IX.Chapter 4.History.Pastoralist in the Modern World.
Class 9
Chapter 4.History. Forest society and colonialism
Objective
Dates and events.
1700 and 1995 : Between 1700 and 1995 the period of industrialisation 9.3 % of world's total area was cleared for industrial uses cultivations pastures and fuelwood
Glossary.
Semi barbarians : half savage / uncivilised Sleepers : wooden planks laid across railway tracks
Wilderness : A large area of land that has never been used for building on or for growing things Commodity: it is an economic good usually a resource that has full or substantial fungibility Scientific forestry: A system of cutting trees controlled by the forest department
Customary right : a right of Maori people to engage in traditional practices as protected by the treaty of waitangi
In 1600 approximately one sixth of India's landmass was under cultivation
The demand of jute, sugar ,wheat and cotton increased in 19th century
Between 1880 and 1920 cultivated area Rose by 6.7 million hectares
In 1896 the American writer Richard harding wrote on the Honduras in Central America
By the 1820 search parties were sent to explore the forest resources of India
The spread of Railways from the 1850s created a new demand railways were essential for colonial trade and for the movement of imperial troops
From the 1860 the railway network expanded rapidly by 1890 about 25500 kilometre of track had been laid
In 1946 the length of the tracks had been increased to over 765000 kilometre
As early as the 1850 in the Madras presidency along 35000 trees were being cut annually for sleepers
The colonial government took over forest and gave vast areas to European plant at cheap rates
Rise of commercial forestry
Branded set up the Indian forest service in 1864 and help formulate the Indian forest act of 1865
Imperial forest research institute was set up at Dehradun in 1906
The system they taught here was called scientific forestry
After the forest act was enacted in 1865 it was amended twice once in 1878 and then in 1927
In 1878 act device forest into three categories: reserved ;protected and village forest
villagers wanted forests with a mixture of species to satisfy different needs: fuel,fodder,leaves
Forest department wanted trees which were suitable for building ships or railways
Siadi is used to make ropes ,thorny bark of semur (silk cotton) is used to grate vegetables, oil for cooking and to light lamps can be pressed from the fruit of manua tree
Shifting cultivation /Swidden agriculture are practiced in many parts of Asia, Africa and South America it has many local name such as lading in south east asia ,milpa in Central America , tavy in Africa and chena in Sri Lanka .In India dhya ,penda,bewad,nevad,kumri e.t.c.
Hunting in forest
Over 80000 tigers 150000 parts and 2 lakh wolves were killed reward in the period 1875 to 1925
The maharaja of Sarguja alone shot 1157 tigers and 2000 leopards to 1957
Grazing and hunting by local people were restricted
In the process many pastoralist and nomadic communities like korava,karacha and yerukula of the Madras presidency lost their livelihood
Some of them began to be called ,"criminal tribes", and for forced to work instead in factories mines and plantations under government supervision
Rebellion in the forest
Bastar is located in the southernmost part of chattisgarh and borders of Andhra Pradesh, odisha and maharashtra
A number of different communities live in Bastar such as Maria and muria gonds
,dhurwas,bhatras and halbas
In 1947 bastar Kingdom was merged with kanker Kingdom and become the bastar district in Madhya Pradesh
In 1998, it was divided again into three districts , kanker,dantewada and bastar
In 2001, these became part of Chhattisgarh
The 1910 rebellion first started in the kanger forest area and soon spread to the other parts of these states
If people from a village want to take some wood from the forests of another village they pay a small fee called their devsari,dand or man in exchange
When the colonial government purposed to reserve two third of the forest in 1905, and stop shifting cultivation, hunting and collection of forest produce, the people of Bastar were very worried
Then came the terrible famines in 1899 to 1900 and again in 1907 to 1908
In 1910 mango boughs ,a lump of earth , chillies and arrows, began circulating between villages
In a major victory for the rebels, work on reservation was reduce to roughly half of that planned before 1910
In the 1970s , the world bank proposed that 4,600 hectares of natural sal forest industry
Forest transformation in India
In 1600, the population of Java was an estimated 3.4 million
They were so valuable that in 1755 when the mataram kingdom of Java split, the 6,000 kalang families were equally divided between the two kingdoms
In 1770 the kalangs resisted by attacking a Dutch Fort at Joana,but the uprising was suppressed
In 1882, 2,80,000 sleepers were exported from java alone
Around 1890, Surontika Samin Randublatung village ,a teak forest village,began questioning state ownership of the forest
By 1907, 3,000 families where following his ideas
Since then 1980s , governments across Asia and Africa have begun to see that scientific forestry and the policy of keeping forest communities away from the forest has resulted in many conflicts
In many cases, acrossed India, from Mizoram to Kerala, dense forests have survived only because villages protected them in scared groves known asSarnas, Devarakudu,Kan,Rai,e.t.c.
Objective
Very Short Questions Answer.
Question 1.Which new trade was created due to the introduction of new forest laws ?
Answer : Collecting latex from wild rubber trees.
Question 2. Name the communities living in Bastar.
Answer: Maria and Muria Gonds, Dhurwas, Bhatras and Halbas.
Question 3.Who was Dietrich Brandis ?
Answer: Dietrich Brandis was a German forest expert, whom the colonial government invited for advice and made him the first Inspector General of forests in India.
Question 4.The forest management in Java was under the .
Answer: Dutch
Question 5.After the Forest Act was enacted in 1865, .
Answer : It was amended twic
Question 6.Who were ‘Kalangs’ of Java ?
Answer : Skilled forest cutters and shifting cultivators
Question 7.What are wooden planks lay across railway tracks to hold these tracks in a position called ?
Answer : Sleepers
Question 8.Why did the government decide to ban shifting cultivation ?
Answer : Because when a forest was burnt, there was the danger of destroying valuable timber.
Question 9.Which type of trees were preferred by the forest department ?
Answer :The trees those are suitable for building ships and railways.
Question 10. Indian Forest Service was set up in the year .
Answer : 1864
Question 11.In shifting cultivation, seeds are sown .
Answer : After cleaning and burning the forest land.
Question 12. Give any two local terms for swidden agriculture.
Answer : Dhya, Penda, Jhum, Kumri (any 2).
Question 13. Villagers were punished for .
Answer : Grazing cattle in young stands and cutting wood without a permit or travelling on forest roads with horse carts or cattle.
Question 14.Which forest community is found in Central India ?
Answer : Boigas
Question 15. A British administrator killed 400 tigers. His name was .
Answer : George Yule.
Question 16.The tribes recruited to work on tea plantation were .
Answer : Santhals and Oraons from Jharkhand, and Gonds from Chhattisgarh.
Question 17.The Imperial Forest Research Institute was set up at .
Answer: Dehradun.
Question 18.Why cure Mahua trees precious ?
Answer : Mahua trees are precious because they are an essential part of village livelihood.
Question 19.What were siadi creepers used for ?
Answer:They were used to make ropes.
Question 20.Name the three categories of forests as mentioned in the Act of 1878. Answer :Three categories were : Reserved, Protected and Village Forests.
Question 21.Which species of trees were promoted for the building of ships or railways ?
Answer :Teak and Sal species were promoted for the building of ships or railways.
Question 22.What was the effect of Forest Act on the people living nearby ? Answer : People were forced to steal wood from the forests, and if they were caught, they were at the mercy of the forest guards who would take bribes from them.
Question 23.What steps were taken under the new scheme of scientific forestry ? Answer: Natural forests which had different types of trees, were cut down. In their place, one type of trees were planted.
Question 24.What was the main cause of worry for the people of Bastar ?
Answer : People of Bastar were most worried becausethe colonial government proposed to reserve 2/3rd of the forests in 1905 and stop shifting cultivation, hunting and collection of forest produce.
Question 25.What do you mean by the reserved forests ?
Answer :The 1878 Act divided forests into three categories : reserved, protected and village forests. The best forests were called ‘reserved forests’.
Villagers could not take anything from these forests, even for their own use. For house building or fuel, they could take wood from protected or village forests.
Extra Questions Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1.What is deforestation ? Why is it considered harmful ?
Answer:The disappearance of forests is referred to as deforestation. Forests are cleared for industrial uses, cultivation, pastures and fuelwood.
Clearing of forests is harmful as forests give us many things like paper, wood that makes our desks, tables, doors and windows, dyes that colour our clothes, spices in our food, gum, honey, coffee, tea and rubber. Forests are the home of animals and birds. They preserve our ecological diversity and life support systems. That is why deforestation considered harmful.
In 1865, the Indian Forest Act was passed.
In 1878 and 1927 the India Forest Act was amended.
The Act 1878 made three categories of forest that are Reserved Forests, Protected Forest and Village Forest.
Question 4.
Mention a few commercial crops. Why are they called so? Answer:
Jute, sugar, wheat and cotton are called commercial crops. These crops are used in industries as raw material, so they are called commercial crops. Cotton is used in the manufacture of textiles. Sugar is used to make chocolates and various other confectionery products. Wheat, like sugar is used in the confectionery industry, with biscuits and bread being the major product.
Question 5.
Why did Britain turn to India for timber supply for its Royal Navy? Answer:
The disappearance of the oak forests in England, created problems in timber supply for the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy could not survive without a regular supply of timber. So, the British started their search in all the colonial countries for a regular supply of timber. Their search resulted in the cutting down forests in India. Within a decade, a large amount of timber was exported from India.
Question 6.
Write a note on Dietrich Brandis. Answer:
Dietrich Brandis was a German National and an expert in forest development. The British invited him to India , to seek his advise and he was made the first Inspector General of Forests in India, as the indiscriminate felling of trees worried the British .
Mr. Brandis thought that there should be some proper system to manage forests and the people have to be trained in scientific conservation. They restricted cutting of forest trees and grazing. Anybody who cut trees without permission was punished.
Mr. Brandis set up the Indian Forest Service in 1864. He also formulated the Indian Forest Act in 1865. The Imperial Forest Research Institute was set up at Dehradun in 1906. Mr. Brandis introduced the method of Scientific forestry. In this method, instead of different types of trees, only one type of tree is planted. Every year specific areas of the forest are cut and it is replanted. The trees are cut again after they grow.
The amendment to the Indian Forests Act , implemented by Mr. Brandis was enforced in 1878 . According to this amendment the forests were divided into three categories – reserved, protected and village forests.
Villagers were not happy with the Forest act that promoted only particular species like teak and sal which were needed for hard wood, as they were tall and straight. Villagers who use forest products like roots, leaves and fruits wanted forests with a mixture of species to satisfy different needs like fuel, fodder and food.
Question 7.
Where and when was the Imperial Forest Research Institute set up ? Answer:
The Imperial Forest Research Institute was set up at Dehradun in 1906.
Question 8.
Write a brief note about the geographical location of Bastar. Answer:
Bastar is located in the southernmost part of Chhattisgarh. It is surrounded by Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Maharashtra. The central part of Bastar is situated on a plateau. Chhattisgarh plain and the Godavari Plains are to the north and south of the plateau, respectively. The river Indrawati passes through Bastar from east to west.
Question 9.
Give a brief account of the people of Bastar. Answer:
The people of Bastar belonged to different communities such as Maria and Muria Gonds, Dhurwas, Bhatras and Halbas. Though they spoke different languages they shared common customs and beliefs. The people of Bastar believed that the Earth was sacred and made offerings during agricultural festivals. In addition to the Earth, they respected the spirits of the river, the forest and the mountain.
The boundaries of each village was well marked and the people looked after all the natural resources within that boundary. If people from one village wanted to take some wood from the forests of another village, they paid a small fee called devsari, dand or man in exchange. Some villages protected their forests by engaging watchmen and each household had to contribute some grain to pay them.
Every year a big meeting is organised, where the headmen of villages meet and discuss issues of concern, including forests.
Question 10.
What was Samin’s Challenge? Answer:
Surontiko Samin belonged to the Randublatung village in Java. The Randublatung village was a teak forest village. Samin challenged the Dutch saying that the state had not created the wind, water, earth and wood, so it could not own it.
Samin’s Challenge developed into a widespread movement. Samin was supported by his family members. Soon 3000 families followed his ideology and protested against the forest laws of the Dutch, by lying down on their land when the Dutch came to survey it. Many other villagers refused to pay taxes or fines . Some of them even refused to work for the Dutch in cutting trees.
Question 11.
What are the New Developments in Forestry ? Answer:
Environmentalists have realised the need for ecological balance . Conservation of forests is now seen as an important requirement than growing trees for timber. In order to conserve forests the people living near the forests have to be involved. In India dense forests have survived only because villages protected them in sacred groves known as sarnas, devarakudu, kan and rai.
Villages patrol their own forests, with each household taking turns to do it. They do not leave it to the forest guards.
Local forest communities and environmentalists today are thinking of different forms of forest management and conservation.
NCERT questions answer
.1 Discuss how the changes in forest management in the colonial period affected the following groups of people:
Shifting cultivators
Nomadic and pastoralist communities Firms trading in timber/forest produce Plantation owners
Kings/British officials engaged in shikar (hunting) Solution:
Shifting cultivators: European colonists regarded shifting cultivation harmful to the existence of forests. Also, it stood in their way of commercial timber forestry. There was always the chance of fires spreading out of control and burning down all the precious timber. Thus keeping these factors in mind, the colonial government banned shifting cultivation. Many of these cultivators lost their livelihood in the process and most were also displaced from their homes in the forest.
Nomadic and Pastoralist Communities: Nomadic and pastoralist communities like the Korava, Karacha and Yerukula from the Madras Presidency lost their livelihoods. They were designated as ‘criminal tribes’ by the British authorities and were forced to work in factories, mines and plantations under government supervision.
Firms trading in timber/forest produces: The British gave European timber trading firms the sole right to trade in forest products in particular areas. Grazing and hunting by the local population were restricted by law.
Plantation owners: Vast tracts of natural forests were cleared to make way for tea, coffee and rubber plantations in order to fulfil the demand for these commodities in Europe. Plantation owners, who were overwhelmingly European, were given land at a cheap rate. They were enclosed and cleared of forests and plated with tea or coffee.
Kings/ British officials engaged in hunting: The forest laws deprived forest dwellers their means of livelihood. Before the enactment of these laws, the forest dwellers practised hunting as a means to sustain themselves. After their enactment, they were forbidden from hunting. Hunting instead became a sport where kings and British officials equally hunted big game in huge numbers, bringing some of them to the very brink of extinction.
What are the similarities between colonial management of the forests in Bastar and in Java?
Solution: Forest management of Bastar in India was under the control of the British, while in Java, it was under Dutch management
Just like the British, the Dutch required timber to make sleepers for railway tracks.
The British and Dutch colonial authorities enacted their own version of the forest laws that gave them total control over the forests and depriving the customary rights of the forest dwellers.
Both the Dutch and the British put a ban on shifting cultivation on the grounds that they were dangerous to the existence of forests
The villagers of Bastar were allowed to stay in the forests on the condition that they provide free labour to the forest department. While in Java, the Dutch exempted those villages from paying taxes when they provided free labour to the forest department
Between 1880 and 1920 forests cover in the Indian subcontinent declined by 9.7 million hectares, from 108.6 million hectares to 98.9 million hectares. Discuss the role of the following factors in this decline:
Railways Shipbuilding
Agricultural expansion Commercial farming Tea/Coffee plantations
Adivasis and other peasants users
Solution:
a) Railways:
Railways were an important asset that was essential in maintaining trade through the transport of goods and the domination of the colonies through the transport of troops. Wood was needed to lay the sleepers for railway tracks. The sleepers are what held the tracks from breaking apart. For one kilometre of railway track anywhere between 1760 and 2000 sleepers were required.
Thus vast tracts of forest were cut down to provide the materials for the railways
Ship Building
Before the coming of the industrial revolution, the ships of the early 19th century were made of wood. Britain maintained its colonial possessions through the Royal Navy with its huge number of naval fleets. But in order to maintain them vast tracts of oak forests in England were cut down.
This caused a logistical problem for the Royal Navy as a regular supply of timber was required to build new ships and maintain the old ones. It was easily remedied by cutting down forests of its colonies. Huge acres of forests disappeared as a result with some areas seeing almost complete deforestation as a result
Agricultural Expansion
As the population rose, so did the demand for food. Forestlands were cleared in order to make way for new agricultural tracts. The colonial authorities believed that they can produce more food if they clear the forests. In addition, forests were considered unproductive, to begin with, so they had little qualms in cutting them down in huge numbers. Agricultural land rose by 6.7 million hectares between 1880 and 1920. It can be safely said that agricultural expansions contributed the most towards deforestation.
Commercial Farming of Trees
(i) Forest are diverse not just in fauna, but also flora. So when they were cleared to make way for commercial farming, many species of trees were lost in the process as commercial farming only uses one specific type of trees in commercial farming, depending on the type of plantation it was.
Tea/Coffee Plantation
In order to meet the growing demand for tea and coffee colonial authorities sold huge hectares of forest land to mostly European plantation firms. These firms then cut down the forests to make way for tea and coffee plantations. As a result, many acres of forest were lost.
Adivasis and Other Peasant Users: Adivasis and other peasant communities practised shifting cultivation It involved cutting down parts of forest area are cut and burning the tree roots. Seeds were then sown into the burnt patch and come the monsoon season they were harvested. When fertility declined in that particular area, the same practice was repeated in a different location. So along with losing some of the forest tracts, there were fewer chances of the trees growing back due to loss in soil fertility
Why are forests affected by wars?
Solution: Forest are affected by wars as they are valuable strategic resources. Battlefield assets like towers, guard posts, army camps are made of wood as they can be easily maintained and can be easily pulled down should the need to shift these assets arise. More so the scorched earth policy are enacted should it become apparent that forests will fall under enemy hands.
This is done with regards to area and resource denial. Such was the case with the Dutch when the Japanese invaded their colony in Indonesia during World War II. The Dutch burned huge acres of forests in order to prevent them from falling into Japanese hands.
When they did, however, the Japanese set about recklessly exploiting the timber forests to fulfil their own war demands. This practice would severely impact the local ecology in a negative way for decades to come
Activity and Map work
Activity 1. Each mile of railway track required between 1,760 and 2,000 sleepers. If one average sized tree yields 3 to 5 sleepers for a 3 metre wide broad gauge track, calculate approximately how many trees would have to be cut to lay one mile of track.
Answer 1) Average number of sleepers required per mile
= (1760 + 2000) /2
= 1880 sleepers
Average number of sleepers obtained from one tree = 4
Therefore, approximate number of trees to be cut = 1880 /4 = 470 trees Activity 2. If you were the Government of India in 1862 and responsible for supplying the railways with sleepers and fuel on such a large scale, what were the steps you would have taken?
Answer 1 The Government of India should have taken the following steps
In areas where trees are cut for making sleepers, plant similar nature of trees to those that are cut, so that the forest cover is maintained.
Try to increase coal mining and supply this to the railways as fuel instead of wood, for running the steam engines.
(ii) Limit the cutting of trees by the natives of the forest to only what they personally require and not allow them to trade in wood.
(iv) Prevent poachers from entering the forests to cut wood illegally. Page 96
Activity 3. Have there been changes in forest areas where you live? Find out what these changes are and why they have happened.
Answer There can be a variety of answers. A sample answer is given below
There have been a number of changes in forest areas in India since independence and some which have occurred in my district are as follows
Entry to forest area is restricted and the Forest Department has posted guards to check any illegal entry.
Although, the number of trees in the forest has increased, reduction of rainfall in recent years has stunted the growth of trees.
The Adivasi villagers living inside the forest areas are gradually leaving their traditional occupations and migrating to the towns for education and jobs.
A number of wild animals like tigers and elephants are sometimes seen on the edges of the forest, but they do not venture out for fear of being killed by human beings. Earlier the tigers used to come into the nearby villages and take away animals and small children at night.
Page 96
Activity 4. Write a dialogue between a colonial forester and an Adivasi discussing the issue of hunting in the forest.
Answer A sample dialogue is given below
Colonial Forester (CF) Who are you? What are you doing inside the forest at this time?
Adivasi (A) I am a villager living in XYZ village on the south edge of this forest. I have come to hunt some animals for feeding my family.
CF Don’t you know that we have banned the hunting of animals in the forest? Go away, you cannot be allowed to hunt animals. It is illegal.
Adivasi (A) l need the flesh of the animal so that my wife can cook the food. I regularly hunt for animals and nobody has stopped me before.
CF No, you will not be allowed to do this. Only Britishers are allowed to hunt animals. Go back to your village. Otherwise, I you will be arrested
Adivasi (A) Okay, if you say so, I will go. But I will return. MAP WORK
This map shows the political map of Chhattisgarh. Bastar, Where the rebellion occurred, is located in the Southernmost part of Chhattisgarh and has a common border with Telangana, Odisha and Maharashtra.
Q-(1) Locate and label the following items on the given map with appropriate symbols.
Region of Bastar Rebellion
Region of Raipur
Region of Koriya
Region of Jashpur
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