The

Constitution of India The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...

categorizes the tribes of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

into two groups: Scheduled Tribes (Hills) and Scheduled Tribes (Plains). Since hills tribes living in the plains and plains tribes living in the hills in large numbers are not recognised as scheduled tribes in the respective places, the census data may not reflect the correct figures. Assamese language is used as the

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...

by almost all the tribes. According to the 2001 census, Scheduled Tribes made up 12.4 percent of Assam's population. The

Assam Tribune ''The Assam Tribune'' is an Indian English daily newspaper published from Guwahati and Dibrugarh, Assam. With over 700,000 copies of current circulation and a readership of over 3 million, it is the highest circulated English daily in northeaste ...

reported in 2009 that the tribal communities of Assam were accounted for 15.64 percent of the total population.

Overview

According to the 2011 census, Assam has a Scheduled Tribes (ST) population of 3,884,371 which makes up 12.44% of the state's total population. The major Scheduled Tribes in Assam are the

Boro BORO (Business Objects Reference Ontology) is an approach to developing ontological or semantic models for large complex operational applications that consists of a top ontology as well as a process for constructing the ontology. It was originally ...

(35.06%),

Miri Miri () is a coastal city in north-eastern Sarawak, Malaysia, located near the border of Brunei, on the island of Borneo. The city covers an area of , located northeast of Kuching and southwest of Kota Kinabalu. Miri is the second largest ...

(17.52%), Karbi (11.08%),

Rabha The Rabha people are a Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group who live mostly in the Northeast Indian state of Assam, with a lesser population in the adjacent state of West Bengal. They primarily inhabit the plains of Lower Assam and the Dooars, while some ...

(7.63%), and Kachari (6.52%). However, the Scheduled status of these tribes is subject to specific territories. In the autonomous districts of

Karbi Anglong Karbi may refer to: Places * Karbi, Armenia * Karbi Anglong Plateau, an extension of the Indian Plate in Assam, India * Karbi Anglong district, a district of Assam, north-eastern India Other uses * Karbi people, an ethnic group of North-e ...

and

Dima Hasao Dima Hasao district (), is an administrative district in the state of Assam, India. As of 2011, it is the least populous district of Assam. Dima Hasao district is one of two autonomous hill districts of Assam. The district headquarters Haflong ...

, the prominent tribal groups are the Karbi (63.63%), Dimasa (including Kachari) (15.22%), any Kuki tribe (4.94%), and any Naga tribe (4.4%). Outside these two autonomous districts, the main Scheduled Tribes are the Boro (44.96%), Miri (22.46%), Rabha (9.78%), Kachari (including Sonwal) (8.38%), Lalung (6.03%), and

Garo Garo may refer to: People and languages * Garo people, a tribal people in India ** Garo language, the language spoken by the Garo tribe Places * Kingdom of Garo, a former kingdom in southern Ethiopia * Garo, Colorado * Garo Hills, part of the ...

(4.49%). In terms of linguistic demographics, 33.39% of the total Scheduled Tribe population in Assam speak

, 24.73% speak Assamese, 15.39% speak Miri/ Mishing, 11.31% speak Karbi/Mikir, 4.09% speak

, 3.05% speak Dimasa, and 2.55% speak

. Other languages spoken among the Scheduled Tribes include Haijong (26,540 speakers), Lalung (25,373), Deori (24,766),

Zemi A zemi or cemi (Taíno: ɛmi was a deity or ancestral spirit, and a sculptural object housing the spirit, among the Taíno people of the Caribbean.Bercht et al, 23 Cemi’no or Zemi’no is a plural word for the spirits. Theology Taíno ...

(19,561), Kuki (18,652),

Hmar Hmar may refer to: *Hmars or Hmar people, in northeastern India **Hmar languages, Tibeto-Burman subfamily of languages, spoken by the Hmar ***Hmar language The Hmar language (Hmar: ''Khawsak Țawng'') is a Northern Mizo language spoken by the ...

(17,584), Khasi (11,520), and

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

(11,163). Additionally, there are speakers of

Rengma The Rengma Naga are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group inhabiting the Northeast Indian states of Nagaland and Assam. According to the 2011 Census of India, the population of Rengmas in Nagaland stands at 62,951 and the population of Rengmas in Assam ...

, Rongmei, Hindi, Pnar/Synteng, Chakma, Nepali, Ao, Thado, Kachari, and Luhasi/Mizo languages.

List of tribes

In the autonomous districts of
Karbi Anglong Karbi may refer to: Places * Karbi, Armenia * Karbi Anglong Plateau, an extension of the Indian Plate in Assam, India * Karbi Anglong district, a district of Assam, north-eastern India Other uses * Karbi people, an ethnic group of North-e ...
and
North Cachar Hills Dima Hasao district (), is an administrative district in the state of Assam, India. As of 2011, it is the least populous district of Assam. Dima Hasao district is one of two autonomous hill districts of Assam. The district headquarters Haflong ...

, Borokachari * Chakma * Dimasa, Kachari *

* Hajong *

* Khasi, Jaintia, Synteng, Pnar, War, Bhoi, Lyngngam *

Lakher The Mara (, ; , ), also historically known as ''Lakher'', are an ethnic group native to Mizoram, India, and Chin State, Myanmar. Ethnonyms While the community refers to themselves as Maras, various exonyms have been used by neighbouring trib ...

Man A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...

(Tai speaking) * Karbi * Pawi * Syntheng * Lalung * Any Mizo (Lushai) tribes * Any

Naga tribes Nagas are various Tibeto-Burman ethnic groups native to northeastern India and northwestern Myanmar. The groups have similar cultures and traditions, and form the majority of population in the Indian state of Nagaland and Naga Self-Administere ...

* Any

Kuki tribes The Kuki people, or Kuki-Zo people,Rakhi BoseIn Tense Manipur, Sub-Categorisation And 'Creamy Layer' Could Open A Pandora's Box Outlook, 11 September 2024. uoting general secretary of the Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU), Kangpokpi''At prese ...

In the State of Assam excluding Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills

Barmans in Cachar The Dimasa_people, Dimasa Kachari plains tribe (Dimasa language speakers) of Cachar_district, Cachar are known as Barman, forming one of the indigenous tribes of undivided Cachar (including Dima_Hasao_district, Dima-Hasao, Hailakandi_district, Haila ...

, Borokachari * Deori * Hojai * Kachari, Sonowal * Lalung *

Mech In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines, typically depicted as piloted, humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japanese is more inclusive ...

* Dimasa * Hajong *

* Mising

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheduled Tribes in Assam People from Assam Social groups of Assam Scheduled Tribes of India

Overview

List of tribes

In the State of Assam excluding Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills

See also

References