How the British rule affected the …

student-name Sandra answered this As the British established political power in India and enforced laws, the lives of the tribals changed dramatically. Change was apparent on many fronts, namely The status of Tribal chiefs Position of Shifting Cultivators Forest laws and its impact on tribals Trade and its problems Labour The status of Tribal chiefs First, let us see the position of the Tribal chiefs before the British established power. Many tribal chiefs were important people. Tribal chiefs had economic power and had control over their territories. Some chiefs had their own police force and laid down rules on land and forest management. The position of Tribal chiefs after the British established power. The powers of the tribal chiefs changed after the British came to power. The chiefs did not have any administrative powers, they were only allowed to keep their land and rent them out if they wanted to. The tribal chiefs had to pay tribute to the British, and discipline the tribal groups on behalf of the British. The chiefs lost the authority they had earlier enjoyed amongst their people, and were unable to fulfil their traditional functions. Position of Shifting Cultivators The British did not like people moving from place to place, as was the case with shifting cultivators. They wanted tribal groups to settle down and become settled cultivators as it would be easier to control and administer people who were in one place. The British found it easy to collect revenue from people who were settled in one place and maintain records on them. Land Settlement Act which was enforced by the British defined the rights of each individual to a measured piece of land, and fixed the revenue for that piece of land, which had to be paid to the British. The British enforced this law as they wanted a regular revenue source from the states. Some peasants were declared landowners; others were declared tenants. The tenants had to pay rent to the landowner who in turn paid revenue to the British. The British were not able to control the Shifting Cultivators completely. Water was scare in many areas and the tribals had to move from place to place so that they could grow crops where water was available. So the jhum or shifting cultivators in north-east India insisted on continuing with their traditional practice. Facing widespread protests, the British had to ultimately allow them the right to carry on shifting cultivation in some parts of the forest.