This document discusses the impacts of colonialism on forests in India and Java. It notes that under colonial rule, forests were increasingly managed through scientific forestry methods which prioritized commercial timber production over local needs. This led to restrictions on shifting cultivation, grazing, and forest product collection by villagers. It caused resentment and rebellion in some areas. Large areas of forests were also cleared for commercial crops, plantations, and infrastructure like railways. During World Wars, forests were heavily exploited to meet military needs. More recently, governments have recognized the importance of community involvement in conservation efforts.

1. Forest Society
and Colonialism
HISTORY CHAPTER - 4

2. INTRODUCTION
 This chapter is mainly related to forest and the
affects on them.
 In our daily lives we find many things related
to forests like the paper in our book, desks
and tables, doors and windows, spices in our
food, gum, honey, coffee, tea and rubber.
 Forests also provide bamboo, wood for fuel,
grass, charcoal, packaging, fruits, flowers,
animals, birds and many things.
 In Amazon forests, it is possible to find 500
different plant species in one forest patch.
 It is disappearing faster.
 Between 1700 and 1995, the period of
industrialisation, 13.9 million sq. km of forest
or 9.3 % of the world’s total area was cleared
for industrial uses and cultivation.

3. Deforestation
 The disappearance of forest is called
as deforestation.
 Deforestation is not a recent problem.
 This process began many centuries
ago; but under the colonial rule it
became more systematic and
extensive.

4. LandtobeImproved
 In 1600, approximately 1/6th of India’s
landmass was under cultivation.
 As the population increased, the
demand for food went up and the
peasants cleared forests and broke
new land for making new boundaries of
cultivation.
 In colonial period, the cultivation
expanded rapidly for many reasons.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

5. Reasons for
Expansion of
Cultivation
I. TheBritishencouragedtheproductionof commercial crops
likejute, sugar, wheatandcotton.
II. IntheColonial periodpeoplethoughtthatforests wereof no
useandfilledwithwilderness thathadtobebroughtunder
thecultivation. Sothatthelandcouldyieldagricultural
products. Between1880 and1920, theareaof cultivation
roseby 6.7 millionhectares.
III. By theearly nineteenthcentury, oak forests were
disappearinginEnglandwhichledaproblemof timber
supply fortheRoyal Navy. By the1820s, searchparties
weresenttoexploretheforestresources of India. Withina
decade, trees werebeingfell inmassivescaleandalarge
quantity of timber arebeingexportedfromIndia.

6. Reasons for
Expansion of
Cultivation
IV. Thespreadof railways fromthe1850s createdanew
demand. Railways areessential forcolonial tradeandfor
themovementof Imperial Troops. Torunthelocomotives,
woodwas neededas fuel, andtolay railway lines sleepers
wereessential toholdthetracks together. Eachmile
railway track requiredbetween1,760 and2,000 sleepers.
In1850s, intheMadras Presidency alone, 35,000 trees
werebeingcutfor sleepers.
V. By 1890, about25,500 kmof track hadbeenlaid. In1946,
thelengthof thetracks hadincreasedtoover 765,000 km.
VI. Largeareas of natural forests wereclearedtomakeway
for tea, coffee, rubber plantations tomeetEurope’s
growingneedforthesecommodities.

7. In colonial period, elephants were
used to lift heavy timber. Sleepers on the tracks
Sleepers on the tracks

8. The Rise of Commercial
Forestry

9. Arrival of Brandis
• The British were worried that the use of forests by local
people and the reckless felling of trees by traders would
destroy forests.
• So, they decided to invite a German expert, Dietrich Brandis,
for advice, and made him the first Inspector General of
Forests in India.
• Brandis realised that a proper system had to be introduced to
manage the forests and people had to be trained in science
of conservation.
• Rules about the usage of forest things should be framed.
• Felling of trees and grazing had to be restricted to preserve
forests for timber production.
• Anybody who cut the trees and doesn’t follow the rules would
be punished.
Dietrich Brandis
Dietrich Brandis

10. Scientific Forestry
Imperial Forest
Research Institute
Imperial Forest
Research Institute
plantation
plantation
• Brandis set up the Indian Forest Service in 1864 and helped
articulate the Indian Forest Act of 1865.
• The Imperial Forest Research Institute was set up at Dehradun
in 1906.
• The system they taught in the institute was Scientific Forestry.
• In scientific forestry, forests which had different types of trees
were cut down and one type of tree was planted in straight
rows in their place. This is known as plantation.
• Forest officials surveyed the forest, estimated the area and
made working plans for forest management.
• They planned how much of the plantation area to cut every
year and the area which was cut then should be replanted.
• Brandis set up the Indian Forest Service in 1864 and helped
articulate the Indian Forest Act of 1865.
• The Imperial Forest Research Institute was set up at Dehradun
in 1906.
• The system they taught in the institute was Scientific Forestry.
• In scientific forestry, forests which had different types of trees
were cut down and one type of tree was planted in straight
rows in their place. This is known as plantation.
• Forest officials surveyed the forest, estimated the area and
made working plans for forest management.
• They planned how much of the plantation area to cut every
year and the area which was cut then should be replanted.

11.  After the Forest Act was enacted in 1865, it was
modified twice once in 1878 and then in 1927.
Forests
Reserved
Forests
Protecte
d Forests
Village
Forests
► The best forests were called Reserved Forests.
► The villagers should only use Protected and
Village Forests.

12. Affects on Lives of People
Villagers wanted forests with a mixture of species to satisfy different needs.
On the other hand, the Forest Department wanted trees which were suitable for
building ships and railways. They needed trees that could provide hard wood,
and were tall and straight and they also promoted species like teak and sal.
In forests, people use forest products for many things.

13. Herbs are used to make
medicines
Herbs are used to make
medicines
Wood for agricultural
implements
Wood for agricultural
implements
Bamboo used to make Baskets and
Umbrellas
Bamboo used to make Baskets and
Umbrellas
Portable Water Bottle made
from dry bottle gourd
Portable Water Bottle made
from dry bottle gourd
Oil made from Mahua
Tree
Oil made from Mahua
Tree
Disposable plates and cups
stitched out of leaves
Disposable plates and cups
stitched out of leaves

14.  The Forest Act meant severe suffering for villagers across the
country.
 After the Act, all their everyday practices like cutting wood for
their houses, grazing their cattle, collecting fruits and roots,
hunting and fishing became illegal.
 People were forced to steal wood from the forests, and if they were
caught, they were at the lenience of the forest guards who would
take bribes from them.

15. Affects of Forest Rules on Cultivation
Cultivation
Cultivation
► One of the major impacts of European colonialism
was on the practice of shifting cultivation.
► Shifting cultivation is a traditional agricultural
practice in many parts of Asia, Africa and South
America.
► It has many local names such as lading in South East
Asia, milpa in Central America, chitemene or tavy in
Africa, and chena in Sri Lanka.
► In India, dhya, penda, bewar, newad, jhum, podu,
khandad and kumri are some of the local names of
shifting cultivation.
► One of the major impacts of European colonialism
was on the practice of shifting cultivation.
► Shifting cultivation is a traditional agricultural
practice in many parts of Asia, Africa and South
America.
► It has many local names such as lading in South East
Asia, milpa in Central America, chitemene or tavy in
Africa, and chena in Sri Lanka.
► In India, dhya, penda, bewar, newad, jhum, podu,
khandad and kumri are some of the local names of
shifting cultivation.

16. Shifting Cultivation
 In Shifting Cultivation, parts of forest are cut down and burnt in
rotation.
 Seeds are sown in the ashes after the first monsoon rains, and the
crop is harvested by October-November.
 Those plots are cultivated for a couple of years and then left
uncultivated for 12 to 18 years for the forest to grow back.
 European foresters regarded this practice as harmful because when
the forest is burnt, then the flames spread and destroy the valuable
timber.
 So, Govt decided to ban the shifting cultivation.

17. Who could Hunt?
• Before the Forest laws, many people who lived in or near the
forests had survived by hunting deer, partridges and a variety
of small animals.
• This practice was prohibited by forest laws.
• While the forest laws distressed people of their traditional
rights to hunt, hunting of big game became a sport.
• Hunting is a part of Indian culture. But, in the colonial period it
increased in which many of animals were becoming extinct.
• The British saw large animals as signs of a wild, primitive and
savage society.
• They thought that by killing dangerous animals, the British
would socialize India.

18. Rewards for killing Dangerous
animals
o Rewards were given for killing tigers, wolves and other
animals that posed threat to cultivators.
o Over 80,000 tigers, 150,000 leopards and 200,000
wolves were killed for reward in the period 1875-1925.
o The Maharaja of Sarguja alone shot 1,157 tigers and
2,000 leopards up to 1957.
o A British administrator, George Yule, killed 400 tigers.
o Certain areas of forest were reserved for hunting.
o Later, environmentalists and conservators began to
argue that killing of animals should be prohibited.

19. New Trades, Employments and
Services
 The new trade was mainly controlled by the British people
with some participation of Indian merchants.
 For the forest dwellers no significant opportunities emerged.
 Many people from Jharkhand, Orissa, and Chhattisgarh
were forced to work in tea gardens of Assam and West
Bengal.
 But the working condition in the tea gardens was very bad.
 People were given low wages and there was no permission
to come back to their home villages in between.
 Many nomadic tribes who had earlier been engaged in trade
of forest produce continued to do so.

20. RebellionintheForest

21. The people of Bastar
 Bastar is located in the southernmost
part of Chhattisgarh and borders of
Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and
Maharashtra.
 The river Indrawati winds across Bastar
east to west.
 A number of different communities live
in Bastar such as Maria and Muria
Gonds, Dhurwas, Bhatras and Halbas.
 They speak different languages but
share common customs and beliefs.

22. The people of Bastar
 The people of Bastar believe that each
village was given its land by the Earth,
and in return, they look after the earth
by making some offerings at each
agricultural festival.
 As each village knows where its
boundaries lie, the local people look
after all the natural resources within
that boundary.
 If the people of that village want to take
some wood fromthe forests of other
village, they pay a small fee called
devsari, dand or man.

23. The Fear of the People
 The Forest Act proposed to reserve two-thirds of the forest in 1905.
 Shifting cultivation was to be banned.
 Hunting and collection of forest produce by the villagers was to be stopped.
 Forest people were allowed to stay on in the reserved forests on the
condition they would do free labour for the colonial-officials and help the
forest department in cutting and transporting trees and protecting the
forest from fire.
 Reservation of two thirds of the forests led to dissatisfaction among the
people.
 The villagers rebelled and looted the houses of officials and traders, schools
and police stations were burnt and the grain was redistributed.

24. Suppression of theRebellion
o The British sent troops to suppress the
rebellion.
o The British surrounded the camps and fired
up on the rebels.
o The British flogged and punished those
people who had taken part in the
rebellion.
o People left the villages and fled into the
jungles.

25. Forest transformations in Java
 Java in Dutch East Indies was once up on a time
covered with forests.
 It was ruled by the Dutch.
 They started the forest management and like the
British they wanted timber from Java.
 The Kalangs of Java were a community of skilled
forest cutters and shifting cultivators.
 When the Dutch began to control the forests in
eighteenth century, they tried to make the Kalangs
work under them. The Kalangs resisted but were
suppressed.

26. Dutch Scientific Forestry
o In the nineteenth century, the Dutch enacted
forest laws in Java restricting villages access
to forests.
o Now wood could be cut only for specified
purposes like making river boats or
constructing houses from specific forests
under close supervision.
o Villagers were punished for grazing cattle in
new forests, for transporting wood without a
permit, or travelling on forest roads with
horse carts or cattle.

27. Demand for Wood
 As in India, the Dutch also needed wood for construction of
railway tracks and for ship building.
 The Dutch imposed rents on land being cultivated in the forest.
 Some villages were freed from these rents if they worked
collectively to provide free labour and buffaloes for cutting
and transporting timber. This was known as blandogoliensten
system.
 Later, instead of rent exemption, forest villagers were given
small wages, but their right to cultivate forest land restricted.

28. Samin’s Challenge
• Around 1890, Surontiko Samin of Randublatung
village, began questioning the state ownership of the
forests.
• He argued that the state had not created the wind,
Earth and Wood, so it could not own it.
• Soon a widespread movement developed. Saminists
protested by lying down on their lands when the
Dutch came to survey it, while others refused to pay
taxes.

29. War and Deforestation
World War I
World War I
World War II
World War II
 The First World War and the Second World War
had a major impact on forests.
 In India, the forest department cut trees freely to
meet British war needs.
 In Java, just before the Japanese occupation of
this region, the Dutch followed scorched Earth
Policy.
 The Japanese then recklessly exploited the forests
for their needs, forcing villagers to cut the trees.
 Many villagers expanded cultivation in the forests.
 There was great destruction of forests.
 The First World War and the Second World War
had a major impact on forests.
 In India, the forest department cut trees freely to
meet British war needs.
 In Java, just before the Japanese occupation of
this region, the Dutch followed scorched Earth
Policy.
 The Japanese then recklessly exploited the forests
for their needs, forcing villagers to cut the trees.
 Many villagers expanded cultivation in the forests.
 There was great destruction of forests.

30. NewDevelopments in Forestry
 Since 1980s the government across Asia and Africa began to see that scientific forestry
and keeping the people away from the forests had resulted in many conflicts.
 Conservation of forests rather than collecting timber has now become a more important
goal.
 The Govt realized that for conservation of forests the people living near the forests
must be involved.
 In many cases in India, from Mizoram to Kerala dense forests have only survived
because these people protected them in the form of sacred groves sarnas, kan, rai etc.
 Some villagers patrol the forests themselves by taking turns.
 Local forest communities and environmentalists thinking of new and different forms of
forest management.

31. Thank You
Thank You