Forest Society and Colonialism

This history chapter studies how colonial rule changed forests and the lives of people who depended on them. You will learn why deforestation increased under the British: land was cleared for cultivation of commercial crops such as jute, sugar, wheat and cotton, oak forests in England were vanishing, so timber was needed for the Royal Navy, and the spread of railways needed huge numbers of wooden sleepers, about 1,760 to 2,000 for each mile of track. Plantations of tea, coffee and rubber also replaced natural forests. You will study the rise of commercial forestry: Dietrich Brandis became the first Inspector General of Forests in 1864, the Indian Forest Act of 1865 was amended in 1878 to divide forests into reserved, protected and village forests, and scientific forestry replaced mixed forests with single species. You will see how forest laws hit villagers, shifting cultivators and nomads, and how people resisted, as in the Bastar rebellion of 1910 led by Gunda Dhur. Finally, you will compare these changes with Dutch forest policies in Java and the Saminist movement.

Detailed Worksheet: Forest Society and Colonialism Section A - Definitions (10 marks) 1. What is deforestation? Give two reasons for it under colonial rule. (2 marks) 2. What is scientific forestry? (2 marks) 3. Distinguish between reserved, protected and village forests under the Forest Act of 1878. (2 marks) 4. What is shifting cultivation? Give four local names for it in different parts of the world. (2 marks) 5. Who was Dietrich Brandis? What was his contribution? (2 marks) Section B - Calculations and Applications (15 marks) 6. Each mile of railway track needed between 1,760 and 2,000 sleepers. Find the minimum and maximum number of sleepers needed for 500 miles of track. If one large tree gave about 3 sleepers, how many trees were cut for the minimum figure, correct to the nearest whole number? (3 marks) 7. Between 1880 and 1920, the cultivated area in India rose by about 6.7 million hectares. Find the average increase per year in hectares. Why did the British encourage this expansion? (3 marks) 8. Arrange in chronological order with years: Bastar rebellion, Indian Forest Service set up, Forest Act amended into three categories, Imperial Forest Research Institute set up at Dehradun, Forest Act passed, Saminist movement begins in Java. (3 marks) 9. A village had access to 400 hectares of forest. After the forest laws, 60% was declared reserved and 25% protected. How many hectares became reserved, protected and village forest? What rights did villagers have in each? (3 marks) 10. Suppose a forest guard collected fees for grazing 120 cattle at 4 annas each per season. If 16 annas made one rupee, find the total fee in rupees. Explain why villagers resented such fees. (3 marks) Section C - Diagrams (10 marks) 11. On an outline map of India, mark Bastar, Dehradun, the tea plantations of Assam and the forests of the Western Ghats. (4 marks) 12. Draw a flowchart showing the causes of deforestation in India under colonial rule. (3 marks) 13. Draw a timeline from 1864 to 1927 showing the main forest laws and institutions set up by the British. (3 marks) Section D - Analysis and Higher-order Thinking (15 marks) 14. Explain how forest laws affected (i) villagers who used the forest for daily needs (ii) shifting cultivators (iii) nomadic and pastoral communities (iv) firms trading in forest products. (5 marks) 15. Describe the causes and course of the Bastar rebellion of 1910. What happened after it? (5 marks) 16. Compare the forest policies of the Dutch in Java with those of the British in India. Who were the Kalangs, and what was the Saminist movement? (5 marks) Instructions: Time allowed 2 hours. Attempt all sections. Use dates and names accurately and give examples from both India and Java.