Social Connotation Of Tribe In India

Connotation of ‘Tribe’

Tribe, caste, sect and class are the various categories of social stratification found in India. A ‘tribe’ is a collection of families or groups of families, bearing a common name, members of which occupy the same territory, speaks the same language and observe certain taboos regarding marriage, profession or occupation and have developed a well assessed system of reciprocity and mutuality of obligations. A tribe is ordinarily an endogamous unit, the members of which confine their marriage within the tribe. Several clans constitute a tribe, each of which claims kinship between the members belonging to it, based either on totalistic division, territorial contiguity or common residence. A tribe is a political unit in the

Wild and baseless charges were hurled at them, fantastic insinuations were formulated and many pseudo-scholars, claiming to have an intimate knowledge of the tribal world, let their imagination run riot for the benefit of a receptive readership. Some degree of laxity regarding sexual liaison was taken to mean ‘promiscuity’ or free sex under which, according to such people, the institution of marriage could not exist. Such spicy phrases like ‘sexual communism’ were coined to describe a non-existent social situation. Indian tribes like tribes of other parts of the world practice several forms of marriage as a matter of convenience and social acclimatization in their respective cultural-ecological settings.

Monogamy

Monogamy is a form of marriage in which no man may be married to more than one woman at any one time. A majority of the Indian tribes practice monogamy. Just to refute the allegation that among the most backward and primitive tribes no clear-cut scheme of marriage exists, the example of the Kamar, a very backward tribe of Madhya Pradesh, may be cited. This tribe is monogamous.

Polygamy

Polygamy, that is, marriage to more than one person is fairly widespread all over the world. Among Indian tribes, there are many who are following this type of matrimonial alliance. Polygamy has two aspects:

i. Polygyny ii. Polyandry.

While polygyny is the marriage

In most cases such form of marriage comes into existence as a result of disequilibrium in a sex ratio. Obviously, in a society where the sex ratio is normal, such type of marriage may force many of the male members to remain bachelor. Hence, normally such a practice develops in a society where the number of females is quite larger than the males. In an otherwise normal situation it is the privilege of the powerful and rich who keep more than one wife as a symbol of prestige and status. Among the Indian tribes like Gond, Baiga and Lushai, this type of marriage is resorted to, facilitate a better division of labour. Polyandry is, comparatively, much restricted in distribution. This type of matrimonial alliance is found in the Himalayan tract stretching from Kashmir to Assam and is popular among the Indo-Aryan and Mongoloid tribes. In its classical form it is prevalent among the Tiyan, the Toda, the Kota, the Khasa (Jounsari) and the Kadakhi Bota. It is also popular among the