Army Public School, Mhow

SST Assessment

Submitted by:- Submitted to:-

Kritika ray Mr. Mayank prasad
8th-A
 LIVELIHOOD OF TRIBAL GROUPS
• SOME WERE JHUM CULTIVATORS (SHIFTING
CULTIVATOR)
Jhum cultivators are found 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.
This was done on small patches of land ,mostly in forest. 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 fertile 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.
• SOME WERE HUNTERS AND GATHERS
Some tribal groups were hunter and gathers they lived by hunting
animals and gathering forest produce. The khond were such a
community living in orissa. They went out and collective hunts and
then divided the meat amongst themselves. They ate fruits and roots
collected from forest and cooked food with the oil they extracted from
seeds of sal and mahua. Shrubs and herbs are used for medicine
purpose. Flowers of kusum and palash are used for colour clothes and
leather.
At other times they bought goods with the small amount of earing the
had, some of them did odds jobs in the villages, carring loads or
building roads, while other are farmers. Tribal groups often needed to
buy and sell in order to be able to get the goods that were not produced
within the locality. But the interest charged on the loans was usually
very high.
 • 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. Example –van Gujar's of
the Punjab, labadis of Andhra Pradesh were cattle herders,
gaddis of kulu were shepherds, bakarwals of kashmir reared
goats.

• SOME TOOK TO SETTLED CULTIVATION

Before the nineteenth century,many from within the tribal
groups had begun settling down.The mundas of chottangpur,
the land belonged to the clan as a whole.All members of the
clans were regarded as descendants of the original settlers,
who had first cleared the land. British officials saw settled
tribal groups like the gonds and santhals as more civilised
than hunter-gatherers or shifting cultivators.
SOME TRIBAL GROUPS
IN INDIA
• Gaddis van gujjars
• Bhotia
• Saharia
• Bhil
• Van gujjars Rathwa
• Banjara
• Koya banjara gonds
• Mala irular
• Biagas banjara gonds
• Baigas maria gonds
• Santhai munda oraon santhal
• Hajang
• Khasi
• Naga
• Apatani nishi
• Riang
 COLONIAL RULE AND IT’S AFFECT ON TRIBAL
LIVES
• 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. 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 official india. They also had to
pay tribute to the british, and discipline 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 tribal groups to settle down
and become peasant cultivators. Settled
peasants were easier to control and
administration than people who were always
move. The british also wanted a regular
revenue source for the state.
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 .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
Tribal groups are directly connected to the forests. 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. But once the british
stopped the tribal people from living inside forests, they faced a
problems. Colonial officials came up with a solution. They
decided that they would give jhum cultivators small patches of
lands 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 new rules, continued with practices that were
declared illegal.
• THE PROBLEM WITH TRADE
Tribal groups found that traders and money lenders
were coming into the forests more often ,wanted to
buy forest produce, offering cash loans, and asking
them for wages.
The growers were paid rs 3to rs 4 for a thousand
cocoons. These were then exported to buedwan 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 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.
 BIRSA MUNDA
Birsa munda was born in mid of -1870s .The son of 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 uprising 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. Mundas to attain the kingdom of heaven, and regain their lost rights. Later birsa also spent some
time in the company of a prominent vaishnav preacher. Birsa was deeply influenced by many of the ideas he came in
touch with in his growing-up years. His movement was aimed at reforming tribal society. He urged the mundas to give
up drinking liquor, clean their village, and stop believing in witchcraft and sorcery. But we must remember that birsa
also turned against missionaries and hindu landlords. He saw them as outside forces that were ruining the munda way
He talked of a golden age in the past- a satyug (the age of truth) — when mundas lived a good life,
constructed embankments, tapped natural springs, planted trees and orchards, practised cultivation to
earn their living. They did not kill their brethren and relatives. They lived honestly. Birsa also wanted
people to once again work on their land, settle down and cultivate their fields.
The land policies of the british were destroying their traditional land system, hindu landlords and
moneylenders were taking over their land, and missionaries were criticising their traditional culture. As
the movement spread the british officials decided to act. They arrested birsa in 1895, convicted him on
charges of roting and jailed him for two years.
Birsa was released in 1897 he began touring the villages to gather support .He used traditional symbols
and language to rouse people, urging them to destroy “ravana” (dikus and the europeans) and establish a
kingdom under his leadership. They attacked police stations an churches ,and raised the white flag as a
symbol of birsa raj.In 1900 birsa died of cholera and the movement faded out. The movement was
significant in at last two ways. It forced the colonial government to introduce laws so that the land of the
tribals 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. They did this in
their own specific way, inventing their own rituals and symbols of struggle.
THANK YOU