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Profiles of some of the selected Indian tribes
Bhils
- Constitute the largest tribal group in India.
- Found mainly in Madhya Pradesh (Jhabua,Dhar,Kahnwa) and east Gujarat.
- Martial race; primarily agriculturalist.
- Badwas are witch finder,Pujaro are priests and Kotwal are drummers,Tadni is village headman.
- Generally endogamous
- Practice polygamy also.
Gonds
- Second largest tribal group in India.
- Dravidian background
- Found mainly in Madhya Pradesh
- Some of the tribal groups are Bastai,Marias,Murias,Prajas,Bhatras
- Dependent mainly on agriculture, cattle rearing second main occupation.
- Divided into exogamous sects or clans.
- Speak Gondi dialect.
- Lineage is traced through male lines.
Santhals
- Third largest tribal group in India believed to be of Pre-Aryan origin.
- Mainly in Santhal Paraganas of Bihar,West Bengal etc.
- Speak Santhali language.
- Naik is the village priest,Gorait is the messenger,Jogmanjhi is the headmentribal council is Parganait.
- Singlonga or Sun God is the main deity.
Todas
- Found mainly in Nilgiri Hills of South India.
- Classic example of polyandry.
- Call themselves Tora
- Badaga,Kota,Kurumbaand Irula tribes
- The word Toda is derived from Tundra, name of sacred tree of Topdas.
- Divided into two moieties called Taratharal and Teivaloil.These are endogamous units.All the sacred herd and cattle are owned by Tartharal thus they occupy a higher status.
- The clans are divided into families locally known as Kudupeli.
- Fraternal polyandry found.
- Divorce freely allowed.
- Todas have classificatory type of kinship calling many relatives or friends by some designation.
- Females have low status.
- People are governed by council of five elders called as Naim.Three members of this council come from Tarthar clans,two from Teivali clans and one from Badagas.
- Two of the main deities are Teikirizi and On.
Chenchu
- Mainly found in Andhra Pradesh on the river Krishna.
- They are mostly settled cultivators and very much influenced by neighboring plains people.
- They speak dialect of Dravidian origin.
- Now they have started living in semi-permanent huts.
- They are divided into exogamous clans and have animal totems.
- Divorce is common.
- Chenchus have traditional leader Peddamanshi.
- Bhaivov and Garelamaisama are popular local deities.
Khasis
- One of the matriarchial tribes of world.
- Have a rich economy influenced by industrialization and urbanization.
- They are mainly in Jaintia hills of Assam.
- Divided into four main sub-groups- Khynrian,Pnar,War and Bhoi.
- They speak a dialect that belongs to the Mon- Khmer branch of Austric family.
- Each of the sub-tribes is divided into a number of clans known as Kurs.
- Marriage within the clan is prohibited.
- Khasis are characterized by matrilineal descent.
- The clan is further sub-divided into sub class known as kpoh (composed of descendents of one grandmother.