Forest Society and Colonialism Class 9 Worksheet History Chapter 4

Q.1. Who were famous as the woodcutters of Java?

Kalangs of Java.

Q.2. Who was the Inspector General of Forest in India?

Dietrich Brandis.

Q.3. Which river flows through the Bastar region?

Indrawati.

Q.4. Name the country which occupied Indonesia during the Second World War?

Japan.

Q.5. Name the present state of India in which Bastar located.

Chhattisgarh

Q.6. Why did plantation develop in India? How did the British government support the plantation in India?

The British directly encouraged the production of commercial crops like jutesugarcane, wheat and cotton.
In the early 19th century the colonial state thought the forests to be unproductive.
They wanted to bring land under cultivation so that the land could yieldagricultural products and revenue and enhance the income of the state.

Q.7. How did Ship-building contribute to the decline of forest cover in the Indian sun continent?

Ship building was a major cause of deforestation.
As oak forests of Europe were exhausted by ship building industries, this created aproblem of timber supply for Royal Navy.
The Indian forests were looked upon to provide hard and durable wood to buildships.
This led to rapid deforestation.

Q.8. How did the changes in forest management in the colonial period affect the hobby of hunting of Kings and British officials?

The new laws prohibited the forest communities to hunt, to collect wood and forest products.
Hunting of small animals was prohibited but hunting of large animals was encouraged.
The British encouraged the kings and officials to hunt more.
They were awarded for killing savage animals such as tigers, wolves etc.

Q.9. How did the changes in forest management in the colonial period affect the firms trading in forest produce?

Traditional trading class of colonies became dependent on colonial powers.
Many communities changed their ancestral profession and started trading in forest products.
The colonial powers began to regulate the trade.
The British made monopoly to Europe firms to trade in forest produce.

Q.10. What are the main reasons for rapid disappearance of forests?

Forests were cleared to set up industries.
More areas required for agriculture to feed the growing population.
Wood was required for fuel purpose.
Colonial rule was also responsible for the disappearance of forests.

Q.11. How did the changes in forest management in the colonial period affect the life of shifting cultivators?

The colonial powers considered this practice as harmful for environment and forests.
They feared that it would destroy the valuable timber. So they banned this type ofcultivation.
This results in the displacement of many forest tribes.
Many tribes were forced to change their occupation.

Q.12. Write about the wood cutters of Java.

The Kalangs of Java were famous as the woodcutters of java.
They were trained forest cutters and shifting cultivators.
They were very important for Mataram Kingdom.
When the Mataram Kingdom was divided, the Kalanga families too were dividedamong two new kingdoms.

Q.13. How the construction of Indus valley Railway network was causes a heavy destruction to the forests of Sindh and Punjab?

To expand its revenue income, the colonial government looked for every possible source of taxation
Taxes were imposed on land, on canal water, on salt, on trade goods and even on animals.
Pastoralists had to pay tax on every animal they grazed on the pastures.In most pastoral tracts of India, grazing tax was introduced in the mid-nineteenth century.The tax per head of cattle went up rapidly and the system of collection was made increasingly efficient. In the decades between the 1850s and 1880s the right to collect the tax was auctioned out to contractors.

Q.14. How did the British exploit the forests resources of India for their economic development?

The British directly encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute, sugarcane, wheat and cotton.
Railways were essential for colonial trade and for the movement of imperial troops.
Trees were cut to make sleepers that were put into railway tracks.
Large areas of forests were cleared to establish tea, coffee and rubber plantation to meet the needs of European industries.
Trees were cut on a massive scale and vast quantities by the early nineteenth century for ship-building.

Q.15. Explain any five ways in which the lives of the villagers were affected by the Forest Acts.

People were forced to steal wood from the forests, if they were caught; they were at the mercy of the forest guards who would take bribes from them.
Women who collected fuel wood were especially worried.
It was also common for police constables and forest gourds to harass people by demand free wood from them.
The Forest Act brought severe hardships for villagers across the country. After the Act their everyday practices- cutting wood for their houses, grazing their cattle, collecting fruits and roots, hunting and fishing became illegal.