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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Why was the category of ‘criminal tribe’ created by law during the colonial period in India? Discuss its implications.

  • UPSC 2026
  • Tribal Communities in India

The Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 did not discover criminals; it manufactured a category. Extended from the North-Western Provinces, Oudh and Punjab to Madras and Bombay in 1911 and consolidated all-India in 1924, it notified whole communities as addicted to the systematic commission of non-bailable offences — criminal by birth.

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  • Why the category was created
  • Implications
  • Conclusion

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