The tribals had a strong sense of community life before the British rulers and Hindu zamindars and moneylenders intruded into their lives. Exchange of goods and transaction at weekly markets and fairs were the basic mode of economic relations.
However, the British took over the forests on which the tribes depended for their livelihood. The money holders brought them under their control by extending loans at exorbitant interest rates and then mortgaging their lands, alienating there from the land they cultivated. Indebtedness led to popularisation and exploitation of the tribal people.