The Social ION
Year : 2018, Volume : 7, Issue : 2
First page : ( 67) Last page : ( 71)
Print ISSN : 2319-3581. Online ISSN : 2456-7523.
Article DOI : 10.5958/2456-7523.2018.00019.8

Cultural Dynamics: A sociological study of tharu tribe in Balrampur District of Uttar Pradesh

Mishra Sunil Kumar

UGC Doctoral Research Fellow, Department of Sociology, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, (U.P.), India, Email: sunilmishra0511@gmail.com

Online published on 13 June, 2019.

Abstract

The term ‘tribe' was used to describe people who were different from those of the mainstream civilisation. In the 1881 census, the term used was ‘forest tribes', a sub-category within the broader group of ‘agricultural and pastoral castes'. In the 1901 census, tribes were identified as those who ‘practiced animism' thus placing religious practices at the centre. In subsequent census, additional references to territory were included, producing the label of ‘hill and forest tribes' in 1921 and ‘primitive tribes' a decade later. The new descriptions laid emphasis on the isolation of tribes within hill and forest areas as well as their ‘primitive' way of life. Questioning the loss of tribal identity/issue in North India the current piece of research dwells upon the tribes of Northern region particularly the Tharu, a Himalayan foot-hill tribe inhabiting Tarai region of Uttar Pradesh. Multi-sited ethnography coupled with some key interviews and case studies have been used to trace the dynamics of the movement among the Tharus. A variety of sources is brought to bear on this investigation: Tharu use of written documents, oral histories and case studies.

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Keywords

Tharu, tribes, census, identity, investigation.

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