Tribe is a modern term, which refers to very old communities, being one of the oldest inhabitants of the subcontinent. The tribal communities followed no religion with written text, had no state class division and had no caste and were neither Hindus nor farmers. The term tribe was used in the colonial era to refer to a very specific group of communities, mainly for administrative convenience.

The various features of the tribe are :

(i) The tribal people did not follow the religion with the written text.

(ii) The tribals did not have any state or political organization of the normal type.

(iii) The tribals had no caste and were neither Hindus nor farmers.

(iv) The tribals lived in different geographical locations and followed natural lifestyle according to the geographical location.

Joint family can take various forms. However, a joint family consists of more than one couple and often more than two generations live together. It can be a group of brothers with their individual families or elderly couple, their sons, grandchildren and their families.

Following are the main features of joint family :

(i) Large Size: The size of the joint family is large. This includes parents, children, grandchildren and their wives as well as other close relatives.

(ii) Common Residence: The members of a joint family generally live under one roof.

(iii) A productive unit: The joint family acts as a productive unit. Joint family helps in agriculture and business activities.

(iv) Joint Property: Property is owned, produced and consumed on a joint basis. The head of the family is like a trustee who manages the family property for the welfare of the family members.