JAC Class 8 SST Tribals Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes History Chapter 4 Tribals, Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age

June 4, 2022May 25, 2022 by Bhagya

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

→ In 1895, a man named Birsa was seen roaming the forests and villages of Chottanagpur in Jharkhand.

Birsa himself declared that God had appointed him to save his people from trouble, free them from the slavery of dikus (outsiders).
Birsa was bom in a family of Mundas , a tribal group that lived in Chottanagpur. But his followers included other tribals of the region – Santhals and Oraons.

→ How Did Tribal Groups Live?
By the nineteenth century, tribal people in different parts of India were involved in a variety of activities.

→ Some were jhum cultivators

Jhum cultivation means shifting cultivation. This was done on small patches of land mostly in forests.
The cultivators cut the treetops to allow sunlight to reach the ground and burnt the vegetation on the land to clear it for cultivation. They spread the ash from the firing which contained potash to fertilise the soil.
Once the crop was ready and harvested, they moved to another field. A field that had been cultivated once was left fallow for several years.
Shifting cultivators were found in the hilly and forested tracts of north-east and central India. The lives of these tribal people depended on free movement within forests and on being able to use the land and forests for growing their crops.

→ Some were hunters and gatherers

In many regions tribal groups lived by hunting animals and gathering forest produce.
The Khonds were such a community living in the forests of Odisha. They regularly went out on collective hunts and then divided the meat amongst themselves.
They ate fruits and roots collected from the forest and cooked food with the oil they extracted from the seeds of the sal and mahua.
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.
At times they exchanged goods, getting what they needed in return for their valuable forest produce. At other times they bought goods with the small amount of earnings they had.
• When supplies of forest produce shrank, tribal people had to increasingly wander around in search of work as labourers. But many of them such as the Baigas of central India were reluctant to do work for others.
for the tribals, market and commerce often meant debt and poverty. They therefore came to see the moneylender and trader as evil outsiders and the cause of their misery.

→ Some herded animals

Many tribal groups lived by herding and rearing animals. They were pastoralists who moved with their herds of cattle or sheep according to the seasons.
The Van Gujjars of the Punjab hills and the Labadis of Andhra Pradesh were cattle herders, the Gaddis of Kulu were shepherds, and the Bakarwals of Kashmir reared goats.

→ Some took to settled cultivation

Even before the nineteenth century, many from within the tribal groups had begun settling down and cultivating their fields in one place year after year.
Most of the tribes had rights on the land • such as the Mundas of Chottanagpur had the
land which belonged to the clan as a whole. All members of the clan were regarded as descendants of the original settlers, who had first cleared the land.
Powerful men often rented out their land instead of cultivating it themselves.
British officials saw settled tribal groups such as the Gonds and Santhals as more civilised than hunter gatherers or shifting cultivators. Those who lived in the forests were considered to be wild and savage, they needed to be settled and civilised.

→ How Did Colonial Rule Affect Tribal Lives?
The lives of tribal groups changed during British rule.

→ What happened to tribal chiefs?

Before the arrival of the British, in many areas the tribal chiefs were important people. They enjoyed a certain amount of economic power and had the right to administer and control their territories.
Tribals, Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age of the tribal chiefs changed considerably.
They also had to pay tribute to the British and discipline the tribal groups on behalf of the British. They lost the authority they had earlier enjoyed amongst their people and were unable to fulfil their traditional functions.

→ What happened to the shifting cultivators?

The British were uncomfortable with groups who moved about and did not have a fixed home. They wanted tribal groups to settle down and become peasant cultivators.
The British wanted a regular revenue source for the state. So, they introduced land settlements which means they measured the land, defined the rights of each individual to that land and fixed the revenue demand for the state.
The British effort to settle jhum cultivators was not very successful.
Jhum cultivators who took to plough cultivation often suffered since their fields did not produce good yields. So, the jhum cultivators in north-east India insisted on continuing with their traditional practice.

→ Forest laws and their impacts

Changes in forest laws had a considerable effect on tribal lives.
The British extended their control over all forests and declared that forests were state property.
Some forests were classified as Reserved Forests for they produced timber which the British wanted. In these forests people were not allowed to move freely, practice jhum cultivation.
Once the British stopped the tribal people from living inside forests, they faced a problem.
In many regions the Forest Department established forest villages to ensure a regular supply of cheap labour.
The Colonial Officials 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 villages would have to provide labour to the Forest Department and look after the forests.
Many tribal groups reacted against the colonial forest laws. The revolt of Songram Sangma in 1906 in Assam and the forest satyagraha of the 1930s in the Central Provinces took place.

→ The problem with trade

During the nineteenth century, tribal groups found that traders and moneylenders were coming into the forests more often wanting to buy forest produce offering cash loans and asking them to work for wages.
It took tribal groups some time to understand the consequences of what was happening.
Many tribal groups saw the market and the traders as their main enemies.

→ The search for work

The plight of the tribals who had to go far away from their homes in search of work was even worse.
Tribals were recruited in large numbers to work the tea plantations of Assam and the coal mines of Jharkhand.
They were recruited through contractors who paid them miserably low wages and prevented them from returning home.

→ A Closer Look

Through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, tribal groups in different parts of the country rebelled against the changes in laws, the restrictions on their practices, the new taxes they had to pay and the exploitation by traders and moneylenders.
The Kols rebelled in 1831-32, Santhals rose in revolt in 1855, the Bastar Rebellion in central India broke out in 1910 and the Warli Revolt in Maharashtra in 1940.

→ Birsa Munda

Birsa was bom in the mid-1870s. The son of a poor father, he grew up around the forests of Bohonda, grazing sheep, playing the flute, and dancing in the local akhara.
Birsa heard tales of the Munda uprisings of the past and saw the sirdars (leaders) of the community urging the people to revolt.
Birsa went to the local missionary school and listened to the sermons of missionaries. There too he heard it said that it was possible for the Mundas to attain the Kingdom of Heaven and regain their lost rights.
Birsa also spent some time in the company of a prominent Vaishnav preacher. He wore the sacred thread and began to value the importance of purity and piety.
His movement was aimed at reforming tribal society. He urged the Mundas to give up drinking liquor, clean their village and stop believing in witchcraft and sorcery. He also turned against missionaries and Hindu landlords.
In 1895, Birsa urged his followers to recover their glorious past. He talked of a golden age in the past, a satyug (the age of truth) where Mundas lived a good life, constructed embankments, tapped natural springs, planted trees and orchards, practised cultivation to earn their living.
British officials were worried most about the political aim of the Birsa movement. The movement identified all these forces as the cause of the misery the Mundas were suffering.
British arrested Birsa in 1895, convicted him on charges of rioting and jailed him for two years.
When Birsa was released in 1897 he began touring the villages to gather support. He used traditional symbols and language to rouse people, urging them to destroy “Ravana” (dikus and the Europeans) and establish a kingdom under his leadership.
Birsa’s followers raised the white flag as a symbol of Birsa Raj.
In 1900 Birsa died of cholera and the movement faded out.
The movement was significant in at least two ways. First – it forced the colonial government to introduce laws so that the land of the tribals could not be easily taken over by dikus. Second – it showed once again that the tribal people had the capacity to protest against injustice and express their anger against colonial rule.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Notes

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

June 4, 2022May 24, 2022 by Prasanna

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

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

Page 42

Question 1.
Look carefully at the tasks that Baiga men and women did Do you see any pattern? What were the differences in the types of work that they were expected to perform?
Answer:
The women and men shares equal responsibility of work. Like in all the tribes, men do difficult and dangerous tasks like hunting and cutting trees etc, whereas women are generally restricted to agriculture activities and household chores.

The Baiga tribes practice shifting cultivation in forest area and live a nomadic life. They are also woodsman and good hunters.
Men and women share the full responsibility for household chores like cooking, fishing, and woodcutting except hunting.
They derive income from bamboo products, sale of honey, and by hiring themselves out as labourers.

Page 47

Question 2.
Find out whether the conditions of work in the mines have changed now. Check how many people die in mines every year, and what are the reasons for their death.
Answer:
The conditions of work in the mines have not changed much now. Thousands of people die in mines every year due to the following reasons:

Collapse of safety equipments
Flooding in the coal mines
Emission of poisonous gas
Breaking out of fire in the mines.

Page 50

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:
A Jhum cultivator living in forest villages in the 19th century and on the verge of being evicted from the land they have been living in for generations, will tell British officials about the problems they will face upon the prohibitions.

The Jhum cultivators will tell the British officials about their inability to procure land for cultivation owing to their poor economic conditions. They will also tell about their lack of knowledge of other cultivation methods, other than shifting cultivation. In the face of ban on shifting cultivation, they will face intense lack of food leading to starvation, and even death.

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

( Let’s Recall)

Question 1.
Fill in the blanks:
(a) The British described the tribal people as …….
(b) The method of sowing seeds in jhum cultivation 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 and savage
(b) broadcasting
(c) land
(d) tea plantations; coal mines

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 purchase price.
(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) False
(b) True
(c) True
(d) False

(Let’s Discuss)

Question 3.
What problems did shifting cultivators face under British rule?
Answer:
Problems faced by shifting cultivators under British rule were as follows:
(i) For administrative and economic reason, the British wanted the jhum cultivators to settle down and become peasant cultivators. The British effort to settle jhum cultivators was not very successful. Settled plough cultivation is not easy in areas where water is scarce and the soil is dry. In fact, jhum cultivators who took to plough cultivation often suffered since their fields did not produce good yields.

(ii) The life of shifting cultivators was directly connected to the forest. So, changes in forest laws had a considerable effect on their lives. The British extended their control over all forests and declared that forests were state property. In these forests people were not allowed to move freely, practise jhum cultivation, collect fruits, or hunt animals. Many were therefore forced to move to other areas in search of work and livelihood

Question 4.
How did the powers of tribal chiefs change under colonial rule?
Answer:
Under British rule, the functions and powers of the tribal chiefs changed considerably. 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 Indi(a) They also had to pay tribute to the British, and discipline the tribal groups on behalf of the British.
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 following facts account for the anger of the tribals against the dikus were:

The British had the land policies which were destroying their traditional land system.
Hindu landlords and moneylenders were taking over their land
Their traditional culture were criticized by the missionaries.

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:
Birsa’s vision of a golden age was an age of truth in which like the past, the tribal people would have a good life, tap natural spring, construct embankments, plant trees and orchards and practice cultivation to earn their living. He spoke about an age in which people ‘ will not kill and harm one another and would live an honest life. He also had a vision of a reformed tribal society in which there was no place for vices such as uncleanliness, witchcraft, liquor and outside forces like moneylenders, missionaries, traders, landlords. Such a vision appealed to the people of the region because all the vices and outside influences about which Birsa talked were indeed thought by everyone as the main root cause of their misery and suffering.

(Let’s Do)

Question 7.
Find out from your parents, friends or teachers, the names of some heroes of other tribal revolts in the twentieth century. Write their story in your own words.
Answer:
Jatra Oraon:
He was a tribal freedom fighter from the Chhotanagpur region is the present day state of Jharkhan(d) During his leadership Oraon movement against the British colonial rule during 1914-19. He fought for Oraon Raj. He criticised liquor drinking and superstitious practices among Oraons. His religious movement gave way to a “no-rent payment” campaign. Jatra declared that his followers should stop ploughing the field of landlords and not work anymore as coolies or labourers for non-Oraons or for the government.

He also questioned the traditional leadership of the pahans and mahtos the village headmen. The basic idea behind this movement was that land was a gift of God and that no one had the right to interfere with the tribals right over lan(d) Jatra, along with his leading disciples was arrested in 1814. After his release, he abandoned the leadership of the movement. Later he came in contact with Gandhi and joined the Non-Cooperation Movement against the British.

Rani Gaidinliu:
Rani Gaidinliu was bom in the present-day state of Manipur. At the age of 13, she joined in the Indian freedom struggle with Haipou Jadonang. Jadonang was the political and spiritual leader of Nag(a) Jadonang started a movement to drive away the British from Manipur. He was captured and hanged by the British. After the death of her Gum, Gaidinliu assumed leadership of the movement. The British tried to suppress the movement. Rani went undergroun(d) But, very soon she was arrested in 1932. She was sent to jail. Gaidinliu was released after India gained its independence. She was honored with Tamrapatr(a) and Padma Bhushan awards, Jawaharlal Nehru called her ‘Rani’ of the Nagas. She passed away on February 17, 1993.

Question 8.
Choose any tribal group living in India today. Find out about their customs and way of life, and how their lives have changed in the last 50 years.
Answer:
Gaddis:
Gaddis are a pastoral tribe of Himachal Pardesh. They are shepherds by occupation. Gaddi women are very hardworking. They cut grasses and carry them to distant places and even climb mountains, to their home. Gaddi have their own traditional dance form. In this form, a couple dances for a while and is later replaced by another couple. The onlookers sing and clap to encourage the dancers. Due to the conversion of pasture lands into grazing lands and tax on pastures and animals, they suffered a lot during the British rule. Their conditions did not become ‘ good till independence. However, after the independence, Gaddis were restored with their pasture lands and grazing tax was abolishe(d) The Government has begun various welfare schemes. They have also been provided reservation.

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

Multiple Choice Questions

Question 1.
The color of the flag raised by Mundas as a symbol of Birsa Raj
(a) White flag
(b) Red flag
(c) Green flag
(d) Orange flag
Answer:
(a) White flag

Question 2.
The Khonds were from
(a) Jharkhand
(b) Punjab
(c) Madhya Pradesh
(d) Odisha (earlier Orissa)
Answer:
(d) Odisha (earlier Orissa)

Question 3.
Flower/s which were used to colour clothes and leather was/ were
(a) Kusum
(b) Palash
(c) Rose
(d) Both a and b
Answer:
(d) Both a and b

Question 4.
The shepherds of Kullu were
(a) Santhals
(b) Van Gujjars
(c) Gaddis
(d) Baigas
Answer:
(c) Gaddis

Question 5.
The Santhals reared .
(a) sheep
(b) cocoon
(c) yak
(d) none of these
Answer:
(b) cocoon

Question 6.
Mahua is:
(a) stem of a tree.
(b) a flower that is eaten or used to make alcohol.
(c) root of a tree.
(d) leaves of a tree.
Answer:
(b) a flower that is eaten or used to make alcohol.

Question 7.
Birsa belonged to the tribe.
(a) Santhals
(b) Kols
(c) Mundas
(d) None of these
Answer:
(c) Mundas

Question 8.
The British saw settled tribal groups such as the and Santhals as more civilized than hunter gatherers or shifting cultivators.
(a) Gonds
(b) Mundas
(c) Kols
(d) Kandhas
Answer:
(a) Gonds

Question 9.
Bakarwals are from…..
(a) Bihar
(b) Gujrat
(c) Punjab
(d) Kashmir
Answer:
(d) Kashmir

Question 10.
Bewar a term used in Madhya Pradesh for…..
(a) rearing
(b) shifting cultivation
(c) hunting
(d) both a and b
Answer:
(b) shifting cultivation

Very Short Answer Type Question

Question 1.
Who were called as Mundas?
Answer:
A tribal group that lived in Chottanagpur were called as Mundas.

Question 2.
Birsa belonged to which village and state?
Answer:
Birsa belonged to a village known as Chottanagpur in Bihar(now Jharkhand).

Question 3.
Jhum cultivation is known by which name?
Answer:
Jhum cultivation is also known as shifting cultivation.

Question 4.
When and where was the forest satyagraha started?
Answer:
The forest satyagraha started in 1930s in the Central Provinces.

Question 5. It was below the dignity of which tribe to become a labourer?
Answer:
It was below the dignity of a Baiga tribe to become a labourer.

Question 6.
The British want tribal groups to settle down and become peasant cultivators. Why?
Answer:
The British wanted the tribal groups to settle down and become peasant cultivators because settled peasants were easier to control and administer than people who were always on the move.

Question 7.
Which leaves are used for making plates by the Dongria Kandha women of Orissa?
Answer:
Pandanus leaves leaves are used for making plates by the Dongria Kandha women of Orissa

Question 8.
What do you mean by fallow field?
Answer:
A field which is left uncultivated for a while so that the soil recovers fertility is called as fallow field

Question 9.
Who were the outsiders being referred to as dikus?
Answer:
The outsiders who were being referred to as dikus were missionaries, moneylenders, Hindu landlords, and the British government.

Question 10.
Why was Birsa found guilty?
Answer:
In 1895, British arrested Birsa and declared him guilty on charges of rioting and jailed him for two years.

Short Answer Type Question

Question 1.
Name the five tribes found in India
Answer:
The five tribes found in India are as follows:

The Van Gujjars of the Punjab hills,
The Labadis of Andhra Pradesh,
The Gaddis of Kulu,
The Bakarwals of Kashmir
Santhals ofHazaribagh (Jharkhand).

Question 2.
British officials see settled tribal groups in different way to those who lived in the forest. How?
Answer:
British officials saw settled tribal groups such as the Gonds and Santhals as more civilised than hunter gatherers or shifting cultivators. Those who lived in the forests were considered to be wild and savage and hence, they needed to be settled and civilized

Question 3.
What are the different types of activities where tribal people were involved?
Answer:
The different types of activities where tribal people were involved are as follows:

Jhum cultivators or shifting cultivators
Hunters and gatherers
Herded animals
Some took to settled cultivation

Question 4.
What was the importance of Birsa movement?
Answer:
The importance of Birsa movement were in the following ways:
The movement forced the colonial government to introduce laws so that the land of the tribals could not be easily taken over by the outsiders or dikus. The movement also showed that the tribal people had the capacity to protest against injustice and express their anger against British rule.

Question 5.
What are the features of tribal people?
Answer:
The features of tribal people were as follows:

Most tribal people had customs and rituals that were very different from those laid down by Brahmans.
The tribal people’s societies also did not have the sharp social divisions that were characteristic of caste societies.
All those who belonged to the same tribe thought of themselves as sharing common ties of kinship.

Question 6:
The silk growers (Santhals) of Jharkhand faced problem during the nineteenth century. What was it?
Answer:
The Santhals reared cocoons in Hazaribagh(now in Jharkhand). The traders dealing in silk sent their agents who gave loans to the tribal people and collected the cocoons. The growers were paid only ? 3 to ? 4 for a thousand cocoons. These were exported to Burdwan or Gaya where they were sold at five times the price. The middlemen made huge profits as he arranged deals between the exporters and silk growers. Hence, the silk growers earned very little and nominal amount.

Question 7.
Why was the British effort to settle jhum cultivators not very successful?
Answer:
The British efforts to settle jhum cultivators not very successful because jhum cultivators who took to plough cultivation often suffered since their fields did not produce good yields. The jhum cultivators in northeast India insisted on continuing with their traditional practice. It was difficult to carry on settled plough cultivation in areas where water is scarce and the soil is very dry. Hence, the British faced widespread protests and therefore, they allowed them to carry on shifting cultivation in some parts of the forest.

Question 8.
What problem did the British face after they brought changes in forest laws? Did they solve this problem? How?
Answer:
The British faced many problems after they brought changes in forest laws. They stopped the tribal people from living inside forests. They lost labour force because most of the jhum cultivators moved to other areas in search of work. Yes, British officials solved this problem by giving jhum cultivators small patches of land in the forests and allowing them to cultivate these on the condition that those who lived in villages would have to provide labour to the Forest Department and look after the forests. The Forest Department established forest villages in many regions to ensure a regular supply of cheap labour.

Question 9.
The tribals consider the moneylenders as the cause of their misery. Why?
Answer:
The tribals consider the moneylenders as the cause of their misery because tribals took loans from the moneylenders to meet their cash requirements. But these moneylenders charged high interest rate on these loans leading to debt and poverty of the tribal.

Question 10.
What were the usual chores of tribes during the month of Baisakh?
Answer:
The usual chores of tribes during the month of Baisakh were that during this month the burning of forests took place where women gathered unbumt wood to bum. Men continued to hunt close to the village.

Question 11.
Discuss the tribal group’s trade activities in the nineteenth century. How did they come to see traders as Dikus and enemies?
Answer:
Tribal groups were depended on moneylenders and traders as they often needed money to buy and sell goods that were produced within the locality. Traders sold their goods at high prices. Moneylenders gave loans to the tribes which met their cash needs adding to what they earned but as the interest charges were high on the loans most of the tribal people were indebted and lived in poverty. Hence, tribal groups came to see the moneylenders and traders as evil outsiders and the cause of their misery.

Long Answer Type Question

Question 1:
How did different tribal groups earn their livelihood?
Answer:
Tribal people in different parts of India were involved in a variety of activities. The different tribal groups earn their livelihood in following ways:

Some of them practiced jhum cultivation, also known as shifting cultivation. This was done on small patches of land mostly in forests.
In many regions, tribal groups earn their livelihood by hunting animals and gathering forest produce. They saw forests as essential for survival. The Khonds were such a community living in the forests of Orissa (now Odisha).
Many tribal groups lived by herding and rearing animals. They were pastoralists who moved with their herds of cattle or sheep according to the seasons. When the grass in one place was exhausted, they moved to another area
Many from within the tribal groups had begun settling down and cultivating their fields in one place year after year instead of moving from place to place.

Question 2.
Discuss the problems which the shifting cultivators face under British rule.
Answer:
The problems faced by shifting cultivators under British rule were as follows:

(i) For administrative and economic reason, the British wanted the jhum cultivators to settle down and become peasant cultivators. The British effort to settle jhum cultivators was not very successful as settled plough cultivation is not easy in areas where water is scarce and the soil is dry. In fact, jhum cultivators who took to plough cultivation often suffered since their fields did not produce good yields.

(ii) The life of jhum cultivators was directly connected to the forest. So changes in forest laws had a major effect on their lives. The British extended their control over all forests and declared that forests were state property. In these forests, people were not allowed to move freely, practise jhum cultivation, collect fruits, or hunt animals. Many were therefore forced to move to other areas in search of work and livelihood