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'''India's tribal belt''' refers to contiguous areas of settlement of [[Adivasi|Tribal people]] of [[India]], that is, groups or tribes that remained genetically homogenous as opposed to other population groups that mixed widely within the Indian subcontinent. The tribal population in India, although a small minority, represents an enormous diversity of groups. They vary in language and linguistic traits, ecological settings in which they live, physical features, size of the population, the extent of [[acculturation]], dominant modes of making a [[livelihood]], level of development and [[social stratification]]. They are also spread over the length and breadth of the country though their geographical distribution is far from uniform. A majority of the [[Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes|Scheduled Tribe]] population is concentrated in the eastern, central and western belt covering the nine States of [[Odisha]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Maharashtra]], [[Gujarat]], [[Rajasthan]], [[Andhra Pradesh]] and [[West Bengal]]. About 12 percent inhabit the North-eastern region, about five percent in the Southern region and about three percent in the Northern States.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RM8qCr_uvVN0DFefn0FciaLeICQtvirU/view|title=Report on Situational Analysis of Ashram Schools in the context of Child Protection.pdf|work=Vidhayak Bharti|access-date=2018-11-23}}</ref>

==Northwest India==
The Tribal Belt of Northwest and east India includes the state of [[Rajasthan]]. The tribal people of this region have origins which precede the arrival of the [[Ancestral North Indians]] and are linked to the [[Ancestral South Indians]]. These people are thought to stem back to the [[Indus Valley civilisation|Harappan civilization]] of the [[Indus Valley]], the oldest traceable civilization of the Indian subcontinent which flourished between 3500BC and 2500BC. {{Citation needed|date=November 2010}}

The tribes of north-west India were once strongly matrilineal societies. The changing fates and fortunes of these people has caused a gradual evolution to a more patriarchal code of living. These days the tribal societies generally follow the rule of [[patriliny]], but there remain many examples of organised [[matriarchy]] in existence in the tribal zones to this day. It is the women who organise matters such as relationships and marriages, the inheritance of land, and the distribution of wealth.

== South Gujarat Tribal Belt ==

[[File:Rupagad fort1.JPG|thumb|Rupugad Fort]]

The Southern Tribal Belt, popularly known as [[Dang district, India|Dang]], a forbidden territory covered with thick forests in the region of the South Gujarat. Located on the foothills of the [[Sahyadri]] range of mountains, it has green pastures, narrow roads, deep valleys, and wild animals. During the monsoon one can see water springs and a green carpet of diverse flora/fauna.

Spread across the lush green region of South Gujarat Tribal Belt said to be Kashmir of Gujarat. live the tribes of [[Bhil]], Kholcha, Bhel, Nayaka, Koknas, Vedch, Gamits, Warlis, and Chaudaris.

[[File:Dakshin Gujarat Adivasi Nanivahial Ashram.jpg|thumb|Dakshin Gujarat Adivasi Sevamandal - Ashram Nani Vahial]]

[[Dakshin Gujarat Adivasi Sevamandal]] is an NGO founded by the Gandhian philosopher Premshankar Bhatt and his daughter Urmillaben Bhatt in 1948 to spread education in the deep forest of the South Gujarat Tribal Belt. It is registered as a trust under the [[Bombay Trust Act]]. It provides education to South Gujarat Tribals through a resident school (Ashramshalla) which offers free education, lodging and boarding. The Tribal Belt of Gujarat today has the highest literate tribal population in India.<ref>[http://www.dakshinseva.in "Dakshin Sevamandal Tribal Ashram"]. Accessed 8 September 2017.</ref>

==Central & Eastern Tribal Belt India==
The Central India Tribal Belt stretches from Gujarat in the west up to [[Assam]] in the east across the states of [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Chhattisgarh]] and [[Jharkhand]]. It is among the poorest regions of the country. Over 90% of the Belt's tribal population is rural, with primitive [[agriculture]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.srtt.org/institutional_grants/rural_livelihoods_communities/central_india_initiative.htm |title="Central India Initiative" |access-date=2009-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090928065232/http://srtt.org/institutional_grants/rural_livelihoods_communities/central_india_initiative.htm |archive-date=2009-09-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Hinduization and Rajputization==
[[Bhangya Bhukya]] notes that during the final years of [[British Raj|British rule in India]], while colonial education efforts led to the [[westernization]] of the hilly areas of central India, the regions also parallelly underwent the Hinduization and [[Rajputization]] processes. The [[Gond people]] and their chiefs started doing the "caste–Hindu practices" and frequently claimed the "[[Rajput]], and thus kshatriya status". The British colonial government, for their part, supported these claims as they viewed the [[adivasi]] society to be less "civilized" than the caste society and believed that association of the adivasi with the castes would make the adivasis "more civilized and sober" and "easier for the [British] state to control". Bhukya also points out that central India's "Raj Gond families" had already adopted the religious and social traditions of the Rajputs before the period of the British colonial rule, and there were "matrimonial relations" between a number of Gond and Rajput Rajas. However, the colonial government's policies of offering "''[[zamindari]]'' rights, village headships and ''patelships''" fueled the process.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=[[Modern Asian Studies]] |volume=47 |number=1 |date=January 2013 |pages=309 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |editor1-first=Joya |editor1-last=Chatterji |editor2-first=Norbert |editor2-last=Peabody |editor1-link=Joya Chatterji |title=The Subordination of the Sovereigns: Colonialism and the Gond Rajas in Central India, 1818–1948 |first=Bhangya |last=Bhukya |jstor=23359786}}</ref>

According to Patit Paban Mishra, "the 'ksatriyaization' of tribal rulers and their surroundings, resulted in the Hinduization of tribal areas".<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=58 |year=1997 |page=805 |publisher=[[Indian History Congress]] |title=Critique of Indianization Theory |first=Patit Paban |last=Mishra |jstor=44144025}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Adivasi]] ("Scheduled tribes")
* [[List of Scheduled Tribes in India]]
* [[Eklavya Model Residential School]]

==Sources==
{{Free-content attribution
| title = Situational Analysis of Ashram Schools in Maharashtra: In the Context of Child Protection
| author =
| publisher = Vidhayak Bharti : A Child Rights Advocacy Initiative
| page numbers =
| source =
| documentURL = https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RM8qCr_uvVN0DFefn0FciaLeICQtvirU/view
| license statement URL = https://www.vidhayakbharti.org/resources/
| license = CC BY-SA 3.0
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://archive.today/20100617043246/http://naturecamps.co.in/2010/a-night-with-chenchus/ Article at Naturecamps.co.in]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100516233518/http://www.cepceindia.org/programs/rural-electrification/ Programs at Centre for Environmental Protection & Cultural Exchange (CEPCE)]

{{DEFAULTSORT:India Tribal Belt}}
[[Category:Ethnic groups in India]]
[[Category:Scheduled Tribes of India]]
[[Category:Lands inhabited by indigenous peoples]]
[[Category:Belt regions]]

India tribal belt - Revision history

UpdateBot at 05:24, 23 June 2022