Tribes

INTRODUCTION

The evolution of the society in different parts of India was taking place in many ways in villages and towns and this development was happening in three ways: they are social, political and economical and as a result the division in societies in different parts of the country was clearly visible. Now these societal changes kept on happening for eras starting from ancient history and continuing in medieval as well as the modern period.

Now, it is very important to know that these changes did not happen all of a sudden but kept going on over decades and centuries. Even before the rise of the Sultanate Period this division in the societies existed. However the basis of division was different but the division in the society existed. During the vedic era the society was divided into varnas, the rules of which were decided by the Brahmans and it was followed and accepted by the kings as well as the societies.

After the Sultanate Period in India began these divisions which grew further and took on economic divisions and the society then got divided into classes which were considered as high or low, rich or poor. These were the popular rules in general which the people of different communities followed, accepted and abided and hence lived under the social umbrella.

However, there existed societies which were beyond the rules of these varnas and castes and followed their own set of rules where the society which was not that much fragmented and those peculiar societies are called Tribes. These societies having more of a united form followed the principle or rule of kinship. 

The main source of livelihood of these communities was agriculture along with this they were hunter- gatherers  and this way they utilized the natural resources to their fullest.

Among them some of the tribes were nomads and used to move from one place to another.

Land and pastures were divided among the tribals according to their own set of rules. These tribes used to live on mountains, forest, deserts, hills and places which were difficult to reach. Sometimes these tribes had a clash with the caste based societies but these tribes were adamant and always ended up preserving their own culture and rules. Over a period of time both the caste-based and tribal societies changed when they both realized their interdependence on each other.

HISTORY OF TRIBES

Very less emphasis has been laid down on tribes by the historians of that contemporary age as most tribes did not keep any written records of their  rules and culture they followed. Most of them were orals while later on the historians started writing the oral traditions as records. The tribal influence was not rampant everywhere, they influenced some specific parts of the subcontinent which varied over time. Khokhar tribes in the 13th and 14th centuries later on Gakhars came into being during the Mughal period and other examples are Multan, Sind, Langah and Arghuns.

Similarly, Kolis and Berads belonged to the Maharashtra highlands and Karnataka. In the south, Koragas, Marvars  and Vitars were there. Further Bhils were there in the western and central region who later on in the 16th century became settled agriculturists, some of whom became zamindars as well. However, many Bhil Clans remained hunter- gatherers. Gonds were other tribes which were found in present-day Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

Furthermore, Baloch tribes were prominent in the north-west. The north eastern part of the subcontinent had the Ahoms and the Nagas etc. The Shepherd tribe of Gaddis lived in the western himalayan region. Chero Chiefdoms emerged in the 12th century in the present Bihar and Jharkhand who were later on defeated by Akbar’s general Raja Man Singh. Mundas and Santhals were other tribes who lived in these regions along with Orissa and Bengal.

LIFE OF NOMADS

1. Nomads were the tribes who moved from one place to another with their animals. They were pastoralists so they survived on milk and pastoral products. 
2. The bartering of wool, ghee, grain, cloth and utensils helped them in livelihood.
3. Banjaras were among the most important nomad traders. Their caravan was known as tanda.
4. Sultan Alauddin Khilji transported grains to the cities through banjaras only.
5. Jahangir has also written in his memoir that Banjaras carried food grains in their bullocks and sold it in the towns.They also transported grains for the Mughal army. The large army was said to have carried around a lakhs of those bullocks.
6. Many tribes reared and sold animals such as horses and cattle to the prosperous people.
7. Sometimes these nomads acted as wandering merchants and sold ropes, coarse sacks, straw matting, reeds etc.

CHANGE IN SOCIETY

The economic need of the society with the passage of time led to the change in societal structure   and as a result the castes in society got divided into further subcastes e.g. Brahmins had their own subcaste . Apart from this, tribes and social groups started forming caste based societies and these were commonly known as Jatis. There were specialized “Jatis” of artisans, smiths, carpenters etc which had been subjugated by the Brahmins and eventually Jatis became another basis of division in the society.

 Hunas, Chandels and Chalukyas were the Rajput clans who became powerful in the 11th and 12th century. They replaced the older rulers in agricultural areas and established powerful states by the use of their wealth.

The rise of these Rajputs became inspiration for the other tribal groups and with the help of Brahmins many tribes became part of the caste system with a condition which led tribal families to  join the leading class. Majority of those Jatis had joined lower Jatis of the caste based societies whereas dominant tribes of Punjab, Sind and North West Frontier had converted to Islam already and the societal division of caste system was not accepted in these areas. As a result of these social changes among the tribals, the emergence of many states took place.

GONDS

Gonds were the tribal community which belonged to the region of Gondwana, meaning a country inhabited by Gonds.  They practiced shifting cultivation. The Gond tribe was further divided into small clans and each clan had its own Raja Rai. This was the time when the Delhi Sultans were on the verge of decline. In Akbarnama it has been written that the Gond Kingdom of Garha Katanga had 70000 villages.

The administrative system of these kingdoms was centralized, the kingdom was divided into Garh and was controlled by a specific Gond clan each Garh was divided into 84 villages called Chaurasi and the Chaurasi were then sub-divided into 12 villages each.

Later due to the emergence of a large society the Gond kingdom got divided into uneven social classes.Brahmans got the land grants from the Raja and became even more influential. The Gond chiefs now had a wish to be called Rajputs. As a result, the Gond king Aman Das of Garha Katanga assumed the title of Sangram Shah. Later his son Dalpat married princess Durgawati who was the daughter of Salbhan, the Chandel Rajput of Mahoba. Due to the early demise of her husband and ineligible age of her 5 year old son Bir Narain,Rani Durgawati ruled the kingdom  as she was capable and brave. Later in 1565 Garha Katanga was attacked by Asaf Khan and his army to which Rani Durgawati retaliated. Although she got defeated but fought to her last breath and her son died fighting there too.

Garha Katanga was a prosperous state which earned a lot by trapping and exporting wild elephants to other kingdoms. It is said that when the Mughals defeated the Gonds they got a lot of booty, precious coins and elephants from there. The Mughals annexed a part of the kingdom and gave the rest to Bir Narain. Although the Gond Kingdoms survived after that, they were weaker now and they eventually could not stand before the Bundelas and Marathas.

AHOMS

Ahoms are descendants of the Tai people who reached the Brahmaputra valley from the present day Myanmar in the 13th century and the local indigenous people who joined them over the course of history.  They created a new state by suppressing the older political system of landlords known as Bhuiyans(landlords).

In the 16th Century they annexed Chhutiya and Koch- Hajo  divided many tribes as well. The Ahoms built a large state with the use of firearms in the decade of 1530. They evolved up to making high quality gunpowder and cannons by the 1660s. In 1662 Mir Jumla from the South West attacked the Ahoms, although they fought bravely but got defeated. Despite this the direct rule of Mughals on them couldn’t last longer.

 The Ahoms depended on forced labourers called Paiks. A census of the population was taken and each village had to send a certain number of paiks on a rotation basis.

From the 13th century until the introduction of British authority in 1838 the Ahom tribe governed much of Assam. During the time of King Rudra Singh (1696–1714), their power in Assam reached its pinnacle. In the early century AD  they began migrating from the Chinese province of Yunnan to Indo-china and northern Myanmar (Burma). Their native tongue has become extinct and they now speak Assamese.

CONCLUSION

The above brief and concise explanation of tribes and their evolution and contribution to the society is worth taking into account as the present society we’re living in consists of them as well and knowing their history means knowing and understanding their norms and lifestyle in a better way.