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Roughly 8.6 per cent of India's population is made up of "Scheduled Tribes" (STs), traditional tribal communities. In India those who are not Christians, Muslims, Jews, or Zoroastrians are identified as Hindus. The reason being varied beliefs and practices allowed in Hindusim and according of Hindusim as a geographical identity than merely Religious ones. Though, many of the Scheduled Tribes have modes of worship not typical to mainstream Hindusim but ontologically form part of the cultural practices of the land, as Nature or ancestral worship, with varying degrees of syncretism.

According to the 2011 census of India, about 7.9 million (7,937,734) out of 1.21 billion people did not adhere to any of the subcontinent's main religious communities of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, or Jainism. The census listed atheists, Zoroastrians, Jews, and various specified and unspecified tribal religions separately under the header "Other Religions and Persuasions".

Of these religious census groupings, the most numerous are Sarna (4.9 million respondents), Gondi (1 million), Sari Dharam (506,000), Donyi-Poloism (331,000); Sanamahi (222,000) and Khasi (139,000), with all other religions numbering less than 100,000 respondents, including 18,000 for "tribal religion", 5,600 for "nature religion", and 4,100 "animists". The Scheduled Tribes account 89.39% (7,095,408) of total ORP in India.

Demographics

State/UT wise distribution of 7.9 million ORP of India, 2011 census

Customs

The tribal people observe their festivals, which have no direct conflict with any religion, and they conduct marriage among them according to their tribal custom. They have their own way of life to maintain all privileges in matters connected with marriage and succession, according to their customary tribal faith. In keeping with the nature of Indian religion generally, these particular religions often involve traditions of ancestor worship or worship of spirits of natural features.

The various tribes can be categorised into different major linguistic groupings, such as Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Austroasiatic, Tibeto-Burman, and Andamanese.

About 25% of the Munda people and Oraon people, and 60% of the Kharia people of Jharkhand (population about 130,000), are Christian. Altogether, 43% of Kharia population is Hindu while 46% is Christian. However, almost two-thirds (63%) of the Santhal, over 40% of Munda and Ho tribal population are Hindus. Tribal groups in the Himalayas were similarly affected by both Hinduism and Buddhism in the late 20th century. The small hunting-and-gathering groups in the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been under severe pressure of cultural assimilation.

Recognition

According to the Indian legal system, all the native or indigenous religions of India fall broadly under Hinduism, since the constitution does not classify only Vedic religions as Hinduism as used in the colloquial norm. The term "Hindu" is derived from Persian meaning "Indo" (or Indian), hence the official word "Hinduism" broadly refers to all the native cultures of the Indian subcontinent. The 1955 Hindu Marriage Act " as Hindus anyone who is not a Christian, Muslim, or Jew".

List of Tribal Religions in India

• Northeast India
  • Donyi-Polo
  • Sanamahi
  • Songsarek
  • Ka Niam Khasi
  • Niamtre
  • Rangfrah
  • Heraka
  • Wancho Religion
  • Nocte Religion
  • Tiwa Religion
  • Ahom religion
  • Keoliya
  • Daikhoism
  • Aronban
  • Lokhimon
  • Sat Sang
  • Honghari
  • Cumulang
  • Dyaoism
  • Siangsawn Pasian
  • Krama Religion
  • Sanamahism
  • Sari Dharam
• East India
  • Bon
  • Kiratism
  • Yumaism
  • Sarna
  • Sari Dharam
  • Onge Religion
  • Jarawa Religion
• Central India
  • Koyapunem

See also

• Dravidian folk religion
• Folk Hinduism
• Indian religions
• Kalashism and Kafirism
• Bon
• Freedom of religion in India

References

1. ^ "C-01 Appendix: Details of religious community shown under 'Other religions and persuasions' in main table C01 - 2011" (xlsx). Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
2. "ST-14: Scheduled Tribe population by religious community, 2011". Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 14 November 2019.
3. Roshan, Rajesh (2024-09-02), "Tribe, Religion, and Census of India (From 1871 to 2011)", The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Readings on Tribe and Religions in India (1 ed.), London: Routledge India, pp. 140–178, doi:10.4324/9781003516415-13, ISBN 978-1-003-51641-5, retrieved 2024-12-06
4. "ST-14 A Details Of Religions Shown Under 'Other Religions And Persuasions' In Main Table (For Each Tribe Separately)". Office of The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016.
5. National Council of Educational Research and Training. "Social and Political Life - III". Publication Department, NCERT, 2009, p.83.
6. "Tribal Languages in India – Introduction (1/4)". 2019-09-24. Archived from the original on 2019-09-24. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
7. "The Green Revolution in India". U.S. Library of Congress (released in public domain). Library of Congress Country Studies. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
8. Cavanaugh, William T. (2009), The Myth of Religious Violence : Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict, Oxford University Press, p. 88, doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195385045.001.0001

• Indian religions
• Scheduled Tribes of India
• Asian shamanism