Class 8 History Chapter 1 Question Answers - Our Pasts III (Part - I)

Q1: What was nij cultivation?
Ans: Within the system of nij cultivation, the planter produced indigo in lands that he directly controlled. He either bought the land or rented it from other zamindars and produced indigo by directly employing hired labourers.

Q2: What were the causes of Champaran Movement?
Ans: When Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa, a peasant from Bihar persuaded him visit Champaran and see the plight of the indigo cultivators there. Mahatma Gandhi’s visit in 1917 marked the beginning of the Champaran movement against the indigo planters.

Q3: How did indigo trade attract foreign traders?
Ans: As the indigo trade grew, commercial agents and officials of the Company began investing in indigo production. Over the years many Company officials left their jobs to look after their indigo business. Attracted by the prospect of high profits, numerous Scotsmen and Englishmen came to India and became planters.

Q4: Why were Bengal artisans deserting villages?
Ans: Artisans were deserting villages since they were being forced to sell their goods to the Company at low prices. Peasants were unable to pay the dues that were being demanded from them.

Q5: What problems did zamindars face under the Permanent Settlement?
Ans: The revenue that had been fixed was so high that the zamindars found it difficult to pay. Anyone who failed to pay the revenue lost his zamindari. Numerous zamindaris were sold off at auctions organised by the Company.

Q6: By the late nineteenth century, the Company forced cultivators in various parts of India to produce which crops?
Ans: The British persuaded or forced cultivators in various parts of India to produce other crops: jute in Bengal, tea in Assam, sugarcane in the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh), wheat in Punjab, cotton in Maharashtra and Punjab, rice in Madras.

Q7: Give two problems which arose with the new Munro system of fixing revenue.
Ans: Two problems which arose with the new Munro system of fixing revenue were:

• 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 the countryside, and villages became deserted in many regions.