Question

Q. With reference to Santhal tribes consider the following statements

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• A.
  1 only
• B.
  1 and 2 only
• C.
  1 and 3 only
• D.
  1, 2, and 3

Answer 1

The correct option is C

1 and 3 only
Explanation:

The Santhals were encouraged by the British to settle on the foothills of the Rajmahal hills to clear the forests and practice settled agriculture. By 1832 a large area of land had been demarcated as Damin-i-Koh. It has been declared the property of the Santhals. They had to work within it, practice plough farming, and become settled peasants. In comparison to the santhals, the Paharia tribes who lived on the hills opposed the British effort to settle them and practice agriculture.
The Santhals, however, soon noticed that the land they had cultivated slipped away from their hands. The state levied heavy taxes on the land that the Santhals had cleared, the money lenders (dikus) charged them high interest rates and took over the land when the debts remain unpaid, and the zamindars asserted control over the Damin district. By the 1850s, the Santhals felt the time had come to revolt against the zamindars, money lenders, and the colonial state, in order to establish an ideal world for themselves where they would govern. This issue led to Santhal revolt in (1855-56).