Chapter 4
: Tribals , Dikus and the Vision of Golden Age
Exercise
Question 1.
Fill in the blanks:
1.
The British described the
tribal people as …………
2.
The method of sowing seeds
in jhum cultivation is known as …………….
3.
The tribal chiefs got ………….
titles in central India under the British land settlements.
4.
Tribals went to work in the…………..
of Assam and the ……………… in Bihar.
Answer:
1.
Wild and savage
2.
broadcast
3.
land
4.
tea plantations, coal mines
Question 2.
State whether true or false:
1.
Jhum cultivators plough the
land and sow seeds.
2.
Cocoons were bought from
the Santhals and sold by the traders at five times the purchase price.
3.
Birsa urged his followers
to purify themselves, give up drinking liquor, and stop believing in witchcraft
and sorcery.
4.
The British wanted to
preserve the tribal way of life.
Answer:
1.
False
2.
True
3.
True
4.
False
Q3. What problems did shifting cultivators face under British rule?
Answer:
1)The British extended their
control over all forests
2) They declared that forests
were state property. Some forests were classified as Reserved Forests for they
produced timber which the British wanted.
3)In these forests people
were not allowed to move freely and practise jhum cultivation. As a result, many
jhum cultivators had to move to other areas in search of work eg. mining
,plantation, and labor
Question 4. How did the powers of tribal chiefs change under colonial rule?
Answer: Under
the British rule, the functions and powers of these tribal chiefs changed to a
great extent:
1.They were
allowed to keep their land titles over a cluster of villages and rent out
lands, but they lost much of their administrative power and were forced to
follow laws made by British officials in India.
3.They had to
pay tribute to the British and discipline the tribal groups on behalf of the
British.
4.They lost the
authority they had earlier enjoyed amongst their people, and were unable to
fulfil their traditional functions.
Question 5. What accounts for the anger of the tribals against
the dikus?
Answer: The
tribals wanted to drive out the dikus, missionaries, moneylenders, Hindu
landlords, and the government because they saw them as the cause of their
misery. The following facts account for their anger against the dikus:
1.The land policies of the
British were destroying their traditional land system.
2.Hindu landlords and
moneylenders were taking over their land.
3.Missionaries were
criticising their traditional culture.
Question 6.
Answer:Birsa’s vision of golden age was to have their land free of dikus. He considered that age to be the ‘age of truth’. According to Birsa, in the golden age, the tribal sirdars will be able to rule among themselves and no one will be there to dictate terms to them. His golden age vision was to have an age with no vices like liquor, witchcraft, sorcery and uncleanliness. He did not want any role of outsider participants like missionaries, Hindu landlords, moneylenders, traders and Europeans.
Extra question
Q1.What
were the activities of the Tribals?
Ans : Tribal people in different parts of India were involved in a
variety of activities like -
· Shifting Cultivation
· Hunting & Gathering forest produce
· Herding animals settled cultivation
Q2. Who were
Mundas?
Ans. Mundas
was a tribal group that lived in Chottanagpur.
Q3. What is the other name of jhum cultivation?
Ans. The
other name of Jhum cultivation is shifting cultivation
Ans.
Fallow field is a field left uncultivated for a while so that the soil recovers
fertility.
Q5.
Why did the British introduce land settlement?
Ans. The
British introduced land settlement because they wanted a regular revenue source
for the state.
Q6.
Why did the British introduce land settlement?
Ans. The
British introduced land settlement because they wanted a regular revenue source
for the state.
Q 7. For what
purpose Kusum and plash flowers are used.
(a)
(b)
Extracting oil from the seeds
(c)
Cooking and making food
(d)
All of these
Ans:
(a )
Q8.What were the Santhal of Hazaribagh?
Options :
A) cultivated small patches
of land
(b) reared silkworm
(c) Pastoralist
(d) None of these
Ans:-b
Q9. Which region did the Gujjar and bakarwal
belog to?
Options:
(a) Punjab
(b) Jammu and Kashmir
(c) Tamil Nadu
(d) Tripura
Ans:-b
Q10.Birsa belong to which tribal group?
(a)Baiga
(b) Santhal
(c)Munda
(d) Khond
Ans: c
Map skill : Mark the following tribes in
political map of india.
1) Baiga
2)Bhil
3)Gonds
4)Mundas
5)Banjara
6)Santhal
7)Gadis
8)Van Gujjar
9)Oraon
10)Baigas
