(i) Shifting cultivators
(ii) Nomadic and pastoralist communities
(iii) Firms trading in timber/forest produce
(iv) Plantation owners
(v) Kings/British officials engaged in hunting.
Answer
(i) Shifting cultivators practice slash and burn agriculture. In this practice, parts of the forest are cut and burnt in a rotation. European foresters regarded this practice as harmful for the forests. They felt that such land could not be used for growing trees for railway timber and was dangerous while being burnt as it could start a forest fire. This type of cultivation also made difficult for the government to calculate taxes. Thus, Colonial government banned shifting cultivation. As a result, many communities were forcibly displaced from their homes in the forests. Some had to change occupations, while some resisted through large and small rebellions.
(ii) The reservation of forest areas by the British Government also sealed the fate of many nomadic and pastoral communities like the Korava, Karacha and Yerukula of the Madras Presidency lost their means of livelihood. Earlier these people and their cattle depended totally on the forest from which they were deprived because of the new forest management. Some of these communities began to be called ‘criminal tribes’ and were forced to work in factories, mines, and plantations under government supervision. Thus, these people were forced to operate within new systems and reorganize their lives.
(iii) Firms trading in timber products were given the sole trading rights to trade in the forest products of particular areas. They made huge profits and became richer. The entire timber and forest trade passed on to them. They became powerful and began to cut down trees indiscriminately.
(iv) Plantation owners found that more and more forest land could be cleared for plantations. The British had made it very clear that their system of forestry would be scientific forestry, i.e., plantations. Plantation owners began to reap profits as the British government gave large areas of forest land to European planters.
(v) While the forest dwellers were deprived of their right to hunt deer, partridges and a variety of small animals, the Indian Kings and British officials were allowed to hunt freely in the reserved forests. Under the colonial rule, the hunting increased to such an extent that various species became extinct. A large number of tigers, leopards, wolves were killed as a sporting trophy. Hunting or shikar became a sport. Later the environmentalists and conservators realized many species of animals needed to be protected and not killed.
By: Admin
The similarities between colonial management of the forests in Bastar and Java were :
→ Forest laws were enacted in Java and Bastar.
→ These laws restricted villagers’ access to forests.
→ Timber could be cut from only specified forests and under close supervision.
→ Villagers were punished for entering forests and collecting forest products without a permit.
→ Permits were issued to the villagers for entry into forests and collection of forest products.
→ Both had a forest service.
→ Both followed a system of forestry which was known as scientific forestry.
→ In both places, Forest Acts meant severe hardship for villagers. Their everyday practices — cutting wood for their houses, grazing their cattle, collecting fruits and roots, hunting and fishing became illegal.
→ Constables and forests guards began to harass people.
By: Admin
(i) Railways
(ii) Shipbuilding
(iii) Agricultural expansion
(iv) Commercial farming
(v) Tea/Coffee plantations
(vi) Adivasis and other peasant users.
Answer
(i) Railways played a vital role in the decline of the forest cover in India. For laying railway tracks forest land had to be cleared. Apart from clearing area for tracks, railway locomotives required timber for fuel and sleepers. For all these needs forests had to be cut down. The British government gave contracts to individuals to supply the required quantity of timber. These individuals cut down trees indiscriminately.
(ii) By the end of 19th century, oak forests in England had almost disappeared. This created a shortage of timber for the Royal Navy. If the imperial power was to be protected and maintained, the building of ships was the first priority. So, search parties were sent to explore the forest resources of India. A large number of sleepers began to be exported to England annually. This further led to the indiscriminate cutting of trees year after year which caused deforestation on a massive scale.
(iii) The population was on the rise and the demand for food increased. Peasants extended the boundaries of cultivation by clearing forests. This gave them more land available for cultivation. In addition, there was great demand for cash crops such as tea, cotton, jute, sugar, etc., which were needed to feed the industries of England.
(iv) The British directly encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute, sugar, wheat and cotton. The demand for these crops increased in the 19th century in Europe, where foodgrains were needed to feed the growing urban population and raw materials were required for industrial production. Hence, large tracts of forest land were cleared to make land available for commercial farming.
(v) The colonial state thought that forest land was unproductive. It did not yield agricultural produce nor revenue. Large areas of natural forests were hence cleared to make way for tea, coffee and rubber plantations to meet Europe’s growing need for these commodities. The colonial government took over the forests and gave vast areas to European planters at cheap rates. The areas were enclosed and cleared of forests and planted with tea or coffee.
(vi) The Adivasis and other peasant users, gather forest products and graze their cattle. Their livelihood mainly came from forest produce. This does not destroy the forests except sometimes in shifting agriculture. In fact, now the new trends that promote forest conservation tend to involve local villagers in conservation and preservation. Adivasis and other peasant communities regard the forests as their own and even engage watchmen to keep a vigil over their forests.
By: Admin
Forests are affected by wars and this often leads to deforestation. Forests during wars are freely cut to meet the needs of war. Forests are an important resource and hence during wars they are destroyed by their own country under the 'a scorched earth policy'. This prevents the enemy from using this resource. Many villagers used this opportunity to expand cultivation in the forest.
By: Admin
1. 500 different plant species can be found in one forest patch in
(a) Eastern Ghats
(b) Amazon
(c) Chhattisgarh
(d) North American plains
2. Industrialisation resulted in loss of what % of forests?
(a) 9.3%
(b) 3.9%
(c) 19.3%
(d) 13.9%
3. Deforestation refers to
(a) planting of trees
(b) cultivation of crops
(c) disappearance of forests
(d) depletion of forests
4. Colonial state regarded forests as
(a) no man's land
(b) unproductive and wilderness
(c) source of revenue
(d) sign of balanced eco-system
5. Why did colonists need durable timber?
(a) To build ships for the Royal Navy
(b) To construct bridges
(c) For furniture
(d) To build beautiful homes
6. Each mile of railway track required
(a) between 1670-2200 sleepers
(b) 3 to 5 sleepers
(c) 1760-2000 sleepers
(d) 35,000 trees
7. Which of the following was the reason for forests disappearing near railway tracks?
(a) Wood was used to make railway sleepers
(b) 'Scorched earth' policy of imperial troops
(c) Indiscriminate exploitation by tribals
(d) Indiscriminate cutting of trees by contractors
8. Which of the' following was the factor in development of timber plantations?
(a) Natural forests were left untouched
(b) Lands used for cultivation of food crops were converted into timber plantations
(c) Natural forests were cleared to make way
(d) Tribals were encouraged to settle in forest villages
9. Which of the following was not a feature of 'scientific forestry'?
(a) Natural forests were cut down
(b) One type of trees were planted in rows
(c) Area cut was replanted
(d) Forest officials did not survey and estimate the area
10. Forests were categorised by the Forest Act of
(a) 1865
(b) 1906
(c) 1927
(d) 1878
11. The best forests were
(a) protected forests
(b) village forests
(c) state forests
(d) reserved forests
12. Imperial Forest Reserve Institute was set up in
13. Which of the following is not a feature of shifting cultivation?
(a) Parts of the forest are cut and burnt in rotation
(b) Seeds are sown in the ashes
(c) Plots cleared are cultivated for a few years and then left follow
(d) Single crop is grown on these plots
14. Which of the following species of trees were suited for building ships and railways?
(a) Sal and Semur
(b) Teak and Mahogany
(c) Rosewood and Sal
(d) Teak and Sal
By: Admin
15. Local name for Swidden Agriculture in India
(a) Milpa
(b) Lading
(c) Kumri
(d) Chena
16. In which parts is Swidden agriculture practised?
(a) Asia, Africa and S. America
(b) Asia, S. America and Thailand
(c) Asia, Africa and China
(d) Asia, S. America and Europe
17. What was not a factor in discouragement of shifting agriculture?
(a) Land so used could not grow timber
(b) It made it harder for government to calculate taxes
(c) Many local communities were displaced
(d) There was danger of flames spreading
18. Which of the following was true under colonial rule?
(а) Forest people retained customary right of hunt
(b) Scale of hunting decreased
(c) Scale of hunting increased
(d) Killing of large animals was discouraged
19. Who among the following was leader of rebel foresters in Andhra Pradesh?
1. The new forest management laws changed the lifestyle of nomadic and pastoral communities.
2. Their natural grazing lands were either changed into agricultural land or reserves.
3. Many communities were classified as criminal tribes.
4. They were forced to settle in the village under strict vigilance.
By: Admin
1. Traditional trading class of colonies became dependent on colonial powers.
2. Many communities changed their ancestral profession and started trading in forest products.
3. The colonial powers began to regulate the trade.
4. The British made monopoly to Europe firms to trade in forest produce.
By: Admin
1. The colonial power introduced plantation agriculture in India.
2. They flourished as large areas of natural forests were cleared to make way for tea, coffee and rubber plantation.
3. It was done to meet the demand of Europe.
4. These areas were given to European planters for plantation at cheap rates.
By: Admin
1. The new laws prohibited the forest communities to hunt, to collect wood and forest products.
2. Hunting of small animals was prohibited but hunting of large animals was encouraged.
3. The British encouraged the kings and officials to hunt more.
4. They were awarded for killing savage animals such as tigers, wolves etc
By: Admin
1. The British directly encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute, sugarcane, wheat and cotton.
2. Railways were essential for colonial trade and for the movement of imperial troops.
3. Trees were cut to make sleepers that were put into railway tracks
4. Large areas of forests were cleared to establish tea, coffee and rubber plantation to meet the needs of European industries.
5. Trees were cut on a massive scale and vast quantities by the early nineteenth century for ship-building.
By: Admin
1. The people of Bastar got worried when the colonial government proposed to reserve two-third of the forest in 1905.
2. Shifting cultivation was banned.
3. Hunting and collection of forest produce were banned.
4. Some people were allowed a conditional stay in the reserved forest.
5. The condition was that while living in the forest they had to work free for department in cutting and transporting trees.
6. People of many villages were displaced without any notice or compensation
By: Admin
1. British needed forests in order to build ships and railways.
2. The British were worried that the use of forests by local people and the reckless felling of trees by traders would destroy forests.
3. So they decided to invite a German expert, Dietrich Brandis, for advice and made him the first Inspector General of Forest in India.
By: Admin
1. One of the major causes of decline in forest areas was expansion of railways.
2. To run locomotives, wood was needed to run.
3. To lay railway lines sleepers were essential to hold tracks together.
4. As the railways tracks spread through India, larger number of trees was felled
By: Admin
1. Ship building was a major cause of deforestation.
2. As oak forests of Europe were exhausted by ship building industries, this created a problem of timber supply for Royal Navy.
3. The Indian forests were looked upon to provide hard and durable wood to build ships.
4. This led to rapid deforestation.
By: Admin
1. The British saw large animals as signs of a wild, primitive and savage society.
2. They believed that by killing dangerous animals the British would civilize India.
3. They gave rewards for killing of tigers, the wolves and other dangerous animals on the ground that they posed threat to cultivation
By: Admin
1. The British directly encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute sugarcane, wheat and cotton.
2. In the early 19th century the colonial state thought the forests to be unproductive.
3. They wanted to bring land under cultivation so that the land could yield agricultural products and revenue and enhance the income of the state.
By: Admin
To expand its revenue income, the colonial government looked for every possible source of taxation
1. Taxes were imposed on land, on canal water, on salt, on trade goods and even on animals.
2. Pastoralists had to pay tax on every animal they grazed on the pastures.
3. In most pastoral tracts of India, grazing tax was introduced in the mid-nineteenth century.
4. The tax per head of cattle went up rapidly and the system of collection was made increasingly efficient. In the decades between the 1850s and 1880s the right to collect the tax was auctioned out to contractors
By: Admin
1. People began to discuss their issues in their village council or bazaars where ever the headmen of several villages assembled.
2. Although there was no single leader but Gunda Dhur from village Methnar became an important figure.
3. In 1910, mango boughs, a lump of earth, chillies and arrows began circulating among villages. They were actually massages inviting villagers to rebel against the British.
4. Every village contributed something to the revolution expenses.
5. Bazars were looted, the houses of officials and traders, schools and police stations were burnt and robbed, and grains redistributed.
6. Most of those who were attacked were associated with the colonial powers.
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