how has the nature of tribal market changed with time ?
Answers
Sociologically expressing to present my view, subjective manner:
The following are the main views regarding the nature of tribe or tribal market:
1) Opinons of Rivers: According to Doctor. Rivers the tribe is a simple social group the members of which use a common known dialect and work together accordingly in a war and in carrying out other common projects including handling the tribal market for the same. In the definition of tribe, Rivers has not held common residence or the place they commonly live at one location to be essential characteristic since most of the tribes are of the nature of wanderers, which was objected soon after.
Criticism of River's view:- Scholars indicated clearly, the following defects in this description of the tribe:
A) According to Doctor. D.N. Majumdar it is completely incorrect to exclude the characteristics of a definite residential district from the definite of tribe. In spite of possessing the wandering habits (randomly moving), tribes do possess a definite habitation.
B) In this Definition Rivers has stressed the unity of tribes in times of war. According to Professor. Brown there are many tribes within which one clashes with another one, making a social conflict amd, war. In the same way many tribes have neither any leader nor any central or any other kind of rule of administration, making them, freely operate the tribal market under no dire circumstances.
2) Gillin's view and opinion: According to Levis Gillin and Phillip Gillin the tribe is one such group of local communities which lives in a common area, speaks a commonly known dialect and follows the same common culture. Two facts of which have been particularly emphasised in Gillin's view:
A) Common habitation: In its absence, the consequent disappearance of mutual contact will also completely shatter the unity of language and its specified culture.
B) Sense of Unity: Due to this members of one tribe consider themselves distinct from members of a different tribe. It is not enough for some of the people to stay at one particular place in order to form a tribe or a tribal market, there must be engaged in them a sense of unity. This view has been shared by many people and has developed the tribe and the tribal market, allowing it to change over the years.
3) View of the imperial Gazetteer: According to the imperial Gazetteer, "A tribe is a collection of families bearing a common name, speaking a common dialect, occupying or professing to occupy a common territory and is not usually endogamous though originally it might have been so."
4) D.N. Majumdar's view: In defining the the tribe Doctor. D.N. Majumdar has only clarified its description. According to him,"A tribe is a collection of families, bearing a common name, members of which occupy the same territory, speak the same language or dialect and observe certain taboos regarding marriage, profession or occupation and have developed a well assessed system of reciprocity and mutuality of obligation."
Doctor. D.N. Majumdar's opinion does not hold true for all the tribes. In the beginning the mebers of the tribe did necessarily marry within their tribe but now the practice of marrying outside the tribe is more prevalent among them. From this specific viewpoint, the definition of the imperial Gazetteer appears to be more appropriate. Thus, the tribal marketing system and the tribe itself is changing over the years.