NCERT Solutions for Class 7th Social Science Chapter 1 Tribal communities of the plateau — Let's Explore
Book page 17 Updated on2026-09-19
Q1.
Tribal communities are largely spread over the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Gujarat. Examine the physical and political maps at the end of this book to locate the states and connect them to their location on the physical map.The political map of India referred to in the chapter — redrawn here with the States named.The physical map of India that this chapter asks you to keep beside you — redrawn here with its legend and its latitude and longitude lines.
Answer
Find each State on the political map, then look at the same spot on the physical map. Almost every one of them turns out to sit on forested plateau or hill country, not on open plains.
State
What the physical map shows there
Jharkhand
The Chota Nagpur Plateau — forested, hilly, rich in minerals
West Bengal
The western edge merges into the Chota Nagpur uplands; the north touches the Himalayas
Odisha
The Eastern Ghats and forested hills behind the coastal plain
Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh
The central plateau — Satpura, Maikal and Bastar hills, with dense forest
Maharashtra
The Western Ghats and the Deccan Plateau behind them
Telangana
The Deccan Plateau and the Eastern Ghats
Gujarat
The eastern hill belt where the Aravallis, Satpuras and Western Ghats meet
Assam
The Brahmaputra valley with hills on both sides
The tribes named in the chapter — the Santhal, Gond, Baiga, Bhil and Korku — live in this forested belt. Each has its own language, traditions and ways of life closely connected to Nature.
What the two maps together tell you: a broad forested plateau belt runs diagonally across India from Gujarat in the west to Jharkhand and Odisha in the east. Political boundaries cut across it, but the forest and hills are continuous — which is why these communities are found in so many different States.