State whether true or false: (a) Jhum cultivators plough the land and sow seeds. (b) Cocoons were bought from the Santhals and sold by the traders at five times the purchase price. (c) Birsa urged his followers to purify themselves, give up drinking liquor and stop believing in witchcraft and sorcery. (d) The British wanted to preserve the tribal way of life.

Question

Philoid · Accepted Answer

(a) (True)

Jhum cultivation is also known as the slash or burn agriculture where farmers clear the land by cutting the trees & vegetation and burning them thereafter. Burnt soil contains potash which increases the nutrient content of the soil. In the end farmers sow the seeds in that land.

(b) (True)

Hazaribagh was the area where Santhals reared cocoons. Traders bought those cocoons for ₨ 3 to ₨ 4 for a thousand cocoons and sold them on five times high prices in Burdwan or Gaya. The middlemen earned high profit where as the silk grower get very little.

(c) (True)

Birsa was born in a poor family and was influenced by the ideas of missionary school and Vaishnav preachers. So he started the movement to reform tribal society. He urged them to purify themselves, give up drinking liquor and stop believing in witchcraft and sorcery.

(d) (False)

The British never wanted to preserve the tribal way of life because they consider them as savages, wild nomads and shifting cultivators.