NCERT solutions class 8 social science our pasts 3 chapter 4

NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 4

History gives us a feeling of self-identity. We can better comprehend who we are if we understand where we came from. Our lives and existence have a sense of context thanks to history. It enables us to learn about the current situation and how we could go in the future. Both the words “history” and “story” come from the Latin historia, which means “a narrative or account of previous occurrences.”

NCERT Class 8 History Chapter 4 is Tribals, Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age. Early on, the rituals and traditions practised by different tribes were vastly unique. These ceremonies were not the same as those practised by the Brahmans. These were cultures that were not defined by caste-based society According to Class 8 History Chapter 4, persons who belonged to the same tribe shared some similar links that indicated kinship. Within the tribes, there were also some economic and social disparities.

Extramarks NCERT Solutions have proven to be of great help to students. NCERT Solution Class 8 History Chapter 4 are made by Extramarks subject specialists. These solutions meet all the needs of the students. Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 4 captures the entire chapter’s essence, making it easy for the students to comprehend the whole chapter.

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Key Topics Covered in NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 4

Mentioned below are the key topics that are covered in NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 4- Tribals, Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age:

  • Overview
  • How did the Tribal groups live?
  • How did Colonial rule affect Tribal lives
  • A Closer look

Let us look at Extramarks in-depth information on each subtopic in NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 4- Tribals, Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age.

Overview

NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 4 provides an overview of the chapter here. Most tribes’ traditions and rites differed significantly from those established by Brahmans. Caste divisions were not present in these communities. Those who belonged to the same tribe considered themselves to have shared familial links. Within tribes, however, there were social and economic inequalities.

How did the Tribal groups live?

By the eighteenth century, the Indian tribals were engaged in various occupations.

Some were Jhum cultivators.

Jhum cultivation is an effective form of cultivation that comes up time and again. NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 4 explains its fundamentals in this section.

Jhum agriculture, or shifting cultivation, was used by some indigenous groups. The planters trimmed down the trees to allow sunlight to reach the ground and burned the foliage to clear the soil for agriculture on tiny plots of land. They moved to another field once the product was ready to be harvested. People in North East and Central India’s mountainous and wooded areas discovered shifting cultivation. Because these indigenous people could travel freely throughout the woodlands, they practised shifting agriculture.

Some were hunters and gatherers. 

In many areas, tribal people relied upon hunting animals and harvesting forest vegetables. The Khonds were nomadic people that hunted in groups and divided the meat among themselves. This tribe ate fruits and roots and cooked using oil made from the seeds of the sal and mahua trees. Forest shrubs and plants were employed for therapeutic purposes.

In exchange for their valuable forest products, these forest dwellers swapped commodities with the things they needed. When the forest’s bounty dwindled, indigenous people were forced to seek employment as labourers. Tribal groups relied on traders and moneylenders since they frequently required money to buy and sell to obtain products that they could not produce locally. However, the interest rates on the loans were quite expensive.

This section of NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 4 explains the basics of hunters and gatherers.

Some herded animals

Many tribal cultures used herding and rearing as a source of income. They were pastoralists who followed the seasons with their herds of cattle or sheep.

Some took to settling cultivation.

NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 4 explains that even before the eighteenth century, tribal tribes began to settle down. For example, the Mundas of Chottanagpur had land that belonged to the entire tribe. The clan’s members were considered descendants of the early settlers who had cleared the area. British authorities saw hunter-gatherers and moving farmers as less civilised than permanent tribal groupings.

How did Colonial rule affect Tribal lives?

Tribal people’s life changed during British rule.

What happened to Tribal chiefs?

This section of NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 4 describes the beginning of the downfall of tribal chiefs.

Tribal chiefs were influential individuals before the British arrived. They possessed economic influence and the authority to manage and rule their domains. However, during the British administration, their roles and abilities were altered. They were stripped of their administrative powers and obliged to obey British laws enacted in India.

What happened to the shifting cultivators?

The British wanted tribal groupings to settle because settled peasants were simpler to manage and administrate. Land settlements were implemented by the British to provide a steady stream of revenue for the state. The British measured the land, determined the rights of each individual in that area, and set the income requirement for the state through land settlement. The British attempt to settle jhum cultivators failed miserably. Faced with overwhelming opposition, the British were forced to grant them the authority to continue shifting agriculture in some forest areas.

Forest laws and their impacts

The modifications in forest laws had a direct impact on tribal lives. Because they provided the British desired timber, particular forests were designated as Reserved Forests. The British were able to prevent the indigenous people from entering the woodlands, but they had difficulty finding labour. As a result, colonial officials devised a remedy. Jhum farmers were given tiny areas of land in the forests and allowed to cultivate by the colonial authority. Those who resided in the villages were required to work for the Forest Department in exchange. However, many tribal groups ignored the new regulations, continuing to perform rituals that had been proclaimed unlawful, and even rising in open revolt at times. 

NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 4 in this section explains the modification in the forest laws and their impacts.

The problem with Trade

Traders and moneylenders visited the forest more often in the nineteenth century. They wanted to acquire forest goods, so they gave monetary loans and demanded that tribal groups work for long periods. Indian silk was in high demand in European marketplaces in the seventeenth century. The East India Company pushed silk manufacturing as the silk market grew. The Santhals of Hazaribagh raised cocoons, and silk dealers provided loans to the tribals in exchange for the cocoons. The intermediaries made a lot of money.

The search for work

NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 4 explains how the work opportunities increased in the 1800s.

Tea plantations began to sprout in the late 1800s, and mining became a significant business. As a result, tribals were enlisted in substantial numbers to labour in Assam’s tea plantations and Jharkhand’s coal mines.

A Closer look

Tribal tribes from all over the nation rose in protest of the new laws, restrictions on traditional activities, new taxes they had to pay, and exploitation by traders and moneylenders. In this section, 

NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 4 provides in-depth details on the life of Birsa Munda.

Birsa Munda

Birsa was born in the mid-1870s, and as a teenager, he heard stories about previous Munda uprisings and witnessed the community’s sirdars (leaders) encouraging the people to revolt. At the local missionary school, he learned that the Mundas might enter the Kingdom of Heaven and reclaim their lost privileges. Birsa also spent time with a well-known Vaishnav preacher. As a result, Birsa began a movement intending to improve tribal society. He advised the Mundas to abstain from consuming alcoholic beverages, clean their village, and abandon their beliefs in witchcraft and sorcery.

Birsa pushed his followers to reclaim their golden past in 1895. He spoke about a glorious period in history, a satyug (age of truth), when Mundas lived happily, built dams, tapped natural springs, planted trees and orchards, and earned their livelihood via farming.

The Birsa movement’s political goal was to drive away missionaries, moneylenders, Hindu landowners, and the government and replace them with a Munda Raj led by Birsa. Because the movement was so prevalent, British officials decided to intervene. Birsa began touring the villages, pushing people to kill “Ravana” (dikus and the Europeans) and form a kingdom under his rule, using traditional symbols and language to excite people.

Birsa died of cholera in 1900, and the movement perished. However, the campaign was noteworthy in at least two aspects. First, it compelled the colonial authority to enact legislation to ensure that dikus would not readily take over the Tribals’ land. Second, it demonstrated that indigenous peoples could oppose injustice and voice their dissatisfaction with colonial control once more.

NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 4 Exercise and Solutions

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Key Features of NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 4

Students are constantly advised to go through NCERT Solutions for each chapter to understand it better. Extramarks NCERT Solutions have been made keeping in mind all the requirements of the students. Extramarks NCERT solutions make students exam ready. But why Extramarks? Here’s why:

  • It covers all the chapter end questions along with their comprehensive answers explained with solved examples
  • Going through these solutions is helpful for students, as these solutions help grasp the concepts and the writing pattern.
  • Extramarks have put together the most crucial information on this topic based on the NCERT guidelines in an easy-to-understand and accurate recall if read a few times.
  • The language used in compiling these solutions is simple and easy to understand.
NCERT Solutions Class 8 (History – Our Pasts) Chapter-wise List
Chapter 1 – How, When and Where
Chapter 2 – From Trade to Territory
Chapter 3 – Ruling the Countryside
Chapter 4 – Tribals, Dikus and the Vision
Chapter 5 – When People Rebel
Chapter 6 – Colonialism and the City
Chapter 7 – Weavers, Iron Smelters and Factory Owners
Chapter 8 – Civilising the “Native”, Educating the Nation
Chapter 9 – Women, Caste and Reform
Chapter 10 – The changing World of Visual Arts
Chapter 11 – The Making of the National Movement: 1870s-1947
Chapter 12 – India After Independence

Q.1 Fill in the blanks:

(a) The British described the tribal people as ___________.

(b) The method of sowing seeds in jhum cultivation is known as ____________.

(c) The tribal chiefs got ___________ titles in central India under the British land settlements.

(d) Tribals went to work in the ____________ of Assam and the ____________ in Bihar.

Ans.

(a) wild and savage

(b) broadcasting or scattering

(c) land

(d) tea plantations, coal mines

Q.2 State whether true or false:

(a) Jhum cultivators plough the land and sow seeds.

(b) Cocoons were bought from the Santhals and sold by the traders at five times the purchase price.

(c) Birsa urged his followers to purify themselves, give up drinking liquor and stop believing in witchcraft and sorcery.

(d) The British wanted to preserve the tribal way of life.

Ans.

(a) False

(b) True

(c) True

(d) False

Q.3 What problems did shifting cultivators face under British rule?

Ans.

(i) The British were uncomfortable with the shifting cultivators who moved about and did not have a fixed home.

(ii) They wanted them to settle down and become peasant cultivators.

(iii) Settled peasants could be controlled easier than people who were always on the move.

(iv) From the settled peasants, the British could also collect regular revenue for the state.

(v) So they introduced land settlements. They measured the land, defined the rights of each individual to that land, and fixed the revenue demand for the state.

(vi) Some peasants were declared landowners; others were tenants who paid rent to the landowner who in turn paid revenue to the state.

Q.4 How did the powers of tribal chiefs change under colonial rule?

Ans. Before the establishment of the British rule in India, the tribal chiefs enjoyed a certain amount of economic power and had the right to administer and control their territories. They had their own police and decided on the local rules of land and forest management. Under the British rule, the functions and powers of the tribal chiefs changed significantly.

(i) The British allowed them to keep their land titles over a cluster of villages and rent out lands; however, they lost much of their administrative power and were forced to follow British laws and rules.

(ii) Since they lost the authority that they had earlier enjoyed amongst their people, the tribal chiefs were unable to fulfil their traditional functions.

(iii) The tribal chiefs were forced to pay tribute to the British.

Q.5 What accounts for the anger of the tribals against the dikus?

Ans.

(i) There were innumerable reasons for anger of the tribals against the dikus.

(ii) The word “dikus” means “outsiders” or who come from outside like – moneylenders, traders, zamindars, contractors, British, etc.

(iii) These outsiders came to forests to sell their goods and buy forest produce. They offered cash loans with high interests to the tribal communities.

(iv) The traders bought forest produce from the tribes at low price and sold it in the market for higher price.

(v) Due to these reasons, the tribals were against moneylenders, traders, zamindars, contractors, British and called them evil outsiders.

Q.6 What was Birsa’s vision of a golden age? Why do you think such a vision appealed to the people of the region?

Ans.

(i) In 1895, Birsa appealed to his followers to recover their glorious past.

(ii) He talked of a golden age in the past. He described it as a satyug (the age of truth).

(iii) According to him, the Mundas lived a good life, constructed embankments, tapped natural springs, planted trees and orchards, practised cultivation to earn their living.

(iv) They did not kill their brethren and relatives. They lived honestly.

(v) Birsa also wanted people to begin again the cultivation works on their land and settle down.

(vi) People saw themselves as the descendants of the original settlers of the region. They wanted to fight for their motherland.

(vii) Birsa Munda also reminded people of the need to win back their kingdom.

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FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Students can study for the Social Science examination in Class 8 in the following ways:

  • First, get your doubts clear from your teacher.
  • Second, analyse each chapter in the textbook in depth.
  • Third, practise the exercises in the text at the end of each chapter.
  • Finally, refer to Extramarks NCERT Solutions for better understanding and results.

First, a visionary and a fighter belonged to the Munda tribe. He was born into a poor household and witnessed his father working away for a living. He attended missionary school and spent time with Vaishnav devotees during childhood. The Dikus and the Europeans conquered the Munda tribe. The Munda people were subjected to different horrors by these organisations. First introduced the Golden Age concept to his people in 1895. Birsa wished for the Munda people to reclaim their birthright and ancestral lands.

Students can easily find NCERT Solutions on one of the most trusted platforms- the Extramarks website. NCERT Solutions provided by Extramarks are accurate and exclusive. The subject experts specially design these after thorough research. As a result, Extramarks NCERT Solutions meet all the requirements of the students.