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{{Short description|None}}(File:2011 Census Scheduled Tribes distribution map India by state and union territory.svg|thumb|upright=1.55|Scheduled Tribes distribution map in India by state and union territory according to the 2011 Census.)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.

Numbers

According to the 2011 census of India, about 7.9 million 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".WEB,weblink xlsx, C-01 Appendix: Details of religious community shown under 'Other religions and persuasions' in main table C01 - 2011, Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, 21 January 2021, 19 July 2023, Of these religious census groupings, the most numerous are Sarna (4.9 million respondents), Gondi (1 million), Sari Dharma (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".

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.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} 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.National Council of Educational Research and Training. "Social and Political Life - III". Publication Department, NCERT, 2009, p.83.The various tribes can be categorised into different major linguistic groupings, such as Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Austroasiatic, Tibeto-Burman, and Andamanese.WEB, 2019-09-24, Tribal Languages in India – Introduction (1/4),weblink 2023-08-26,weblink 2019-09-24, About 25% of the Munda people and Oraon people, and 60% of the Kharia people of Bihar (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.WEB,weblink The Green Revolution in India, U.S. Library of Congress (released in public domain), Library of Congress Country Studies, 2007-10-06,

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 (wikt:𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁#Old Persian|"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 "[defines] as Hindus anyone who is not a Christian, Muslim, or Jew".{{citation |last=Cavanaugh |first=William T. |year=2009 |title=The Myth of Religious Violence : Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=88}}

List of Tribal Religions in India

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

See also

• Dravidian folk religion
• Folk Hinduism
• Indian religions
• Kalashism and Kafirism
• Bon

References

{{Reflist}}{{Religion in India topics}}