Read the following extract (Source 2) taken from the NCERT textbook (page 45) and answer the questions that follow:
“In this land of the English how hard it is to live”
In the 1930s Verrier Elwin visited the land of the Baigas—a tribal group in central India. He wanted to know about them—their customs and practices, their art and folklore. He recorded many songs that lamented the hard time the Baigas were having under British rule.
In this land of the English how hard it is to live
How hard it is to live
In the village sits the landlord
In the gate sits the Kotwar
In the garden sits the Patwari
In the field sits the government
In this land of the English how hard it is to live
To pay cattle tax we have to sell cow
To pay forest tax we have to sell buffalo
To pay land tax we have to sell bullock
How are we to get our food?
In this land of the English
Quoted in Verrier Elwin and Shamrao Hivale, Songs of the Maikal, p. 316.
Questions:
(i) Who were the Baigas?
(ii)Why did Verrier Elwin visit their land?
(iii)What did the songs lament?
(i) The Baigas were a tribal group of central India.
(ii) Verrier Elwin visited their land because he wanted to know their customs, and practices, their art and folklore.
(iii)The songs lamented the hard time the Baigas were having under British rule.
