Geography Quiz: Tribes of India and Their Regions

The correct answer is D, Tharu. The Tharu are the most widely distributed Scheduled Tribe of Uttar Pradesh, living along the Terai belt that runs below the Himalaya through Lakhimpur Kheri, Bahraich, Balrampur, Shrawasti, Siddharthnagar, Maharajganj and the neighbouring districts, so they appear in more districts of the state than any other notified tribe. They are also found across the border in Uttarakhand and in Nepal's Terai. A, Agariya, is a small iron-smelting community concentrated in the Sonbhadra and Mirzapur belt of south-eastern Uttar Pradesh. B, Chera or Chero, is likewise confined to the Vindhyan districts of Sonbhadra and Mirzapur. C, Gond, is numerous in central India but in Uttar Pradesh it is limited to a handful of southern districts bordering Madhya Pradesh. All three therefore occupy narrower pockets than the Tharu.

The correct answer is C, Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups. These are communities within the Scheduled Tribes that are the least developed on four counts: a pre-agricultural level of technology, a stagnant or declining population, extremely low literacy and a subsistence economy. Seventy-five such groups have been identified, spread over 18 states and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Odisha has the largest number with thirteen. They were called Primitive Tribal Groups until the name was changed in 2006 because the older word was considered derogatory. A and B are wrong because the first word is Particularly, not Periodic; nothing about the category is periodic. B and D are also wrong because the second word is Vulnerable, which is the whole point of the classification, not Various.

The correct answer is C, 2024. The Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan was announced in the Union Budget of 2024-25 and approved by the Union Cabinet in 2024 as a mission to saturate tribal-majority villages and aspirational blocks with basic facilities such as housing, roads, water, electricity, health and education, working through the convergence of many existing central schemes. A, 2022, and D, 2023, come before the mission existed; 2023 is the year of the separate PM-JANMAN mission for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group habitations, which is the usual trap in this question. B, 2025, is later than the approval. Candidates should fix the pair in memory: PM-JANMAN in 2023 for PVTG habitations, and the Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan in 2024 for tribal-majority villages. Note also that the mission is run by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs in convergence with other ministries, so a question may ask for the nodal ministry instead of the year.

The correct answer is A, Nilgiri Hills. The Toda are a small pastoral community of the Nilgiri plateau in Tamil Nadu, known for their barrel-vaulted huts, their sacred buffalo herds and their dairy-centred religion; they are also classed as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group. B is wrong because the Garo Hills of Meghalaya belong to the Garo, a matrilineal tribe, along with the Khasi and Jaintia of the neighbouring hills. C is wrong because the Aravalli range of Rajasthan and Gujarat is Bhil, Mina and Garasia country, not Toda. D is wrong because the Chota Nagpur plateau of Jharkhand is the home of the Santhal, Munda, Oraon and Ho. The Toda, Kota, Irula and Kurumba together make up the classic Nilgiri set that examiners pair with Tamil Nadu.

The correct answer is C, Article 342. Under it the President may, by public notification and after consulting the Governor of the state concerned, specify the tribes or tribal communities that shall be deemed Scheduled Tribes for that state or Union Territory, and only Parliament may thereafter include or exclude a community, by law. A is wrong because Article 330 reserves seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha. B is wrong because Article 338A, added by the 89th Amendment Act of 2003, sets up the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. D is wrong because Article 244 brings in the Fifth and Sixth Schedules, which govern Scheduled Areas and the tribal areas of the North East. Remember the pair: Article 341 for Scheduled Castes and Article 342 for Scheduled Tribes.

The correct answer is B, Andaman Islands. The Jarawa live on the western coasts of South and Middle Andaman, and the Sentinelese on North Sentinel Island, which lies in the Andaman group; both are Negrito communities and both are Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups, as are the Onge of Little Andaman and the Great Andamanese. A is wrong because Lakshadweep has no such hunting and gathering community; its population is overwhelmingly Muslim and of mainland and Maldivian descent, though notified as Scheduled Tribe. C is wrong because the Nicobar group is home to the Nicobarese and the Shompen of Great Nicobar, not the Jarawa. D is wrong because the Sundarbans of West Bengal has no tribe of this kind. The island pairing is a standard one-mark question.

The correct answer is B, Sikkim. The Lepcha are regarded as the earliest inhabitants of Sikkim and the Bhutia are of Tibetan origin; together with the Limbu and the Tamang they make up the notified tribes of the state, and Bhutia and Lepcha communities also live in the Darjeeling hills of West Bengal. A is wrong because Assam's tribes are the Bodo, Mishing, Karbi, Dimasa, Rabha and Deori. C is wrong because Manipur's hill tribes are the Thadou, Tangkhul, Kabui, Mao, Paite and Anal. D is wrong because Odisha's tribes are the Kondh, Santhal, Saora, Juang, Bonda, Koya and Gadaba. Candidates should note that Sikkim's tribal list is short and distinctive, which makes it a favourite of paper setters looking for an easy matching item.

The correct answer is A, Madhya Pradesh. Census 2011 recorded the largest tribal population of any state in Madhya Pradesh, where the Gond, Bhil, Baiga, Sahariya, Korku and Bharia together account for roughly a fifth of the state's people. B, Mizoram, is wrong as an answer to this question although it is the trap: Mizoram has one of the highest proportions of tribal people, about 94 per cent of its population, but its total population is small, so its absolute tribal numbers are low. C, Rajasthan, and D, Jharkhand, both have large tribal populations, the Bhil and Mina in Rajasthan and the Santhal, Munda, Oraon and Ho in Jharkhand, but neither exceeds Madhya Pradesh. Always read whether the question asks for the number or the share.

The correct answer is C, Arunachal Pradesh. The Apatani live in the Ziro valley of the Lower Subansiri district and are famous for an intensive paddy-cum-fish cultivation system worked entirely by hand, without the plough or draught animals, which is why the Ziro valley has been proposed for World Heritage status. Arunachal Pradesh also has the Nyishi, Adi, Galo, Monpa, Mishmi and Wancho. A is wrong because Nagaland's tribes are the Angami, Ao, Konyak, Sumi, Lotha and Chakhesang. B is wrong because Mizoram's communities are the Lushai or Mizo, Mara, Pawi and Chakma. D is wrong because Tripura has the Tripuri, Reang, Jamatia, Chakma and Halam. Arunachal Pradesh has the largest number of notified tribes in the North East. The Apatani also maintain permanent villages and an elaborate network of bamboo irrigation channels, unlike most neighbouring tribes, who practise shifting cultivation on the hill slopes.

The correct answer is B, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. The Sixth Schedule, read with Article 244(2), provides for Autonomous District Councils and Regional Councils in these four states, with power to make laws on land, forests, village administration, inheritance and social custom. A is wrong because Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have Scheduled Areas under the Fifth Schedule instead, where the Governor's powers and the Tribes Advisory Council apply. C is wrong because Nagaland, Manipur, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh are governed by other special provisions, such as Article 371A for Nagaland; Manipur has hill area committees. D is wrong because the western and southern states named have Fifth Schedule areas. Memorise the four Sixth Schedule states as a block. One further point is worth noting: Sixth Schedule areas are listed in the Schedule itself, while Fifth Schedule areas are declared by an order of the President, so the two differ even in the way the area is notified.

The correct answer is B, Article 338A. It was inserted by the 89th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2003, which split the earlier joint National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; the separate tribal commission began functioning in 2004. A is wrong because Article 338 now deals only with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes after that amendment. C is wrong because Article 339 empowers the Union to appoint a commission to report on the administration of Scheduled Areas and the welfare of Scheduled Tribes, and gives the Union power to give directions to a state on tribal welfare schemes. D is wrong because Article 340 provides for a commission on the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes, under which the Kalelkar and Mandal Commissions were appointed.

The correct answer is C, 15 November. Birsa Munda, the Munda leader who led the Ulgulan or Great Tumult against colonial land policy in the Chota Nagpur region at the close of the nineteenth century, was born on 15 November 1875, and since 2021 that date has been observed as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas in honour of tribal freedom fighters. The date is also the day Jharkhand was created, in 2000. A is wrong because 15 August is Independence Day. B is wrong because 26 January is Republic Day. D is wrong because 2 October is the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, observed as Gandhi Jayanti and as the International Day of Non-Violence. Pair Birsa Munda with the Ulgulan, the Munda tribe and Jharkhand. The Ulgulan demanded the restoration of tribal land rights against the zamindari and contractor system imposed on the region, and Birsa Munda died in Ranchi jail in 1900.