JAC Class 9 Social Science Important Questions History Chapter 4 Forest Society and Colonialism 

JAC Board Class 9th Social Science Important Questions History Chapter 4 Forest Society and Colonialism

I. Objective Type Questions

1. Which transport system was most essential for colonial trade and movement of goods:
(a) Waterways
(b) Railways
(c) Roadways
(d) Airways.
Answer:
(b) Railways

2. When was the Indian forest service set up?
(a) 1864
(b) 1878
(c) 1845
(d) 1947
Answer:
(a) 1864

3. Who was the first Inspector General of Forests in India?
(a) Dietrich Brandis
(b) Gouges
(c) Napoleon
(d) None of the above.
Answer:
(a) Dietrich Brandis

4. Where is Bastar located?
(a) Northernmost part of Madhya Pradesh
(b) Easternmost part of Chhattisgarh
(c) Southermost part of Chhattisgarh
(d) None of the above.
Answer:
(c) Southermost part of Chhattisgarh

5. The Saminist movement was led by:
(a) Suroutiko Samin
(b) Birsa Munda
(c) Dietrich Brandis
(d) None of the above.
Answer:
(a) Suroutiko Samin

II. Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What do you mean by deforestation? Why does it take place?
Answer:
Deforestation refers to the cutting of forests. It takes place for:

1. Industrial use
2. Residential use
3. Pastures
4. Wood.

Question 2.
Which transport system was most essential for colonial trade and movement of goods?
Answer:
Railways were most essential for colonial trade and movement of goods.

Question 3.
How many sleepers are required to lay every mile of railway track?
Answer:
Approximately 1760-2000 sleepers are required to lay every mile of a railway track.

Question 4.
Who was Dietrich Brandis? Why was he invited to India?
Answer:
Dietrich Brandis was a German expert who was invited by the Britishers to India for advice regarding the forests. The Britishers made him the first Inspector General of Forests in India.

Question 5.
What was the prime aim of Brandis’s system of Scientific Forestry?
Answer:
The prime aim of Brandis’s system of Scientific Forestry was to restrict felling of trees and grazing, so that forests could be preserved for timber production.

Question 6.
What do you know about Scientific Forestry?
Answer:
It was a system of cutting trees controlled by the forest department. In this system, 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 was called as plantation.

Question 7.
in which city of India the Imperial Forest Research Institute was set up?
Answer:
in Dehradun.

Question 8.
Name any two plantation crops.
Answer:
1. Tea, Rubbef.

Question 9.
Give any four local terms for shifting agriculture.
Answer:
Dhya, Penda, Jhum, Kumri.

Question 10.
By which name shifting cultivation is known in Sri Lanka?
Answer:
Chena.

Question 11.
How many tigers were shot dead by a British Officer npjped Jeorge Yule?
Answer:
400 Tigers.

Question 12.
Which place did Birsa Munda belong to?
Answer:
Birsa Munda belonged to Chhotanagpur region.

Question 13.
Who was the leader of rebel foresters in Andhra Pradesh?
Answer:
Alluri Sita Ram Raju was the leader of rebel foresters in Andhra Pradesh.

Question 14.
Where is Bastar located?
Answer:
Bastar is located in the southernmost part of Chhattisgarh.

Question 15.
Name the tribal communities live in Bastar.
Answer:
A number of different communities live in Bastar, such as Maria and Muria Gonds, Dhurwas, Bhatras and Halbas.

Question 16.
What were ‘forest villages’?
Answer:
Forest villages were those villages which were allowed to stay on in the reserved forests. In return, the people had to work free for the forest department. They had to help in cutting and transporting trees and protecting forests from fires.

Question 17.
Which island is known as the rice producing island?
Answer:
Indonesia.

Question 18.
Who was Surontiko Samin?
Answer:
Surontiko Samin was a villager who lived in Randublatung village, a teak forest in Indonesia. He started questioning state ownership of the forest. Under him, the movement gained momentum, and by 1907, 3,000 families were following his ideas.

III. Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
Describe brief any four reasons for the expansion of cultivation by the colonical rulers in India.
Answer:
Following wei the main four reasons for the expansion of cultivation by the colonial rulers in India

1. In Europe foodgrains were needed to feed the growing urban population. The demand for wheat increased largely in the 19th century.
2. The colonial rulers considered the expansion of cultivation as a sign of progress.
3. The British government encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute, sugar, wheat and cotton to get more profit.
4. Europe needed raw materials for industrial production.

Question 2.
Why the ship industry of England was also responsible for deforestation in Indm.
Answer:
Due to the high demand by the early 19th century, oak forests in England, were disappearing. This created a problem of timber supply for the Royal Navy which required it to build ships. To obtain the supply of oak for the ship industry, Britishers started exploring Indian forests on a vast scale.

Within a decade, trees were being felled on a large scale and vast quantities of timber were being exported from India. Thus, it can be concluded that the ship industry of England was also responsible for deforestation in India.

Question 3.
Why did forests around railway tracks in India start disappearing after 1860s?
Answer:
In India the railway network expanded rapidly from the 1860s. Due to following reasons, forest started disappearing around railway tracks at the time.

1. By 1890, about 25,500 knf of track had been laid and in 1946 the length of the
   tracks had increased-to over 7,65,000 km. ,
2. As the railway tracks increased, large number of trees were cut’down.
3. The government provided contracts to private individuals, to supply the required quantity of wpod.
4. These contraetprs begem to cut trees indiscriminately.

Question 4.
Why did the British Colonial Government start commercial forestry in India? Give any two reasons.
Answer:
The British Colonial Government started commercial forestry in India due to following reasons:

1. By the early 19th century, oak forests in England were disappearing. The colonial government needed timber supply for the royal navy and railways which were essential for the movement of imperial troops and commercial trade.
2. The Colonial Government took over the forests in India and gave vast areas to European planters at cheap rates. These areas were enclosed and planted with tea and coffee.

Question 5.
Explain the term ‘Scientific Forestry’.
Answer:
The system of managing forests was termed as Scientific Forestry. “This system includes:

1. Natural forests, which had various types of different types of trees were cut down. In their place, one type of tree was planted in straight rows. This, was called as plantation.
2. Forest officials surveyed the forests, estimated the area under different types of trees, and made working plans for forest management.
3. Forest officials planned how much of the plantation area to be cut every year. The area cut was then to be replanted so that it could be ready to be cut again in the coming years.

Question 6.
What were the defects of‘Scientific Forestry’ technique?
Answer:
Following were the major defects of‘Scientific Forestry’ technique:

1. In this system, natural forest diversity got disturbed because various types of trees were cut down.
2. This system advocated the plantation of only those trees in forests which provied timber. It snatched the different rights of forest dwellers. The forest dwellers wanted a mixture of species of trees for their fuel, fodder and food.

Question 7.
What were the provisions of the Forest Act of 1878?
Answer:

1. The Forest Act of 1878 divided forests into three categories: reserved, protected and village forests.
2. The best forests were called reserved forests. Villagers could not take anything from these forests even for their personal use. They could take wood for building their houses or for fuel from protected or village forests.

Question 8.
How were the forests categorised in India under the Forest Act of 1878?
Answer:

1. The Forest Act of 1865 was amended in 1878. Under the amended Act, the forests in I ndia were divided into three categories:
2. Protected Forests: In these forests, grazing of animals and cultivation was allowed. But these activities were subjected to some restrictions.
3. Village Forests: These were unclassified forests. Villagers had open access to these forests.

Question 9.
Describe the system of shifting cultivation.
Answer:

1. Shifting cultivation or Swidden agriculture is a very old agricultural practice. It is followed in many parts of Asia, Africa and South America.
2. In India, it is known by many names such as dhya, bewar, pPnda, nevad, podu, khandad, kumri, jhum etc.
3. In this kind of cultivation, parts of forest are cut and burnt in rotation. Seeds are sown in the ashes after the first monsoon rains and the crop is harvested by October-November. Such plots are cultivated for two years and then left fallow for 12 to 18 years for the forest to grow back. Different crops are grown in these areas.

Question 10.
Why did the colonial government decide to ban the shifting cultivation?
Answer:
The colonial government decided to ban the shifting cultivation because of the following reasons:

1. European foresters felt that land which was used for cultivation every few years could not grow trees which could provide timber for railway sleepers.
2. When a forest was burnt, there was the added danger of the flames spreading and burning valuable timber.
3. Shifting cultivation also made it harder for the government to calculate taxes.

Question 11.
Describe the common customs and beliefs of the people of Bastar.
Answer:
The common customs and beliefs of the people of Bastar were as follows:

1. The people of Bastar believed that each village was given its land by the Earth and thus they look after the Earth by making some offerings at each agricultural festival. Respect is also given to the spirits of the river, the forest and the mountains.
2. As each village was aware of their boundaries, all the natural resources within that boundary were looked after by the local people.
3. If people from a village want to take some wood from the forests of another village, they have to pay a small fee called devsari, dand or man. Some villages also protect their forests by engaging watchmen and every household contribute some grain to pay them.

Question 12.
Briefly discuss how the Bastar rebellion was organised and financed?
Answer:
The tribals of Bastar were for long plagued by the policies of the British. The British policy of reservations proved the last straw to organise and finance the rebellion.

1. In 1910, mango boughs, a lump of earth, chillies and arrows were circulated between villages. These were actually messages inviting villagers to rebel. Every village contributed to the expenses of the rebellions.
2. Bazaars were looted, the houses of officials and traders, schools and police stations were burnt and robbed and grains were redistributed.
3. Most of those who were attacked in some way or another associated with the exploitative policies of the colonial state.

Question 13.
How was the Bastar rebellion suppressed?
Answer:
The Bastar rebellion were suppressed in the following ways:

1. The British government sent troops to put down these rebellion.
2. The adivasi leaders were ready to talk but the British troops surrounded them and opened fire. Then the soldiers dragged the rebels through the streets, flogging them mercilessly on the way.
3. Naturally, this created panic among tribal people. They ran away to jungles. Only after three months, the British were able to control the area again.

Question 14.
Briefly discuss the features of Dutch Scientific Forestry.
Answer:
Like the British in India, the Dutch in Java were driven to manage forests because they wanted to exploit colonial forest wood for ship-building and railways.

1. Forest laws were enacted in Java, restricting villagers’ access to forests.
2. Wood could only be cut for specified purposes like making river boats or constructing houses from specific forests under close supervisiop.
3. Villagers were punished for grazing cattle in forest areas, transporting wood without a permit or travelling on forest roads with horse carts and cattle.

Question 15.
Who were the Kalangs? Mention any four characteristics of Kalang community.
Answer:
The Kalangs were tribal community of Java. Following were the four characteristics of Kalangs community:

1. They were skilled forest cutters and shifting cultivators.
2. They had a great skill in building palaces.
3. The Kalangs worked under the Dutch when the Dutch began to gain control over the forests in the 18th century.
4. They were so valuable that in 1755, when the Mataram kingdom of Java split, the 6000 Kalang families were equally divided between the two kingdoms.

Question 16.
Why were the Kalangs of Java known as a community of skilled forest cutters and shifting cultivators ?
Answer:
The Kalangs of Java used shifting cultivation. They harvested teak. They were also skilled forest cutters. Without their expertise, it was difficult to harvest teak and to build the palace for the king of Java. They were so valuable to the king that in 1755, when the Mataram kingdom of Java split, the 6000 Kalang families were equally divided among the two kingdoms.

When the Dutch began to gain control over the forests in the eighteenth century, they tried to make the Kalangs work under them. Thus, the Kalangs were regarded as skilled forest cutters and shifting cultivators.

Question 17.
Highlight the new developments in forestry since the 1980s.
Or
What new developments have occurred in forestry in Asia and Africa?
Answer:
Since the 1980s, governments across Asia and Africa have begun to realise that scientific forestry and the policy of keeping forest communities away from forests has resulted in many conflicts.

1. Under the new policy, conservation of forests rather than collecting timber has become a more important goal.
2. The government has recognised that in order to meet this goal, the people who live near the forests must be involved.
3. In many cases, across India, from Mizoram to Kerala, dense forests have survived only because villages protected them in sacred groves known as sarnas, devarakudu, kan, rai etc.

IV. Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
How did the British exploit the forests resources of India for their economic development? Explain it.
Answer:
The British exploited the forests resources of India for their economic development in the manner given ahead :
1. By the early 19th century, Oak forests in England were disappearing. The British needed timber supply for their Royal Navy and they sent search parties to explore forest resources of India. In 1820, within a decade, vast quantities of timber were being exported from India.

2. Not only for Royal Navy and for the movement of imperial troops the Britishers also needed the expansion of railways for their colonial trade. They needed wood to run locomotives and timber to lay railway tracks.

3. Large areas of natural forests were also cleared to make way for tea, coffee and rubber plantations to meet Europe’s growing need for these commodities.

4. In the colonial period, cultivation expanded rapidly for a variety of reasons. The British directly encouraged the production of commercial crops like wheat, jute, cotton and sugar. These crops were demanded for the consumption of urban population and also for the raw-materials needed in industrial production.

5. The British colonial government thought that forests were unproductive, so they tried to expand agriculture by cleaning forests which would increase the revenue of the state. So between 1880 and 1920, cultivated area rose by 6.7 million hectares.

Question 2.
Describe the Brandis’s proposal for the management of forests.
Answer:
Dietrich Brandis was a German expert on forestry. The British feared that the reckless felling of trees by local people and traders would destroy the forests. So, they invited Brandis for advice and made him the first Inspector General of Forests in India. Brandis’s Proposal to Manage Forests :

1. He realised that a proper system would have to be introduced to manage the forests and people would have to be trained in the science of forest conservation.
2. He suggested that this system would need legal sanction. Rules about the use of forest resources had to be framed. Felling of trees and grazing had to be restricted, so that forests could be preserved for timber production.
3. Anyone who cut trees without following the system had to be punished.
4. Brandis set up the Indian Forest Service in 1864 and helped to formulate the Indian Forest Act of 1865.
5. The Imperial Forest Research Institute was set up at Dehradun in 1906.
6. The system they taught here was called ‘Scientific Forestry’.

Question 3.
How did the Forest Act affect the lives of foresters and villagers?
Answer:
The 1878 Forest Act divided forests in India into three categories-reserved, protected and village forests. Foresters and villagers had a very different idea of ‘a good forest’. The following points show the effect of Forest Act on the lives of foresters and. villagers:

1. Villagers wanted forests with a mixture of species to satisfy their different needs fuel, fodder and leaves. Villagers could not take anything from ‘reserved’ forests. For house building or fuel, they could take wood from protected or villa ge forests. On the other hand, forest department needed trees that could provide hard, tall and straight wood for commercial use. So they encouraged to plant o nly Teak and Sal tress and ordered that other trees should be cut.

2. In forest areas, people use forest products, roots, leaves, fruits and tuber etc. Almost everthing is available in the forest for their livelihood. The Forest act meant severe hardship for them. All their everyday practices cutting wood for their houses, grazing their cattle, collecting fruits and roots, hunting and fishing were declared illegal.

3. Villagers were forced to steal wood and if they were caught, they were at the mercy of the forest guards,who even claimed bribe and free food from th em.

4. Women who collected fuel wood were scared of the forest guards. It became a common practice for police constables and forest guards to demand free food from the villagers.

Question 4.
What is Shifting cultivation or Swidden agriculture? Where is it practised? Explain its main features.
Answer:
Shifting cultivation or Swidden agriculture: Shifting cultivation of Swidden agriculture is a traditional agriculture practice where cultivators used to cut certain parts of the forest in rotation. Then they bum the trees and sow seeds in ashes after the monsoon rains. It is practised in many parts of Asia, Africa and South America.

It has many local names like Ladding in South-East Asia, Milpa in Central America, Chitemene or Tavy in Africa, Chena in Sri Lanka. In India dhya, penda, bewar, navad, jhum, podes, khandad and kumari are some local terms used for shifting or Swidden agriculture. Main Features of Shifting Cultivation or Swidden Agriculture. Following are the salient features of Shifting Cultivation or Swidden Agriculture:

1. The crop is harvested in month of October-November.
2. These crops are cultivated for couple of years and then they are left fallow for 12 to 18 years to allow the forest to grow back.
3. They use the forest in rotation for cropping and bum it after harvesting.
4. A mixture of crops is grown on the plots. So they have diversified source of income and this also replenishes and adds nutrients to the soil.

Question 5.
How did the lives of forest dwellers change significantly after the forest departments took over control of the forests ? Describe.
Answer:
The forests department took control of the forests by introduction of the-Forest Act of 1865 and 1871. In the following ways, life of forest-dwellers changed after the Act:

1. After this, some people benefitted from the new opportunities, they left their traditional occupations and started trading in forest products.
2. From the medieval period onwards, adivasi communities were trading in elephants and other goods like hides, horns, silk cocoons, ivory, bamboo, spices, fibres, grasses, gums, resins etc.
3. The British Government took total control over trade in forest products. They gave many large European trading firms the sole right to trade in the forest products of particular areas.
4. Grazing and hunting by local people was restricted. Many Pastroralist and Nomadic communities like the Korava, Karacha, Yerukula of Madras presidency and Banjaras lost their livelihoods.
5. Some tribals were branded as criminal tribes and they lost their old occupations and were forced to work in factories, mines and plantations under government supervision and were offered a very low wage. In this way, the lives of forest- dwellers were quite changed significantly after the forest department took over control of the forests.

Question 6.
How did the people of Bastar retailiate against the British forest policies? What were its results?
Or
Why did the people of Bastar rise in revolt against the British? Describe.
Answer:
Bastar is located in the southernmost part of Chhattisgarh on the borders of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra. A number of different communities like Maria and Muria Gonds, Dhurwas, Bhatras and Halbas live in Bastar. They speak different languages, but share common customs and beliefs. They believe that each village was provided its land by the Earth and in return they look after the land and give some offering at each agricultural festival.

Rise of Revolt in Bastar:
When the British colonial government proposed to reserve two thirds of the forest in 1905 and stop shifting cultivation, hunting and collection of forest products, the people of Bastar bacame too worried. Some people were allowed to stay in ‘forest villages’ on the condition that they worked for the forest department and

protected the forest from fires. Other people were displaced without any notice or compensation.
For a long time, the villagers had been suffering from excessive land rents and frequent demand of free labour and goods by the colonial officials. Moreover, there were two terrible famines, one in 1899-1900 and other in 1907-1908.

People began to gather and discuss these issues in their village councils, but the initiative was taken by the Dhurwas of Kangar Forest, where reservation first took place. In 1910, mango boughs, a lump of earth, chillies and arrows started circulating between villagers. The rebels looted the bazaars, the houses of officials and traders. Schools and police stations were burnt and robbed and grains were redistributed.

Result of the Revolt: The British troops suppressed the revolt. Adivasis fled into the jungles, their leader Gunda Dhur could not be captured. 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.

Question 7.
Describe the forest transformation in Java.
Or
Discuss the Samin’s movement in Java.
Answer:
Java is a famous island of Indonesia where rice is cultivated. At one time, this island was covered with forests. The Dutch ruled upon Indonesia. They created laws for forest control. They also wanted timber to build ships.

1. The Woodcutters of Java:
There was a community called Kalangs who lived by cutting forests and shifting cultivation. They were considered very helpful in Indonesia. They were needed to get teak wood from the forests to build the palaces of kings.

In the eighteenth century, the Dutch began to gain control over the forests. They tried to make the Kalangs work for them. But the Kalangs resisted by attacking a Dutch Fort at Joana in 1770. This rebellion was, however, put down by the Dutch.

2. Dutch Scientific Forestry:
In the nineteenth century, the Dutch enacted forest laws to control the total territory in Java. According to these laws, the villagers’ access to forests was controlled. They were allowed to get wood from only a few forests for building boats or houses. That too could be done under close supervision.

Villagers were punished for grazing cattle in young stands, transporting wood without a permit or travelling on forest roads with horse carts or cattle. In Java also, forest service could be managed for ship-building and railways. For cutting trees, labour was needed. The Dutch imposed rents on the land being cultivated in the forests.

3. Samin’s Challenges:
Around the year 1890, Surontiko Samin of the village Randublatung challenged the state ownership of forests. By the year 1907, around 3,000 families were following his ideas. When the Dutch officials came to survey, some saminists lay down on their land to protest, while others refused to pay taxes or fines or work free of charge.

Question 8.
How were the forest in India and Java affected by the First and Second world wars?
Or
The First and Second World War had great impact on the forests areas of the world.” Explain.

1. In India, the forest department cut trees freely to meet British war demands.
2. In Java, the Dutch followed ‘a scorched earth’ policy, just before the Japanese occupied the region. They destroyed saw mills and burnt off huge piles of giant teak logs so that they would not fall into Japanese hands.
3.  The  Japanese exploited the forests indiscriminately for their own war industries and forced the forest dwellers to cut down the forests.
4. Many villagers took this opportunity for the expansion of cultivation land by cutting down the forests.
5. After the war, it was difficult for the Indonesian Forest Service to get back this land.
6. In India, people needed more agricultural land for cultivation for its increasing population. Forest departments desired to control the land and excluded people from it. This variation in interests, led to a conflict between them.

JAC Class 9 Social Science Important Questions