Adivasi

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An Adivasi woman from the Kutia Kondh tribal group in Orissa Adivasi (Devanagari: ) is an umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups claimed to be the aboriginal population of India.[1][2][3] They comprise a substantial indigenous minority of the population of India. The same term Adivasi is used in Sri Lanka (Sinhala ) to refer to the native Vedda people. The word is also used in the same sense in Nepal as is another word janajati (Nepali: ; janajti), although the political context differed historically under the Shah and Rana dynasties. Adivasi societies are particularly present in Andhra Pradesh,Bihar,Chattisgarh,Gujarat,Jharkhand,Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra,Orissa,Rajasthan,Tamil Nadu,West Bengal and some northeastern states, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Many smaller tribal groups are quite sensitive to ecological degradation caused by modernization. Both commercial forestry and intensive agriculture have proved destructive to the forests that had endured swidden agriculture for many centuries.[4]

Connotations of the word 'Adivsi

Although terms such as atavika, vanavsi ("forest dwellers"), or girijan ("hill people")[5] are also used for the tribes of India, adivsi carries the specific meaning of being the original and autochthonous inhabitants of a given region, and was specifically coined for that purpose in the 1930s. [6] Over a period of time, unlike the terms "aborigines" or "tribes", the word "adivasi" has also developed a connotation of past autonomy which was disrupted during the British colonial period in India and has not been restored.[7] In Nepal, the infiltration of Khas people from west to east through the Middle Hills, then the consolidation of dozens of petty kingdoms by the Shahs followed by the usurpation by the Ranas brought indigenous nationalities under orthodox Hindu rule and then codified inferior social and political status into a corpus of law known as Muluki Ain. Although the Shah kings were restored to power in the revolution of 1950, they still governed mostly for and through high caste Bahuns, Thakuris, Chhetris and Newars. Enfranchisement of adivasisexcept Newarsseldom advanced beyond lip service. This produced grievances that were instrumental in the Nepalese Civil War, where the rank and file of guerilla fighters were largely adivasi. Thus in Nepal, there are no historical parallels to British interference with orthodox Hindu discrimination, nor was there much resembling India's significantly effective post-Independence efforts to improve the lot of adivasis. In India, opposition to usage of the term is varied, and it has been argued that the "original inhabitant" contention is based on dubious claims and that the adivsi - non adivasi divide that has been created is artificial.[8] It should also be noted that in Northeast India, the term Adivsi applies only to the Tea-tribes imported from Central India during colonial times, while all tribal groups refer collectively to themselves by using the English word "tribes"