How was the cultivation traditionally practised by tribal groups carried out?

Why did the tribals agitate under British rule?

Why did the British introduce land settlement in the tribes? What was the net result of this?

What problems did the British face when they enacted the forest laws? How did they overcome these problems?

How were the traders and moneylenders the major cause of the tribals' misery?

Have you ever noticed that people living in different types of societies do not share the same notion of work and time? The lives of the shifting cultivators and hunters in different regions were regulated by a calendar and division of tasks for men and women. Verrier Elwin, a British anthropologist who lived among the Baigas and Khonds of central India for many years in the 1930s and 1940s, gives us a picture of what this calendar and division of tasks was like. He writes: In Chait, women went to clearings to ... cut stalks that were already reaped; men cut large trees and go for their ritual hunt. The hunt began at full moon from the east. Traps of bamboo were used for hunting. The women gathered fruits like sago, tamarind, and mushroom. Baiga women can only gather roots or Kanda and mahua seeds. Of all the adivasis in Central India, the Baigas were known as the best hunters ... In Baisakh the firing of the forest took place, the women gathered unburnt wood to burn. Men continued to hunt, but nearer their villages. In Jeth sowing took place and hunting still went on. From Asadh to Bhadon the men worked in the fields. In Kuar the first fruits of beans were ripened and in Kartik kutki became ripe. In Aghan every crop was ready and in Pus winnowing took place. Pus was also the time for dances and marriages. In Magh, shifts were made to new bewars and hunting-gathering was the main subsistence activity. The cycle described above took place in the first year. In the second year, there was more time for hunting as only a few crops had to be sown and harvested. But since there was enough food the men lived in the bewars. It was only in the third year that the diet had to be supplemented with the forest products. Adapted from Verrier Elwin, Baiga(1939) and Elwin's unpublished 'Notes on the Khonds' (Verrier Elwin Papers, Nehru Memorial Museum, and Library). look carefully at the tasks that Baiga men and women did. Do you see any pattern? What were the differences in the types of work that they were expected to perform?

"In this land of the English how hard it is to live"
In the1930s Verrier Elwin visited the land of the Baigas - a tribal group in central India. He wanted to know about them - their customs and practices, their art and folklore. He recorded many songs that lamented the hard time the Baigas were having under British rule.
In this land of the English how hard it is to live. How hard it is to live. In the village sits the landlord. In the gate sits the Kotwar. In the garden sits the Patwari. In the field sits the government. In this land of the English how hard it is to live. To pay cattle tax we have to sell cow. To pay forest tax we have to sell buffalo. To pay land tax we have to sell bullock. How are we to get our food? who are the Baigas and what was their main occupation? Why did they find it difficult to live under the British?

'Blood trickles from my shoulders'  The songs the Mundas sang bemoaned their misery. Alas! under [the drudgery of] forced labour Blood trickles from my shoulders Day and night the emissary from the zamindars, Annoys and irritates me, day I and night I groan Alas! This is my condition I do not have a home, where shall I get happiness Alas! The song depicts the grievances of the Mundas. Who were the Mundas and what was the aim of their movement?

A picture of a Santhal girl carrying firewood is shown. What was the occupation of the Santhals? Why were the Santhals unhappy under the British Raj?

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.