MAINS QUESTIONS DAILY QUESTIONS & MODEL ANSWERS
Q1. Write a short note on tribal movements in India during British Period. (250 words)
Paper & Topic: GS I àModern Indian History
Model Answer:
Introduction:
- Mizos (1810), Kols (1795 and 1831), Mundas (1889), Daflas (1875), Khasi and Garo (1829), Kacharis (1839), Santhals (1853), Muria Gonds (1886), Nagas (1844 and 1879), Bhuiyas (1868), and Kondhas (1817) were among the prominent tribes involved in insurrection during the colonial period.
Body:
- Tribal groups played a vital and integral role in Indian culture. They had their own social and economic systems before to conquest and subsequent assimilation into British possessions. The tribals’ requirements were met by these systems, which were traditional in character.
- The tribal society suffered as a result of British policy. This obliterated their economy and communities, which had previously been largely self-sufficient. Tribal groups from several places rose up against the British. Because they were geared against the colonial administration, their movements were anti-colonial.
The following points might help you understand the features of tribal movements in India during British rule:
- There were two sorts of tribal anti-colonial movements: 1. movements against oppressors such as landlords, moneylenders, traders, thekedars (contractors), government officials, and Christian missionaries, and 2. movements affiliated to and integrated with the Indian National movement.
- The first set of movements can be classified as anti-colonial because they were directed at the classes that were created as a result of British colonialism and who aided the tribals. The tribals regarded these classes as foreigners.
- Moneylenders and landlords took tribal lands when tribals were unable to repay their loans or the interest on them. As a result, the tribals became tenants on their own land, and in certain cases, bound labourers. They were never helped by the police or revenue officers.
- Not only were the judges oblivious of the tribal agrarian system and customs, but they were also unaware of the tribals’ misery. Many tribes such as the Munda, Santhals, Kol, Bhils, Warli, and others in Assam, Orissa, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Maharashtra revolted as a result of land alienation, usurpation, forced labour, minimum pay, and land grabbing.
- In their respective regions, they began movements against their oppressors. Their anti-colonial protests could be classified as anti-colonial. Outsiders (dikus) — landlords, moneylenders, thekedars and missionaries, as well as European government officials – were designated as their foes by Birsa Munda, who promised his people a golden period after removing the outsiders from their country.
- Overall, these movements had social and religious overtones, but they were motivated by difficulties around their own existence. For example, Jatra Bhagat founded the Jatra Bhagat and Tana Bhagat Movement in 1914. It was a movement promoting monotheism, vegetarianism, abstinence from meat and alcohol, and tribal dance. Anti-colonialism and domestic reforms were emphasised by the Jatra Bhagat and Tana Bhagat movements.
- Forest management has also sparked rebellion among some tribes, as forests are the primary source of income in some areas. The laws not only denied tribals access to a variety of forest resources, but they also subjected them to persecution by forest officials. This prompted tribes in Andhra Pradesh and other states to organise. For instance, the Rampa revolt led by Alluri Sitaramaraju.
- These ‘movements’ began under the direction of their respective leaders. Although the movements originated on social and religious problems, as well as against outsider oppression, they eventually amalgamated with the National movement and the anti-tax campaign.
- The tribals used traditional weaponry such as bows, arrows, lathis, and axes to fight their opponents. Their campaign frequently devolved into violence, leading in the assassination of oppressors and the torching of their homes. For instance, consider the Ramoshi insurrection in the Bombay suburbs.
- The government brutally suppressed the majority of the movements. The tribals were forced to follow British policies that were harmful to their interests. However, in response to these setbacks, the government implemented protective administration in tribal areas. The government passed the I Scheduled District Act (1874) and the Govt. of India Act of 1935, which classified tribal territories as excluded areas.
Conclusion:
- During the colonial period, tribals were among the exploited social groups. Tribal movements in India were confined to a few places as a result of the conquest and later assimilation of tribal areas into British territories, but they were still part of the greater national struggle against colonial powers.
Q2. Write a short note on the influence of Bengal region on the India’s independence struggle. (250 words)
Paper & Topic: GS I àModern Indian History
Model Answer:
Introduction:
- Bengal, or West Bengal, is well-known for its significant contribution to the Indian Independence Movement. Bengal became a hotbed of the Indian independence movement and the epicentre of the Bengali Renaissance in the early twentieth century. Following the Swadeshi Movement in the first decade of the twentieth century, revolutionary nationalism developed as a powerful political movement in Bengal. The Swadeshi Movement was born out of Bengal’s fury over the division of the province of Bengal in 1905.
Body:
Bengal’s contributions to India’s freedom struggle:
- The Sanyasi revolt in Bengal lasted from 1763 to 1800. It was essentially a peasant insurrection that began in Dhaka (now Bangladesh’s capital) and stretched all the way to Bihar, with up to 50,000 rebels.
- The Indigo uprising was mostly nonviolent, and it served as a forerunner to Gandhiji’s later nonviolent satyagraha. The dramatisation of the revolution in the play Nil Darpan, as well as numerous other works of prose and poetry, made the revolt extremely popular. As a result, the revolt became a focal point in Bengal’s political consciousness, influencing many subsequent movements in the Indian liberation struggle.
- By equating the Motherland with the Mother-Goddess, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee elevated nationalism to the level of religion. He authored the poem ‘Vande Mataram’ in Anandamath.
- To introduce social and educational reforms to women, the Bengal Renaissance established many journal houses and collaborated with various newspapers and journalistic publications such as Tattwabadhini Patrika, samprakash, sarbashubhankarr Patrika, and Hindu patriot. The Indian national movement gained a stronger social basis as a result of this.
- Bengal rose to national prominence as a result of the Swadeshi movement, and it also became a centre for leftist, socialist forces, primarily the Bengal Intelligentsia ( The Bhadralok).
- MN Roy’s leftists encouraged the establishment of a democratic, civic libertarian polity with socialist policies, which the Indian state eventually became.
- Farmers became important participants in the freedom struggle as the National Movement adopted the concept of radical agrarian reform as one of its core themes, which was influenced by the Communist campaigns in Bengal.
- In several parts of the country, movements in support of Bengal’s unity and the swadeshi and boycott agitation were organised. Tilak, who was instrumental in the movement’s expansion outside Bengal, saw this as the beginning of a new chapter in the national movement’s history. He saw this as a challenge and an opportunity to organise popular mass resistance to British rule and bring the people together in a common cause.
- During the British Raj in the early twentieth century, the Bengal School of Art developed a uniquely Indian modernism that flourished throughout India. Bengal School of Art artists promote humanism and provide a powerful voice to Indian identity, freedom, and liberation by combining folk art, Indian painting traditions, Hindu imagery, indigenous materials, and images of current rural life.
- The Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar would be the two main organisations that would herald the beginning of the “Agni Yug,” as it was known (the era of fire). Underground cells arose to teach Indians how to make guns and bombs. Anti-Swadeshi authorities who ruthlessly suppressed protesters were routinely assassinated. Such tactics and their success would eventually inspire revolutionaries across the country, from Punjab’s Bhagat Singh to Chittagong’s Surya Sen and, of course, Subhas Chandra Bose.
- The most lasting legacy of Swadeshi Bengal was revolutionary activity, which had an impact on educated youth for a generation or more. It also encouraged gallantry in the face of adversity. The masses were not expected to participate, which, along with the movement’s small upper caste social basis in Bengal, severely constrained the scope of revolutionary activity.
- Lord Curzon, on the other hand, had refined his divide and rule approach by paying Nawab Salim Ullah, one of the Muslim League’s founders, a large quantity of money not to participate in the boycott. Separatism and unhappiness among Muslims would eventually be fueled by separate electorates, and Muslim League leaders would sometimes refuse to collaborate with the Indian National Congress, as shown during the 1942 Quit India Movement.
- It is reasonable to assume that the events of 1905 planted the seeds that would influence the subcontinent’s destiny in terms of nationalism, economic policies, and educational reforms for many years to come. Unfortunately, it planted the seeds of divisiveness, culminating in the country’s partition in 1947.
Conclusion:
- From the Battle of Plassey in 1757 to the walkout of 700,000 workers in Calcutta in February 1946 in support of the Indian navy uprising, Bengal has made a significant contribution to the liberation fight. The story of India’s fight for independence from British imperialism would be incomplete without noting Bengal’s important role.