Meena
Meena is an aboriginal tribal community in the Indian subcontinent.
Meena (pronounced [miːɳa]) is a tribe from northern and western India which is sometimes considered a sub-group of the Bhil community. They received the status of Scheduled Tribe by the Government of India in 1954.
Ethnography
The Meenas were originally a nomadic tribe. They were described as a semi-wild and hill tribe similar to the Bhils. During the British Raj in India, the British Government classified them as a "criminal tribe" under the Criminal Tribes Act. Presently they are described as a Scheduled Tribe by the Indian Government.
Geography
Currently, they are present in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana and the Union Territory of Delhi in India.
History
Origin
The Meenas claim a mythological descent from the Matsya avatar, or fish incarnation, of Vishnu. They also claim to be descendants of the people of the Matsya Kingdom, which flourished in the 6th century B.C. The historian Pramod Kumar notes that it is likely that the tribes living in the ancient Matsya kingdom were called Meena but it cannot be said with certainty that there is anything common between them and the modern Meenas. They are considered to be adivasi (aboriginal people).
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Meena” as meena is an aboriginal tribal community in the Indian subcontinent. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as meena is an aboriginal tribal community in the Indian subcontinent. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1916772. The first chronological checks are 1954.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
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- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Meena” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.