Important Tribes of India – UPSC

• A tribe is a social group of a traditional society: households bound by common descent, a common dialect, a shared culture and a territory, with its own social, economic, religious and political institutions.
• India has one of the largest and most diverse tribal populations in the world: 10.45 crore Scheduled Tribes (STs), or 8.6% of the population (Census 2011), in 705 notified communities.
• India has been called a melting pot of races and tribes.
• Tribes live mainly in the hills, forests, plateaus and islands: the north-eastern hills, the central belt from Gujarat to Odisha, the Western Ghats and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• Their composition and spatial pattern mirror India’s physical geography: numerical dominance in central India, proportional dominance in the north-east.

Tribes and Scheduled Tribes

Geography Optional Notes {PDF}

Complete Notes Package (Paper I & II) | 3000+ Pages | Instant Download

Discounted Price | Buy Now @ ₹1,180 →

Concept of a Tribe

• A tribe is usually recognised by a cluster of traits:
  • Early roots in the soil of its territory.
  • Life in relative isolation in hills and forests.
  • A distinct culture: language, institutions, beliefs and customs.
  • A low level of techno-economic development and a subsistence economy.
  • A shallow written history: after a few generations, remembered history merges into myth.
  • A society that is non-hierarchic and undifferentiated, even where it is not egalitarian.
• Shyama Charan Dube pointed out that these are only rough indicators:
  • Not all tribes are original inhabitants, and not all live in isolation.
  • The three largest, the Bhils, Gonds and Santhals, live alongside non-tribal neighbours.
  • Many tribes are divided into endogamous sub-groups that behave like castes.
• “Tribe” is a socio-cultural category; “Scheduled Tribe” is a legal and administrative one. A community becomes an ST only when it is notified.
• Tribal people are commonly called adivasis (“original inhabitants”), held to be among the earliest settlers of the Peninsula.
  • Before the caste order took shape, people were grouped into tribes: homogeneous, self-contained units without hierarchy.
  • They are sometimes described as peoples of the Fourth World, marked by close ties to land and a cooperative ethic of give and take.

Race and Ethnicity

• Race refers to inherited physical variation (skin and eye colour, hair, facial form) that arose through geographical separation within one species, Homo sapiens sapiens.
• Ethnicity refers to cultural identity: shared language, religion, ancestry, regional culture and group history, as in the Indo-Aryan, Dravidian and Mongoloid ethnic groups.
• Tribal identity is ethnic rather than racial. The older racial labels (Negrito, Proto-Australoid, Mongoloid) survive only as broad descriptions of India’s racial, linguistic and ethnic diversity.

Constitutional Definition

• Article 366(25) defines STs as the tribes or tribal communities, or parts of or groups within them, deemed under Article 342 to be STs.
• STs are notified under Article 342, not under the Fifth Schedule, as is sometimes stated. The Fifth Schedule governs the administration of Scheduled Areas, covered under tribal areas.
• Article 342:
  • The President, after consulting the Governor, specifies the STs of each State or Union Territory by public notification.
  • Only Parliament, by law, can later add a community to the list or remove one.
  • Lists are therefore State-wise, not all-India. A community can be an ST in one State and not in the next.
    • The Lambada (Banjara) are STs in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh but SCs in Karnataka.
    • The Gujjars are STs in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh but not in Rajasthan or Uttar Pradesh.
• The Constitution gives no criteria. The Lokur Committee (1965) suggested five, still used:
  • “indications of primitive traits” (the committee’s wording), distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with the wider community, and backwardness.
• Lists keep changing. The Pahari ethnic group of Jammu and Kashmir, for example, was added in 2024.
• Counts of tribes have always differed:
  • 354 communities in the 1961 Census lists, 427 for Nirmal Kumar Bose (1971), 450 for B. K. Roy Burman (1972), 573 in a 1992 Census paper and 705 in 2011.
  • These totals count a tribe once for every State that notifies it. The Bhil, notified in seven States, were counted seven times in the 573. One estimate of distinct tribes is about 365.
• STs also hold reserved seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies (Articles 330, 332) and get reservation in education and public jobs.

Institutions

• Ministry of Tribal Affairs (1999):
  • Carved out of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for a focused, integrated approach to ST development.
  • It is the nodal ministry for policy, planning and coordination. Sectoral ministries and States run their own schemes for STs, which it monitors.
• National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST):
  • Created by amending Article 338 and inserting Article 338A through the 89th Amendment (2003). It began work on 19 February 2004, when the joint SC–ST commission was split into two.
  • It investigates safeguards, hears complaints and advises on planning for ST development.
• Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP), now the Development Action Plan for STs:
  • States and Central ministries earmark funds at least in proportion to the ST population.
  • The funds are meant to be non-divertible and non-lapsable under Planning Commission guidelines.
  • Its working in tribal areas is part of the wider story of tribal development.

Tribal Population at a Glance

• Census 2011:
  • 10.45 crore STs; about 90% rural.
  • Decadal growth 23.7% (2001–11), against 17.7% for India.
  • Sex ratio 990, against 943 for India.
  • Literacy 59%, against 73% for India.
• Growth of the ST population (crore, share of India):
  • 1951: 2.25 (6.23%); 1961: 3.02 (6.87%); 1971: 3.80 (6.94%); 1981: 5.38 (7.58%, without Assam); 1991: 6.78 (8.08%, without Jammu and Kashmir); 2001: 8.43 (8.20%); 2011: 10.45 (8.6%).
  • Two causes: faster natural growth and repeated additions to the list.
    • The 1950 Order cut the count from 2.47 crore (1941) to about 1.79 crore; the 1951 Census recorded 1.91 crore.
    • The 1956 Modification Order added 34 lakh people left out earlier, after resentment among those groups.
    • A 1967 Order added the Jaunsari, Tharu, Buksa, Bhotia and Raji of Uttar Pradesh. Sikkim’s list came in 1978.
    • Growth of 41.56% in 1971–81 mostly reflects the removal of area restrictions in 1976.
• STs live on about 15% of India’s area. About 87% of ST main workers were in primary activities in 2001.
• Largest numbers: Madhya Pradesh (1.53 crore, 14.7% of India’s STs, though STs are 21.1% of the State’s people), then Maharashtra and Odisha.
• Highest shares: Lakshadweep (94.8%) and Mizoram (94.4%), then Nagaland and Meghalaya.
• No STs notified: Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh and Puducherry.
• Largest tribes:
  • The Bhils (1.71 crore) and Gonds (1.33 crore) together make up nearly three in ten of India’s STs.
  • The Santhals, Minas, Naikdas, Oraons, Sugalis (Lambadas) and Mundas follow.
• Smallest groups: the Andaman PVTGs. Census 2011 counted only 44 Great Andamanese and 101 Onge, and estimated 15 Sentinelese.

Classification of Indian Tribes

By Region

• India’s tribes fall into five broad regions, each tied to a physical setting:

• Central and eastern India holds nearly half of all STs (47% in 2011, counting Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh).
  • Its tribes speak Austro-Asiatic and Dravidian languages and live on the mineral-rich plateaus, where mining and dams have displaced many.
• Western India (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu) holds about 28%.
  • Its large Bhil, Mina and Koli groups speak Indo-Aryan tongues and live in close contact with caste society.
• The north-east holds only 12% of India’s STs, but they form the majority in four States.
  • Its tribes speak Tibeto-Burman languages, practise jhum and terrace farming, and are largely Christian. Most of the Sixth Schedule councils are here.
• The south (about 11%) has small, scattered groups in the Western and Eastern Ghats and the Nilgiris, with many PVTGs.
• The Himalayan north (about 2%) has pastoral and trans-Himalayan groups such as the Gaddi, Gujjar, Bhotia and the Buddhist tribes of Ladakh.
• The islands (0.1%) hold the most isolated groups of all.

By Language Family

• Tribal languages belong to all four major language families of India, plus the Andamanese languages:

• Santhali and Bodo are among the 22 scheduled languages (added in 2003). Many smaller tribal languages are endangered, a theme of linguistic diversity in India.

By Economy

• Hunting and gathering: Jarawa, Onge, Shompen, Sentinelese; Chenchu, Kadar, Birhor, Cholanaikkan; Raji, Yanadi, Juang, Kharia, Korwa, Paliyan.
• Shifting cultivation (jhum in the north-east, podu or bewar in central India, kumari in the Western Ghats, watra in south-east Rajasthan, penda, dahia and deppa in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh), often with lumbering: Naga groups, Garo, Mizo, Khond, Baiga, Hill Maria, Saora, Korwa, Asur, Chakma.
• Settled agriculture, usually with animal husbandry: Bhil, Gond, Santhal, Munda, Oraon, Mina, Bodo, Apatani, Tharu, Ho, Koli, Kota, Irula.
• Pastoralism and transhumance: Toda (buffaloes), Gaddi (sheep and goats), Gujjar and Bakarwal, Bhotia, Changpa (Ladakh).
• Crafts and specialist work: Asur (iron smelting), Birhor (rope-making), Lohar groups.
• Wage labour: Santhal, Oraon and Munda workers in the tea gardens of Assam and the Dooars, and in mines and factories.

By Racial Stock (Classical View)

• The older anthropometric schemes placed tribes in three groups:
  • Negrito: the Andaman tribes.
  • Proto-Australoid: most central and southern tribes.
  • Mongoloid: the north-eastern and Himalayan tribes.
• Modern genetics shows deep admixture across India. These labels are now used only descriptively; the racial groups of India are treated critically.

Social Organisation and Belief

• Kinship: most tribes are divided into exogamous clans, often with a totem (an animal, plant or object the clan does not harm).
  • Most are patrilineal. The Khasi, Jaintia and Garo of Meghalaya are matrilineal.
  • Bride price is common, in place of dowry, and divorce and widow remarriage are generally allowed.
  • Marriage forms vary: polygyny among the Baiga, Gond and Lushai, polyandry among the Toda, the Jaunsari (Khasa) and some groups of Ladakh.
• Village institutions:
  • Traditional councils settle disputes and manage land and forests: the Munda parha, the Santhal manjhi system, and the village councils of the Naga and Khasi.
  • Youth dormitories train the young in work, music and custom: the Gond ghotul, the Oraon dhumkuria, the Naga morung and the Garo nokpante.
• Land and forest:
  • Land is often held by the clan or village, with individual use rights.
  • Commons (forests, grazing land, water) are central to livelihoods, and sacred groves protect patches of forest.
• Belief:
  • Traditional faiths centre on nature, ancestors and spirits: the Sarna faith of Chotanagpur, Donyi-Polo in Arunachal Pradesh, Bathou among the Bodos.
  • Most north-eastern tribes (Mizo, Naga, Khasi, Garo) are now largely Christian. Many central Indian tribes have absorbed Hindu practices. The Chakma and Bhutia are Buddhist.
• Women have relatively higher status in many tribal societies, which shows in a sex ratio of 990 (2011) and a high share of women in farm and forest work.

Isolation and Change

• Isolation has preserved culture:
  • Hills, forests and islands kept tribal languages, customs, crafts and resource systems intact for centuries.
  • The Abujhmar hills of Bastar, the Niyamgiri hills and the Andaman forests show how difficult terrain shelters distinct ways of life.
  • The north-east’s isolation kept the caste order out, so tribal societies there remained relatively egalitarian.
• Isolation has also held back development:
  • Remote, scattered settlements make roads, schools, health care and markets costly to provide.
  • Low literacy, poor health and a subsistence economy persist where contact is least, as among most PVTGs.
  • Isolated groups are the most exposed when contact finally comes: the epidemics among the Great Andamanese, or the Jarawa after the trunk road.
• Forms of contact and change:
  • Sanskritisation and Hinduisation in central India, and Christianisation in the north-east.
  • Market integration, wage work and migration to cities, mines and plantations.
  • Political assertion, which won the tribal-majority States of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram, the tribe-based States of Jharkhand (26.2% ST) and Chhattisgarh (30.6% ST), and autonomous councils.
• The policy debate has swung between isolation (protecting tribes as they are), assimilation (absorbing them into the mainstream) and integration (development on their own terms). Since Independence, India has followed integration.

Important Tribes of India

State-wise Distribution

• Some groups are often listed in States where they are not notified: the Chutia in Assam (they seek ST status), the Khas in Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim, the Lambada in Rajasthan, the Kol in Uttar Pradesh (an SC there), the Rabha in Mizoram, the Katkari in Madhya Pradesh, the Oraon in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the Jarawa in Little Andaman (the Onge live there).

Tribes of Central and Eastern India

• Bhil:
  • India’s largest tribe (1.71 crore, 2011), spread over the Aravalli, Vindhya and Satpura hills of Rajasthan (Udaipur, Banswara, Dungarpur), Madhya Pradesh (Jhabua, Alirajpur), Gujarat and Maharashtra.
  • Known as the bowmen of Rajasthan. They speak Bhili, an Indo-Aryan language.
  • Culture: the Ghoomar dance, the Gair dance drama, the Bhagoria haat before Holi in western Madhya Pradesh, and the Baneshwar fair at the confluence of the Som and Mahi (Dungarpur), held in the month of Magh, not at Shivaratri.
• Gond:
  • The second-largest tribe (1.33 crore). The name Gondwana comes from them.
  • Spread over the Satpura–Maikal hills of Madhya Pradesh (Chhindwara, Mandla, Dindori), Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Telangana (Adilabad) and Odisha.
  • Known for their valour, they speak Gondi, a Dravidian language, along with regional tongues. They are mainly settled farmers in mud-walled, thatched villages.
  • Bastar’s Muria Gonds keep the ghotul (youth dormitory). The Pardhan Gonds are known for Gond painting.
  • Festivals: the Keslapur (Nagoba) Jatara and Madai.
• Baiga (“sorcerer” or medicine man):
  • A PVTG of the Maikal hills of Madhya Pradesh (Mandla, Dindori, Balaghat) and Chhattisgarh, with smaller groups in Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.
  • Traditionally semi-nomadic shifting cultivators (bewar), now dependent on minor forest produce, with bamboo as the key resource.
  • Tattooing (godna) marks every age and body part.
  • In 2015 the Baigas of Baiga Chak (Dindori) became the first community in India to receive habitat rights under the Forest Rights Act.
• Munda (“village headman”):
  • Centred on Ranchi and Khunti in Jharkhand, with groups in Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Chhattisgarh.
  • They speak Mundari (Austro-Asiatic). Once hunters, they are now farmers and labourers. Their clans are called kili, and the Nupur dance is their main entertainment.
  • They follow the Sarna faith and worship Singbonga (the Sun). Festivals: Mage, Karam, Sarhul and Phagu.
  • Khuntkatti (clan ownership of land cleared by founders) shaped Chotanagpur’s tenancy laws.
  • Birsa Munda led the Ulgulan (1899–1900). His birth anniversary, 15 November, is observed as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas.
• Santhal:
  • The third-largest tribe (65.7 lakh) and the largest in Jharkhand. Their core is the Rajmahal hills and Chotanagpur. Also found in West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and the tea gardens of Assam.
  • They led the Santhal Hul (1855–56) under Sidhu and Kanhu against British rule and moneylenders. It led to the separate Santhal Parganas district (1855).
  • It is often called the first tribal resistance to British rule, but the Paharia and Kol risings came earlier.
  • They are settled farmers who also keep livestock, and skilled hunters. Santhali dance and music are widely known.
  • Santhali, written in the Ol Chiki script, is a scheduled language.
  • They follow the Sarna faith with sacred groves rather than temples or idols. Festivals: Karam, Sohrai and Baha.
• Oraon and Ho:
  • The Oraons (36.8 lakh) speak Kurukh (Dravidian), keep the dhumkuria youth dormitory and celebrate Sarhul.
  • The Hos of Kolhan (West Singhbhum) are Munda-speaking farmers.
• Mina:
  • The largest ST of Rajasthan (43.5 lakh), also in Madhya Pradesh.
  • They trace descent to the Matsya avatar of Vishnu and the ancient Matsya kingdom.
  • They are divided into clans and sub-clans (adakhs): Ariat, Ahari, Katara, Kalsua, Kharadi, Damor, Ghoghra, Dali, Doma, Nanama, Dadore, Manaut, Charpota, Mahinda, Rana, Damia, Dadia, Parmar, Phargi, Bamna, Khat, Hurat, Hela, Bhagora and Wagat.
  • They are among the most educationally and politically advanced STs. They opposed the Gurjar demand for ST status in Rajasthan, fearing a dilution of reservation.
• Khond (Kondh):
  • The largest tribe of Odisha. They speak Kui (Dravidian), written in the Odia script, worship nature and practise shifting cultivation (podu).
  • The Dongria Kondh of the Niyamgiri hills (a PVTG) worship the hills as their deity, Niyam Raja.
    • After years of protest, in 2013 the Supreme Court left the decision on Vedanta Resources’ bauxite mining to the local gram sabhas. All twelve rejected it, and the Environment Ministry refused clearance in 2014.
• Toto:
  • A PVTG of a single village, Totopara, in Alipurduar district (West Bengal), near the Bhutan border.
  • They speak a Tibeto-Burman language, traditionally unwritten and influenced by Nepali and Bengali. They trade fruit and vegetables and worship Ishpa and Cheima while also identifying as Hindus.

Tribes of the North-East and the Himalaya

• Bodo:
  • Assam’s largest plains tribe (13.6 lakh), of Tibeto-Burman stock (Indo-Mongoloid in the older labels), believed to be among the earliest settlers of the Brahmaputra valley. They are also found in West Bengal and Nagaland.
  • Bodo is a scheduled language. Handloom weaving is central to their culture.
  • Bathou is the traditional faith. Bwisagu marks the spring new year and is dedicated to Shiva. They also keep Hapsa Hatarani and Domashi.
  • The Bodoland Territorial Region (under the Sixth Schedule) followed the 2003 and 2020 Bodo Accords.
• Naga tribes of Nagaland:
  • Angami:
    • Centred on Kohima, famous for terraced wet-rice cultivation.
    • They celebrate Sekrenyi. Men wear the white mhoushu and black lohe shawls. Women wear the mechala with ornaments of beads, mask pendants and bracelets.
    • They are also known for cane, bamboo and wood carving. They speak dialects such as Gnamei, Ngami and Tsoghami.
  • Hornbill Festival:
    • Held at Kisama near Kohima every year from 1 to 10 December since 2000. It opens on Nagaland’s Statehood Day.
    • It showcases all of Nagaland’s major tribes: Angami, Ao, Chakhesang, Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Lotha, Phom, Pochury, Rengma, Sangtam, Sumi, Yimkhiung, Zeliang, Kuki, Kachari and Garo.
  • Rengma: one of the 17 major Naga tribes, patrilineal and practising jhum; once animist and now largely Christian; the women are expert weavers.
  • Konyak (“black head”):
    • The largest of Nagaland’s 17 recognised tribes, in Mon district.
    • Former headhunters with tattooed faces; men wore deer-horn earrings, boar-tusk necklaces and brass heads. Over 95% are now Christian; they farm and hunt seasonally.
    • Festival: Aoleang (April, spring) and the Lao Ong Mo harvest festival.
• Bhutia:
  • Sikkim, the Darjeeling hills and Tripura, of Tibetan ancestry. They speak Sikkimese (Lhopo) and follow Buddhism.
  • Known for their art and cuisine: momos (a staple) and thukpa. Festivals: Losar and Losoong.
• Lepcha:
  • The earliest inhabitants of Sikkim and the Darjeeling–Kalimpong hills, calling themselves Rong. Dzongu in North Sikkim is reserved for them.
  • Small groups live in Bhutan, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. In Tripura, where they are notified, they are socially linked with the Nepali community. The older labels class them as Mongoloid.
  • Their language is Tibeto-Burman with its own script.
  • Nature worshippers who believed in spirits and witchcraft and later adopted Buddhism. They grow large cardamom, keep cattle and grow horticultural crops.
• Bru (Reang):
  • Indigenous to Tripura, Mizoram and Assam. In Tripura they are the second-largest tribe and a PVTG. The older labels class them as Indo-Mongoloid. Groups in Mizoram have not accepted them as indigenous there.
  • About 37,000 Brus fled Mamit, Kolasib and Lunglei districts of Mizoram after ethnic clashes in 1997 and lived for over two decades in relief camps in North Tripura. By 2018 about 5,000 had returned in eight phases, while about 32,000 stayed in six camps.
  • Repatriation to Mizoram under a June 2018 agreement failed: most camp residents rejected it because it did not guarantee their safety. A January 2020 agreement among the Centre, Tripura, Mizoram and Bru leaders provided for their permanent settlement in Tripura.
• Chakma:
  • Mizoram (with its own autonomous district council), Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. They are genetically close to the Tibeto-Burman groups of the north-east and to East Asian populations.
  • They trace descent from the Sakya clan of the Buddha; their ancestors migrated through Arakan to the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
  • The Kaptai Dam (1960s) submerged their lands there. Many settled in NEFA (Arunachal Pradesh) in 1964–69. Conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts erupted in the mid-1970s and continued until the 1997 peace accord.
  • Theravada Buddhists who speak Chakma, an Indo-Aryan language. Festivals: Bizu, Alphaloni, Buddha Purnima and Kathin Civar Dan.
• Khasi:
  • The Khasi Hills of Meghalaya, with groups in Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and West Bengal. They speak Khasi, an Austro-Asiatic language. Most are Christian.
  • Matrilineal: lineage and property pass through women, and the youngest daughter (khadduh) inherits the ancestral house.
  • The five-day Nongkrem festival is their major festival: women wear the jainsem and men the jymphong. Women also wear a silver or gold crown, and men large earrings.
  • Known for music on drums, guitars, flutes and cymbals. The living root bridges of the Khasi and Jaintia hills are on UNESCO’s tentative list.
• Garo:
  • The Garo Hills of Meghalaya and parts of Assam, Nagaland and West Bengal: one of the few matrilineal societies in the world.
  • Distinctive buildings: the nokpante (bachelors’ house), the nokmong, the jamadaal and the jamsireng granary.
  • The Wangala (“hundred drums”) harvest festival honours the Sun god Saljong.
  • Women wear many traditional ornaments; men wear a turban stuck with feathers.
• Nyishi:
  • One of the largest tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, in the Kurung Kumey, Papum Pare and Subansiri districts.
  • They speak Nyishi (Tani group). Many are now Christian. Festival: Nyokum.
• Apatani:
  • Also called Tanni, settled in the Ziro valley of Arunachal Pradesh. They speak a Tani language.
  • Famous for wet-rice and fish culture: two rice crops (Mipya and Emoh) and one fish crop (Ngihi) are raised together on the same plots.
  • They follow a sustainable social forestry system of pine and bamboo groves. They worship the Sun and Moon (Donyi-Polo).
  • Festivals: Dree (for a good harvest) and Myoko (friendship).
  • The Apatani cultural landscape is on UNESCO’s tentative list of World Heritage sites for its productivity and ecological balance.
• Gaddi:
  • Transhumant shepherds of the Dhauladhar range in Himachal Pradesh (Chamba, Bharmour, Kangra).
  • They winter in the valleys and summer on high pastures with sheep, goats, mules and horses.
  • Mostly Hindu, with a few Muslims. They speak Gaddi, written in Takri in the past and in Devanagari now. Festivals: Shivratri and local jatras.
• Gujjar and Bakarwal:
  • Pastoral and dairy communities of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, also found in Uttar Pradesh, with Hindu and Muslim segments.
  • They practise transhumance to the Pir Panjal and Kashmir meadows.
  • Historically the Gurjaras spread from Kashmir to Gujarat and Maharashtra, giving Gujarat its name, founding kingdoms and entering the Rajput groups as the dominant Badgujar lineage.

Tribes of Western and Southern India

• Warli:
  • Thane–Palghar (Maharashtra) and the Gujarat border.
  • Famous for Warli painting, made with rice paste on mud and cow-dung walls, with bamboo brushes and red ochre.
  • They perform the Tarpa dance at harvest and hold the Warli folk art and dance festival every March.
• Chenchu:
  • A PVTG of the Nallamala hills (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana), around the Nagarjunsagar–Srisailam and Amrabad tiger reserves, and in Kurnool, Nalgonda and Guntur.
  • Hunter-gatherers who trade in honey, roots, gums, fruits and tubers. They speak a Telugu dialect and are strongly ritual-minded.
  • They hold the Srisailam shrine sacred and celebrate Mahashivaratri.
• Lambada (Banjara, Sugali):
  • The largest ST of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, also found in Karnataka and Rajasthan.
  • They live in separate settlements called tandas, away from the main village, and guard their identity closely.
  • Traditionally cattle breeders and carriers who sold milk products. Known for mirror-work embroidery. Festivals: Teej and Ugadi.
• Siddi:
  • Of African (Bantu) descent: their ancestors came as traders, sailors and slaves with the Portuguese and Arab trade.
  • Found in Uttara Kannada (Karnataka), the Gir area of Gujarat (a PVTG there) and Goa.
  • Mostly Christian in Karnataka, with Hindu and Muslim groups elsewhere. Known for ritual, the dhamal dance and music.
• Kodava (Coorg):
  • A martial, patrilineal community of Kodagu: farmers and planters, passionate about hockey.
  • They speak Kodava and are exempt from the arms licence requirement.
  • They are not a notified ST; some groups seek that status.
• Koraga:
  • A PVTG of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada (Karnataka) and Kasaragod (Keralam).
  • They once lived in leaf huts (koppu) and wore leaf garments. They are known for basket weaving, dollu drumming and flute music.
  • The degrading Ajalu practice was banned by Karnataka in 2000, but cases have still been reported.
  • They are endogamous within three subdivisions (Sappina, Ande, Kappada). Their Koraga language has no script. They worship spirits (bhutas) and a sun god.
• Kadar:
  • A PVTG of the Anamalai and Parambikulam hills (Keralam and Tamil Nadu).
  • They practise no agriculture. They are specialists in collecting honey and wax, which they trade for food.
  • They live in temporary leaf shelters, shift with work, and revere forest spirits.
• Toda:
  • A PVTG of the Nilgiris: buffalo pastoralists whose life revolves around dairy.
  • They live in barrel-vaulted, thatched huts (mund).
  • Toda embroidery (pukhoor) has a GI tag. Festival: Modhweth.
• Irula:
  • The Nilgiris and Tamil Nadu plains, and Attappadi (Palakkad, Keralam).
  • Farmers of ragi, paddy, pulses, chillies, turmeric and plantains.
  • Famous as snake and rat catchers: their cooperative supplies venom for antivenom.
  • Ritualistic, with their own gods; older accounts credit them with black magic.
• Kattunayakan (“king of the jungle”):
  • A PVTG of Wayanad and the Nilgiris, also in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh; also called Cholanaickar and Pathinaickar.
  • Hunters and honey gatherers. They worship Shiva (as Bhairava), Jakkamma and nature: animals, trees, rocks and snakes.
  • They are monogamous. Child marriage, once common, has given way to later marriage. They eat meat and love music, song and dance. Their speech mixes Dravidian tongues.
• Cholanaikkan:
  • One of the smallest PVTGs. They live in the Nilambur forests (Karulai and Chungathara ranges, Malappuram, Keralam) and are said to have come from the Mysore forests.
  • The name comes from chola (“deep evergreen forest”) and naikan (“king”).
  • They live in rock shelters (kallulai) or leaf camps and survive by food gathering, hunting and minor forest produce. Their language is Dravidian.
• Kanikkar:
  • The Agasthyamalai hills of Thiruvananthapuram (Keralam) and Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu).
  • Semi-nomadic farmers who also hunt and fish, living in bamboo and reed huts on hillsides. Kanikkar Nritham is a group dance performed as an offering.
  • Their knowledge of the arogyappacha plant led to the herbal drug Jeevani and an early benefit-sharing agreement with the community.
• Kurumba:
  • Among the earliest settlers of the Western Ghats (Nilgiris, Attappadi); a PVTG.
  • They live by farming and gathering honey and wax, are skilled in herbal medicine; older accounts credit them with witchcraft and magic.

Tribes of the Islands

• Great Andamanese:
  • About 5,000 before British settlement in 1858. Conflict and epidemics of measles, influenza and syphilis reduced them to 44 (Census 2011); hundreds died defending their land. A 2012 study by the Andaman Adim Janjati Vikas Samiti counted 51.
  • Resettled on Strait Island. They speak a mixed Jeru-based tongue; the last speaker of Bo died in 2010.
• Onge:
  • Dugong Creek, Little Andaman (101 in 2011): semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers.
  • Their numbers fell after contact changed their diet and habits. Fertility is very low: about 40% of married couples were sterile and women rarely conceived before 28. Infant and child mortality ran at about 40%.
  • They speak Önge, one of the two Ongan languages.
• Jarawa:
  • The forests of South and Middle Andaman (380 in 2011). They largely avoided contact with outsiders, so much of their society and culture is poorly understood.
  • The Andaman Trunk Road, built through their reserve from the 1970s, brought contact, disease and “human safaris”.
  • The Supreme Court banned tourist traffic on the road on 21 January 2013 (Justices G. S. Singhvi and H. L. Gokhale). After a petition from local people, it allowed escorted convoys four times a day from 5 March 2013, because the road links more than 350 villages.
• Sentinelese:
  • North Sentinel Island (estimated 15 in 2011): among the world’s last uncontacted peoples, protected by a no-visit policy.
  • Hunter-gatherers and fishers using bows, arrows and spears, and gathering mud crabs and molluscs. Some practices are unchanged since the Stone Age. They use fire, though it is unclear whether they can make it, and are not known to farm.
• Shompen:
  • Great Nicobar: hunter-gatherers (229 in 2011) who hunt pigs, birds and small animals and forage forest foods.
  • They live in stilted huts walled with woven material and roofed with palm fronds. Men carry bows, spears, hatchets and fire drills.
  • Their language is distinct from Nicobarese and is placed in the Austroasiatic family. The Great Nicobar development project has raised concern over their habitat.
• Nicobarese:
  • The largest tribe of the islands (27,168 in 2011): horticulturists and fishers with coconut-based economies.
• Lakshadweep:
  • The islanders, descended from settlers from the Malabar coast (Amindivi, Koya, Malmi and Melacheri), form 94.8% of its people. They are almost all Muslim.

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups

Identification and Criteria

• PVTGs are the most vulnerable among the STs:
  • Their populations are stagnant or declining, and their literacy extremely low.
  • They use a pre-agricultural level of technology and live at a subsistence level.
  • Most live in remote, small and scattered habitations with poor infrastructure and services.
• Evolution:
  • The Dhebar Commission (1960–61) first noted wide inequalities among tribes.
  • During the Fifth Plan (1975) the Government identified 52 Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) as a separate category.
  • 23 more were added in 1993, making 75.
  • The category was renamed PVTGs in 2006.
• The four criteria: a pre-agricultural level of technology, a stagnant or declining population, extremely low literacy, and a subsistence economy.

Distribution

• The 75 PVTGs live in 18 States and one UT (Andaman and Nicobar).
• Odisha has the most (13), followed by undivided Andhra Pradesh (12).
• The PM-JANMAN habitation survey (2026) counted about 48.5 lakh PVTG members in 30,597 habitations.
  • Madhya Pradesh (13.9 lakh) and Maharashtra (6.7 lakh) lead.

Development of PVTGs

• Scheme for the Development of PVTGs (Ministry of Tribal Affairs):
  • Each State or UT prepares Conservation-cum-Development (CCD) plans from a needs assessment. A project appraisal committee of the ministry approves them.
  • PVTGs also get priority under Special Central Assistance, grants under Article 275(1), grants to voluntary organisations, and schemes for the education of ST girls in low-literacy districts.
• PM-JANMAN (Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan):
  • Launched on 15 November 2023 with an outlay of about ₹24,104 crore for three years.
  • 11 interventions by 9 ministries: pucca houses, roads, piped water, mobile medical units, Anganwadis, hostels, electricity, mobile towers, multipurpose centres, Van Dhan Vikas Kendras and skilling.
  • By October 2026, about 4.84 lakh houses had been sanctioned and 3.29 lakh completed, and 831 mobile medical units were running.
• Habitat rights under the Forest Rights Act protect a PVTG’s whole customary territory: land, forest, sacred sites and seasonal routes. Recognition remains slow outside a few States.
• State initiatives, such as Odisha’s Jiban Sampark project with UNICEF:
  • It builds awareness among PVTGs of welfare schemes, especially for women and children.
  • Its focus is skill development, community empowerment, cooperation and innovation.

Denotified Tribes and the Xaxa Committee

Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes

• Denotified tribes (DNTs) were communities listed under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 as “addicted to the systematic commission of non-bailable offences“.
  • They had to register with the local magistrate, and their movement was severely restricted.
• The Act was repealed in 1949 and the communities were “denotified” in 1952.
  • The Habitual Offenders Acts that followed kept the stigma alive. DNTs still face police suspicion, landlessness and poor access to services, and many cannot meet subsistence needs.
• Many DNTs are listed as STs, SCs or OBCs in different States; some are in no list at all.
• The Renke Commission (2008) and the Idate Commission (2015–18) examined their condition. The Idate Commission called for repeal of the Habitual Offenders Act and for a permanent commission.
• The SEED scheme (2022) offers DNTs coaching, health insurance, livelihoods and housing.

Xaxa Committee (2013–14)

• A High-Level Committee under Virginius Xaxa, set up by the Prime Minister’s Office in 2013, reported in May 2014 on the socio-economic, educational and health status of tribes.
• Five critical issues:
  • livelihood and employment;
  • education;
  • health;
  • involuntary displacement and migration;
  • legal and constitutional matters.
• Main findings:
  • Large spending since the First Plan has not closed the gaps in livelihood, education and health. This points to failures in delivery institutions.
  • Industry, mining, dams and roads in tribal areas have meant loss of livelihood, displacement and distress migration, with urbanisation following.
  • PESA (1996) and the Forest Rights Act (2006) changed the legal status of tribes, but policy and practice have been slow to absorb the change.
  • Land acquisition, food security, detention of tribal people, PVTGs and denotified tribes need special attention. The committee examined violations of these laws with a view to amending them.