An Adivasi woman from the Kutia Kondhtribal group in Orissa

Adivasi is an umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups claimed to be the aboriginalpopulation of India.^[1][2][3] They comprise a substantialindigenous minority of the population of India. The same term Adivasi is used in Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ??? ???) to refer to the native Vedda people. The word is also used in the same sense in Nepal as is another word janajati(Nepali: ??????; janaj?ti), although the political context differed historically under the Shah and Rana dynasties.

Adivasi societies are particularly present in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu,West Bengal and some northeastern states, and theAndaman and Nicobar Islands. Many smaller tribal groups are quite sensitive to ecologicaldegradation caused by modernization. Both commercial forestry and intensive agriculture have proved destructive to the forests that had endured swidden agriculture for many c