'Tribe' refers to specific patterns of economic and socio-cultural modes of life. In modern anthropology, 'tribe' also came to be conceptualized as a stage in social development. It came to be assumed that hunting and gathering societywould develop into 'tribal' formations, which then would develop into state societies, whether republic or monarchy. In other words, 'tribe' is a stage in the evolution of human society from primitive to modern. Thus, vis-à-vis modern society, tribal stage came to be seen as primitive, i.e. in a stage of social development earlier to modern society. However, recent researches have proved that locating 'tribe' in the evolutionary scale of progress from primitive to modern is untenable. It has been shown that 'tribe', when seen in terms of social organization or cultural practices, needs to be understood as a certain mode of existence among other modes with its own codes. These codes, such as kinship relations, cultural narratives, strategies of economic existence or political formations, are related more to their geographical and historical context of existence than any general principle of social evolution.

'folk' and its cultural connotation were associated with societies which were not 'modern'. The predominantly assumed criteria of modernity were written culture, individualism and industrial society. To understand and explain societies wherein the three features were not predominantly evident, study of their 'folk' culture was seen as the possible method. The two basic challenges to this conceptual approach to 'folk' culture in SouthAsia were (a) the historical interrelationship and inter-dependence between various modes of cultural processes, and (b) how to define 'modern' culture in relation to 'folk' culture. With regard to the historical interrelationship and inter-dependence between various modes of cultural processes, it has been pointed out