahboobnagar, Nalgonda, Kurnool, Prakasm and Guntur districts. 5) Plain areas - Areas of habitation of Yanadis, ye&las and Banjaras. The Adilnbad district situated in the extrene Northern part of Anclhra Pradesh is part of Gonclwana region. and identical tribal groups are found in the adjoinin6 districts of Maharashtrn. This district has natural boun- daries of important rivers i.e., the Pen~angain the North, the Wardha in the North-East, Pranahita in the East ai~dthe Godavari in the South. Most of the rivers in and around Adilabad are tributaries of Godavari and this river exer- cises great influence in socio-religious lives of tribals of the region. The predominant soils are black cotton and sandy loams. Cotton is the important commercial Crop zrown in this region. The important minerals available in this district are cod., limestone, Manganese and clay. The dist- rict is having one of the richest forests and area covered by forest works out to 42.43% to the total geogr2phicd ersc;. 2. KOYA-I<ONDA REDDI REGION: The Koyas are found all alon~the Godav31-i river starting from 1:arirnllagar to East Godavari and Idlest Godavari districts. The Konda Reddis are inhabiting on either sidc of Godavari banks from Bliadrachalam area of Khammam district to Devipzt.;tnm and Polavaram areas of East Godavari and I;est Codavari districts respectively. The Sabari and Kir.:~ernszni arc other imgort,at tributaries of Godavari in Kham,un dist- rict. This district Is endovred with most varied types of minerals. Coal deposits are extensively found in the traz- tional habitat of tribals on either side of Godavnri gorzed. Iron ore, lime stone, narble and dolamite are also found in larger quantities. The East Godavari and Vest Godavari districts were formed in 1925 from erstwhile Godavari district. Good mis- cellaneous dry deciduous and semi evergreen forests are found in these two clistricts. The total forest area in East Godavari is 3,23,148 hectares and this constitute 29.9 percent to the total geographical area of the district. I: liest Godavari district, total forest area constitutes only 10.4 percent. The mighty Godavari greatly influenced the socio-economic conditions of Icoyas and Konda Reddis. As the lands situated on either side of Godavari are extremely fertile, non-tribals in large numbers immigrated to the tribal areas and occupied the fertile lands. Commercial crops like tobacco and chillies are widely cultivnted mostly by non-trib'als. This river facilitated the movenent of non-tribals from widely populated plain areas of Zast Godavari and 'Jest Godavari to sparsely popul~tedtribal areas through mech~nisedboats and launches. 2. THE KEIOIJD-SAVJ&A REGION: Tlie Savarn-Khond re~ionis one of the significant tribal habitat having common tribal groups in ncljoininc Orissa State which was formed in 1936. This region spreads from forest aid hill tracts of Srikakulam to Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts and these hill ranges f om part of Eastern ghats. Winter is extremely cold and summer will be pleasant with salubrious climate. The Nagavali, Vamsa- dhara, Suvarnamukhi, Vegavathl, Mahwdratanaya, Gomukhi and Chempavathi (~osthani)are important rivers in Srikakulam district. These rivers mostly traverse in the trib& 'areas of Srikakulm and Vizianagarm .districts but tribals are not benefitted. South Indian moist deciduous mixed forests are found. The Sal forests are also found in this region only. MacWcund (fish tank) is one of the importat rivers which foms boundary between Orissa and Andhra Pradesh in the North-Eastern part of Visakhapatnam district. The same river is known as Sileru in Chintapalli and tNs river joins Sqbxi river. The MaclIkund river profoundly influenced the socio-religious lives of tribals of Padem region. A sec- tion of Bagatas whose clan name is MatSya (fish) worship fish of a pond near Pdderu area. ~aradariver which origi- nate in the Maduma hills flows through Chodavarm, Anaka- palli and joins into Bay of Bengal, Visakhapatnam district is rich in its forest resources especially Minor Forest Produce. The foreshpread over an area of 4,70,813 hec- tares and this area constitutes 41.5096 to the total geocra- pkicd area of the district. The maximum height in the hilly areas is 1,@O metres. Southern tropical semi ever green forests, Southern tropical. moist deciduous f orists, tropical dry deciduous forests are found in this district. One of the highest broad-gzuge Railway lines pass through the enchanting mountainous tracts_ of Anan-hgiri and Arahu areas of Visakhapatnam district. 4. CHENCHU REGION: The traditional habitat of Chenchus is found in contiguous forest tracts of Nallamdai hills in the dist- ricts of Guntur, Prakasam, Kurnool, Mahboobnagar, Halgonda and Vikarabad areas of Raga Reddy district. Much of the area of these Ndlamdai hills through which Krishna river flows is presently declared as Tiger Project Area. The Nagarjwlasagar-Srisailam Tiger Sanctuary extents over an area of 3568 Sq.Kms. in the districts of Guntur, Prakasam, Mahboobnagar, Nalgonda and Kurnool. It covers 124 villages of v~hich31 are Scheduled villages. Tile total population in these villages is 23,404 Of which 3,972 are Scheduled Tribes and they mostly belong to Chenchus, a Primitive Cribe. An extent of 13,457.50 acres in of cultivated area is FncludedLTiger Project area. The Chenchus of This area are more or less at food gathering stage of economy and they largely subsist by hunting and collectio.? of roots, tubers and honey. 3. PLAIN w: Yanadi, Yerulcula and Lambadas are only importat numerically predominznt Tribal groups found in the plain areas of the State.