Read the following extract (Source 2) taken answer the questions that follow:
“In this land of the English how hard it is to live”
In the 1930s Verrier Elwin visited the land of the Baigas - a tribal group in central India. He wanted to know about them – their customs and practices, their art and folklore. He recorded many songs that lamented the hard time the Baigas were having under British rule.
In this land of the English how hard
it is to live
How hard it is to live
In the village sits the landlord
In the gate sits the Kotwar
In the garden sits the Patwari
In the field sits the government
In this land of the English how hard
it is to live
To pay cattle tax we have to sell cow To pay forest tax we have to sell buffalo To pay land tax we have to sell bullock How are we to get our food?
In this land of the English.
Quoted in Verrier Elwin and Shamrao Hiuale, Songs of the Maikal.
(i) Who was the Baigas?
(ii) Why did Verrier Elwin visit their land?
(iii) What were the songs about?
(i) The Baigas were a tribal group living in central India.
(ii) Verrier Elwin visited their land because he was very curious about them. He wanted to know their customs, and practices, their art, and folklore.
(iii) The songs that he recorded lamented the hard time the Baigas were having under British rule.