Additional - Question:
Que: How did the castes of entertainers earn their livelihood?
Ans: They earned their livelihood by performing in different towns and villages.
Que: Which tribe was very influential in Punjab during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries?
Ans: The Khokhar tribe was very influential in Punjab during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
Que: Name the tribe which was powerful in the north-west.
Ans: Balochis
Que: Name any two tribes which lived in the extreme South
Ans: Vetars and Matravers.
Que: Who were specialised artisans?
Ans: Smiths, carpenters, and masons were specialised artisans
Que: Who controlled Garh?
Ans: A Gond clan usually controlled the Garh
Que: What made the Brahmanas more influential in the Gond Society?
Ans: The Gond raja began to grant land to the Brahmanas. This made them influential.
Que: Who was Aman Das?
Ans: He was the Gond raja of Garha Katanga.
Que: Who was Durgaivaii?
Ans: She was the daughter of Salbahan, the Chandel Rajput raja of Mahoba. She got married to Dalpat, the son of the Gond raja Aman Das.
Que: When did the Mughal forces attack Garha Katanga?
Ans: The Mughal forces attacked Garha Katangst in 1565.
Que: What made Garha Katanga a rich state?
Ans: Garha Katanga earned huge wealth by trapping and exporting wild elephants to other kingdoms. This made it a rich state.
Que: Name the items which the Mughals captured by defeating the Goods.
Ans: Precious coins and elephants.
Que: Who introduced new methods of rice cultivation? ‘
Ans: The Ahoms introduced new methods of rice cultivation.
Que: When did the Mughals attack the Ahom kingdom?
Ans: The Mughals attacked the Ahom kingdom in 1662.
Que: What do present-day historians use to write tribal histories?
Ans: They use oral traditions and rich customs of the tribal people to write their (tribals’) histories.
Que: Mention some special features of tribal societies.
Ans: Some special features of tribal societies are :
- They did not follow the social rules and rituals which the Brahmanas prescribed.
- They were not divided into many unequal classes.
- Members of the society were united by kinship bonds.
Que: How did the tribal people earn their livelihood?
Ans: The main occupation of the tribal people was agriculture. But there were also 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 moving from one place to another.
A tribal group controlled land and pastures jointly and divided these amongst household as per its own rules
Que: Write a short note on Bcuyaras’.
Ans: The Banjaras were important trader nomads. They usually moved in caravan known as tanda. A tanda contained as many as 6 or 7 hundred persons. They carried their wives and children along with them. They owned their oxen. They bought grain where it was cheaply available and carried it to places where it was dearer. From there, they again reloaded their oxen with anything that could be profitably sold in other places. The Banjaras did not travel more than 6 or 7 miles a day. They preferred cool weather. After unloading their oxen, they freed them to graze.
Que: How did Sultan Alauddin Khalji and the Mughals use the Bcuyaras?
Ans: Sultan Alauddin Khalji used the Banjaras to transport grain to the city markets. Under the Mughals 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
Que: Write a brief note on the administrative system of the Gond kingdom.
Ans: The Gond 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.
Que: Write in brief about Rani Durgawatl.
Ans: Rani Durgawati was married to Dalpat, the son of the Gond raja of Garha Katanga, Aman Das. Dalpat, however, died early. After his death, Rani Durgawati, being very capable, began to rule on behalf of her five-year-old son, Bir Narain. She extended her kingdom veiy soon. In 1565, when the Mughal forces under Asaf Khan attacked Garha Katanga, she put up a strong resistance. Finally, she was defeated. But she did not surrender, Instead she preferred to die.
Que: Who were the Ahoms? How did they build a large state?
Ans: The Ahoms were the tribal people who migrated to the Brahmputra valley from present-day Myanmar in the 13th century. They created a new state by suppressing the older political system of the bhuiyans i.e. landlords. During the 16th century, they annexed the kingdoms of the Chhutiyas in 1523 and of Koch- Hajo in 1581. They also subjugated many other tribes. In this way, the Ahoms built a large state and for this they used firearms as early as 1530s.
Que: Give a brief account of the tribal people found in different parts of the subcontinent?
Ans: Tribal people were found in almost every region of the sub-continent. In Punjab, the Khokhar tribe was influential during the 13th and 14th centuries. Later, the Gakkhars became more important. In Multan and Sind, the Langahs and Arghuns dominated extensive regions. The Balochis were another large and powerful tribe in the north-west. In the western Himalayas, the Gaddi Shepherds lived. The Nagas, Ahoms and many others lived in the distant north-eastern part of the subcontinent. In many areas of present-day Bihar and Jharkhand, Chero Chiefdoms had emerged by the 12th century.
However, they were subdued by the Mughals. The Mundas and Santals were other important tribes that lived in these states and also in Orissa and Bengal. The Kolis, Berads and numerous others lived in the Maharashtra highlands, Karnataka and Gujarat. Further there were large tribal populations of Koragas, Vetars, Maravars and many others in South. The Bhils were spread across western and central India. By the late 16th century many of them had become settled agriculturists and some even zamindars. Many Bhil clans, nevertheless, remained hunter-gatherers. The Gonds were found in large numbers across the present-day states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
Que: What do you know about the Ahom Society?
Ans: Ahom society was divided into clans or Khels. There were very few castes of artisans, so artisans in the Ahom areas came from the nearby kingdoms. Kheloften 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. The Ahoms worshipped their own tribal gods. But during the first half of the 17 century Brahmanas achieved great influence which gave rise to Hinduism.
In the reign of Sib Singh Hinduism became a predominant religion. However, the Ahom kings remained stick to their traditional beliefs to some extent even after adopting Hinduism. Ahom society was very sophisticated. Poets and scholars were given land grants. Theatre was encouraged
Que: How did the nomadic pastoralists earn their living?
Ans: Nomadic pastoralists kept on moving from place to place with their animals. They lived on milk and other pastoral products. They also exchanged items like 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. The Banjaras were trader-nomads who bought grain where it was cheaply available and carried it to places where it was dearer.
From there, they again reloaded their oxen with anything that could be profitably sold in other places. Thus, they played an important role in connecting India to the outside world. Many pastoral tribes reared and sold animals, such as cattle and horses, to the wealthy people. Different castes of petty pedlars travelled from village to village. They made and sold wares like ropes, reeds, etc. Sometimes mendicants acted as wandering merchants. There were also castes of entertainers who earned their living by performing in different towns and villages.
