Adivasi

The Adivasi are heterogeneous tribal groups across the Indian subcontinent.^[1][2][3][4] The term is a Sanskrit word coined in the 1930s by political activists to give the tribal people an indigenous identity by claiming an indigenous origin.^[5] The term is also used for ethnic minorities, such as Chakmas of Bangladesh, mulbasi Tibeto-Burman of Nepal, and Vedda of Sri Lanka. The Constitution of India does not use the word Adivasi, instead referring to Scheduled Tribes and Janjati.^[6] The government of India does not officially recognise tribes as indigenous people. The country ratified the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 107 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of the United Nations (1957) and refused to sign the ILO Convention 169.^[4] Most of these groups are included in the Scheduled Tribe category under constitutional provisions in India.^[6]

They comprise a substantial minority population of India and Bangladesh, making up 8.6% of India's population and 1.1% of Bangladesh's,^[7] or 104.2 million people in India, according to the 2011 census, and 2 million people in Bangladesh according to the 2010 estimate.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Though claimed to be among the original inhabitants of India, many present-day Adivasi communities formed after the decline of the Indus Valley civilisation, harboring various degrees of ancestry from ancient hunter-gatherers, Indus Valley civilisation, Indo-Aryan, Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burman language speakers.^[12][13][14]

Tribal languages can be categorised into seven linguistic groupings, namely Andamanese; Austro-Asiatic; Dravidian; Indo-Aryan; Nihali; Sino-Tibetan; and Kra-Dai.^[15]

Tribals of East, Central, West and South India use the politically assertive term Adivasi, while Tribals of North East India use 'Tribal' or 'Scheduled Tribe' and do not use term 'Adivasi' for themselves.^[16] Adivasi studies is a new scholarly field, drawing upon archaeology, anthropology, agrarian history, environmental history, subaltern studies, indigenous studies, aboriginal studies, and developmental economics. It adds debates that are specific to the Indian context.^[17]