Forest Society and Colonialism

Q47. Mention the reason for increased landmass under cultivation in India?
Or
Explain the reason for increased landmass under cultivation in India?

Ans. In 1600, approximately one-sixth of India’s landmass was under cultivation. Now that figure has gone up to about half. As population increased over the centuries and the demand for food went up, peasants extended the boundaries of cultivation, clearing forests and breaking new land.

Q48. How did the new forest laws affect the hunter and forest dwellers in 1927?
Or
How did new forest laws affect the lives of forest dwellers?
Or
How did Forest Act affect the lives of forest dwellers?

Ans. The new forest laws changed the lives of forest dwellers in yet another way. Before the forest laws, many people who lived in or near forests had survived by hunting deer, partridges and a variety of small animals. This customary practice was prohibited by the forest laws. Those who were caught hunting were now punished for poaching. 

Q49. How far the plantation agriculture was responsible for deforestation in India?
Or
How did plantation contribute to deforestation in India?
Or
How was plantation promoted in India at the cost of forests during British period?

Ans. 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. 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 or coffee. 

Q50. How did forest around railway track start disappearing after 1860?
Or
Why did forest around railway tracks in India start disappearing after 1860?

Ans. From the 1860s, the railway network expanded rapidly. As the railway tracks spread through India, a larger and larger number of trees were felled. Trees were being cut annually for sleepers. The government gave out contracts to individuals to supply the required quantities. These contractors began cutting trees indiscriminately. Forests around the railway tracks fast started disappearing.

Q51. Why was hunting popular in India? What were its effects?

Ans. While the forest laws deprived people of their customary rights to hunt, hunting of big game became a sport. 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. Under colonial rule the scale of hunting increased to such an extent that various species became almost extinct.

Q52. How did commercial farming led to decline in forest cover during colonial period?

Ans. British directly encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute, sugar, wheat and cotton. The demand for these crops increased in nineteenth-century Europe where food grains were needed to feed the growing urban population and raw materials were required for industrial production. Hence forest lands were cleared to make land available for commercial farming.

Q53. What is Swidden Agriculture?
Or
What is Swidden Agriculture? Where is it practised? Describe its main feature.

Ans. Shifting cultivation or swidden agriculture is a traditional agricultural practice in many parts of Asia, Africa and South America. In shifting cultivation or Swidden agriculture, parts of the 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 a couple of years and then left fallow for 12 to 18 years for the forest to grow back.

Q54. What is scientific forestry? How did the forest officials implement it?

Ans. In scientific forestry, 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 is called a plantation. Forest officials surveyed the forests, estimated the area under different types of trees, and made working plans for forest management. They planned how much of the plantation area to cut every year. The area cut was then to be replanted so that it was ready to be cut again in some years.

Q55. Who were the ‘Kalangs’ of Java?
Or
Who were ‘Kalangs’? How were they important?
Or
Who were the ‘Kalangs’ of Java? Why were they so valuable?
Or
Who were ‘Kalangs’? Why were they considered important in Java?
Or
Why were the ‘Kalangs’ of Java considered valuable?

Ans. The Kalangs of Java were a community of skilled forest cutters and shifting cultivators. They were so valuable that in 1755 when the Mataram kingdom of Java split, the 6,000 Kalang families were equally divided between the two kingdoms. Without their expertise, it would have been difficult to harvest teak and for the kings to build their palaces. When the Dutch began to gain control over the forests in the eighteenth century, they tried to make the Kalangs work under them.