Who are Tribal people?

• ‘Tribe’ is a modern term for communities that are very old, being among the oldest inhabitants of the sub-continent.
• Tribes were communities that did not practise a religion with a written text; did not have a state or political form of the normal kind; did not have sharp class divisions; and, most important, they did not have caste and were neither Hindus nor peasants. 
• Even though tribal people did not keep written records, they preserved rich customs and oral traditions. These were passed down to each new generation.

Further Reading:

• Scheduled Tribes & PVTGs
• Status of Tribal Population in India