Which of the following tribes were against the use of ploughs for agricultural purposes in Bengal during British rule?

Paharias

The correct answer is Option 1 - Paharias

Paharias were against the use of ploughs for agricultural purposes in Bengal during British rule. Their life was symbolised by the hoe.

The hill folk were known as Paharias. 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. On these patches, enriched by the potash from the ash, the Paharias grew a variety of pulses and millets for consumption. They scratched the ground lightly with hoes, cultivated the cleared land for a few years, then left it fallow so that it could recover its fertility, and moved to a new area. From the forests they collected mahua (a flower) for food, silk cocoons and resin for sale, and wood for charcoal production. The undergrowth that spread like a mat below the trees and the patches of grass that covered the lands left fallow provided pasture for cattle

Paharia life was symbolised by the hoe, which they used for shifting cultivation, the settlers (Santhals) came to represent the power of the plough. It was the battle between hoe and plough.