Class 9 NCERT - Solved Question Answers Documents

 Page 1


was not enough pasture to feed large 
numbers.
 (ii) Others discovered new pastures when 
movement to old grazing grounds 
became difficult. For instance, the 
new political boundaries between 
India and Pakistan after 1947 stopped 
the movement of the Raikas. So, they 
had to find new places to go. In recent 
years, they have been migrating to 
Haryana where sheep can graze on 
agricultural fields after the harvests 
are cut.
 (iii) Some pastoralists, who were rich, gave 
up their nomadic life. They bought 
land and settled down.
 (iv) Some pastoralists became settled 
peasants cultivating land. Others took 
to more extensive trading.
 (v) Many poor pastoralists borrowed 
money from moneylenders to survive. 
At times they lost their cattle and 
sheep and became labourers, working 
on fields or in small towns.
 Q2. Why were chiefs appointed by the 
British? How was their life different 
from the poor pastoralists?
 Ans. The British appointed chiefs of 
different sub-groups of Maasai, who 
were made responsible for the affairs 
of the tribe (Maasai).
  These chiefs were not honest at all. 
They often accumulated wealth over 
time. They had a regular income with 
which they could buy animals, goods 
and land. Many of them began living 
in towns and became involved in 
trade. Their wives and children stayed 
back in the villages to look after the 
animals. These chiefs managed to 
survive the devastations of war and 
drought. They had both pastoral 
and non-pastoral income and could 
buy animals when their stock was 
depleted.
  But the life of the poor pastoralists 
was full of miseries. They depended 
only on their livestock. Most often, 
they did not have the resources to 
cope with bad times. In times of 
war and famine, they lost nearly 
everything. They had to go looking 
for work in the towns. Some worked 
as charcoal burners, others did odd 
jobs. The lucky could get more regular 
work in road or building construction. 
Thus, there was a wide gap between 
the chiefs and the pastoralists.
 Q3. Write briefly about the pastoral 
nomads found in different parts of 
India.
 Ans. The pastoral nomads were found in 
different parts of India such as in the 
mountains, on plateaus, plains and 
in deserts.
  In the Mountains:
 ? The Gujjar Bakarwals of Jammu and 
Kashmir were great herders of goats 
and sheep. They moved annually 
between their summer and winter 
grazing grounds. In summer, the 
Gujjar herders went up to the high 
meadows — the bugyals, and in 
winter they came down to the dry 
forests of the Bhabar.
 ? The Gaddi shepherds of Himachal 
Pradesh had a similar cycle of 
seasonal movement. They, too, spent 
their winter in the low hills of Shiwalik 
range, grazing their flocks in scrub 
forests. By April, they moved north 
and spent the summer in Lahul and 
Spiti. 
  When the snow melted and the 
high passes were clear, many of 
them moved on to higher mountain 
meadows. By September, they began 
their return movement. 
  On the Plateaus:
 ?	 Dhangars were an important pastoral 
community of Maharashtra. Most 
of them were shepherds, blanket 
weavers, and others are buffalo 
herders. They grew kharif and rabi 
crops like bajra, rice.
Page 2


was not enough pasture to feed large 
numbers.
 (ii) Others discovered new pastures when 
movement to old grazing grounds 
became difficult. For instance, the 
new political boundaries between 
India and Pakistan after 1947 stopped 
the movement of the Raikas. So, they 
had to find new places to go. In recent 
years, they have been migrating to 
Haryana where sheep can graze on 
agricultural fields after the harvests 
are cut.
 (iii) Some pastoralists, who were rich, gave 
up their nomadic life. They bought 
land and settled down.
 (iv) Some pastoralists became settled 
peasants cultivating land. Others took 
to more extensive trading.
 (v) Many poor pastoralists borrowed 
money from moneylenders to survive. 
At times they lost their cattle and 
sheep and became labourers, working 
on fields or in small towns.
 Q2. Why were chiefs appointed by the 
British? How was their life different 
from the poor pastoralists?
 Ans. The British appointed chiefs of 
different sub-groups of Maasai, who 
were made responsible for the affairs 
of the tribe (Maasai).
  These chiefs were not honest at all. 
They often accumulated wealth over 
time. They had a regular income with 
which they could buy animals, goods 
and land. Many of them began living 
in towns and became involved in 
trade. Their wives and children stayed 
back in the villages to look after the 
animals. These chiefs managed to 
survive the devastations of war and 
drought. They had both pastoral 
and non-pastoral income and could 
buy animals when their stock was 
depleted.
  But the life of the poor pastoralists 
was full of miseries. They depended 
only on their livestock. Most often, 
they did not have the resources to 
cope with bad times. In times of 
war and famine, they lost nearly 
everything. They had to go looking 
for work in the towns. Some worked 
as charcoal burners, others did odd 
jobs. The lucky could get more regular 
work in road or building construction. 
Thus, there was a wide gap between 
the chiefs and the pastoralists.
 Q3. Write briefly about the pastoral 
nomads found in different parts of 
India.
 Ans. The pastoral nomads were found in 
different parts of India such as in the 
mountains, on plateaus, plains and 
in deserts.
  In the Mountains:
 ? The Gujjar Bakarwals of Jammu and 
Kashmir were great herders of goats 
and sheep. They moved annually 
between their summer and winter 
grazing grounds. In summer, the 
Gujjar herders went up to the high 
meadows — the bugyals, and in 
winter they came down to the dry 
forests of the Bhabar.
 ? The Gaddi shepherds of Himachal 
Pradesh had a similar cycle of 
seasonal movement. They, too, spent 
their winter in the low hills of Shiwalik 
range, grazing their flocks in scrub 
forests. By April, they moved north 
and spent the summer in Lahul and 
Spiti. 
  When the snow melted and the 
high passes were clear, many of 
them moved on to higher mountain 
meadows. By September, they began 
their return movement. 
  On the Plateaus:
 ?	 Dhangars were an important pastoral 
community of Maharashtra. Most 
of them were shepherds, blanket 
weavers, and others are buffalo 
herders. They grew kharif and rabi 
crops like bajra, rice.
 ?	 The Gollas, Kurumas and Kurubas 
were pastoral communities that 
lived in Karnataka and Andhra 
Pradesh. The Gollas herded cattle. 
The Kurumas and Kurubas reared 
sheep and goats and sold woven 
blankets.  They cultivated small 
patches of land and got engaged in a 
variety of petty trades also.
  On the Plains:
 ?	 Banjaras were yet another well-known 
group of graziers. They were to be 
found in the villages of Uttar Pradesh, 
Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh 
and Maharashtra. They moved over 
long distances in search of good 
pastureland for their cattle. Practice of 
selling plough cattle and other goods 
to villagers in exchange for grain and 
fodder was common among them.
  In Deserts:
 ?	Raikas lived in the deserts of 
Rajasthan. They received meagre 
and uncertain rainfall in this region. 
During the monsoons, the Raikas 
of Barmer, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and 
Bikaner stayed in their home villages 
and, by October, when these grazing 
grounds were dry and exhausted, they 
moved out in search of other pasture 
and water, and returned again during 
the next monsoon. One group of 
Raikas—known as the Maru (desert) 
Raikas—herded cattle and the other 
group reared sheep and goats.
 Q4. Write a brief note on the pastoralism 
in Africa. [HOTS]
 Ans. Over half the world’s pastoral 
population lives in Africa. Even today, 
over 22 million Africans depend on 
some form of pastoral activity for their 
livelihood. They include communities 
like Bedouins, Berbers, Maasai, 
Somali, Boran and Turkana. Most 
of them now live in the semi-arid 
grasslands or arid-deserts where 
rainfed agriculture is not possible. 
They raise cattle, camels, goats, sheep 
and donkeys. They sell milk, meat, 
animal skin and wool. Some also 
earn through trade and transport. 
Others combine pastoral activity 
with agriculture to earn more. Still 
others do a variety of odd jobs so to 
supplement their poor and uncertain 
earnings from pastoralism.
  The lives of African pastoralists 
changed a lot over the colonial and 
post-colonial period. From the late 
19th century, the British colonial 
government in East Africa began 
to expand land for cultivation. As 
cultivation expanded, pasturelands 
were turned into cultivable fields. 
These brought a number of problems 
for the pastoralists. Their life became 
tough.
 V. Source-based Question
 Q. Read the following extract  
(Source D) taken from NCERT 
textbook, page 105 and answer the 
questions that follow:
 In the 1920s, a Royal Commission 
on Agriculture reported:
“The extent of the area available for 
grazing has gone down tremendously 
with the extension of area under 
cultivation because of increasing 
population, extension of irrigation 
facilities, acquiring the pastures for 
Government purposes, for example, 
defence, industries and agricultural 
experimental farms. [Now] breeders 
find it difficult to raise large herds. 
Thus their earnings have gone 
down. The quality of their livestock 
has deteriorated, dietary standards 
have fallen and indebtedness has 
increased.” 
The Report of the Royal Commission 
of Agriculture in India, 1928–
 (i) When was the Royal Commission 
Report on agriculture presented in 
India?
Page 3


was not enough pasture to feed large 
numbers.
 (ii) Others discovered new pastures when 
movement to old grazing grounds 
became difficult. For instance, the 
new political boundaries between 
India and Pakistan after 1947 stopped 
the movement of the Raikas. So, they 
had to find new places to go. In recent 
years, they have been migrating to 
Haryana where sheep can graze on 
agricultural fields after the harvests 
are cut.
 (iii) Some pastoralists, who were rich, gave 
up their nomadic life. They bought 
land and settled down.
 (iv) Some pastoralists became settled 
peasants cultivating land. Others took 
to more extensive trading.
 (v) Many poor pastoralists borrowed 
money from moneylenders to survive. 
At times they lost their cattle and 
sheep and became labourers, working 
on fields or in small towns.
 Q2. Why were chiefs appointed by the 
British? How was their life different 
from the poor pastoralists?
 Ans. The British appointed chiefs of 
different sub-groups of Maasai, who 
were made responsible for the affairs 
of the tribe (Maasai).
  These chiefs were not honest at all. 
They often accumulated wealth over 
time. They had a regular income with 
which they could buy animals, goods 
and land. Many of them began living 
in towns and became involved in 
trade. Their wives and children stayed 
back in the villages to look after the 
animals. These chiefs managed to 
survive the devastations of war and 
drought. They had both pastoral 
and non-pastoral income and could 
buy animals when their stock was 
depleted.
  But the life of the poor pastoralists 
was full of miseries. They depended 
only on their livestock. Most often, 
they did not have the resources to 
cope with bad times. In times of 
war and famine, they lost nearly 
everything. They had to go looking 
for work in the towns. Some worked 
as charcoal burners, others did odd 
jobs. The lucky could get more regular 
work in road or building construction. 
Thus, there was a wide gap between 
the chiefs and the pastoralists.
 Q3. Write briefly about the pastoral 
nomads found in different parts of 
India.
 Ans. The pastoral nomads were found in 
different parts of India such as in the 
mountains, on plateaus, plains and 
in deserts.
  In the Mountains:
 ? The Gujjar Bakarwals of Jammu and 
Kashmir were great herders of goats 
and sheep. They moved annually 
between their summer and winter 
grazing grounds. In summer, the 
Gujjar herders went up to the high 
meadows — the bugyals, and in 
winter they came down to the dry 
forests of the Bhabar.
 ? The Gaddi shepherds of Himachal 
Pradesh had a similar cycle of 
seasonal movement. They, too, spent 
their winter in the low hills of Shiwalik 
range, grazing their flocks in scrub 
forests. By April, they moved north 
and spent the summer in Lahul and 
Spiti. 
  When the snow melted and the 
high passes were clear, many of 
them moved on to higher mountain 
meadows. By September, they began 
their return movement. 
  On the Plateaus:
 ?	 Dhangars were an important pastoral 
community of Maharashtra. Most 
of them were shepherds, blanket 
weavers, and others are buffalo 
herders. They grew kharif and rabi 
crops like bajra, rice.
 ?	 The Gollas, Kurumas and Kurubas 
were pastoral communities that 
lived in Karnataka and Andhra 
Pradesh. The Gollas herded cattle. 
The Kurumas and Kurubas reared 
sheep and goats and sold woven 
blankets.  They cultivated small 
patches of land and got engaged in a 
variety of petty trades also.
  On the Plains:
 ?	 Banjaras were yet another well-known 
group of graziers. They were to be 
found in the villages of Uttar Pradesh, 
Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh 
and Maharashtra. They moved over 
long distances in search of good 
pastureland for their cattle. Practice of 
selling plough cattle and other goods 
to villagers in exchange for grain and 
fodder was common among them.
  In Deserts:
 ?	Raikas lived in the deserts of 
Rajasthan. They received meagre 
and uncertain rainfall in this region. 
During the monsoons, the Raikas 
of Barmer, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and 
Bikaner stayed in their home villages 
and, by October, when these grazing 
grounds were dry and exhausted, they 
moved out in search of other pasture 
and water, and returned again during 
the next monsoon. One group of 
Raikas—known as the Maru (desert) 
Raikas—herded cattle and the other 
group reared sheep and goats.
 Q4. Write a brief note on the pastoralism 
in Africa. [HOTS]
 Ans. Over half the world’s pastoral 
population lives in Africa. Even today, 
over 22 million Africans depend on 
some form of pastoral activity for their 
livelihood. They include communities 
like Bedouins, Berbers, Maasai, 
Somali, Boran and Turkana. Most 
of them now live in the semi-arid 
grasslands or arid-deserts where 
rainfed agriculture is not possible. 
They raise cattle, camels, goats, sheep 
and donkeys. They sell milk, meat, 
animal skin and wool. Some also 
earn through trade and transport. 
Others combine pastoral activity 
with agriculture to earn more. Still 
others do a variety of odd jobs so to 
supplement their poor and uncertain 
earnings from pastoralism.
  The lives of African pastoralists 
changed a lot over the colonial and 
post-colonial period. From the late 
19th century, the British colonial 
government in East Africa began 
to expand land for cultivation. As 
cultivation expanded, pasturelands 
were turned into cultivable fields. 
These brought a number of problems 
for the pastoralists. Their life became 
tough.
 V. Source-based Question
 Q. Read the following extract  
(Source D) taken from NCERT 
textbook, page 105 and answer the 
questions that follow:
 In the 1920s, a Royal Commission 
on Agriculture reported:
“The extent of the area available for 
grazing has gone down tremendously 
with the extension of area under 
cultivation because of increasing 
population, extension of irrigation 
facilities, acquiring the pastures for 
Government purposes, for example, 
defence, industries and agricultural 
experimental farms. [Now] breeders 
find it difficult to raise large herds. 
Thus their earnings have gone 
down. The quality of their livestock 
has deteriorated, dietary standards 
have fallen and indebtedness has 
increased.” 
The Report of the Royal Commission 
of Agriculture in India, 1928–
 (i) When was the Royal Commission 
Report on agriculture presented in 
India?
 (ii) What was it about?
 (iii) What problems did the breeders 
face? [HOTS]
 Ans. (i) The Royal Commission Report on 
agriculture was presented in India in 
1928.
 (ii) The report was about the rapid 
reduction in the area available for 
grazing. This was done to expand 
cultivation. The report also highlighted 
the causes which were:
  – Increasing population.
 
 (i) Mention any four nomadic tribes with the help of the map and mention the states 
they are found in.
   – Extension of irrigation facilities.
  – Acquiring the pastures for government                             
    purposes.
 (iii) It became difficult for the breeders 
to raise large herds. Thus, their 
earnings went down. The quality of 
their livestock also deteriorated.
 VI. Picture/Map-based Questions
 Q. Observe the map carefully. It indicates 
the location of different pastoral 
communities in India. On the basis 
of your observation, answer the 
following questions.
Page 4


was not enough pasture to feed large 
numbers.
 (ii) Others discovered new pastures when 
movement to old grazing grounds 
became difficult. For instance, the 
new political boundaries between 
India and Pakistan after 1947 stopped 
the movement of the Raikas. So, they 
had to find new places to go. In recent 
years, they have been migrating to 
Haryana where sheep can graze on 
agricultural fields after the harvests 
are cut.
 (iii) Some pastoralists, who were rich, gave 
up their nomadic life. They bought 
land and settled down.
 (iv) Some pastoralists became settled 
peasants cultivating land. Others took 
to more extensive trading.
 (v) Many poor pastoralists borrowed 
money from moneylenders to survive. 
At times they lost their cattle and 
sheep and became labourers, working 
on fields or in small towns.
 Q2. Why were chiefs appointed by the 
British? How was their life different 
from the poor pastoralists?
 Ans. The British appointed chiefs of 
different sub-groups of Maasai, who 
were made responsible for the affairs 
of the tribe (Maasai).
  These chiefs were not honest at all. 
They often accumulated wealth over 
time. They had a regular income with 
which they could buy animals, goods 
and land. Many of them began living 
in towns and became involved in 
trade. Their wives and children stayed 
back in the villages to look after the 
animals. These chiefs managed to 
survive the devastations of war and 
drought. They had both pastoral 
and non-pastoral income and could 
buy animals when their stock was 
depleted.
  But the life of the poor pastoralists 
was full of miseries. They depended 
only on their livestock. Most often, 
they did not have the resources to 
cope with bad times. In times of 
war and famine, they lost nearly 
everything. They had to go looking 
for work in the towns. Some worked 
as charcoal burners, others did odd 
jobs. The lucky could get more regular 
work in road or building construction. 
Thus, there was a wide gap between 
the chiefs and the pastoralists.
 Q3. Write briefly about the pastoral 
nomads found in different parts of 
India.
 Ans. The pastoral nomads were found in 
different parts of India such as in the 
mountains, on plateaus, plains and 
in deserts.
  In the Mountains:
 ? The Gujjar Bakarwals of Jammu and 
Kashmir were great herders of goats 
and sheep. They moved annually 
between their summer and winter 
grazing grounds. In summer, the 
Gujjar herders went up to the high 
meadows — the bugyals, and in 
winter they came down to the dry 
forests of the Bhabar.
 ? The Gaddi shepherds of Himachal 
Pradesh had a similar cycle of 
seasonal movement. They, too, spent 
their winter in the low hills of Shiwalik 
range, grazing their flocks in scrub 
forests. By April, they moved north 
and spent the summer in Lahul and 
Spiti. 
  When the snow melted and the 
high passes were clear, many of 
them moved on to higher mountain 
meadows. By September, they began 
their return movement. 
  On the Plateaus:
 ?	 Dhangars were an important pastoral 
community of Maharashtra. Most 
of them were shepherds, blanket 
weavers, and others are buffalo 
herders. They grew kharif and rabi 
crops like bajra, rice.
 ?	 The Gollas, Kurumas and Kurubas 
were pastoral communities that 
lived in Karnataka and Andhra 
Pradesh. The Gollas herded cattle. 
The Kurumas and Kurubas reared 
sheep and goats and sold woven 
blankets.  They cultivated small 
patches of land and got engaged in a 
variety of petty trades also.
  On the Plains:
 ?	 Banjaras were yet another well-known 
group of graziers. They were to be 
found in the villages of Uttar Pradesh, 
Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh 
and Maharashtra. They moved over 
long distances in search of good 
pastureland for their cattle. Practice of 
selling plough cattle and other goods 
to villagers in exchange for grain and 
fodder was common among them.
  In Deserts:
 ?	Raikas lived in the deserts of 
Rajasthan. They received meagre 
and uncertain rainfall in this region. 
During the monsoons, the Raikas 
of Barmer, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and 
Bikaner stayed in their home villages 
and, by October, when these grazing 
grounds were dry and exhausted, they 
moved out in search of other pasture 
and water, and returned again during 
the next monsoon. One group of 
Raikas—known as the Maru (desert) 
Raikas—herded cattle and the other 
group reared sheep and goats.
 Q4. Write a brief note on the pastoralism 
in Africa. [HOTS]
 Ans. Over half the world’s pastoral 
population lives in Africa. Even today, 
over 22 million Africans depend on 
some form of pastoral activity for their 
livelihood. They include communities 
like Bedouins, Berbers, Maasai, 
Somali, Boran and Turkana. Most 
of them now live in the semi-arid 
grasslands or arid-deserts where 
rainfed agriculture is not possible. 
They raise cattle, camels, goats, sheep 
and donkeys. They sell milk, meat, 
animal skin and wool. Some also 
earn through trade and transport. 
Others combine pastoral activity 
with agriculture to earn more. Still 
others do a variety of odd jobs so to 
supplement their poor and uncertain 
earnings from pastoralism.
  The lives of African pastoralists 
changed a lot over the colonial and 
post-colonial period. From the late 
19th century, the British colonial 
government in East Africa began 
to expand land for cultivation. As 
cultivation expanded, pasturelands 
were turned into cultivable fields. 
These brought a number of problems 
for the pastoralists. Their life became 
tough.
 V. Source-based Question
 Q. Read the following extract  
(Source D) taken from NCERT 
textbook, page 105 and answer the 
questions that follow:
 In the 1920s, a Royal Commission 
on Agriculture reported:
“The extent of the area available for 
grazing has gone down tremendously 
with the extension of area under 
cultivation because of increasing 
population, extension of irrigation 
facilities, acquiring the pastures for 
Government purposes, for example, 
defence, industries and agricultural 
experimental farms. [Now] breeders 
find it difficult to raise large herds. 
Thus their earnings have gone 
down. The quality of their livestock 
has deteriorated, dietary standards 
have fallen and indebtedness has 
increased.” 
The Report of the Royal Commission 
of Agriculture in India, 1928–
 (i) When was the Royal Commission 
Report on agriculture presented in 
India?
 (ii) What was it about?
 (iii) What problems did the breeders 
face? [HOTS]
 Ans. (i) The Royal Commission Report on 
agriculture was presented in India in 
1928.
 (ii) The report was about the rapid 
reduction in the area available for 
grazing. This was done to expand 
cultivation. The report also highlighted 
the causes which were:
  – Increasing population.
 
 (i) Mention any four nomadic tribes with the help of the map and mention the states 
they are found in.
   – Extension of irrigation facilities.
  – Acquiring the pastures for government                             
    purposes.
 (iii) It became difficult for the breeders 
to raise large herds. Thus, their 
earnings went down. The quality of 
their livestock also deteriorated.
 VI. Picture/Map-based Questions
 Q. Observe the map carefully. It indicates 
the location of different pastoral 
communities in India. On the basis 
of your observation, answer the 
following questions.
 (ii) Where were the Gollas, Kurumas and 
Kurubas found? Write briefly about 
them.
 Ans.(i) (a) The Gujjar Bakarwals — Jammu 
and Kashmir 
 (b)  The Gaddi shepherds — Himachal 
Pradesh 
 (c)  Dhangars — Maharashtra.
 (d)  Raikas — Rajasthan.
 (ii) The Gollas, Kurumas and Kurubas lived 
in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh. The 
Gollas herded cattle. The Kurumas and 
Kurubas reared sheep and goats and 
sold woven blankets. They lived near 
the woods, cultivated small patches 
of land, engaged in a variety of petty 
trades and took care of their herds.
 VII. Value-based Questions
 Q1. Pastoralists form an important 
segment of the Indian population. But 
their lives got badly affected during 
the colonial government in India. 
Their movements were restricted, the 
available area of their pastureland 
declined. Inspite of all these hurdles, 
they maintained their entity with full 
grace.
   Give three values which are reflected 
from them.
 Ans. The British colonial government in 
India posed many problems before the 
nature-loving pastoralists. But they 
did not get discouraged. Instead, they 
showed the following values which are 
really inspiring to all:
 (i) Unity 
 (ii) Inner strength
 (iii) Determination
 (iv) Respect for self-dignity
 Q2. Which values were associated with the 
warriors in Maasai society?
 Ans. The Maasai society was divided into two 
social categories — elders and warriors. 
The warriors consisted of younger 
people. They were mainly responsible 
for the protection of the tribe. They 
defended the community and organised 
cattle raids. Once they raided the cattle 
of other pastoral groups, they could 
easily prove their manliness. 
  The values associated with these 
warriors are:
 (i) Team work
 (ii) Determination
 (iii) Dutifulness
TEST YOUR SKILLS
 1. How were the reserved forests different 
from the protected forests?
 2. How did the Wasteland Rules change 
the life of pastoralists?
 3. What kind of life did the chiefs lead?
 4. Who were the Gujjar Bakarwals?
 5. What is meant by the cyclical 
movement of the pastoral nomads?
???