An Adivasi woman from the Kutia Kondh tribal group in Orissa
Ādivāssi (Devanagri: आदिवासी, literally: earliest inhabitants) is an
umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups
believed to be the aboriginal population of India.[1][2][3] They
comprise a substantial indigenous minority of the population of
India.Adivasi are also commonly known as Tribals[4].
Adivasi societies are particularly present in the Indian states of
Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Mizoram and other
northeastern states, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Many smaller
tribal groups are quite sensitive to ecological degradation caused by
modernization. Both commercial forestry and intensive agriculture have
proved destructive to the forests that had endured swidden agriculture
for many centuries[5]. Officially recognized by the Indian government
as "Scheduled Tribes" in the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of
India, they are often grouped together with scheduled castes in the
category "Scheduled Castes and Tribes", which is eligible for certain
affirmative action measures.
Contents [show]
1 Connotations of the word 'Adivasi'
2 Scheduled tribes
3 Primitive tribes
4 Geographical overview
5 The peopling of India
6 Disruptions during Mughal and colonial periods
7 Tribal classification criteria and demands
7.1 Demands for tribal classification
7.2 Endogamy, exogamy and ethnogenesis
7.3 Other criteria
8 Religion
8.1 Hinduism
8.1.1 Adivasi roots of modern Hinduism
8.1.2 Adivasi Saints
8.1.3 Sages
8.1.4 Maharishis
8.1.5 Avatars
8.1.6 Other Tribals and Hinduism
8.2 Sarna
8.3 Tribals want separate religion code
9 Tribal system
10 Education
11 Economy
11.1 Exploitation
12 Participation in Indian independence movement
12.1 List of rebellions against British rule
13 Some notable Scheduled Tribes
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links
Connotations of the word 'Adivasi'
Although terms such as atavika (Sanskrit for forest dwellers), vanvasi
or girijan (hill people)[6] are also used for the tribes of India,
adivasi carries the specific meaning of being the original and
autochthonous inhabitants of a given region, and was specifically
coined for that purpose in the 1930s.[7] Over a period of time, unlike
the terms "aborigines" or "tribes", the word "adivasi" has also
developed a connotation of past autonomy which was disrupted during
the British colonial period in India and has not been restored.[8]
Opposition to usage of the term is varied, and it has been argued that
the "original inhabitant" contention is based on dubious claims and
that the adivasi - non adivasi divide that is created is artificial.
Scheduled tribes
The Constitution of India, Article 366 (25) defines Scheduled Tribes
as "such tribes or tribal communities or part of or groups within such
tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to the
scheduled Tribes (STs) for the purposes of this Constitution". In
Article 342, the procedure to be followed for specification of a
scheduled tribe is prescribed. However, it does not contain the
criterion for the specification of any community as scheduled tribe.
An often used criterion is based on attributes such as:
Geographical isolation - they live in cloistered, exclusive, remote
and inhospitable areas such as hills and forests.
Backwardness - their livelihood is based on primitive agriculture, a
low-value closed economy with a low level of technology that leads to
their poverty. They have low levels of literacy and health.
Distinctive culture, language and religion - communities have
developed their own distinctive culture, language and religion.
Shyness of contact – they have a marginal degree of contact with other
cultures and people.[10]
Primitive tribes
The Scheduled Tribe groups who were identified as more backward
communities among the tribal population groups have been categorised
as 'Primitive Tribal Groups' (PTGs) by the Government at the Centre in
1975. So far seventy-five tribal communities have been identified as
'primitive tribal groups' in different States of India. These hunting,
food-gathering, and some agricultural communities, who have been
identified as more backward communities among the tribal population
groups need special programmes for their sustainable development. The
primitive tribes are awakening and demanding their rights for special
reservation quota for them
Geographical overview
There is a substantial list of Scheduled Tribes in India recognised as
tribal under the Constitution of India. Tribal peoples constitute 8.2%
of the nation's total population, over 84 million people according to
the 2001 census. One concentration lives in a belt along the Himalayas
stretching through Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and
Uttarakhand in the west, to Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal
Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland in the northeast. In the
northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and
Nagaland, more than 90% of the population is tribal. However, in the
remaining northeast states of Assam, Manipur, Sikkim, and Tripura,
tribal peoples form between 20 and 30% of the population.
Another concentration lives in the hilly areas of central India
(Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and, to a lesser extent, Andhra
Pradesh); in this belt, which is bounded by the Narmada River to the
north and the Godavari River to the southeast, tribal peoples occupy
the slopes of the region's mountains. Other tribals, including the
Santals, live in Jharkhand and West Bengal. Central Indian states have
the country's largest tribes, and, taken as a whole, roughly 75% of
the total tribal population live there, although the tribal population
there accounts for only around 10% of the region's total population.
There are smaller numbers of tribal people in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
and Kerala in south India; in western India in Gujarat and Rajasthan,
and in the union territories of Lakshadweep and the Andaman Islands
and Nicobar Islands. About one percent of the populations of Kerala
and Tamil Nadu are tribal, whereas about six percent in Andhra Pradesh
and Karnataka are members of tribes.
The peopling of India
The concept of 'original inhabitant' is directly related to the
initial peopling of India, which, due to the debate on topics such as
the Indo-Aryan migration hypothesis, has been a contentious area of
research and discourse.[12] Some anthropologists hypothesize that the
region was settled by multiple human migrations over tens of
millennia, which makes it even harder to select certain groups as
being truly aboriginal.[13] One narrative, largely based on genetic
research, describes Negritos, similar to the Andamanese adivasis of
today, as the first humans to colonize India, likely 30-65 thousand
years before present (kybp).[14][15] 60% of all Indians share the
mtDNA haplogroup M, which is universal among Andamanese islander
adivasis and might be a genetic legacy of the postulated first Indians.
[16] Some anthropologists theorize that these settlers were displaced
by invading Austro-Asiatic-speaking Australoid people (who largely
shared skin pigmentation and physiognomy with the Negritos, but had
straight rather than kinky hair), and adivasi tribes such as the
Irulas trace their origins to that displacement.[17][18] The Oraon
adivasi tribe of eastern India and the Korku tribe of western India
are considered to be examples of groups of Australoid origin.[19][20]
Subsequent to the Australoids, some anthropologists and geneticists
theorize that Caucasoids (including both Dravidians and Indo-Aryans)
and Mongoloids (Sino-Tibetans) immigrated into India: the Dravidians
possibly from Iran,[21][22][23] the Indo-Aryans possibly from the
Central Asian steppes[22][24][25] and the Tibeto-Burmans possibly from
the Himalayan and north-eastern borders of the subcontinent.[26] It
should be noted that none of these hypotheses is free from debate and
disagreement.
Ethnic origins and linguistic affiliations in India match only
inexactly, however: while the Oraon adivasis are classified as an
Australoid group, their language, called Kurukh, is Dravidian.[27]
Khasis and Nicobarese are considered to be Mongoloid groups[28][29]
and the Munda and Santals are Australoid groups,[30][31][32] but all
four speak Austro-Asiatic languages.[28][29][30] The Bhils and Gonds
are frequently classified as Australoid groups,[33] yet Bhil languages
are Indo-European and the Gondi language is Dravidian.[27] Also, in
post-colonial India, tribal languages suffered huge setbacks with the
formation of linguistic states after 1956 under the States
Reorganisation Act. For example, under state-sponsored educational
pressure, Irula children are being taught Tamil and a sense of shame
has begun to be associated with speaking the Irula language among some
children and educated adults.[17] Similarly, the Santals are
"gradually adopting languages of the areas inhabited, like Oriya in
Orissa, Hindi in Bihar and Bengali in West Bengal."
Ādivāssi (Devanagri: आदिवासी, literally: earliest inhabitants) is an
umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups
believed to be the aboriginal population of India.[1][2][3] They
comprise a substantial indigenous minority of the population of
India.Adivasi are also commonly known as Tribals[4].
Adivasi societies are particularly present in the Indian states of
Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Mizoram and other
northeastern states, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Many smaller
tribal groups are quite sensitive to ecological degradation caused by
modernization. Both commercial forestry and intensive agriculture have
proved destructive to the forests that had endured swidden agriculture
for many centuries[5]. Officially recognized by the Indian government
as "Scheduled Tribes" in the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of
India, they are often grouped together with scheduled castes in the
category "Scheduled Castes and Tribes", which is eligible for certain
affirmative action measures.
Contents [show]
1 Connotations of the word 'Adivasi'
2 Scheduled tribes
3 Primitive tribes
4 Geographical overview
5 The peopling of India
6 Disruptions during Mughal and colonial periods
7 Tribal classification criteria and demands
7.1 Demands for tribal classification
7.2 Endogamy, exogamy and ethnogenesis
7.3 Other criteria
8 Religion
8.1 Hinduism
8.1.1 Adivasi roots of modern Hinduism
8.1.2 Adivasi Saints
8.1.3 Sages
8.1.4 Maharishis
8.1.5 Avatars
8.1.6 Other Tribals and Hinduism
8.2 Sarna
8.3 Tribals want separate religion code
9 Tribal system
10 Education
11 Economy
11.1 Exploitation
12 Participation in Indian independence movement
12.1 List of rebellions against British rule
13 Some notable Scheduled Tribes
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links
Connotations of the word 'Adivasi'
Although terms such as atavika (Sanskrit for forest dwellers), vanvasi
or girijan (hill people)[6] are also used for the tribes of India,
adivasi carries the specific meaning of being the original and
autochthonous inhabitants of a given region, and was specifically
coined for that purpose in the 1930s.[7] Over a period of time, unlike
the terms "aborigines" or "tribes", the word "adivasi" has also
developed a connotation of past autonomy which was disrupted during
the British colonial period in India and has not been restored.[8]
Opposition to usage of the term is varied, and it has been argued that
the "original inhabitant" contention is based on dubious claims and
that the adivasi - non adivasi divide that is created is artificial.
Scheduled tribes
The Constitution of India, Article 366 (25) defines Scheduled Tribes
as "such tribes or tribal communities or part of or groups within such
tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to the
scheduled Tribes (STs) for the purposes of this Constitution". In
Article 342, the procedure to be followed for specification of a
scheduled tribe is prescribed. However, it does not contain the
criterion for the specification of any community as scheduled tribe.
An often used criterion is based on attributes such as:
Geographical isolation - they live in cloistered, exclusive, remote
and inhospitable areas such as hills and forests.
Backwardness - their livelihood is based on primitive agriculture, a
low-value closed economy with a low level of technology that leads to
their poverty. They have low levels of literacy and health.
Distinctive culture, language and religion - communities have
developed their own distinctive culture, language and religion.
Shyness of contact – they have a marginal degree of contact with other
cultures and people.[10]
Primitive tribes
The Scheduled Tribe groups who were identified as more backward
communities among the tribal population groups have been categorised
as 'Primitive Tribal Groups' (PTGs) by the Government at the Centre in
1975. So far seventy-five tribal communities have been identified as
'primitive tribal groups' in different States of India. These hunting,
food-gathering, and some agricultural communities, who have been
identified as more backward communities among the tribal population
groups need special programmes for their sustainable development. The
primitive tribes are awakening and demanding their rights for special
reservation quota for them
Geographical overview
There is a substantial list of Scheduled Tribes in India recognised as
tribal under the Constitution of India. Tribal peoples constitute 8.2%
of the nation's total population, over 84 million people according to
the 2001 census. One concentration lives in a belt along the Himalayas
stretching through Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and
Uttarakhand in the west, to Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal
Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland in the northeast. In the
northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and
Nagaland, more than 90% of the population is tribal. However, in the
remaining northeast states of Assam, Manipur, Sikkim, and Tripura,
tribal peoples form between 20 and 30% of the population.
Another concentration lives in the hilly areas of central India
(Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and, to a lesser extent, Andhra
Pradesh); in this belt, which is bounded by the Narmada River to the
north and the Godavari River to the southeast, tribal peoples occupy
the slopes of the region's mountains. Other tribals, including the
Santals, live in Jharkhand and West Bengal. Central Indian states have
the country's largest tribes, and, taken as a whole, roughly 75% of
the total tribal population live there, although the tribal population
there accounts for only around 10% of the region's total population.
There are smaller numbers of tribal people in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
and Kerala in south India; in western India in Gujarat and Rajasthan,
and in the union territories of Lakshadweep and the Andaman Islands
and Nicobar Islands. About one percent of the populations of Kerala
and Tamil Nadu are tribal, whereas about six percent in Andhra Pradesh
and Karnataka are members of tribes.
The peopling of India
The concept of 'original inhabitant' is directly related to the
initial peopling of India, which, due to the debate on topics such as
the Indo-Aryan migration hypothesis, has been a contentious area of
research and discourse.[12] Some anthropologists hypothesize that the
region was settled by multiple human migrations over tens of
millennia, which makes it even harder to select certain groups as
being truly aboriginal.[13] One narrative, largely based on genetic
research, describes Negritos, similar to the Andamanese adivasis of
today, as the first humans to colonize India, likely 30-65 thousand
years before present (kybp).[14][15] 60% of all Indians share the
mtDNA haplogroup M, which is universal among Andamanese islander
adivasis and might be a genetic legacy of the postulated first Indians.
[16] Some anthropologists theorize that these settlers were displaced
by invading Austro-Asiatic-speaking Australoid people (who largely
shared skin pigmentation and physiognomy with the Negritos, but had
straight rather than kinky hair), and adivasi tribes such as the
Irulas trace their origins to that displacement.[17][18] The Oraon
adivasi tribe of eastern India and the Korku tribe of western India
are considered to be examples of groups of Australoid origin.[19][20]
Subsequent to the Australoids, some anthropologists and geneticists
theorize that Caucasoids (including both Dravidians and Indo-Aryans)
and Mongoloids (Sino-Tibetans) immigrated into India: the Dravidians
possibly from Iran,[21][22][23] the Indo-Aryans possibly from the
Central Asian steppes[22][24][25] and the Tibeto-Burmans possibly from
the Himalayan and north-eastern borders of the subcontinent.[26] It
should be noted that none of these hypotheses is free from debate and
disagreement.
Ethnic origins and linguistic affiliations in India match only
inexactly, however: while the Oraon adivasis are classified as an
Australoid group, their language, called Kurukh, is Dravidian.[27]
Khasis and Nicobarese are considered to be Mongoloid groups[28][29]
and the Munda and Santals are Australoid groups,[30][31][32] but all
four speak Austro-Asiatic languages.[28][29][30] The Bhils and Gonds
are frequently classified as Australoid groups,[33] yet Bhil languages
are Indo-European and the Gondi language is Dravidian.[27] Also, in
post-colonial India, tribal languages suffered huge setbacks with the
formation of linguistic states after 1956 under the States
Reorganisation Act. For example, under state-sponsored educational
pressure, Irula children are being taught Tamil and a sense of shame
has begun to be associated with speaking the Irula language among some
children and educated adults.[17] Similarly, the Santals are
"gradually adopting languages of the areas inhabited, like Oriya in
Orissa, Hindi in Bihar and Bengali in West Bengal."
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