IX HISTORY CH 4 - FOREST SOCIETY AND COLONIALISM

 

IX HISTORY

CH 4  - FOREST SOCIETY AND COLONIALISM

 

Forests

Forests  are  natural  ecosystems  having  trees  of  different  species and vegetation of different kinds and providing habitat to different species of animals.

Uses of forests

  Forests are very useful to us in many ways:

v Forests help in maintaining  quality of air. They absorb carbon  dioxide and release oxygen.

v Forests prevent soil erosion, droughts and floods.

v They maintain the fertility of the soil.

v They provide us with paper; wood for desks, tables and other  furniture; dies, spices, gum, honey, coffee, oil,  medicinal herbs rubber, timber.

v They provide bamboo wood for fuel, grass, charcoal, packaging,  fruits,  flowers .

v They provide shelter and habitat for animals.

v They maintain biodiversity through food webs

 

Questions

1.What are the uses of forests?

2.Why are forests very important to human beings and environment ? Explain. 2016

3.Why are forests very important to human beings and environment ? Explain.

 

Deforestation  is  the    disappearance  of  forests  due  to cutting  down of trees on an extensive scale.  Deforestation is an age old practice. It started many centuries ago but under colonial rule it become more systematic and extensive.

Reasons that have led to deforestation

 

British  greatly  encouraged  production  of  commercial  crops  –sugar, wheat, cotton for industrial production and food. For this deforestation was done.

They  needed  food  grains  to  feed  the  growing  European population. They  thought  forests  to  be  unproductive  so  they  fell  trees massively.

v For timber used for  ships and railways large sections of forests were destroyed.

v Railways  needed space to run for which again forests were cut.

v Forests  were also cleared to make way for tea, coffee  and  rubber plantations  to  meet  Europe’s  growing  need  for  these commodities. The colonial government gave vast forest  areas  to European planters at cheap rates to clear forest and plant tea or coffee.

v In  ‘scientific  forestry’  forests  were  cut  and  one  type  of  trees were planted in straight rows.

v Excessive trade  in forest resources depleted them.

v During The First World War and the Second World War  forest department cut trees freely to meet British war needs

v Villagers  took  wood,  fuel  wood  and  cut  timber  for  their  daily purpose.

Questions

Why did the British need to clear the forests?

Between  1880  and  1920;  forest  cover  in  the  Indian subcontinent  declined  by  9.7  million  hectares,  from 108.6  million  hectors  to  98.9  million  hectares.  Discuss

 

Railway Sleepers are wooden planks laid across railway tracks; they hold the tracks in position . Between1,760 and 2,000 sleepers are needed to lay 1 mile of railway track . A single sleeper is approximately 10 feet by 10 inches by 5 inches that is 3.5 cubic feet.

Wood for these sleepers came mainly from the Sind Forests. As the railway was fast expanding, there was need for more and more trees to be cut. In the Madras Presidency alone, 35,000 trees were cut annually for making sleepers.

 

Railways and forest

 

(i) Need for sleepers : With the expansion of Railways large number of sleepers were required. To fulfill  the demand of sleepers, trees were felled on a massive scale.

(ii) Fuel: To run locomotives, wood was needed as fuel. As railway was expanding, the demand for fuel also became very high.

(iii)Cutting of trees for railway tracks : Upto 1946, the length of the tracks had increased to over 765,000 km.

As the railway tracks spread through India, a larger and larger number of trees were felled. Even the forests

around the railway tracks started disappearing.

(iv)Forest became accessible : With the introduction of railway the forest became accessible.

(v) Private contractors : With the introduction of railways the demand for wood rose dramatically . To meet

the demand government gave out contracts to individuals who began cutting trees indiscriminately .

 

Forests affected by wars

v To  win  a  war,  each  country  wants  its  Navy  to  be  the strongest  (especially  the  European).  Ships building required a lot of timber which was strong and durable. So, forest  trees are cut indiscriminately. 

 

v 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.

 

v The  countries  losing the war who have to retreat back destroy all their resources  preventing them from getting into enemy’s hands (as  in  the  case  of  java),  the  Japanese  burnt  huge  piles  of  giant teak logs and the forest resources were all wasted.

 

 

Scientific  Forestry

 

v In scienti1c forestry , natural forests which had lots of different types of trees were cut down. In their

v place, one type of tree was planted in straight rows. This is called as Scientific  Forestry.

 

v Forest offcials surveyed the forests, estimated the area under different types of trees, and made working plans for the forest management.

 

v They planned how much of the plantation area to cut every year . The area cut was then to be replanted so that it was ready to be cut again in some years.

 

Question

1.Explain any five causes of deforestation in India under the colonial rule.

2.How did railway lead to decline in forest cover during colonial period ?

3.Explain scienti1c forestry .2016(x1)

4.What is a plantation?

5.How was commercialisation of agriculture responsible for deforestation under the colonial period ?

6. How are forests affected  by wars ? (15) – 3

7. Describe the Impact of first world war on forests of india and java. Mention any 5 five points. (12) – 5

8.Explain the features responsible for the new demand of food grains in England in 18^th century? (14) – 3

9.What is deforestation? Mention causes of deforestation in India during colonial period (14) -5

10. Give any 5 reasons for the rapid expansion of cultivation under the colonial rule ? (2012)

11. Explain any 5 causes of deforestation in India during colonial rule? (2011,12)

 

 

A  plantation  was  a  large  area  where  one  type  of  tree  was planted  in straight rows  for commercial purpose.

 For this  large areas  of  natural  forests  were  cleared.  The  colonial  government gave  vast  areas  to  Europeans  planters  to  grow,  tea,  coffee  and rubber  plantation  to  meet  Europe’s  growing  needs  for  these commodities.

Commercial  forestry  is  the  use  of  forest  products  for  commercial purposes

v Dietrich Brandis was a german expert called by the British for advice. The British were  worried that local people are destroying  forests.  Dietrich  Brandis  was  made  the  First Inspector General of Forests in India.

v Brandis  realized  that  a  proper  system  had  to  be  introduced  to manage  forests  and  people  had  to  be  trained  in  the  science  of conservation.

v Brandis  set  up  the  Indian  Forest  Service  in  1864  and  helped formulate the Indian Forest Act of 1865.

v The Imperial Forest Research Institute was set up at Dehradun  in 1906 where ‘Scientific forestery’ was taught.

The  Indian  Forest  Act  was  formulated  by  Dietrich  Brands in 1865.

v It  encouraged  scientific  forestry  –  A  system  of  cutting  trees  controlled by the forest department in which old trees are cut and new ones planted.

v The act was amended twice, once in 1878 and then in 1927.

v The 1878  Act  divided  forests  into  three  categories  –  reserved, protected and village forests.

v ‘Reserved forests’  were  the  best  forests  from  where  villages could not takes anything, even for their own use. In protected forests  some villagers could  enter as the rules were not so strict there.

v The ‘village forests’ were for the villagers’ use from where they could  take wood for house building or fuels.  But actually  these forests were of no use, they just had thorns and scrubs

Questions

1.Who was Dietrich Brandis? What did he do for saving the forest?

2.Mention the main features of Indian Forest Act.

3.Why brandis set up the Indian forest service in 1864 and helped formulation of Indian forest act of 1885?  (12) – 5

4.What were the various categories into which forests are divided under forest act? How did this division effect the local people? (15) -3

5.In which year was Indian forest service setup? (15) – 1

6.What happened after the enactment of forest act? (14) –3 

7.How did 'forest acts' cause severe hardships for vilages acroos the country? (2011,12)

8. Explain the 5 ways in which the lives of the vilaagers were affected by forest acts (11,12)

9. Explain any 2 feature of forest of 1878(2012)

10. When was forest Act enacted?(11)

 

 

Bastar  

Bastar  is  located  in  the southern  most part of Chhattisgarh and  borders  Andhra  Pradesh,  Orissa  and  Maharashra.  A  number  of different  communities  live  there  such  as  Marias  and  Muria  Gonds, Dhurwas, Bhatras and Halbas.

Tribes and forest

v The tribal people had formulated strict rules and regulations about how to manage and use the forests.

v They believed that each village was given its land by the earth, and in return, they look after the earth  by making some offerings at each agricultural festival.

v Some villages also protected their forests by engaging watchmen.

 

Problems faced by the people:

 

v  When  the  colonial  government  proposed  to  reserve  2/3   of  its forests, stop  shifting cultivation, hunting and collection of forest produce, the people were very worried.

v People were displaced without any notice or compensation. For long, villagers had been suffering from  increased  land rents and frequent demand for free labour.

v Then  came  the  terrible  famines  in  1899  –  1980  and  again  in 1907-08.

 

Revolt by the people:

 

 

v These issues were widely discussed  to start revolting against the colonial government.

v Gunda  Dhur,  from  the  village  Nethaner  emerged  as  ‘an important  leader.

v In 1910, mango boughs, a lump of earth, chillies and arrows, began circulating between villages. These were actually messages inviting villagers to rebel against the British.

v Every village contributed something to the rebellion expenses

v Bazaars  were looted, the houses of  officials and traders, schools and police stations were burnt and robbed.

v To all this, the British sent troops to suppress the rebellion. The adivasi leaders tried to negotiate, out the British surrounded their camps and fired. People who took part in the rebellion were beaten and punished.

 

 

 Result:

 

  In  a  major  victory  for  the  rebels,  work  on  reservation  was temporarily  suspended, and the area to be reserved was reduced to roughly half of  that planned before 1910.

Questions

1.Why did the people of Bastar revolt against the British ? Explain.11

2.Write a short note on Bastar and the rebellion that

took place .

3.How did the local people look after and protect the forests in Bastar region ? 2016

4. How did the local people look after and protects the forests in the bastar region? (2011)

5. How did the people of bastar react against the British forest policies? What were its consequences? (2011,12,13)

On the same political map of India locate and mark :2016

1 .  State related to Oraon.

2 .  State related to Alluri Sitaram Raju.

3 .  A state related to Bastar rebellion.

6 .  A place where a forest rebellion took place in 1905

7 .  Region related to Baiga forest tribes.

8 .  Bastar in Chhattisgarh

 

 

Part -II

 

 

Forest Transformations in Java

 

In the 19^th century, when it became important to control territory  and  not  just  people,  the  colonial  government   of  Java  i.e.  the Dutch  enacted  forest  laws  restricting  villagers  access  to forests .

 

Forest laws in java by Dutch (Problems faced by the people)

 

(i) The new laws restricted villagers’ access to forest. Now , wood could only be cut for speci1edpurposes like making river boats or constructing houses, and only from speci1c forests under close supervision.

 

(ii)Villagers were punished for grazing cattle in young stands.

 

(iii) The Dutch first imposed rents on land being cultivated in the forest and then exempted some villages from these rents if they worked collectively to provide force labour and buffaloes for cutting and transporting timber .

 

Impact of Dutch forest Laws

 

 (1) Restrictions: Many restrictions were imposed on the people through various laws. Following were themajor restrictions which were imposed on the locals :

 

(i) Wood could only be cut for speci1ed purposes.

 

(ii)Wood could be cut only from speci1c forests under close supervision.

 

(iii)Villagers were not allowed to graze cattle in young stands, transporting wood without a permit.

 

(2)Blandongdiensten:

 

The blandongdiensten system was adopted. Under this, the village was exempted from tax if the villagers worked collectively to provide free labour and animals for cutting and transporting timber .

 

(3)Loss of Independence:

 

Before the arrival of Dutch, the people were independent and they were using the forest according to their needs. But now , they were fully dependent on the Dutch people. They had lost their right to cultivate forests.

 

Kalangs were the tribal community of Java who were expert wood cutters.

 

Blandongdiensten system

 

v The  Dutch  first  imposed  rents  on cultivated  land   in  the  forest  and  then  exempted some  villages  from  these  rents  if  they  worked  collectively  to  provide  free  labour  and buffaloes  for  cutting  and  transporting  timber. 

v This was  known  as  the  blandongdiensten system. Later, instead of rent exemption, forest villagers were given small wages, but their right to cultivate forest land was restricted

 

Revolt:

 

Samin challenge :

 Around 1890, Surantiko Samin  of  Randublatung  village, a teak  forest village, began questioning state ownership of forest.

 

 

v *He  argued  that  the  state  hadn’t  created  wind,  water,  earth,  and  wood. It could not own it.

Soon  a  widespread  movement  developmed.  Samin’s  sons  –inlaw helped it organize.

By 1907, 3000 families were following his ideas.

v *They protested by lying down on their land when the dutch came  to  survey  it,  while  the  others  refused  to  pay  taxes  or  fines  or  perform labour.

 

Causes

 

(i) The nineteenth century was a turning point in forest management, and the forms of state control over the teak and non-teak forests of Java.

 

(ii)It was the time when the bureaucrats of the colonial Forest Service drew boundaries between the forest and agricultural land on maps and in the 1eld, and established police to restrict people’ s access to trees and other forest products.

 

(iii) The ideology of “ scienti1c” forestry was being imposed by the colonial state and its foresters on the local people, who were the real owners of these forests.

 

British and java colonies

 

Like  the  British  in  India,  the  Dutch  in  Java  also  wanted timber to build ships and for railways.

v *Large  number  of  trees  were  cut  and  timber  was  exported  from both the countries.

v *Forest  laws were passed restricting villagers access to forests.

v *New villagers could enter only a  few parts   of the forests.

v Later  when  the  colonial  powers  realized  that  they  would  need labour  to  cut  trees  and  transport  them,  some  villagers  were allowed to stay in the reserved forests  for free labour for  helpingthe forest department in cutting and transporting trees.

 

Questions

 

1.Who were the Kalangs ?2016

2.Write a short note on Forest Transformations in Java.

3.What  are  the  similarities  between  colonial

management of the forests in Bastar and in Java?(15)3

4.Mention any three provisions of the forest laws passed by the Dutch2016 (x 3)

5.What is scienti1c forestry ? Explain the impact of the Dutch scienti1c forestry on the locals.2016(x3)

6.Mention any three factors which prompted the Samins to revolt against the Dutch.2016 (x3)

7.What was the Samin’s Challenge?

8.What was Blandongdiensten system ?

9. Explain 5 features of Dutch scientific forestry (12)

10. Describe the saminists movement in Indonesia.(12)

11. Why were Kalangs of Tarea considerd an important community? What compelled them to rebel against the Dutch and to What result? (2015)

 

 

Shifting cultivation

 

v It is a type of agriculture under which parts of forests are cut and burnt in rotation.

v Shifting cultivation made it harder for the government to calculate taxes. Therefore, the government decided to ban shifting cultivation.

v European foresters regarded this practice as harmful for the forests. They felt that land which was used for cultivation every few years could not grow trees for railway timber .

v There was also the added danger of the flames spreading and burning valuable timber .

 

 

Effects of colonial period

 

v Shifting  Cultivators:

 

After  the  government  decided  to  ban shifting  cultivation,  many  communities  were  forcibly  displaced from  their  homes  in  forests.  Some  had  to  change  occupations while some resisted through large and small rebellions.

 

v Nomadic and  pastoralist  communities  -

The British restricted grazing  and  hunting  by  local  people.  In  the  process,  many pastoralist and  nomadic  communities like Korava, Karacha and yerukala  of  the  Madras  presidency  lost  their  livelihoods.  They were  forced to work  instead  in  factories,  mines  and plantations under government supervision.

 

v Plantation workers : 

The colonial government took over forests, gave vast areas to  European planters  at cheap rates. The  owners now  had  greater  profits  because  of  vast  areas  of  lands.

forest communities like Santhals and Oraons from Jharkhand, and  Gonds from Chhattisgarh were recruited to work on tea plantations.

Their wages were low and  conditions of work were very bad. They couldnot return easily to their home villages from  where they had been recruited.

 

Firms trading in timber / forest product – 

 

v With the coming of the  British  , however  ,trade  was  completely  regulated  by  the government.

v The British government gave many  large European

trading  firms  the  sole  right  to  trade  in  forest  products  ofparticular areas. Now they had  huge profits.

 

 

  Plantation owners: 

 

v The colonial government took over forests, gave vast areas to  European planters  at cheap rates. The  owners now  had  greater  profits  because  of  vast  areas  of  lands. 

v They exploited the Indian  workers greatly who  worked with  very low wages and very bad work conditions.

 

 Kings  /  British  officials 

 

v engaged  in  Shikar-  While  the  forest  laws deprived people of their customary rights to hunt, hunting of  big  game  became  a  sport.

v The  scale  of  hunting  increased rapidly. 

v The  Maharja  of  Sarguja  alone  shot  1,  157  tigers  and 2000 leopards  up to 1957.  A British administrator-  George  Yule, killed 400 tigers.

 

 

Questions

 

1.Explain what is shifting cultivation. Why did European foresters regard this practice as harmful for forests ?

2.Discuss  how the changes in forest management  in  the colonial period affected the following groups of people.

3.What is shifting agriculture ? Why was it discouraged by the Europeans ? Give reasons.2016

4.Explain the impact of Forest Acts on the nomads or pastoralists.

5.What is deforestation?

6.How did changes in the forest management in the colonial period affect Plantation  Workers?