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Rapid change in lifestyle, particularly in the last two decades, mediated through less physical activity and dietary habits have had severely affected the cardio-metabolic health even among the indigenous peoples. The present longitudinal study (2007-20) was conducted in four phases (2007-08, 2011-12, 2016-17, and 2019-20) among the Toto tribal population with the a priori expectation that any changes in adiposity and body composition in this duration could be accounted for change in lifestyle since, genetic and environment factors are naturally under control among them. It was found that there was a significant increase in adiposity and body composition among both Toto males and females in the last fifteen years. Shift in physical activity level – from traditional activities to more sedentary activities, and shift in dietary habits- from traditional food to more modern and easily accessible fast foods etc., increased during the follow-up period. Easier access to food supply and sedentary activities have shown a significant rise and these changes affected possibly because of the founder effect/ genetic drift among the demographically small Toto resulting in genetic homogeneity for non-predisposing genes, and/or increase in sedentary work that is less physical activity level coupled with changes in dietary habits in recent years.
Keywords: CVD, Metabolic syndrome, lifestyle, Toto, longitudinal study

With the advancement of time many new arenas of research and sub-disciplines are expected to emerge but that too in the tune of main line of investigation in anthropology. Anthropology distinguishes from other social sciences through the great emphasis on fieldwork which is considered as important source of generating data to know about other society and culture. A field study may last between a few months or longer where an anthropologist can easily generate data through participant observation. A principal requirement in such fieldwork consists of trying to take part in local life as much as possible. A researcher has to remain in the field for a long period in spite of various constraints. Despite all the hardships that an anthropologist faces in the field, there is no escape from this work, because it is considered to be an authentic source of generating primary data. Plenty of disciplines study culture such as, sociologists, historians, and economists but, what defines Anthropologists is that we study culture through participant observation. While, digital ethnography is central to our understanding of the social world; it can shape methodology and methods, and provides the technological tools needed to do research on society. During this Covid pandemic situation it is found that some of our fraternity members are very active in the Digital social networking platform where they are advocating in favour of Digital ethnography ; By holding camera or smart phone camera and recording any field situation and ultimately audio-visual projection in a digital platform is perhaps not digital ethnography. The superficial presentation at the digital platform on any issue, does not support for digital ethnography. To my mind, without in depth field study through participant observation the data cannot be generated to understand the social fabric of a community and inter-relation with their immediate environment or their perception on land use pattern and many other related issues.
Keywords: Ethnography, Fieldwork, Participant observation,Visual Anthropology, Digital Ethnography

The tutelary deity –Danteshwari Ma of Royal lineage of Bastar plays a magnetic role of attraction like centripetal force among the subjects, of Bastar Raja.Bastar state was divided with about 79 parganas (as empirical data speaks) which are headed till date by Manjhi—the hereditary chief and wearing red turban; in each pargana there are number of villages under the control of a Manjhi. Bastar Dusehra (Bastar Dusehra is a series of rituals during Durga Puja which started from the day of Amush or hariali in the month of Saon ( July- Aug). It is an appeasement of Danteshwar mata ( who is considered as happiness and prosperity of the state) is unique in the country and evolved as a way of consolidating political power through Manjhi, Chalki etc, using cultural and religious symbol through Danteshwari Ma. The various matas in the shrines of different villages / parganas are directly or indirectly have some relation with Danteshwari suggesting the of political power of Royal family to grass root level of Bastar. The political connotation of the Dusehra festival is most evident towards the end of festival, that is, Muria Darbar, where voice of grievances and demands are expressed by the subjects of different parganas and now-a-days this ceremony is presided by the representatives of district authority and noted all the proceedings. The present paper highlights what happens when a tribal state disintegrates and how a new set of political control replaces a traditional order.
Keywords: Danteshwari Ma, Manjhi, Pargana, Muria Darbar, Political connotation.

The people of Minicoy (Maliku), the southernmost island of the Lakshadweep, produce Maldive fish, a delicacy widely known in India, Sri Lanka and beyond. Maldive fish, locally hikimas, is a cooked and dried tuna fillet, that is as hard as wood and can be used for several years after processing. For many centuries it has been an essential part of the diet of seafarers, the pioneers of pre-colonial globalisation in the Indian Ocean. Maliku fishermen catch bait fish in the lagoon and skipjack tuna in the open ocean within a radius of 25 miles. Hikimas is produced by local women in their homes for export and partly for their own consumption. Despite the motorisation of fishing boats and other modernisations, fishing with pole and line and the production of hikimas proved to be a most sustainable form of catching and processing fish. It remained basically unchanged since it was first documented in the fourteenth century. I shall argue that fishing on Maliku is more than an economic activity, as it is a central aspect of producing home and belonging also for other occupational groups, particularly seamen, the largest professional group. Fishing and hikimas production are most inclusive economies with transparent distribution of surplus and wealth, and therefore contributes to a society that is often described as “egalitarian”.
Keywords: Indian Ocean, Lakshadweep, Minicoy, fishermen, dry fish production

The Ang (Jarawa), one of the primitive Negrito tribes, live in South and Middle Andaman Islands for thousands of years. They completely depend on foraging for their subsistence in tropical dense forest and coastal areas of the Islands. Penal Settlement (1858) by the British India Government and consequent development of colonisation, gradually made their life miserable. They made futile attempts to resist occupation of their territories and there were numerous encounters of conflict and battles between the primitive inhabitants and the British authorities. It ultimately compelled them to be self-isolated and intensified their hatred and hostility towards the outsiders (Eenen). After independence, following the idea adopted by Portman (1879-94), a policy of reconciliation for establishment of friendly relationship with the unfriendly and hostile Ang was initiated by the then Chief Commissioner of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 1952 through a system of periodical visits to the Ang settlements by a team of selected persons. While the process of confidence building with the Ang was in full swing, a major shift in their behaviour took place in October1997. Leaving aside their self-isolation, hatred and hostilities, they came out of their settlements and started mixing with the neighbouring communities and others. In this study, an attempt has been made to analyze in detail the different components or traits relating to social organization, kinship system and subsistence economy of the Ang with a view to understand their tradition. Further, it also highlights the impact thereon, especially in their language, dress and ornaments, food items, tools and technology etc., after they broke their age-old self-isolation or self-exclusion and came in contact with the greater societies or civilization. Primary data for this study were collected between 2001 and 2007 from almost all of the Ang settlement areas using standard anthropological methods and techniques.
Keywords: Ang, Eenen, colonization, foraging, hostilities, Penal Settlement, self-isolation.

Communicable diseases are known to exist since as early as humankind’s hunter-gatherer days. Around 12,000 years ago,during the Neolithic period, human activities and behaviours changed with the shift to agrarian life. Communities were created and further intermixing with other communities took place, which made epidemics more likely. This shift to a settled life together with the development of densely populated agricultural communities allowed viruses to spread rapidly. Numerous such diseases appeared in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, despite it being an isolated group of islands in the Bay of Bengal. Diseases that were brought on by “civilization” since 1789, when the British East India Company began their first penal settlement, have subsequently caused epidemics that have brought much distress to the island’s indigenous communities and the settlers. There are six primitive tribes in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Four belong to Negrito race namely the Great Andamanese, Onges, Jarawas, and Sentinelese, and two belong to Mongoloid race, Shompens, and Nicobarese. The warm climatic conditions of the island and the poor hygiene and sanitation of the inhabitants trigger the multiplication of viruses and bacteria rapidly, resulting in a varied number of diseases. Some of them are syphilis, malaria which became endemic to Andaman and Nicobar Island for over a century, ophthalmia, measles (among Jarawas), smallpox, mumps, Russian flu, gonorrhea, influenza, leptospirosis, which is infected through contact with water or moist soil that contains urine from infected animals, Andaman hemorrhagic fever, chikungunya, dengue, hookworm infection, tuberculosis, leprosy, conjunctivitis, COVID-19, etc. These have resulted in the decrease of the tribal population over time since the mid- 19th century. This effected the population figures of the indigenous tribes and has made some of them endangered. The present paper focuses on the advent of these diseases chronologically, to understand the causal factors behind their occurrence, the communities affected and their mortality rate in their respective period of occurrence, and also discusses how these diseases were controlled. It can be concluded that, the more the civilization touched the island, more intermixing between other communities, moving towards the cities, and developing trade routes to connect with the Indian mainland - eventually gave rise to epidemics and pandemics with greater likelihood.
Keywords: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, communicable diseases, indigenous tribes, epidemics

The foraging band indicates that young humans are designed, by natural selection, to acquire the culture through their self-directed play and exploration. Being an affluent forager, the Ang (Jarawa) of Andaman archipelago is practicing hunting-gathering as a method of obtaining livelihood by capitalizing the traditional knowledge. It is a truism that the foraging society has an inextricable relationship with the surrounding nature which the people have learnt from their tradition and day-to-day practical knowledge. They always try to maintain a symbiotic relation with the ecological niche. Each and every need-based performance is learnt with acquisition of knowledge, skills; guided by values, beliefs and habits. Needless to say that they have knowledge about sustainable utilization of natural resources; minute technical knowledge for making material objects; knowledge on territorial movement in response to harness the natural resources; knowledge of movement of constellation and other celestial bodies; knowledge of distribution and utilization of physical space in the material level; knowledge of ethnic solidarity at social level; reflection of its world view in the philosophical level. All these aspects whatever they learn eagerly passing to the descendants. The present article is an attempt to highlight those salient aspects of knowledge, which they acquired by means of non-formal education as a process of socialization.
Keywords: Forager, Ecological niche, sustainable, descendants

The present study relates to the health problems and health care issues among the three tribal communities of Central India namely the Hill Korwa, the Kamar and the Baiga. Each tribe has its own culture specific health problems. How individuals in a particular tribal society perceive and react to ill-health and the types of health care they receive from the healers are the attributes of present tribal health study. various illnesses like Jara/tapan (fever), khujli(skin disease), ulti-tatti (diarrhoea), shookha/sudki (rickets), kod (leprosy), garmi (syphilis) are various physical disorder which are prevalent among these tribal people and seek some remedial measures. Indigenous health care system proves to be the only existing age-old mechanism with which tribal people have been surviving since the time immemorial. Many of the tribal communities live in isolated and inaccessible areas where modern health facilities are not available and found insignificant. The beliefs and practices of indigenous knowledge related to method of diagnosis and therapeutic treatment of different illnesses suffice their survival mechanism in the natural environment.It is observed that tribal societies mostly interpret the matters pertaining to health and disease in terms of the relationship between the natural environment and the supernatural forces.Illness due to wrath of supernatural beings (a deity), non-human being ( ancestor or evil spirit) or magical practices by human being (witch or sorcerer)and intake of wrong or excessive food are believed to be the causes of different illness. It is observed that for the treatment of most of the illnesses local medicine men are consulted for immediate result. if the traditional medical system does not provide any relief, or the cause of illnesses are not understood and not getting relief from their own medical system then they prefer to visit as nearby PHC, Sub Centre or Community Health Centre for treatment of diseases. Treatment by making the appropriate offerings, treatment by driving out the disease away, treatment by administering herbal medicines are the available medical system found among the three different tribes.
Keywords: Health Care, Problem, Treatment, Tribe, Central India, Belief, Practice.

Ecotourism is coterminous with sustainable tourism meaning management of tourism and conservation of nature in a way as to maintain a fine balance between the requirements of tourism and ecology on the one hand and the need of the local community for jobs, new skills and better status of women on the other hand. The present study has been carried out in Pakhirala, Dayapur and other adjoining villages of Gosaba block which fringe Sunderban Tiger Reserve (STR) of West Bengal in India. Gosaba block attracts good number of both domestic and foreign / international tourists of which the numbers of the nature lover tourists are comparatively more. The study focuses on inter-play among three significant aspects of ecotourism i.e., nature, tourism and local communities against the backdrop of infrastructural availability of transport, road condition, water, hotels and restaurants, shops, travel agents, tourist guides, etc. All the more the study also looks into the aspect of role of the stakeholders in the ecotourism with emphasis on local communities. Ecotourism has created opportunities of income generation but a large share of it is corned by the outside players. Since tourism has provided alternative means of livelihood, the dependency on STR has come down to some extent. Besides the awareness of tourists about restrictions inside STR has further helped in minimizing the adverse impact. Evaluation of eco-tourism activity on the available infrastructural facility and other aspect of tourism have also been studied. The study mainly highlights the problems of each stakeholder along with their suggestions for further development with emphasis on flourishing local economy. In case of STR, which has a fragile ecosystem, a greater participation of local community along with decisive government intervention in management of tourism is suggested to safeguard the interest of the local community and protect the ecology.
Keywords: Ecotourism, Sundarban Tiger Reserve, ecology, economy, community

The present study is an ethnographic work on the Rabari, a pastoral nomadic or semi-nomadic group of cattle and camel herders living in a number of states in western and north-western India. It traces the routes of migration of these people from place to places stretching over a number of states in North, West and Central India. Apart from giving demographic information, the study discusses the different aspects of the livelihood, social organization and religion of this people based on empirical observation. The development schemes introduced by the government have brought many changes in their way of life. The paper points to the conflict between their traditional practice of grazing and recent forest policy that possesses a challenge to their survival.
Keywords: Rabari, Nomadism, Pastoral, Migration, Livelihood, Social Organisation and Development.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is a great thinker, academician, philosopher, lawyer and renowned intellectual who took up leadership for the upliftment of the depressed, under-privileged and marginalized classes in society, who are lying at the bottom of the rung , known as atishudra or untouchable. His contribution ranges from towards annihilation of the castes to educational reforms from pre-to the post-Independence era. Startinghis movement in 1920 and eventually he embodied his philosophy of social justice and democracy in Indian Constitution. He first awakened the whole society in social reforms through education as the best possible means to bring about an egalitarian society and very important instrument of social change. In practical implication he established various educational institutions for weaker sections of society and negated the external intervention in space of education (globalization and education), and directed towards a socialist model of education. Since attainment of independence, the government agencies have not been concerned to secure the educational rights of the depressed classes. The educational status of dalits (covering both exploited Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes) is much lower in comparison to other communities. Yet the thoughts of this revolutionary leader have been rather ignored in the Indian school education system
This paper would study the philosophical contributions of Ambedkar in context of its practices, nature, process, outcomes and ideals of education along with emphasis on his advocacy on educational system and also aims to discuss the philosophy of education in reference to Dr. B. R Ambedkar in connection with contemporary issues in tribal education in Madhya Pradesh
Keywords: Educational Philosophy, Dr. B. R Ambedkar, backward classes, tribal education, oppression.

The mask is a painted or engraved piece of an object generally worn over the face to disguise one’s identity and to reveal another being. Mask transforms something from natural to cultural trait. Majuli, the river island district is the main Vaishnavite sheet of Assam which has a thought-provoking heritage of mask making. Majuli is the main abode of the Satra (the Vaishnavite monastery) institution of Assam’s Vaishnavism that is not only the place of spreading of Vaishnavite religion but is the soul center of education, culture, and art in the life of the people of Majuli and Assam. Mask is an integral cultural trait of the satras of Majuli which is related to the Vaishnavite religion of Assam. Both the monastery (satra) and the mask have had a thought-provoking heritage since their inception. The Natun Chamaguri Satra is one of the major Vaishnavite monasteries of the Majuli islands and is a living embodiment of medieval Assamese heritage and culture. This satra is the main nerve center of the Vaishnavite mask-making and this heritage is still preserved in this esteemed monastery. It has had a tremendous impact on the socio-religious and cultural life of the people of Assam since its inception. Natun Chamaguri Satra has survived with all its dignity and influence with that pristine craft for more than three hundred years and this indigenous craft has been playing a major role in attracting tourists from different parts of the world since earlier times. In this present endeavour, an attempt has been made to discuss the different facets of the rich Vaishnavite mask culture of Majuli and also it’s potential to stand as one of the world’s cultural heritage sites for mass tourism to this remote part of the land.
Keywords: Mask, Vaishnavism, heritage, Majuli, Natun Chamaguri Satra.

It is more or less known to all concerned that Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) was set up first in 1945 in Benaras or Varanasi, from where the headquarters was shifted later to Kolkata. But what was the actual place where this coveted institution started its journey? This query haunted me time and again until 31stJuly 2022 when I succeeded to visit the. ‘Birthplace of Anthropological Survey of India’ at Varanasi. One hundred years of teaching of anthropology in India opened up scope and possibilities for many new researches and retrospectives, but none of these studies, so far, I have seen in print, has addressed this vital point in the history of anthropology in India. Here, I present the result of my quest for the birth place of AnSI along with description of its present situation, owners and entangled histories. The study has significance in preserving the heritage of our country. It is hoped that this article would throw some light on an untrodden field of history of anthropology in India.
Keywords: Anthropological Survey of India, Place of Birth, Varanasi, History, Heritage

India and China are two Asian giants that have embarked on the continuous journey of globalisation in the 21st century on their strengths of ancient civilizational heritage, population, culture, economy, and international political clout. In this journey, diasporas have played a significant role as soft power and has potential to play greater roles in future. Therefore, keeping in view the significance of the diasporas, the paper explores the dynamics of India China relations and the role of Indian Chinese diaspora in it. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part attempts to explore the historical, cultural, economic and political relations and interactions between the two. Secondly, it attempts to trace the history and trajectories of Chinese diaspora in India which is two centuries old. Moreover, it highlights the issues of social, cultural, political and economic interaction with host society along with formation of a distinct Indian Chinese identity. Lastly, it attempts to analyse the role of Chinese diaspora in diplomatic relations between India and China. The diasporas are the cultural ambassadors as soft power which can transcend the hard power and play a significant role through people to people interactions.
Keywords: Indian Chinese Diaspora, Indian Diaspora, Chinese Diaspora in India, Chinese diasporic culture, India China relations, Soft power