RBSE Class 12 Geography Notes Chapter 2 Major Tribes of the World

Rajasthan Board RBSE Class 12 Geography Notes Chapter 2 Major Tribes of the World

Introduction :

It has been ages since humans have been living on the earth. During this long time ‘ period, humans have learnt to adjust themselves with their environment.
Humans have changed rapidly to accommodate with environment adjustment along with technological development. But still there are few areas in’the world, in which many tribes are living in a primitive way.

Tribes :

Tribes not only depict the biological group, but also the social and cultural group. Tribe is a group of people which are closely related in their culture, social structure, tradition, custom and beliefs.
Tribes reside in cold regions, dense forests, hot and dry deserts, grasslands and remote mountainous regions.
The base of the economy of these tribes includes food accumulation, hunting, vagabond life, cattle grazing and primitive type of subsistence agriculture.

Major Tribes of the World :

Eskimos, Samoyed tribes – Inhabitant of polar and cold regions.
Pigmy, Semang, Sakai tribe – Inhabitant of equatorial dense forest.
Bushman tribe – Inhabitant of hot and dry Kalahari Desert.
Maasai, Baddo tribe – Inhabitant of tropical grasslands.
Khirgiz tribe – Inhabitant of grassland of temperate zone.
Bhil, Gonds, Santhal, Meena, Naga and other tribes – Inhabitant of inaccessible mountainous regions.

Eskimos :

The literal meaning of Eskimo is meat eater and inhabitant of snowy region. Eskimo tribe is related to the Mongoloid race.
The face of Eskimos is plane and flat, colour of skin is yellowish brown. Hair is clumsy and black, size midium, nose – flat, eyes – deep, chocolate colour and slanting. Their jaws are heavy, mouth – wide and teeth are white and strong. Their body is strong and muscular.
Eskimos live in Arctic and Tundra region. In these, Alaska, Greenland and Northern Siberia are the major regions of their habitat.
Eskimos living in north Canada and Greenland are known as Eskimos, in Scandinavia they are called Laps. In North Siberia, they are known by the names of Yakut, Chakchi and Tung.
The main and the only source of livelihood of Eskimos is hunting. The spear of the eskimos is called harpoon and their boat is called Kayak.
Eskimos hunt seals near the shore of sea in winter. When the fish breathes through hole made in ice, the bone rod kept by Eskimos begins to shake.
Spring hunting is called Utoq. These hunting is done basically for dogs. Kayak (Qayaq) is a boat which is made of animals’ skin used for transportation. Eskimos hunt caribou with bows and arrows.
Their favourite food is raw meat. The main source of their foods is seal, whale, polar bear, and sea lion.
Eskimos use caribou skin, seal fish skin and polar bear skin to make clothes.
Their houses are made of ice, stones, bones and skins. In winter, their house is made of ice and is named as igloo. The house made of bones structure is called Karmak.
The jersey-type dress with arms worn by eskimos is called Timiyak, the cloth worn above it is called Anohak and their shoes are called Karmik or Muklooks.
The cart without wheels that runs on ice is known as sledge.
Eskimos believe in customs such as patriarchal, polygyny and black magic.

Bushman :

Tribes who were living for nearly twenty years in Kalahari Desert are named as Bushman. They are also known as Soan, Rawi and Bassarva.
The habitat of Bushman is situated in African continent between’ 18° south latitude to 24° south latitude in Benthuanaland.
Bushman are primarily hunters and use instruments like bows- arrows and spears. They use many types of practices to catch animals.
They have large appetites. A bushman eats more than half sheep at a time. Meat, fish, roots of plant, jumble tree and honey are favourite food of Bushman. Termite, ants and their eggs are also their favourite food.
Bushman wear few clothes. Male wears a tri-angular langect. Women wear apron. Chonga is the main cloth of women which is also called Cros.
Bows and arrows, pointed rod, spear, burcha and agnidand are their main weapons. They use poisonous arrows.
Bushman make ornaments from egg – shells, bows and arrows, skirts and other craft items.

Bhil :

Bhil is the largest group of tribes after Santhal and Gond. Bhils reside in Banswara, Dungarpur, Udaipur and Chittorgarh of Rajasthan, in Dhar, Jhabua. and Rattam of Madhya Pradesh, Panchmahal and Vadodara of Gujarat and Aurangabad, Ahmednagar. Jalgaon, Nashik and Dhule districts of Maharashtra. The word Bhil has originated from Dravidian word ‘Bhilu’, which means one who is adapt in archery.
These are of short height, dark black complexion, have broad nose, red eyes, clumsy hair and good physique.
Their main base of livelihood is collection of forest produce, hunting and old methods of cattle breeding. Women store and collect eatable roots, flowers, fruits from the forest.
The Jhooming cultivation performed by them is called Chimata (in mountainous regions) and Dalia (in Plain regions).
They hunt animals in the forest using bows and arrows. Males catch fish from the ponds and streams.
Wheat, gram, urad, mung and vegetables are also grown by them in their fields.
Bhils wore very less clothes before independence of country. Males wore lion-cloth made of bark and the women wore petticoat.
Their houses are made of grass, mud, bamboo and rag. A group of small villages of Bhils is called Fala and a large village is called Pal.
Their main weapons are bows and arrows, sword and dagger. Arrows are of two types- one is Hario and other type is Robado. A type of snare which is called Phatakiya is used to catch birds.
Every Bhil has his wife whether he is old or young. Whether he has got his wife by traditional marriage or by kidnapping. The system of polygamy is also found in their families.
We can see the present situation of Bhils who have kept a good relation with urban areas.
Ghumar and Gair are their main dances and Beneshwar fair is their main festival.
The head of Pal is called Gameti and the guide is called Bolawa.

Gond :

Gond is the largest tribal group in the world which residues in the Indian subcontinent. Gond word has originated from the word Khonda, that means mountainous.
Many types of Gond tribes live in Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha and Asom. Gonds mainly live in Satpura Hills, Maikal range, Deogarh highland, Bastar plateau and Garhjat Hills.
Their living style is simple, they basically depend on Jhooming agriculture and hunting. Agriculture done by them called dippa. In such type of agriculture, the field is prepared by burning the trees and shrubs and by clearing the land. In Madhya Pradesh it is called Painda.
They hunt the animals. According to Indian government rules, although they hunt wild animals secretly. Gradually farming has taken the place of hunting.
The staple food of Gonds is Kodu and Kutaki. They get vegetables either by growing them in their house garden or from the forests. Rice is cooked on the occasion of festivals. They eat meat obtained from hunting animals.
The Gonds wear cotton clothes. Both male and female wear ornaments made of silver and aluminium.
Gonds live in Nangle or Palli and in small villages. Their houses are made of grass and weed and mud.
Gonds have less number of weapons. Weapons are made by the local artisans.
Gonds live in paternal society. Their land is divided among their sons. The oldest person of the family becomes the head of the family.
Service marriage, exchange marriage, seizure marriage, widow marriage are prevalent in Gond tribe.
Head of the village is called Patel or Mukhadam, the watchman of the village is called Kotwar and the priest of the village is called Debari.
Gond tribal people speak Gondi, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu and Hindi language.
Dhulia is the major sining class of the Gonds. Gonds have four sections, which are called Saga in Gondi language.
Bada Dev, Shambhu Mahadev and Parsha Pen are their major deities. The Kabari system prevalent among them has been terminated by the government.

Glossary :

Tribe : Tribe is a group of people who are strongly related in their social and cultural ways. This generally depicts the primitive and backward classes.
Earth : The earth is a planet of the solar system, which stands at the third place from the sun. This is a planet where life is found in different forms.
Environment : The surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates.
Environment Adjustment : The process of modifying one’s behavior in changed circumstances or an altered environment in order to fulfill psychological, physiological, and social needs.
Frigid Zone : The area that comes under Arctic and Antarctic Circle where the temperature is very low most of the time and the entire area is covered with snow.
Desert : Desert is an area where due to lack of moisture vegetation is not possible.Though special type of plants can be found here and there in these areas.
Economy : Production, exchange and management of all the sources of livelihood and economic resources of a place, region or community.
Grazing : Grazing is a method of feeding in which a herbivore feeds on plants such as grasses, or other multi cellular organisms such as algae.
Subsistence Agriculture : Farming in which the major part of production is consumed by the farmer’s household.
Region : An area, especially part of a country or the world having definable characteristics but not always fixed boundaries.
Equatorial Zone : The area near the Equator is known as Equatorial Zone.
Plateau : An area of fairly high – level ground. Whose height is normally more than 300 m from the sea level.
Arctic Zone : The regions spread around the 66 latitudinal circle in the northern hemisphere.
Tundra Zone : The frigid zone situated between the permanent polar glaciated region in the Northern Hemisphere and Taiga in the south.
Alaska : A part of North America which has climate similar to Tundra region.
Strait : A narrow passage of water connecting two seas or two other large water bodies.
Laps : Laps are Eskimos found in Scandinavia. ‘
Samoyads : A type of Eskimo tribe found in Northern Siberia.
Climate : The average of weather conditions prevailing in an area in general over a long period and the variations found in those conditions.
Season : That period of an year in which specific climatic conditions are found due to earth’s axial tilt and its annual revolution motion along with ecliptic plane.
Summer Season : The season which originates in the condition of being in front of the sun. This is known as the hot season of the year.
Rain : The amount of precipitation taking place in a particular time period (day, month or year) at a particular place which is measured by a rain gauge and which includes liquefied snow fall and hail also.
Vegetation : The entire plant species of a region. Under this, algae, grasses, bushes, trees, etc. all the plant species are included.
Algae : A type of photosynthetic organisms that originate in water. The very minute algae have single cell, while bigger algae have multiple cells.
Sea : The smellier part of an ocean which is usually partially surrounded by land. For example, Arabian Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Caribbean Sea, Northern Sea, China Sea.
Winter Season : The coldest season of the year at some place or region. Winter season refers to the period from winter solstice to the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and to the period from summer solstice to the autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.
Harpoon : A spear whose length is 1.2 m to 1.5 m and is tied with a rope and is used in hunting seal.
Maupak : Maupak is a method of hunting in which the Eskimos hunt seal using harpoon.
Iturpak : Another method of hunting in which the hunter makes two holes to catch seal.
Kayak (Qayaq) : Boat of Eskimos made of skin, which is 5 m long and 1.5 m wide.
Took : Spring hunting is called Took.
Transport : Take or carry (people or goods) from one place to another place by means of a vehicle, aircraft or ship.
Igloo : A dome – shaped Eskimo house, typically built from blocks of solid snow.
Blizzard : A snow storm containing snow particles, which blows in the form of violent cold wind during the winter season in high latitudinal regions.
Population : All the inhabitants of a particular place.
Continent : Any of the world’s main continuous expanses of land.
Latitude : The angular distance of a place north or south of the earth’s equatot, or of the equator of a celestial object, usually expressed in degrees and minutes.
Trade : The action of buying and selling of goods and services.
Exchange : An act of giving one thing and receiving another thing (especially of the same kind) in return.
Mountain : A large natural elevation of the earth’s surface rising abruptly from the surrounding level; a large steep hill.
Map : A diagrammatic representation of an area of land or sea showing physical features, cities, roads, etc.
Monsoon Climate : A specific type of climatic region, in which summer and winter seasons are typically found and there is significance of climatic conditions such as temperature, air pressure and direction of the winds according to seasonal change.
Soil : The upper layer of the earth in which plants grow, a black or dark-brown material typically consisting of a mixture of organic remains, clay, and rock particles.
Communication : The imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing or using some other medium.
Peninsula : A piece of land almost surrounded by water or projecting out into a body of water.
Cottage Industry : A business or manufacturing activity carried on in people’s homes.
Homecoming Agriculture : It is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants and bushes in a forest or woodland to create a field called a Homecoming.
Industrial Development : To boost up industrialization and to increase secondary activities.