The present work is an attempt to contribute to the growing literature on the biological and cultural perspectives of the tribes of North East India. During last few decades, social scientists have increasingly turned their attention towards the development and problems of the tribes of India and literature on the subject at present is voluminous. However, in recent years, a tendency has been observed among many social scientists to avoid precise and clear-cut definition of the term 'tribe' employed by them in their studies. It is true that the definition of tribe in the Indian context appears to be in an inconstant state, as the word has been perceived variously. The word can be defined at different level having different perspectives. On academic parlance the tribe can be defined on theoretical level. Definition of the term may be on historical, anthropological or on sociological context. There is yet another approach to the definition of tribe which is charged with ideological orientation the Marxian approach. However, in the present context of India, most of the attributes of the above-mentioned approaches have lost their significance and existence. Defining tribe in terms of single set of attributes is thus, immensely difficult. Again, if we strictly follow the above indicators, probably many groups which are scheduled as tribals would cease to remain as tribal while some other non-scheduled groups may easily claim the scheduled status.
In contemporary India, the Scheduled Tribes are basically a politico-administrative category and are devoid of any academic definition. In the present compilation, therefore, the word 'tribe' refers to those communities which are declared as such by the Constitution of India. It would not be out of place to mention here that Government of India declared that only those who were in the list of 'primitive tribe' in the Census Report of 1931 were to be included in the list of Scheduled Tribes. For Constitution, Scheduled Tribe are those which are backward and which deserve special provision for development. The problem of specifying the members of Scheduled Tribes (art 342) though entrusted to the President of India, the Constitution however, did not define the Scheduled Tribes. At present the tribes so specified in the order number about 450 approximately, and about 130 such communities inhabit in North East India.
North East India, the ears while greater Assam, presently the land of seven sisters covers political units namely the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura and is located between latitude 20º and 22º North and longitude 89°46' and 97°5' East. It has an area of 2,55,082 sq. km., having a hilly and wild topography. The indigenous inhabitants of this region, who are mostly tribes, are bewildering in their variety, ethnicity, culture and folklore. The area is endowed with rich re-sources of land, water, forests, and minerals etc., and perched at the confluence of countries like China and Tibet in the north, Myanmar in the east and north and Bangladesh in the west. This region is connected with the rest of India by a narrow corridor between Nepal and Bangladesh. This has greatly enhanced its strategic importance.
It is estimated that out of approximately 31'4 million people living in North East India, about 8'1 millions of them are made up of tribal people of the hills and plains. At present, in four of the seven states in North East India, tribals are in majority. Arunachal Pradesh which attained statehood from Union Territory status only in 1984, alone accounts for some twenty-four major tribal groups and these constitute about 70.0% of the total population. Tribes living in the states of Assam are categorised into fourteen hill tribes and nine plains tribes and the state accounted for merely 11.0% tribal population. Manipur is abode of twenty-eight tribal groups which makes up approximately 28.0% of the toral population. Meghalaya which came into being in 1972 is a tribal dominated (81.0% to the total population) state and noted for its three matriarchal tribal groups besides others.
Mizoram, the land of Mizos which also was born in 1972, is again dominated (94.0%) by the tribals. Nagaland which was made a separate state in 1963 where tribal population constitute more than 84.0% and is inhabited by thirteen major tribes and sub-tribes speaking different dialects. Among the Nagas, there are sixteen distinctly recognised tribal groups. In Tripura, where Scheduled Tribe constituted 29.0% of the total population, is the home of nineteen different Scheduled Tribes (Census, 1981).
North East India is the land of co-existence of the extreme forms of both tradition land modernity. Ethnically the tribes of North East belong to the Indo-Mongoloid racial stock. The tribal people of this region speak languages of different divisions and sub-divisions of the Sino-Tibetan linguistic family. However, a few speak Mon-Khmer (Austro-Asiatic) languages. In some tribes, the literacy rate is remarkably low. Again, few tribes could take their literacy rate to a respectable stage which is much above national level. Majority of the tribes are patriarchal while, matriarchal tribal societies also exist in few pockets. Some are in transitional stage.
Traditionally the tribes of North East are jhum (shifting) cultivators, while many of them are settled cultivators and as good peasants as others. Market economy prevails but barter trade also exists. Simple family system is the basic norm although extended family system is also followed by some. Cross cousin marriage is almost a common factor. Certain tribal groups have stratified society. Chieftainship is prevalent among some, while others prefer to be ruled by a village council. Though a large number of them was brought under the orbit of institutionalised religion like Buddhism, Hinduism (both Vaishnavism and Brahmanical) and Christianity, yet many still practice traditional religion based on magico-religious practices. Most of the festivals are celebrated by them centering round agricultural activities.
Hindu (933)
Agriculture (118)
Ancient (1085)
Archaeology (754)
Architecture (563)
Art & Culture (911)
Biography (702)
Buddhist (544)
Cookery (167)
Emperor & Queen (565)
Islam (242)
Jainism (307)
Literary (896)
Mahatma Gandhi (373)
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist