3. The Apatanis are settled in the lower Subansiri district of
Arunachal and are one of the most advancing tribes of the state.
There are no literary sources regarding the origin and migration
of the Apatanis and the archaeological evidences are too
meagre to throw however, the Apatanis have preserved different
myths and traditions, which throw welcome light on all aspects of
their life including their origin and migration.
4. Abujmaria
These Indian tribes can be seen in the
mountain regions of Madhya Pradesh.
These tribes of India have a very deep
history. In the earlier period Abujmaria
tribes were known as
Abudjamadis, Abujmariya and Hill Maria.
These Indian tribes were considered as a
sub part of the important gonds tribes
(discussed earlier) who played a pivotal
role in knowing the original Indian tribes.
These tribes of India are generally found
in Abujhmar Mountains and
KutrumarHills in the Bastar district of
Madhya Pradesh.They generally speak
the Dravidian form of
language, Abujmaria bein the native
language of these tribes of India.
5. The Adivasi Girasia of India
The Adiwasi Girasia, inhabits the Banaskantha and
Sabarkantha districts of northern Gujarat State of
western central India.The Adiwasi Girasia are the
descendants of the Rajput who married Bhil women.
During the thirteenth century, many poor Rajput fled to
the Vindhya and Aravalli hills where they mixed with the
Bhil settlers
What are their beliefs?
Sixty percent of the Adiwasi practice ethnic religions, and 30% are
Hindus. The latter respect cows, worship the millions of Hindu gods, and
also believe in many spirits. They all have a strong fear of ghosts, spirits
of the dead, and black magic.
What are their lives like?
Among the Adiwasi Girasia, the average land holding is small and
therefore, the man of the household is able to do all of the work himself.
Their strong sense of community often leads to an exchange of field labor
among themselves. Maize is the staple food grown by all families. Many
also depend on forest produce as a means of support. The people are
generally vegetarians and are no longer addicted to alcohol like other Bhil
tribes.
6. Adiyan
Population: 9690
Adiyan - The word Adiyan means “slave.
” in Malayalam. The Adiyans are found in
the them are agricultural labourers. It is
believed that they were agrWayanad and
Kannur districts of Kerala. Most of
icultural slaves in the past. During the
annual festival at the Valliyurkkavu temple
in Mananthavady, Wayand, the Adiyar
people used to gather where they were
sold and bought by landlords.
7. Ahir
Place /Location (then and
now)
Bihar, Madhya Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh & Bengal
Population
750,000
Languages spoken
Hindi
Religion/God
Lord Krishna
Food
Rice, wheat , millet, mutton,
chicken, fish & eggs
8. Aka
These tribes are found mainly
in the Andaman
Islands, Arunachal Pradesh
and also in parts of Assam.
The Aka people are so named
for a black, sticky paint they
use on their faces. They used
to speak Aka (now an extinct
language) on the Andaman
Islands and Aka Lel, a dialect
of Nisi, in Assam. The Aka
people in Assam celebrate
the Nechido Festival every
year on the first day of
November.
9. Alar Tribe
Alar is a tribal community settled in
the regions of Palakkad
District, Kerala. They are also
known by different names such as
Chathans and Chatans. The Alar
and Malayalam are the two
languages spoken by them.Alars
perform the Chatthankali, a dance
form prevalent in many areas
of Ponnani and Tirur in Malappura
m District. The dance is performed
in the attire of a village deity, with
the accompaniment of percussion
instruments.
10. Amri Karib
The Karbis are the principal tribal
community in the Karbi Anglong district
of Assam, a district administered as
per the provisions of the Sixth
Schedule of the Constitution of
India, having an autonomous district of
their own since 17 November
1951.[3] Besides Karbi Anglong
district, the Karbi-inhabited areas
include Dima Hasao, Kamrup, Marigaon
district, Nagaon, Golaghat,Karimganj a
nd Sonitpur districts of Assam; Balijan
circle of Papumpare district
in Arunachal Pradesh, Jaintia Hills, Ri
Bhoi and East Khasi Hills districts
in Meghalaya, and Dimapur
District inNagaland. Apart from
Assam, the Karbis are also recognised
as Scheduled Tribes in
Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland.
With a population of around 4 lakhs 6
thousand (406,000) .
11. Anal tribe
The Anal live in the Manipur
region of north-east India,
which is surrounded by
the Imphal valley to the
north, Churachandpur to the
west, the Chin Hillsto the
south and Kabaw valley to
the east. The area is very
hilly, with thick jungles and
many wild
animals. According to the
2001 census, there are
approximately 21,242 Anal in
Manipur. In 1981 they were
living in 45 villages.
12. Angami tribe
The Angami Nagas are hill people
depending basically on cultivation and
livestock-rearing. The Angamis are
known for terraced wet-rice cultivation;
because of this labor-intensive
cultivation, land is the most important
form of property among the Angamis.
Angamis are one of the only two groups
of Nagas out of the seventeen who
practice wet-rice cultivation on terraces
made on the hill slopes. This allows them
to cultivate the same plot year after year.
They depend, to a very small extent, on
slash-and-burn cultivation. Angamis were
traditionally warriors, the Angami men
spent majority of their time in warfare
with hostile villages and taking heads.
Since 1879, when the Britishsucceeded
in annexing their territory.
13. Ahom tribe
The Ahom people of Assam are the
descendants of the ethnic Tai
people that accompanied the Tai
prince Sukaphaa into
the Brahmaputra valley in 1228 and
ruled the area for six centuries.
Sukaphaa and his followers established
the Ahom kingdom(1228-1826) and
the Ahom dynasty ruled and expanded
the kingdom until the British gained
control of the region through the Treaty
of Yandabo upon winning the First
Anglo-Burmese War in 1826. The
kingdom established by the Ahom
people gave Assam its name.
14. Bakarwals tribe
Bakarwal (or Bakharwal) is
a nomadic tribe based in the Pir
Panjal andHimalayan mountains
of South Asia. They are
mainly goatherds and shepherds. They
are called as Dhangar in rest of India.
Bakarwals are spread throughout the northern part of
the Himalayan Range. This includes the states
of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab
(India) in India. In Pakistan, Bakarwals are found in the
hilly northern parts of Punjab (Pakistan) as well as parts
of the North West Frontier Province.In Jammu and
Kashmir in India, Bakarwals are found in all three
regions of the state including Jammu (comprising the
districts
of Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur, Poonch, Rajouri and Dist
rict), the Kashmir Valley (comprising the diatrict
of Srinagar, Baramulla, Kupwara, Pulwama, Budgam an
d Anantnag) and Ladakh (comprising the district
of Ladakh and Kargil).In Pakistan, Bakarwals inhabit
the Northern Areas (Gilgit, the Hunza
Valley and Baltistan) and Azad Kashmir .
15. Banjaras tribe
The Banjara are a class of usually
described as nomadic people from
the Indian state of Rajasthan, NorthWest Gujarat, and Western Madhya
Pradesh and Eastern Sindh province
of pre-independence Pakistan. They
claim to belong to the clan of
Agnivanshi Rajputs, and are also
known as Lakha Banjara means
'Lakhapati', Banjari, Pindari, Bangal
a, Banjori, Banjuri, Brinjari, Lamani,
Lamadi, Lambani, Labhani, Lambara
, Lavani, Lemadi, Lumadale, Labhani
Muka, Goola, Gurmarti, Gormati, Kor
a, Sugali, Sukali, Tanda, Vanjari, Van
zara, and Wanji. Together with
the Domba, they are sometimes
called the "gypsies of India".[2]
16. Bhils tribe
The Bhils are considered as the third
largest and most widely distributed
tribal groups in India. The name "Bhil"
was probably derived from the
word villu or billu, which in most
Dravidian languages is the word for
"bow." The bow has long been a
characteristic weapon of the Bhil
because the tribesmen always carry their
bows and arrows with them. The Bhil
tribes inhabit some of the most remote
and inaccessible areas of India. There are
two divisions of Bhils: the Central or
"pure" Bhils, and the Eastern or Rajput
Bhils. The Central Bhils live in the
mountain regions in the states of
Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
They are known as the connecting link
between the Gujaratis and the
Rajasthanis and are one of the largest
tribal communities of India. They
speak Bhili, which is an Indo-Aryan
17. Cheros the
The Chero are scheduled caste, found in tribe
states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, in North
India.[2]
The community claims to have originally
been Chandravanshi Rajputs. Other members of
the tribe claim to be Nagvanshi. The Chero are
essentially one of many tribal communities,
such as the Bhar and Kol, that inhabit the
southeastern corner of Uttar Pradesh. They were
the traditional rulers of north Bihar, until they
were disposed by the Rajputs. They are now
found in a territory extending from Allahabad in
the west, and Muzaffarpur in the east. The
Chero have two sub-divisions, the Mahto and
Chaudhary.[3]
18. Gaddi tribe
The Gaddi are a tribe living mainly in
the Indian states of Himachal
Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
As of 2001, the Gaddi were
classified as a Scheduled
Tribe under the Indian
government's reservation
program of positive
discrimination. This classification
applied through Jammu and
Kashmir and in certain parts of
Himachal Pradesh.
19. Gond tribe
The Gondi (Gōndi) or Gond people
are people in central India, spread
over the states of Madhya
Pradesh, eastern Maharashtra (Vid
arbha),Chhattisgarh, northern And
hra Pradesh, and Western Odisha.
With over four million people, they
are the largest tribe in Central
India.[2]
Gond or Rajgond are same tribes.
The term Raj Gond was widely
used in 1950s, but has now become
almost obsolete, probably because
of the political eclipse of the Gond
Rajas.[3]
The Gondi language is related
to Telugu and other Dravidian
languages. About half of Gonds
speak Gondi languages,[4] while the
rest speak Indo-Aryan
20. Naga tribe
The term Naga people refers to a
conglomeration of several
tribes inhabiting the North Eastern part
of India and north-western Burma. The
tribes have similar cultures and
traditions, and form the majority ethnic
group in the Indian
states of Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal
Pradesh and Assam, as well
as Myanmar. Out of the numerous
unique identities of the Nagas, the most
unique traditional items that can be
found in almost all of the Naga tribes
and that distinctly separate Nagas from
the other tribals are the Conical red
headgear decorated with wild-boar
canine teeth and white-black Hornbill
feathers, the spear with the shaft
decorated with red-black hairs and the
unique Dao with broad blade and long
handle.
21. Santhals tribe
A step forward, in our Indian tribal tour
takes us to Santhal tribe. With a
population of more than 49000, Santhal
tribes are the third largest tribes in
India. Belonging to pre Aryan
period, these tribes of India are found
in regions of West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa
and Jharkhand. Many call them as “ the
tribes
at extreme”, a visit to their place will
surly get your moneys worth.
Santhal Tribes of India take pride in
their past. Historically, these Indian
tribes were at front end against
Britishers, and their heroics against
Lord Cornwallis are well known. Many
famous personalities such
as Sidhu and Baba Tilka Majhi were
part of these enthusiastic tribes of
India.
22. Munda tribe
The Munda are tribal (Adivasi) people
of the Chota Nagpur Plateau region.
They are found across, and into parts
of Bangladesh. Their language
is Mundari, which belongs to the Munda
subgroup of theAustroasiatic language
family.
There are estimated to be two million
Munda people.
23. Kolis tribe
The Koli people are historically an
ethnic group native
to Rajasthan, Himachal
Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Utt
ar Pradesh and Haryana states.
The Kolis of Gujarat intermixed
with Rajputs due to the practice
of hypergamous marriage,which was
commonly used to enhance or secure
social status as, for example, with
the Nairs andNambudiriBrahmins of Ke
-rala.Some Kolis had also once held
small princedoms before the British
Raj period and some were still
significant landholders and tenants in
the twentieth century.However, most
Kolis had lost their once-equal standing
with the Patidar community due to the
land reforms of the Raj period and, for
example, most Kolis in the Surashtra
region of Gujarat were still occupied as
agricultural labourers or tenant
24. Koragas tribe
The Koragas are a tribal community
found mainly in the Dakshina
Kannada, Udupi districts
of Karnataka and the Kasaragod
district of Kerala, south India. These
areas in Karnataka, are altogether
often referred to as Tulu Nadu. They
are also found in small numbers in
adjoining districts ofUttara Kannada, Shimoga and Kodagu. The
Koraga are classified by the
Government of India as a Scheduled
Tribe.
The Koraga, who numbered 16,071
according to the 2001 census of
India,have their
own language, classified as an
independent dravidian
language,which is strongly
influenced
by Kannada, Malayalam and Tulu lan
guages commonly found in their
25. Maravars tribe
Maravar are a Tamil community of the state
of Tamil Nadu, southern India, and are one of the
three branches of
the Mukkulathor confederacy.Maravars are found
predominantly in the Southern districts of Tamil
Nadu, such as Madurai, Theni, Sivagangai,
Ramanathapuram, Dindigul, Virudhunagar,
Thirunelveli, Thoothukudi and districts of Tamil
Nadu. They are also found in central districts of
Tamil Nadu like Pudukottai, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur,
Nagapattinam and Tiruchy. They ruled portions of
Tamil Nadu along with the Kallars. The Southern
martial arts of Kalarippayattu, Silambam, Varma
Kalai have been practiced primarily by Kallars,
Maravars and Nairs of erstwhile Travancore
areas.[1] In British times,