Sociology and Social Anthropology in India

2

ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDIES OF INDIAN TRIBES

Vinay Kumar Srivastava and Sukant K. Chaudhury

This review of the literature on the studies of Indian tribes (published in the English language) covers the time span from 1988 to 2002. It also reflects upon the discipline of anthropology in India, wherein tribal studies continue to constitute the principal subject matter.

Anthropology in India

Immanuel Kant is credited with coining the word ‘anthropology’, meaning the ‘study of Man’, or, in the contemporary gender-sensitive world, the ‘study of Humankind’ Although in the literature on the history of anthropology one comes across a tendency on the part of authors to trace its emergence to ancient and medieval thinkers such as Aristotle, Ibn Khaldun, ...