Class 7: Tribes, Nomads and Settled Communities

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Tribes, Nomads and Settled Communities

Important Questions and Answers

Tribal Societies

1. What was the difference between caste-based societies and tribes?
   • Caste-based societies followed the rules made by the Brahmanas.
   • They were divided into many unequal classes (high and low, rich and poor).
   • Tribes did not follow such rules, nor were they divided into many unequal classes.
   • Tribal people lived together with kinship bonds and treated each other more equally.
2. Who were tribal people?
   • Tribal people were groups that lived in forests, hills and villages.
   • They had their own customs and oral traditions but did not keep written records.
   • They lived by hunting, gathering, farming, and herding.
   • They controlled land and pastures jointly and divided them among households by their own rules.
3. How do historians today find out about tribal people?
   Historians use the oral traditions, customs, and songs of tribal people to write their history.

Important Tribes of India

4. Name some important tribes of Punjab and north-west India.
   • Khokhars were powerful in Punjab in the 13th–14th centuries.
   • Gakkhars became powerful later. Kamal Khan Gakkhar was made a noble by Akbar.
   • Langahs and Arghuns ruled in Multan and Sind before being defeated by the Mughals.
   • Balochis were a large tribe divided under different chiefs.
5. Which tribes lived in the Himalayan and north-eastern regions?
   • Gaddis (shepherds) lived in the western Himalayas.
   • Nagas, Ahoms and many other tribes dominated the north-east.
6. Which tribes lived in present-day Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Bengal?
   • The Cheros were powerful by the 12th century but defeated by Raja Man Singh and later Aurangzeb's army.
   • Mundas and Santals were also important tribes here.
7. Name some important tribes of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat.
   • Kolis, Berads in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
   • Kolis also lived in Gujarat.
8. Which were the large tribes in central India?
   • Gonds lived in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh.

Nomads and Traders

9. Who were nomads?
   Nomads were people who moved from one place to another with their herds. They lived on milk, ghee, and wool and exchanged them for grain, cloth, and utensils.
10. Who were Banjaras? Why were they important?
    • Banjaras were the most important trader-nomads.
    • Their trading group was called a tanda.
    • They carried grains on bullocks and sold them in towns and villages.
    • They also supplied food grains to Mughal armies during campaigns.
11. How did Peter Mundy describe the Banjaras?
    • He said a tanda could have 14,000 oxen carrying grains.
    • Banjaras traveled with wives, children, and oxen.
    • They sold grains where they were costlier.
    • They moved 6-7 miles a day and let their oxen graze freely after unloading.

Rajputs and Social Change

12. How did tribal people become part of the caste system?
    • Over time, some powerful tribes became Rajputs with the support of Brahmanas.
    • Tribal chiefs joined as rulers while ordinary members joined lower castes.
    • Some tribes adopted Islam and rejected the caste system.

The Gonds

13. Where did Gonds live?
    Gonds lived in a vast forested region called Gondwana. They practised shifting cultivation.
14. How was Gond society organised?
    • The Gond tribe was divided into smaller clans with their own rajas.
    • Their kingdom was divided into garhs (forts), which were further divided into chaurasi (84 villages).
    • Each chaurasi was subdivided into barhots (12 villages each).
15. What social changes took place in Gond society?
    • Brahmanas received land grants and became influential.
    • Gond rajas began to call themselves Rajputs (example: Aman Das, Sangram Shah).
    • This created social and economic inequality.
16. Who was Rani Durgawati?
    • She was a Gond ruler who ruled Garha Katanga after her husband Dalpat's death.
    • In 1565, Mughal forces under Asaf Khan attacked her kingdom.
    • She resisted strongly but was defeated and chose death instead of surrender.
17. Why was Garha Katanga important for the Mughals?
    It was very rich and earned wealth by exporting elephants. When defeated, the Mughals captured precious coins, elephants, and booty.

The Ahoms

18. Who were the Ahoms and where did they come from?
    The Ahoms migrated from present-day Myanmar to the Brahmaputra valley in the 13th century. They created a powerful state by defeating the older landlords (bhuiyans).
19. How did the Ahoms expand their kingdom?
    • They annexed the Chhutiya kingdom in 1523 and Koch-Hajo in 1581.
    • They subdued many tribes and built a strong state using gunpowder and cannons.
20. What was the Ahom system of forced labour?
    • The system was called paiks.
    • Every village had to send workers by rotation.
    • People were also shifted from heavily populated areas to less populated ones.
21. What other works did the Ahoms do apart from fighting?
    • They built dams and irrigation systems.
    • They introduced new methods of rice cultivation.
22. What was the religion and culture of the Ahoms?
    • Originally they worshipped their tribal gods.
    • Later Brahmanas were given land grants and temples were built.
    • In Sib Singh's reign (1714–1744), Hinduism became the main religion, but old traditions continued.
    • Ahoms promoted poetry, theatre, and translation of Sanskrit works into Assamese.
23. Why did the Mughals want to conquer the Gonds and Ahoms?
    • The Mughals wanted Gond land because it was rich in wealth, elephants, and forts.
    • They wanted Ahom land because it had fertile plains, control over the Brahmaputra valley, and was strategically important.
24. Who was Lachit Barphukan?
    • He was a great Ahom General.
    • In 1671, he defeated the Mughal army of Aurangzeb in the Battle of Saraighat near Guwahati.
    • The battle was fought mainly on the Brahmaputra river.
    • He used clever war strategies and the terrain to stop Mughal expansion.
    • Today a memorial of Lachit Barphukan stands at the site of this battle.

NCERT Questions – Simplified Answers

1. What kinds of exchanges took place between nomadic pastoralists and settled agriculturists?
   1. Nomadic pastoralists gave milk, ghee, wool, and animals to farmers.
   2. They received food grains, cloth, utensils, and other daily needs from farmers.
   3. These exchanges happened in village markets and towns as pastoralists moved from place to place.
2. How was the administration of the Ahom state organised?
   1. The Ahoms used forced labour called paiks for work and army.
   2. A census was done to keep records of people and duties.
   3. Each village sent paiks in rotation for public works (like building dams, irrigation) and for war.
   4. People from crowded areas were shifted to new places to spread work and control clans.
   5. Ahom society was divided into clans called khels, which controlled villages.
   6. Peasants got land from the village community, not directly from the king.
3. What changes took place in varna-based society?
   1. Many smaller castes called jatis developed within the varnas.
   2. Jatis became important in deciding people's work and social rules.
   3. Tribes and new groups of workers were added into the caste system as separate jatis.
   4. New Rajput clans rose to power, showing change within Kshatriyas.
4. How did tribal societies change after being organised into a state?
   1. Tribal society, which was earlier more equal, became unequal.
   2. Some families became rulers, while many others became part of lower jatis.
   3. Rulers gave land to Brahmanas and temples and took high titles like Rajput kings.
   4. They built organised administration and officials for control.
   5. Old tribal customs and worship continued along with new Hindu traditions.
5. Were the Banjaras important for the economy?
   1. Yes, Banjaras were very important trader-nomads.
   2. They carried food grains and goods in big caravans called tanda.
   3. Rulers like Alauddin Khalji used them to supply grain to cities.
   4. Jahangir also wrote about their grain trade.
   5. They supplied food to Mughal armies during wars, which helped keep prices stable.
6. In what ways was the history of the Gonds different from that of the Ahoms? Were there any similarities?
   Differences:

   1. Gonds ruled many small kingdoms like Garha Katanga with divisions of garhs (forts), chaurasi (84 villages), and barhots (12 villages).
   2. Ahoms built one big centralised state in the Brahmaputra valley with the paik system.
   3. The Gonds were defeated by the Mughals (Asaf Khan in 1565), while the Ahoms successfully resisted many Mughal invasions.

   Similarities:

   1. In both, Brahmanas received land grants and temples were built.
   2. Both rulers adopted high titles and Hindu customs but kept old tribal traditions too.
   3. Both organised people for military and public works, showing state-building from tribal society.

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