Topic: Causes and Phase of Tribal Movements

Question : Briefly discuss the causes of the tribal movements?

Answer :

Tribal movements are further subdivided into two categories along two main divisions of tribes based on the geographical region occupied.

(a) Non-frontier tribes constitute 89 per cent of the total tribal population. The non-frontier tribes were mainly confined to Central India, West-CentraI India and Andhra. Among the tribes that participated in the movements were Khonds, avara, Santhal, Munda, Oraon, Koya, Kol, Gond and Bhil. The uprisings of these tribes were quite volatile and constitute some of the major uprisings.

(b) Frontier tribes of the seven North-eastern frontier states of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. Tribals are located on the fringes of the mainstream society and constitute the lower stratum. Tribals, adivasis or aboriginals were usually the original inhabitants of vast tracts in western, central, southern eastern and north-eastern parts of the country. With the exception of the North-East, they had been reduced to a minority with the influx of outsiders and exposed to rapid changes. Barring a few, especially the frontier tribes, most tribes had some form of contact with the mainstream society. The socio-economic differentiation amongst them in comparison to the mainstream society was significantly less. The tribes were politically autonomous and had their own system of justice.

Economic base- Shifting agriculture, hunting, fishing and forest produce formed the mainstay of their economic base. Use of forests products and shifting agriculture were very important parts of the tribal economy.

1. Imposition of land Revenue Settlement. Expansion of agriculture by the non-tribals to tribal areas or over forest cover led to erosion of the tribal traditions of joint ownership and increased the socio-economic differentiation in the egalitarian structure of the tribal society.

2. Work of Christian missionaries brought about further changes in the socio economic and cultural equation of the tribals and the mainstream society. Plus, in turbulent times, the tendency of the missionaries to refuse to take up arms or in discouraging people from rising against the Government made the missionaries to be viewed as extensions of colonialism and were often attacked by the rebels.

3. Increasing demand for wood from early nineteenth century first for the RoyaI- Navy and then Railways, led to increasing control of government over forests lands. Why would this be a problem? The establishment of a Forest Department in 1864, Government Forests Act (1865) and Indian Forests Act (1878) together established complete government monopoly over Indian forest land. Shifting agriculture, a widespread practice amongst the various tribal communities was banned from 1864 onwards in the ‘reserved’ forests. Restrictions were imposed on the previously sanctioned timber and grazing facilities.

4. Extension of settled agriculture led to influx of non-tribals in the tribal areas. These outsiders exploited them and extension of settled agriculture led to the loss of land by the tribals which reduced them to agriculture labourers.

5. Some of the tribal uprisings took place in reaction to the efforts of the landlords to impose taxes on the customary use of timber and grazing facilities, police exactions, new excise regulations, exploitation by low country traders and money-lenders, and restrictions on shifting cultivation in forests.

6. The rebellions by the non-frontier tribals were usually reactions against outsiders (dikus), local landlords and rulers, the support provided to the latter by the British administration and intervention by them in the life of the tribals. The indigenous names for these tribal movements were meli, hool and ulgulan.

7. Introduction of the notion of private property. Land could be bought, sold or mortgaged which led to loss of land by the tribals.

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