NCERT Solutions for Class 9 History Chapter 4 Forest Society and Colonialism

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Q. Identify the appropriate reason for the formation of the Indian Forest Service in 1864 from the options given below:

(a) To introduce a proper system to manage forests and train people in the science of conservation
(b) To cut trees and introduce grazing
(c) To introduce eco-tourism
(d) To encourage the people living in forests to use forest products
Ans. (a) To introduce a proper system to manage forests and train people in the science of conservation

Q. Study the picture and answer the question that follows:

Which of the following aspects best signifies this image of the given line of tigers?

(a) (a) Environmentalists and conservators argue that all these species of animals need to be protected.
(b)The new forest laws changed the lives of forest dwellers.
(c) Those who were caught hunting were now punished for poaching.
(d) Hunting of big animals became a sport.
Ans. Hunting of big animals became a sport.

Q. The central part of Bastar is on a ____________ .

Ans. plateau

Q. Indian Forest Service was set up in the year________ .

Ans. 1864

Q. About 1800 to 3000 sleepers were required for each mile of railway track.

Ans. False

Q. About one-sixth of India's landmass was under cultivation in 1600 A.D.

Ans. True

Q. Name the communities living in Bastar.

Ans. Maria and Muria Gonds, Dhurwas, Bhatras and Halbas. Some communities living in Bastar.

Q. Who were ‘Kalanga’ of Java?

Ans. Skilled forest cutters and shifting cultivators were known as Kalanga.

Q. Which type of trees were preferred by the forest department? (any two)

Ans. The trees that are suitable for building ships and railways, such as sal , oak etc. were preferred by the forest department.

Q. What were siadi creepers used for?

Ans. Saidi creepers were used to make ropes.

Q. What was the work entrusted to the International War Tribunal set up in Nuremberg after the war?

Ans. The colonial government took over the forests, and gave vast areas to European planters at cheap rates. These areas were enclosed and cleared of forests and planted with tea, coffee and rubber to meet Europe’s growing needs for these commodities.

Q. Who was Gunda Dhur?

Ans. Gunda Dhur, from Nethanar village, was an important figure in Bastar forest rebellion.

Q. What steps were taken under the new scheme of scientific forestry?

Ans. Natural forests which had different types of trees, were cut down. In their place, one new type of trees were planted.

Q. Give two main reasons of rapid expansion of cultivation rapidly during the colonial period.

Ans. Cultivation increased rapidly during the colonial period because:

(i) The British directly encouraged the production of commercial crops such as jute, sugar, wheat and cotton. The demand for these crops increased in the nineteenth century England where food grains were needed to feed the growing urban population and raw materials were required for industrial production.
(ii) The colonial power in the nineteenth century thought that forests were unproductive. They were wilderness that had to be brought under cultivation so that the land could yield agricultural products and revenue could be generated for the state.

Q. How did forest trade by the local villagers get restricted by the regulations of the British government?

Ans. With the coming of the British, the forest trade by local villagers and adivasi communities got restricted and regulated by the British government.

(i) The British government gave many large European trading firms the right to trade in the forest products of particular areas.
(ii) Grazing and hunting by local people were restricted.
(iii) Many pastoralists and nomadic communities like the Korava, Karacha and Yerukala of the Madras Presidency lost their livelihoods. Some of them began to be called ‘criminal tribes’.
(iv) Many were forced to work in factories, mines and plantation under government supervision.

Q. How and why did hunting of big animals become a sport?

Ans. In India, hunting of tigers and other animals had been part of the culture of the court and nobility for centuries. Many Mughal paintings show princes and emperors enjoying a hunt.

(i) Under colonial rule the scale of hunting increased to such an extent that various species were on the verge of extinction.
(ii) The British saw large animals as signs of wild, primitive and savage society and killing these wild and dangerous animals would civilise India and protect the cultivators.
(iii) They gave rewards for the killing of tigers, wolves and other large animals.
(iv) Gradually, the tiger came to be seen as a sporting trophy.
(v) Only much later the environmentalists and conservators started arguing that all these species of animals need to be protected and conserved.

Q. How did the transformation of forests in Java begin?

Ans. Java was initially mostly covered with forests. It is now a famous rice-producing island in Indonesia.

(i) The colonial power in Indonesia was the Dutch. The Dutch started forest management in Java. Like the British, they wanted timber from Java to build ships.
(ii) In 1600, the population of Java was estimated 3.4 million.
(iii) There were many fertile plains, but there were also many communities living in the mountains and practicing shifting cultivation. The Dutch gradually brought changes through scientific forestry and put restrictions on villagers’ access to forests and shifting cultivation.
(iv) In the nineteenth century, when it became imperative to control territory and not just the people, the Dutch enacted the forest laws. Wood could only be cut for specified purposes like making river boats or constructing houses, and only from specified forests under close supervision.
(v) Villagers were punished for grazing cattle in young stands, transporting wood without a permit, or travelling on forest roads with horse carts or cattle.

Q. Assertion (A): Some villages were allowed to stay in the reserved forests on the condition that they worked free for the forest department in cutting and transporting trees, and protected the forest from fires.
Reason (R): The British directly encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute, sugar, wheat and cotton.

Ans. (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.

Explanation :

When the commercial government proposed to reserve two-thirds of the forest in 1905, and stop shifting cultivation, hunting and collection of forest produce, the people of Bastar were very worried.