MCQ
AND OTHER IMPORTANT QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS OF FOREST SOCIETY AND COLONIALISM
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
Q.1. Who were the colonial
power in Indonesia?
(a) British (b) Dutch (c) French (d) Portuguese
Q.2.Which place is now
famous as a rice-producing island in Indonesia?
(a) Java (b) Sumatra (c)
Borneo (d) Kalimantan
Q.3. Where did the Dutch
start forest management in Indonesia?
(a) Java (b) Sumatra (c) Bali
(d) None of the above
Q.4. Who were ‘Kalangs’ of
Java?
(a) Dynasty of rulers (b) Skilled forest cutters and shifting
cultivators
(c) A community of moneylenders
(d) none of the above
Q.5 The Kalangs resisted the
Dutch in
(a) 1700 (b) 1750 (c) 1770 (d) 1800
Q.6. According to the forest
laws enacted by the Dutch in Java,
(a) Villagers’ access to forest
was restricted
(b) Wood could be cut only for
specified purposes like making river boats or constructing houses
(c) Villagers were punished for
grazing cattle
(d) All the above
Q.7.What was the system of
‘blandongdiensten’?
(a) A system of education (b)
Industrialisation
(c) First imposition of rent on land and then exemption (d) None of
the above
Q.8.What did Surontiko Samin
of Randublatung village, a teak forest village, begin questioning?
(a) The foreign policy of the
Dutch (b) State ownership of the forest
(c) The export policy of the
Dutch (d) none of the above
Q.9.What was the policy followed by the British in India
towards forests during the First and the Second World Wars?
(a) The forest department cut
trees freely to meet British war needs
(b) Cutting of trees was strictly prohibited for everyone, including
the British
(c) More and more trees were
planted to give employment to Indians
(d) None of the above
Q.10.What is the goal of
governments across Asia and Africa since the 1980s?
(a) Conservation of forests
(b) Collection of timber
(c) Settling people in forest
areas (d) Destroying old forests and
growing new ones
Q.11. Who wrote the book
‘The Forests of India’ in the year 1923?
(a) David Spurr (b) E.P. Stebbing (c) Verrier Elvin (d)
John Middleton
12. Which of the following
is not associated with Sweden agriculture?
(a) Karacha (b) Jhum (c)
Bewar (d) Penda
13. Indian Forest Service
was set up in the year:
(a) 1865 (b) 1864 (c) 1854 (d) 1884
14. Which of the following
was not a tribal community?
(a) Karacha (b) Jhum (c) Korava (d) Yerukula
15. The system of scientific
forestry stands for:
(a) System whereby the local
farmers were allowed to cultivate temporarily within a plantation
(b) System of cutting old trees and plant new ones
(c) Division of forest into
three categories
(d) Disappearance of forests
16. In which year the Baster
rebellion took place?
(a) 1910 (b) 1909 (c) 1911
(d) 1912
17. In South-East Asia
shifting agriculture is known as:
(A) Chitemene (b) Tavy (c) Lading (d) Milpa
18. The Gond forest
community belongs to which of the following
(a) Chhattisgarh (b)
Jharkhand (c) Jammu and Kashmir (d) Gujarat
19. Forests consisting of
which type of trees were preferred by the Forest Department?
(a) Forests having trees which
provided fuel, fodder and leaves
(b) Forests having soft wood
(c) Forests having trees suitable for building ships and railways
20. Which of the following
term is not associated with shifting agriculture in India?
(a) Penda (b) Bewar (c) Khandad
(d) Lading
21. Which of the following
is a community of skilled forest cutters?
(a) Maasais of Africa (b)
Mundas of Chotanagpur(c) Gonds of Orissa (d)
Kalangs of Java
22. Why did the government
decide to ban shifting cultivation?
(a) To grow trees for railway
timber
(b) When a forest was burnt, there was the danger of destroying
valuable timber
(c) Difficulties for the
government to calculate taxes
(d) All the above reasons
23. Wooden planks lay across
railway tracks to hold these tracks in a position are called:
(a) Beams (b) Sleepers (c) Rail fasteners (d) none of these
24. Which of the following
was the most essential for the colonial trade and movement of goods?
(a) Roadways (b) Railways (c) Airways (d) River ways
25. Which of the following
is a commercial crop?
(a) Rice (b) Wheat (c) Cotton (d) Maize
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
Q.1 what is deforestation?
Why is it considered harmful?
Ans.1 The disappearance of forests is referred to as
deforestation. Forests are cleared for industrial uses, cultivation, pastures
and fuel wood.
2.Clearing of forests is
harmful as forests give us manythings like paper, wood that makes our desks,
tables, doors and windows, dyes that colour our clothes, spices in our food,
gum, honey, coffee, tea and rubber. They are the home of animals and birds.
3. Forests check soil erosion and denudation, sand dunes.
They preserve our ecological diversity and life support systems.
Q.2. Describe scientific
forestry.
Ans.1. 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.
2. 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.
3.The area cut was then to be
replanted so that it was ready to be cut again in some years.
Q.3. Mention the various
uses of forests
Ans. 1.Forests give us a mixture of things to satisfy our
different needs — fuel, fodder, leaves, trees suitable for building ships or
railways, trees that can provide hard wood.
2. Forest products like roots,
fruits, tubers, herbs are used for medicinal purposes, wood for agricultural
implements like yokes, ploughs etc. Forests provide shelter to animals and
birds. They also add moisture to atmosphere. Rainfall is trapped in forest
lands.
Q.4.What is shifting
agriculture? Why was it regarded as harmful by the British?
Ans. 1.Shifting agriculture or Sweden agriculture is a
traditional agricultural practice in many parts of Asia, Africa and South
America. It has many local names such as ‘lading’ in South-EastAsia, ‘milpa’ in
central America, ‘chitemene’
or ‘tavy’ in Africa, ‘chena’ in Sril Lanka, dhya, Penda, bewar,
nevad, jhum, podu, khandad and kumri in
India.
2.In shifting cultivation,
parts of a forest are cut and burnt in rotation, seeds are sown in 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.
It was regarded as harmful by
the British for the forests. They felt that land which was used for cultivation
every few years could not grow trees for railway timber. When the forest was
burnt there was the danger of the flames spreading and burning valuable timber.
Q.5. Explain why did the
Dutch adopt the ‘scorched earth policy’ during the war.
Ans.1. The First World War and Second World War had a major
impact on forests. In India, working places were abandoned and trees were cut
freely to meet British demand for war needs.
2.In Java, just before the
Japanese occupied the region, the Dutch followed the ‘scorched earth policy’
destroying saw mills, burning huge piles of giant teak logs so that they could
not fall into Japanese hands.
Q.6. How did the forest
rules affect cultivation?
Ans. 1.One of the major impacts of European colonialism was
on the practice of shifting cultivation or Jhoom cultivation .In shifting
cultivation, a clearing is made in the forest, usually on the slopes of the
hills. After the trees are cut, they are
burnt to provide ashes. The seeds are then scattered in the area, and left to
be irrigated by the rain.
2. Shifting cultivation was
harmful for forests and the land both.
3. It also made it harder for the Government to calculate
taxes. Therefore, the government decided to ban shifting cultivation.
Q.7. Why did land under
cultivation increase during colonial rule?
Ans.1. during the British domination of India, the British
encouraged the cultivation of cash crops such as jute, indigo, cotton, etc.
Food crops were also required to be grown for food. Both things were important.
2.Secondly, the forests were considered unproductive by the British government
and hence large areas of forests were cleared for agriculture. Now this forest
land could be cultivated to enhance the income of this state.
Q.8.What did Dietrich
Brandis suggest for the improvement of forests in India?
Ans. 1.Dietrich Brandis suggested that a proper system had to
be followed. Felling of trees and grazing land had to be protected. Rules about
use of forests should be made. Anyone who broke rules needed to be punished.
Brandis set up in 1864 the Indian Forest Service. He also helped to formulate
the Indian Forest Act of 1865.
Q.9.What was taught at the
Imperial Forest Research Institute? How was this system carried out?
Ans. 1.Scientific forestry was taught at the Imperial Forest
Research Institute. In this system, natural forests which had a variety of
trees were cut down and, instead, one type of tree was planted.
2. Appointed forest officials
managed these forests. They planned and assessed how much of the planted area
had to be cut down and how much had to be replanted.
Q.10. Differentiate between the customary practice of hunting
and hunting as a sport in India, after the Forest Acts were passed.
Ans. Before the laws were passed, people who depended on
forests hunted birds and small animals for food. After the laws were passed,
hunting of big game became a sport. Under colonial rule the scale of hunting
increased so much that many species became extinct. Rewards were given for
killing tigers, wolves, etc., on the pretext that they were a threat to human
life. Certain areas of the forests were reserved for hunting.
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
[5 MARKS]
Q.1. Discuss the rise of
commercial forestry under the colonial governments.
Ans.1. Commercial forestry became important during the
British rule. By the early nineteenth century oak forests in England were
disappearing. This created a problem of shortage of timber supply for the Navy.
2. How could English ships be
built without a regular supply of strong and durable timber?How could imperial
power be protected and maintained without ships?
3. Because of the factors given
above, before 1856 the commercial forestry was considered important in India.
By the 1820s, search parties were sent to explore the forest resources ofIndia.
4. These parties gave them
green signal for commercial forestry in India.Within a decade trees were being
felled on a massive scale and large quantities of timber were being exported
from India.
5.The spread of railway from
the 1850s created a new demand. In India, the colonial government felt that railways were essential for effective internal
administration, for colonial trade, for the quick movement of imperial troops.
Q.3. “The introduction of
extremely exploitatives and oppressive policies proved to be a disaster.” With
reference to Bastar —
(a) What were these
policies? (b) What were the consequences of these policies?
Ans. (a) The colonial government proposed to reserve two-thirds
of the forest in 1905 and stop shifting cultivation, hunting and collection of
forest produce. The people of Baster were very worried. Some villages were
allowed to remain on in the reserved forests on the condition that they worked
free for the forest department in cutting and transporting trees and protecting
the forests from fires. Subsequently these came to be known as forest villages.
People of other villages were displaced without any notice or compensation. For
long the villagers had been suffering from increased land rents and frequent
demands for free labour and goods by colonial officials. Then came the terrible
famines in 1899-1900 and again in 1907-1908. Reservations proved to be the last
straw.
(b) People began to gather and discuss these issues in
their village councils, in bazars and at festivals or wherever the headmen and
priests of several villages were assembled. The initiative was taken by the
Dhruvas of the Kanger forest, where reservation first took place.Although there
was no single leader, many people speak of Gunda Dhur from villageNethanar as
an important figure in the movement in 1910 mango boughs, a limp of earth,
chillies and arrows, began circulating between villages. These were actually
messages inviting villagers to rebel against the British.Every village
contributed something to the rebellion expenses. Bazars were looted, the houses
of officials and traders, schools and police stations were burnt and robbed and
grain redistributed.
The British sent troops to
suppress the rebellion. The adivasi leaders tried to negotiate, but the British
surrounded their camps and fired upon them. After that they marched through the
villages, flogging and punishing those who had taken part in the rebellion.It
took three months for the British to regain control. However, they never
managed to capture Gunda Dhur. In a major victory for the rebels, work on
reservation was temporarily suspended and the area to be reserved was reduced
to roughly that planned before 1910. Were forcibly displaced from their homes in the forests. Some had to change
occupations, while some resisted through large and small rebellions.
Q.5. How did the following
contribute towards the decline of forest cover in India between1880-1920
(a) Railways and
shipbuilding (b) Commercial farming
Ans. (a) (1) Railways: The spread of railways from 1850s created a new
demand. Railways were essential for successful colonial control,
administration, trade and movement of troops. Thus to run locomotives, (a) wood
was needed as fuel (b) and to lay railway lines as sleepers were essential to
hold tracks together. As the railway tracks spread
throughout India, larger and larger number of trees were felled. Forests around
the railway tracks started disappearing fast.
(2) Shipbuilding: UK had the largest colonial empire in the world.
Shortage of oak forests created a great timber problem for the shipbuilding of
England. For the RoyalNavy, large wooden boats, ships, courtyards for shipping
etc., trees from Indian forests were being felled on massive scale from the
1820s or 1830s to export large quantities of timber from India. Thus the forest
cover of the subcontinent declined rapidly.
(b) Commercial Farming: Large areas of natural forest were also cleared to
make space for the plantations or commercial farming. Jute, rubber, indigo,
tobacco etc. were the commercial crops that were planted to meet Britain’s
growing need for these commodities.The British colonial government took over
the forests and gave of a vast area and exportedit to Europe. Large areas of
forests were cleared on the hilly slopes to plant tea or coffee.
This also contributed to the
decline of the forest cover in India.
Q.6. How was colonial management
of forests in Bastar similar to that of Java?
Ans. The colonial government imposed new forest laws
according to which two-thirds of the forests were reserved. Shifting
cultivation, hunting and collection of forest produce was banned. Most people
in forest villages were displaced without notice or compensation. In the same
way, when the Dutch gained control over the forests in Java, they enacted
forest laws, restricting villagers' access to forests. Now wood could only be
cut for specific purposes and from specific forests under close supervision.
Villagers were punished for grazing cattle, transporting wood without a permit
or travelling on forest road with horse-carts or cattle. This was the
similarity between the British (in Bastar) and Dutch (in Java) management of
forests.
Q.7. What new trends and
developments have affected the forestry of today?
Ans. 1.Since the 1980s governments across Asia and Africa
have begun to see that scientific forestry and the policy of keeping forest
communities away from forests has resulted in many conflicts.Conservation of
forests rather than collecting timber has become a more important goal.
2.The government has
realised/recognised that in order to meet this goal, the people who live near
the forests must be involved.
3.In many cases, across India,
from Mizoram to Kerala, dense forests have survived only because villagers
protected them in sacred groves known as sarnas, Devarakudu, kau, rai etc. Some
villages have been patrolling .
their own forests, with each
household taking it in turns, instead of leaving it to the forest guards.Local
forest communities and environmentalists today are thinking of different forms
of forest management.
Q.8. Where is Bastar
located? Discuss its history and its people
Ans.1. Bastar is situated in the southern part of
Chhattisgarh and borders Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The river
Indrawati flows from east to west across Bastar. The central part ofBastar is a
plateau. To the north of this plateau is the Chhattisgarh plain and to its
south is the Godavari plain.
2.The people of Bastar believe
that each village was bestowed land by the earth and hence they offer something
in return during agricultural celebrations. Apart from the earth the people of
Bastar show reverence to the spirits of rivers, forests and the mountains.
3.Different communities such as
Maria and Muria Gonds, Dhurwas, Bhatras and Halbas practise common customs and
beliefs but speak different dialects. Each village is well aware of its
boundaries. They look after and preserve their natural resources.
4.There exists a give and take
relationship among the communities. If a village wants some forest produce from
another village a small price is paid before taking it. This price is called
‘dhand’ or ‘man’ or ‘devsari’.Villagers engage watchmen to look after their
forests for a price.
5.This price is collected from
all the families. There is a large annual gathering — a big hunt where the
headmen of all the villages in a ‘pargana’ (a group of villages) meet and
discuss matters that concern them.
Q.9. Discuss the new
developments in forestry after the 1980s.
Ans: 1. Since the 1980s the governments of Asia and Africa
have begun to see that scientific forestry and the policy of keeping forest
communities away from the forests has resulted in many conflicts. Conservation
and preservation of forests have become the major goal.
