The Bombay Deccan You have read about how the lives of peasants and zamindars of colonial Bengal and the Paharias and Santhals of the Rajmahal hills were changing. Now let us move across to western India, and to a later period, and explore what was happening in the countryside in the Bombay Deccan. One way of exploring such changes is by focusing on a peasant revolt. In such climactic times rebels express their anger and fury; they rise against what they perceive to be injustice and the causes of their suffering.
If we try to understand the premises of their resentment, and peel the layers of their anger, we get a glimpse of their life and experience that is otherwise hidden from us. Revolts also produce records that historians can look at. Alarmed by the actions of rebels and keen on restoring order, state authorities do not simply repress a rebellion. They try and understand it, enquire into its causes so that policies can be formulated and peace established.
These enquiries produce evidence that historians can explore. Through the nineteenth century, peasants in various parts of India rose in revolt against Ü Discuss... What does Buchanan’s description tell us about his ideas of development? Illustrate your argument by quoting from the excerpts.
If you were a Paharia forest dweller how would you have reacted to these ideas? Source