The Adivasi

[TheOne]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adivasi

I read a book(a western one) that stated that the members of the "tribal" Adivasi religion were often persecuted and placed at a lower level than the "outcaste" designation. I was shocked to see this and I knew immediately it didn't reflect Sanathana Dharma but I also accepted that it could be ignorance on behalf of the Indian culture.

Please enlighten me on what the Hindu view of the Adivasi peoples are and where they fit into Sanathana Dharma?


Namaste

[mohanty]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adivasi

I read a book(a western one) that stated that the members of the "tribal" Adivasi religion were often persecuted and placed at a lower level than the "outcaste" designation. I was shocked to see this and I knew immediately it didn't reflect Sanathana Dharma but I also accepted that it could be ignorance on behalf of the Indian culture.

Please enlighten me on what the Hindu view of the Adivasi peoples are and where they fit into Sanathana Dharma?


Namaste

It would help if you pointed out which book you were reading.

But in general, the Adivasi's are not "original Indians as the term implies. There were mountain tribes and forest peoples in ancient India along with urban settlements. These existed side by side. In due course of time, their ways of life intermingled and gave rise to modern Hinduism. For example, the Jagannath temple of Puri in Odisha has a tribal version of Vishnu as its principal deity, but the temple has shrines to many "mainstream" Hindu deities as well.

The ides of adivasis (meaning aborigines) took hold when the fallacious Aryan Invasion Theory was in force. It was implied that the Aryans attacked the forest dwelling tribes of India and subjugated them and imposed the caste system upon them which they had imported from a western land.

The move to segregate Adivasis from other Hindus was a political one as well because the British, being westerners, had difficulty figuring out India's incredible diversity of life and faiths. They drew distinctions between "Hindoos, Animists, Seekhs, and Buddhists" also.

Some of this was done to appease Christian missionaries too, who wanted to work for the "upliftment" (read conversion) of the so-called animist tribes. If they could say that these people were not Hindus, then they could easily paint them as victims of Hinduism and play the old charity card.

The most probable reason Adivasis were treated as separate from the varna-based Hindu society was because their system of life lay outside it. Their system was different. But in everything else -- gods, festivals, trade etc -- they were and are as Indian as anyone else.

[devotee]

Good post, Mohanty ! :)

OM

[TheOne]

This book.


http://www.infobasepublishing.com/Bookdetail.aspx?ISBN=0791080951&Ebooks=0

From what I can tell I don't think they have an "agenda" because another of their books about Sanathana Dharma was very informative.

[mohanty]

Ok. I haven't read the book. But the book need not be reliable just because another book by the same publication was reliable. Of course, I could be wrong also.

The adivasis appear to be avarna -- outside of the varna system. They may have been considered inferior to those living in more urban locales because of them being outsiders to that setting. But it is also true that the British census in the 30's eventually gave up trying to make a distinction between them and "Hindoos" because they couldn't tell how the two faith systems were different.

Adivasis have their own gods and deities and they also practice reverence towards the forest and various animals. So did the Hindus.

Hinduism is a pluralist tradition and therefore, contains all manner of religiosity emanating from the Indian subcontinent.

Though I would be very interested in reading about adivasi histories.

[TheOne]

Thank you for your clarifying.

Oh, and on a side note I started reading another book about Dharma today. I got to page 3 and then I put it down because I saw that the author was steeped in the Aryan Invasion theory nonsense.

[Sahasranama]

Thank you for your clarifying.

Oh, and on a side note I started reading another book about Dharma today. I got to page 3 and then I put it down because I saw that the author was steeped in the Aryan Invasion theory nonsense.

It's a good indicator of the author's knowledge of India and Hinduism, when someone promotes the Aryan Invasion theory, you know you don't have to waste your time on that book.

[mohanty]

Thank you for your clarifying.

Oh, and on a side note I started reading another book about Dharma today. I got to page 3 and then I put it down because I saw that the author was steeped in the Aryan Invasion theory nonsense.

Name of book?