Arrange the following developments as happened among tribes in India from the earliest to the newest.
A. Destruction of community based ownership of resources.
B. There existed Gond kingdoms in central India.
C. Colonialists appropriated the natural resources in tribal areas
D. Emergence of educated middle class among tribal communities
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → B, C, A, D
(B) There existed Gond kingdoms in central India. — the earliest. Adivasis were not always the oppressed groups they are now: there were several Gond kingdoms in Central India, such as that of Garha Mandla or Chanda, long before colonial rule.
(C) Colonialists appropriated the natural resources in tribal areas — next. Forests, on which most tribal communities depended, started to be systematically exploited in British times.
(A) Destruction of community-based ownership of resources. — followed from that loss of forests and from the coming of private property in land, which placed the tribals’ community-based forms of collective ownership at a disadvantage; the trend continued after independence with dams, mines and factories.
(D) Emergence of educated middle class among tribal communities — the newest: the gradual emergence of an educated middle class among tribal communities, most visible in the North-eastern states, along with reservation and education creating an urbanised professional class.
NCERT (2025-26): “3.2 Tribal Communities … Nevertheless, the idea that tribes are like stone age hunting and gathering societies that have remained untouched by time is still common, even though this has not been true for a long time. To begin with, adivasis were not always the oppressed groups they are now – there were several Gond kingdoms in Central India such as that of Garha Mandla, or Chanda. Many of the so-called Rajput kingdoms of central and western India actually emerged through a process of stratification among adivasi communities themselves. Adivasis often exercised dominance over the plains people through their capacity to raid them, and through their services as local militias.…” “National Development versus Tribal Development … The loss of the forests on which most tribal communities depended has been a major blow. Forests started to be systematically exploited in British times and the trend continued after independence. The coming of private property in land has also adversely affected tribals, whose community-based forms of collective ownership were placed at a disadvantage.…” |