4. 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.
5. 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
knownas
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
formof
language, Abujmaria bein the native
language of these tribes ofIndia.
6. 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
blackmagic.
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.
7. 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.
8. 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
9. 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.
Aka
10. 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 manyareas
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.
Alar Tribe
11. 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 17November
1951.[3] Besides KarbiAnglong
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. Apartfrom
Assam, the Karbis are alsorecognised
as Scheduled Tribesin
Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland. With
a population of around 4 lakhs 6 thousand
(406,000) .
12. 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.
Anal tribe
13. 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 takingheads.
Since 1879, when the Britishsucceeded in
annexing their territory.
14. Ahom
tribe
The Ahom people of Assam are the
descendants of the ethnic Tai people
that accompanied the Tai prince
Sukaphaainto
the Brahmaputravalley 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 regionthroughtheTreaty
of Yandabo upon winning the First
Anglo-Burmese War in 1826. The
kingdom established by the Ahom
people gaveAssamits name.
15. 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, theHunza
Valley and Baltistan) and Azad Kashmir .
16. Banjars tribe
The Banjara are a class of usually
described as nomadic people from the
Indian state of Rajasthan, North- West
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".
17. Bhils tribe
The Bhils are considered as the third
largest and most widely distributed
tribal groups in India. The name "Bhil"
was probably derived fromthe
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
language.
18. The Chero are scheduled castCe,hfoeurnodsinttrhiebe
states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, in North
India.
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.
19. 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 Jammuand
Kashmir and in certain parts of
Himachal Pradesh.
20. 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.
Gond or Rajgond are same tribes.
The term Raj Gond was widely used
in 1950s, but has nowbecome
almost obsolete, probably because
of the political eclipse of the Gond
Rajas.
The Gondi language is related
to Telugu and otherDravidian
languages. About half of Gonds
speak Gondi languages,[4] while the
rest speak Indo-Aryan
21. Naga tribe
The term Naga people refers to a
conglomerationof 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
Pradeshand 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
22. 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 preAryan
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 moneysworth.
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 famouspersonalities such
as Sidhu and Baba Tilka Majhi
were part of these enthusiastic
tribes of India.
23. Munda tribe
The Munda are tribal (Adivasi)
people of the Chota Nagpur Plateau
region.
They are found across, and into
parts of Bangladesh. Theirlanguage
is Mundari, which belongs to the
Munda
subgroup of theAustroasiaticlanguage
family.
There are estimated to be two
million Munda people.
24. Kolis tribe
The Koli people are historically an ethnic
groupnative
to Rajasthan,Himachal
Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar
Pradeshand Haryana states.
The Kolis of Gujaratintermixed
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 Kerala. 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-equalstanding
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 labourersor tenant
25. Korages 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 aScheduled
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
26. Maravars
tribe
Maravar are aTamil community of thestate
of Tamil Nadu, southern India, and are one of the
three branchesof
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,
Maravarsand Nairs of erstwhile Travancore areas.