00000nam a22000008i 4500 20260913094807.0 260919s2018 ii 00 0 eng d 9789388162012 GN635.I4K57 2018 305.800954 23 Raghwendra Kishore Constructing the Criminal Tribe in Colonial India / Raghwendra Kishore. New Delhi 2018. 240 pages The term Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) refers to various pieces of legislation enforced in India during British rule; the first enacted in 1871 as the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 applied mostly in North India. The Act was extended to Bengal Presidency and other areas in 1876, and, finally, with the Criminal Tribes Act, 1911, it was extended to Madras Presidency as well. The Act went through several amendments in the next decade and, finally, the Criminal Tribes Act, 1924 incorporated all of them. At the time of Indian independence in 1947, thirteen million people in 127 communities faced search and arrest if any member of the group was found outside the prescribed area. Today, there are 313 Nomadic Tribes and 198 Denotified Tribes of India, yet the legacy of the past continues to haunt the majority of 60 million people belonging to these tribes, especially as their historical associations have meant continued alienation and stereotyping by the police and the media as well as economic hardships. A large number of them can still only subscribe to a slightly altered label, Vimukta jaatis, or “Ex-Criminal Tribes”. This book explores how colonial policies converted itinerant groups on the one hand into a source of cheap labour and on the other into a category known as criminal tribes. The present book will be useful for all those who understand the phenomenon of the “criminal tribe” in India from the early days of colonial rule to the present. India—Denotified tribes. India—Denotified tribes—Legal status, laws, etc. Great Britain—Colonies—Asia—Administration. RELIGION / Ethnic & Tribal bisacsh