The Khasis of Barak Valley, Assam
THE KHASIS OF BARAK VALLEY, ASSAM
Anthropologists have taken the word ‘tribe’ from its ordinary usage, which had different meanings. Generally, it meant people who were primitive, living in a backward area and did not know how to write. Sometimes it was synonymous with the term ‘race’. In fact there was no precise meaning given to the term ‘tribe’.[1]
Theoretically, a tribe is an ideal State, a self contained unit. It is a society in itself, i.e. a collection of individuals sharing a common culture. The tribe also has a cultural boundary which is less well-defined. Though it is a society based upon kinship, social stratification is absent.[2]
In India today hardly any of the tribes exist as a separate society. They have been absorbed in varying degrees into the wider society of India. The process of absorption has been going on for centuries. In fact, no tribe in India today has a completely separate political boundary.[3] There were two congruent processes at work in the country, both at the larger and local levels. Currents of ideology swept across the country right from the ancient period onwards, and, there were also the formations, ways of life and aspects of material culture, which were local in their dimensions. So, when we refer to the mainstream of Indian society and culture, we are recognizing ideologically, the dual aspect of our society. The recognition is of the twin processes of uniformity and unity on the one hand, and, a larger canvas of diversity and plurality on the other, embedded in our existence as a people, as a country. Hence, in this broad historical and civilizational context, tribes are relatively isolated and backward communities of our country.[4]
Tribals in India are closely associated with forests. There are some, who, even today spend the greater part of their lives in the proximity of trees. It is for this reason that the aboriginals were often referred to as ‘jangali’. This term today stands for
Anthropologists have taken the word ‘tribe’ from its ordinary usage, which had different meanings. Generally, it meant people who were primitive, living in a backward area and did not know how to write. Sometimes it was synonymous with the term ‘race’. In fact there was no precise meaning given to the term ‘tribe’.[1]
Theoretically, a tribe is an ideal State, a self contained unit. It is a society in itself, i.e. a collection of individuals sharing a common culture. The tribe also has a cultural boundary which is less well-defined. Though it is a society based upon kinship, social stratification is absent.[2]
In India today hardly any of the tribes exist as a separate society. They have been absorbed in varying degrees into the wider society of India. The process of absorption has been going on for centuries. In fact, no tribe in India today has a completely separate political boundary.[3] There were two congruent processes at work in the country, both at the larger and local levels. Currents of ideology swept across the country right from the ancient period onwards, and, there were also the formations, ways of life and aspects of material culture, which were local in their dimensions. So, when we refer to the mainstream of Indian society and culture, we are recognizing ideologically, the dual aspect of our society. The recognition is of the twin processes of uniformity and unity on the one hand, and, a larger canvas of diversity and plurality on the other, embedded in our existence as a people, as a country. Hence, in this broad historical and civilizational context, tribes are relatively isolated and backward communities of our country.[4]
Tribals in India are closely associated with forests. There are some, who, even today spend the greater part of their lives in the proximity of trees. It is for this reason that the aboriginals were often referred to as ‘jangali’. This term today stands for
Bibliography: Publications, 2008. Bose, Nirmal Kumar: Some Indian Tribes. New Delhi: National Book Trust, 1972. Fürer-Haimendorf, Christoph von: Tribes of India: The Struggle for Survival. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1985. Jain, P. C.: Globalisation and Tribal Economy. Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 2001. Sahu, Chaturbhuj: Tribes of North East India : An Ethnographic Profile. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons, 2002. Sarkar, R. M.: Land and Forest Rights of the Tribals Today. New Delhi: Serials Publications, 2006. Singh, Anil Kumar: Tribes and Tribal Life. 3 Vols. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons, 1993. [1] Devendra Thakur and D. N. Thakur, Tribal Life and Forests, Vol I, 2nd Edn, New Delhi: Deep & Deep Publications Pvt. Ltd., 1994, p.1. [4] K. S. Singh, “Tribes and the Mainstream of Indian Society and Culture,” in: Indian Tribes and the Mainstream, Ed. Sukant K. Chaudhary and Soumendra M. Patnaik, Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 2008, p. 65. [5] Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf, Tribes of India: The Struggle for Survival, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1985, p. 79. [6] P. C. Jain, Globalisation and Tribal Economy, Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 2001, p. 12. [8] Mohua Guha and Aparajita Chattopadhyay, “Dynamics of Population, Forest and Development – A Linkage in the North-East,” in: Land and Forest Rights of the Tribals Today, Ed. R. M. Sarkar, New Delhi: Serials Publications, 2006, pp. 182-183. [11] Nirmal Kumar Bose, Some Indian Tribes, New Delhi: National Book Trust, 1972, pp. 150-151. [14] Chaturbhuj Sahu, Tribes of North East India: An Ethnographic Profile, New Delhi: Sarup & Sons, 2002, p. 162.