Chapter 7 - Tribes, Nomads and Settled Communities
Q & A
Answer: In large parts of the subcontinent, society was divided according to the rules of Varna. These rules, as prescribed by the Brahmanas, were accepted by the rulers of large kingdoms. The difference between the high and low, and between the rich and poor, increased. Under the Delhi Sultans and the Mughals, this hierarchy between social classes grew further.
Q2: Who were tribals?
Answer: Many societies in the subcontinent did not follow the social rules and rituals prescribed by the Brahmanas. Nor were they divided into numerous unequal classes. Such societies are often called tribes. People of these tribes were called the tribals.
Q3: Fill in the blanks
1. In Punjab, the ________ tribe was very influential during the 13th and 14th century.
2. The ________ was a large and powerful tribe in the northwest.
3. ______ and _______ were the two tribe of northeast.
4. ______ and _______ were the two tribes of Maharashtra.
Answer:
1. In Punjab, the Khokhar tribe was very influential during the 13th and 14th century.
2. The Balochis was a large and powerful tribe in the northwest.
3. Nagas and Ahoms were the two tribes of the northeast.
4. Kolis and Berads were the two tribes of Maharashtra.
Q4: Write a short note on the tribal people.
Answer:
- Members of each tribe were united by kinship bonds.
- Many tribes obtained their livelihood from agriculture. Others were hunter-gatherers or herders. Most often they combined these activities to make full use of the natural resources of the area in which they lived.
- Some tribes were nomadic and moved from one place to another.
- Many large tribes thrived in different parts of the subcontinent. They usually lived in forests, hills, deserts and places difficult to reach. In various ways, the tribes retained their freedom and preserved their separate culture.
Q5(MCQ): In which century The Ahoms migrated to the Brahmaputra valley from Myanmar?
(b) 13th century
(c) 14th century
(d) 15th century
Answer: (b) 13th century
Q6: How did the Tribes preserve their cultures?
Answer: The tribal people did not keep written records. But they preserved rich customs and oral traditions. These were passed down to each new generation. Present day historians have started using such oral traditions to write tribal histories.
Q7: What was the relationship between caste-based society and tribal society?
Answer: Sometimes the tribal societies clashed with the more powerful caste-based societies. But the caste-based and tribal societies also depended on each other for their diverse needs. This relationship, of conflict and dependence, gradually caused both societies to change. Sometimes, with the support of the Brahmanas, many tribes became part of the caste system. But only the leading tribal families could join the ruling class. A large majority joined the lower jatis of caste society.
Q8: What is a clan?
Answer: A clan is a group of families or households claiming descent from a common ancestor. Tribal organisation is often based on kinship or clan loyalties.
Q9: Name the clan defeated by Raja Man Singh?
Answer: Cheroes in the twelfth century.
Q10: Who were Bhils?
Answer: The large tribe of Bhils was spread across western and central India. By the late sixteenth century, many of them had become settled agriculturists and some even zamindars. Many Bhil clans nevertheless, remained hunter-gatherers.
Q11: Who were nomadic pastoralists?
Answer: Nomadic pastoralists were the people who moved over long distances with their animals.
They lived on milk and other pastoral products. They also exchanged wool, ghee, etc., with settled agriculturists for grain, cloth, utensils and other products. They bought and sold these goods as they moved from one place to another, transporting them on their animals.
Q12: Name some of the occupations of the nomads.
Answer:
Q8: What is a clan?
Answer: A clan is a group of families or households claiming descent from a common ancestor. Tribal organisation is often based on kinship or clan loyalties.
Q9: Name the clan defeated by Raja Man Singh?
Answer: Cheroes in the twelfth century.
Q10: Who were Bhils?
Answer: The large tribe of Bhils was spread across western and central India. By the late sixteenth century, many of them had become settled agriculturists and some even zamindars. Many Bhil clans nevertheless, remained hunter-gatherers.
Q11: Who were nomadic pastoralists?
Answer: Nomadic pastoralists were the people who moved over long distances with their animals.
They lived on milk and other pastoral products. They also exchanged wool, ghee, etc., with settled agriculturists for grain, cloth, utensils and other products. They bought and sold these goods as they moved from one place to another, transporting them on their animals.
Q12: Name some of the occupations of the nomads.
Answer:
- Many pastoral tribes reared and sold animals, such as cattle and horses, to the prosperous people.
- Different castes of petty pedlars also travelled from village to village. They made and sold wares such as ropes, reeds, straw matting and coarse sacks.
- Sometimes mendicants acted as wandering merchants. There were castes of entertainers who performed in different towns and villages for their livelihood.
Q13: Name the kingdom, mentioned in Akbarnama, had 70,000 villages.
Answer: The Akbar Nama, a history of Akbar’s reign, mentions the Gond kingdom of Garha Katanga
that had 70,000 villages.
Q14: What was Tanda?
Answer: The Banjaras were the most important trader nomads. Their caravan was called tanda.
Q15: How were banjaras useful to different emperors and kings?
Answer: Sultan Alauddin Khalji used the Banjaras to transport grain to the city markets. Emperor Jahangir wrote in his memoirs that the Banjaras carried grain on their bullocks from different areas and sold it in towns. They transported food grain for the Mughal army during military campaigns.
Q16: What were jatis?
Answer: As the economy and the needs of society grew, people with new skills were required. Smaller castes, or jatis, emerged within varnas. On the other hand, many tribes and social groups were taken into caste-based society and given the status of jatis. Specialised artisans – smiths, carpenters and masons – were also recognised as separate jatis by the Brahmanas. Jatis, rather than varna, became the basis for organising society.
Q17: What is shifting cultivation?
Answer: Trees and bushes in a forest area are first cut and burnt. The crop is sown in the ashes. When this land loses its fertility, another plot of land is cleared and planted in the same way.
Q18: Who were Gonds? What was the system of administration of the Gond society?
Answer: The Gonds lived in a vast forested region called Gondwana. They practised shifting cultivation. The large Gond tribe was further divided into many smaller clans. Each clan had its own raja or rai. The administrative system of Gond kingdoms was becoming centralised. The kingdom was divided into garhs. Each garh was controlled by a particular Gond clan. This was further divided into units of 84 villages called chaurasi. The chaurasi was subdivided into barhots which were
made up of 12 villages each.
Q19: With the passage of time what changes were introduced in the Gond society?
Answer: The emergence of large states changed the nature of Gond society. Their basically equal society gradually got divided into unequal social classes. Brahmanas received land grants from the Gond rajas and became more influential. The Gond chiefs now wished to be recognised as Rajputs.
Q20: Who were Ahoms?
Answer: The Ahoms migrated to the Brahmaputra valley from present-day Myanmar in the thirteenth century. They created a new state by suppressing the older political system of the bhuiyans (landlords). The Ahoms built a large state, and for this, they used firearms as early as the 1530s. By the 1660s they could even make high-quality gunpowder and cannons.
Q21: Who were paiks?
Answer: Ahom state depended on forced labour. Those forced to work for the state were called paiks. A census of the population was taken. Each village had to send a number of paiks by rotation.
Q22: How did the Ahom clans break up?
Answer: People from heavily populated areas were shifted to less populated places. Ahom clans were thus broken up.
Q23: What were the different kinds of work that the members of the Ahom society did?
Answer: Almost all adult males served in the army during the war. At other times, they were engaged in building dams, irrigation systems and other public works. The Ahoms also introduced new methods of rice cultivation.
Q24: How was the Ahom society organized?
Answer: Ahom society was divided into clans or khels. There were very few castes of artisans, so artisans in the Ahom areas came from the adjoining kingdoms. A Khel often controlled several villages. The peasant was given land by his village community. Even the king could not take it away without the community’s consent. Originally, the Ahoms worshipped their own tribal gods. During the first half of the seventeenth century, however, the influence of Brahmanas increased. Temples and Brahmanas were granted land by the king. Hinduism became the predominant religion. But the Ahom kings did not completely give up their traditional beliefs after adopting Hinduism. Poets and scholars were given land grants. Theatre was encouraged. Important works of Sanskrit were translated into the local language.
☛See also:
Ch 1 (Our Pasts -2) Tracing Changes Through Thousand Years
Ch 1 (Our Pasts -2) Tracing Changes Through Thousand Years
Ch 2 (Our Pasts -2) New kings and Kingdoms
Ch 2 (Our Pasts -2) New Kings and Kingdoms (Quiz)
Ch 3 (Our Pasts -2) The Delhi Sultans
Ch 4 (Our Pasts -2) Mughal Empire
Ch 5 (Our Pasts -2) Rulers And Buildings (Q & A)
Ch 6 (Our Pasts -2) - Towns, Traders and CraftsPersons (Q & A)
Ch 7 (Our Pasts-2) - Tribes, Nomads and Settled Communities (Q & A)
Ch 9 (Our Pasts -2) The Making of Regional Cultures (Q & A)
Ch 10 (Our Pasts -2) Eighteenth-Century Political Formations
