CBSE Class IX - History - CHAPTER 4 - FOREST SOCIETY AND COLONIALISM (Q and A) (#cbseclass9Notes)

FOREST SOCIETY AND COLONIALISM

Questions and Answers based on NCERT Chapter


Q1: What is deforestation?

Answer: Deforestation is cutting down of trees indiscriminately in a forest area. Under the colonial rule it became very systematic and extensive.


Q2: Who were the colonial power in Indonesia?

Answer: Dutch


Q3: Why is deforestation considered harmful?

Answer: 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. They are the natural habitat of animals and birds. Forests check soil erosion and denudation, sand dunes. They preserve our ecological diversity and life support systems.
Cutting down forest extensive will deprive us the above said benefits. Thus deforestation is considered harmful.


Q4: Who were ‘Kalangs’ of Java?

Answer: They were skilled forest cutters and shifting cultivators




Q5: Describe scientific forestry.

Answer:
① In scientific forestry, natural forests which had lots of different types of trees were cut down. In their place one type of tree was planted in straight rows. This is called a plantation.

② Forest officials surveyed the forests, estimated the area under different types of trees and made working plans for forest management. They planned how much of the plantation area to cut every year.

③ The area cut was then to be replanted so that it was ready to be cut again in some years.



Q6: About how much percentage of the world’s total forest area was cleared between 1700 and 1995?

Answer: 9.3 %


Q7: What was the system of ‘blandongdiensten’?

Answer: It was the first imposition of rent on land and then exemption.


Q8: What is shifting agriculture? Why was it regarded as harmful by the British?

Answer:
① Shifting agriculture or Sweden agriculture is a traditional agricultural practice in many parts of Asia, Africa and South America. It has many local names such as ‘lading’ in South-EastAsia, ‘milpa’ in central America, ‘chitemene’ or ‘tavy’ in Africa, ‘chena’ in Sril Lanka, dhya, Penda, bewar, nevad, jhum, podu, khandad and kumri in India.

② In shifting cultivation, parts of a forest are cut and burnt in rotations, seeds are sown in ashes after the first monsoon rains and the crop is harvested by October-November. Such plots are cultivated for a couple of years and then left fallow for 12 to 18 years for the forest to grow back.

③ It was regarded as harmful by the British for the forests. They felt that land which was used for cultivation every few years could not grow trees for railway timber. When the forest was burnt there was the danger of the flames spreading and burning valuable timber.


Q9: Who wrote the book ‘The Forests of India’ in the year 1923?

Answer: E.P. Stebbing


Q10: What was Samin’s Movement?

Answer: Samin of Randublatung village (a teak forest village) questioned the state ownership of forests. A widespread movement spread. They protested by lying on the ground when the Dutch came to survey it and refusing to pay taxes and perform labour.



Q11: Explain why did the Dutch adopt the ‘scorched earth policy’ during the war.

Answer:
① The First World War and Second World War had a major impact on forests. In India, working places were abandoned and trees were cut freely to meet British demand for war needs.

② In Java, just before the Japanese occupied the region, the Dutch followed the ‘scorched earth policy’ destroying saw mills, burning huge piles of giant teak logs so that they could not fall into Japanese hands.


Q12: In which year the Indian Forest Service was set up?

Answer: 1864


Q13: What did Dietrich Brandis suggest for the improvement of forests in India?

Answer: Dietrich Brandis suggested that a proper system had to be followed. Felling of trees and grazing land had to be protected. Rules about the use of forests should be made. Anyone who broke rules needed to be punished. Brandis set up in 1864 the Indian Forest Service. He also helped to formulate the Indian Forest Act of 1865.


Q14: How was the colonial management of forests in Bastar similar to that of Java?

Answer: The British (in Bastar) and Dutch (in Java) management of forests were very similar and narrow-minded:

Ⓐ The colonial government imposed new forest laws according to which two-thirds of the forests were reserved. Shifting cultivation, hunting and collection of forest produce was banned. Most people in forest villages were displaced without notice or compensation.

Ⓑ  In the same way, when the Dutch gained control over the forests in Java, they enacted forest laws, restricting villagers' access to forests. Now wood could only be cut for specific purposes and from specific forests under close supervision. Villagers were punished for grazing cattle, transporting wood without a permit or travelling on forest road with horse-carts or cattle.

Ⓒ Both followed a system of forestry which was known as scientific forestry.

Ⓓ In both the 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.


Q15: In which year the Baster rebellion took place?

Answer: 1910


Q16: Why did the people of Bastar rise in revolt against the British? Explain.

Answer:
⑴ In 1905, the colonial government imposed laws to reserve two-thirds of the forests, stop shifting cultivation, hunting and collection of forest produce. People of many villages were displaced without any notice or compensation.

⑵ For long, villagers had been suffering from increased land rents and frequent demands for free labour and goods by colonial officials.

⑶ The terrible famines in 1899–1900 and again in 1907–1908 made the life of people miserable. They blamed the colonial rule for their sorry plight.

⑷ The initiative of rebellion was taken by the Dhurwas of the Kanger forest, where reservation first took place. Gunda Dhur was an important leader of the rebellion.


Q17: Why was shifting cultivation banned by the Government in India?

Answer:
(a) European foresters regarded this practice as harmful for the forests

(b) When a forest was burnt there was the danger of flames spreading and burning valuable timber.

(c) It also made it harder for the government to calculate taxes.


Q18: How did the American writer Richard Harding justify the conquest of Honduras in Central America?

Answer:
(a) The Central Americans were semi-barbarians, who failed to understand the value of their land

(b) Uncultivated land had to be taken over by the colonisers and improved

(c) Land could not be allowed to remain unimproved with its original owner


Q19: During the colonial period, the British directly encouraged the production of which of these crops?

Answer: Jute, Sugar, wheat and Cotton


Q20: The British believed that by killing dangerous animals, the British would civilise India. What did they do to encourage these killings?

Answer:
(a) They gave rewards for killing tigers, wolves and other large animals.
(b) Over 80,000 tigers, 150,000 leopards and 200,000 wolves were killed during 1875-1925 alone.
(c) Gradually the tiger came to be seen as a sporting trophy.


Q21: Differentiate between the customary practice of hunting and hunting as a sport in India, after the Forest Acts were passed.

Answer: Before the laws were passed, people who depended on forests hunted birds and small animals for food. After the laws were passed, hunting of big game became a sport. Under colonial rule, the scale of hunting increased so much that many species became extinct. Rewards were given for killing tigers, wolves, etc., on the pretext that they were a threat to human life. Certain areas of the forests were reserved for hunting.


Q22: Why was the railway network spread by the British in India from 1850s onwards? Why was there a need for forest timber spread for railways?

Answer: Wood was required as fuel to run locomotives and to lay railway lines. Sleepers were essential to hold the tracks together. From the 1860s, the railway network expanded rapidly. The length of the railway tracks increased tremendously. As railway tracks increased, the need of timber also increased. More and more trees were felled. Contracts were given to individuals to supply timber. These contractors cut down trees indiscriminately. Railway tracks were soon devoid of forests.


Q23: Describe four provisions of the Forest Act of 1878.

Answer:
(i) The Forest Act of 1878 divided forests into three categories: reserved, protected and village forests.

(ii) The best forests were called 'reserved forests'.

(iii) Villagers could not take anything from reserved forests, even for their own use.

(iv) For house building or fuel, they could take wood from protected or village forests.