Tribes, Nomads and Settled Communities

Q1. Match the following :

Ans:

Q2. Fill in the blanks:

Ans:

(a) The new castes emerging within varnas were called jatis.

(b) Buranjis were historical works written by the Ahoms.

(c) The Akbar Nama mentions that Garha Katanga had 70,000 villages.

(d) As tribal states became bigger and stronger, they gave land grants to poets and scholars.

Q3. State whether true or false.

Ans:

(a) Tribal societies had rich oral traditions. - True

(b) There were no tribal communities in the north-western part of the subcontinent. - False

(c) The Chaurasi in Gond states contained several cities. - False

(d) The Bhils lived in the north-eastern part of the sub-continent. - False

Q4. What kinds of exchanges took place between nomadic pastoralists and settled agriculturists?

Ans:

1. Nomadic pastoralists gave wool, ghee etc.
2. Settled agriculturalists gave the nomadic pastoralists grains, cloth, utensils and other products.

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Q5. How was the administration of the Ahom state-organized?

Ans:

The administration of Ahoms was as follows:

1. The Ahom state depended upon forced labourers called paiks.
2. A census of the population was taken. 
3. Each village had to send a number of paiks by rotation.
4. People from heavily populated areas were shifted to less populated places. Thus, Ahom clans were broken up.
5. By the first half of the seventeenth century, the administration became quite centralized.

Q6. What changes took place in varna-based society?

Ans: 

The following changes took place in varna-based society:

1. Smaller castes or jatis emerged within varnas.
2. On the other hand, many tribes and social groups were taken into caste-based society and given the status of jatis.
3. Specialized artisans such as smiths, carpenters and masons were also recognized as separate jatis by the Brahmanas.
4. Among the Kshatriyas, new Rajput clans became powerful.
5. 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.
6. Many dominant tribes of Punjab, Sind and the North-West Frontier had adopted other religions. They continued to reject the caste-system

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Q7. How did tribal societies change after being organized into a state?

Ans:

The following changes took place in the tribal societies after being organized into a state:

1. The emergence of large states changed the nature of tribal society.
2. Equal society gradually got divided into unequal social classes.
3. Brahmanas received land grants from the Gond rajas. They became more influential.
4. The Gond chiefs now wished to be recognized as Rajputs.
5. Aman Das, the Gond raja of Garha Katanga, assumed the title of Sangram Shah.
6. His son, Dalpat, married princess Durgawati who was the daughter of Salbahan, the Chandel Rajput raja of Mahoba.

8. Were the Banjaras important for the economy?

Ans:

1. The Banjaras were very important for the economy.
2. They were trader-nomads and controlled trade and commerce.
3. They played an important role in transporting grain to the city markets.
4. They usually bought grain where it was cheaply available and carried it to places where it was dearer.
5. From there, they again reloaded their oxen with anything that could be profitably sold in other places.

9. In what ways was the history of the Gonds different from that of the Ahoms? Were there any similarities?

Ans:

The history of the Gonds was different from that of the Ahoms in the following ways:

The similarity is that both were tribes:

1. The Mughals tried to control the lands of both at different points of time.
2. There were changes in society of both due to the diversification of occupations.

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