13 Classification of tribe based on economy, occupation and religion

Vineet Verma

epgp books

 

 

 

    Table of Content

 

Introduction

 

Tribal Population and their Distribution in India

 

Classification of Indian Tribal: on Economy, Occupation, Religion

 

Tribal Economy

 

Economic Base Tightly Dependent on their, Specific Environment

 

Main Features of Tribal Economy

 

Economic Classification of the Tribes

  • Forest hunting type
  • Shifting Hill-cultivators type-
  • Plain agriculture type / Permanent Settled Cultivators-
  • Simple artisan type
  • Pastoral type-
  • Folk-artist type-
  • Manual Labour type-
  • White-collar job and traders type

Tribal’s Poverty

 

Tribal Religion

 

Rudimentary type of Religion/ Common religion and Common culture

 

Classification of Indian Tribal

  • Mana
  • The concept of Bonga
  • Animism
  • Animatism
  • Naturalism
  • Faith in the immortality of soul
  • Faith in rebirth
  • Faith in magic
  • Totem and Taboo

Post Independence Transformation of Tribal’s Society

 

Summary

    Learning Objective

  • To able to define an exclusive account of Tribal economy in India.
  • An attempt to classify the course of Tribal economy, occupation, and religion.
  • To be able to define the immense significance of the tribal administration in tribal economic development.
  • To able to define the process of examining source integrated approach to the study of Tribal communities and belief and practices.
  • To able to define the concept and full length account of socio-cultural aspect of Tribal India.

    Introduction

 

India is one of the few nations of tribal concentration and is also said to have the largest tribal population. The Tribal culture blooms in the isolated highlands and forests of India. The tribal’s are an integral part of the Indian population. Their isolated ecology, economy, society, religious belief and centuries long association with the Indian society. The study of tribal’s, has been one of the oldest of anthropological concerns. In fact, the genesis of anthropology can be traced to understand and describe the ways of life of the native people they found in India. These forest and hill dwelling savages were called tribes to differentiate them from other civilized people. Tribal’s in India reflect the wider kaleidoscopic nature of Indian society, which in one hand is rooted in ancient traditions whereas on the other hand forces of modernization are working in tandem. The Tribal’s are organically interlinked society which has evolved through times. It is a reality that mirrors the very heart of India. Tribal are the centres of self-sufficiency, embodiment of collectivism. Though Tribal’s society is still rooted in age old customs, feudalism the process of modern participative the principle of equality. The effectiveness of participative institution provides the basis of redistribution and egalitarianism which is the feature of a Tribal’s society. The tribal culture of India is moulding itself, slowly but steadily, to find its niche in the national mainstream of culture.

 

Tribal Population and their Distribution in India

 

India is home to one of the largest number of tribes in the world. The tribal have characteristics of their own. They differ from the common Indian population both in character and composition. On an all – India basis Indian non tribal population vary widely from place to place according to natural surroundings, economy, tradition and local history. On the other hand the tribal population of India have, more or less, similar natural environments of hill and forest, poor economy, and specific tradition which are ideal for the tribal to come up.

 

The states of Maharashtra and Orissa share the largest number of tribes in India. There is high variation in the spatial distribution of tribes in India. Almost 82 percent of the tribes live in western and central states where only 11 percent of them are located in southern states. Regarding the growth rate of tribal population, it is obvious that the number of tribe has been growing over the years although the rate of growth of tribe population has been less than that of the general population. The major tribes in India are the Gonds, the Bhils, the Santals, the Oraons and the Minas. They live in different regions in the forest as well as in urban areas, and mostly speak their own languages. The states of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Maharastra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and the Northeastern Region have a larger concentration of tribal population. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are also inhabited by several tribes such as the Great Andamanese, Sentenelese, Onges, Jarwas, Sompens, and so on.

 

Classification of Indian Tribal: on Economy, Occupation, Religion

 

An attempt has been made here under to classify the Indian tribals on the basis of

 

I)  Tribal Economy / Occupation

II)  Tribal Religion

 

I) Tribal Economy

 

The sources of subsistence and livelihood are varied so far the Indian tribal’s are concerned. Starting from the pure and simple parasitic habit of the nomadic hunters and food gatherers; who depend mostly on nature for the sources of subsistence to the settled agriculturists and the group of industrial labourers. They earn their living by foraging as well as animal husbandry, by agriculture as well as govt. Services from peon to high level administrative officers and ministers.

 

Economic Base Tightly Dependent on their, Specific Environment

 

In many cases, tribes have highly advanced hunting and fishing economics and more adjusted to their physical environment than other developed economics. The evolution of the economy from non – feudal to feudal and then to commercial conditions can take place during any stage of Tribal evolution. Little value on surplus accumulation on the use of capital and on market trading; largely or entirely independent of the national economic system; the sources of subsistence and livelihood are varied so far the Indian tribal’s are concerned; starting from the pure and simple parasitic habit of the nomadic hunters and food gatherers who depend mostly on nature for the sources of subsistence to the settled agriculturists.

 

Main Features of Tribal Economy

 

They earn their living by foraging as well as animal husbandry, by agriculture as well as govt. Services from peon to high level administrative officers and ministers. But even when they pursue economic activities they are also a part of non tribal-economic life – agriculture, for instance – their structural arrangements are remarkably different. They possess very simple Technology basically producing only enough to maintain them at subsistence level, or even lower.

 

Usually they show what Majumdar called ‘Marginal Economy’ – a group of people practising different type of occupations at one time for livelihood e.g. collecting roots, fruits, and honey along with hunting. Usually a tribe has neither internal social differentiation nor any specialization of functions. And whatever a tribe takes up one specialized function such as simple artisans, it behaves as a caste.

 

In general economic life of the tribal’s is marked by the following features:

  • Small economy- The production and transactions of goods and services take place within small communities in a limited geographical area.
  • Reciprocal exchange- The exchange of goods and services is carried out on reciprocal basis, through barter and gift. The motive of profit is generally absent.
  • No surplus- The manufacture of consumer goods necessary for bare sustenance is usual. An economic surplus is rare.
  • Division of labour- Age and sex from the basic criterion for division of labour instead of professional training and specialization.
  • Tribal markets- The exchange of good or limited sale of surplus goods take place in periodical tribal markets which also serve as socio-cultural networks in maintaining inter village ties.
  • Simple technology- The tools are either made by the user himself or by local artisans living in the neighbourhood.
  • Slower innovation- The rate of internal or induced innovation is very low, making the economic structure stable but unprogressive.
  • Importance of family and kingship- The families in tribal societies is a unit of both production and consumption. The kinship acts as co-operative unit. In numerically smaller groups, whole community acts as a cooperative unit.

    Economic Classification of the Tribes

 

A survey of tribes in India shows a wide range of economic activities which arrayed in order of increasing complexity, also portrays different stages in the evolution through which all mankind has passed. Prof. L.P. Vidyarthi has divided the tribes of India in to eight cultural types on the basis of economy. This are-

  • Forest hunting type- Mainly depending on hunting wild animals, collecting wild fruits, roots and fishing, these semi-nomadic tribes are found all over India accept western parts. Some of the tribes belong to this culture type are Raji of U.P, Birhor and Hill Kharia of Bihar, Juang of Orissa, Hill Maria Gonds of M.P, Chenchu and Yanadi of Andhra Pradesh and Kurumba of Kerala. They usually live far away from rural-urban way of life and possess a simple type of social organization.
  • Shifting Hill- cultivators type- They practice shifting or slash-and-burn, cultivation on hill-slopes or terraces. This practice is known as Jhum in North east, Kurwa in Bihar, Podu or Dahi in Orissa, Kondapaddy in Andhra Pradesh. A hilly forested tract is selected for this purpose may have to abandon after three successive cultivating seasons as this soil likely to lose fertility. The plants, shrubs, and undergrowths are cut down and left for during for a month or so. Then they set fire to them. The ashes serve as auto-manure to the soil. A section of the Gond, Juang, Khasi, Garo, Naga, Kharia, Riang, Savara practice such type of primitive cultivation.
  • Plain agriculture type / Permanent Settled Cultivators– Agriculture in its simpler form; ploughing with the help of two animals buffalos or oxes- is practised by majority of tribal’s in India. Cooperation during sowing and harvesting is a characteristic feature. Domestication of animal, particularly cow, buffalos, pigs, and fowl generally accompanies. The major tribes involved in Plain agriculture are; Khasi, Jantia, Tharu, Munda, Oraon, and Santhal.
  • Simple artisan type- Certain tribes specialize in specific crafts and cottage industries like basketry, tool making, carpentary, iron smithy, spinning and weaving etc.
  • Pastoral type- Although almost all agriculturists tribes domesticate animals, there are many tribes who are totally committed to cattle-hearding and live on milk and other dairy produce by selling them to neighbouring people. The classic example, are Todas of Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu.
  • Folk-artist type- Some tribal’s specialize in aerobatics, singing, dancing, snake charming, conjuring and barding. They are nomads wandering from village to village and city to city all over India and earn their livelihood by arranging show in open air, usually in periodical markets, in the rural areas. Popularly known as Nat, Sapera, Madari, Bahrupiya. Etc.; they belong to different tribes.
  • Manual Labour type- The labour type can be divided in to two- agricultural labour and non agricultural labour. The former type is to be found in every plain agriculturists village, where these labour work in the field of others, more or less regular basis and receive their remuneration mostly in kind.
  • White-collar job and traders type– Group of Tribal who are working as school and college teachers, as clerks, and officers in govt. Offices as nurses and doctors in hospital; they are engaged in contact work an self employed as traders and merchant. No specific tribe can be included in this type.

    Tribal’s Poverty

 

Tribals are the life line of India but poverty has plagued the lives of Tribal’s folk. The unequal distribution of rural assets such as land along with failure in crops due to erratic rainfall and floods are causes of poverty in the country side. Lack of skills and education along with distress migration has been other causes of poverty. Poverty has its effects on overall human development. The poor are deprived of basic human necessity of nutrition, sanitation, health. Such situation has negative repercussion in the overall economy of the nation; also a major demography cannot be harness to its optimum potential.

 

II) Tribal Religion

 

The dependence on the forces of nature like rains, natural calamities and displeasure of gods points the basic nature of religious belief prevalent in Tribal’s society. The dependence on the natural forces and lack of proper reasoning and scientific outlook give rise to various superstitious beliefs among the people. Education and rational outlook can be a panacea for such ills. The religious beliefs dominate the intellectual and practical life of Tribal’s people. Religion has permeated onto the cultural norms of the society. Religious beliefs also have influenced the folk songs, paintings, marriage customs and social festivals. Rituals provide sanctity to the religious codes and dominate the life of rural people. The specific sets of rituals are codified for particular caste.

 

Rudimentary type of Religion/ Common religion and Common culture

 

Belief in the existence of superhuman or supernatural power is almost universal. Experiences of certain day to day sudden happenings, of disease, death and unexplainable, have led to the tribal people in to believing in other then material visible world, i.e. in the invisible spirit – world or the supernatural. They have established a kind of close relationship between themselves and this power. The dependence on the forces of nature like rains, natural calamities and displeasure of gods points the basic nature of religious belief prevalent in Tribal’s society. The dependence on the natural forces and lack of proper reasoning and scientific outlook give rise to various superstitious beliefs among the people. Education and rational outlook can be a panacea for such ills. The religious beliefs dominate the intellectual and practical life of Tribal’s people. Religion has permeated onto the cultural norms of the society. Religious beliefs also have influenced the folk songs, paintings, marriage customs and social festivals. Rituals provide sanctity to the religious codes and dominate the life of Tribal people.

 

Tribal religion is the most primitive from of religion found in human society. The following are the important classification of the Indian tribal religion.

 

1. Mana

 

Defining faith in Mana found in tribal society Codrington has pointed out that Mana is, “a force altogether distinct from physical power, which acts in all kinds of ways for good and evil, and which is of the greatest advantage to possess or control.” Thus Mana is a supernatural power which is useful to man in the control of many natural phenomena beyond his power. According to Majumdar and Madan, “Entire religious life of the primitives, is born out of their belief in certain understandable, impersonal, non-material and unindividualized supernatural power which takes abode in all the objects, animate and inanimate, that exist in the world.” According to Max Muller, Mana is an attempt to define certain natural phenomena in terms of an impersonal power. The high mountain, the river, the thunder and all other natural phenomena according to the tribal people, act with the power of Mana. This power acts both for good and for bad. It is connected with the soul, ghost of the departed man and the living being. The Ho and Munda tribes of Chhota Nagpur call it Bonga.

 

2. The concept of Bonga

 

According to these tribes, Bonga is a mysterious and impersonal power at the back of rains, tempests, cold, floods, epidemics and the wild animals. Everywhere activity is due to the power of Bonga. Thus Bonga is a form of Mana.

 

3. Animism

 

Another important characteristic of Indian tribal religion is animism. According to Risley, tribal religion is animism. The tribal people believe in the presence of supernatural powers at the back of high mountains, flooded rivers, big trees and epidemics. They try to please these powers by means of different types of propitiations and worships. Sometimes they are worshipped even without being given any name. An important type of animism is ancestral worship which is found among the Santhals and Oraons. The Santhals worship deities of family and village deities. Among the Korawa tribe, there is a goddess of crop, one of animals and a deity presiding rains. The tribal people try to please these gods and goddesses by offering the sacrifices of different types of animals and birds before them.

 

The principle of animism is based on the following two beliefs:

 

There are powerful souls besides powerful gods. The souls are connected with men, and feel pleasure and pain through them. They influence the events in this world and also control them.

  • The soul of man survives even after his death. The word ‘animism’ was used for the first time by E.B. Taylor in anthropological literature
  • Animism, according to Taylor, is “the groundwork of the philosophy of religion from that of savage upto that of civilized man.”

    4.  Animatism

 

According to animatism there is some impersonal power behind every material object besides the living beings. Thus in the tribal religions is found faith in the presence of super natural power in bones and feathers, etc. This impersonal power is worshipped to maintain peace and prosperity in the group. It is difficult to distinguish between animatism and animism. The following distinctions however, have been pointed out between the two. While according to animatism there is some mysterious, unknown, impersonal power at the back of all living beings and things, according to animism there is animal spirit found in all movable and immovable things. An example of animatism is found in the tribes of Bihar. They consider the bones, beads, stones and feathers to have living and magical powers. The stones are considered to be the children of mother earth and worshipped. The tribal people worship only those powers which can do some harm to them, but sometimes such powers are also worshipped which cannot do any harm, for example, the Sing-Bonga of the Munda tribe.

 

5. Naturalism

 

A universal characteristic of tribal religion is naturalism or nature worship. The Garo tribe of Assam worships sun and moon. The Munda people worship sun god. Besides, other tribes worship T Rivers, mountains, stars, trees and other natural objects.

 

6. Faith in the immortality of soul

 

Among many tribes there is a custom of observing funeral rites two times. This is because of their faith in the immortality of soul. Sometimes the second rite is considered to be more important than the first. The tribals believe that the soul is not destroyed on the death of the body and requires food, etc., for a sufficiently long time. Among the Nagas and the tribals of the Nikobar island, the skull of the dead man is placed on a wooden statue believing that the soul of the dead man will pass from the skull to the statue. Now the statue is served like a living human being and efforts are made to fulfil all its needs. Sometimes the statue is made of brass. Such is the custom among the Garo tribe of Assam. In south India in Kerala the statue of a dead person is worshipped at least once a year.

 

7. Faith in rebirth

 

Most of the Indian tribes believe that after death the soul of a man survives the body and enters into the body of some animal, bird, or other living being. Among the Bhils efforts are made to find out as to which body will be entered into by a particular soul. Similar beliefs are found among Nagas of Assam, Ahirs of Bengal, Kamar and Gond tribes.

 

8. Faith in magic

 

The most important characteristic of tribal religion is faith in magic. According to M.F. Keesing, “In its technical sense, magic is a term which summaries a variety of methods by which man purports to influence automatically the course of events by that touch of the supernatural. A magical act is a rite carried out to twist Nature in a specific way to satisfy human desire.” Different types of magical acts are prevalent in different tribes. The tribals believe in magicians and witches.

 

9. Totem and Taboo

 

The custom of totem is an important characteristic of tribal religion. Different Indian tribes believe in different types of totem. The totem is considered to be the originator of a particular tribe. Its killing and eating is a taboo for the people of the particular tribe. It is worshipped and respected everywhere. Marriages cannot be contracted among the male and female of the same totem, because they are thought to be having blood relationships. In fact tribal religion is the most primitive form of human religion. Thus it exhibits that unified purity characteristic of the primitive form. It is the beginning of religious revolution. Hence in it one finds magic, religion and ritualism all in one.

 

Post Independence Transformation of Tribal’s Society

 

The post -independence period has shown a dynamic shift in Tribal’s society. The flow of capital led to diversification of business and employment opportunities. The transformation of Tribal’s society began during colonial period but it gain momentum during post- independence period due to intervention of government policies. These policies not only transform the Tribal’s economy but also Tribal’s social system. The transformation of Tribal’s society was regionally imbalanced and varied across India. The impact of globalisation had its impact on social customs and traditions; the westernization of culture has led to erosion of traditional values and customs. The impact of global media has brought about a tectonic shift in the culture and thought process of Indian Tribal’s life. The globalisation process has brought about aspiration changes in the mind of Tribal’s people.

 

Summary

 

The advent of industrial revolution and consequent urban exploitation particularly in the tribal belt of middle India, make the situation more complicated. Their situation has been changing. With the facilities available to them, their situation is improving to some extent. It remains a great job for the State and Central Government to bring tribes into confidence, educate them, clad them, take health care and arrange for their living by developing skill. The tribal culture of India has undergone changes owing to several factors, such as impact of education introduce by missionaries or Government, development of various communication etc; nevertheless, the greatest impact has been that of industrialization and urbanization. The obvious reason for this has been that the tribal area throughout the country are very rich as for as the mineral and the industrial resources are concerned.

you can view video on Classification of tribe based on economy, occupation and religion

 

SUGGESTED READING

  • Vidarthy, L.P. and Rai. Applied Anthropology in India.
  • Vidarrthy.L.P. and B.N. Sahay. Applied Anthropology and Development in India. New Delhi: National Publishing House

    REFERENCES

  • Bardhan ed. Conversations Between Economists and Anthropologists, Delhi, OUP.
  • Beteille, A and T.N. Madan (1975) ed. Encounters and Experience: Personal Accounts of Fieldwork, Delhi, Vikas.
  • Bliss Christopher and Nicholas Stern (1982), “Palanpur: The Economy of an Indian Village”, Oxford University Press, Delhi
  • Bodding, P.O. (1942) Traditions and Institutions of the Santals. Oslo: Oslo Etnografiske Museum (Bulletin 6).
  • Chaudhury, Sukant K. (2007) Civilizational approach to the study of Indian society. The Eastern Anthropologist, 60, pp. 501-8.
  • Cohn, B.S. (1987) An Anthropologist among the Historians and Other Essays. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
  • Cohn, B.S. (1987), An Anthropologist among Historian and other Essays, Delhi.
  • Culshaw, W.J. (1949) Tribal Heritage: A Study of the Santals. London: Lutterworth Press.
  • Deliege, Robert (1985) Bhils of Western India. Delhi: National Publishing House.
  • Desai, A.R. (1969) Tribes in transition. In A.R. Desai (Ed.) Rural Sociology in India. Bombay: Popular Prakashan, pp. 221-31.
  • Dev Nathan, 1997, From Tribe to Caste, Shimla, Indian Institute of Advanced Study.
  • Dube, S.C. (1955), Indian Village, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul.
  • Dube, S.C., 1990, Indian Society, New Delhi, National Book Trust
  • Mahapatra, S. (1997). The Celebration of Life. Tribal Language and Culture of Orissa. K. Mahapatra (Ed.) Bhubaneswar: Academy of Tribal Dialects and Culture, Government of Orissa.
  • Malyadri, P. (2012) “Education for tribal children: An engine for human development” International Journal of Research Studies in Education, Volume 1 Number 1, pp. 99-106.
  • Mathur, K.S. & Agarwal, B.C., 1974, Tribe Caste and Peasantry, Lucknow, Ethnographic & Folkculture Society.
  • Pal, T. (2011). “Changing Tribal Culture: A Photo-Geographical Explanation” Current Research Journal of Social Science , Volume: 3, Issue: 6, pp. 483-489.
  • Sinha, Surajit (1959) Bhumij-Kshariya social movement in South Manbhum. Bulletin of the Department of Anthropology, Government of India, 8, pp. 9-32.
  • Sinha, Surajit (1962) Status formation and Rajput myth in tribal central India. Man in India, 42, pp. 35-80. Social Anthropology in Eastern India. New Delhi: Serials Publications
  • Srinivas, M.N. (1952) Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Srinivas, M.N. and A.M. Shah (1968) Hinduism. International Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, 6, pp. 356-66.
  • Vidyarthi, L. P. (1979). Rise of Anthropology in India: a Social Science Orientation, Volume 1. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company.
  • Vidyarthi, L.P. & Rai, B.K., 1985, Tribal Cultures of India, New Delhi, Concept Publishing House.
  • Vidyatrhi, L. P & Rai, (1977). The Tribal Culture of India. Edition 2. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company.

    INTERESTING FACTS

 

Tribal people live within a definite topography and it is a common place for all the members of a particular tribe occupying that region. In the absence of a common but definite living place, the tribal’s will lose other characteristics of a tribal life, like common language, way of living and community sentiment etc.