From the following statements, choose the incorrect statement regarding the 'Santhals'.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → The Santhals practiced shifting agriculture.
Option (1) The Santhals settled in the foothills of Rajmahal. — Correct statement. The Santhals were given land and persuaded to settle in the foothills of Rajmahal.
Option (2) Land given to the Santhals was demarcated as ‘Damin-i-Koh’. — Correct statement. By 1832 a large area of land was demarcated as Damin-i-Koh and declared to be the land of the Santhals.
Option (3) The Santhals practiced shifting agriculture. — Incorrect statement. Within the Damin-i-Koh the Santhals were to practise plough agriculture and become settled peasants; they gave up their earlier life of mobility and grew commercial crops for the market. Shifting cultivation was the practice of the Paharias, the hill folk of the Rajmahal hills.
Option (4) The Santhals cleared the forest and became ideal settlers. — Correct statement. Unlike the Paharias, the Santhals appeared to be ideal settlers, clearing forests and ploughing the land with vigour.
NCERT (2026-27): “2.1 In the hills of Rajmahal … They lived around the Rajmahal hills, subsisting on forest produce and practising shifting cultivation. They cleared patches of forest by cutting bushes and burning the undergrowth.… 2.2 The Santhals: Pioneer settlers … The Paharias refused to cut forests, resisted touching the plough, and continued to be turbulent. The Santhals, by contrast, appeared to be ideal settlers, clearing forests and ploughing the land with vigour. The Santhals were given land and persuaded to settle in the foothills of Rajmahal. By 1832 a large area of land was demarcated as Damin-i-Koh. This was declared to be the land of the Santhals. They were to live within it, practise plough agriculture, and become settled peasants. The land grant to the Santhals stipulated that at least one-tenth of the area was to be cleared and cultivated within the first ten years.… 2.2 The Santhals: Pioneer settlers … The Santhals, by contrast, gave up their earlier life of mobility and settled down, cultivating a range of commercial crops for the market, and dealing with traders and moneylenders.” |