HBSE 8th Class Social Science Solutions History Chapter 4 Tribals, Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age

Haryana State Board HBSE 8th Class Social Science Solutions History Chapter 4 Tribals, Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age Textbook Exercise Questions and Answers.

Haryana Board 8th Class Social Science Solutions History Chapter 4 Tribals, Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age

HBSE 8th Class History Tribals, Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age Textbook Questions and Answers

LETS RECALL

Question 1.
Fill in the blanks :
(a) The British described the tribal people as __________.
(b) The method of sowing seeds in jhum cultivation in India is known as __________.
(c) The tribal chiefs got __________ titles in central India under the British land settlements.
(d) Tribals went to work in the __________ of Assam and the in Bihar.
Answer:
(a) wild nomads, shifting cultivators.
(b) shifting cultivation.
(c) Sirdars (leaders).
(d) tea gardens, indigo plantations.

Question 2.
State whether true or false:
(a) Jhum cultivators plough the land and sow seeds.
(b) Cocoons were bought from the Santhals and sold by the traders at five times the I purchase.
(c) Birsa urged his followers to purify themselves, give up drinking liquor and stop believing in witchcraft and sorcery.
(d) The British wanted to preserve the tribal way of life.
Answer:
(a) True
(b) True
(c) True
(d) False.

LETS DISCUSS

Question 3.
What problems did shifting cultivators face under British rule?
Answer:
The problems faced by shifting cultivators under British rule were:

• They had to give up their traditional way of life.
• They had to practise settled plough cultivation which was not easy.
• They had to face the scarcity of water and the dry soil. Their land was measured, the rights of each individual to that land were defined.
• The revenue demand for the state was fixed.

Question 4.
How did the powers of tribal chiefs change under colonial rule?
Answer:
Following were the changes in the powers of tribal chiefs under colonial rule :
(i) 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.

(ii) They also had to pay tribute to the British.

(iii) They had to discipline the tribal groups on behalf of the British.

(iv) They were unable to fulfil their traditional functions.

Question 5.
What accounts for the anger of the tribals against the dikus?
Answer:
Many factors, policies and treatments of the British officials, self merchants, traders and dishonest moneylenders accounted for the anger of the tribals against the dikus : ‘
(i) As the British took over large tracts of land cultivated by the tribals in order to grow cash crops such as poppy, jute and indigo, the landless tribals were forced to become labourers. They had to work at a very low wages.

(ii) They were badly exploited by crafty and dishonest moneylenders. The rate of interest on the loans on illiterate tribals varied from 50% to unbelievable 500%.

(iii) In fact, moneylenders and other introducers acted as agents of the tribals were brought with in the influence and the control of colonial economy.

Question 6.
What was Birsa’s vision of a golden age ? Why do you think such a vision appealed to the people of the region?
Answer:
(1) Birsa’s vision of a golden age was:

• When the Mundas had been free of the oppression of dikus.
• When the ancestral right of the community would be restored.

(2) They saw themselves as the descendents of the original settlers of the region, fighting for their land, reminding people of the need to win back their kingdom. I think such a vision appealed to the people of the region because it reminded them of a golden age in the past when Mundas lived a good life, constructed embankments, tapped natural springs, planted trees and orchards, practised cultivation to earn their living. They could now again live a life of brothers and relatives.

Question 7.
Choose any tribal group living in India today. Find out about their customs and way of life.
Answer:
The Santhal Rebellion: The Santhals migrated from Birbhun, Bankura, Hazaribagh and Rohtas to settle in present day Jharkhand. They considered themselves to be the natural owners of the land.

Causes of the Rebellion:

• The introduction of the Permanent Settlement in 1793 changes all this.
• Some moneylenders also made their presence feel.
• Santhals resented the activities of the missionaries and looked upon them as encroachers.

Events : On the 30 June, 1855, a large number of Santhals assembled in a field in the Bhagnadihi village of Santhal Parganas. They declared themselves free and took oath under the leadership of Sidhu Murmu and Kanhu Murmu to fight unto the last against the British rulers as well as their agents. The Santhal struggle, however, did not come to an end in vain. It had a long lasting impact.

LETS IMAGINE

Question 8.
Imagine you are a jhum cultivator living in a forest village in the nineteenth century. You have just been told that the land you were born on no longer belongs to you. In a meeting with British officials you try to explain the kinds of problems you face. What would you say?
Answer:
We will try to explain the British officials the following kinds of problems:
(i) We are lovers of nature and natural surroundings.

(ii) We subsist on forest and on the local resources. If you will take away our natural right on the forest, water and the land we will be unable to procure our basic needs. Our economic activities like hunting, food gathering, fishing, cattle breeding, axes cultivation and plough cultivation will be disturbed.

HBSE 8th Class History Tribals, Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age Important Questions and Answers

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What kind of miraculous powers was Birsa believed to have?
Answer:
Birsa believed to have miraculous powers, he could cure all diseases and multiply grains.

Question 2.
Who were called dikus?
Answer:
The outsiders were called dikus by the tribes.

Question 3.
Who were the Khonds?
Answer:
The Khonds were a community living in the forests of Orissa.

Question 4.
When did the local weavers and leather workers turned to the Khonds?
Answer:
The local weavers and leather workers turned to the Khonds when they needed supplies of Kusum and Palash flowers to colour their clothes and leather.

Question 5.
How did the forest people obtain things that they did not produce in the forests?
Answer:
They mostly exhanged goods to fulfil their need of things they did not produce.

Question 6.
Why did the tribal groups become dependent on traders and moneylenders?
Answer:
The tribal groups became dependent on traders and moneylenders because they often needed to buy and sell in order to be able to get the goods that were not produced with in the locality.

Question 7.
Why were the land settlements introduced by the British?
Answer:
The British introduced land settlements-that is they measured the land, defined the rights of each individual to the land and fixed the revenue demand for the state.

Question 8.
Where were the shifting cultivators found?
Answer:
Shifting cultivators were found in the hilly and forested tracts of north-east and Central India.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
For the tribals, market and commerce often meant debt and poverty. Do you agree?
Answer:
Tribal groups needed to buy and sell goods in order to be able to get the goods that were not produced within the locality. Traders came around with things for sale, and sold the goods at high prices. Moneylenders gave loans with which the tribals met their cash needs, according to what they earned. But the interest charged on the loans was usually very high. So for the tribals, market and commerce often met debt and poverty.

Question 2.
Why were forest villages established?
Answer:
Forest villages were established to ensure a regular supply of cheap labour. Colonial officials had decided that they would give jhum cultivators small patches of land in the forests and allow them to cultivate these on the condition that those who lived in the village would have to provide labour to the Forest Department and look after the forests.

Question 3.
What was the trading relationship between the Santhals and the silk traders?
Answer:
The traders dealing in silk sent in their agents who gave loans to the tribal people called Santhals and collected the cocoons. The growers were paid?13,?” 4 for a thousand cocoons. These were then exported to Burdwan or Gaya where they were sold at five times the price. Many tribal groups saw the market and the traders as their main enemies.

Question 4.
What steps were taken by Birsa to reform tribal society?
Answer:
Birsa’s movement was aimed at reforming tribal society.

• He urged the Mundas to give up drinking liquor.
• He asked them to clean their villages.
• He asked them to stop believing in witchcraft and sorcery.
• He also turned against missionaries and Hindu landlords. He saw them as outside forces that were ruining the Munda way of life.

Question 5.
How did the Birsa Movement spread?
Answer:

• In 1895, Birsa urged the followers to recover their glorious past and this attracted people towards the movement.
• After being released in 1897, he began touring the villages to gather support.
• He used traditional symbols and language to rouse people, urging them to destroy “Ravane” (dikus and the Europeans) and establishing a kingdom under his leadership.

Question 6.
What actions were taken by the followers of Birsa Movement against the British?
Answer:

• Birsa’s followers began targeting the symbols of diku and European power.
• They attacked police stations and churches.
• They raided the property of money-lenders and zamindars.
• They raised the white flag as a symbol of Birsa Raj.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
From where did the forest people get their supplies of rice and other grains?
Answer:
The following were the ways in which the forest people got their supplies of rice and other grains :

• They exchanged goods – getting what they needed in return for their valuable forest produces.
• Sometimes, they bought goods with the small amount of earnings they had.
• Some of them did odd jobs in the villages, carrying loads or building roads.
• Some others laboured in the fields of peasants and farmers.
• When supplies of forest produce shrank, tribal people had to increasingly wander around in search of work as labourers.

Question 2.
How did the tribal groups live in the nineteenth century?
Answer:
1. Some were Jhum cultivators :
(a) Jhum cultivation was done on small patches of land, mostly in forests. They burnt the vegetation in the land to clear it for cultivation.
→ They spread the ash of burnt vegetation, which contained potash, to fertilise the soil. They cultivated on that soil and once the crop was ready and harvested, they moved to another field.

2. Some were hunters and gatherers : Some tribal groups, for example, the Khonds lived by hunting animals and gathering forest produce. The local weavers and leather workers turned to the Khonds when they needed supplies of kusum and palash flowers to colour their clothes and leather.

3. Some herded animals : Many tribal groups like pastoralists lived by herding and rearing animals. When the grass in one place was exhausted, they moved to another area.

4. Some took to settled cultivation : Many tribal groups had begun settling down even before the nineteenth century and cultivating their fields in one place year after year, instead of moving from place-to-place.

Question 3.
In what ways was the Birsa movement important?
Answer:
This movement was important in the following two ways:
(i) It forced the colonial government to intorduce land laws in favour of the tribal people so that the dikus could not easily take over tribal lands.

(ii) It showed once again that the tribal people had the capacity to protest against injustice. They were able to express their anger against the exploitative and oppressive colonial rule.

Tribals, Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age Class 8 HBSE Notes

• Fallow : A field left uncultivated for a while so that soil recovers its fertililty.
• Sal: A tree of Indian forests.
• Mahua : A flower that is eaten or used to make alcohol.
• Bewar: A term used in Madhya Pradesh for shifting cultivation.
• Sleeper: The horizontal planks of wood on which railway lines are laid.
• Vaishnav : Worshippers of Vishnu.
• Mundas : A tribal group that lived in the Chhotanagpur region of Jharkhand
• Jhum: Shifting cultivation.
• Begar : Forced labour.
• Ulugan : Movement by the Mundas.
• Dikus: Outsiders.