NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 4 Tribals, Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age

Question 1.
Fill in the blanks:

1. The British described the tribal people as savage/uncivilized
2. The method of sowing seeds in jhum cultivation is known as scattering
3. The tribal chiefs got land titles in central India under the British land settlements.
4. Tribals went to work in the tea plantations of Assam and the coalmines in Bihar.

Question 2.
State whether True or False:

1. Jhum cultivators plow the land and sow seeds. False
2. Cocoons were bought from the Santhals and sold by the traders at five times the purchase price. True
3. Birsa urged his followers to purify themselves, give up drinking liquor and stop believing in witchcraft and sorcery True
4. The British wanted to preserve the tribal way of life. False

Question 3.
What problems did shifting cultivators face under British rule?
Answer:

• The jhum cultivators who took to Plough cultivation as per the British model often suffered.
• The fields did not produce good yields. Still, they had to pay revenue fixed by the British.
• Finally, they had to protest this new method. They wanted to shift back to the jhum cultivation.

Question 4.
How did the powers of tribal chiefs change under colonial rule?
Answer:
The tribal chiefs were important people. They enjoyed a certain amount of economic power and had the right to administer and control their territories. Under British rule, the functions and powers of these tribal chiefs changed to a great extent:

1. They were allowed to keep their land titles over a cluster of villages and rent outlands, but they lost much of their administrative power and were forced to follow laws made by British officials in India.
2. They had to pay tribute to the British and discipline the tribal groups on behalf of the British.
3. They lost the authority they had earlier enjoyed amongst their people and were unable to fulfill their traditional functions.

Question 5.
What accounts for the anger of the tribals against the dikus?
Answer:
Missionaries, moneylenders, Hindu landlords, and British officials were considered dikus or outsiders. They caused anger among the tribals because:

1. They were considered the cause of the misery and suffering of the tribal people.
2. The land policies of the British were destroying their traditional land system.
3. Hindu landlords and moneylenders were taking over their land.
4. The missionaries were criticizing their traditional culture.

Question 6.
What was Birsa’s vision of a golden age? Why do you think such a vision appealed to the people of the region?
Answer:
Birsa’s Vision of the Golden Age

1. Birsa was deeply influenced by many of the ideas he came in touch with.
2. His movement was aimed at reforming tribal society.
3. He urged the Mundas to give up drinking liquor, clean their villages, and stop believing in witchcraft and sorcery.
4. Birsa also turned against missionaries and Hindu landlords as he saw them as outside forces that were ruining the Munda way of life.
5. In 1895 Birsa urged Just followers to recover their glorious past.
6. He talked of a golden age in the past a satyug (the age of truth)—when Mundas lived a good life,
   • They constructed embankments.
   • They tapped natural springs.
   • They planted trees and orchards.
   • They practiced cultivation to earn their living.
   • They did not kill their brethren and relatives.
   • They lived honestly.
7. Birsa also wanted people to once again work on their land, settle down and cultivate their fields.
8. The political aim of the Birsa movement made the British worried.
9. He also wanted the government to set up a Munda Raj with Birsa at its head.
10. The movement identified all these forces as the cause of misery and suffering.

Question 7.
Find out from your parents, friends, or teachers, the names of some heroes of other tribal revolts in the twentieth century. Write their story in your own words.
Answer:
It is an activity to consult the library and writes the story of other tribal leaders.
Name of some tribal heroes

Question 8.
Choose any tribal group living in India today. Find out about their customs and way of life, and how their lives have changed in the last 50 years.
Answer:
The Santhals
A tribal group of Jharkhand. Now collect information from the library of your school or the internet and write their ways of life and changes that occurred during the last 50 years.

Objective type questions

1. Match the following:

Answer:
(i)   c
(ii)  e
(iii) f
(iv) d
(v)  a
(vi) b

2. State whether True or False:

1. Birsa himself declared that God had appointed him to rule his people. True
2. The British described the tribal people as False
3. Birsa was born in a family of Santhal. False
4. Bakkarwalas of Kashmir are shepherds False
5. Birsa was arrested in 1895. True
6. Birsa, died in 1900. True

3. Fill in the blanks:

1. Birsa wanted to set up a Munda Raj
2. The British made effort to settle Jhum cultivators.
3. All members of the Clan were regarded as descendants of the original settler.
4. Cocoons were bought from the Santhals and sold by the traders at five times the purchase price.

 Multiple Choice Questions

Choose the correct answer:

1. The local weavers and leather workers turned to ……. for supplies of Kusum and Palash flowers.
(a) Santhals
(b) Mundas
(c) Khonds   
(d) Labadis

2. The Bastar Rebellion in Central India broke out in
(a) 1900
(b) 1910
(c) 1920
(d) 1940

3. Which revolt was popular in Maharashtra in 1940?
(a) The Cols
(b) The Bastar
(c) The Warli
(d) Birsa movement

4. The Khonds lived in
(a) Karnataka
(b) Madhya Pradesh
(e) Bihar
(d) Odisha

5. What type of lives did the herders live?
(a) Sophisticated
(b) Settled
(c) Nomadic
(d) None of these

6. ….. tribe practiced settled agriculture.
(a) Khonds
(b) Santhals
(c) Labadis of Andhra Pradesh
(d) Mundas of Chottanagpur Plateau

7. Jhum cultivation is practiced these days in
(a) eastern states of India
(b) western states of India
(c) northern states of India
(d) southern states of India

8. Santhals tribe rose in revolt in the year
(a) 1900
(b) 1855
(c) 120
(d) 1930

9. In many regions the Forest Department set up forest villages to ensure
(a) a regular supply of cheap labour
(b) a regular supply of forest produce
(c) a regular supply of agricultural produce
(d) none of the above

10. The revolt of Sonogram Sangma rose in the year 1906 in
(a) Bengal
(b) Madhya Pradesh
(c) Assam
(d) Odisha

11. The forest Satvagraha rose in the central provinces in
(a) 1910
(b) 1920
(c) 1930
(d) 1940

12. Birsa spent time in the company of …….. preachers.
(a) Buddha
(b) Vaishnav
(c) Sikhs
(d) None of these