Tribes, Nomads and Settled Communities
How relatively equal, kinship-based tribal societies across medieval India interacted with hierarchical caste society — many merging into it as jatis, while some (Gonds, Ahoms) built powerful administered states of their own.
Prelims loves this chapter for tribe-to-region matching, Ahom/Gond administrative terms (paik, khel, buranji, garh, chaurasi, barhot), source texts like the Akbar Nama, and the Banjaras. For Mains it feeds GS-I themes — medieval social change, caste-tribe interaction, state formation and Sanskritisation. It also bridges naturally to the modern tribal-rights framework (Article 342, Fifth/Sixth Schedule, PESA, Forest Rights Act), a favourite history-to-polity link.
Understand the chapter
Two Worlds: Caste Society vs Tribal Society
By the medieval period much of the subcontinent was organised by caste rules framed by the Brahmanas and endorsed by large kingdoms; under the Delhi Sultans and Mughals this hierarchy of high/low and rich/poor hardened further. Tribes were a parallel world that ignored Brahmanical rituals and were not split into many unequal classes. Members were bound by kinship, held land and pastures jointly, and divided them by their own rules, living off farming, hunting-gathering or herding — often combined.
- Caste society: Brahmana-prescribed, ritually ranked; deepened under Sultans and Mughals.
- Tribal society: kinship-based, relatively equal, no Brahmanical caste rituals; joint control of land/pastures.
- Livelihoods: settled farming, hunting-gathering, herding/pastoral nomadism — usually mixed.
- Caste and tribe clashed at times but were also interdependent, so both kept changing.
Who Were the Tribal People — Sources and Spread
Chroniclers and travellers left only scanty notes on tribes, and tribes rarely kept written records — so historians reconstruct their past from rich oral traditions. Tribes existed in almost every region, some powerful enough to control large territories, though their strength rose and fell and several were eventually subdued by the Mughals.
- North-west: Khokhars then Gakkhars in Punjab (Kamal Khan Gakkhar made a noble/mansabdar by Akbar); Langahs and Arghuns in Multan-Sind; Balochis in clans; Gaddis (shepherds) in the western Himalaya.
- East/Central: Cheros (defeated by Raja Man Singh, 1591), Mundas, Santals across Bihar-Jharkhand-Orissa-Bengal.
- West/South: Kolis, Berads (Maharashtra-Karnataka-Gujarat); Koragas, Maravars further south; Bhils in west-central India (many turned settled farmers/zamindars).
- Gonds across Gondwana; Nagas, Ahoms and others dominated the north-east.
Nomads and Mobile People — the Banjaras
Nomadic pastoralists moved long distances with their herds, living on milk and pastoral goods and bartering wool and ghee for grain, cloth and utensils. The most important trader-nomads were the Banjaras, whose caravan was called a tanda; they were largely merchants who bought grain cheap and sold it dear. Rulers leaned on them heavily — Alauddin Khalji used them to feed city markets, and they carried grain for the Mughal army (up to 100,000 bullocks on campaign).
- Tanda = Banjara caravan; Peter Mundy (early 17th c.) saw one of 14,000 oxen laden with wheat and rice.
- Jahangir's memoirs record Banjaras moving grain on bullocks to towns.
- Other mobile groups: cattle/horse sellers, petty pedlars (ropes, matting, sacks), mendicant-merchants and entertainers.
Changing Society — From Varna to Jati
As the economy grew and new skills were needed, smaller castes called jatis multiplied within the older varnas — new jatis even appeared among Brahmanas, and artisans like smiths, carpenters and masons were ranked as separate jatis. Crucially, jati rather than varna became the real basis of social organisation. Many tribes were drawn into caste society as jatis, while powerful new Rajput clans rose to rule.
- Jati = occupation-based caste; it became the working unit of society, above varna.
- A 12th-c. Tiruchirapalli (Tamil Nadu) inscription shows a Brahmana sabha fixing the duties of rathakaras (chariot-makers).
- New Rajput clans (Hunas, Chandelas, Chalukyas) powerful by the 11th-12th c.; some were former tribes who replaced older rulers.
- Tribes joining caste society: leading families entered the ruling class, the majority sank into lower jatis; many NW tribes instead adopted Islam and rejected caste.
A Closer Look — The Gonds
The Gonds lived in the forested Gondwana and practised shifting cultivation, organised into clans each under its own raja. As the Delhi Sultanate weakened, large Gond kingdoms like Garha Katanga emerged — the Akbar Nama credits it with 70,000 villages. Administration became centralised, and the once-equal society split into unequal classes as Brahmanas received land grants and rajas claimed Rajput status.
- Administrative ladder: Garh (clan territory) → Chaurasi (84 villages) → Barhot (12 villages).
- Aman Das took the title Sangram Shah; his line married into Chandel Rajputs (Durgawati, daughter of Salbahan of Mahoba).
- Rani Durgawati ruled for her son Bir Narain; in 1565 Mughal forces under Asaf Khan attacked, and she chose death over surrender.
- Garha Katanga grew rich trapping and exporting wild elephants; Gond power later faded before the Bundelas and Marathas.
A Closer Look — The Ahoms
The Ahoms migrated from present-day Myanmar into the Brahmaputra valley in the 13th century and built a state by crushing the older bhuiyan (landlord) system, annexing the Chhutiyas (1523) and Koch-Hajo (1581). They used firearms and could even make their own gunpowder and cannons; though Mir Jumla's Mughal army beat them in 1662, Mughal control did not last. The state ran on forced labour (paiks) organised by census and on clan units called khels.
- Paik = forced labourer supplied by each village by rotation; clans were broken up and resettled to control them.
- Khel = Ahom clan/unit controlling several villages; peasants held community land the king could not seize without consent.
- Sib Singh (1714-1744): Hinduism became predominant, though kings kept some old beliefs; buranjis = Ahom chronicles (Ahom language, then Assamese).
- Sophisticated culture: land grants to poets/scholars, theatre, Sanskrit translations and new rice-cultivation methods; Lachit Barphukan led the Ahom defeat of the Mughals.
The Big Picture and the UPSC Static Bridge
The chapter's core argument is interaction: caste and tribal societies constantly influenced each other, so both adapted — many tribes merged in as jatis, some (Gonds, Ahoms) built administered states and gained power, and others rejected caste and orthodox Hinduism altogether. For UPSC this medieval story is the backdrop to the modern constitutional framework for tribes, and linking the two is a common way examiners test the theme.
- Scheduled Tribes are specified by the President under Article 342; ST is defined in Article 366(25).
- Fifth Schedule (Art. 244(1)) covers Scheduled Areas; Sixth Schedule covers tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram (the NE region of these tribes).
- Nodal body: Ministry of Tribal Affairs (1999); National Commission for STs under Article 338A.
- Key tribal-rights laws: PESA, 1996 and the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
Key terms
- Tribe
- A kinship-bound society without Brahmanical caste ranking, living by farming, hunting-gathering or herding.
- Clan
- A tribe's sub-group of families claiming descent from a common ancestor.
- Varna
- The fourfold Brahmanical order — Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra.
- Jati
- An occupation-based caste that, in this period, became the real basis of social organisation.
- Tanda
- The caravan of the Banjara trader-nomads.
- Shifting cultivation
- Slash-and-burn farming practised by the Gonds.
- Garh / Chaurasi / Barhot
- Gond administrative units: garh = clan territory, chaurasi = 84 villages, barhot = 12 villages.
- Paik
- A forced labourer of the Ahom state, supplied by villages by rotation under a census.
- Khel
- An Ahom clan/administrative unit controlling several villages.
- Buranji
- Ahom historical chronicles, written first in the Ahom language and later in Assamese.
Must-know facts exam-ready
- Tribes were united by kinship, held land and pastures jointly, and lacked the Brahmanical caste hierarchy.
- Jati (not varna) became the basis of social organisation; tribes and artisans were absorbed as new jatis.
- Banjaras were the most important trader-nomads; their caravan was a tanda; Alauddin Khalji and the Mughal army used them to move grain (up to 100,000 bullocks).
- Gond administrative hierarchy: Garh (clan territory) → Chaurasi (84 villages) → Barhot (12 villages).
- The Akbar Nama records the Gond kingdom of Garha Katanga as having 70,000 villages.
- Aman Das, raja of Garha Katanga, took the title Sangram Shah; Rani Durgawati (a Chandel Rajput) ruled for her son Bir Narain.
- 1565: Mughal forces under Asaf Khan attacked Garha Katanga; Rani Durgawati died resisting.
- Ahoms migrated from present-day Myanmar into the Brahmaputra valley in the 13th century and suppressed the bhuiyans.
- Ahoms annexed the Chhutiyas (1523) and Koch-Hajo (1581) and made their own gunpowder and cannons.
- Ahom state = paiks (forced labour by census/rotation) + khels (clans); buranjis were their chronicles.
- 1662: Mughals under Mir Jumla attacked the Ahoms; under Sib Singh (1714-1744) Hinduism became predominant; Lachit Barphukan led the Ahom defeat of the Mughals.
- Static anchor: STs are specified under Article 342; Fifth and Sixth Schedules apply; nodal body is the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
Timeline
- 12th centuryChero chiefdoms emerge in present-day Bihar and Jharkhand.
- 13th centuryAhoms migrate from present-day Myanmar into the Brahmaputra valley.
- 1523Ahoms annex the kingdom of the Chhutiyas.
- 1565Mughal forces under Asaf Khan attack Garha Katanga; Rani Durgawati dies resisting.
- 1581Ahoms annex Koch-Hajo.
- 1591Raja Man Singh defeats the Cheros.
- 1662Mughals under Mir Jumla attack the Ahom kingdom.
- 1714-1744Reign of Sib Singh; Hinduism becomes the predominant Ahom religion.
Memory tricks remember it for good
Traps to avoid
- Varna vs jati: the chapter's point is that jati (not varna) became the basis of social organisation — new jatis emerged within varnas; don't say varnas multiplied.
- Don't swap the two states: Gonds = Gondwana/central India, shifting cultivation, Garha Katanga, beaten by Asaf Khan (1565); Ahoms = Brahmaputra valley/NE, from Myanmar, paiks/khels/buranjis, beaten by Mir Jumla (1662).
- Rani Durgawati was a Chandel Rajput princess (daughter of Salbahan of Mahoba) who married into the Gonds and ruled for her minor son — not a born Gond.
- Banjaras were trader-nomads, not mainly pastoralists; tanda is their caravan, not the goods or a place.
- 'No tribes in the north-west' is false — Balochis, Khokhars, Gakkhars, Langahs and Arghuns were there, and many adopted Islam and rejected caste; likewise Bhils were in west-central, NOT north-east India.
- It is the Akbar Nama (a history of Akbar's reign), not the Ain-i-Akbari, that records Garha Katanga's 70,000 villages.
Exam focus
🧠 Prelims angles
- Tribe-to-region matching: Gond-Gondwana, Ahom-Brahmaputra/Assam, Gaddi-western Himalaya, Bhil-west-central India, Naga-NE, Khokhar/Gakkhar-Punjab, Balochi-NW.
- Term-to-meaning: paik, khel, buranji (Ahom); garh, chaurasi, barhot (Gond); tanda (Banjara).
- Texts and content: Akbar Nama (70,000 villages of Garha Katanga); Jahangir's memoirs and Peter Mundy on the Banjaras.
- Who fought whom: Raja Man Singh vs Cheros (1591); Asaf Khan vs Rani Durgawati (1565); Mir Jumla vs Ahoms (1662).
- Concept check: varna vs jati; new Rajput clans (Hunas, Chandelas, Chalukyas).
- Static polity pairing: STs under Article 342, Fifth/Sixth Schedule, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, PESA 1996, Forest Rights Act 2006.
✍️ Mains angles GS-I
- Interaction between tribal and caste-based societies reshaped both — discuss.Show two-way change: tribes absorbed as jatis or rising as Rajputs/states, while caste society gained new artisan jatis. Use the Gonds and Ahoms as evidence.
- State formation among tribes meant the end of kinship-based equality.Trace centralisation (garh-chaurasi; paiks-khels), Brahmana land grants and Sanskritisation (Rajput titles, Hinduism under Sib Singh) creating new class hierarchies.
- Tribal autonomy, then and now.Link historical self-governance and rejection of caste to modern safeguards — Fifth/Sixth Schedule, PESA, Forest Rights Act — and the assimilation-vs-autonomy debate.
Last-minute revision tick as you recall
- Tribe = kinship-based, relatively equal, no Brahmanical rituals; mixed livelihoods; joint land/pastures.
- Jati (not varna) became the real unit of society; tribes and artisans absorbed as jatis.
- Banjaras = top trader-nomads; caravan = tanda; moved grain for Alauddin Khalji and the Mughal army.
- Gonds: Gondwana, shifting cultivation; Garh→Chaurasi(84)→Barhot(12); Garha Katanga = 70,000 villages (Akbar Nama).
- Aman Das = Sangram Shah; Rani Durgawati defended Garha Katanga vs Asaf Khan, 1565.
- Ahoms: from Myanmar (13th c.) to Brahmaputra valley; crushed bhuiyans; paiks, khels, buranjis; firearms/cannons.
- Mir Jumla attacked Ahoms 1662; Sib Singh (1714-44) → Hinduism predominant; Lachit Barphukan beat the Mughals.
- NW tribes (Balochi, Khokhar, Gakkhar, Langah, Arghun) adopted Islam, rejected caste.
- Static: STs under Article 342; Fifth/Sixth Schedule; nodal = Ministry of Tribal Affairs; PESA 1996, FRA 2006.
Distilled from NCERT Class 7 · Our Pasts II for UPSC. Always cross-check facts with the original NCERT.