CLASS VIII HISTORY CHAPTER 4 TRIBALS DIKUS AND

CLASS VIII HISTORY CHAPTER 4 TRIBALS, DIKUS AND THE VISION OF A MODULE 1 AGE /2 GOLDEN

WHO ARE TRIBALS/WHO ARE TRIBES? • The Tribal societies in India have different customs and rituals they differ from those laid down by the Brahmans. • The tribal societies did not have sharp social divisions of "upper" and "lower" castes, Unlike the caste-driven societies of the people in towns and villages. • Those belonging to the same tribes share common ties of kinship, but this did not mean that there were no social and economic difference within those tribes.

LIVELIHOOD OF THE TRIBALS Tribal people in different parts of India by the 19 th century were involved in a variety of activities. • • Jhum Cultivation or Shifting Cultivation Hunting animals and gathering forest produce Herding and rearing Animals Settled Cultivation

JHUM CULTIVATORS • Some of the tribes engaged in Jhum (shifting) cultivation. • In Jhum cultivation, small patch of land were cleared off trees. The cultivators then burnt the vegetation and spread ash from the firing (which contained potash) to fertilise the soil. • Equipments like axe and hoe were used to prepare the soil for cultivation, but they did not plough the land to sow the seeds. Instead, they scattered the seeds on the field. • After completion of harvesting, they moved to another field. • Jhum Cultivators were found in the hilly and forested tracts of north-east and central India

BHIL WOMEN CULTIVATING IN A FOREST IN GUJARAT SHIFTING CULTIVATION CONTINUES IN MANY FOREST AREAS OF GUJARAT. YOU CAN SEE THAT TREES HAVE BEEN CUT AND LAND CLEARED TO CREATE PATCHES FOR CULTIVATION

HUNTER-GATHERERS • Some tribal groups earned their livelihood by hunting animals and gathering forest produce. They saw the forests as essential for their survival. • The Khonds were such a community living in the forests of Orissa. They ate fruits and roots collected from the forest, used many forest shrubs and herbs for medicinal purposes, and sold forest produce such as wood and honey in the local markets. • The Khonds also supplied Kusum and Palash flowers to weavers and leather workers to colour clothes and leather.

• At times they exchanged goods –getting what they needed in return for their valuable forest produce. • Some tribal groups did odd jobs in the villages. • Some of them wander around in search of work. • But Baigas of central India reluctant to do work for others.

• Tribal groups need to depend on traders and money lenders. • Traders sold their goods at high prices to the tribal people. • Money lenders gave loans but collected high interest because of this the Tribals were pushed in to debt and poverty. • They therefore came to see money lenders and traders as their enemies.

WOMEN OF THE DONGRIA KANDHA TRIBE IN ORISSA WADE THROUGH THE RIVER ON THE WAY TO THE MARKET

DONGRIA KANDHA WOMEN IN ORISSA TAKE HOME PANDANUS LEAVES FROM THE FOREST TO MAKE PLATES

PASTORALISTS/ANIMAL HERDERS • Many tribal groups such as the pastoralists lived by herding and rearing animals, moving around seasonally with their herds of cattle or sheep. v v The The Van Gujjars of Punjab hills Lambadis of Andhra Pradesh Gaddis of Kulu Bakarwals of Kashmir

SETTLED CULTIVATION • Many tribal groups preferred to settle down instead of moving from one place to another. They began to use the plough to farm the lands, and gradually got rights over the land they lived on. • In many cases , like the Mundas of Chottanagpur, the land belonged to the clans. • British officials found settled tribal groups like the Gonds and Santhals to be more civilised than hunter gatherers or shifting cultivators, and those who lived in the forests were often considered to be wild and savage.

A SANTHAL GIRL CARRYING FIREWOOD, BIHAR, 1946 CHILDREN GO WITH THEIR MOTHERS TO THE FOREST TO GATHER FOREST PRODUCE.

HOW DID THE COLONIAL RULE AFFECT LIVES OF THE TRIBALS The British Rule affected two groups of people in the tribal society. 1. TRIBAL CHIEF 2. THE SHIFTING CULTIVATORS

THE TRIBAL CHIEFS LOST AUTHORITY AMONG THEIR OWN PEOPLE • The tribal groups were considered important people, because it is they who controlled their territories. Under the British rule they lose their administrative power and were forced to follow law made by British officials in India. • Tribal chiefs were important people; they had some money and the right to manage their lands and people, but under the British rule, they lost much of their powers and were asked to discipline their tribe on behalf of the British government. • This subjugation meant that the tribal chiefs lost the authority among their people, and gradually also the will to fulfil their traditional functions.

THE PLIGHT OF THE SHIFTING CULTIVATORS • The British wanted tribal groups to settle down and become peasant cultivators, because as settled peasants they were easier to control and administer. • 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 the farmer had to pay to the state.

THE PLIGHT OF THE SHIFTING CULTIVATORS • The British effort to settle Jhum cultivators was not very successful. • The Jhum cultivators who took to plough cultivation often suffered, because their fields did not produce good yields. • At last the British had to allow them the right to carry on shifting cultivation.