I. Answer the following questions in one sentence each :
1. Who was seen roaming in the forests and villages of chotanagpur in Bihar?
Ans: Birsa was seen roaming in the forests and villages of chotanagpur in Bihar.
2. Who were dikus?
Ans: Dikus were outsiders.
3. Who were the followers of Birsa?
Ans: Birsa’s followers included other tribal’s of the region that is santhals and oraons.
4. How did the tribal groups live in many regions?
Ans: In many regions tribal’s groups lived by hunting animals and gathering forest produce.
5. What is “Jhum cultivation”?
Ans: “Jhum cultivation” refers to shifting cultivation.
6. What do you mean by fallow?
Ans: A field left uncultivated for a while so that the soil recovers.
7. How did tribal people practice shifting cultivation?
Ans: The lives of tribal people depended on free movement within forests and on being able to use the land and forests for growing their crops. That is the way they could practice shifting cultivation.
8. How did tribal people live?
Ans: In many regions tribal groups lived by hunting animals and gathering forest produce. They saw forests as essential for survival.
9. How was shifting cultivation practiced by the cultivation ?
Ans:
i) Shifting cultivators were found in the hilly and forested tracts of north-east and central India.
ii) Their life’s of these tribal people depended on free movement within forests and on being able to use the land and forests for growing their crops.
10. Why did the market and commerce mean debt and poverty for the tribal groups?
Ans:
i) The trader sold the goods at high prices. The interested charged on loans by the money lenders was very high.
ii) The money lenders and traders came to be seen as evil outside and the cause of their misery.
11. Which of the tribal’s moved for herding and rearing animals?
Ans: The Van Gujjars of the Punjab hills and the Lobadis of Andhra Pradesh were cattle herders,the Gaddis of kulu were shepherds and the Bakarwals of Kashmir reared goats.
12. Why did the British want tribal groups to settle down and become peasant cultivators?
Ans:
i) They wanted tribal people to settle down and become peasant cultivators. Settled peasants are easier to control and administer than people who always move.
ii) The Britishers also wanted a regular revenue source for the state so they introduced land settlements.
13. What condition did the colonial officials put on the Jhum cultivators in the villages?
Ans:
i) Colonial officials decided to give Jhum cultivators small patches of land in the forests and allow them to cultivate.
ii) On the condition that those who lived in the villages would have to provide labour to the forest department and look after the forests.
14. What lead to the revolt of Sangram sangama in 1906 in Assam?
Ans:
i) Many tribal groups reacted against the colonial forest laws.They disobeyed the new rules,continued with practices that were declared illegal , and at times rose in open rebellion.
ii) Such was the revolt of Songram sangama in 1906 in Assam, and the forest satyagraha of the 1930’s in the central provinces.
15. What were the consequences faced by tribal’s in nineteenth century?
Ans: During the nineteenth century, tribal groups found that traders and money lenders were coming into the forests more often wanting to buy forests produce offering cash loans, and asking them to work for wages. It took tribal groups some time to understand the consequences.
16. Why did the East India company officials try to encourage silk production in India?
Ans: The East India company officials tried to encourage silk production in India to meet the growing demand in the European market.
17. Why did East India company encourage silk production in eighteenth century?
Ans: In the eighteenth century, Indian silk was in demand in European markets.The fine quality of Indian silk was highly valued and exports from India increased rapidly.As the market expanded, East India company officials tried to encourage silk production to meet the growing demand.
18. What was the aim of the Birsa movement?
Ans:
i) The Birsa movement wanted to drive out missionaries, money lenders,Hindu landlords and the government.
ii) Birsa wanted to setup Munda Raj with Birsa at its head.
19. Where was the shifting cultivation found?
Ans: The shifting cultivators were found in the hilly and forested tracts of north east and central India.
20. Who saw forests as essential for their survival?
Ans: The tribal groups who lived in forests saw forests as essential for their survival.
21. Who were considered to be wild and savage by the British?
Ans: The people who lived in the forests were considered to be wild and savage by the British.
22. Who introduced land settlements?
Ans: The British introduced land settlements.
II. Answer the following questions in four sentences each:
1. Why did people start believing Birsa as God?
Ans :
i) People said he had miraculous powers , he could cure all diseases and multiply grain.
ii) Birsa himself declared that God has appointed him to save his people from trouble,free them from the slavery of dikus(outsiders).
iii) Soon thousand began following Birsa, believing that he was bhagwan (God) and had come to solve all their problems.
2. Why were the tribal’s unhappy?
Ans:
i) Mundas,Santhals and Oraons were unhappy because of the changes they were experiencing and the problems they were facing under British rule.
ii) Their familiar ways of life seemed to be disappearing ,their livelihoods were under threat and their religion appeared to be in danger.
3. How was “Jhum” cultivation done?
Ans:
i) Jhum cultivation was also called as shifting cultivation.
ii) This was done on small patches of land, mostly in forests.
iii) The cultivators cut the tree tops to allow sunlight to reach the ground, and burnt the vegetation on the land to clear it for cultivation.
iv) They spread the ash from the firing, which contained potash, to fertilize the soil.
v) They used the axe to cut trees and the hoe to scratch the soil in order to prepare it for cultivation.
vi) They scattered the seeds on the field instead of ploughing the land and sowing the seeds. Once the crop is ready and harvested,they moved to another field.
4. How were the Khonds living? What were the conditions of the Khonds?
Ans:
i) The Khonds were such a community living in the forests of Orissa.
ii) They regularly went out on collective hunts and then divided the meat among themselves.
iii) They ate fruits and roots collected from the forests and cooked food with the oil they extracted from the seeds of the sal and mahua.
iv) They used many forests shrubs and herbs for medicinal purposes , and sold forest produce in the local markets.
5. How did the tribal people living in forests get their supplies of rice and other grains?
Ans:
i) Sometimes they exchanged goods for getting what they needed in return for their valuable forest produce.
ii) At other times they bought goods with the small amount of earnings they had
iii) Some of them did off jobs in the villages, carrying loads or building roads,while others labored in the fields of peasants and farmers.
iv) When supplies of forest produce shrank,tribal people had to increasingly wander around in search of work as labourers.
v) Many of them like the Bai-gas of central India were reluctant to do work for others.