Adivasi

The Adivasi (also spelled Adibasi) are the heterogeneous tribal groups across the Indian subcontinent. The term ''Adivasi'', a 20th-century construct meaning "ancient inhabitants", is now widely used as a self-designation by many of the communities who are officially recognized as "Scheduled Tribes" in India and as "Ethnic minorities" in Bangladesh. They constitute approximately 8.6% of India’s population (around 104.2 million, according to the 2011 Census) and about 1.1% of Bangladesh’s population (roughly 2 million, 2010 estimate).

Claiming to be among the original inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent, many present-day Adivasi communities formed during the flourishing period of the Indus Valley Civilization or after the decline of the IVC, harboring various degrees of ancestry from ancient Dravidians, Indus Valley Civilization, Indo-Aryan, Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burman language speakers.

Adivasi studies is a new scholarly field, drawing upon archaeology, anthropology, agrarian history, environmental history, subaltern studies, indigenous studies, aboriginal studies, and developmental economics. It adds debates that are specific to the Indian context.

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