How did tribal groups live

Tribal people in different parts of India were involved in a variety of activities.

SOME WERE JHUM CULTIVATORS

1. Jhum cultivation or shifting cultivation was done on small patches of land, mostly in forests. The cultivators cut the treetops and burnt the vegetation on the land to clear It for cultivation. They spread the ash from the firing, which contained potash, to fertilize the soil. They scattered the seeds on the field instead of ploughing the land and sawing the seeds. Once the crop was ready and harvested, they moved to another field. A field that had been cultivated once was left fall for several years.
2. Shifting cultivators were found in the hilly and forested tracts of north-east and central India. The lives of these tribal people depended on free movement within forest and on being able to use the land and forests for growing their crops.

SOME WERE HUNTERS AND GATHERERS

1. Many tribal groups lived by hunting animals and gathering forest produce. The Khonds, a community living in the forests of Orissa regularly went out on collective hunts, ate fruits and roots collected from the forest and cooked food with the oil they extracted from the seeds of the sal and mahua. They used many forest shrubs and herbs for medicinal purposes. And sold forest produce in the local markets.
2. At times the tribal groups exchanged goods. At other times they bought goods with the small amount of earnings they had. Some of them did odd jobs in the villages, carrying loads or building roads, while others laboured in the fields of peasants and farmers. But many of them like the Baigas of central India - were hesitant to do work for others. It was below the dignity of a Baiga to become a labourer.
3. Tribal groups often needed to buy and sell in order to be able to get the goods that were not produced within the locality. This led to their dependence on traders and moneylenders. Moneylenders charged the interest on the loans, which was usually very high. So for the tribals, market and commerce often meant debt and poverty. They saw the moneylender and trader as evil outsiders and the cause of their misery.

SOME HERDED ANIMALS

Many tribal groups lived by herding and rearing animals. They were pastoralists who moved with their herds of cattle or sheep according to the seasons. The Van Gujjars of the Punjab hills and the Labadis of Andhra Pradesh were cattle herders, the Gaddis of Kulu were shepherds, and the Bakarwals of Kashmir reared goats.

Some took to settled cultivation

• Even before the nineteenth century, many from within the tribal groups had begun settling down, and cultivating their fields in one place year after year, instead of moving from place to place. In many oases, like the Mundas of Chota Nagpur, the land belonged to the clean as a whole. All members of the clan had rights on the land. Very often some people within the clan acquired more power than others, some became chiefs and others followers. Powerful men often rented out their land instead of cultivating it themselves.
• British officials saw settled tribal groups like the Gonds and Santhals as more civilised then hunter gatherers or shifting cultivators.