Indian Anthropology and Tribal Societies of Kerala
Indian anthropology and the tribal societies of Kerala form a high-scoring, fact-heavy section. The exam tests the discipline's Indian institutional history, the concept of tribe and Scheduled Tribe, constitutional safeguards, and Kerala's major communities.
Institutional and legal frame
The Anthropological Survey of India was established in 1945 and is based in Kolkata. Tribe is not a single evolutionary stage; the Lokur Committee (1965) used traits such as distinct culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact and backwardness. Scheduled Tribes are notified under Article 342. PESA (1996) extends panchayat provisions to Fifth Schedule areas; the Forest Rights Act (2006) recognises individual and community forest rights. Kerala is not a Fifth Schedule state.
Kerala's tribes
Kerala's Scheduled Tribe list includes Paniya (the largest), Kurichiya, Kuruma, Kattunayakan, Cholanaickan, Kadar, Muthuvan, Mannan, Irula and Ulladan, mainly in Wayanad, Idukki, Palakkad and Attappady. Five groups-Cholanaickan, Kattunayakan, Koraga, Kurumba and Kadar-are Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). KIRTADS in Kozhikode supports research and training.
Worked example
A community lives in a forested enclave, practises pre-agricultural subsistence, has very low literacy and a declining population. These are PVTG criteria, not simply tribe criteria. The reasoning requires several indicators together; poverty alone does not make a group a PVTG.
Traps
Do not assume all Kerala tribes are PVTGs; the Fifth Schedule does not apply to Kerala; 'Adivasi' hides internal diversity; tribe is not caste; do not confuse the Anthropological Survey of India with the Census.