Ruling the Countryside

Q1. Fill in the blanks.

                            i.        Growers of woad in Europe saw indigo as a crop which would provide competition to their earnings.

                           ii.        The demand for indigo increased in late eighteenth- century Britain because of industrialisation. 

                          iii.        The international demand for indigo was affected by the discovery of synthetic dyes.

                          iv.        The Champaran movement was against the indigo planters.

                           v.        Before 1865, the Company had purchased goods in India by importing gold and silver from Britain.

                          vi.        In 1792 France abolished slavery in the French colonies.

Q2. True/False

                           i.        Mahalwari Settlement was introduced in Bengal presidency. True

                          ii.        India was the biggest supplier of indigo in the world in nineteenth-century. True

                          iii.        Being a plant of the temperate zones, woad was more easily available in India. False

                          iv.        After the revolt, indigo production collapsed in Bengal and the planters shifted their operation to Bihar. True

                           v.        Mahatma Gandhiji started the Champaran movement against the indigo planters. True

Q3. Who and when did the Permanent Settlement introduced in Bengal?

Ans. The Permanent Settlement was introduced by Lord Cornwallis in 1793.

Q4. What role did women play in the cultivation of indigo?

Ans. Women usually carried the indigo plant to the vats.

Q5. Who were the gomasthas?

Ans. Gomasthas were the agents of planters.

Q6. Who was William Morris?

Ans. William Morris, a famous poet and artist of nineteenth-century Britain.

Q7. Who created Kalamkari print?

Ans. Weavers of Andhra Pradesh in India created Kalamkari print.

Q8. What are the two main system of indigo cultivation in India?

Ans. There were two main systems of indigo cultivation – nij and ryoti.

Q9. Who were the lathiyals?

Ans. Lathiyals were the lathi-wielding strongmen maintained by the planters.

Q10. Where did the English cultivate indigo?

Ans. The English cultivated indigo in Jamaica.

Q11. Where did the Portuguese begin cultivating indigo?

Ans. The Portuguese began cultivating indigo in in Brazil.

Q12. Where did the Spanish begin cultivating indigo?

Ans. The Spanish began cultivating indigo in in Venezuela.

Q13. Who was the President of the Indigo Commission?

Ans. W. S. Seton Karr was the President of the Indigo Commission.

Q14. Who gave the extensive description of Carribean islands?

Ans. Jean Baptiste Labat wrote extensively about Carribean islands.

Q15. Where did the French begin cultivating indigo?

Ans. The French began cultivating indigo in St Domingue in the Caribbean islands.

Q16. What did the Permanent Settlement actually mean?

Ans. The amount to be paid was fixed permanently, that is, it was not to be increased ever in future.

Q18. Which tragedy occurred during 1770 in Bengal?

Ans. In 1770 a terrible famine killed ten million people in Bengal. About one-third of the population was wiped out.

Q19. What is indigo?

Ans. Indigo is a tropical plant which was formerly widely cultivated as a source of dark blue dye.

Q20. Who hold the responsibility of paying the revenue in the Mahalwari Settlement?

Ans. Village headman holds the responsibility of paying the revenue in the Mahalwari Settlement.

Q21. What is common in the two prints—-a Kalamkari print and a Morris cotton print?

Ans. There is one thing common in the two prints: both use a rich blue colour – commonly called indigo.