Q11 of 29 Page 1

Describe the role of Zamindars in the Mughal Empire during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

OR


Describe the life of forest dwellers during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in India.


Zamindars were the class of people who lived in the countryside and were not directly involved in the agricultural production. They were the land proper tiers who enjoyed certain social and economical privileges due to their superior status in rural areas.

Zamindars status were elevated because of their caste and also, that they performed certain activities like khidmat on behalf of state. Zamindars had extensive private property that they used for for their own private use and was maintained by service labour. Zamindars were also, allowed to collect revenue on behalf of state and for which they were compensated financially. The zamindars slowly consolidated land by colonising new lands and transferring rights, by order of state or by purchase. This prevented people from lower castes to be the part of the Zamindaris-clan. For example: Rajputs and Jats adopted these ways to consolidate their control over vast swathes of land. They also, helped in colonizing the lands by providing cultivators with means of cultivation like through cash loans. The bying and selling of land by zamindars also, accelerated the monetisation in the countryside. They also, sold the produce from their pricate lands and they often set up markets were peasants also came to sell their goods.


OR


Apart from the civilised regions of northern and north-western, the eastern regions, central and northern India (regions like Indo-Nepal) were covered with dense forests and scrublands. The forest dwellers called jangli were not people who were not civilise but the people whose livelihood were dependent on forest. They depend on forest for producing food and shelter by hunting and gathering forest produce. They used to shift from one place to another for agricultural activities. These activities depended upon the seasons like for Bhils spring was reserved for collecting forest produce, summer for fishing, monsoons for cultivation, and autumn and winter were reserved for hunting. This sequence caused mobility which was a distinctive feature of these tribes living in forests.


More from this chapter

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9

Why is the sixth century BCE often regarded as a major turning point in early Indian history ? Explain.

 10

‘‘Different ideas, sculptures and temples developed in the Puranic Hinduism from c. 600 BCE – 600 CE.’’ Substantiate the statement.

OR


‘‘Art historians had to acquire familiarity with hagiographies of the Buddha in order to understand Buddhist sculpture.’’ Explain the statement with the sculptural features.


 12

‘‘The Salt March of 1930 was the first event that brought Mahatma Gandhi to world attention.’’ Justify the statement with reference to its significance.

OR


‘‘Many historians are sceptical of oral history of the partition of India.’’ Justify the statement with suitable arguments.


 13

Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions that follow :

The Bodhisatta as a chandala


Did chandalas resist the attempts to push them to the bottom of the social order ? Read this story, which is part of the Matanga Jataka, a Pali text, where the Bodhisatta (the Buddha in a previous birth) is identified as a chandala. Once, the Bodhisatta was born outside the city of Banaras as a chandala’s son and named Matanga. One day, when he had gone to the city on some work, he encountered Dittha Mangalika, the daughter of a merchant. When she saw him, she exclaimed ‘‘I have seen something inauspicious’’ and washed her eyes. The angry hangers-on then beat him up. In protest, he went and lay down at the door of her father’s house. On the seventh day they brought out the girl and gave her to him. She carried the starving Matanga back to the chandala settlement. Once he returned home, he decided to renounce the world. After attaining spiritual powers, he returned to Banaras and married her. A son named Mandavya Kumara was born to them. He learnt the three Vedas as he grew up and began to provide food to 16,000 Brahmanas every day.


One day, Matanga, dressed in rags, with a clay alms bowl in his hand, arrived at his son’s doorstep and begged for food. Mandavya replied that he looked like an outcaste and was unworthy of alms; the food was meant for the Brahmanas. Matanga said : ‘‘Those who are proud of their birth and are ignorant do not deserve gifts. On the contrary, those who are free from vices are worthy of offerings.’’ Mandavya lost his temper and asked his servants to throw the man out. Matanga rose in the air and disappeared. When Dittha Mangalika learnt about the incident, she followed Matanga and begged his forgiveness. He asked her to take a bit of the leftover from his bowl and give it to Mandavya and the Brahmanas ...


(13.1) Why were ‘chandalas’ considered as the bottom of the social order ?


(13.2) Why did Dittha Mangalika consider Matanga as inauspicious ?


(13.3) Interpret the feelings of Matanga from this source.