The implicit philosophy and worldview of Indian tribes
pp. 121-136
in: Asian philosophy, Berlin, Springer, 1993Abstract
There is nothing in Indian thought structure, nor in the traditional organisation of Indian society, that may correspond to the Western evolutionary notion of tribe as a vestige of savagery and barbarism. Yet, tribe exists in India as a political category created by the British Raj, intellectualised by the colonial anthropologists, and sanctified by the Constitution of modern India. These so-called precultural groups, properly speaking, are the people of Oral Culture.1 This essay attempts to explore their implicit philosophy and worldview, their vision of the cosmos. In so doing, it examines the myths of the North-East India tribes.