RBSE Class 9 Social Science Important Questions History Chapter 4 Forest Society and Colonialism

Rajasthan Board RBSE Class 9 Social Science Important Questions History Chapter 4 Forest Society and Colonialism Important Questions and Answers. 

RBSE Class 9 Social Science Important Questions History Chapter 4 Forest Society and Colonialism 

Multiple Choice Questions:

Question 1.
What percent of the world’s total area was cleared between 1700 and 1995 for industrial uses, cultivation, pastures and fuel wood?
(a) 8.5 per cent 
(b) 9.3 per cent 
(c) 11.8 per cent 
(d) 10.3 per cent
Answer:
(b) 9.3 per cent 

Question 2.
 Why were forests cleared off rapidly during the colonial period?
(a) To fulfil the demand of commercial crop.
(b) Forests were considered to be wasteland
(c) To fulfil the demand of timber
(d) All the above
Answer:
(d) All the above

Question 3.
 Over 80,000 tigers, 15,000 leopards and 2,00,000 wolves were killed for reward in the period of
(a) 1815-1920 
(b) 1885-1995 
(c) 1805-1923 
(d)1875-1925
Answer:
(d)1875-1925

Question 4. 
Which trade was created due to the introduction of new forest law?
(a) Cultivation 
(b) Collection of latex
(c) Himting 
(d) Indigo cultivation
Answer:
(b) Collection of latex

Question 5. 
What is Java now famous as?
(a) Wheat producing island 
(b) Rice producing island
(c) Maize producing island 
(d) Tea producing island
Answer:
(b) Collection of latex

Question 6. 
People living in forests earn money from the sale of
(a) Mahua flowers
(b) Tendu leaves 
(c) Timber 
(d) Fruits
Answer:
 (b) Tendu leaves 

Question 7. 
Which forest communities are found in Central India
(a) Karachas 
(b) Koravas 
(c) Banjaras 
(d) Baigas
Answer:
(d) Baigas

Question 8. 
What was the reason of forest cutting in Java by Dutch
(a) Shipbuilding 
(b) Indigo cultivation 
(c) Railways 
(d) Himting
Answer:
(a) Shipbuilding 

Question 9. 
In 1600, the population of Java was an estimated
(a) 6 million 
(b) 3.4 millions 
(c) 4.5 million 
(d) 2.5 million
Answer:
(b) 3.4 millions 

Question 10. 
In which year Kalangs revolted against Dutch
(a) 1730
(b) 1865 
(c) 1780 
(d) 1770
Answer:
(d) 1770

Question 11.
Who gave the ‘Samin’s Challenge’ to Dutch
(a) Birsa Munda 
(b) Randublatung
(c) Surontiko samin 
(d) Gunda Dhur
Answer:
(c) Surontiko samin 

Question 12. 
Name one forest community who was involved in trade since medieval period
(a) Gaddis 
(b) Khokars
(c) Banjaras
(d) None of them
Answer:
(c) Banjaras

Question 13. 
What did the people in the forests use bamboo for
(a) To make fences 
(b) Baskets 
(c) Umbrellas 
(d) All of these
Answer:
(d) All of these

Question 14. 
The past communities of India who lost their livelihoods with the coming of the British
(a) Korava, Karacha of Madras 
(b) Oraons from Jharkhand
(c) Santhals of Jharkhand 
(d) All of the above
Answer:
(d) All of the above

Question 15. 
Which tribal leader from Andhra Pradesh rebelled against the British and is remembered in folk songs and stories
(a) Gunda Dhur 
(b) Alluri Sitaram Raja
(c) Birsa Munda 
(d) None of the above
Answer:
(b) Alluri Sitaram Raja

Question 16. 
Which river flows through Bastar region  of buffaloes
(a) Indus 
(b) Narmada 
(c) Indravati river
(d) Noneofthese
Answer:
(c) Indravati river

Question 17. 
A system which exempted villagers from rent in exchange for free labour and supply
(a) Devarakudu   
(b) Blandongdiensten
(c) Samas   
(d) Shifting cultivations
Answer:
(d) Shifting cultivations

Fill in the blanks :

Question 1.
............ trees were being cut annually for sleepers in 1850s in the Madras
Presidency.
Answer:
35,000

Question 2. 
Imperial Forest Research Institute was set up in .............
Answer:
Dehradun

Question 3. 
The Indian Forest Act was passed in the year ...............
Answer:
1865

Question 4.  
............... is the local name of shifting cultivation in Sri Lanka.
Answer:
Chena

Question 5. 
Bastar is located in ................. .
Answer:
Chena

True or False:

Question 1. 
In 1998 Bastar Kingdom was merged with Ranker Kingdom and become Bastar district in Madhya Pradesh.
Answer:
 False

Question 2. 
Brandis set up the Indian Forest Service in 1864.
Answer:
True

Question 3. 
The 1878 Act divided forests into three categories : reserved, protected and village forests.
Answer:
True

Question 4. 
Shifting cultivation is known as chena in Africa. 
Answer:
 False

Question 5. 
Taungya cultivation was a system in which local farmers were allowed to cultivate temporarily within a plantation.
Answer:
True

Match the column:

Column A	Column B
(1) Mundurucu	(a) Central America
(2) Imperial Forest Research Institute	(b) Forest community of Central India
(3) Milpa	(c)People of Brazilian Amazon
(4) Baigas	(d) Skilled forest cutters
(5) Kalangs	(e) Dehradun

Answer:

Column A	Column B
(1) Mundurucu	(a) People of Brazilian Amazon
(2) Imperial Forest Research Institute	(b) Dehradun
(3) Milpa	(c) Central America
(4) Baigas	(d) Forest community of Central India
(5) Kalangs	(e) Skilled forest cutters

 

Very Short Answer Type Questions:

Question 1. 
How are forests useful to us?
Answer:
Forests provide bamboo, wood for fuel, grass, charcoal, packaging, fruits, flowers, animals, birds and many other things.

Question 2. 
Which common feature is found in the Amazon forests and the Western Ghats?
Answer:
It is possible to find as many as 500 different plant species in one forest patch in the Amazon forests and the Western Ghats.

Question 3. 
Mention the reason for increased landmass under cultivation in India.
Answer:
Over the centuries, population increased, demand for food went up so, peasants extended the boundaries of cultivation, clearing forests and breaking new land.

Question 4. 
Why did the British encourage the production of commercial crops in India?
Answer:
The demand for the commercial crops like jute, sugar, wheat and cotton increased in the 19th century Europe. Food grains were reQuestionuired to feed the growing urban population and raw materials were needed for industrial production.

Question 5.
Why did oak forests in England disappear?
Answer:Oak forests in England disappeared fast because oak wood was needed to build ships.

Question 6. 
Why was wood needed for railways?
Answer:Wood was needed as fuel to rim the locomotives and to lay railway lines sleepers to hold the tracks together.

Question 7. 
How did the forests around railway tracks start disappearing?
Answer:
The railway tracks expanded, trees were being cut for sleepers. The government gave out contracts to individuals to fulfil the supply and they cut the trees indiscriminately.

Question 8. 
Name the plantations for which large areas of India’s natural forest were cleared.
Answer:
Large areas of natural forests were cleared for the cultivation of tea, coffee and rubber plantation. 

Question 9.
Name any two beverage crops.
Answer:
 and coffee are two beverage crops.

Question 10. 
Why did the British feel the locals were destroying forests?
Answer:
According to the Britishers, the use of forests by local people and the reckless felling of trees by traders would destroy forests.

Question 11.
Who was Dietrich Brandis?
Answer:
Dietrich Brandis was a German expert who was invited by Britishers to give advice on the matters of forest management. He was made the first Inspector General of Forests in India.

Question 12. 
What is scientific forestry?
Answer:
A system of cutting trees controlled by the forest department, in which different types of trees are cut and one type of trees is planted.

Question 13.
 What is Swidden agriculture?
Answer:
In Swidden agriculture, parts of the forest are cut and burnt in rotation. Seeds are sown in the ashes. The crop is harvested by October-November. Such plots are cultivated for a few years and then left follow for 12-18 years for the forest to grow back.

Question 14. 
Write any two local terms for Swidden agriculture used in India.
Answer:
Jhum, Kumri, Dhya, Penda, Bewar, Nevad, Podu, Khandad. (any two)

Question 15. 
What were the types of crops grown through shifting cultivation?
Answer:
In Central India and Africa it could be millets, in Brazil manioc and in other parts of Latin America maize and beAnswer:

Question 16. 
What did the large animals signify in Britishers’ view?
Answer:
The Britishers saw large animals as a sign of a wild, primitive and savage society.
They believed that by killing dangerous animals they would civilise India.

Question 17.
How did some people benefit from the laws of forest department?
Answer:
The laws of forests department opened up new opportunities in trade. Some communities left their traditional occupations and started trading in forest products. 

Question 18. 
Who were the Mundurucu people of the Brazilian Amazon?
Answer:
Mundurucu people of the Brazilian Amazon lived in villages on high ground, cultivated manioc and collected latex from rubber trees for supplying to traders. 

Question 19.
Name three pastoralist and nomadic communities of the Madras Presidency. 
Answer:
Korava, Karacha and Yerukula.

Question 20. 
Who were known as criminal tribes?
Answer:
Some of the Pastoralists of the Madras presidency were known as criminal tribes. Question 21. Who were recruited to work on tea plantations in Assam?
Answer:
Both men and women from forest communities like Santhals and Oraons from Jharkhand, and Gonds from Chhattisgarh were recruited to work on tea plantations.
 
 Question 22.
 Name the two leaders of the forest communities who rebelled against the British.
Answer:
The two leaders were :
(a) Birsa Munda of Chhotanagpur.
(b) Siddhu and Kanu in the Santhal Parganas (any two).

Short Answer Type Questions:

Question 1.
Explain the causes for expansion of cultivation under the colonial rule. 
Answer:

1. The British encouraged the production of commercial crops like, jute, sugar,
   wheat and cotton for export to Europe.
2. The British regarded forests as unproductive. They were considered to be wilderness. They wanted to bring the forest under cultivation so that the land could give agricultural products and revenue.
3. Large areas of national forests were also cleared to make way for tea, coffee and rubber plantations to meet Europe’s growing needs for these commodities.
4. The expansion of cultivation seen as a sign of progress.

Question 2. 
Define the term Deforestation. Mention three causes of deforestation in India due to colonial rule.
Answer:The disappearance of forests is referred as deforestation. 
Causes :

1. Demand for crops like jute, sugar, wheat and cotton increased in 19th century.
2. By the early 19th century, Oak forests in England were disappearing which created a problem of timber supply for the Royal Navy hence vast Questionuantities of timber were being exported from India.
3. Railways were essential for colonial trade and For the movement of imperial troops. Demand for timber increased for the expansion of railways.

Question 3. 
How did the spread of railways during the British period adversely affect the forest wealth of India? Evaluate.
Answer:
Railways was one of the major cause of decline in forests during the British period. Large number of trees were cut down due to spread of railway tracks in India. To run locomotives, wood was needed as fuel and to lay railway line, sleepers were essential to hold tracks together.

Question 4.
 Why was the Indian forest service set up?
Answer:

1. The British were worried that the use of forest by local people and Traders would destroy forest. Hence to save the forest, Brandis set up the Indian forest service in 1864.
2. Brandis realised that a proper system had to be introduced to manage the forest and people had to be trained in the Science of conservation. This system would need legal sanction.
3. Anybody who cut trees without following the system had to be punished. So, Indian forest service in 1864 was set up by Dietrich  Brandis.

Question 5. 
What is scientific forestry? Why was it introduced?
Answer:

1. The scientific forestry is a system in which natural forests are cut and replaced by one type of trees which are planted in straight rows.
2. Forest official surveyed and planned how much area was to be cut every year. The area was then to be replanted.
3. The British introduced the scientific forestry to manage and conserve the forests.

Question 6. 
Enlist different forest Acts made by Britishers to control the forest.
Answer:

1. In 1864 the Indian Forest Service was established.
2. Indian forest act was passed in 1865, and was amended twice once in 1878 and then in 1927.
3. The 1878 act divided forest into three categories: Reserved, Protected and Village Forest.

Question 7. 
What restrictions were imposed on the villagers to take wood from forest?
Answer:

1. The Act of 1878 divided forest into three categories : Reserved, Protected forest and village forest.
2. Villagers could not take anything from these forest even for their own use.
3. For house building or fuel they could take wood from protected and village forest.

Question 8. 
Foresters and villagers had very different ideas of what a good forest should look like.” Analyse the statement.
Answer:

1. Villagers wanted forests with a mixture of species to satisfy different needs: fuel, fodder and leaves.
2. The Forest department on the other hand wanted trees which were suitable for building ships and railways. They needed trees that could provide hard ,wood and were tall and straight.
3. Hence particular species like Teak, Sal were promoted and others were cut.

Question 9.
Enumerate defects of Scientific Forestry techniQuestionue.
Answer:

1. In Scientific forestry, natural forests which had lots of different types of trees were cut down and one type of tree was planted in a straight row. This was harmful for natural forest diversity.
2. It also affected ecological balance as multispecies forests were converted into plantations.
3. It also created hardships for the forest dwellers as they were deprived of their livelihood.

Question 10.
 What is shifting cultivation? What types of crops are grown under this system in India and Latin America?
Answer:
Shifting Cultivation: It is a traditional agricultural practise. In this, parts of forests are cut and burnt in rotation. Seeds are sown in the ashes after the first monsoon rains and the crop is harvested by October and November. Such plots are cultivated for a couple of years and then left fallow for the forest to grow back. It is also known as Swidden Agriculture :

1. Crops grown in India: Millets.
2. In Latin America :Maize and BeAnswer:

Question 11.
European foresters regarded shifting cultivation harmful for the forests.” Give reason.
Answer:

1. European foresters regarded shifting cultivation or Swidden Agriculture harmful as they felt that land which was used for cultivation every few years could not grow trees for railway timber.
2. When a forest was burnt, there was the added danger of the flames spreading and burning valuable timber.
3. Shifting cultivation also made it harder for the government to culculate taxes. Therefore, the government decided to ban it. 

Question 12. 
Why was hunting popular in India and what were its effects?
Answer:

1. It was a popular sport among emperor and nobility in India.
2. The British, believed that by killing large animals, they would civilise India.
3. Tigers, leopards and wolves were killed because they posed a threat to the villagers over 80,000 tigers, 150,000 leopards and 200,000 wolves were killed for reward in the period 1875-1925.

Question 13. 
After the forest department took control of the forests in India, what opportunities were opened up for some people in trade and employment?
Answer:
When forest department took control of the forests it affected people in the following way:

1. Many communities left their traditional occupations and started trading in forest products.
2. Some people began to collect latex from wild rubber trees for supplying to traders. It means waste products of forest also got market.
3. Some communities like Santhals were recruited to work on tea plantation on wages.
4. Some people got jobs in forest department as workers.

Question 14.
Mention the causes of ‘Bastar Rebellion.
Answer:

1. The colonial government proposed to reserve two-thirds of the forests in 1905 and stop shifting cultivation, hunting and collection of forest produce.
2. People of some villages were displaced without any notice and compensation.
3. Villagers were suffering from increased rent and demand for free labour by colonial officials.
4. Terrible famines in 1899-1900 and again in 1907-1908 were also responsible for Bastar rebellion.

Question 15.
Name two communities that live in Bastar. Mention two beliefs regarding nature of the communities of Bastar.
Answer:

1. The communities living in Bastar are, Maria, Muria Gonds, Dhurwas Bhatras and Halbas.
2. The people believed that each village was given its land by the Earth and thus they look after the earth by making some offerings at each agricultural festival.
3. Villagers were aware of its boundaries, all the natural resources within the boundary were looked after by the local people.

Question 16. 
Who were the Kalangs? Write some facts about this community.
Answer:

1. It was a tribal community of Java. They were skilled forest cutters and shifting cultivators.
2. They were very important for Mataram Kingdom.
3. They were expert in building palaces.
4. When the Mataram Kingdom was divided the Kalanga families were divided into two Kingdoms.

Question 17. 
What new developments have occurred in forestry in Asia and Africa in recent times?
Answer:

1. The government of both the continents observed that scientific forestry is creating conflicts among the masses.
2. Conservation of forest is becoming more important than the deforestation for the timber.
3. In fact, across India from Mizoram to Kerala dense forests have survived only because villagers protected them in sacred groves known as kan, rai andsarmas.
4. Some villages patrolled their own forests with each household taking turns instead of leaving it to forest guards.

Question 18. 
Why did plantations develop in India? How did the British government support the plantations in India?
Answer:

1. The British directly encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute, sugarcane, wheat and cotton.
2. In the early 19th century, the colonial state thought the forests to be unproductive.
3. They wanted to bring land under cultivation so that the land could yield agricultural products and revenue, and enhance the income of the state.

Long Answer Type Questions:

Question 1. 
Give the main reasons for forest destruction in India under colonial rule.
Answer:
(i)  Expansion in agriculture: 
In the colonial period, cultivation expanded rapidly for a variety of reasons. As a result, demand for agricultural - products also increased rapidly. But due to limited agricultural land, the demand of the growing population could not be met. In such a situation, the colonial government thought of increasing agricultural land. So between 1990 and 1920, cultivated area rose by 6.7 million hectares. For this, forests were eliminated and forest area decreased.

(ii) Commercial farming:
Commercial farming also affected forest areas in India. The British directly encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute, sugar, wheat and cotton. This type of farming reQuestionuired more fertile land. Due to years of traditional farming on available land, that land did not remain fertile. Therefore, in order to get new fertile land Britishers started clearing forest. As a restult, forests were rapidly destroyed.

(iii) Tea-coffee plantation:
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. In this way
both forest and forest dwellers were harmed.

(iv) Railways: 
The spread of railways from the 1850s created a new demand. Railways were essential for colonial trade and for the movement of imperial troops. To run locomotives, wood was needed as fuel, and to lay railway lines sleepers were essential to hold the tracks together. Each mile of railway track reQuestionuired between 1,760 and 2,000 sleepers. From the 1860s,
the railway network expanded rapidly. By 1890, about 25,500 km of track had been laid. As a result, forests are rapidly destroyed.

(v) Ship building:
 As ships were the integral part of the British army. By the early nineteenth century, oak forests in England were disappearing. This created a problem of timber supply for the Royal Navy. By the 1820s, search parties were sent to explore the forest resources of India. Within a decade, trees were being felled on a massive scale and vast Questionuantities of timber were being exported from India. Thus leading to deforestation in India on a large scale.

Question 2. 
Give four examples to show the use of forests in different ways by the villagers. How did the Forest Act of 1878 affect the villagers in India?
Or
How did people living in the forest area use forest products in different ways? Why did the villagers of India have to face difficulties due to the Forest Act?
 Answer:
The forest products are used by the villagers in following ways:
A. Inforest areas, people use forest products -roots, leaves, fruits and tubers -for many things.

1. Fruits and tubers are used as nutritious foods.
2. Herbs are used for medicine.
3. Wood is used for agricultural implements like yokes and ploughs.
4. Bamboo makes excellent fences and is also used to make baskets and umbrellas.
5. A dried scooped-out gourd can be used as a portable water bottle.
6. Leaves can be stiched together to make disposable plates and cups.
7. Siadi (Bauhinia vahlii) creeper can be used to make ropes.
8. The thorny bark of the semur (silk-cotton) tree is used to grate vegetables.
9. Oil for cooking and to light lamps can be pressed from the fruit of the mahua tree.

B. The Forest Act of 1878 has affected the villagers in the following way:

1. After the Act, all their everyday practices - cutting wood for their houses, grazing their cattle, collecting fruits and roots, hunting and fishing - became illegal.
2. People were now forced to steal wood from the forests, and if they were caught, they were at the mercy of the forest guards who would take bribes from them.
3. Women who collected fuel wood were especially worried.
4. It was also common for police constables and forest guards to harass people by demanding free food from them.

Question 3.
Why forest is important for us?
Or 
Why is forest necessary for humans?
Answer:
A. Forests are important for us, following are the reason :

1. From the forests we get raw materials for industries.
2. We can timber from forests.
3. Forest provide us the wood which are used in pencils.
4. From forests we get gum, rubber, honey, tea, coffee, etc.
5. From the forests, we get the herbs to make medicines.
6. Forest provides us bamboo, wood for fuel, raw coal, etc.

B. Environmental protection and ecological balance:  
Forest is useful in maintaining ecological balance. Due to the decrease in forest area, today the world is facing global warming.

C. Species conservation:
We find thousands of species and vegetation in the forests. Therefore forests are important for species conservation.

Question 4. 
How did the control on forest and forest department effect on trade and other employment?
Answer:
The control on forest department had the following effect on trade and other services :
(i) New business opportunity: 
While people lost out in many ways after the forest department took control of the forests, some people benefited from the new opportunities that had opened up in trade. For example, Mundurucu peoples of the Brazilian Amazon who lived in villages on high ground and cultivated manioc, began to collect latex from wild rubber trees for supplying  to traders.

(ii) Monopoly of European companies: 
With the coming of the British, however, trade was completely regulated by the government. The British government gave many large European trading firms the sole right to trade in the forest products of particular areas. Therefore these companies got benefitted.

(iii) Ban on livelihood: 
Grazing and hunting by local people were restricted. In the process, many pastoralist and nomadic communities like the Korava, Karacha and Yerukula of the Madras Presidency lost their livelihoods. Some of them began to be called 'criminal tribes', and were forced to work instead in factories, mines and plantations, under government supervision.

(iv) New opportunities of work:
Before the arrival of Europeans, the local people depended on nature for their employment, but now they started getting regular employment. Many took thejobs of workers and guards in the forest department.

(v) Low wages and poor working conditions: 
New opportunities of work did not always mean improve# wellbeing for the people. In Assam, both men and women from forest communities like Santhals and Oraons from Jharkhand, and Gonds from Chhattisgarh were recruited to work on tea plantations. Their wages were low and conditions of work were very bad.
They could not return easily to their home villages from where they had been recruited. .

Question 5. 
Write note on Bastar rebellion.
Answer:
Bastar rebellion: It can be explained under following points:
A. Causes of rebellion:

1. Colonial government proposed to reserve two-thirds of the forest in 1905.
2. Stopped shifting cultivation.
3. Stopped hunting and collection of forest produce.
4. People of other villages were displaced without any notice or compensation.
5. For long, villagers had been suffering from increased land rents and freQuestionuent demands for free labour and goods by colonial officials.

B. Spread of rebellion:
1. People began to gather and discuss these issues in their village councils, in bazaars and at festivals or wherever the headmen and prisests of several villages were assembled. The initiative was taken by the Dhurwas of the Kanger forest, where reservation first took place. Gunda Dhur, from village Nethanar, was an important figure in the movement.

2. In 1910, mango boughts, a lump of earth, chilles and arrows, began circulating between villages. These were actually messages inviting villagers to rebel against the British.

3. Every village contributed something to the rebellion expenses.

4. Bazaars were looted, the houses of officials and traders, schools and police stations were burnt and robbed, and grain redistributed. Most of those who were attacked were insome way associated with the colonial state and its oppressive laws.

C. Suppression of rebellion: 
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. Most villagers were deserted as people fled into the jungles. It took three months (February - May) for the British to regain control however, they never manages to capture Gunda Dhur.

D. Effect of rebellion:

1. Reservation was temporarily suspended.
2. The area to be reserved was redeuced to roughly half of that planned before 1910.
3. This rebellion also encouraged the people of other tribes to rebel against the unjust policies of the British government.