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    Forest Society and Colonialism

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    Sanskar Kumar
    The document discusses how colonial forest management policies affected various groups of people and led to large-scale deforestation in India between 1880-1920. Shifting cultivators and pastoralist communities were negatively impacted, while timber merchants and plantation owners benefited. Factors like railways, shipbuilding, agricultural expansion, commercial farming and tea/coffee plantations drove deforestation during this period. Wars also increased timber cutting to meet wartime needs.

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    Forest Society and Colonialism

    Uploaded by

    Sanskar Kumar
    9 views2 pages
    The document discusses how colonial forest management policies affected various groups of people and led to large-scale deforestation in India between 1880-1920. Shifting cultivators and pastoralist communities were negatively impacted, while timber merchants and plantation owners benefited. Factors like railways, shipbuilding, agricultural expansion, commercial farming and tea/coffee plantations drove deforestation during this period. Wars also increased timber cutting to meet wartime needs.

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    The document discusses how colonial forest management policies affected various groups of people and led to large-scale deforestation in India between 1880-1920. Shifting cultivators and pastoralist communities were negatively impacted, while timber merchants and plantation owners benefited. Factors like railways, shipbuilding, agricultural expansion, commercial farming and tea/coffee plantations drove deforestation during this period. Wars also increased timber cutting to meet wartime needs.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    9 views2 pages

    Forest Society and Colonialism

    Uploaded by

    Sanskar Kumar
    The document discusses how colonial forest management policies affected various groups of people and led to large-scale deforestation in India between 1880-1920. Shifting cultivators and pastoralist communities were negatively impacted, while timber merchants and plantation owners benefited. Factors like railways, shipbuilding, agricultural expansion, commercial farming and tea/coffee plantations drove deforestation during this period. Wars also increased timber cutting to meet wartime needs.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Forest Society and Colonialism

    Question 1: Discuss how the changes in forest management in the colonial period affected the
    following groups of people:
    (a) Shifting cultivators
    Answer: New forest laws banned shifting cultivation. For shifting cultivators, it was devastating
    because there was a problem for their survival. Many of them were forced to migrate to take up
    some other occupations. Many others were forced to work in the tea plantations.
    (b) Nomadic and pastoralist communities
    Answer: Grazing of animals was banned under the new forest laws. It made the life of
    pastoralist communities difficult. Herds of animals were their only source of livelihood. The
    nomadic communities were declared as criminal communities. This made their life miserable
    because they could no longer move freely.
    (c) Firms trading in timber/forest produce
    Answer: Because of huge demand of timber, it was boon for the timber merchants. They must
    have seen good growth in their incomes.
    (d) Plantation owners
    Answer: Land was given at cheaper rates to the plantation owners. Labour was also made
    available to them at very low wages. Moreover, new policies were made which prevented the
    workers from going back to their home villages. It was a win-win situation for the plantation
    owner.
    (e) Kings/British officials engaged in shikar
    Answer: Killing of ferocious animals; like tiger or wolves was monetarily rewarded. Moreover,
    hunting was viewed as a sign of bravely and valour. The Kings and British officials must have
    enjoyed the new found honour in the society.
    Question 2: What are the similarities between colonial management of the forests in Bastar.
    Answer: There were certain similarities in the colonial management of forests in Bastar and
    Java. In both the cases, the traditional rights of forest dwellers were taken away and they were
    forced to work for their colonial masters. Large scale deforestation took place and felled trees
    were replaced with monocultural plantations.
    Question 3: Between 1880 and 1920, 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:
    (a) Railways
    Answer: There was huge demand of sleepers from the railways. In those days
    sleepers were made from wood. Expansion of the railway network resulted in large
    scale deforestation.
    (b) Shipbuilding
    Answer: Shipbuilding was an important industry because ships were integral part of
    the military power of the British. When the number of oak trees sharply reduced in
    Britain, Indian forests provided good source of supply. Thus, shipbuilding also
    contributed towards large scale deforestation in India.
    (c) Agricultural expansion
    Answer: The growing European population meant an increased demand for food
    grains. This resulted in expansion of cultivated land in India. More land was cleared of
    forests to make way for cultivation.
    (d) Commercial farming
    Answer: There was increased demand for various raw materials; like cotton, indigo for
    the expanding industries in Britain. This resulted in large scale commercial farming in
    India. This could also become possible by clearing forests
    (e) Tea/coffee plantations
    Answer: Demand for tea and coffee also increased in Britain. The climate of north-
    eastern India and the eastern coast was perfect for plantations. Large areas of forests
    were cleared for making way for plantations. The British plantation owners were given
    land on very cheap rates.
    (f) Adivasis and other peasant users
    Answer: Adivasis had always been the protectors of forests and hence they had no
    role in deforestation. However, some peasants may have utilised the opportunity to
    expand the cultivated land; as had happened in Java. Moreover, the significant
    increase in cultivated land also indicates towards clearing of forests for farming.
    Question 4: Why are forests affected by wars?
    Answer: The two World Wars had major impacts on forests. More trees were cut to meet the
    wartime needs of Britain.
    In Java, the Dutch followed ‘scorched earth’ policy just before the Japanese occupation of the
    region. They destroyed sawmills and burnt huge piles of giant teak logs. The Japanese
    continued the exploitation of forests. They forced forest villagers to cut down forests. For many
    cooperative and. NGOs also working intensively towards this direction.

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