What was the name of the land where Santhals were permitted to practise plough agriculture and became settled peasants? |
Bhagalpur Rajmahal Hills Damin-i-Koh Birbhum |
Damin-i-Koh |
The correct answer is Option (3) → Damin-i-Koh The name of the land where Santhals were permitted to practise plough agriculture and became settled peasants is Damin-i-Koh. 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. The Santhals 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. The Santhals, however, soon found that the land they had brought under cultivation was slipping away from their hands. The state was levying heavy taxes on the land that the Santhals had cleared, moneylenders (dikus) were charging them high rates of interest and taking over the land when debts remained unpaid, and zamindars were asserting control over the Damin area. |