www.aensi.in /Index in Cosmos ISSN 0025-1348 (P), 2456-1356 (O) UGC APPROVED 339 The research journal of social sciences June 2019 volume 10 number 6 Trend of metamorphosis of traditional agro-based tribal society to non- agricultural society: a case study of Jangalmahal of Bankura district, West Bengal *Manasi Chattaraj Department of Applied Geography, School of Regional Studies and Earth Sciences, Research Scholar, Ravenshaw University & **Druheen Chakrabortty Department of Geography, Assistant Professor, Bankura Christian College, Bankura University Received: 12 May Revised: 19 May Accepted: 25 May Abstract The tribes are the primitive people who earned their livelihood mainly through agriculture. But later on due to the growing modernization they are facing problems. In spite of not being easy with the other jobs or works the tribes are continuing their struggle for existence. In the primitive tribe clad Jangalmahal of Southern Bankura , a shift in occupation is noticed among the tribes in just one decade(2001-2011) accounting to about 3.65% change .The study is based on both primary data collected from questionnaire survey through field investigation and secondary data obtained by consulting several published and unpublished reports and articles. The present study highlights i)the nature of change of occupation ii)the cause of change in the occupational structure and its impact iii)Government schemes to support the agricultural tribal sector. Several statistical calculations are used to fulfill the desired objectives and cartographic techniques are used to portray the scenario. The paper consists of four sections: 1) Introduction and Study area specifications 2) Change in trend of occupation among tribes, causes of change 3)Government Schemes for agriculture based tribes 4)Conclusions are at the end. Key Words: Agro based, struggle for existence, occupation shift. Introduction The tribes are the primitive people who earned their livelihood mainly through agriculture. “In developing countries, agriculture can play a significant role in regards to economic development; specifically, to tribal subsistence farmers who rely on their land for food and i ncome” (Lai, C. et.al. 2012). But later on due to the growing modernization they are facing problems. From the time of the jamindari system the tribes lost their lands and had to cultivate their own lands for mere payments. The English missionaries tried to convert the Santhals of the region into Christianity. Some tribes got Christianized for the sake of getting facilities and jobs. The tribal population of the region is in transitional stage between second and third phase of development. They have partially stuck to their tradition and have partially acculturated to adopt modern technologies. Though it is opined that “One of the most important causes and indicators of development and modernisation of an economy is shift of population from this primary sector to the secondary and tertiary sectors” (Mahapatra,1978), but in spite of not being easy with the other jobs or works as the non-tribes because of their structure, tradition and environment, the tribes are continuing their struggle for existence by choosing non agro-based means of livelihood. This is eating away their traditional values and indigenous bond between the tribe and the nature. In modern time improvement in literacy and education, urbanisation has led to a shifting tendency