Indigenous System of Governance in Tribal India

Change is irrefutable law of nature. A look into history reveals that all social institutions such as family, religion, marriage, political, economic values and social attitudes have undergone change over a period of time; the social life being lived at present was not so about hundred or more years back. Human society is an ever changing process of growing, decaying, renewing and adjusting itself to new ideas, inventions and ways of living. However, it is difficult to predict the form and direction of social change. The reason is that the factors which cause social change do not remain uniform always. The population changes, expansion of science and technologies, ideologies and social values takes new form, and as a result of that social structure, social system and social institutions change. The changes in the basic structures and institutions changed the behavioural and relationship pattern that are densely interwoven in normative values and function across the entire society. In brief, every social institutions evolved in the history have social purposes and they change when the society changes. The Kebang of the Adis is no exception. While some changes are induced by external agents, some are self propelled, keeping in view the changing requirement from within the society.  

The society of the Adis with the introduction of modern participatory democratic institutions particularly the Panchayati Raj and the party politics have witnessed forging of a new synthesis between the old and new without major or revolutionary and emotional disturbance or turmoil in the institutional and inter-group behavioral pattern of the society. Though the traditional social ethos still holds importance in spite of changing social topography, there is a definite shift in the value orientation and perception of the people. The new ideas have gradually penetrated deep into labyrinth of social structure which in the process found root in their value perception.

The book definitely would be of immense importance for the students, research scholars, academicians, policy makers and general readers in policy formulation and carry out further research on tribal in rural society in India