“Tribal population was spread all over India and most of them occupied wild tracts, hilly and forested areas, away from more civilized centers. In 1880 their population was estimated at about seventy million. They had existed for centuries with their own social traditions and beliefs and subsisted on natural resources. They had preserved their near isolation and way of life until the British administration and policies made inroads into their territories.” – Subha Johari in “Tribal Dissatisfaction Under Colonial Economy of 19th Century”
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1040271311
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=11961
An indefatigable crusader for tribal rights, eminent litterateur Mahasweta Devi was keen to be laid to rest at Tejgadh, a tribal village in Gujarat and also the site of the Adivasi Academy, says noted literary critic, linguist and tribal rights activist Ganesh Devy who wishes to bring some of her ashes to the academy that … Read more
Whatever our own cultural background, there are amazing discoveries to be made, for India’s youth just as for scholars and visitors from all over the world! Learn more about – and from – some of India’s tribal communities by Gondi-Harappan link (2500 B.C.–1750 BC) Hampi – KarnatakaPossibly “a revolutionary find” that links the adivasi Gond tribe to the … Read more
“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home — so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. […] Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look … Read more
The Supreme Court order [2012] to ban tourism in core tiger reserves, and decisions to shoot poachers at sight find favour with some conservationists, the middle class and media. But what will their impact be on the people who live in and around the tiger reserves, asks Tarsh ThekaekaraTiger numbers are on the rise. Not … Read more
MAHASWETA DEVI’S novel The Book of the Hunter (first published in Bengali as Byadhkhanda in 1994), is the latest in Seagull’s excellent ongoing enterprise to bring the powerful oeuvre of the literary activist to a readership well beyond Bengal. One of Devi’s foremost passions has been to document the oral histories of the tribal communities … Read more