Adivasi (a Hindi word that literally means the original inhabitants) is a term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups believed to be the aboriginal population of India. Adivasi societies are present in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and other South Asian nations. Adivasi is officially recognized by the Indian government as “Scheduled Tribes” … Read more
Madhya Pradesh has the largest Tribal population of all the states. […] Due to the varied socio-cultural and geographical environment and its parameters, the diverse tribal world of Madhya Pradesh not only has been largely cut-off from the mainstream of development but has, on this account, also been a cause of concern and special effort … Read more
This encyclopedia addresses the religions of a category of South Asians known as tribals, Ādivāsīs (“First Inhabitants”; or Janajātis, lit. “Class of People”; see also below), and, more recently, indigenous peoples. The three terms, “tribal,” “Ādivāsī,” and “indigenous peoples” are related, but have their own trajectories; they have come into use at different times and … Read more
Laldeo Asur passes his days basking in the mellow winter sun, his 70-year-old body now too frail for the rigours of village life. But it is not his advancing age he is too concerned about but the advance of modernity on his tribe, the Asurs. Laldeo knows that after him there will be none to … Read more
Chamru is an Asur, a ‘particularly vulnerable tribal group’ that dominates Sakhuapani’s population of about 2,000 and lives in villages spread over a radius of 10 to 20 km. Besides Jharkhand, members of the tribe live in pockets of Bihar, West Bengal and a few other states. The 2011 Census put the number of Asurs at … Read more