CBSE Class 8 History Tribal Dikus And Vision Of A Golden Age Worksheet

1.Birsa belonged to which tribal group?

(A) Santhal (B) Munda (C) Bhiku (D) None of the above

2.Birsa belonged to whichvillage and state?

(A) Chottanagpur-Bihar (B) Vaishali-Orissa (C) Begu Sarai-Bihar (D) Kalahandi-Orissa

3.Which other tribes supported Birsa Munda?

(A) Santhals (B) Oraons (C) Only a (D) Both a and b

4.What were the main features of 'Jhum Cultivation'?

(A) Seeds were not sown but scattered (B) No ploughing was done

(C) Afterthe harvest, cultivators moved to another field (D) Allthe above

5.Where was the shifting cultivation popular?

(A) North East India (B) Central India (C) Only a (D) Both a and b

6.Fallow land is for:

(A) Cultivation (B) Recovery of soil fertility

(C) Better irrigation (D) None of the above

7.Which region did the Khonds tribe belong to?

(A) Bihar (B) Orrisa (C) Bengal (D) Madhya Pradesh

8.Which of the two forest products were used to colour the clothes?

(A) Kusum flowers (B) Palash flowers (C) Only a (D) Both a and b

9.From where did the forest tribes get their supply of oil?

(A) Seeds of sal (B) Seeds of mahua C) Only a (D) Both a and b

10.What were the methods of getting supply of cereals (rice, wheat etc.) by the forest dwellers ?

1. Which of the two forest products were used to colour the clothes?

(A) Kusum flowers

(B) Palash flowers

(C) Only a

(D) Both a and b

2. Who all did Birsa oppose?

(A) Hindu landlords

(B) Missionaries

(C) British rulers

(D) All of the above

3. The Bakarwals belonged to:

(A) Kulu

(B) Punjab

(C) Kashmir

(D) Sikkim

4. The labadis belonged to:

(A) Punjab

(B) Sikkim

(C) Andhra Pradesh

(D) Kulu

5. The Van Gujjars belonged to:

(A) Punjab

(B) Sikkim

(C) Andhra Pradesh

Q1- Fill in the blanks-

1-The Baigas called their Plots-------

2-Birsa Munda was born in --------- district

3-Van Gujjars belong to -------part of India.

4-In ------- ,the British annexed Awad on grounds of Mismanagement.

6-The Khasi rebellion took place in ------

Q2 Match the following

1.Rani Lakshmibai Faizabad

2.Nana Saheb Lucknow

3.Begum Hazarat Mahal Jhansi

4.Tantia Tope Kanpur

5.Azimullah Khan Gwalior

6.Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah

Q3-Answer the following

1-Write Economic causes of The Revolt of 1857?

2-Define Jhum Cultivation

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TRIBALS, DIKUS AND THE VISION OF A GOLDEN AGE

WHO ARE TRIBALS?

Most tribes had customs and rituals that were very different from those laid down by Brahmans. These 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. However, this did not mean that there were no social and economic differences within tribes.

In 1895, a man named Birsa was seen roaming the forests and villages of Chottanagpur in Bihar. People said he had miraculous powers – he could cure all diseases and multiply grain. Birsa himself declared that God had appointed him to save his people from trouble, free them from the slavery of dikus (outsiders). Soon thousands began following Birsa, believing that he was bhagwan (God) and had come to solve all their problems.

Birsa was born in a family of Mundas – a tribal group that lived in Chottanagpur. But his followers included other tribals of the region – Santhals and Oraons. All of them in different ways were unhappy with the changes they were experiencing and the problems they were facing under British rule. Their familiar ways of life seemed to be disappearing, their livelihoods were under threat, and their religion appeared to be in danger.

Women of the Dongria Kandha tribe in Orissa wade through the river on the way to the market

HOW DID TRIBAL GROUPS LIVE?

Tribal people in differeny parts of India were involved in a variety of activities.

SOME WERE JHUM CULTIVATORS

Some of them practised jhum cultivation, that is, shifting cultivation. This was done on small patches of land, mostly in forests. 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. They spread the ash from the firing, which contained potash, to fertilise the soil. They used the axe to cut trees and the hoe to scratch the soil in order to prepare it for cultivation. They broadcast the seeds, that is, scattered the seeds on the field instead of ploughing the land and sowing the seeds. 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. That is the only way they could practise shifting cultivation.

SOME WERE HUNTERS AND GATHERERS

In many regions tribal groups lived 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. 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. They used many forest shrubs and herbs for medicinal purposes, and sold forest produce in the local markets. 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.

Tribal groups often needed to buy and sell in order to be able to get the goods that were not produced within the locality. This led to their dependence on traders and moneylenders. 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, adding to what they earned. But the interest charged on the loans was usually very high. So 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. When the grass in one place was exhausted, they moved to another area. 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, instead of moving from place to place. They began to use the plough, and gradually got rights over the land they lived on. In many cases, like the Mundas of Chottanagpur, the land 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. Therefore, all of them had rights on the land. Very often some people within the clan acquired more power than others, some became chiefs and others followers. Powerful men often rented out their land instead of cultivating it themselves.

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. In some places they had their own police and decided on the local rules of land and forest management.

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 India. 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.

Location of some tribal groups in India

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.

Settled peasants were easier to control and administer than people who were always on the move. The British also wanted a regular revenue source for the state. So they introduced land settlements – that is, they measured the land, defined the rights of each individual to that land, and fixed the revenue demand for the state. Some peasants were declared landowners, others tenants.

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. So the jhum cultivators in north-east India insisted on continuing with their traditional practice. Facing widespread protests, the British had to ultimately allow them the right to carry on shifting cultivation in some parts of the forest.

FOREST LAWS AND THEIR IMPACT

The life of tribal groups, was directly connected to the forest. So changes in forest laws had a considerable effect on tribal lives. The British declared that forests were state property. Reserved forest produced timber which the British wanted. In these forests people were not allowed to move freely, practise jhum cultivation. Collect fruits or hunt animals.

Once the British stopped the tribal people from living inside forests, they faced the shortage of labour to cut trees for railway sleepers and to transport logs.

Colonial officials came up with a solution. they 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. They disobeyed the new rules, continued with practices that were declared illegal and at times rose in open rebellion. Such was the revolt of Songram Sangma in 1906 in Assam and the forest satyagraha of the 1930s in the Central Provinces.

Godara women weaving

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.

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.

Hazaribagh, in present-day Jharkhand, was an area where the Santhals reared cocoons. The traders dealing in silk sent in their agents who gave loans to the tribal people and collected the cocoons. The growers were paid Rs 3 to Rs 4 for a thousand cocoons. These were then exported to Burdwan or Gaya where they were sold at five times the price. The middlemen – so called because they arranged deals between the exporters and silk growers – made huge profits. The silk growers earned very little. Understandably, 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. From the late nineteenth century, tea plantations started coming up and mining became an important industry. 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.

Bhil women cultivating in a forest in Gujarat

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.

• (i) The Kols rebelled in 1831-32. (Bengal)
• (ii) Santhals rose in revolt in 1855. (Bihar, Bengal and Jharkhand)
• (iii) The bastar Rebellion in 1910 (Central India)
• (iv) The Warli Revolt in Maharashtra in 1940.

BIRSA MUNDA:

• (i) Birsa was born in the mid-1870s. As an adolescent. Birsa heard tales of the Munda uprisings of the past and saw the sirdars (leaders) of the community urging the people to revolt. They talked of a golden age when the Mundas had been free of the oppression of dikus and ancestral right of community would be restored. They reminded people of the need to win back their kingdom.
• (ii) From the sermons of missionaries, Brisa heard 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 begain to value the importance of purity and piety.
• (iii) Birsa was deeply influenced by many of the ideas he came in touch with in his growing-up years. He aimed at reforming tribal society. He urged the Mundas to give up drinking liquor, clean their village, and stop believing in witchcraft and sorcery. Birsa also turned against missionaries and Hindu landlords. He saw them as outside forces that were ruining the Munda way of life.
• (iv) In 1895 Birsa urged his followers to recover their glorious past. Birsa also wanted people to once again work on their land, settle down and cultivate their fields.
• (v) British got worried of the political aim of the Birsa movement which wanted to drive out missionaries, monelender Hindu landlords, and the government and set up a Munda Raj with Birsa at its head. The movement identified all these forces as the cause of the misery the Mundas were suffering. British officials arrested Birsa in 1895, convicted him on charges of rioting and jailed him for two years.
• (vi) When Birsa was released in 1897 he began touring the villages to gather support. He used traditional symbols and language to rouse people against the dikus and the Europeans. Birsa’s followers began targeting the symbols of diku and European power. They attacked police stations and churches, and raided the property of moneylenders and zamindars. They raised the white flag as a symbol of Birsa Raj.
• (vii) In 1900 Birsa died of cholera and the movement faded out.
• (viii) The movement was significant in at least two ways. First it forced the colonial government to introduce laws so that the land of the triblas 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.

EXERCISE - I (CBSE CORNER)

VERY SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS:

Question. Q.1 Why people believed that Birsa was bhagwan (God)?
Answer: People believed Birsa had miraculous powers – he could cure all diseases and multiply grain, and that God had appointed him to save his people from trouble and free them from the slavery of dikus (outsiders).

Question. Q.2 Why tribals didn’t like outsiders?
Answer: Tribals saw outsiders (dikus) such as traders and moneylenders as the cause of their misery, debt, and poverty, as well as a threat to their familiar ways of life, livelihoods, and religion.

Question. Q.3 Why Birsa against missionaries and Hindu landlords?
Answer: Birsa was against missionaries and Hindu landlords because he saw them as outside forces that were ruining the Munda way of life and identified them as the cause of the misery the Mundas were suffering.

Question. Q.4 In which areas shifting cultivators were found?
Answer: Shifting cultivators were found in the hilly and forested tracts of north-east and central India.

Question. Q.5 Why the Khonds collected the seeds of the sal and mahua?
Answer: The Khonds collected the seeds of the sal and mahua to extract oil for cooking food.

Question. Q.6 Why the Baigas were reluctant to do work for others?
Answer: The Baigas saw themselves as people of the forest, who could only live on the produce of the forest; it was below the dignity of a Baiga to become a labourer.

Question. Q.7 Name a few tribal groups who lived by herding and rearing animals?
Answer: Van Gujjars of the Punjab hills, Labadis of Andhra Pradesh, Gaddis of Kulu, and Bakarwals of Kashmir.

Question. Q.8 Why the British were uncomfortable with groups who did not have a fixed home?
Answer: The British were uncomfortable because such groups were difficult to control and administer compared to settled peasants, and the British wanted a regular revenue source for the state.

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS:

Question. Q.9 Why the Santhals and Oraons didn’t like the British, rule?
Answer: Santhals and Oraons were unhappy with the changes they were experiencing and the problems they faced under British rule, feeling that their traditional ways of life were disappearing and their livelihoods were under threat.

Question. Q.10 Write few characteristics of the tribal societies?
Answer: Most tribal societies had customs and rituals very different from those of Brahmans, lacked the sharp social divisions of caste societies, and members shared common ties of kinship.

Question. Q.11 Write the features of a tribal group which lived by hunting animals and gathering forest produce.
Answer: Such groups saw forests as essential for survival, went on collective hunts, divided meat, ate forest fruits and roots, used forest shrubs and herbs for medicinal purposes, and traded produce like kusum and palash flowers.

Question. Q.12 What made tribal groups dependent on traders and moneylenders?
Answer: The need to obtain goods not produced within their locality forced them to buy from traders and take high-interest loans from moneylenders to meet their cash needs.

Question. Q.13 What was the dream of Birsa Munda?
Answer: Birsa's dream was to restore a "golden age" where Mundas would be free from the oppression of dikus and reclaim their ancestral rights and kingdom.

Question. Q.14 How the tribals were forced to leave shifting cultivation?
Answer: The British introduced land settlements to create a regular revenue source and settle tribals into controlled peasant cultivation, which made traditional shifting cultivation difficult.

Question. Q.15 What made tribals to work in the tea plantation and the coal mines?
Answer: The loss of forest rights and traditional livelihoods, combined with the recruitment through contractors who paid low wages, forced tribals into plantation and mining work.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS:

Question. Q.16 How Forest law affected the life of tribals?
Answer: Forest laws declared forests as state property and created "reserved forests" where tribals could not move freely or practice jhum cultivation. This led to a shortage of tribal labour for British logging, which was solved by giving cultivators small forest patches in exchange for labour.

Question. Q.17 What was the impact of colonial rule on tribal life?
Answer: Tribal chiefs lost their administrative power and were forced to follow British laws. Shifting cultivators were forced to settle, leading to poor yields in dry areas. New taxes and exploitation by middlemen led to widespread debt and misery.

Question. Q.18 Write in brief the living patterns of tribes.
Answer: Tribals practiced various patterns: shifting (jhum) cultivation in hilly areas; hunting and gathering forest produce; pastoralism (herding animals across seasons); and settled agriculture using the plough.

Question. Q.19 Why tribals revolted against British?
Answer: They revolted against restrictive forest laws, the loss of their traditional rights and lands, the imposition of new taxes, and exploitation by traders, moneylenders, and the colonial administration.

Question. Q.20 What was the significance of the movement started by Birsa Munda?
Answer: The movement forced the colonial government to introduce laws protecting tribal land from dikus and showed the capacity of tribal people to protest against injustice and colonial rule.

EXERCISE - II (COMPETITIVE CORNER)

Question. Q.1 For whom the term ‘diku’ was used?
(a) Chowkidar
(b) Thikanedar
(c) Outsiders
(d) None
Answer: C

Question. Q.2 The Santhal tribals belong to-
(a) Uttar Pradesh
(b) Madhya Pradesh
(c) Jharkhand
(d) Maharashtra
Answer: C

Question. Q.3 Type of cultivation in which farmer left the land after two or three years of cultivation-
(a) shifting agriculture
(b) primitive agriculture
(c) commercial agriculture
(d) none of the above
Answer: A

Question. Q.4 During which period the live of tribal groups mostly changed?
(a) Mughals
(b) Sultanate
(c) After Independence
(d) British period
Answer: D

Question. Q.5 Who were the followers of Birsa other than Mundra tribe?
(a) Khasi and Toda
(b) Santhal and Oraons
(c) Baiga and Khond
(d) Santhal and Khond
Answer: B

Question. Q.6 Who were Khonds?
(a) Hunters
(b) Settled
(c) Food gatherers
(d) Jhum cultivators
Answer: A

Question. Q.7 Which tribe reared cocoons?
(a) Kol
(b) Baiga
(c) Khond
(d) Santhals
Answer: D

Question. Q.8 Warli revolt took place in-
(a) Rajasthan
(b) Gujarat
(c) Maharashtra
(d) Tamilnadu
Answer: C

Question. Q.9 Santhal revolt took place in-
(a) 1850
(b) 1855
(c) 1852
(d) 1890
Answer: B

Question. Q.10 In 1910 which tribe revolted in Central India?
(a) Bastar
(b) Gond
(c) Khond
(d) Munda
Answer: A

Question. Q.11 Which tribe was reluctant to work for others?
(a) Khond
(b) Munda
(c) Baiga
(d) Kol
Answer: C

Question. Q.12 Van Gujjars and Labadis were.
(a) Cattle herders
(b) Settled cultivators
(c) Hunters
(d) Food gatherers
Answer: A