Match List-I (Group) with List-II (Role).List-IList-II(A) Paharias(I)…

Match List-I (Group) with List-II (Role).

List-I	List-II
(A) Paharias	(I) Encouraged forest clearance to enlarge land revenue
(B) Zamindars on the plains	(II) Raided settled villages, carrying away food grains and cattle
(C) Traders	(III) Paid a small amount to use the passes held by hill folk
(D) The British	(IV) Paid a regular tribute to the hill chiefs to purchase peace

Choose the correct answer:

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 4

The correct answer is Option (4) → A-II, B-IV, C-III, D-I

List-I	List-II	Reason
(A) Paharias	(II) Raided settled villages, carrying away food grains and cattle	From their base in the hills, the Paharias raided the plains, and as forests shrank they raided settled villages more often for grain and cattle.
(B) Zamindars on the plains	(IV) Paid a regular tribute to the hill chiefs to purchase peace	The zamindars of the plains often bought peace by paying a regular tribute to the hill chiefs.
(C) Traders	(III) Paid a small amount to use the passes held by hill folk	Traders paid the hill folk a small amount to use the passes they controlled; the chiefs then protected their goods.
(D) The British	(I) Encouraged forest clearance to enlarge land revenue	The British encouraged forest clearance, since settled farming would enlarge land revenue and produce crops for export.

NCERT (2026-27): “2.1 In the hills of Rajmahal …
Their chiefs maintained the unity of the group, settled disputes, and led the tribe in battles with other tribes and plainspeople. With their base in the hills, the Paharias regularly raided the plains where settled agriculturists lived. These raids were necessary for survival, particularly in years of scarcity; they were a way of asserting power over settled communities; and they were a means of negotiating political relations with outsiders. The zamindars on the plains had to often purchase peace by paying a regular tribute to the hill chiefs. Traders similarly gave a small amount to the hill folk for permission to use the passes controlled by them. Once the toll was paid, the Paharia chiefs protected the traders, ensuring that their goods were not plundered by anyone.”

“This negotiated peace was somewhat fragile. It broke down in the last decades of the eighteenth century when the frontiers of settled agriculture were being aggressively extended in eastern India. The British encouraged forest clearance, and zamindars and jotedars turned uncultivated lands into rice fields. To the British, extension of settled agriculture was necessary to enlarge the sources of land revenue, produce crops for export, and establish the basis of a settled, ordered society. They also associated forests with wildness, and saw forest people as savage, unruly, primitive, and difficult to govern. So they felt that forests had to be cleared, settled agriculture established, and forest people tamed, civilised and persuaded to give up hunting and take to plough agriculture.”

“As settled agriculture expanded, the area under forests and pastures contracted. This sharpened the conflict between hill folk and settled cultivators. The former began to raid settled villages with increasing regularity, carrying away food grains and cattle. Exasperated colonial officials tried desperately to control and subdue the Paharias. …”

Match List-I (Group) with List-II (Role).

List-I	List-II
(A) Paharias	(I) Encouraged forest clearance to enlarge land revenue
(B) Zamindars on the plains	(II) Raided settled villages, carrying away food grains and cattle
(C) Traders	(III) Paid a small amount to use the passes held by hill folk
(D) The British	(IV) Paid a regular tribute to the hill chiefs to purchase peace

Choose the correct answer:

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 4

The correct answer is Option (4) → A-II, B-IV, C-III, D-I

List-I	List-II	Reason
(A) Paharias	(II) Raided settled villages, carrying away food grains and cattle	From their base in the hills, the Paharias raided the plains, and as forests shrank they raided settled villages more often for grain and cattle.
(B) Zamindars on the plains	(IV) Paid a regular tribute to the hill chiefs to purchase peace	The zamindars of the plains often bought peace by paying a regular tribute to the hill chiefs.
(C) Traders	(III) Paid a small amount to use the passes held by hill folk	Traders paid the hill folk a small amount to use the passes they controlled; the chiefs then protected their goods.
(D) The British	(I) Encouraged forest clearance to enlarge land revenue	The British encouraged forest clearance, since settled farming would enlarge land revenue and produce crops for export.