What was Damin-i Koh in Rajmahal area?

Damin-i-Koh was a large area of land in the Rajmahal hills demarcated and declared by the British in 1832 to be the land of the Santhals [1]. The term itself is Persian, meaning 'skirts of the hills'. The British administration created this designated tract to persuade the Santhals to settle as permanent peasants and clear the forests for cultivation [1]. This policy followed the failure of the British to transform the indigenous Paharias into settled agriculturists, as the Paharias resisted the plough and preferred shifting cultivation [1]. The Santhals were required to live within this territory, practice plough agriculture, and clear at least one-tenth of the area within the first ten years [1]. This demarcation effectively separated the Santhal settlements from both the plains' agriculturists and the hill-dwelling Paharias [1].

Sources

1. [1] THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART III, History CLASS XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 9: COLONIALISM AND THE COUNTRYSIDE > 2. The Hoe and the Plough > p. 241