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The simple form of religion, which usually predominates in the simple societies have the following features.

(i) The archaic form of religion is a historical that is, timeless. It is believed as divinely given form of life, which has been in existence since the appearance, or creation of human beings, the very beginning of the world.

(ii) Usually it is not founded or formalised by a particular person.

(iii) The ‘knowledge’ of belief and ritual is transmitted orally from generation to generation, and there are no holy books present in such religions.

(iv) It is essentially descriptive, not explanatory. It is practised in ‘good faith’, a faith that needs no interpretation, no philosophical debate, no dialectical discussion.

The earliest anthropological theory, about primitive-religion, seeking to trace its origin and explain it was given by Tylor’s animism and Max Mullar’s naturism. Some other ‘theories’ about the primitive religion are discussed below.

Animatism and Manaism and Bongaism

Tylor’s earliest critics said that animism is a later development in the history of religion. They postulated a preanimistic stage when religious belief supposedly consisted mainly in the belief that everything has life and is animate. Prominent among these writers were Preuss and Max Mullar.

More recently, Marett evolved a special form of animatist theory which is called Manaism. Marett said that the entire religious life of the primitive is born out of their belief in a certain understandable, impersonal, non-material and unindividualised supernatural power which takes its abode in all the objects, animate and inanimate, that exist in the world. Though ‘beyond the reach of the sense’, it exists in all objects, including human beings, and expresses itself as physical force or such other power.

Amongst the Hos of Singhbhum district of Bihar, there exists a¹‘similar kind of religious belief, which Majumdar has called Bongaism. These people believe in the concept of ‘Bonga’, which resides in trees, natural objects and sometimes in man-made articles like bicycles also. It is the manifestation of a vague supernatural power which is according to the believers, the cause of all energy.

Functional Theories:

Besides Durkheim, Malinowski and Radcliffe-Brown have given functional explanations of primitive religion. Malinowski points out with reference to the Trobriand Islanders that religion is intimately connected with various emotional states, which are states of tension. For example, quite a few of their magical and religious practices centre round fishing expeditions. These are the outcome of the state of fear produced by a possible disaster on the seas. In other words, religion has the function of bringing about a readjustment between man and the supernatural in a disordered state of existence. It is a device to secure mental and psychical stability in an individual’s life.

Radcliffe Brown has a different view. The function of religion, he says, is not to purge fear and other emotional strains from the human mind, but to instill a sense of dependence in it. He says that ultimately the survival of the group is more important than that of the individual, and, if the latter has to make some sacrifices, it is in his own interest to do so, because without social survival individual survival is not possible. Therefore, the function of a religion is to create a two-fold feeling of dependence on society and thereby obtain the individual’s concurrence with the social norms, the ultimate aim being social survival. The function of religion is the contribution it makes to that total activity which is designed to perpetuate society.

Recent Changes in the Religion of Simple Societies:

Due to contacts with non-tribal peoples, many a tribal group has changed its religious life. Such contacts have in certain cases given a fresh lease of life to a tribal group by providing it with better tools of adaptation. Roy has spoken of the advantages that have accrued to the tribal people of Chota Nagpur and adjacent areas as a result of contact with Hinduism and Christianity. But it is also true that such contacts have in numerous cases led to tribal disorganisation. Mills has pointed out the strains to which Nagas converted to Christianity are subjected. Elvin has drawn attention to a loss of nerve which seems to have overtaken some middle Indian tribes.

A typical example of Hinduisation is supplied by the Gond of central India.