Answer:
Forest dwellers of Mughal India (i) Forest dwellers were termed Jangli in contemporary texts. Being jangli, however did not mean an absence of civilization. The term described those whose livelihood came from gathering forest produce, hunting and shifting agriculture. (ii) These activities were season specific which perpetuated mobility. (iii) For the state, the forest was a place of refuge for troublemakers. (iv) External forces entered the forest in different ways. The state required elephants for the army so the peshkash levied from forest people often included a supply of elephants. (v) The hunt symbolized the overwhelming concern of the state to ensure justice to all its subjects and paintings were also done on it. (vi) The spread of commercial agriculture was an important external factor that impinged on the life of forest dwellers. (vii) Forest products-like honey, beeswax and gum lac - were in great demand and became major items of overseas export from India. (viii) Elephants were captured and sold. Trade involved exchange through barter system. Lohanis tribe from Punjab were involved in overland trade between India and Afghanistan. (ix) Social factors too affected their lives. Tribal chiefs who became zamindars and even Kings, required an army and recruited people from their lineage groups or demanded that their fraternity provide military service, eg: Tribes from Sind region had armies consisting of cavalry and infantry, In Assam, the Ahom kings had their paiks. (x) Sufi saints played a major role in spread of Islam among these people.
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