Tribal Communities Chapter Notes | History Class 7 ICSE PDF Download

The Banjaras

• The Banjaras were a well-known tribe in India, noted by Peter Mundy, an English trader in the early 17th century.
• Peter Mundy described meeting a Banjara tanda with 14,000 oxen carrying grains like wheat and rice.
• Banjaras traveled with their wives and children, living in groups called tandas made up of many families.
• Their lifestyle was similar to carriers, constantly moving from place to place.
• They were sometimes hired by merchants but often acted as merchants themselves.
• Banjaras bought grains where prices were low and sold them where prices were higher.
• After unloading, they let their oxen graze freely, as land was plentiful and no one restricted them.

Tribes in the Medieval Period

• Numerous tribes existed in India during the medieval period.
• Little written information exists because most tribes preserved customs orally, passing traditions through word of mouth.
• Historians use oral sources and writings from ruling classes to study tribal history.
• The Gonds, a prominent tribe, are mentioned in the Akbarnama.
• Most tribes lived in remote areas like forests, hills, and deserts, limiting contact with outsiders.
• Tribes guarded their regions, helping them maintain distinct cultures.
• Both small and large tribal groups existed, some controlling vast territories.
• The Khokhars and Ghakkars were powerful in Punjab; the Ghakkar chief Kamal Khan became a mansabdar under Akbar.
• The Langahs and Arghuns dominated Multan and Sindh.
• The north-east was controlled by tribes like the Ahoms, Nagas, and Khasis.
• Chero chiefdoms grew strong in present-day Bihar and Jharkhand.
• Raja Man Singh, Akbar’s general, defeated the Cheros, seizing much booty, though they later revived briefly.
• Aurangzeb later defeated the Cheros again.
• The Mundas and Santhals lived in regions like Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, and Bengal.
• The Kolis were found in Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Gujarat.
• In the south, tribes included the Koragas, Maravars, Badagas, and Todas.
• The Bhils, a large tribe, spread across central and western India, originally hunter-gatherers.
• Some Bhils settled as farmers, and by the late 16th century, some became zamindars.
• The Gonds lived in central India, including Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha.

Life of the Tribal People

• Tribes had varied occupations, often engaging in multiple activities.
• Hunters and gatherers: Some tribes survived by hunting animals and gathering food from forests.
• Shifting cultivators: Some practiced jhum cultivation, clearing land, burning trees, and sowing seeds in the ashes.
• When land fertility dropped, they moved to new plots.
• Settled cultivators: Some tribes gave up nomadic life to become farmers.
• Artisans: Tribes like the Kotas of the Nilgiris made and sold craftwork, trading for food and goods.
• Pastoralists and cattle herders: These tribes moved with animals, living on milk and pastoral products.
• They traded wool, butter, and animals like cattle and horses for grains and cloth.
• Jats and Gujjars, pastoral tribes, later settled as cultivators and landowners.
• Trader-nomads: The Banjaras moved in caravans called tandas, trading foodstuff.
• They bought goods from peasants and sold them in urban centers.
• Alauddin Khilji used Banjaras to transport grain to city markets.
• Banjaras also supplied grain to the Mughal army during campaigns.
• Folk artistes: Some earned a living by performing and entertaining in villages and towns.
• The Pardhans, genealogists of the Gonds, recorded Gond history orally, often in songs.

Cultural Changes in Tribes

• In the early medieval period, new kingdoms led some tribes to join the caste system.
• Many shifted from pastoral life to settled farming.
• Hinduism absorbed some tribes, elevating their deities to higher status.
• Jagannath, originally a tribal god, became the main deity of the Oriya people.
• The Cholas adopted Chidambaram, a tribal deity, as their royal family god.
• Ruling tribal families joined the elite, while others entered lower caste levels.
• Tribes in Punjab, Sindh, and the North-West Frontier adopted Islam, rejecting the caste system.
• Some tribes, like the Rajputs, formed states with strong administrative systems.
• These tribes grew politically powerful, often clashing with larger kingdoms and empires.

Case Study: The Gonds

• The Gonds lived in Gondwana, also called Garha Katanga, covering parts of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra.
• One of India’s largest tribes, the name Gond likely comes from the Telugu word “Konda,” meaning hill.
• Subgroups include the Murias, Hill Murias, and Bisonhorn Murias.
• They spoke Gondi, but now over half speak Chhattisgarhi Hindi.
• Little early history exists; information comes from Pardhans and Totis, who share oral histories via songs.
• Ruins of forts linked to Gond rajas are found in Gondwana.
• Gonds interacted with other cultures, and rulers adopted external lifestyles.
• Gond myths and epics show their chieftains were independent.
• They practiced jhum cultivation, using ploughs and bullocks to farm.
• Land was abundant, allowing groups to shift settlements and fields every few years, often returning later.
• High hill Gonds still follow traditional ways.
• As the Delhi Sultanate weakened, larger Gond kingdoms grew dominant.
• Garha Katanga, the largest, had about 70,000 villages, per the Akbarnama.
• It grew wealthy by exporting elephants to other kingdoms.
• Gond society changed with large states, developing classes.
• Brahmins received land grants as Gond chiefs sought Rajput recognition.
• Rajput influence divided kingdoms into garhs, each ruled by a Gond clan.
• Garhs split into chaurasis (84 villages), then barhots (12 villages).
• Aman Das, raja of Garha Katanga, took the title Sangram Shah.
• His son Dalpat married Durgawati, a Chandela Rajput princess of Mahoba.
• Dalpat died early; Rani Durgawati ruled for her young son, Bir Narain.
• She resisted Akbar’s forces led by Asaf Khan but was overpowered and took her life.
• Bir Narain died fighting; Mughals seized coins and elephants, annexing part of the kingdom.
• The rest went to Chandra Shah, Bir Narain’s uncle.
• Gond kingdoms lasted but weakened, later defeated by Bundelas and Marathas in the 17th and 18th centuries.
• Today, Gond society has four phratries, split into clans, each with a rai or chief.
• Clans worship “persa pen,” a great god, with shrines often on ancestral land.
• Clans are widespread but maintain standard rules for marriages and rituals.

The Ahoms

• The Ahoms, a key Assamese tribe, ruled Kamrup, Darrang, Nagaon, Sibsagar, Lakhimpur, and parts of Sadiya for nearly 600 years.
• The name Assam likely comes from “Ahom.”
• Information comes from buranjis, historical chronicles in Ahom and Assamese languages.
• Of Shan origin, they moved to the Brahmaputra valley in the 13th century.
• They adopted Hinduism and married into Assamese communities.
• Sukaphaa, the first ruler, came via the Naga Hills, clashing with and defeating the Nagas.
• Ahoms unified most of present-day Assam, taking tribute from Nagas and others.
• They suppressed the bhuiyans’ political system to form a new state.
• They conquered the Sutiyas and Koch-Hajo in the 16th century, aided by firearms.
• By the 1660s, they made high-quality gunpowder and cannons.
• They traded rice, silk, and more with Bengal, Bihar, Bhutan, Tibet, and Myanmar.
• Ahom society had clans called khels, controlling multiple villages.
• Peasants got land from khels; the state relied on forced labor from paiks.
• A census tracked paiks, who served in war or built dams and irrigation systems.
• Ahoms introduced new rice cultivation methods.
• Rulers supported art, literature, and culture, giving land to poets and scholars.
• Theatre was promoted, and Sanskrit works were translated locally.
• In 1662, Mughals under Mir Jumla attacked but failed to hold the region.
• Ahoms stayed independent until British takeover in 1826, weakened by Burmese invasions.
• Originally, they worshipped tribal gods, but Brahmins gained influence.
• Rulers gave land to temples and Brahmins; Hinduism became dominant.
• In the 15th century, Sankardev’s Vaishnavite movement grew popular, influencing villages.
• Ahoms kept some traditional beliefs despite changes.

Point to Remember

• A tribe is a society with its own language, territory, culture, and laws.
• Key tribes included the Khokhars, Ghakkars, Cheros, Mundas, Santhals, Gonds, Nagas, Ahoms, Todas, Kolis, Koragas, and Maravars.
• Tribes had varied roles: hunters and gatherers, shifting cultivators, settled cultivators, artisans, pastoralists, cattle herders, trader-nomads, and folk artistes.
• Some tribes built states with strong administrative systems, gaining political power.
• Gonds lived in Gondwana, with subgroups like Murias, Hill Murias, and Bisonhorn Murias.
• Pardhans and Totis provide oral histories of the Gonds.
• Per the Akbarnama, Garha Katanga, a Gond kingdom, had 70,000 villages and grew rich from elephant exports.
• Gond kingdoms split into garhs, each ruled by a clan.
• Today, Gonds have four phratries, divided into clans with a rai or chief.
• Ahoms, an Assamese tribe, ruled areas like Kamrup and Sibsagar for nearly 600 years.
• Ahoms traded with Bengal, Bihar, Bhutan, Tibet, and Myanmar.
• Their society had khels, clans controlling villages.
• The state used paiks for forced labor in war and public works.
• In 1662, Mughals under Mir Jumla attacked the Ahom kingdom, with limited success.
• Ahoms stayed independent until the British took over in 1826, after Burmese invasions weakened them.