CBSE Class 8 - History - Life in the rural areas (Q & A) (#eduvictors)(#cbsenotes)

Life in the Rural Areas (Q & A)

Q1: What was the situation in the villages before the advent of the British?

Answer:
⒈ When the British came to India, villages were self sufficient units.

⒉ Most of the things that the villagers needed,  were produced in the village itself.

⒊ The farmer owned the land he cultivated and could not be evicted.


Q2: Why did the English East India Company needed money? Why did the system of giving the revenue collection rights to the highest bidder fail?



Answer:
The company needed money:
- to purchase goods in India and export these goods,
- to run the administration
- to maintain army and
- to fund the numerous wars that they were fighting both in India and abroad.

But the system failed as bids were made for an amount more than the land could actually produce. So the company never got the willing ammount.


Q3: Why did the peasants borrow money from the money lenders?

Answer:
⒈ The companiy's revenue demands, failure of crops and costly social customs such as marriages and festivals often enforced the peasants to either sell part of the land or borrow money from the village moneylenders.

⒉ Since the peasants considered their land as their 'mother' they almost always refused to sell it.

⒊ So borrowing money from the moneylender was the only option left.


Q4: Why did Britain need Indigo? What caused Britain to encourage its cultivation in India?

Answer:
⒈ Britain needed Indigo to dye clothes.

⒉ Since the climate of Engalnd was not suitable for growing Indigo, it imported Indigo from other places particularly the West India and North America.

⒊ The collapse of Indigo plantation in these regions during the late eighteenth century forced Britain to look for supplies from other areas.

⒋ To meet the growing demand for indigo, Britain turned to India.


Q5: What were the main features of the permanent settlement?

Answer: Main features of the permanent settlement

⒈ The revenue to be collected from an area was fixed permanently with no scope of a revision later.

⒉ The local Zamindar were asked to collect revenue from the peasants.

⒊ Every year, he had to pay the fixed amount by certain date.

⒋ If he was able to collect more revenue from the land, he could keep the surplus amount.

⒌ But if he could not pay the stipulated amount, he would lose his zamindari rights.


Q6: What was Mahalwari system?

Answer: Mahalwari system

⒈ In these areas land was commonly owned by a group of villages called Mahal.

⒉ The task of collecting the revenue and paying it to the company was given to the headman of each Mahal.

⒊ The Mahalwari system was introduced in present day Western Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.


Q7: What was Ryotwari system?

Answer: Ryotwari system

⒈ Under this the company made a revenue directly with the 'ryot' or peasant.

⒉ The farmer was recognised as the owner of the land as he paid the land revenue.

⒊ The Ryotwari system was introduced in parts of Madras and the Bombay presidencies.


Q8: Discuss the impact of land revenue settlement on the peasants

Answer:
⒈ The land revenue settlements introduced by the company impoverished the peasants.

⒉ Land now became a saleable commodity which could be bought, sold and mortgaged.

⒊ The new revenue collection system created a classes zamindars, who were completely indifferent to the welfare of the farmers.



Q9: Why did the Indigo cultivators revolt in Bengal? Was their movement successful?

Answer:
⒈ Cultivating indigo was a labour intensive job.

⒉ The planters signed a contract with the cultivator that he would so only indigo.

⒊ Overtime, the price paid to the cultivator became less and less.

⒋ The Indigo cultivators suffered such an exploitative system.