criminal tribes

“Criminal tribes” was a label the British colonial government used for many communities whom it wrongly treated as being naturally criminal.

• Under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, the government could “notify” an entire community as criminal—not because each person had committed a crime, but because of their birth.
• People from these communities had to register with the police, report regularly, and often needed permission to travel. Many families were forced into settlements where their movements were closely controlled.
• This law especially harmed nomadic, forest-dwelling, and tribal groups, whose ways of living did not fit British ideas about settled farming and permanent homes.
• For example, communities such as the Pardhis, Sansi, and Banjaras faced suspicion and harassment for generations. Even children could be treated as criminals because of their community identity.
• The label was deeply unfair: crime is an individual act, not something inherited by a whole group. The law made it easier for colonial officials to control communities that they did not understand or trust.
• After independence, the Act was repealed in 1952, and these communities were called Denotified Tribes. However, the stigma created by the colonial label has continued to affect many people.