Characteristics of Tribal Society of India: From the above definition, we may list the following characteristics of tribal society. 

(i) They have usually a well-demarcated geographical territory.

(ii) Generally they live in forests or hilly areas. 

(iii) Their territory is relatively isolated or semi-isolated compared to other social groups.

(iv) They have their own culture, folklore, cosmology and belief system.

(v) Economically they are self-sufficient, i.e. their economy is based on subsistence level where there is no concept of surplus. They cling to primitive technology. They lack a monetary economy. Their economy is dependent on barter exchange.

(vi) They are more interested in earning their today's needs and do not bother about their future requirements.

(vii) They have their own language; generally do not have any script.

(viii) They have their own political system, i.e. both stateless and state. Earlier they had a stateless system, i.e. without any tribal chief. They manage their law and order system through family and kinship ties. Later on, came the state system, when tribes nominated or elected their own chiefs. Today, of course this autonomy has been lost and they have become part of the local administration.

(ix) They have their own religion, i.e. having their own deities (gods and goddesses) and belief system. Their forms of religion are known as animism (worshipping the soul or ancestors), animatism (worshipping any non-living body like stone or wood), totemism (worshipping a tree or any animal as the founding ancestor), and naturism (worshipping objects of nature like river, stream, sun, moon, forest, etc.).

(x) They have a sense of belongingness to their own community, they feel that they are sons of the soil and hence they have a strong ethnic identity.