The correct option is Shifting cultivation and settled cultivation.
Explanation
The conflict in the Rajmahal Hills during the late 18th and early 19th centuries was fundamentally a clash between two distinct modes of subsistence and relationships with the land, exacerbated by British colonial policies aimed at maximizing land revenue.
Detailed Analysis
The British sought to expand settled agriculture to increase revenue, viewing forests as wilderness that needed to be cleared. This policy brought two communities into direct conflict:
- The Paharia The Paharias were the original inhabitants of the Rajmahal hills. They practiced shifting cultivation (jhum), collected forest produce, and lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Their primary agricultural tool was the hoe, which scraped the surface of the earth without deep ploughing. They resisted British attempts to settle them or clear the forests.
- The Santhals (The Plough): Failing to subdue the Paharias, the British invited the Santhals to settle in the foothills (an area demarcated as Damin-i-Koh) in the 1830s. The Santhals were ideal settlers who cleared forests vigorously and practiced settled agriculture using the plough.
As the Santhals expanded their settled cultivation lower down the hills, the Paharias were forced to retreat deeper into the upper reaches of the hills. This struggle for land and resources is historically described as the battle between the
hoe (representing the Paharia's shifting cultivation) and the
plough (representing the Santhal's settled agriculture).
Key Takeaway
The conflict in the Rajmahal Hills is symbolized as the struggle between the
Hoe (Paharia shifting cultivation) and the
Plough (Santhal settled agriculture), driven by the British colonial imperative to expand revenue-generating arable land.