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NCERT Solutions Class 8th History Chapter – 4 Tribals, Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age
Chapter – 4
Tribals, Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age
Notes
Affect of Colonial rule – The tribal life was disrupted in many ways by the colonial rule. There was a significant change experienced by the tribal people after they came into contact with the colonial rule and the outsiders whom they described as ‘Dikus’.
Some of them were hunters and gatherers – These people managed their livelihood by hunting wild animals and by gathering forest products such as fruits, roots and medicinal shrubs. They also sold the forest products in the local markets and supplied sal and mahua flowers.
Impact of Forest Laws – Tribals were intimately connected with the forests. British regulations made them vulnerable as some forests were declared reserve forest and declared as the property of the state.
Affect on shifting cultivators – The Britishers wanted the tribal groups to settle down to bring them under the ambit of revenue assessment. Therefore, the measurement of land took place. Some peasants were declared landowners and others as their tenants.
What happened to tribal chiefs – The privileges enjoyed by the tribal chiefs were lost as soon as the Britishers arrived. They were forced to pay tributes. They lost the administrative powers that were enjoyed by them previously.
Search for work – The tribals who went far away from their respective homes were the major sufferers. Plantation agriculture began in the late 19th century and they were employed in this industry. Their position became pathetic, as they were not allowed to go home.
The problem with trade – Moneylenders and traders frequently visited the tribal areas. Their motive was to make profit by exploiting the tribals as per their wish. Soon the tribals understood their interest and started maintaining distance from them.
Some were Jhum cultivators – Some tribal communities practised Jhum cultivation, i.e. they cleared a patch of the forest and cultivated it for few years and when it lost its fertility, they moved to other sites. It is also called slash and burn technique.
Herded animals – There were some groups who lived the life of pastoral nomads. They migrated from one place to another with the change in season along with their livestock in search of fodder.
Birsa Munda – Birsa Munda was born in mid-1870s in a poor family. His family was moving in the search of work. Since his childhood, he had seen the elder members of the tribes urging the younger members to rebel against the exploitation.
Settled cultivation – Some tribal communities settled down and cultivated the same field year after year. They started using plough and cleared the fields around the Chhotanagpur plateau; thus they became the first settlers. These were the people of Munda tribes.
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 – 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 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. 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.
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. You will read more about them in your history book next year.
A time to hunt, a time to sow, a time to move to a new field – Have you ever noticed that people living in different types of societies do not share the same notion of work and time? The lives of the shifting cultivators and hunters in different regions were regulated by a calendar and division of tasks for men and women.
Verrier Elwin, a British anthropologist who lived among the Baigas and Khonds of central India for many years in the 1930s and 1940s, gives us a picture of what this calendar and division of tasks was like. He writes: In Chait women went to clearings to cut stalks that were already reaped; men cut large trees and go for their ritual hunt.
The hunt began at full moon from the east. Traps of bamboo were used for hunting. The women gathered fruits like sago, tamarind and mushroom. Baiga women can only gather roots or kanda and mahua seeds. Of all the adivasis in Central India, the Baigas were known as the best hunters … In Baisakh the firing of the forest took place, the women gathered unburnt wood to burn. Men continued to hunt, but nearer their villages.
In Jeth sowing took place and hunting still went on. From Asadh to Bhadon the men worked in the fields. In Kuar the first fruits of beans were ripened and in Kartik kutki became ripe.
In Aghan every crop was ready and in Pus winnowing took place. Pus was also the time for dances and marriages. In Magh shifts were made to new bewars and hunting-gathering was the main subsistence activity.
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. Let us see what these changes were.
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.
What happened to the shifting cultivators – The British were uncomfortable with groups who moved about and did not have a fixed home. They wanted tribalgroups 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. As you have seen (Chapter 2), the tenants were to pay rent to the landowner who in turn paid revenue to the state.
Forest laws and their impact – The life of tribal groups, as you have seen, was directly connected to the forest. So 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, practise jhum cultivation, collect fruits, or hunt animals. How were jhum cultivators to survive in such a situation? Many were therefore forced to move to other areas in search of work and livelihood.
Forest laws and their impact – The life of tribal groups, as you have seen, was directly connected to the forest. So 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, practise jhum cultivation, collect fruits, or hunt animals. How were jhum cultivators to survive in such a situation? Many were therefore forced to move to other areas in search of work and livelihood.
The problem with trade – During the nineteenth century, tribal groups found that traders and money- lenders 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.
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 at 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. The movement that Birsa led was one such movement.
Birsa Munda – Birsa was born 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. Forced by poverty, his father had to move from place to place looking for work. 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 said there would be a time when the ancestral right of the community would be restored. They saw themselves as the descendants of the original settlers of the region, fighting for their land (mulk ki larai), reminding people of the need to win back their kingdom.
Dikus – Outsiders or foreigners
Jhum Cultivation – In this type of cultivation, the cultivators clear off a patch of land, burn the vegetation and spread the ash from the firing, which contains potash to fertilise the soil. Then they prepare the soil for cultivation. They scatter the seeds on the field. Once the crop is ready they move to another land.
Fallow – A field left uncultivated for a while so that the soil recovers fertility.
Mahua – A flower that is eaten or used to make alcohol.
Bewar – It is a term used in Madhya Pradesh for shifting cultivation.
Sleeper – The horizontal planks of wood on which railway lines are laid.
