1.

How were the lives of forest dwellers transformed in the sixteenth and seventeenthcenturies ?

Answer»

Solution :Transformation in the lives of forest-dwellers (sixteenthand seventeenth centuries):
(i) Huge areaswere covered with forestsin the variousparts of India in the 16th and 17THCENTURY. Forest - dwellerswerecalledJungli. The term .Jungli. was used to describe those whose occupations included activitiessuchas hunting, gathering of forest produce, and shifting cultivation.
(ii)These activitieswere performedaccording toa specific reason in the variousregions. Considerthe exampleof the Bhils whofished in summerand collected forest produce in spring. Such ACTIVITIES enabled theforest TRIBES to be mobile whichwas a characteristicfeature of their life.
(iii) Asthe state required elephants for the consolidation of mighty army, the peshkesh was levied on the forest people for supply of elephants.
(iv)The livesof the forest-dwellersled to the spreadof commercial agriculture. Forest productslike honey, beeswax, gum and lac were in hugedemand. Gum and lac became major items ofoverseasexportsin the seventeenth century, and earnedvaluableforeign EXCHANGE.
(v) Elephants werealso captured and sold.
(vi)Tribes like the Punjab Lohanisengaged in overlandtrade with Afghanistan and internaltrade in Punjab as well .
(vii)Social factors werealso responsiblefor transforming the lives ofthe forest-dwellers.
(viii) Many tribalchiefs became zamindars, some even becamekings. They recruit people fromthierown tribes in their army. Forexamplein Assam, Kings depended on people who renderedmilitary services in exchangeof land .
(ix) Bythe sixteenth century, the transition from a tribal to a monarchial system had taken place. InAin-i Akbari, description has been mentionedaboutthe existence of tribal kingdoms in north-eastern India.
(x)Description is alsomade regardingthe kings who fought and CONQUERED an number of tribes, New cultural influences alsoentered in the forested areas. Probably sufi saintsplayed a remarkable role in spreading Islam in theseareas.


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