Chapter 10 India – Tribes Of India Introduction :

Our motherland India is a homeland of a large number of indigenous or native inhabitants who are not touched by the way of living of the modern world. India has the largest population of such people (about 84-4 million in the world) who are commonly called ‘tribes’.

Tribes :

‘Tribes’ are specific social groups who have lived by hunting, animal rearing, and food-gathering since ancient times. They are also known as ‘Adivasis’. Their lives depend entirely on nature.

They are the poorest and perhaps the most backward population of our country. Nowadays their life has changed a lot. The young generation works in the field or factory. Some of them are working in the town after completing their education.

Tribes of India :

Many tribal people live in different parts of India. Some of the major tribal groups in India include Gonds, Bhils, Santhals, Munda; Garos, Khasis, Chenchu, Kinnaur, Todas, Bhutias, and Jarawas (Andamanese). All of these tribal people have their own culture, tradition, language, and lifestyle.

Gonds :

Gonds are the largest tribal groups in India and one of the largest in the world. They are mostly found in the ‘Gond forests’ of Central India, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. They practice sedentary agriculture. They are largely influenced by the Hindus and follow Hindu cultural traditions.

Bhils:

Bhils are the second largest tribal group in India. They are popularly known as the bowman of Rajasthan. They are also found in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Their language is the Indo-Aryan language ‘Bhili’.

Earlier hunting was their chief occupation but cultivation is their main livelihood at present. They are known for their truthfulness and simplicity.

Santhals:

Santhals are the third largest tribal group in India. They are mostly found in the states of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, and Assam. They speak the ‘Santhali’ language.

They have an ‘Olchiki’ script. They also speak Hindi, Oriya, and Bengali. The Santhals fulfill their basic needs from the plants and trees in the forest. Their other occupations are hunting, fishing, and cultivation.

Munda :

‘Munda’ generally means the ‘headman of the village’. They inhibit the region of Jharkhand but are also found in West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh. Their chief occupation is hunting.

Garos :

They inhibit Garo hills in Meghalaya. They speak the ‘Garo language’.-They are engaged in shifting cultivation, hunting, and fishing.

Khasi :

They are found in Khasi, Jayantia hills in Meghalaya, and also in the states of Manipur, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Jammu And Kashmir. They speak the ‘Khasi’ language. Music plays an important part in their life.

Chenchu :

They inhibit the Nallamalai hills of Andhra Pradesh. They speak chenchu and Telegu languages. Primarily their occupation is hunting and food gathering. They worship a number of deities. Some of them also follow Hindu culture and tradition.

Kinnaur:

They are the tribes of Himachal Pradesh. They speak the Kinnauri language. They are mostly engaged as animal rearers.

Todes:

Todas are the tribes of the Nilgiri hills of Southern India. They speak Toda and Tamil languages. Their main occupation is animal rearing.

Bhutia :

Bhutias are of Tibetan origin. They are found in the northern part of Sikkim. They speak Sikkimese, Nepali, Bhutia, Lepcha, Hindi, and English languages. Their main occupation is agriculture. Some of them are herdsmen.

Jarawas :

Jarawas are the native people of South Andaman. They speak the Andamani language. Hunting, fishing, and food-gathering are their main occupation.

The language is spoken by people in different states of India :

There is great diversity in the languages of India. This is due to the huge size of the population in India. Different racial groups maintain their own languages in different regions but there,is not much difference in the scripts of many of these languages.

The languages of India have the following common features :

• All the Indian languages are phonetic in nature.
• All the Indian languages have more or less a common structure.
•  All the Indian languages have a large common vocabulary.

The languages spoken by the people of India have been divided mainly into the two groups—

• Indo-European Family (Arya) and
• Dravidian Family (Dravida).

The other two groups are

• Austric Family (Nightshade) and Sino-Tibetan Family (Kirata).

The following major languages have been specified in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution—

1. Assamese
2. Bengali
3. Gujarati
4. Hindi
5. Kannada
6. Kashmiri
7. Marathi
8. Malayalam
9. Oriya
10. Punjabi
11. Sanskrit
12. Tamil
13. Telegu
14. Urdu
15. Sindhi
16. Manipuri
17. Nepali
18. Boro
19. Maithili
20. Dogri
21. Santhali
22. Konkani.

State	Main language
1. Andhra Pradesh	Telegu, Urdu
2. Arunachal Pradesh	Mizi, Monpa
3. Assam	Assamese
4. Bihar	Hindi, Bhojpuri
5. Chhattisgarh	Hindi
6. Goa	Konkani, Goanese
7. Gujarat	Gujrati, Sindhi
8. Haryana	Punjabi, Hindi
9. Himachal Pradesh	Hindi
10. Jammu and Kashmir	Kashmiri, Urdu
11. Jharkhand	Hindi
12. Karnataka	Kannada
13. Kerala	Malayalam
14. Madhya Pradesh	Marathi, Hindi
15. Maharashtra	Marathi, Hindi.
16. Manipur	Manipuri
17. Meghalaya	Khasi, Garo
18. Mizoram	Mizo, English
19. Nagaland	Nagamese, English.
20. Odisha	Oriya
21. Punjab	Punjabi
22. Rajasthan	Rajasthani, Hindi
23. Sikkim	Lepcha, Nepali
24. Tamil Nadu	Tamil
25. Telangana	Telegu, Urdu
26. Tripura.	Bengali
27. Uttar Pradesh	Bhojpuri, Hindi, Urdu
28. Uttarakhand	Hindi
29. West Bengal	Bengali, Hindi

 

Union Territories	Main language
1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Hindi, Bengali, Nicobari
2. Chandigarh	Punjabi, Hindi
3. Dadra and Nagar Haveli	Villi, Gujarati
4. Daman and Diu	Marathi, Gujarati
5. Delhi (National Capital Territory)	Hindi
6. Lakshadweep	Malayalam
7. Puducherry	Tamil, French

 

The Languages Spoken by people in different States and Union Territories of India.

WBBSE Notes for Class 6 Junior School Geography