The Halams of Tripura from Primitivism to Modernity

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The present book, The Halams of Tripura: From Primitivism to Modernity, by Dr. Suchintya Bhattacharya incorporates the research findings, capturing in vivid details the changing scenario of the Halam community. The study puts into application the latest concepts in anthropology and related disciplines.

One phenomenon, as inherent in the nature of the plural society of the State of Tripura, is the co-existence of and the increased interaction between tribals and non-tribals. Confrontation and eventual harmonisation has lead to varying levels of material and intellectual development. The present book not only focuses attention on the traditional socio-economic and cultural life patterns of the Halams but also goes to narrate in detail the transformation of primitive economy to modern economy, in addition to focussing on the development of transport, the exploitation of forest resources, and the economic poverty prevailing in the hills of Tripura. In dealing with the tribal uprisings, the author elaborates on burning issues like tribal discontent and insurgency. His basic quest has been to strike a balance between the tribals and the non-tribals of Tripura and to build bridges of understanding between them.

Born on November 5, 1939, Dr. Suchintya Bhattacharya obtained his Ph.D from the University of Calcutta. He has been a visiting scholar in the Faculty of Anthropology at the University of Arizona, U.S.A. He is the author of Genesis of Tribal Extremism in Tripura, From Jhuming to Tapping, Jamatia Tribal Community, Constitutional Crisis and Problems in India.

Dr. Bhattacharya was awarded National Honour of the millennium on the 39th anniversary of the Teachers' Day for his outstanding contribution to the field of education. He is currently associated with Tripura Government Law College and Tripura University, Agartala.

The state of Tripura covering a hilly and forested area of 10.477 sq. km with occasional valleys is the veritable homeland of a large number of tribal communities who have infiltrated from the neighbouring hill tracts of North-Eastern India. There are no less than nineteen tribal communities widely distributed across this tiny State. They belong mostly to the Tibeto-Burmese language group and the Mongoloid ethnic stock, and share among themselves basic cultural patterns, which certainly speak of their close affinities. Despite their general linguistic and ethnic affiliations, there are certain cultural variations amongst these tribal peoples. This would be evident from a scientific study of the tribal communities of the State. Each tribe has most successfully retained its individual tribal name and cultural identity.

Sociologically, each tribal community is endogamous; its exclusivity is clearly imprinted in its ways of life. The nineteen tribes of the state have come into direct contact with many alien cultural groups, mostly the Bengalee Hindus of the neighbouring plains. The contact with the Bengalee Hindus became more intimate after the attainment of Independence and partition or the Indian sub continent in 1947 when a large number of the Bengalee Hindu refugees from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) migrated and settled in different parts or the State. Because of close contact with these peoples, the tribal communities of the State of Tripura have undergone marked changes in every aspect of their cultural life and thought. Further, considerable miscegenation has also taken place between the tribal people and the non-tribal population, as among the different tribal communities of the state. The cultural admixture has generated considerable changes in ethnic characteristics and cultural peculiarities of each tribal community of the State.