Introduction:
The families of Indian tribes are mostly of patrilocal , patriarchal , patrilineal, patronomic nature. They are mostly of monogamous, nuclear type. Among the Indian tribes, mostly all the four Pst i.e., Patrilocal, Patriarchal, Patrilineal and Patrinymic, and all the four ‘Ms, i.e., Matrilocal , Matriarchal, Matrilineal and Matrinymic, come together.
North-Western Himalayas:
The family form among the Indian Tribes can be examined more fruitfully on a regional basis, In north-western Himalaya, the families of the Gujjars who are mostly Muslims, of the Gaddis who are Hindus, and of the Pangwals of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh are patrilineal, They also live joint families. But nowadays breaking up of a joint family into a nuclear family is visible and is on the increase. The Khasas of Uttarakhand practice polyandry and are of the patrilineal type. The Tharus follow the rule of patriliny but the position of women is primary with them and it is they(women )who command the family.
North-eastern Himalaya
In north-eastern Himalaya the Garos and the Khasis are matrilineal people, All the members get the motherhood and claim descent from a common ancestress or mother In the Mikirs children belong to the father’s kur(clan) and the sons inherit the property. They are generally monogamous but persons in power can adopt. The Mizos are patriarchal and it is the customary law that the youngest son inherits the property. The Dasama Kacharis follow the rule of double descent, son descends on the father line and the daughter on the mother line.
Middle India:
With the middle India tribes we can easily see that the roots of patriliny are deep. The major tribes like the Santal , Munda. Oraon, Ho, Gond , Bhil, Kol , Kharia, Bhumij are all patrilocal , patrilineal, patriarchal , patrinymic and are monogamous in general with nuclear family in abundance. The frequencies of joint and extended families have been again significantly present among them, The powerful persons of the Ho can marry more than once. The minor tribes like the Birhor, Korwa, Parahiya have all the four Ps with nuclear and monogamous family , in Orissa the major tribes like the Khond and Savara believe in patriarchal type of family.
Western India:
In western India, the tribal family which is patriarchal in nature sweeps over the area – The Bhils, the most populous tribe, follow more or less complete Hindu law of inheritance and succession with father as the priest or the supreme .The family among the Minas , Mahadev Kolis, varlis , Koknes , Thakurs Kothodis , Koli Malhars. Koli Ohors, Dublas, Garnits , etc., is patriarchal in character .
South Indian
In south India, the tribes of both patriarchal and matriarchal family forms are in great number. Most of the Kerala tribes had the same form of family but now the patrilineal rule is followed. The Kurichchians , Kundu vadians and Malayaurs are still Marumakkathayam i. e., matrilineal. Many tribes have no clear rule of inheritance , as they are too poor to inherit any property. They have some type of an inter -mixture of matriarchy and patriarchy. They are the Kadars , irulas , puliyans , etc. They are also considered to be of matriarchal from of family. The Nicobaries are as a rule, patriarchal. Still after marriage the two parties reach a decision in this regard after considering the numbers of existing members in each family. If in the girl ‘ s family members are in minority the boy decides
with the consent of elders to reside with the girl and loses his share in his family property but acquires a full share in the girl’s family. Matrifocal exists among the people living in Chetlat and Kalpeni islands of Lakshadweep. They refer to the prevalence of a form of family consisting of mother and children.-father “acting as a socially approved visiting husband-.
Generalization:
Monogamous family with a nuclear structure is the main feature of the Indian tribes. But the major tribes hope , as their economy demanded or permitted, to have a good number of joint as well as extended families. Family, on the whole, functions as an economic unit , when the forms of tribal family are taken together with their economic types there is a great co-relation. The forest-hunting type of tribals in general have nuclear family exclusively, and a number of nuclear families combine to carry out smoothly the economic operation in the forest with success. The tribals of south India and mostly of Kerala and some part of Tamil Nadu of this category are nuclear in composition and matrilineal in inheritance. Similar is the case with the hill cultivator types. They have families mostly of the nuclear form. The shifting cultivbato9rs like the Garos and Khasis have matrilineal extended families. The polyandrous tribes are the Khasa of Uttar Pradesh in the extreme north and the Todas of Nilgiri in extreme south India, This similarity at two geographical extremities is also seen in the case of matriarchal communities, the Khasis and Garos of extreme north-east India and a few tribes of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the southern end.
Conclusion:
AS we go higher from simpler to complex economy, i.e., from forest to hill and then to agrarian economy, the extension of forms of family broadens. The agricultural tribes have many forms of family and they are afine evidence of structural adaptation to economic activities. The nuclear, joint and extended family forms are the rule of the communities where the nuclear type tops in number, and joint and extended families are in minority even when taken together.
Here the ,’vasitu’ the Bhil family, provides a fit example Usually they have a small “Vasitu” comprising father, mother and the children. At the same time married sons, their wives and unmarried children live under a common roof to form a joint or an extended family. Even the presence of married sisters and daughters is not very uncommon. usually they practise patrilocal and/or virilocal residence but. patri-uxorilocal form of family is also not uncommon. The other populous tribe, the Santhal, too has the same feature with nuclear family as a general rule and the extended and joint as not uncommon, in some cases the groom comes to live in the patri-local society of the Santhals and thus tin’s shows the occurrence of the patri-uxorilocal. The other big tribe is the Khasi which is matrilocal in residence. Here again, apart from the nuclear type of family, they have a family composed of grandmother, grandfather, mother, father children an grand-children forcing as whole a type of vertically extended family.
The artisan and the cattle-herder types of tribes generally live in a nuclear from of family . The non-agricultural labourers such as the Munda, oraon, and Gadaba who are tea-garden workers have the family in its nuclear form with neolocal in status.
The same is the case with industrial and mine workers like the Ho, Oraon. and Santhal living in the industrial centres of Bihar and West Bengal .