Synopsis The term 'tribe', though widely used, has no precise definition and the lack of general consensus in this respect has resulted in its application to suit certain interest. In India, as a whole the tribal population is about 8.1 per cent of the total population. In this book Scheduled Tribes an attempt is made to present the ethnography and change in some of the major tribes in order to record the state of tribal affairs on the eve of 50 years of Independence.