Q29 of 33 Page 1

Clearance of forests for agricultural settlements

This is an excerpt from a sixteenth-century Bengali poem, Chandimangala, composed by Mukundaram Chakrabarti. The hero of the poem, Kalaketu, set up a kingdom by clearing forests:


Hearing the news, outsiders came from various lands.


Kalaketu then bought and distributed among them


Heavy knives, axes, battle-axes and pikes.


From the north came the Das (people).


One hundred of them advanced.


They were struck with wonder on seeing Kalaketu


Who distributed betel-nut to each of them


From the south came the harvesters


Five hundred of them under one organiser.


From the west came Zafar Mian,


Together with twenty-two thousand men.


Sulaimani beads in their hands


They chanted the names of their pir and paighambar (Prophet).


Having cleared the forest


They established markets.


Hundreds and hundreds of foreigners


Ate and entered the forest.


Hearing the sound of the axe,


Tigers became apprehensive and ran away, roaring.


a. What forms of intrusion into the forest does the text suggest?


b. Evaluate the concept of jangli in the context of the source?


c. Analyse any two effects of foreign intrusion on the lives of forest dwellers


(a) The forms of intrusion suggested by the text are:

1. From the north came the Das (people)


2. From the south came the harvesters


3. From the west came Zafar Mian


4. Foreigners


(b) In the context of the source, Jangli means


I. Forest dwellers were called jangli.


II. It was used to describe those whose livelihood came from gathering forest produce.


(c) Two effects of foreign invasion on the lives of the forest dewellers are


I. Spread of commercial agriculture.


II. Trade increased in forest products.


III. Many tribal chiefs became Zamindars or kings.


More from this chapter

All 33 →
27

Explain how the coming of Gandhiji broadened the base of the Indian National Movement.

OR


Explain how the partition of India was a culmination of communal politics that started developing in the opening decades of the 20th century.


 28

Evidence of an “invasion”

Deadman Lane is a narrow alley, varying from 3 to 6 feet in width. At the point where the lane turns westward, part of a skull and the bones of the thorax and upper arm of an adult were discovered, all in a very friable condition, at a depth of 4 ft 2 in. The body lay on its back diagonally across the lane. Fifteen inches to the west were a few fragments of a tiny skull. It is to these remains that the lane owes its name. From John Marshall, Mohenjodaro and the Indus Civilisation, 1931.


a. Why is the lane called the Deadman Lane?


b. State the conclusions that scholars and archaeologists draw from this information?


c. Give reasons to justify that the earlier interpretations can sometimes be reversed?


 30

We have never asked for privileges

Hansa Mehta of Bombay demanded justice for women, not reserved seats, or separate electorates. We have never asked for privileges. What we have asked for is social justice, economic justice, and political justice. We have asked for that equality which alone can be the basis of mutual respect and understanding, without which real cooperation is not possible between man and woman.


a. Hansa Mehta did not demand reserved seats for women. Give reasons.


b. What could be the basis of mutual respect among men and women?


c. Explain the ways in which the women can be empowered economically?


 31

(31.1) on the given political outline map of India, locate and label the following with appropriate symbols:

a. Dholavira, a mature Harappan site OR Ujjayini, capital of Avanti


b. Azamgarh, a centre of Revolt of 1857 OR Masulipatnam,a city under British control in 1857


c. Amritsar


(31.2) On the same outline map three places have been marked as A,B,C which are territories under Babur, Akbar and Aurangzeb. Identify them and write their correct names on the lines marked near them.