What is Tribe ?
A tribe is a group of people who share the same race and culture and prefer to live alone in a closed society. The Indian tribes are white or white spread throughout the country.
Tribes make up a large portion of the Indian population, and tribal culture is an important part of our intangible national heritage. So we need to know about some of the most important tribes of India.
Tribal Population Of India
The tribal people are scattered all over the Indian subcontinent- in almost all the states and central territories, in many pockets. The areas with highest concentration of tribal settlements are Mizoram (population 94.4%), Lakshadweep (94%), Meghalaya (86.1%) and Nagaland (86.5%). Significant tribal communities are also found in Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Assam and West Bengal. Broadly speaking, Scheduled Tribes constitute 8.6% of India’s total population.
Also, while talking about the tribal population of India, it must be noted that there are more than 700 tribes specified under Article 342 of the Constitution of India all of which are spread across various states and union territories.
The Tribes Of India
The most famous tribes of India are the Gondas, Bhils (or Bhils), Santhals, Mundas, Khasis, Garos, Angamis, Bhutias, Chenchu, Kodbas, and the great Andamanese tribes.
Of all these ethnic groups, the Bhil tribal group is the largest ethnic group in India according to the 2011 census. It makes up a staggering 38% of the country’s total scheduled tribes.
The Bhils nominally have their own language, but most members speak Marathi and Gujarati, which are also the official national languages where they live. The tribe hails from Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan and even parts of Tripura, making it the largest tribe in India.
The Gond Tribe
In terms of population, the Gond tribe is second only to the Bhils. Called the second largest caste in India, the Gonds are spread across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Bihar and Orissa. With a population of more than four million tribal members, the Gonds form a significant percentage (35.6%) of the country’s total tribal population.
Literacy Among The Tribal People
The overall literacy rate is an important factor in understanding how developed a country is. The literacy rate among the Indian tribes, as recorded in 1961, is as low as 8.5%. The Government of India introduced several schemes to improve the soil. After the implementation of this comprehensive policy, the literacy rate has increased to 63.1% according to the 2011 census. The census also revealed that the males in the tribal community are highly literate, standing at 71%, of which the female members are literate at around 54% One of the main reasons for this huge increase in numbers is that doubt none of the measures taken by the government to raise the tribal population in the post-independence period.
However, there remain some challenging and challenging areas for Aboriginal literacy development in particular. These challenges include:
- Tribal people are generally more vulnerable in terms of economic status. So, parents often prevent their children from going to school because they need high earners to run and survive in their families.
- Tribal people live in extremely remote and isolated areas with little or no traffic. Thus, they are denied the light of education.
Nowadays, many NGOs and groups are coming forward to work in this area. Efforts are being made to build schools in remote tribal villages, where children can not only learn in their own language, but sit there every day eating square meals. They help Aboriginal elders earn a living by teaching them a few basic agricultural and craft skills.
In 1978, the Tribal Cooperative Marketing and Development Association of India (TRIFED) was established under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act to work for the socio-economic development of the tribal people of the country.
Who Is A Tribal Chief?
The tribal chief is the tribal leader who runs and guides the tribe members. He is a defender of a closed society.
