History Simplified Revision notes by Rabisir
Success Point
CHAPTER 4FOREST SOCIETY AND
COLONIALISM
CONCEPTS:
DEFORESTATION:-
Deforestation is cutting down of
trees indiscriminately in a forest area. Under the colonial rule it became very
systematic and extensive.
Why Deforestation
As population increased over the centuries and the demand for food went up,
peasants extended the boundaries of cultivation by clearing forests.
The British encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute, sugar,
wheat and cotton for their industries as raw material.
The British thought that forests were unproductive land as they yielded neither
revenue nor agricultural produce. Cultivation was viewed as a sign of progress.
Oak forests in England were disappearing. There was no timber supply for the shipbuilder industry. Forest
resources of India were used to make ships for the Royal Navy.
Spread of railways required two things :
land to be cleared to lay railway tracks
wood as fuel for locomotives and for railway line sleepers.
Large areas of natural
forests were cleared for tea, coffee and rubber plantations. Thus land was
given to planters at cheap rates.
COMMERCIAL FORESTRY:-
The British were worried that
the use of forests by local people and the reckless felling of trees by traders
would destroy forests and hence invited German expert Dietrich Brandis as first
Inspector General of Forests in India.
Brandis set up the Indian
Forest Service in 1864 and helped formulate the Indian Forest Act of1865. The
Imperial Forest Research Institute was set up in Dehradun in 1906.Scientific
forestry was taught there. In the scientific forestry system, forests with
different kinds of trees were replaced by plantations. Forest management plans were made by forest officials.They planned how much of
the forest had to be cut and how much had to be replanted.
The Forest Acts divided forests intoThe villagers were dissatisfied
with the Forest Acts. They were now forced to steal wood from the forests. If
they were caught, they were punished.
Forest Rules and Cultivation
Shifting cultivation or Sweden
agriculture was the agricultural practice in many parts of Asia, Africa and
South America. The colonial foresters did not favour this system as it made it
difficult for the government to calculate taxes.
In addition, the forest officials saw in it the danger of fire and also that no
trees could grow on this kind of land.
Hunting and Forest Laws: The forest laws forbade the villagers from hunting in
the forests but encouraged hunting as a big sport. They felt that the wild
animals were savage, wild and primitive, just like the Indian society and that
it was their duty to civilise them.
New Trade and New
Employment: New opportunities opened
in trade as the forest department took control of the forests, e.g., the
Mundurucu peoples of the Brazilian Amazon.With the colonial influence trade was
completely regulated by the government. Many largeEuropean trading firms were
given the sole right to trade in forest products of a particulate area.Many
pastoral communities lost their means of livelihood.New opportunities of work
did not always mean improved well-being for the people.
FOREST REBELLIONS
Forest communities rebelled
against the changes imposed upon them. The people of Bastar were one such
group. The initiative was taken by the Dhurwas of the Kanger forest where
reservation first took place. The British sent troops to suppress the
rebellion. It took them three months to regain control. A victory for the
people of Bastar was that the work on reservation was suspended and the area
was reduced to half.
CHANGES IN JAVA:
The Kalangs: They rose in rebellion against the Dutch in 1770 but
their uprising was suppressed.
Scientific Forestry in Java:
Forest laws were enacted in Java. The
villagers resisted these laws.Forest timber was used for ships and railway
sleepers. The Dutch government used the ‘balandongdiensten’ system for
extracting free labour from the villagers.
Samin’s Movement: Samin of Randublatung village (a teak forest village)
questioned the state ownership of forests. A widespread movement spread. They
protested by lying on the ground when the Dutch came to survey it and refusing
to pay taxes and perform labour.
World Wars and
Deforestation: The world wars had a
major impact on forests. The forest department cut freely to meet the British
demands. The Dutch followed the scorched earth policy of destroying saw mills,
burning logs of teak so that the Japanese could not benefit from it. The
Japanese forced the villagers to cut down forests, when they occupied the area.
New Developments: Conservation and preservation of forests has now
become the focus rather than timber. It has also been realised that if forests
are to survive, the local community needs to be involved. There are many such
examples in India where communities are conserving forests in sacred groves.
This looking after is done by each member of the village and everyone is
involved.
Tea/Coffee plantations — The colonial state thought that forest land was
unproductive.
It did not yield agricultural
produce nor revenue. Large areas of natural forests were hence 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. The areas were enclosed and cleared
of forests and planted with tea or coffee.
Adivasis and other peasant users — Adivasis and other
peasant users do not cut down forests except to practice shifting cultivation
or gather timber for fuel. They also gather forest products and graze their
cattle. This does not destroy the forests except sometimes in shifting
agriculture. In fact, now the new trends that promote forest conservation tend
to involve local villagers in conservation and preservation. The adivasis and
other peasant communities regard the forests as their own and even engage
watchmen to keep a vigil over their forests.
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