Chapter 4

THE TALE OF THE BISHNOIS



ACTIVITY 1: COMPREHENSION

A. Tick the correct alternative:

1. Who was the mother of Jambaji?

(a) Hamsadevi

(b) Ramsadevi

(c) Amritadevi

(d) Kauslyadevi

Answer: (a) Hamsadevi


2. What was the age of Jambaji when the great disaster overtook the Marwar?

(a) Twenty three

(b) Thirty five

(c) Twenty five

(d) Twenty one

Answer: (c) Twenty five


3. How many Bishnois sacrificed their lives to guard their sacred heritage?

(a)336

(b)363

(c) 633

(d)636

Answer: (b)363

 Text-based questions

1. What is the ‘kalpavriksha’ mentioned in the lesson?

Answer: The khejdi tree, as it fulfills many needs like food, shade, and protection


2. What are the two major commandments of Jambaji?

Answer:

  1. Do not cut down any green tree

  2. Do not kill any animal

3. What disaster affected Marwar during Jambaji’s lifetime?

Answer: An eight-year-long drought


4. What vision did Jambaji have at the age of 34?

Answer: He saw that man's destruction of nature was harming the world, and decided to spread a message of living in harmony with nature.


5. What does the word ‘Bishnoi’ mean?

Answer: It means 'twenty-niner', referring to Jambaji’s 29 principles


6. What kind of tree did the Diwan want to cut for lime kilns?

Answer: The khejdi tree


7. Who bravely stood against the Diwan to protect the trees?

Answer: Amritadevi and her three daughters


8. What kind of animals did the Bishnois protect?

Answer: Blackbuck, chinkara, peafowl, and other birds and animals


9. What promise did Maharaja Abhay Singh make to the Bishnois?

Answer: That no green tree would be cut and no animals hunted near Bishnoi villages


10. What is the name of the village where 363 Bishnois were martyred?

Answer: Khejadali


11. How often is the fair held in memory of the martyrs?

Answer: Every year, five days before the full moon in Bhadrapada


12. What did the Bishnois do in memory of the 363 martyrs?

Answer: They planted 363 trees around the surviving khejdi tree


13. What kind of people were the Bishnois before Jambaji’s teachings?

Answer: They were ordinary villagers, but became nature worshippers and protectors


14. Why did the land of Marwar turn into a desert?

Answer: Due to overgrazing, cutting of trees, and long periods of drought


15. Who were the original inhabitants of the Marwar plains before the cattle keepers came?

Answer: The tribal Bhils