Mention about Buchanan’* opinion of how the land of Rajmahal more productive.

Question

Read the following extracts carefully and answer the following questions

On clearance and settled cultivation

Passing through one village in the lower Rajmahal hills, Buchanan wrote:

The view of the country is exceedingly fine, the cultivation, especially the narrow valleys of rice winding in all directions, the cleared lands with scattered trees, and the rocky hills are in perfection; all that is wanted is some appearance of progress in the area and a vastly extended and improved cultivation, of which the country is highly susceptible. Plantations of Asan and Palas, for Tessar (Tassar silk worms) and Lac, should occupy the place of woods to as great an extent as the demand will admit; the remainder might be all cleared, and the greater part cultivated, while what is not fit for the purpose, might rear Plamira (palmyra) and Mowa (mahua).

i. Mention about Buchanan’* opinion of how the land of Rajmahal more productive.

ii. How were Buchanan’* vision and priorities on development different from the local inhabitants?

iii. Explain how the inhabitants of the Rajmahal hill felt about the Buchanan’* ideas of production.

Answer 1

Buchanan on Rajmahal hills

(i) Productive

i. Land should be cleared of woods

ii. Plantations of Asan and Palas, for Tessar (Tassar silk worms) and Lac, should occupy the place of woods

iii. For the expansion and extension of cultivable area

iv. The land which was not fit for cultivation might rear plamira and mahua

(ii) Buchanan and local inhabitants

i. Locals wanted to be in their land

ii. They wanted to carry on their subsistence cultivation but British wanted extensive cultivation.

iii. Locals were close and sentimental to their trees whereas British wanted to clear the lands for cultivation.

(iii) Feelings of locals

i. Suspicious towards Buchanan

ii. Felt discriminated iii Felt critical for each other P