Getstudysolution is an online educational platform that allows students to access quality educational services and study materials at no cost.
Question 1.
Discuss how the changes in forest management in the colonial period affected the following groups of people:
(a) Shifting cultivators
Ans. 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 put ban on shifting cultivation as it was regarded harmful for forests. Because of this, tribal communities were forced to leave their homes. Many had to change their occupations. There were some who took to protest the policies of colonial masters.
(b) Nomadic and Pastoralist Communities
Ans. In the process, many pastoralist and nomadic communities like the Korava, Karacha and Yerukula of the Madras Presidency lost their livelihood. Some of them were dubbed as criminal tribes. They were forced to work in factories and plantations.
(c) Firms trading in timber/forest produce
Ans. In India trade in forest products was not new. We have records which show that adivasi communities trading in goods like hides, horns, silk cocoons, ivory, bamboo, spices fibres, grasses, gums and rising through nomadic communities like the banjaras. After the coming of
the British, trade was completely controlled by the government. The British government gave the European companies the sole right to trade in the forest products.
(d) Plantation owners
Ans. In Assam, both men and women from forest communities like Santhals and Oraons from Jharkhand and Gonds from Chhattisgarh were recruited to work on tea plantations. Their wages were low and condition of work was not good. They could not return easily to their home villages, from where they were recruited.
(e) Kings/British officials engaged in shikar
Ans. While the forest laws deprived people of their rights to hunt, hunting of big game became a sport. In India, it was the court’s culture to hunt tigers and other animals. However under colonial rule, hunting increased to such an extent that many species became extinct. The British saw big animals as a sign of primitive society. They believed that by killing big animals, the British would civilise India. Tigers, wolves and leopards were killed because they posed a threat to cultivators. A British administrator George Yule killed 400 tigers. Only after a long time environmentalists and conservators began to argue that these animals had to be protected.
Question 2.
What are the similarities between colonial management of the forests in Bastar and in Java?
Answer:
The similarities between colonial management of forests in Bastar and in Java are as follows.
(I) Just like the British, the Dutch required timber to make sleepers for railway tracks.
(II) 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.
(III) Both the Dutch and the British put a ban on shifting cultivation on the grounds that they were dangerous to the existence of forests
(IV) 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
Question 3.
Between 1880 and 1920, the forest 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:
(i) Railways:
Ans. They were essential for colonial trade and movement of troops. To run locomotives, wood was needed as fuel, and to lay the railway lines sleepers were essential to hold the track together. By 1890, about 25,500 km of tracts were laid and more and more trees were cut. In Madras Presidency alone 35,000 trees were being cut annually for sleepers.
(ii) Ship building:
Ans. In England, from the early 19th century, oak forests were disappearing. It created a shortage of timber for the Royal Navy. Ships could not be built without a regular supply of strong and durable timber. Ships were necessary for the protection of overseas colonies and trade. Within a decade trees were cut on a large scale and timber was exported from India.
(iii) Agricultural expansion:
Ans. 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. So between 1880 and 1920, the cultivation increased by 6.7 million hectares.
(iv) Commercial farming:
Ans. The British encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute, sugar, wheat and cotton. The demand for these crops increased in the 19th century Europe, where food grains were needed for growing population and raw material for industries.
(v) Tea/Coffee plantations:
Ans. To meet the growing needs for tea, coffee and rubber, large areas of forests were cleared for their plantation. The colonial government took over the forests and gave vast areas to European planters at cheap rates. These areas were planted with tea, coffee and rubber.
(vi) Adivasis and other peasant users:
Ans. From early times, Adivasis communities traded in goods like hides, horns, silk cocoons, ivory, bamboo, spices, fibres, grasses, gums and resins through nomadic communities like the banjaras. This further declined forest cover.
Question 4.
Why are forests affected by wars?
Answer:
The wars affected the forests. The First World War and Second World War left a deep impact on the forests. The working plans were given up and trees cut to fulfil the war needs. In Java, just before the Japanese attacked the Island, the Dutch followed ‘a scorched earth’ policy destroyed sawmills and burnt huge piles of teak wood. When the Japanese, came to Java, they exploited the forests for their own needs.
Page 81
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
Page 83
Activity 1. 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
(i) 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.
(ii) 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 1. 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
(i) Entry to forest area is restricted and the Forest Department has posted guards to check any illegal entry.
(ii) Although, the number of trees in the forest has increased, reduction of rainfall in recent years has stunted the growth of trees.
(iii) The Adivasi villagers living inside the forest areas are gradually leaving their traditional occupations and migrating to the towns for education and jobs.
(iv) 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 2. 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.