NCERT Class 8 Social Science Chapter 3 Rulling The Countryside

NCERT Class 8 Social Science Chapter 3 Rulling The Countryside Solutions to each chapter is provided in the list so that you can easily browse through different chapters NCERT Class 8 Social Science Chapter 3 Rulling The Countryside and select need one. NCERT Class 8 Social Science Chapter 3 Rulling The Countryside Question Answers Download PDF. NCERT SST Class 8 Solutions.

NCERT Class 8 Social Science Chapter 3 Rulling The Countryside

Join Telegram channel

Follow us:

Also, you can read the NCERT book online in these sections Solutions by Expert Teachers as per Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Book guidelines. CBSE Class 8 Social Science Solutions are part of All Subject Solutions. Here we have given NCERT Class 8 Social Science Chapter 3 Rulling The Countryside, NCERT Class 8 Social Science Textbook of Our Pasts – III: History, Social and Political Life – III: Civics, Resources, and Development: Geography. for All Chapters, You can practice these here.

Rulling The Countryside

Chapter: 3

OUR PASTS – III [HISTORY PART – I]

NCERT TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS

LET’S RECALL

Q.1. Match the following:

Ans. 

Q.2. Fill in the blanks:

(a) Growers of woad in Europe saw _____________ as a crop which would provide competition to their earnings.

Ans. Woad.

(b) The demand for indigo increased in late eighteenth century because of ______________. 

Ans. Industrial revolution.

(c) The international demand for indigo was affected by the discovery of _______________.

Ans. Woad.

(d) The Champaran Movement was against _____________.

Ans. Indigo planters.

LET’S DISCUSS

Q.3. Describe the main features of the Permanent Settlement.

Ans. The main features of the Permanent Settlement were:

(i) The rajas and taluqdars were recognized as zamindars.

(ii) They were asked to collect rent from the peasants and pay revenue to the Company. The amount to be paid was fixed permanently.

(iii) It encouraged the zamindars to invest in improving the land.

(iv) Since the revenue demand of the state would not be increased the zamindar would benefit from increased production from the land.

(v) If any of them failed to fulfil these conditions, he was ousted from his land and the government did not hesitate in putting his zamindari to auction.

Q.4. How was the Mahalwari System different from the Permanent Settlement?

Ans. 

Q.5. Give two problems which arose with the new Munro system of fixing revenue.

Ans. The problems created by the Munro system of fixing revenues were:

(i) Driven by the desire to increase the income from land, revenue officials fixed too high a revenue demand. Peasants were unable to pay, ryots fled to the countryside, and villagers became deserted in several areas.

(ii) Optimistic officials had imagined that the new system would transform the peasants into rich enterprising farmers. But this did not happen.

Q.6. Why were ryots reluctant to grow indigo?

Ans. Ryots were reluctant to grow indigo because:

(a) The indigo system was intensely oppressive.

(b) Indigo could be cultivated only on fertile lands and these were all already densely populated.

(c) Peasants who were initially tempted by the loans soon realised how harsh the system was. The price they got for the indigo they produced was very low and the cycle of loans never ended.

(d) The planters usually insisted that indigo be cultivated on the best soils in which peasants preferred to cultivate rice.

(e) Indigo had deep roots and it exhausted the soil rapidly. After an indigo harvest the land could not be sown with rice.

Q.7. What were the circumstances which led to the eventual collapse of indigo production in Bengal? 

Ans. (i) In March 1859, thousands of ryots in Bengal refused to grow indigo. As the rebellion spread, ryots refused to pay rents to the planters and attacked indigo factories armed with swords and spears, bows and arrows.

(ii) Ryots swore they would no longer take advances to sow indigo nor be bullied by planter’s lathiyals.

(iii) The government set-up the Indigo Commission to enquire into the system of indigo production. The Commission held the planters guilty and criticized them for the coercive methods they used with indigo cultivators.

(iv) The Indigo Commission declared that indigo production was not profitable for ryots. The Commission asked the ryots to fulfil their existing contracts but also told them that they could refuse to produce indigo in future.

LET’S DO

Q.8. Find out more about the Champaran Movement and Mahatma Gandhi’s role in it.

Ans. When the indigo production collapsed in Bengal, the European planters of indigo shifted their operations to Bihar. When Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa, a peasant from Bihar persuaded him to visit Champaran and see the plight of the indigo cultivators there.

Role of Mahatma Gandhi: Mahatma Gandhi’s visit in 1917 marked the beginning of the Champaran movement against the indigo planters. The European planters oppressed the peasants. Gandhiji reached Champaran in 1917 to witness the miserable conditions of the peasants. The district officials ordered him to leave Champaran but he refused to comply the orders and started the Satyagraha.

Q.9. Look into the history of either tea or coffee plantations in India. See how the life of workers in these plantations was similar to or different from that of workers in indigo plantations.

Ans. For self study.

LET’S IMAGINE

Q. 10. Imagine a conversation between a planter and a peasant who is being forced to grow indigo. What reasons would the planter give to persuade the peasant? What problems would the peasant point out? Enact their conversation.

Ans. Hints: (i) Why are you forcing me to sign the contract?

(ii) Contract should be done on mutual terms and conditions. These should be useful to peasant also. I should get enough amount of money as a salary for my labour and for the work of my other family members.

(iii) I require a reasonably good house to live in. There should be a hospital for the workers. All medical facilities should be provided to the labourers. There should be a school, where my children could go to take education. My duty hours should be fixed. On every Saturday should be paid my salary as well as extra allowances for my work.

Land tax should be charged from Zamindars directly. Otherwise, I am not willing to sow indigo. If you or your agent agree with my terms I will work only for one or two crops.

For next period new and more favourable terms and conditions should be settled. The cost of production should be decided and settled with mutual consultation.

SOME OTHER IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION

VERY SHORT TYPE QUESTIONS ANSWER 

Q.1. When did East India Company got Diwani of Bengal from Mughal emperor?

Ans. On 12 August 1765, the East India Company got the Diwani of Bengal from Mughal emperor.

Q.2. When and by whom introduced Permanent Settlement of land revenue?

Ans. The Permanent Settlement of land revenue was introduced by Lord Cornwallis in 1793.

Q.3. Write any two features of Permanent Settlement of land revenue.

Ans. Features of Permanent Settlement of land revenue:

(i) The Company got a fixed amount of revenue every year.

(ii) It became possible for the Company to administer various departments of the system.

Q.4. Who were Ryots?

Ans. The owner of the land who cultivated land were known as ryots.

Q.5. Define the concept ‘Mahal’.

Ans. In British revenue records, Mahal was a revenue estate which be a village or a group of villages.

Q.6. What were the two methods of indigo cultivation? To whom did they benefit?

Ans. The two methods of indigo cultivation were:

1. Nij.

2. Ryoti.

Both these methods of indigo cultivation favoured the Britishers.

Q.7. Who was the first indigo planter?

Ans. Louis Bonard was the first indigo planter.

Q.8. Define the term plantation.

Ans. A large farm operated by a planter employing various forms of forced labour. Plantations are associated with the production of coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, tea and cotton.

Q.9. How much indigo was imported to Britain by 1788 and how much its proportion gone up by 1810?

Ans. In 1788 only about 30 per cent of the indigo was imported into Britain from India. By 1810, the proportion had gone up to 95 per cent.

Q.10. What was bigha?

Ans. It is a unit of measurement of land, before British rule. The size of this area varied. In Bengal, the British standardized it to about one-third of an acre.

SHORT TYPE QUESTIONS ANSWER 

Q.1. What was the Blue Rebellion?

Ans. Indian farmers rebelled against being forced to grow indigo plants. In March 1859, thousands of ryots (farmers) in Bengal refused to grow Indigo. This was the Blue Rebellion.

Q.2. What did the Company have to do as Diwan? 

Ans. (i) As Diwan, the company became the chief financial administrator of the territory under its control.

(ii) Now it had to think of administering the land and organizing its revenue resources.

Q.3. Why did the Company try to expand the cultivation of opium and indigo?

Ans. The Company tried to expand the cultivation of opium and indigo as the British realised that the countryside could not only yield revenue, it could also grow the crops that Europe required. 

Q.4. Why was Ryotwari system of land revenue considered better than Permanent system of land revenue?

Ans. (i) It was considered better because under the Ryotwari system, the condition of the farmers improved as they were accepted as the owners of the land.

(ii) It also proved beneficial to the Company as it improved the income of the Company.

Q.5. What problems were faced by Bengal economy? 

Ans. The problems that were faced by the Bengal economy were as under: 

(i) Artisans were deserting villages since they were being forced to sell their goods to the Company at low prices. 

(ii) Peasants were unable to pay the dues that were being demanded from them. 

(iii) Artisanal production was in decline and agricultural cultivation showed signs of collapse.

Q.6. Discuss the Mahalwari System of land revenue. Why was it considered good?

Ans. Mahalwari system was introduced in the North Western provinces of the Bengal Presidency by an Englishman called Halt Mackenzie in 1822. 

This land revenue system had the following features:

(a) Under this system, the land revenue settlement was made with a group of villages, collectively known as Mahal’. 

(b) The estimated revenue of each plot within a village was added calculate, the revenue that each village (Mahal) had to pay.

(c) Revenue was to be periodically revised and not permanently fixed. 

(d) The charge of collecting the revenue and paying it to the company was given to the village headman, rather than to the zamindar.

Q. 7. What were the problems associated with Ryoti system of Indigo cultivation?

Ans. Following were the problems associated with Ryoti system of Indigo cultivation:

(a) The price the ryots or peasants got for the indigo they produced was very less. 

(b) The planters usually insisted that the indigo be grown on the best soils in which peasants preferred to cultivate rice. Indigo, moreover had deep roots and it exhausted the soil rapidly. After an indigo harvest the land could not be sown with rice.

LONG TYPE QUESTIONS ANSWER 

Q.1. How was the Blue Rebellion suppressed by the British officials?

Or

Why was the Indigo commission set up? What were its findings? 

Ans. The government brought in the military to protect the indigo planters from assault and set up the Indigo commission to enquire into the system of Indigo production. 

This commission had the following findings:

(a) The commission held the planters guilty and criticised them for the coercive methods they used with indigo cultivators. 

(b) It declared that indigo production was not profitable for ryots. 

(c) The commission asked the ryots to fulfill their existing contracts but also told them that they could refuse to produce indigo in future.

Q.2. Describe any three drawbacks of Permanent Settlement. 

Ans. Three drawbacks of Permanent Settlement of land revenue were: 

(i) This system gave rise to a new social class which came to be known as the landlords. They were loyal to the British and a curse on the Indian peasants.

(ii) Most of the landlords were least concerned about the improvement of their land. They lived a life of luxury in big cities like Calcutta (now Kolkota).

(iii) This system turned out to be very oppressive as the whole burden of paying tax fell on peasants. They had to pay the tax at any cost, even at the time of crop failure.

(iv) Due to this settlement, the Company suffered heavy losses and decided to improve tax to increase their income.

Q.3. What were the three major systems of land revenue followed by the British? Write the salient features of each. 

Ans. The three major systems of land revenue followed by the British were: 

1. Permanent Settlement of Bengal.

2. Ryotwari system.

3. Mahalwari system.

1. Permanent Settlement of Bengal: (a) The zamindars were recognized as the owners or proprietors of the land.

(b) The zamindars could sell their lands and were also given the rights to transfer them.

(c) The cultivators became tenants of the zamindars.

(d) The zamindars gave the Government almost 1/10th of the revenue collected by them from the cultivators. 

(e) The revenue to be paid by the zamindars was fixed on a permanent basis. 

2. Ryotwari System: This system was introduced in parts of Madras and Bombay Presidencies. 

This system had the following features:

(a) The cultivators became the landowners.

(b) The land revenue assessment alt was made after the careful survey of the field.

(c) The cultivators themselves madeposited the land revenue.

3. Mahalwari System: This system derives its name from the word Mahal which means a village or an estate. 

The salient features of the system were: 

(a) Collector went from village to village, inspecting the land, measuring the fields and recording the customs and rights of different groups. 

(b) The revenue was revised periodically and was not fixed.

(c) The village headman was responsible for collecting the revenue.

Q.4. Explain the features of Blue Rebellion. 

Ans. Blue Rebellion which broke out in March 1859 had the following features: 

(a) Ryots refused to pay rents to the planters and attacked indigo factories, armed with swords and spears, bones and arrows. 

(b) Women turned up to fight with pots, pans and also kitchen implements.

(c) Those who worked for the planters were socially boycotted and the gomasthas, the agents of the planters who came to collect rent were beaten up.

(d) Ryots swore that they would no longer take advances to sow indigo nor be bullied by the planters lathiyals the lathi wielding strongmen maintained by the planters.

HIGHER ORDER THINKING SKILL QUESTIONS

Q.1. If the economy was in ruins, could the Company be certain of its revenue income? Most Company officials began to feel that investment in land had to encouraged and agriculture had to improved. How was this to be done?

Ans. After two decades of debate on the question, the Company finally introduced the Permanent Settlement in 1793. According to the terms of the settlement, the rajas and taluqdars were recognized as zamindars. They were asked to collect rent from the peasants and pay revenue to the company. The amount to be paid was fixed permanently that is, it was not to be increased in future.

It was felt that this would ensure a regular flow of revenue into the Company coffers and at the same time encourage the zamindars to invest in improving the land. Since the revenue demand of the state would not be increased, the zamindar would benefit from increased production from the land.

Q. 2. Explain the main features of Nij Cultivation. 

Ans. Within the system of nij cultivation:

(a) The planters produced Indigo in lands that he directly controlled. 

(b) He either bought the land or rented it from other zamindars and produced indigo by directly employing hired labourers.

Q. 3. Explain the Ryoti system of Indigo Cultivation.

Ans. Under the ryoti system:

(a) The planters forced the ryots to sign a contract, an agreement (satta). 

(b) At times they pressurised the village headmen to sign the contract on behalf of the ryots.

(c) Those who signed the contract got cash advances from the planters at low rates of interest to produce indigo.

(d) But the loan committed the ryot to cultivating indigo on at least 25% of the area under his holding.

(e) When the crop was delivered to the planter after the harvesting a new loan was given to the ryot, and the cycle started all over again.

VALUE BASED QUESTIONS

Q.1. Why were planters reluctant to expand area under nij cultivation?

Ans. Planters were reluctant to expand area under nij cultivation because:

(a) Indigo could be cultivated only on fertile lands and these were already densely populated. Planters needed large areas in compact blocks to cultivate indigo in plantations.

(b) This type of cultivation required huge labour which was difficult to mobilise.

(c) Nij cultivation on a large scale also required many ploughs and bullocks. Investing on purchase and maintenance of ploughs was a big problem.

Q.2. How could the zamindar benefit from Permanent Settlement? 

Ans. The revenue was kept fixed under Permanent Settlement. Since the revenue demand of the state would not be increased, the zamindar would benefit from increased production from the land.

Q.3. What was the outcome of the Blue Rebellion?

Ans. The outcome of the Blue Rebellion was:

(a) Indigo production collapsed in Bengal.

(b) Planters now shifted operation to Bihar.

Q. 4. Why did the British wanted to grow indigo plant in India? 

Ans. Britishers wanted to grow the indigo plant in India because: 

(a) The indigo plant grows primarily in the tropics and this was the primary reason for the British to turn to India for the growth of the indigo plant.

(b) By the 13th century Indian indigo was being used by cloth manufacturers in Italy, France and Britain to dye cloth.

(c) Only small amounts of Indian indigo reached the European market and its price was too high. European cloth manufacturers therefore had to depend on another plant called woad to make violet and blue dyes.

(d) Another reason was the industrialisation of Britain as this resulted in the expansion of cotton production creating an enormous new demand for cloth dyes.

OBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTIONS

A. Multiple Choice Questions Tick(Right) the correct of option:

1. What according to British revenue records is a ‘mahal’?

(a) A palace.

(b) A revenue estate which may be a village or a group of villages.

( c) A province.

(d) A field.

Ans. (b) A revenue estate which may be a village or a group of villages.

2. Which of these was a system of indigo cultivation?

(a) Nij system.

(b) Ryoti system.

(c) Both (a) and (b).

(d) None of these.

Ans. (b) Ryoti system.

3. When was Permanent Settlement of land revenue introduced?

(a) 1793.

(b) 1795.

(c) 1805.

(d) 1839.

Ans. (a) 1793.

4. Which system was introduced during the tenure of Lord Cornwallis?

(a) Ryotwari System.

(b) Permanent Settlement.

(c) Mahalwari system.

(d) Nij system.

Ans. (b) Permanent Settlement.

5. What are ‘Vats’?

(a) Fermenting or storage vessels.

(b) Taxes.

(c) Special kinds of instruments.

(d) Agents of planters.

Ans. (b) Taxes.

PICTURE BASED QUESTIONS

Q.1. Look at the following picture and answer the questions that follow:

(a)What is shown in the picture?

Ans. The Slave Revolt in St. Domingue, August 1791.

(b) Where did French planters produce indigo?

Ans. French planters produced indigo and sugar in the French colony of St. Domingue in the Caribbean islands.

(c ) What did the African slaves do when they rose in rebellion in 1791? 

Ans. They burnt the plantations and killed their rich planters.

(d) When did France abolish slavery?

Ans. France abolished slavery in 1792.

(e) What did these events lead to?

Ans. These events led to the collapse of the indigo plantations on the Caribbean islands.