Tribes

Gujarat's tribal population lives almost entirely along the EASTERN HILLY BELT — a north-to-south strip running from Banaskantha and Sabarkantha down through Aravalli, Mahisagar, Dahod, Panchmahal, Chhota Udepur, Narmada, Tapi, Navsari and Valsad to the Dangs — plus a separate coastal-Kachchh presence. Read the belt from top to bottom and the communities appear in order: Bhil (the largest, in the central-east), Rathwa (Chhota Udepur, famous for Pithora paintings), Dhodia and Gamit (south), Chaudhari, Kukna, Warli (Valsad, Warli painting), and Kotwalia and Kolgha as particularly vulnerable groups. Kachchh has the pastoral Rabari and the Maldhari of the Banni grasslands, and the Siddi of Gir are of African descent. Then attach the safeguard framework: Fifth Schedule areas, PESA, and the Forest Rights Act.

• Bhil in the north-east, Dangi in the south, Siddi on the coast.

  The Bhils are Gujarat's largest tribal group, concentrated in the eastern districts bordering Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The Dangi tribes are specific to the Dangs district in the south. The Siddis, of African descent, live mainly around Gir-Somnath and Junagadh on the Saurashtra coast — the most distinctive community by origin.

• PVTG is the exam's favourite tribal label.

  Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups are identified by especially low literacy, pre-agricultural technology, and declining or stagnant population. Gujarat's PVTGs include the Kotwalia and the Siddi — a category worth knowing exists, separate from the general Scheduled Tribe list.

• 1The Bhils are Gujarat's largest tribal community, concentrated in the eastern districts along the Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh borders.
• 2The Dangs district in south Gujarat is home to Dangi tribal communities and has the state's highest proportion of tribal population.
• 3The Siddi community, of African descent, lives mainly around Gir-Somnath and Junagadh and retains distinct music and dance traditions.
• 4The Kotwalia and Siddi are among Gujarat's Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), a central classification for communities needing focused development attention.
• 5The Van Bandhu Kalyan Yojana is Gujarat's umbrella state programme for tribal area development, covering education, health and livelihood.

• The Bhils are the largest Scheduled Tribe of Gujarat, concentrated in the eastern districts such as Dahod, Panchmahal and Chhota Udepur.
• Pithora painting is a ritual wall painting tradition of the Rathwa community of the Chhota Udepur area, while Warli painting belongs to the Warli community of the southern belt.
• The Dangs is Gujarat's most heavily tribal district, and the Dang Darbar fair is held there around Holi.
• The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution governs the administration of Scheduled Areas, and the PESA Act of 1996 extends panchayat provisions to these areas.
• Govind Guru led the Bhil reform and resistance movement of the region, remembered through the Mangarh episode of 1913 on the Gujarat-Rajasthan border.
• The Siddi community settled around Gir and Junagadh is of African origin, and its Dhamal dance is a well-known cultural marker.

• The Siddi community is African in origin, not indigenous to Gujarat in the same sense as the Bhil or Dangi communities — a distinction questions sometimes probe.

• Standard Gujarat state board textbook on Gujarat's society and culture
• Gujarat State Gazetteer — people and tribes volume
• Tribes of India — Anthropological Survey of India people of India series

• Gujarat State Portal
• GPSC — official syllabus & papers