Indian tribes.

Tribes constitute about 8-9 percent of the country`s total population. There are nearly 645 district tribes recognized by the government as Scheduled Tribes. These are provided with special benefits and reserved seats in legislatures and schools.

These tribes are distributed as per geographical diversities in various belts. One concentration can be spotted along the Himalayas stretching through Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh in the west, to Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland in the north-east. Another primary belt is the hilly areas of central India (Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and, to a lesser extent, Andhra Pradesh) bounded by the Narmada River to the north and the Godavari River to the southeast. Apart from that, Bihar, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and even the union territories of Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands comprise of a few tribes.

Surprisingly, about 90 percent of the total population of the north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland is tribal. Even in Assam, Manipur, Sikkim, and Tripura, these tribes form between 20 to 30 percent of the population. The tribal population in central India (including Madhya Pradesh) accounts for about 10 percent of the total population.

Major Tribes

The leading tribes of India include the Bhils, Gonds, Khasi, Mishing, Santal, Thakar, Nagas and the Mizos. The Bhils mainly inhabit the vcentral and western India, while the Gonds are spread extensively over central India. Rest of them, mostly, belong to the north-eastern states.

Almost all the Indian tribes are experts in one or the other art/craft. Some are good in handicrafts and some in agriculture. These tribes live close to the nature in dense greens or woods. Their native places are adorned with lush green vegetation, majestic mountains and untamed rivers.