'Adivasi' in 'English'

The Hindi word for tribal is adivasi, meaning “ancient inhabitants”

Adivasi and “Tribal” are not interchangeable as “Tribal” is a very broad term in the English language, as we all know, and includes all the different indigenous groups of India.


Adivasi” – which is derived from Sanskrit – is applied to the dark-skinned or Austro-Asiatic indigenous groups of India (usually those from Eastern India).

 

It is a commonly-used term in Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha.

 

It is also used by the local Mongoloid tribes of North Eastern India for the migrant workers who were brought in as indentured laborers to work in tea plantations during the colonial period.