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Tribes of India: asked and not asked.
UPSC has asked 29 of these 54. 8 came more than once. 25 have not come yet. Lock the repeated ones first, then read the rest.
First, the concept
Scheduled Tribes are about 8.6 percent of India's people (Census 2011). Madhya Pradesh has the most of them; Mizoram and Lakshadweep have the highest share.
By number, the Bhil are the largest tribe, then the Gond. 75 groups are listed as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
UPPCS asks a tribe with its state or region, and sometimes with a custom: Toda buffalo herding, Garo and Khasi matrilineal families, Baiga 'bewar' shifting cultivation.
🔁 Asked again and again (8)
Tap a year to open that solved question.
Jharkhand and Odisha
North-East
✅ Asked once (21)
Central India
Jharkhand and Odisha
- Santhal · Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha; Santhali is in the Eighth Schedule 1979
- Birhor · Jharkhand; PVTG; rope makers and hunters
- Asur · Jharkhand; PVTG; traditional iron smelters
West India
- Bhil · Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat; the largest tribe
Himalaya
North-East
Andaman and Nicobar
- Jarawa · South and Middle Andaman; PVTG
- Sentinelese · North Sentinel Island; PVTG; no contact
❌ Not asked by UPSC yet (25)
Items marked 'asked in UPPCS' have already come in the UP state exam, so examiners do use them.
Central India
- Bharia · Patalkot, Madhya Pradesh; PVTG asked in UPPCS
Jharkhand and Odisha
- Oraon · Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh asked in UPPCS
- Juang · Keonjhar, Odisha; PVTG asked in UPPCS
- Saora · Odisha; known for wall paintings
West India
- Meena · Rajasthan asked in UPPCS
- Garasia · Rajasthan
- Warli · Maharashtra–Gujarat; Warli painting
- Katkari · Maharashtra; PVTG
- Siddi · Gujarat and Karnataka; of African origin
South India
- Badaga · Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu asked in UPPCS
- Chenchu · Nallamala hills, Andhra Pradesh–Telangana; PVTG asked in UPPCS
- Kadar · Kerala; PVTG asked in UPPCS
- Kota and Kurumba · Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu
- Koya · Godavari valley, Telangana
- Paniya · Wayanad, Kerala
- Soliga · BR Hills, Karnataka; first tribe to win forest rights inside a tiger reserve
Himalaya
- Gujjar-Bakarwal · Jammu and Kashmir; nomadic herders
North-East
- Jaintia · Meghalaya asked in UPPCS
- Bodo · Assam asked in UPPCS
- Chakma · Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh asked in UPPCS
- Adi and Nyishi · Arunachal Pradesh; Nyishi are the largest tribe there
- Monpa · Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh
- Reang (Bru) · Tripura; PVTG
Andaman and Nicobar
- Great Andamanese · Strait Island; PVTG
- Nicobarese · Car Nicobar; the largest tribe of the islands, not a PVTG
⚠️ Toda are in the Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu), not in the North-East. Khasi and Garo are matrilineal. The Nicobarese are the one island tribe that is not a PVTG.
'Asked' is checked against the solved UPSC questions on this site. 'Not asked yet' does not mean it will surely come.