Tribal people were involved in many different types of activities:

Some tribal people practised jhum cultivation also known as shifting cultivation. This was done on small patches of land, mostly in forests. The cultivators cleared off small patches of land. They then burnt the vegetation and spread the ash from the firing, which contained potash to fertilize the soil. They used equipment like ax and hoe for preparing the soil for cultivation. Then they scattered the seeds on the field. Once the crop was ready and harvested, they moved to another field. Shifting cultivators were found in the hilly and forested tracts of north-east and central India.

Some tribal groups were engaged in hunting animals and gathering forest produce, hence known as “hunter-gatherers’. They saw forests as essential for survival. The Khonds was such a community living in the forests of Orissa. They regularly went out on collective hunts and then divided the meat amongst themselves. They ate fruits and roots and cooked food with the oil they extracted from the seeds of the sal and mahua. They got rice and other grains in return for their valuable forest produce. Sometimes they did odd jobs in the villages like carrying loads, etc.

Some tribal groups lived by herding and rearing animals. They were pastoralists who moved with their herds of cattle or sheep according to the seasons. For example, the Victim Gujjars of Punjab hills, and the Labadis of Andhra Pradesh were cattle herders, the Gaddis of Kulu were shepherds and the Bakarwals of Kashmir reared goats.

Some tribal community took to settled cultivation. They cultivated their fields in one place year after year, instead of moving from place to place. They began to use the plough and gradually got rights over the land they lived on.