Tribal Social Organisation
Sociology of Chhattisgarh's tribes for CGPSC Mains GS-IV: defining a tribe, clan and kinship, village polity, religion, Sanskritisation and integration debates.
Prerequisites
- Tribal Social Organisation and the Ghotul: the facts (marriage forms, village offices, Ghotul terms) that this page analyses. Read it first.
- Major Tribes and Their Distribution: Gond, Kanwar, Oraon, Muria, Maria, Halba and where they live
- Sociology Concepts: kinship, social structure, social change in general terms
The Hook: Same State, Two Kinds of Village
Drive from Raipur to Narayanpur. In a plains village near Raipur, people will tell you their jati (जाति) almost at once: Sahu, Kurmi, Satnami, Raut. Each caste has its own lane, its own samaj and its own rules. A few hours south, in a Muria village of the Abujhmarh fringe, a person describes themselves first by clan (गोत्र) and village, the village has a Gaita priest and a Ghotul, and the important question at a marriage is not caste rank but which clans may marry each other.
What makes a “tribal” society different from a caste society? How is it organised, and how have sociologists and the state tried to understand and change it?
Why it matters: Prelims tests the facts (Ghotul, lamsena, Siredar). Mains GS-IV asks you to explain tribal social organisation and how it is changing. That needs concepts: the Lokur criteria, the tribe-caste continuum, Sanskritisation and the isolation-assimilation-integration debate.
What Is a “Tribe”? (Concepts first)
The Constitution never defines “tribe”. Article 366(25) says Scheduled Tribes are the communities notified under Article 342. The criteria come from administrative practice.
The Lokur Committee criteria (1965)
The Lokur Committee (1965), set up to revise the SC and ST lists, listed five indicators that are still used when a community seeks ST status:
| Criterion | What it means | Chhattisgarh illustration |
|---|---|---|
| Primitive traits | Older technology and subsistence ways of life | Shifting cultivation among the Abujhmaria (penda) and Baiga (bewar) |
| Distinctive culture | Own language, religion, customs | Gondi, Kurukh and Halbi; Bada Dev and Dharmes; Ghotul and Dhumkuria |
| Geographical isolation | Living in hills and forests away from the mainstream | Abujhmarh, the Maikal hills, the Jashpur plateau |
| Shyness of contact with the wider community | Social distance from outsiders | Small PVTG hamlets such as Pahadi Korwa and Birhor settlements |
| Backwardness | Low income, literacy and access to services | Bijapur’s literacy of about 41.6% (Census 2011), the lowest in the state |
Tribe vs caste: a continuum, not a wall
| Feature | Tribe (ideal type) | Caste (ideal type) |
|---|---|---|
| Basic unit | Clan and lineage | Jati (endogamous, hereditary) |
| Hierarchy | Relatively egalitarian; ranking by age and clan seniority | Graded hierarchy of purity and pollution |
| Occupation | Not caste-bound; forest, hunting, shifting or settled farming | Traditionally hereditary |
| Territory | Linked to a forest or hill territory | Spread across many villages |
| Religion | Nature, ancestor and clan deities; village priest from the tribe | Brahminical temple religion with priestly mediation |
| Women | Bride price, divorce and remarriage relatively accepted | Dowry and restrictions on remarriage historically common in upper castes |
Indian sociologists (for example F. G. Bailey and Surajit Sinha) argued that real communities sit on a tribe-caste continuum. In Chhattisgarh, the Halba of Bastar, the Kanwar of Korba and the Raj Gond families of former ruling houses sit nearer the caste end, while PVTGs such as the Abujhmaria and Pahadi Korwa sit nearer the tribal end.
The Structure of Tribal Society
The detailed facts are on Tribal Social Organisation and the Ghotul. Here they are arranged as a sociologist would arrange them.
1. Kinship: family, clan, phratry, tribe
graph TD
T["Tribe - endogamous (marry inside)"] --> P["Phratry - group of clans (e.g. Gond groups by number of gods)"]
P --> C["Clan / goti - exogamous (marry outside); totem name"]
C --> L["Lineage - known common ancestor"]
L --> F["Family - mostly patrilineal and patrilocal"]- Clan exogamy + tribal endogamy is the basic rule: marry outside your clan but within your tribe.
- Totemism (टोटमवाद): Oraon clans such as Lakra (tiger), Ekka (tortoise) and Minj (fish) must not harm their totem.
- Preferential marriages reduce the cost of bride price and keep alliances inside known families: Dudh Lautawa (cross-cousin), Gurawat (exchange), Lamsena (service).
2. Economy and the social role of women
- Livelihood mixes settled farming, minor forest produce (tendu, mahua, sal seed, imli), wage work and, in pockets, shifting cultivation. See Minor Forest Produce.
- Bride price (वधू मूल्य) rather than dowry reflects the economic value of women’s labour in collecting, farming and markets.
- Women are visible in haat-bazaars, collection of forest produce and community dances. Yet customary law in most tribes gives daughters weak or no rights to inherit land. This is a classic “relative freedom, limited property” pattern.
- The ST sex ratio is above 1,000 in the state (Census 2011), higher than the state average of 991.
3. Village polity: governance without a state
| Element | Function in sociological terms |
|---|---|
| Patel / Mukhiya | Secular authority; links the village to outsiders |
| Gaita / Pujari, Siraha, Gunia / Baiga | Sacred authority: priest, spirit medium, healer |
| Majhi (pargana head in Bastar), Parha (Oraon village federation) | Supra-village councils that settle disputes between villages |
| Kotwar | Messenger and watchman |
| Village council / jati panchayat | Settles marriage, divorce, land and moral disputes by customary law; sanctions include fines, feasts and ostracism |
| Muria Darbar | The meeting of Bastar’s traditional village heads with the ruler and now with the government, at the end of Bastar Dussehra |
Sociologically this is a segmentary, consensus-based polity. Authority is split between secular and sacred figures, and social control works through public opinion and ritual sanctions rather than written law. PESA (1996) and the Chhattisgarh PESA Rules (8 August 2022) try to give this customary order a legal place through the Gram Sabha. See PESA in the Scheduled Areas.
4. Religion and world-view
- Nature, ancestor and clan worship: the Gond Bada Dev (linked to the saja tree), the Oraon Dharmes worshipped at the Sarna grove, Bastar’s Danteshwari and hundreds of village deities kept at the Devgudi (देवगुड़ी).
- Sacred groves protect patches of forest: a link between belief and conservation.
- Ritual specialists come from within the community, unlike Brahmin priests in caste society.
- The Madai (मड़ई) and Jatra bring village gods together and renew alliances between villages.
5. Socialisation: the youth dormitory
The Ghotul of the Muria (boys chelik, girls motiari, leaders Siredar and Belosa, founded by Lingo Pen in tradition; Verrier Elwin, The Muria and Their Ghotul, 1947) and the Dhumkuria of the Oraon are, in sociological terms, agencies of socialisation and age-set institutions. They transmit culture, enforce discipline, organise labour for the village and prepare the young for adult roles.
Theories and Policy Approaches: How Should the State Treat Tribes?
| Approach | Associated with | Core idea | Criticism |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isolation / protection | Early Verrier Elwin (worked among the Baiga and the Muria of central India) | Protect tribes from exploiters (moneylenders, traders, missionaries, officials); let culture survive | Critics called it a “museum” or “national park” approach that kept tribes poor |
| Assimilation | G. S. Ghurye (The Aborigines, “So-called”, and Their Future, 1943) | Tribes are “backward Hindus”; merge them into Hindu society | Erases tribal identity; ignores their distinct history |
| Integration | Jawaharlal Nehru’s Tribal Panchsheel (late 1950s), with Elwin’s later views | Develop tribes “along the lines of their own genius”; respect land and forest rights; train their own people to govern; avoid too many outside officials; judge results by the quality of human character, not money spent | Implementation drifted towards assimilation through standard schemes, mining and dams |
- Tribes should develop along the lines of their own genius; nothing should be imposed on them.
- Tribal rights in land and forests should be respected.
- Tribal people should be trained to run their own administration and development.
- Avoid over-administering tribal areas or flooding them with schemes.
- Judge results by the quality of human character that evolves, not by statistics or money spent.
Social Change in Tribal Chhattisgarh
| Process | What it means | Chhattisgarh examples |
|---|---|---|
| Sanskritisation (संस्कृतिकरण) (M. N. Srinivas) | A group adopts upper-caste customs to claim higher status | Adoption of Hindu deities and festivals; giving up beef or liquor; origin myths linking the Kanwar to the Kauravas and the Pando to the Pandavas |
| Christianisation | Conversion through missions, often with schools and hospitals | Parts of Jashpur and Surguja among the Oraon; also parts of Bastar. This has created tension over village customs and burial rights (see Tribal Problems) |
| Modernisation | Schools, roads, markets, wage work, mobile phones | Residential schools and hostels; Ghotul decline as youth leave the village |
| Politicisation and identity assertion | Tribes organise as tribes | Gond identity movements and Gondwana politics; demands for PESA implementation; Gram Sabha resolutions in Hasdeo Arand |
| Detribalisation | Loss of tribal language and customs | Shift from Gondi or Kurukh to Hindi or Chhattisgarhi in plains-adjoining areas |
| Revivalism | Conscious return to tribal tradition | Ghotul revival as cultural centres; Sarna and Gond religious movements; mother-tongue primers |
Memory Tricks
Don’t Confuse
| This | vs | That |
|---|---|---|
| Lokur Committee (1965): criteria for ST status | Xaxa Committee (2014): socio-economic status of tribes | |
| Ghurye: assimilation (“backward Hindus”) | Elwin: early protection, later integration | |
| Sanskritisation: adopting upper-caste customs | Westernisation: adopting Western ways (both Srinivas’s terms) | |
| Clan exogamy | Tribal endogamy | |
| Bride price: groom’s side pays (tribes) | Dowry: bride’s side pays | |
| Ghotul: Muria | Dhumkuria: Oraon | |
| Majhi: Bastar pargana head | Parha: Oraon village federation |
Common Mistakes
Practice
These are original practice questions written in CGPSC style. They are not previous-year questions.
Level 1: Foundation
- The committee that in 1965 laid down five criteria for identifying Scheduled Tribes is the ________ Committee.
- A tribal marriage normally follows clan ________ and tribal ________.
- The sociologist who described tribes as “backward Hindus” was ________.
Answers
- Lokur
- exogamy; endogamy
- G. S. Ghurye
Level 2: Prelims MCQs
Q1. Consider the following statements:
- The Constitution of India defines the term “tribe” in Article 342.
- The Lokur Committee listed geographical isolation and shyness of contact among the indicators of a tribe.
- Nehru’s Tribal Panchsheel favoured the assimilation of tribes into the mainstream.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer and explanation
Q2. Match List-I (Thinker / body) with List-II (Approach or work):
| List-I | List-II |
|---|---|
| A. G. S. Ghurye | 1. The Muria and Their Ghotul |
| B. Verrier Elwin | 2. Tribes as “backward Hindus” |
| C. M. N. Srinivas | 3. Socio-economic status of tribes, 2014 |
| D. Xaxa Committee | 4. Sanskritisation |
(a) A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3 (b) A-1, B-2, C-4, D-3 (c) A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4 (d) A-4, B-1, C-2, D-3
Answer and explanation
Q3. A Kanwar family’s claim of descent from the Kauravas, and its adoption of Hindu festivals, is best described by which sociological concept?
(a) Westernisation (b) Sanskritisation (c) Detribalisation through migration (d) Secularisation
Answer and explanation
Q4. Which of the following pairs of tribal office and function is incorrectly matched?
(a) Gaita : village priest (b) Siraha : spirit medium (c) Majhi : head of a group of villages in Bastar (d) Kotwar : village healer
Answer and explanation
Q5. In most tribal societies of Chhattisgarh, the payment at marriage traditionally flows:
(a) From the bride’s family to the groom’s family (b) From the groom’s family to the bride’s family (c) From the village council to the couple (d) There is no marriage payment
Answer and explanation
Level 3: Mains Answer Writing
Q1. Describe the main features of tribal social organisation in Chhattisgarh. (150 words)
Intro: STs are 30.62% of Chhattisgarh (Census 2011). Gond, Kanwar, Oraon, Muria, Maria, Halba and others organise society on kinship rather than caste rank.
Body:
- Kinship: patrilineal clans, often totemic (Oraon Lakra, Ekka, Minj); clan exogamy and tribal endogamy.
- Marriage: bride price; service (lamsena), cross-cousin (dudh lautawa), exchange (gurawat) marriages; widow remarriage accepted.
- Polity: Patel, Gaita, Siraha, Majhi, Parha; customary law; the Muria Darbar.
- Religion: Bada Dev, Dharmes and Sarna, Danteshwari, Devgudi, sacred groves; priests from within.
- Socialisation: Ghotul (Muria) and Dhumkuria (Oraon).
- Gender: visible economic role, but weak land inheritance.
Conclusion: These institutions are relatively egalitarian and community-centred. PESA (1996) and the state’s PESA Rules (2022) now give them a legal role.
Q2. “Tribal policy in India has swung between isolation, assimilation and integration.” Discuss with reference to Chhattisgarh. (250 words)
Intro: How to bring development without destroying identity has been the central question of tribal policy since colonial times.
Body:
- Isolation (colonial “excluded areas”, early Elwin): protection from moneylenders and outsiders. Elwin’s Muria and Baiga studies came from central India. Critique: it kept tribes poor.
- Assimilation (Ghurye): tribes as backward Hindus. Echoes in Sanskritisation; in Chhattisgarh, the loss of Gondi and Kurukh in plains-adjoining areas.
- Integration (Tribal Panchsheel, Fifth Schedule, later PESA and FRA): development along their own genius, respect for land and forest rights.
- Practice in Chhattisgarh: mining, dams and steel plants (Bailadila, Hasdeo Arand, Bhilai) displaced tribal communities, which reads as assimilation through development. At the same time, PESA Rules 2022, FRA habitat rights for Kamar and Baiga (2023), and Ghotul revival show a turn back towards integration.
- Conflict: Left-Wing Extremism in Bastar grew partly from grievances over land, forests and exploitation.
Conclusion: Integration remains the constitutional ideal. Chhattisgarh’s test is whether Gram Sabha consent and mother-tongue education become real, so that development is done with tribes and not to them.
Quick Revision Table
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Constitutional reference | Art. 366(25) refers to Art. 342; no definition of “tribe” |
| Lokur Committee | 1965; primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact, backwardness |
| Kinship rule | Clan exogamy, tribal endogamy; totemic clans |
| Marriage payment | Bride price; lamsena, gurawat, dudh lautawa |
| Village polity | Patel, Gaita, Siraha, Gunia, Majhi, Parha, Kotwar; customary law |
| Socialisation | Ghotul (Muria), Dhumkuria (Oraon) |
| Approaches | Isolation (early Elwin), assimilation (Ghurye, 1943), integration (Tribal Panchsheel) |
| Social change | Sanskritisation, Christianisation, modernisation, politicisation, revivalism |
| ST sex ratio | Above 1,000 (state 991), Census 2011 |
Key Takeaways
- A “tribe” is an administrative category (Art. 342; Lokur criteria 1965), not a constitutional definition, and the criteria are increasingly criticised.
- Tribal society rests on clan and kinship, bride price, customary councils and nature-and-ancestor religion, with youth dormitories as agencies of socialisation.
- Tribe and caste form a continuum; groups such as the Halba and Kanwar sit nearer the caste end, PVTGs nearer the tribal end.
- Policy swung from isolation to assimilation to integration (Tribal Panchsheel); PESA and FRA are integration’s legal tools.
- Change is uneven: Sanskritisation, conversion, schooling and revivalism coexist inside the same communities.
What’s Next
- Tribal Problems in Chhattisgarh: land alienation, displacement, migration and LWE
- Tribal Development and Constitutional Safeguards: the articles, laws and schemes
- Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups: the communities at the “tribal end” of the continuum
- Cultural Institutions of Chhattisgarh: Ghotul, Madai and Devgudi as living institutions