These Solutions are part of NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Social Science. Here we have given NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Social Science History Chapter 4 Forest Society and Colonialism. Free PDF download of NCERT solutions for Class 9 Social Science (India and the Contemporary World – I) Chapter 4 – Forest Society and Colonialism. All questions are explained by the expert Social Science teacher and as per NCERT (CBSE) guidelines.
Question 1.
Discuss how the changes in forest management in the colonial period affected the following groups of people:
(a) Shifting cultivators
Ans. The colonial government put a ban on shifting cultivation as it was regarded as 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 pastoralists 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 that 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 the 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. Forest laws banned hunting of deer, partridges, and small animals. People who lived near the forests were deprived of their livelihood and food because of this ban. Contrary to this ban hunting of big animals like the tiger, leopard and wolves became a sport for the kings and the British. The British felt that by killing dangerous animals they could civilize India. The indiscriminate hunting by the British and the Kings almost made certain species of animals extinct.
Question 2.
What are the similarities between the colonial management of the forests in Bastar and in Java?
Answer: (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. The expansion of the railways became a necessity as trade and transportation increased. Wood was needed as fuel to run the steam locomotives. Wood was also needed to lay railway line sleepers, which held the tracks together. So, forests were destroyed to provide the wood needed for the expansion of the railways.
(ii) Shipbuilding:
Ans. The British Government needed huge ships for its Royal Navy. Ships are built of strong, durable timber. When the oak forests in England began to disappear the British attacked the forest resources in India. Vast quantities of timber was exported to England from India, for shipbuilding, thus depleting forests in India.
(iii) Agricultural expansion:
Ans. The colonial government believed that forests were unproductive. They had to be brought under cultivation so that they could yield agricultural products and generate revenue. 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.
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