Study on the Historical Perspective and Present Context of the Socio-Cultural Structure and Practices of Primitive Tribe, with Special Reference to Birhor

The present paper delineates the historical perspective in context of the socio-cultural structure of a tribe Birhor who are considered primitive because of their traditional/slow changing lifestyle. Their local knowledge system is quite strong and has evolved in due course of time. These knowledge systems are internalised in their life. Anthropologically, tribal communities across the world are called primitive communities in the sense that they live in isolation as compared to other rural communities and follow their distinctive cultural pattern. They lack traits of the so called advanced communities. But in official documents released by the Government of India a tribal is primitive in the following sense: pre agriculture, low level of literacy and decreasing population over the decades. Therefore, special attention is given to them for development. There are as many as 75 such communities in the country.