| Ojhas | These tribes are found in Madhya Pradesh. | |
| Onges | These tribes are found on the Southern Andaman Islands, Little Andaman Island and the three small islands to the northeast. They are also known as Jarawas and speak the Jarawa language. | |
| Oraon (Kurukh) | These tribes are found in Bihar and Orissa. | |
| Oriya | These tribes are found mainly in Orissa and parts of Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Andhra Pradesh. They are also known as Odri, Odrum, Ouya, Orissa, Uriya, Utkali, Vadiy and Yudhia. | |
| Padhar | These tribes are found in Gujarat. | |
| Paharis | These tribes are found along the foothills of the Himalayas, mainly in Himachal Pradesh. | |
| Pangwalis | These tribes are found in Himachal Pradesh. | |
| Panika | These tribes live primarily in the Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh and are divided into two broad groups: the Kabirpanthi and the Sakta. | |
| Paniyan | These tribes are found in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and are also known as Pania and Panyah. | |
| Parhiya | These are mainly found on the hilltop forests of Bihar. | |
| Pardhi | These tribes are known by different names as Bahelia, Chita Pardhi, Lango Pardhi, Paidia, Paradi, Paria, Phans Pardhi, Takankar and Takia. These tribes are found in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Their language is also described as Pardhi. | |
| Pauri Bhuiya | These tribes, who are also known Bhuiya, Bhuinhar, Bhuinya, Bhuiyali, Bhumia, Bhungiyas and Bhuyan Oriya, are located in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. | |
| Pawi | These tribes are found in Mizoram. | |
| Phoms | These tribes are found in the Tuensang district of Nagaland. | |
| Poouch | These tribes are found in Jammu & Kashmir. They speak Poochi, Urdu and Dogri languages. | |
| Pramalai Kallar | These tribes are found in Tamil Nadu. | |
| Porja | The Porja (or Konda-Dora) tribes are located in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, and Orissa. They speak a Dravidian language called Konda-Dora, (konda meaning “hill” and dora meaning “leader”). This name was given to them because of their descent from the great Kondh tribe. The Porja are well established as two groups: the Pedda Kondalu and Chinna Kondalu. The Pedda Kondalu have retained most aspects of their traditional culture, however, the Chinna Kondalu group has been heavily influenced by the Telugu. | |
| Purig-Pa | These are people of Tibetan origin found in the Kargil district of Jammu & Kashmir. The people prefer to be culturally and linguistically identified with Tibet, although religiously with Islam. | |
| Rabari | These are semi-nomadic people of Rajasthan. | |
| Rabha | These tribes are found in Assam. | |
| Raji | These tribes are found in Uttar Pradesh. Their language is also known as Raji. | |
| Ralte | These tribes are found in Mizoram. | |
| Reddy | These people are found mainly in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. They are also known by other names like Mukha-Rora, Deddi-Dora and Conta-Reddi. | |
| Rengma | These tribes are found in Tseminyu in the Kohima district of Nagaland. The Rengmas celebrate the popular festival of Ngada every year in November. | |
| Riang | The Riangs are primarily located in the Deotamura ranges of eastern and central Tripura. Some tribes also live in Assam. These are considered as the second largest tribe of Tripura and the first inhabitants there. They speak a Baric language that is also called Riang. | |
| Saharia | The Saharia or Sor live primarily in the state of Madhya Pradesh. They are also found in the hills of the Ganjam district of southern Orissa, as well as in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam. They speak a Munda language that belongs to the Austro-Asiatic language family. | |
| Sangtams | These tribes are found in the Tuensang District of Nagaland. | |
| Santhals | These tribes are found in Bihar, Orissa, Tripura, West Bengal and Assam, besides Bangladesh and Nepal. They are also known by other names like Hor, Har, Satar, Santhali, Sandal, Sangtal, Sentali, Samtali and Santhial. They speak Santhali. They are considered as the largest tribe in India. The basis of Santhal religion is the belief that they are totally surrounded by bongas or spirits and frequently are visited by deceased ancestors. | |
| Saurashtras | Saurashtrians are mostly silk weavers and silk thread merchants, originated in the Saurashtra region (present day Gujarat, and parts of Maharashtra) in Northern India and later settled in Madurai and spread to Trichy, Salem, Kumbakonam and other surrounding areas of Tamil Nadu few centuries ago. Their native language, also known as Sourashtra, is a pre-Gujarati language, which shows many archaic features of Gujarati and at the same time shows influence of other Aryan languages like Konkani and Marathi and of Dravidian Telugu and Tamil. | |
| Sema | Semas are considered to be the martial tribe among the Nagas. These tribes are concentrated in the Zunheboto district of Nagaland. Tuluni is one of the most important festivals observed by the Sema tribe in the second week of July every year. | |
| Sentenelese | These are the tribes found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. | |
| Sherdukpen | These tribes are found in Arunachal Pradesh. | |
| Sherpa | The Sherpa are a Himalayan people living primarily in eastern Nepal. A few of them, however, live in the mountains of the bordering Indian state of Sikkim and in the larger hill towns of the state of West Bengal. The Sherpa language is a dialect of Tibetan, thus it is a part of the Tibeto-Burman language family. | |
| Shin | These people are found in theDras Valley and Gurais area in Kishenganga Valley in northern Kashmir. They speak in an Indo-Aryan language called Shina. | |
| Shompens (Shom Peng) | These tribes live on the Great Nicobar Island. Their language is also described as Shom Peng. | |
| Siddis | These tribes are found in Goa. | |
| Singpho | These tribes are found in Arunachal Pradesh. | |
| Solung | These tribes are found in Arunachal Pradesh. | |
| Sondwari | These are the tribes found mainly in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. | |
| Sourastras | Described by various names such as Saurashtra, Saurashtri and Patnuli, these tribes are found in parts of Tamil Nadu. Their spoken language is described as Saurashtra. | |
| Subernabaniks | They represent the rich merchant classes of West Bengal. The Subernabanik women are famous for their beauty. According to legends, the Subernabaniks originated in the princely kingdom of Oudh, near Bengal, during the reign of King Adisura about 1000 AD. | |
| Tadvi Bhil | They live in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan. Their language, known as Dhanka, belongs to the Bhil subgroup of the Indo-Aryan linguistic family. The name Tadvi literally means “one who taps the palm tree” and is used to refer to all forest tribes. | |
| Tagin | This tribe is found in Assam. They speak a language, which is also called Tagin. Some also speak Dafla or Nisi as a trade language. | |
| Tangsa | These are the tribes found in Nagaland and in Myanmar. They are known by various names like Rangpan, Tasey and Chem Chang. Their language is Naga and Tangsa. | |
| Tharu | These tribes are found in the northwest of Bihar and speak Tharu, a dialect of Bhojpuri. | |
| Toda | These are the hill tribes of Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu) who are very indigenous to this area. These people, who are also known as Todi or Tuda, claim to be the direct descendants of the Aryans. According to some researchers, this tribe has links with the Sumerian people of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization. Their language is also known as Toda. Today, almost 3000 Todas live in the Blue Mountains. | |
| Totos | These tribes are found in West Bengal. | |
| Tripuris (Tipera) | These tribes are primarily concentrated in the plains of Tripura and are indigenous to this area. They are the largest tribe in the state, and their land once extended over much of Bengal, Assam and northern Myanmar. | |
| Tulu | These are fair-skinned people who are found mainly in Mangalore and South Kannara districts of Karnataka. They speak a Dravidian language, also called Tulu, which lacks a script. | |
| Ullada | These tribes are found in Kerala. | |
| Urali | These tribes are found in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. These are also known by the names Oorazhi and Urli and speak the Urali language. | |
| Usipi | The Usipis are located predominantly in Assam and Tripura. Their language, Usipi (also known as Kok Barok), is part of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The Usipis are commonly characterized as Garo. | |
| Varli | These tribes are found in Dadra & Nager Haveli and Daman & Diu. | |
| Wagdi | The Wagdis are considered as a sub-group of Bhils. The Wagdi language, also called Wagdi, belongs to the Bhil branch of the Indo-Aryan language family. | |
| Wancho | Known by different names like Naga Wancho, Banpara Naga and Joboka, these tribes are found in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. They speak Naga and Wancho languages. | |
| Wars | These tribes primarily inhabit the districts East of Meghalaya. They belong to the Proto-Austroloid Mon-Khmer race. | |
| Wattal | These tribes are found in Jammu & Kashmir. | |
| Yanadi | The Yanadi are dark skinned short-stature people found mainly in the Nellore and Chittoor districts of Andhra Pradesh. They speak Yanadi, which belongs to the Telugu language family. They are divided into two groups: the Manchi Yanadi, which belongs to the small superior class and the Challa Yanadi. The two groups seldom inter-marry. | |
| Yeravas | These tribes are found in Karnataka. | |
| Yerukala | The Yerukala live primarily in the Godivari district of Andhra Pradesh and parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. They speak Sankara-Yerukala, a Southern Dravidian language that is distinctly related to Tamil. Many of the Yerukala also speak Telugu. These tribes are also known by the names Yarukula, Yerukla, Erukala and Koraya. | |
| Yimchungers | These tribes are found in the Tuensang District of Nagaland. | |
| Zakhring | These tribes are found in Arunachal Pradesh. | |
| Zanskaris | These are the Buddhist tribes, ethnically similar to Tibetans, found in the Zanskar Mountains in the Leh-Ladakh and Kargil-Purik areas of Jammu and Kashmir. They speak Zanskari, a language related to Tibetan. | |
| Zemi Naga | The Zemi Nagas or Zeliang are the tribes found in the Upper Barak Valley of Assam and parts of Manipur and Nagaland. They speak Naga and Zeme (Zoliang) languages. | |
Major Tribes of India-3
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