On the Future of Indigenous Traditions - Munin

system of the Adivasis that: “The traditional administrative system for forest and land
for tribals continued untill the Mughal period. Neither Hindu kings nor Muslim rulers
attempted to disturb the traditional administrative system.” Perhaps it was, however,
obvious that within the policy of ‘divide and rule’ their system was given a ‘legal
recognition’ when the “British Government attempted to bring the administration of
tribal areas under government rule.” 90
There have been two different approaches in dealing with the matters of the Adivasis,
both during the colonial and the post-colonial times. Adivasis have been seen as poor,
‘socially backwards’, and the ‘exploited lot’ due to their distinctiveness in the caste
based society. Within this reality, their socio-economic situation needed some
alleviation to come to the common social standards of the mainstream. But on the
other hand the colonial authorities had to deal with occasional uprisings and resistance
from the Adivasis, and for that reason they had to be dealt with in a different way.
In the background of colonial rule the prime objective was to have administrative
control over the land, forests and resources, after the “Diwani (throne and acclaimed
authority of collecting taxes) of Bangal, Bihar and Orissa was given to the East India
Company in perpetual grant by Sah-Alam, Emperor of Delhi on 14 th August
1765…” 91 Taxes levied on Adivasis by Muslim rulers, now were replaced by
introducing Zamindari (landlord) system by the British authorities during the colonial
period. “Zamindars introduced jagirdars, thikedars, (-tax collectors and knights)
courtiers etc. in tribal areas and their muscle men exploited and oppressed the tribe
mercilessly.” 92 The landlord system in the Adivasis areas in the eighteenth and early
nineteenth centaury led to fierce rebellions in parts of West Bengal and Bihar (south
of Bihar now Jharkahnd) again when the British responded by removing landlords and
passing land settlements aimed at securing ‘tribal tenure’ in these areas.
90 Ibid., 31.
91 Manual of Chotanagpur Tenancy Laws, 2002 ed., Vol 2, s.v; “Introduction”, xi.
92 V.S. Upadhyay and Gaya Pandey, Tribal Development in India (A Critical Appraisal) op. cit., 9.
61