ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The desire to prepare a handbook on ‘tribe and religions in India’, though intense, stumbled on four challenges at the beginning which were initially discouraging. First, the idea was new; scholars working on tribes have been familiar with the framework of ‘tribal religion’ and have created a huge quantity of material on diverse perspectives within it.
To write an article on a new concept based on empirical data without any sponsorship undoubtedly discouraged many scholars. Second, writing a book chapter, instead of writing for publication in UGC-CARE (University Grants Commission Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics) and Scopus listed journals which have scoring credit, did not seem a profitable time investment to many. Given the workload in educational institutions, teaching and non-teaching (administrative, etc.), time constraints dissuaded some interested and committed academics. The third factor was my limitation of contact with willing scholars from across the states who are working on tribes and religion, the wide contact was envisioned in view of covering as many tribes as possible.The fourth challenge related to disciplinary and ideological - academics and non-academic view points. When non-academic ideologies influence the argument, placing tribal religion only in academic and disciplinary context and thereby rendering myopic treatment of the subject, and trying to fit in a holistic perspective was not an easy pursuit. Openness of contributors to interdisciplinary engagement helped me to overcome this challenge.
To begin with I made a list of scholars, emic and etic, academics, administrators, and activists, who are working on tribal religion. But it was not easy to sort out scholars with an objective academic insight. While I was fumbling over the list a few friends came to my rescue by suggesting names from the list and outside; and this has made it possible to place the handbook in pan-Indian context.
Many of them also contributed articles; a few friends helped me to access relevant literature and provided secretarial assistance. Had it not been for their ungrudging support it would not have been possible to make the handbook project a success. Obviously, this makes me obliged to all of them. I feel a deep sense of gratitude to Nilakantha Panigrahi, Professor at Department of Anthropology and Tribal Development, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Bilaspur; Diganta Hatiboruah at Department of Political Science North Lakhimpur College (Autonomous), Assam; Sadananda Nayak, Associate Professor, P.G. Department of History, Berhampur University, Odisha; Dhiraj Kumar Borkotoky, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Royal Global University,Acknowledgements
Guwahati; Indu V. Menon, Lecturer, Kerala Institute for Research Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (KIRTADS), Kerala; Ashok Nimesh, Assistant Professor at the Department of International Relations, Central University of Jharkhand; Jombi Bagra, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Government College Daporijo, Arunachal Pradesh; Santanu Mitra, Anthropological Survey of India Western Regional Centre, Udaipur, Rajasthan; Marianmai Maisuangdibou, Research Fellow, Christ (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru; Lipika Ravichandran, Senior Research Fellow at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Rupam Gogoi, Assistant Professor at North Lakhimpur College (Autonomous), Assam; Sashanka Kakoty at Department of Finance Taxation, Government of Assam, Guwahati; and K.B Pradhan, Steno, Institute of Distance Education, Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh.
I gratefully acknowledge the inspirations I received from different quarters in different forms. However, I take this opportunity to put on record my highest sense of gratitude to Prof. Mohan K. Gautam, President and Chancellor of the European University of West and East, Netherlands; Dr.Tai Nyori, an Adivasi Historian, first generation of tribal intellectual and Founder President of Indigenous Faith and Cultural Society of Arunachal Pradesh (IFCSAP); and Dr. Mahendra Kumar Mishra, Folklorist, Raipur, Chhattisgarh for writing endorsements.
The editor is grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their comments and observations which greatly helped to conceptualise the problem more objectively.
As the handbook is an outcome of the contributions from several authors, the editor is not responsible in any way for the arguments, discussions, opinions expressed, information used, and sources cited by them in their respective papers.
Last but not least, I am thankful to Shoma Choudhury and her team at Taylor & Francis Group, New Delhi, for the quality production of the handbook in a short time.
Maguni Charan Behera
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