Page 1 - Lesson Notes-SubTopic-3-A Closer Look Std-8-History-Ch-4
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SAI International School
Class- VIII
Subject- History
Chapter-4 Tribals, Dikus and the Vision of a Golden Age
Sub Topic 3: A Closer Look
LESSON NOTES
Tribal groups from different parts of the country rebelled against-
A Closer Look
⚫ The changes in laws
⚫ The restrictions on their practices
⚫ The new taxes they had to pay
⚫ The exploitation by traders and moneylenders
⚫ Birsa was born in the mid-1870s and as an adolescent, he heard
Birsa Munda
tales of the Munda uprisings of the past and saw the sirdars
(leaders) of the community urging the people to revolt.
⚫ In the local missionary school, he heard that it was possible for
the Mundas to attain the Kingdom of Heaven, and regain their
lost rights.
⚫ Birsa also spent some time in the company of a prominent
Vaishnav preacher.
⚫ Birsa started a movement and it aimed at reforming tribal society.
⚫ He urged the Mundas to give up drinking liquor, clean their
village, and stop believing in witchcraft and sorcery.
Mundas Tribal ⚫ In 1895 Birsa urged his followers to recover their glorious past.
Past
⚫ He talked of a golden age in the past – a satyug (the age of truth)
⚫ Where Mundas lived a good life, constructed embankments,
tapped natural springs, planted trees and orchards, practised
cultivation to earn their living.
