Important Questions for Class 12 History Chapter 10 Colonialism and the Countryside (Exploring Official Archives)

Important Questions for Class 12 History Chapter 10 Colonialism and the Countryside (Exploring Official Archives)

Important Questions for Class 12 History Chapter 10 – 2 Marks Questions

Question 1.
Why was the permanent settlement of land revenue rarely extended to any region beyond Bengal? Give two reasons. (HOTS; All India 2009)
Answer:
The permanent settlement of land revenue Am. rarely extended to any region beyond Bengal because:

1. After 1810, the cost of agricultural products were increased. Due to this, the income of the landlords in Bengal were increased but there was no growth in the income of the East India Company Thus, the colonial government wanted to maximise its land revenue by introducing temporary revenue settlements instead of permanent settlements.

2. When British officials devised permanent settlements, they were influenced by the economic theories at that time. By the 1820s, famous economist David Ricardo came with his new theory which said that the state needed to tax the surplus agricultural produce to enhance its revenue. So the British officials thought that permanent settlement is ’ not a proper method to collect tax.
Therefore, the colonial government wanted to maximise its land revenue by introducing temporary revenue settlements instead of permanent settlement.

Important Questions for Class 12 History Chapter 10 – 4 Marks Questions

“The ryots came to see the moneylenders as devious and deceitful”. Justify the statement in the context of Ryotwari System in India in late 18th century. (Delhi 2016)
Answer:
It is true that the ryots came to see the moneylenders as devious and deceitful. As the moneylenders were much insensitive to the plight of the peasants. They got deeper and deeper into debt trap and were dependent on the moneylenders for their survival.

This can be understood by the following points:

1. In Ryotwari System one general norm was that the interest charged cotdd not be more than the principle.
2. The British government passed a Limitation Law in 1859 which meant to check the accumulation of interest over time and give 3 years validity of loan bonds signed between moneylenders and ryots.
3. Moneylenders again manipulated the law and forcing ryots to sign a new bond every three years. When a new bond was signed, the unpaid balance, the original loan and accumulated interest was entered as principle on which a new set of interest charges was calculated.
4. They refused to give receipts when loans w’ere repaid, entered fictitious figures in bonds, made peasants to sign and put thumb impression on documents and did not allow peasants to know what is inside the documents.

Question 3.
The East India Company had recognised the zamindars importance but wanted to control and regulate them. Explain the steps taken by them to subdue their authority in the 18th century. (Delhi 2016)
or
Explain how East India Company subdued the authority of zamindars in Bengal during 18th century? (Delhi 2015)
Answer:
East India Company recognised the importance and significance of zamindars but it also wanted to control, regulate and subdue their authority. To limit the authority of zamindars:

• The Company disbanded the troop organised by zamindars, custom duties were abolished and ‘cutcheries’ or local court organised by zamindars were brought under supervision of company.
• The company appointed collector and gave power to supervise these courts, over the period of time collectorate emerged as centre of authority.
• The power to organise local justice and the local police, was also abolished.
• The Permanent Settlement system was also limited, the power to the zamindars to collect rent from the ryot and manage their zamindari.
  So by these above steps, influence of zamindar was reduced by the company.

Question 4.
“The battle between the hoe and plough was a long one”. Substantiate the statement with reference to the Santhal and Paharias of Raj Mahal Hills during 18th century. (Delhi 2016)
Answer:
Santhal came to Bengal around 1780. Zamindars hired them to reclaim land and expand cultivation. British invited Santhals to settle in the Jangal Mahal, when they failed to subdue Paharias. The Paharias refused to cut the forest, resisted touching the plough and continued to be turbulent.

On the other hand, Santhal appeared to be ideal settlers, clearing the forest and ploughing the land with vigour. Santhal settlements and cultivation gradually expanded and Paharias were forced to withdraw deeper into hills and were confined to dry interior and to more barren and rocky upper hills. This severely affected their lives, impoverishing them in the long term. If paharia life was symbolised by the hoe, which they used for shifting cultivation, the santhaTs life represented the power of the plough. The battle between the hoe and plough was really a long one.

Question 5.
What was the Limitation Law? Why was this considered as a symbol of oppression against the ryot of 19th century? Give three reasons. (All India 2016)
Answer:
In 1859, British passed the Limitation Law which stated that the loan bond signed between moneylenders and ryots would have validity for only three years. This law was meant to check the accumulation of interest over the time. However, this law was considered as a symbol of oppression due to the following reasons:

• Moneylenders forced the ryots to sign a new bond for every three year and turned the law around.
• When new bond was signed, the unpaid balance, i.e., original loan and interest was entered as principal and and this principal interest was charged.
• Moneylenders refused to give receipt when loans were repaid, entered fictitious figures in bond, acquired the peasant’s harvest at low price and ultimately took over the property of peasant.
• Moneylenders brought the new regime of bond and deeds. Peasants were made to put thumb impression and sign on the document without knowing the full details of the documents.

Question 6.
“The arguments and evidences offered by the Fifth-report cannot be accepted uncritically”. Give arguments. (HOTS; Delhi 2015)
or
Why did the Fifth Report become the basis of intense debate in England? (Delhi 2013)
or
Describe the Fifth Report produced by the select committee on English East India Company in 1813 by the British Parliament.
or
Critically evaluate the significance and shortcomings of the ‘Fifth Report’.
Answer:
The Fifth Report was a significant report, it continued shaping our conception for over a century and a half about the nature and consequences of East India Company’s Rule in Bengal in the late 18th century. It served as basis for intense parliamentary debates on the nature of company’s rule in India.

The evidence contained in the ‘Fifth Report’ is considered to be of great importance. But as it is an official report, it should be read and anaylsed very carefully. The major short comings of this report included:

• The Fifth report exaggerated the collapse of traditional zamindari power and the rate at which zamindar were losing their lands. Zamindars were not always displaced given the indigenous methods they used to retain their lands.
• The report was biased because it wanted to highlight the maladministration of the East India Company in India.

Question 7.
“Jotedar inevitably weakened zamindars in Bengal by the end of the 18th century”. Give arguments to support the statement. (Delhi 2015)
or
Describe the position of the ‘jotedars’ at the end of the 18th century, (All India 2009)
Answer:
The points given below describe howjotidar inevitably weakened the power of zamindars in Bengal by the end of the 18th century:

• In the 18th century when many zamindars were facing a crisis, a group of rich peasants, known as jotedars, were consolidating their position in the villages.
• Unlike zamindars, jotedars lived in villages and thus, had good influence on village population.
• Jotedars had acquired vast areas of land. They controlled local trade, moneylending, exercising immense power over the poorer cultivators and their land was cultivated through adhiyars or bargadars (sharecroppers).
• They fiercely resisted the effects of zamindars to increase the Jama of the village, prevented zamindari officials from executing their duties. They deliberately delayed payments of revenue to the zamindars.
• In fact, when the estates of the zamindars were auctioned for failure to make revenue payment, often jotedars bought their estate. This made the jotedars most powerful in the North Bengal.

Question 8.
What was the other name of ‘Bombay Deccan revenue system of 1820s’. Mention the features of it. (All India 2015)
or
Which revenue system wras introduced in the Bombay Deccan? What were its features?
Answer:
Ryotwari Settlement was introduced in the Bombay Deccan by the British. It has the following features:

• Direct Settlement with the Ryots: The revenue was settled directly with the ryot.
• Calculation of Revenue: Unlike the Permanent Settlement, the revenue was estimated taking into consideration all types of soil, the average income of the harvest was estimated. It assessed how much revenue a ryot could pay.
• Share of State: The share of the state was fixed in proportion to the income of the ryot.
• Re-survey of Land: After every 30 years the lands were re-surveyed and the rates of revenue were increased accordingly.
• Temporary Demand: The demand for revenue was not permanent but temporary.

Question 9.
Critically examine the experience of injustice felt by ryot on the refusal of moneylender to extending loans to them after 1830.
(HOTS; All India 2014, Delhi 2010)
Answer:
Revenue demand was set high in the Bombay Deccan under Ryotwari System. Peasants were finding it difficult to pay under normal circumstances. But when rainfall failed and harvest were poor, it was impossible to pay.
In 1830s, problem became severe and in 1832 agricultural price fell sharply. At the same time, the villagers were devastated by famine in year 1832-34. During this time, l/3rd of cattle and half human population died. Those who left had no resource to overcome the crises. Unpaid balance of revenue mounted. They had to borrow from moneylender to pay revenue and to carry agricultural work but they were unable to pay it back.

As the debt mounted and loans remained unpaid, peasants dependence on moneylender increased. They now need loan even to buy their everyday needs and meet expenditure. By 1940s, they were in alarming level of indebtness.
During time of 1861-64, moneylenders easily gave advances to the peasants in order to get maximum production of cotton but once demand of cotton reduced, moneylenders were very reluctant to give loans. By cotton production mostly rich peasants prospered while large majority of the cotton produced face heavier debt.

Question 10.
Explain how the Ricardo’s idea of land ownership was introduced in the ‘Bombay Deccan’? (All India 2013)
Answer:
The colonial officials were under much influence of the ideas of David Ricardo, the renowned economist of England, during the early decades of the 19th century. He suggested that a landowner should have a claim only to the ‘average rent’ prevailing at the time. According to him, when the land yielded more than this average rent, the landowner had a surplus that the state needed to tax.

If tax was not levied, cultivators were likely to turn into rentiers and their surplus income was unlikely to be productively invested in the improvement of the land. The British officials viewed that the same condition had arisen in Bengal because of the introduction of Premanent settlement. The zamindars in Bengal had become rentiers in a way as they had leased out their lands.
Therefore, the British officials wanted to follow a different system of land revenue.

Question 11.
Explain the impact of American Civil War of 1861 on Indian peasants. (Delhi 2011)
Answer:
Britain was mainly dependent on America for importing raw cotton for its Cotton Textile Industry before the 1860s. Three-fourth of raw cotton imports into Britain came from America. But because of civil war in 1861, the amount of cotton „ in Britain from USA reduced. So, India was asked to grow cotton in large amount.

The rise in the price of cotton encouraged the cotton exporters. Indian peasants were given loan to grow cotton. Landlords did not hesitate in giving long-term loan. Some of the peasants became rich but majority of peasants went further into heavier debt.

Question 12.
Explain the impact of refusal by moneylenders to extend loans to ryots, around 1865, under the colonial rule of India. (All India 2011)
Answer:
The condition of peasants was miserable under the British rule. They were left impoverised and went through hardships which deteriorated their situation further. Because of the economic policy of the British administrators, the economic condition of the Indian people at the time of 1857 became very pitiable.

There was no dearth of people who were unemployed and struggling in vain.
People needed money to repay their loans and meet their daily expenses. However, sometimes their condition did not improve and they fell into debt trap. They were unable to repay their loan.
The moneylenders were apprehensive of losing their money. Thus, they refused to extend their loans. The borrowers failed to manage money for agriculture.

Question 13.
Explain two reasons for the failure of the Permanent Settlement of the land revenue introduced by the British in Bengal. (Delhi 2009)
Answer:
The reasons for the failure of the Permanent Settlement of the land revenue introduced by the British in Bengal are as follows:
1. The early revenue demands fixed by the company were very high. Under permanent settlement, the state revenue demand was fixed in ’ perpetuity. It meant that company was not claiming an additional share of increased income from land with rising prices and expanding cultivation. Therefore, the Company wanted huge revenue for high demand in order to minimise this anticipated loss.

2. It is worth mentioning that the high demand of land revenue was fixed in 1790s. The price of agricultural produce were depressed during this period. Consequently, it became difficult for the ryots to pay their dues to the zamindars. Thus, the zamindar could not collect the rent and were unable to pay their fixed amount to the company.

Question 14.
Explain two strategies devised by zamindars of surviving the pressures of high revenue demands and possible auction of their lands. (All India 2009)
Answer:
The two strategies were as follows:

1. The zamindars devised various ways to avoid the pressures of high revenue demand and possible auction of their estates. One such plan was the fictitious sale. It comprised a chain of moves requiring skill and care.
   The East India Company had decreed that the property of women could not be auctioned. Therefore, the Raja of Burdwan transferred some of his zamindari to his mother’ name.
2. The agents of the Raja controlled the whole process of auction very’ cleverly. The zamindar’s agent used to buy the auctioners property, outbidding other buyers. However, they refused to pay up the purchase amount, therefore, the estate had to be resold. This endless process of auctioning was repeated again and again and the state alongwith other auctioners were forced to exhaust. Finally, the estate was sold at a low price back to the zamindar.

Question 15.
Critically examine the Deccan Riots Commission Report. (HOTS; Delhi 2008)
Answer:
The Deccan Riots Commission Report can be examined through the following points:

• The Government of India pressurised the Government of Bombay to set-up an enquiry commission in order to investigate into the causes of riots.
• A report was prepared by the commission which was presented to the British Parliament in 1878.
• Proper enquiries were held in the riot affected districts and the statement of the ryots, sahukars and eyewitnesses were recorded.
• Statistical data on revenue rates, prices and interest rates were compiled in various regions.
• In the Deccan Riots Commission Report, we have to see that they are the official sources and reflect concerns and interpretations of events, e.g. this commission was specifically asked to judge whether the level of the government revenue demand was the cause of the revolt. After presenting all the evidences, the commission reported that the government demand was not the cause of peasants anger. It was the moneylenders who were to blame.
• The reports sent by the district collectors were compiled. Undoubtedly, this report furnishes significant basic information for the study of those riots.

Important Questions for Class 12 History Chapter 10 – 8 Marks Questions

Question 16.
Examine the land revenue system that was introduced in Bombay Deccan. How did the peasants fall into the dept-trap of the moneylenders? Explain.
Answer:
Ryotwari Settlement was introduced in the Bombay Deccan by the British. It has the following features:

• Direct Settlement with the Ryots: The revenue was settled directly with the ryot.
• Calculation of Revenue: Unlike the Permanent Settlement, the revenue was estimated taking into consideration all types of soil, the average income of the harvest was estimated. It assessed how much revenue a ryot could pay.
• Share of State: The share of the state was fixed in proportion to the income of the ryot.
• Re-survey of Land After every 30 years the lands were re-surveyed and the rates of revenue were increased accordingly.
• Temporary Demand: The demand for revenue was not permanent but temporary.
  It is true that the ryots came to see the moneylenders as devious and deceitful. As the moneylenders were much insensitive to the plight of the peasants. They got deeper and deeper into debt trap and were dependent on the moneylenders for their survival.

This can be understood by the following points:

1. when the Deccan Riots commission investigated, they found the law broken by the moneylenders as they had charged over ? 2000 as interest on a loan of ₹ 100.

2. After complain of this manipulation by ryots, the British passed a Limitation Law in 1859 which meant to check the accumulation of interest over time and give 3 years validity of loan bonds signed between moneylenders and ryots.

3. Moneylenders again manipulated the law and forcing ryots to sign a new bond every three years. When a new bond was signed, the unpaid balance, the original loan and accumulated interest was entered as principle on which a new set of interest charges was calculated.

4. They refused to give receipts when loans were repaid, entered fictitious figures in bonds acquired peasants harvest at low prices, made peasants to sign and put thumb impression on documents and did not allow peasants to know what is inside the documents. This way the ryots faced injustice in the hands of the moneylenders and lost their harvest and properties as well.

Question 17.
“After introducing the Permanent settlement in Bengal, the zamindars regularly failed to pay the land revenue demand.” Examine the causes and consequences of it. (All India 2017)
Answer:
The permanent settlement had come into operation in 1793 by Lord Cornwallis. Under this system, zamindars collected revenue from peasants and handover to the East India company. Company off icials felt that a fixed revenue demand would give zamindars a sense of security and assured of returns on their investment, encourage them to improve their estates. In the early decades after the permanent settlement, however, zamindars regularly failed to pay the revenue demand and unpaid balances accumulated.
The causes for this failure were:

1.The initial demands were very high. This was because it was felt that if the demand was fixed for all time to come, the company would never be able to claim a share of increased income from land when prices rose and cultivation expanded.
To minimise this anticipated loss, the company fixed the revenue demand high , arguing that the burden on zamindars would gradually decline as agricultural production expanded and prices rose.

2. This high demand was imposed in the 1790s, a time when the prices of agricultural produce were depressed, making it difficult for the ryots to pay their dues to the zamindar.

3.The revenue was invariable, regardless of the harvest, and had to be paid punctually. In fact, according to the ‘ Sunset Law if payment did not come in
by sunset of the specified date, the zamindari was liable to be auctioned.

4. The permanent settlement initially limited the power of the zamindar to collect rent from the ryot and manage his zamindari.

The consequences after the failure to fulfil the land revenue demands were:

• When a raja or zamindar failed to pay the revenue demand, a company official was speedily dispatched to his zamindari with explicit instructions ‘to take charge of the district and to use the most effectual of the raja or zamindar and his officers’.
• The East India Company subdued their authority and restrict their autonomy.
• The zamindars troops were disbanded, customs duties abolished and their ‘cutcheries’ (courts) brought under the supervision of a collector appointed by the company.
• Zamindars lost their power to organise local justice and the local police.
• Over time the collectorate emerged as an alternative centre of authority, severely restricting what the zamindar could do.
• While many zamindars were facing a crisis at the end of the 18th century, a group of rich peasants also known as ‘Jotedars’, were consolidating their position in villages. They controlled local trade as well as money-lending, exercising immense power over the poorer cultivators of the region.
• Besides these, the estates of the zamindars also were auctioned for failure to make revenue payment and at that time jotedars were after amongst the purchasers as they were most powerful in North Bengal.

Question 18.
Examine the main aspects of the fifth report which was submitted to the British Parliament in 1813. (All India 2017)
Answer:
Many of the changes occurred at the time of the East India Company were documented in detail in a report that was submitted to the British Parliament in 1813. It was the fifth report on the administration and activities of the East India Company in India.

The main aspects of the fifth report are discussed below:

1. The fifth report had been covered into 1002 pages of which over 800 pages were appendices that reproduced petitions of zamindars and ryots reports of collectors from different districts, statistical tables on revenue returns, and notes on the revenue and judicial administration of Bengal and Madras (present-day Tamil Nadu) written by officials.

2. From the time the company established its rule in Bengal in the mid 1760s, its activities were closely watched and debated in England. There were many groups in Britain who were opposed to the monopoly that the East India Company had over trade with India and China.

3. An increasing number of private traders wanted a share in the India trade, and the industrialists of Britain were keen to open up the Indian market for British manufactures.

4. Information about Company misrule and maladministration was hotly debated in Britain and incidents of the greed and corruption of company officials were widely publicised in the press.

5. The British Parliament passed a series of acts in the late 18th century to regulate and control company rule in India. It forced the company to produce regular reports on committees to enquire into the affairs of the company.

6. The fifth report was one such report produced by a select committee. It became the basis of intense parliamentary debates on the nature of the East India company’s rule in India.

7. The evidence contained in the fifth report is invaluable. But the recent researches show that the argumeilts and evidences offered by the fifth report cannot be accepted uncritically.

8. After careful examination of the archives of various Bengal zamindars and the local records of the Districts, researchers found that the report exaggerated the collapse of traditional zamindari power and also overestimated the scale on which zamirdars were losing their land. As we have seen even when zamindaris, were auctioned, zamindars were not always displaced, given the ingenious methods they used to retain their zamindaris.

9. It does not mean that there were not any malpractices done by the East India Company, infact they were very oppressive towards the rural society of Bengal.
Thus, the fifth report had been proved to be a good source to understand the India’s economy in the colonial times.

Important Questions for Class 12 History Chapter 10 Source Based Questions

Question 19.

A Ryot Petitions:
This is an example of a petition from a ryot of the village of Mirajgaon, Taluka Karjat, to the Collector, Ahmednagar, Deccan Riots Commission.

The sowkars (sahukars)… have of late begun to oppress us. As we cannot earn enough to defray our household expenses. We are actually forced to beg of them to provide us with money, clothes and grain, which we obtain from them not without great difficulty, nor without their compelling us to enter into hard conditions in the bond.

Moreover, the necessary clothes and grain are not sold to us at cash rates. The prices asked from us are generally twenty five percent or fifty percent more than demanded from customers making ready money payments. The produce of our fields is also taken by the sowkars, who at the time of removing it assure us that it will be credited to our account, but they do not actually make any mention of it in the accounts. They also refuse to pass us any receipts for the produce so removed by them.

1. What kind of injustice was experienced by the ryots?
2. Why was the harvest taken away by the moneylenders and why was it not credited to the peasants account?
3. Give details on the commission that investigated petitions and grievances of the concerned people. (Delhi 2013)

or

1. Why were the ryots not given loans by sowkars?
2. Explain the difficulties, the ryots had, to face for getting loan from the sowkars.
3. Why were the ryots unable to pay the inflated demand? Explain. (All India 2009)

Answer:
1. The refusal of moneylenders to extend loans made the ryots very angry. Moreover, the sahukars were insensitive to their plight and were violating the customary norms of the countryside.
In one of the cases investigated by the Dcccan Riots Commission, the moneylenders had charged over ? 2000 as interest on a loan of ? 100. Besides these, the necessary clothes and grains were not sold to the ryots at cash rates.

2. The ryots complained of moneylenders of manipulating laws and forging accounts.
The produce of the ryot’s field was also taken by the sahukars, who at the time of removing the produce assured them that it would be credited to their accounts. However, the sahukars did not actually mention it in the accounts. They refused to give the ryots any receipts for the produce, so removed by them.

3. The Government of India pressurised the Government of Bombay to set up a commission of enquiry to investigate into the causes of riots. The Deccan Riots Commission produced a report that was presented to the British Parliament in 1878.
or
1. The ryots were not given loans by sowkars because they no longer had confidence in the ryots capacity to repay. This was at the time when ryots were able to pay the inflated demand when prices were falling and cotton fields were disappearing.

2. The difficulties, the ryots had to face for getting loan from the sowkars were:

• The oppression of the sowkars.
• Compelled the ryots to enter into hard conditions in the bond for obtaining loan from them.
• The produce of their fields was also taken by the sowkars.
• They refused to pass them any receipts for the produce so removed by them.

3. The ryots were unable to pay the inflated demand because as the credit dried up, the revenue demand increased. The first revenue settlement was made in the 1820s and 1830s, presently it W’as the time for the next settlement. In this settlement, the demand was increased dramatically from 50 to 100 per cent. So the ryots were unable to pay the innate demand at the time when the prices were failing and cotton fields disappearing.

Question 20.
Deeds of Hire:
When debts mounted, the peasant was unable to pay hack the loan to the moneylender. He had no option, but to give over all his possessions-land, carts and animals to the moneylender. But without animals he could not continue to cultivate.

So, he took land on rent and animals on hire. He now had to pay for the animals which had originally belonged to him. He had to sign a deed of hire stating very clearly that these animals and carts did not belong to him. In cases of conflict, these deeds could be enforced through the court.

The following is the text of a deed that a peasant signed in November 1873 from the records of the Deccan Riots Commission.

I have sold to you, on account of the debt due to you, my two carriages having iron axles, with their appurtenances and four bullocks… I have taken from you on hire under this deed the very same two carriages and four bullocks. I shall pay every month the hire thereof at rupees four a month and obtain a receipt in your own handwriting. In the absence of a receipt, I shall not contend that the hire had been . paid.

1. How did the peasants pay back the loan to the moneylenders?
2. What was the deed of hire?
3. What light does the deed of hire throw on the relationship between the peasants and the moneylenders? (All India 2013)

Answer:
1. When debts increased the peasants were unable to pay back the loan to the moneylenders. As a result, the peasants had no option, but to give all their possessions to the moneylender. They had to surrender their land, carts and animals to the moneylender.

2. The peasant had to sign a deed of hire stating very clearly that all his possessions (land, carts and animals) did not belong to him. The peasant had to sell, on account of the debt to the moneylender his carriages having iron axles, with their accessories and bullocks. A peasant had to sign a deed that he had taken from the moneylender on hire. The peasant had to pay every month the hire there of at rupees four a month.

3. The deed of hire clearly shows that the relationship between the peasants and the moneylenders was based on exploitation. The deed of hire was absolutely loaded in favour of the moneylenders and the peasants were at the receiving end.

Important Questions for Class 12 History Chapter 10 Value Based Questions

Question 21.
Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.
When the Santhals settled on the peripheries of the Rajmahal hills, the Paharias resisted but were ultimately forced to withdraw deeper into the hills. Restricted from moving down to the lower hills and valleys, they were confined to the dry interior and to the more barren and rocky upper hills. This severely affected their lives, impoverishing them in the long term. Shifting agriculture depended on the ability to move to newer and newer land and utilisation of the natural fertility of the soil. When the most fertile soils became inaccessible to them, being part of the Damin, the Paharias could not effectively sustain their mode of cultivation. When the forests of the region were cleared for cultivation the hunters amongst them also faced problems.

The Santhals, by contrast, gave up their earlier life of mobility and settled down, cultivating a range of commercial crops for the market, and dealing with traders and moneylenders.

1. What effect can be seen on the lives of Paharias when the Santhals were settled on the peripheries of the Rajmahal hills? Discuss.

Answer:
1. The lives of Paharias were completely changed when the Santhals came and settled on the peripheries of the Rajmahal hills.

• When Santhals came, the Paharias resisted them, but were ultimately forced to withdraw deeper into the hills.
• The movement towards lower hills and valleys was restricted and they were only confined to live on the dry upper hills which was completely barren and rocky.
• Paharias were mainly depended on shifting cultivation and hunting. When the most fertile soils became inaccessible to them the Paharias could not effectively sustain their mode of cultivation.

2. When Santhals cleared most of the parts of the forests region, the hunters amongst the paharias also faced problems. These changes severely affected their lives, impoverishing them in the long term.

Read the following passage and answer the question that follow.
Over time, peasants came to associate the misery of their lives with the new regime of bonds and deeds. They were made to sign and put thumb impressions on documents, but they did not Know what they were actually signing. They had no idea of the clauses that moneylenders inserted in the bonds. They feared the written word. But they had no choice because to survive they needed loans, and moneylenders were unwilling to give loans without legal bonds,

1. How were bonds and deeds became responsible for misery of peasants over time?

Answer:
Bonds and deeds were the two powerful weapons of moneylenders through which they suppressed the ryots or peasants. Moneylenders forced ryots to sign a new bond every three years although this was banned in the Limitation Law that have validity for only 3 years. But later moneylenders turned the law around and charged higher interests plus higher principle rates.

Over time peasants realised that these bonds were the actual cause of their miseries. But being helpless and in need of money, they were made to sign and put thumb impression on documents without having knowledge of what they are signing to. Thus, moneylenders took advantage of their situations and inserted false clauses in the bonds.

Important Questions for Class 12 History

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