EPITOME IAS ANTHROGURU EPITOME IAS

INDIAN TRIBAL COMMUNITIES

S.NO TRIBE ETHNOGRAPHER CHARACTERISTICS- CASE STUDY

 Pastoral community of the Nilgiri

1 Toda W. H. R. Rivers, Mountains
The Todas (1906).  Dravidian language
 Classificatory Kinship Terminology.
 Toda practiced fraternal polyandry
 Continuing institution of "marriage by
capture
 Toda may attribute sickness to natural
causes, the malevolence of supernatural
beings, or the sorcery of humans

2 Andamanese A. R. Radcliffe-Brown  Hunting and gathering culture

 Andamanese have bilateral descent groups
The Andaman  Classificatory Kinship Terminology
Islanders, (1922).  Monogamy is a strict rule
 Levirate marriage is acceptable
 Residence is ambilocal
 Animistic
 Frequent contact with spirits endows the
okojumu or okopaid (medicine man) with
supernatural powers
 Illness and usually attributes it to spirits.

Elwin, Verrier
3 Baiga (1939). The Baiga  The name "Baiga" means "sorcerer,
medicine man" and is applied in this sense to
the priests of the Chota Nagpur tribe.
 Austroasiatic language
 The practice of shifting cultivation and the
nomadic tradition, The Baiga raise pigs
(which are held in particularly high esteem),
poultry, goats, and cattle (cows, bullocks,
and buffalo).
 Descent is patrilineal.
 Kinship Terminology. lroquois kinship
terminology is employed for first cousins.
 Postmarital residence is patrilocal.
 Major religious practitioners include the
dewar and the gunia.
 For the Baiga, most illness is traceable to
the activity of one or more malevolent
supernatural forces
 Baiga pantheon may be held responsible for
sending sickness, as may the mata,
"mothers of disease," who attack animals

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and humans. The gunia is charged with the

responsibility of diagnosing disease and
with the performance of those magical-
religious ceremonies required to alleviate
sickness.

4 Bhuiyas Roy, Sarat Chandra  The Bhuiya speak an Indo-Aryan language.

(1935). The Hill  The main economic activities are tuned to
Bhuiyas ofOrissa swidden cultivation (kamani) of paddy,
other cereals, lentils, and vegetables.
 Descent is patrilineal
 A classificatory Kinship Terminology.
 Monogamous marriage is the rule
 Marriage by elopement and capture are
common
 People, crops, and cattle are believed to be
protected from diseases by the village
tutelary deity.

5 Chenchu Christoph von Fiirer-  The economic system of the Chenchus

Haimendorf,
is primarily one of hunting and
The Aboriginal Tribes of gathering.
Hyderabad. (1943).  The Chenchus speak a dialect of Telugu
 There is a concurrence of patrilocal and
matrilocal marriage

Christoph von Fiirer-

Haimendorf,
6 Gond  Dravidian language called Gondi
The Aboriginal Tribes of  Originally they must have been
Hyderabad. (1943). nomadic hunters and food gatherers and
then switched to shifting cultivation,
retaining, however, their close
connection with the forest.
 The Gonds have a pronounced
patrilineal and patriarchal clan system
 monogamous union
 Gonds believe in a high god whom they
call either by his Hindu name,
"Bhagwan," or by his tribal name,
"Bara Deo," the "Great God."

7 Khasi Gurdon, P. R.T.  The Khasi speak a Mori-Khmer language

(1904). (belonging to the Austroasiatic Family).
 The Khasi are multioccupational and their
Note on the Khasis, economy is market-based.
and Allied Tribes,  jhum agriculture
 well-known instance of matriliny.

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Inhabiting the  Iroquois pattern Kinship Terminology

Khasi and [aintia  Today over half of all Khasis have adopted
Hills District in Christianity
Assam."  In traditional Khasi medical practice
magicoreligious means are used to prevent
and treat sickness.
 The propitiation of the spirits is carried out
by the lyngdoh

 Largest pastoral communities of India

Khatana, R. (1984).
8 Gujjar  Traditional institutions, such as Jirga
The transhumance (Panchayats Institutions), in managing
economy of Gujara natural resources accounting for the
Bakarwals interdependence of seasons and social
life.
 Practice transhumance in the Himalayas
 They are the adherents of the Islamic
faith and follow the Sunni5 school of
thought.

Fiirer-Halmendorf  Tibetan-related ethnic group

Christoph von  Tlbeto-Burman Family of languages,
9 Sherpas (1964). The Sherpas  trans-Himalayan trade
of Nepal: Buddhist  Kinship Terminology is a variant of the
Highlanders. Omaha system
 marriages are monogamous
 The Tibetan form of Mahayana
Buddhism, sometimes called Vajrayana
 Indigenous cures include herbal
medicines, shamanic exorcism, the
reading of exorcism texts by lamas, and
the use of amulets and medicines

L. P. Vidyarthi
10 Maler  They practice jhum cultivation
The Maler: The  Nature-man-spirit complex
Nature-Man-Spirit  Dravidian-speaking tribe of the
Complex in a Hill Rajmahal Hills
Tribe

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