Buddhist tribes of India. (Answer in 150 words)

- Buddhist tribes of India. (Answer in 150 words)
Introduction
Buddhism in tribal India is a Himalayan and north-eastern phenomenon, running along the mountain arc from Ladakh to Arunachal with a Theravada pocket in the east.

Body
1. The communities and regions: the Bhot and Changpa of Ladakh; the Lahaula and Kinnaura of Himachal; the Bhutia, Lepcha and Sherpa of Sikkim and Darjeeling; the Monpa and Sherdukpen of Arunachal; and, following Theravada from Burma, the Khampti and Singpho of Assam and the Chakma of Tripura and Mizoram.
2. The form it takes: Tibetan Mahayana and Vajrayana in the Himalayan belt, organised around the gompa and the lama — Tawang, Hemis, Rumtek — coexisting with pre-Buddhist Bon and with the Lepcha Mun and bongthing, whose specialists still act alongside the monastery.
3. Social and political effects: the monastery has been the school, the landholder and the court of appeal, and fraternal polyandry in Ladakh and Spiti was tied to monastic celibacy and undivided holdings.

Conclusion
The affiliation carries a political charge — the Ladakh Buddhist Association's campaign for Sixth Schedule status, and the dispute over Chakma citizenship in Arunachal.