Home › UPPCS › Indian Geography › Gap Sheets › Tribes of India
UPPCS Indian Geography Gap Sheet: Tribes of India.
UPPCS has asked 42 of these. 17 have not been asked yet. Lock the first list, then read the second: it holds what UPPCS has not used yet.
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.
✅ Already asked (42)
Central India
- Gond · Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh; the second largest tribe
- Baiga · Madhya Pradesh; PVTG; 'bewar' shifting cultivation
- Korku · Satpura region, Madhya Pradesh–Maharashtra
- Sahariya · Madhya Pradesh–Rajasthan; PVTG
- Bharia · Patalkot, Madhya Pradesh; PVTG
- Abujhmaria (Maria) · Bastar, Chhattisgarh
Jharkhand and Odisha
- Santhal · Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha; Santhali is in the Eighth Schedule
- Munda · Jharkhand
- Oraon · Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh
- Ho · Kolhan, Jharkhand
- Birhor · Jharkhand; PVTG; rope makers and hunters
- Bonda · Odisha hills; PVTG
- Juang · Keonjhar, Odisha; PVTG
- Kondh (Dongria Kondh) · Odisha; Niyamgiri hills
West India
- Bhil · Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat; the largest tribe
- Meena · Rajasthan
South India
- Toda · Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu; buffalo herders
- Irula · Tamil Nadu; snake catchers
- Badaga · Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu
- Chenchu · Nallamala hills, Andhra Pradesh–Telangana; PVTG
- Kadar · Kerala; PVTG
Himalaya
- Bhotia · Uttarakhand, Sikkim
- Jaunsari · Jaunsar-Bawar, Uttarakhand; polyandry
- Raji · Uttarakhand; PVTG
- Gaddi · Himachal Pradesh; shepherds
- Lepcha · Sikkim
North-East
- Khasi and Garo · Meghalaya; matrilineal
- Jaintia · Meghalaya
- Naga · Nagaland, Manipur
- Mizo (Lushai) · Mizoram
- Bodo · Assam
- Mishing and Karbi · Assam
- Chakma · Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh
Andaman and Nicobar
- Onge · Little Andaman; PVTG
- Jarawa · South and Middle Andaman; PVTG
- Sentinelese · North Sentinel Island; PVTG; no contact
- Shompen · Great Nicobar; PVTG
Uttar Pradesh (UP special)
- Tharu · Terai of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand
- Buksa · Terai, Uttarakhand–Uttar Pradesh
- Kharwar · Sonbhadra and Mirzapur
- Kol · Chitrakoot, Banda, Mirzapur
- Saharia and Chero · Lalitpur (Saharia); Sonbhadra (Chero)
❌ Not asked yet (17)
Items marked 'asked in other exams' have come in UPSC or other state exams, not yet in UPPCS.
🔒 17 items not asked yet
Jharkhand and Odisha: 2 · West India: 4 · South India: 4 · Himalaya: 1 · North-East: 4 · Andaman and Nicobar: 2
The UPPCS Pass opens every Repeat List and Gap Sheet, in English and Hindi.
Unlock the UPPCS Pass · ₹149Already bought? Enter your key
An All Access key works too.
⚠️ 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' and 'not asked' are checked against every UPPCS question on this site. 'Not asked yet' does not mean it will surely come.