Tribes and Tribal Life

The tribal people of India constitutes 8.08 percent of the total population of India. They are generally inhabiting in different ecological and geoclimatic conditions mostly inaccessible to other people. So each tribal group is distinct from the other in ethnic affinity and social practices. They are having some salient features which make them unique. The cultural identification of way of living is still strong among them. The present state of health of tribals is the cumulative result of under nourishment compounded by several other factors which include incidence of chronic endemic diseases such as malaria, filaria, tuberculosis, venereal diseases, yaws, leprosy etc. The present health status of of tribals is a contributory factor to their numerical decline. There is, therefore, an urgent need to bring such tribal communities within the fold of genetic, preventive and curative medical sciences concomitant with the attempt to improve their nutritional levels. This book comprises the study of tribal life and their relation to forest in historical as well as in modern perspective.