How did the Santhals settle in the Rajmahal hills? Discuss the role of the British in this regard.

Solution

The Santhals settled in the Rajmahal hills around 1800. They displaced the hill-folk who lived in this region. They cleared many forests. They cultivated the land. Earlier the Santhals had come into Bengal around the 1780s.

Then they settled in the Jangal mahals. In fact, they were ideal settlers. So their settlements expanded rapidly. They had forty villages in 1838. But about 1473 Santhal villages had come up by 1851. In other words, the Santhals were merely 3000 in 1838. But they grew upto 82,000 by 1851.

The Role of the British : The British wanted to establish an orderly, refined and settled society. They did not like the Paharias as they were savage, primitive and unruly. They associated forests with wildness as found the hill-folk difficult to govern. By 1770, they adopted a brutal policy of extermination towards the Paharias. They hunted them down and killed them. As the British had failed to tame the Paharias and transform them into settled agriculturists, they turned to the Santhals.

The land for Santhals : The British favoured the Santhals by allotting them a land in the foot-hills of Rajmahal. To facilitate their settlement, the British demarcated a large area of land as Damin-i-Koh. They declared it as the land for the Santhals. They wanted all the Santhals to live within it. The Santhals had a continuous mobility. They were in tireless search for the place to settle. The British did them a great favour by allotting them the Damin-i-Koh

Some More Questions From Colonialism And The Countryside Chapter

What are the problems of using official sources in writing about the history of peasants?

On an outline map of the subcontinent, mark out the areas described in this chapter. Find out whether there were other areas where the Permanent Settlement and the Ryotwari system were prevalent and plot these on the map as well.

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Colonialism And The Countryside

How did the Santhals settle in the Rajmahal hills? Discuss the role of the British in this regard.

Some More Questions From Colonialism And The Countryside Chapter

What are the problems of using official sources in writing about the history of peasants?

On an outline map of the subcontinent, mark out the areas described in this chapter. Find out whether there were other areas where the Permanent Settlement and the Ryotwari system were prevalent and plot these on the map as well.

Mention the revenue system introduced by the British in Bombay Deccan with one of its main characteristics.

Why was British introduce new systems of revenue?

Explain any two observations made by Buchanan that helped the English East India Company to expand its trade in India.

How did the British encourage the Santhals to settle in Rajmahal hills?

Explain briefly the importance of the Deccan Riots Report of 1878.

What is known as the Sunset Law?

How did the British seek to control the zamindars?

Who were the jotedars? What were the various names they were known by?

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