Whose life as hunters, shifting cultivators, food gatherers, charcoal producers, silkworm rearers - was intimately connected to the forest?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Paharias
The Paharias were the hill folk of the Rajmahal hills. They lived as hunters, shifting cultivators, food gatherers, charcoal producers and silkworm rearers, so their whole life was bound up with the forest. They collected mahua for food, silk cocoons and resin for sale, and wood for charcoal, and they considered the entire region as their land.
NCERT (2025-26): “2.1 In the hills of Rajmahal … Buchanan travelled through the Rajmahal hills. From his description, the hills appeared impenetrable, a zone where few travellers ventured, an area that signified danger. Wherever he went, people were hostile, apprehensive of officials and unwilling to talk to them. In many instances they deserted their villages and absconded. Who were these hill folk? Why were they so apprehensive of Buchanan’s visit? Buchanan’s journal gives us tantalising glimpses of these hill folk in the early nineteenth century. His journal was written as a diary of places he visited, people he encountered, and practices he saw.… The life of the Paharias – as hunters, shifting cultivators, food gatherers, charcoal producers, silkworm rearers – was thus intimately connected to the forest. They lived in hutments within tamarind groves, and rested in the shade of mango trees.…” |