Verrier Elwin: The Missionary Who Shaped Tribal Policy — MCQs with Answers (Set 1)

Songs of the Forest was written by Elwin with his friend and co-worker Shamrao Hivale.

A Philosophy for NEFA set out five guiding ideas for tribal development, often called the Panchsheel for NEFA.

Elwin founded the Gond Seva Mandal for tribal welfare. The Christa Seva Sangha was the community he joined near Pune in 1927.

Elwin took Indian citizenship in January 1954. He was the first foreign-born person to do so.

Verrier Elwin’s 1947 book “The Muria and their Ghotul” studied the Muria tribe’s youth dormitory system.

Verrier Elwin joined the Christa Seva Sangha, near Pune, when he first arrived in India in 1927 as a Christian missionary.

G.S. Ghurye argued that tribal communities should be assimilated into mainstream Indian society, opposing Elwin’s isolationist approach.

In “The Baiga” (1939), Verrier Elwin first argued that tribal communities should be shielded from outside contact.

Sociologist G.S. Ghurye directly opposed Elwin’s early isolationist view, arguing instead for assimilating tribal communities into mainstream Indian society.

After his 1935 conversion, Elwin gave up missionary work and dedicated his life to studying and preserving tribal culture.

His autobiography won the Sahitya Akademi Award in English in 1965, a year after his death.

Elwin’s advice directly informed Nehru’s ‘Panchsheel for NEFA,’ five guiding principles for tribal policy in the north-east.

Elwin arrived in India in 1927 as a Christian missionary, joining the Christa Seva Sangha near Pune.