MPPSC 2026 Prelims Paper-I · Question 95 of 100

Correct — B, (a)-(ii) (b)-(iv) (c)-(i) (d)-(iii). Two pairs can be fixed with confidence and they decide the question. The Baiga are conventionally divided into sub-groups listed as Bijhwar, Narotia, Bharotia, Nahar, Rai-Bhaina and Kath-Bhaina, so Baiga goes with (ii) Narotia. The Bharia are entered in the Scheduled Tribes list of Madhya Pradesh as 'Bharia Bhumia', and Bhumiya/Bhumika is their own group name, so Bharia goes with (iv). Those two pairs together eliminate options (a), (c) and (d). The remaining pairs the key assigns — Kol with (i) Rohia and Sahariya with (iii) Dandami — then follow by elimination; in fairness, these last two are the ones a candidate is least likely to be able to confirm from standard sources, which is exactly why the anchor-and-eliminate method, not blind recall, is what solves this question.

• (a)(a)-(i) (b)-(ii) (c)-(iii) (d)-(iv) — It makes Rohia a Baiga sub-group and Narotia a Bharia one — the two are simply swapped out of place. Narotia is the standard Baiga sub-division, and the Bharia are the ones tied to the Bhumia name.
• (c)(a)-(iii) (b)-(i) (c)-(iv) (d)-(ii) — It pairs the Baiga with Dandami. Dandami is familiar instead as the qualifier of the Dandami Maria (the Bison-horn Maria) of the Gond belt of Bastar, not as a Baiga sub-group; and it gives Bhumiya to the Kol rather than to the Bharia.
• (d)(a)-(iv) (b)-(iii) (c)-(ii) (d)-(i) — The most tempting wrong option, because 'Bhumiya' sounds as though it should belong with the Baiga — Bhumia-type names occur at more than one place in the Scheduled Tribes schedule of Madhya Pradesh. The official key ties Bhumiya (Bhumika) to the Bharia, who are listed as 'Bharia Bhumia', and gives the Baiga their own sub-group, Narotia.

Madhya Pradesh has the largest tribal population of any Indian state in absolute numbers — about 1.53 crore, roughly 21 per cent of the state's population at the 2011 Census — spread across the tribes notified for the state under Article 342. Three of them are classed as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups: the Baiga, the Bharia and the Sahariya. Each large tribe is further divided into endogamous sub-groups, and it is these sub-group names that state PSCs test. Geography anchors them: Baiga in Dindori, Mandla, Balaghat, Shahdol and Umaria (the Baiga Chak of Dindori); Bharia in the Patalkot valley of Chhindwara; Sahariya in the Gwalior–Chambal districts of Sheopur, Morena, Shivpuri and Guna; Kol in Rewa, Satna, Sidhi and Shahdol.

Three of the four tribes in this question — Baiga, Bharia, Sahariya — are exactly MP's three PVTGs, and the fourth, Kol, is the state's third-largest tribe after Bhil and Gond. That is not a coincidence: MPPSC farms this same short list every cycle, from PVTG identification to sub-tribe matching to development-agency districts. Learn the four communities as a block, with one district, one sub-group and one distinguishing custom each, and a whole family of questions opens up at once.

• Baiga sub-groups are conventionally listed as Bijhwar, Narotia, Bharotia, Nahar, Rai-Bhaina and Kath-Bhaina
• The Bharia are entered in MP's Scheduled Tribes list as 'Bharia Bhumia'; their stronghold is the Patalkot valley of Chhindwara district
• MP's three Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups: Baiga, Bharia and Sahariya
• Sahariya are concentrated in the Gwalior–Chambal belt (Sheopur, Morena, Shivpuri, Guna); Kol in Rewa, Satna, Sidhi and Shahdol
• Largest tribes of MP by population at the 2011 Census: Bhil, then Gond, then Kol; the state's ST population, about 1.53 crore, is the largest of any state

• Assuming Bhumia belongs with the Baiga because it sounds like a Baiga term; the official key attaches it to the Bharia (Bharia Bhumia)
• Treating the Kol as a PVTG — MP's three PVTGs are Baiga, Bharia and Sahariya; the Kol are a Scheduled Tribe but not a PVTG
• Attempting a 4x4 match by pure recall of all four pairs; two firm anchors plus elimination is faster and safer, especially here where two pairs are hard to verify

MPPSC has asked tribe-to-sub-tribe matching repeatedly — in 2019 in the 'which pair is NOT correct' form and here in 2026 as a straight four-pair match — alongside PVTG identification and tribe-to-district questions. UPSC touches the same communities only at the policy level: PVTG criteria and numbers, or where a named tribe lives.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following is NOT a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) of Madhya Pradesh?

  • (a)Baiga
  • (b)Bharia
  • (c)Sahariya
  • (d)Kol

  Answer(d) Kol — MP's three PVTGs are the Baiga, the Bharia and the Sahariya; the Kol are a Scheduled Tribe but not a PVTG.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Bharia tribe of Madhya Pradesh is chiefly associated with which area?

  • (a)The Patalkot valley of Chhindwara
  • (b)The Baiga Chak of Dindori
  • (c)Sheopur and Shivpuri
  • (d)Jhabua and Alirajpur

  Answer(a) The Patalkot valley of Chhindwara — Baiga Chak is Baiga country, Sheopur–Shivpuri is the Sahariya belt and Jhabua–Alirajpur is Bhil country.