[Q-8] Describe in brief how different tribal groups are involved in different types of activities.
Answers
By the 19th century, tribal people in different parts of India were involved in a variety of activities.
Some Were Jhum Cultivators
Some tribes engaged in jhum (shifting) cultivation.
In this type of cultivation, small patch of land were cleared off trees. The cultivators then burnt the vegetation and spread ash from the firing (which contained potash) to fertilise the soil.
They used equipments like axe and hoe to prepare the soil for cultivation, but they did not plough the land to sow the seeds. Instead, they scattered the seeds on the field.
Once the crops were ready and harvested, they moved to another field.
Shifting cultivators were found in the hilly and forested tracts of north-east and central India.
Some Where Hunter-Gatherers
Some tribal groups earned their livelihood by hunting animals and gathering forest produce. They saw the forests as essential for their survival.
The Khonds were such a community living in the forests of Orissa. They ate fruits and roots collected from the forest, used many forest shrubs and herbs for medicinal purposes, and sold forest produce such as wood and honey in the local markets.
At times they also exchanged goods, getting what they needed in return for their valuable forest produce.
But a time came when supplies of forest produce shrank, and more and more tribal people left their forests and familiar ways of life to go in search of work and better lives.
Tribal groups needed to buy and sell in the village markets to get the goods that were not produced within their localities, and this led to an unhealthy dependence on traders and moneylenders.
Traders often bought forest produce from the tribals at cheap prices, but sold their goods to the tribals at very high prices. As a result, tribals often ended up taking high-interest loans from moneylenders.
So as far as the tribals were concerned, markets and commerce often meant exploitation, debt, and poverty.
Some Herded Animals
Many tribal groups such as the pastoralists lived by herding and rearing animals, moving around seasonally with their herds of cattle or sheep.
The Van Gujjars of the Punjab hills and the Labadis of Andhra Pradesh were cattle herders, the Gaddis of Kulu were shepherds, and the Bakarwals of Kashmir reared goats.
Some Took to Settled Cultivation
Many tribal groups preferred to settle down instead of moving from one place to another. They began to use the plough to farm the lands, and gradually got rights over the land they lived on.
British officials found settled tribal groups like the Khonds and Santhals to be more civilised than hunter gatherers or shifting cultivators, and those who lived in the forests were often considered to be wild and savage