8th CBSE Notes on Tribals, Dikus and The Vision Of a Golden Age

 

 Grade : VIII 

 HISTORY  CHAPTER : 2 

 Tribals, Dikus and The Vision Of a Golden Age 

Tribals And Dikus

31st October 2022

 Date : 31st October,  Day : Monday 

Que : Who are Anthropologists?

Answer :

The People who are an expert in the study of human societies and culture

Que : How are tribal societies different from our society? 

Answer : 

Tribal societies are different from our societies in the following ways.

1. They are self-sufficient as they produce enough to sustain themselves from forest.
2. They are interdependent communities.
3. They are very rare indulgence in the cash economy.
4. They are away from the particular geographic location.
5. They don't have any formal organisations.
6. They don't have proper script for their dialects.
7. A good feature is that there is no caste-based distinction in their societies.
8. The community holds the rights over the land, not individual like our societies.

Que : What are the various occupation or activities of the Tribals? 

Or 

What are the various ways by which the tribals sustained before the arrivals of British?

Answer :

1. Hunting and Gathering by the tribals like khonds and Baigas.
2. Herding and rearing animals by The Bakarwals of Kashmir, Lambadis of AP, Van Gujjars of Punjab and HP and Gaddis of Kulu.
3. Shifting cultivation by Khonds and Baigas
4.  Settled cultivation by the Mundas of Chotanagpur plateau, Gonds and Santhals of Jharkhand.

Que : How does shifting cultivation practiced ?

Answer :

1. The Tribals cleared plots of land in the forest by cutting trees and burning vegetation.
2. The Ash thus produced was used as manure for the fields
3. They used hoes to dig the soil thereby preparing for cultivation.
4. The seeds were then spread across the cleared patches using the broadcast method
5. Once the crops were harvested, they went in search of new patches of land.
6. A patch of land once used would be left fallow for several years to regain its fertility
7. In this way shifting cultivation practiced.
8. It is also known as Jhum Cultivation
   

1st November 2022

 Date : 1st November,  Day : Wednesday 

Que : Who were called as Dikus?

Answer :

All the outsiders were called as " Dikus " by tribals.

Eg : British, Traders, Money lenders etc

Que : How did the British deny tribals access to forests ?

Answer :

1. The British denied tribals the access to forests by declaring all forests as state property
2.  They classifying certain forests as reserved for the purpose of extracting timber

Que : How did tribals survive when forest produce become less?

Answer :

1. When the forest produce reduced, the tribals depended on hunting and gathering. 
2. They also took up odd jobs such as they carried loads, built roads and worked on agricultural fields.

Que: Mention the revolts by different tribal groups in the country against the British?

Answer :

1. The Kols rebelled at Chota Nagpur plateau in 1831-32, 
2. Santhals rose in revolt in 1855, 
3. The Revolt of Munda tribe by Birsa Munda in 1890s
4. Revolt of Songram Sangam in Assam in 1906
5. The Bastar Rebellion in central India broke out in 1910 
6. Forest satyagraha in central province in 1930s
7. The Warli Revolt in Maharashtra in 1940.

Que: How did traders and moneylenders exploit the tribal people?

Answer :

1. Tribal groups often needed to buy and sell in order to be able to get the goods that were not produced within the locality. 
2. This led to their dependence on traders and moneylenders. 
3. Traders came around with things for sale, and sold the goods at high prices.
4.  Moneylenders gave loans with which the tribals met their cash needs, adding to what they earned. 
5. But the interest charged on the loans was usually very high. 
6. So for the tribals, market and commerce often meant debt and poverty. 
7. They therefore came to see the moneylender and trader as evil outsiders and the cause of their misery.

Que: 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 was deeply influenced by many of the ideas he came in touch with in his growing-up years. 
2. His movement was aimed at reforming tribal society. 
3. He urged the Mundas to give up drinking liquor, clean their village, and stop believing in witchcraft and sorcery. 
4. Birsa urged his followers to recover their glorious past. 
5. He talked of a golden age in the past – a satyug (the age of truth)  
6. When Mundas lived a good life, constructed embankments, tapped natural springs, planted trees and orchards, practised cultivation to earn their living. 
7. They did not kill their brethren and relatives. 
8. They lived honestly. 
9. Birsa also wanted people to once again work on their land, settle down and cultivate their fields.

Such a vision appealed to the people of the region because they got fed up with British forest laws and the restrictions that were imposed on them.