Extra Questions for Class 10th: Ch 4 Forest Society and Colonialism Social Studies (S.St) Important Questions Answer Included
Very Short Answer Questions (VSAQs):Answer
Sleepers are wooden planks laid across railway tracks to hold the tracks in position.
(New Words, Page No. 79)
2. When did the railway network expand rapidly in India?
Answer
2. When did the railway network expand rapidly in India?
Answer
From the 1860s.
(Para – 3, Page No. 80)
3. What is meant by scientific forestry?
Answer
3. What is meant by scientific forestry?
Answer
Scientific forestry seeks to ensure that the different types of trees in a forest are cut down and replaced by only type of tree planted in straight rows.
(New Words, Page No. 84)
4. Who was Dietrich Brandis?
Answer
4. Who was Dietrich Brandis?
Answer
Dietrich Brandis was the first Inspector General of Forests in India.
(Para- 1, Page No. 83)
5. Who started the Bastar Rebellion?
Answer
5. Who started the Bastar Rebellion?
Answer
The Bastar rebellion first started in the Kanger forest area and soon spread to other parts of the state.
(Para – 3, Page No. 91)
6. When was the Indian Forest Service set up?
Answer
6. When was the Indian Forest Service set up?
Answer
The Indian Forest Service was set up in 1864.
(Para – 1, Page No. 84)
7. Where was the Imperial Forest Research Institute set up?
Answer
7. Where was the Imperial Forest Research Institute set up?
Answer
The Imperial Forest Research Institute was established at Dehradun.
(Para – 1, Page No. 84)
8. What is shifting cultivation called in Sri Lanka?
Answer
8. What is shifting cultivation called in Sri Lanka?
Answer
It is known as chena in Sri Lanka.
(Para – 2, Page No. 86)
9. Where is Bastar located?
Answer
9. Where is Bastar located?
Answer
Bastar is located in Chhattisgarh.
(Para – 2, Page No. 90)
10. When did the first rebellion take place in Bastar?
Answer
10. When did the first rebellion take place in Bastar?
Answer
The first rebellion took place in Bastar in 1910.
(Para – 1, Page No. 90)
Short Answer Questions (SAQs):
1. Why did the British appoint the Inspector General of Forests in India? Explain any three reasons.
Answer
• The British needed forests in order to build ships and railways.
• They were worried that the use of forests by local people and the reckless felling of trees by traders would destroy forests.
• They wanted forests for the development of plantations.
(Para – 1, Page No. 83| Para – 2, Page No. 84)
2. Explain the system of scientific forestry.
Answer
• Scientific forestry seeks to ensure that the different types of trees in a forest are cut down and replaced by only one type of tree planted in straight rows.
• Forest officials surveyed the forests estimated the area under different types of trees and planned how much of the plantation area to be cut every year.
• The area cut was then to be replanted so that it was ready to be cut again in some years.
(Para – 2, Page No. 84)
3. Who was Dietrich Brandis? Why was he invited to India? Mention his two major contributions.
Answer
Dietrich Brandis was a German expert in forestry. He was invited to India by the British for advice and help who were worried that the use of forests by local people and the reckless felling of trees by traders would destroy forests.
His two major contributions are as follows:
• Scientific Forestry was introduced.
• He introduced a proper system to manage the forests.
• Rules about the use of forest resources were also laid down.
(Para – 1, Page No. 83| Para – 2, Page No. 84)
4. State the reasons why Shifting cultivation was banned under European colonialism in India.
Answer
• European foresters felt that land used for cultivation every few years could not support trees like Sal and Oak for railway timber.
• Also, when a forest was burnt, there was a danger of the flames spreading and burning valuable timber.
• Shifting cultivation also made it harder for the government to calculate taxes.
(Para – 4, Page No. 86| Para – 1, Page No .87)
5. How did the forest acts affect the lives of foresters and villagers?
Answer
• The daily practices of villagers such as cutting wood for their houses, hunting, fishing and collecting fruits now become illegal.
• People were forced to steal wood from the forests and if caught were at the mercy of the forest guards who would take bribes from them.
• It was common for police constables and forest guards to harass people.
(Para – 3, Page No. 85| Para – 1, Page No. 86)
6. When was the Forest Act enacted during the British period? How many times and when was it amended? Name the three categories of forests according to the Forest Act?
Answer
• Forest Act was enacted in 1865.
• It was amended twice, once in 1878 and then in 1927.
• The 1878 Act divided the forests into three categories: reserved, protected and village forests.
(Para – 3, Page No. 84)
7. Mention any three provisions of forest laws passed by the Dutch.
Answer
• The access to the forests was restricted for the villagers.
• Timber was now allowed to cut only for specific purposes like making boats.
• Forests were kept under strict supervision. Those villagers who grazed their cattle in the forests were severely punished.
(Para – 3, Page No. 93)
8. What contribution did Dietrich Brandis make towards the development and preservation of forest?
Answer
• Brandis believed that a proper system had to be introduced to manage the forests and people had to be trained in the science of conservation.
• This system would need legal sanction and rules about the use of forest resources had to be framed.
• Felling of trees and grazing had to be restricted so that forests could be preserved for timber production.
• Anyone who cut trees without following the regulations had to be punished.
(Para – 2, Page No. 83)
Long Answer Questions (LAQs):
1. "Deforestation became more systematic and extensive under the colonial rule." Explain this statement with suitable examples.
Answer
• With the increase in population, the demand for food went up thus, peasants extended boundaries for cultivation by clearing forest.
• British encouraged production of commercial crops like jute, sugar, wheat and cotton as the demand for these crops increased in nineteenth-century Europe.
• British thought forests are unproductive thus they had to be brought under cultivation so that the land could yield agricultural products and revenue.
• Oak forests disappeared and problem of timber supply for the Royal Navy started. Hence, trees were felled at a massive scale.
• The spread of railways demanded more sleepers which was fulfilled by felling trees.
• A large number of natural forests were also cleared to make way for plantation agriculture such as tea, coffee, etc.
(Topic: Why Deforestation, Page No. 78 to 82)
2. Why were forests important to the villagers?
Answer
• Fruits and tubers were eaten because they were nutritious and herbs were used for medicinal purposes.
• Bamboo was used to make fences, baskets and umbrellas.
• The wood was used to make agricultural implements like yokes and ploughs.
• A dried out gourd was used as a portable water bottle.
• The creeper can be used to make ropes, and the thorny bark of the semur tree is used to grate vegetables.
• Oil for cooking and lighting lamps was acquired from the fruit of the Mahua tree.
(Para – 2, Page No. 85)
3. Describe some of the common customs and beliefs of the Baster people.
Answer
• 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.
• Respect is also shown to the spirits of the river, the forest and the mountain.
• As each village was aware of their boundaries, all the natural resources within that boundary were looked after by the local people.
• If people from a village want to take some wood from the forests of another village, they pay a small fee called dand or man.
• Some villages also protect by engaging watchmen and every household contributes some grain to pay them.
(Para – 1, Page No. 91)
4. What is shifting cultivation? Why did the British Government ban it ? Give any three reasons.
Answer
Shifting agriculture is a traditional agricultural practice in many parts of Asia, Africa and South America.
In shifting cultivation, parts of the 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.
Colonial impacts on shifting agriculture:
• Europeans regarded this practice harmful for the forests. They felt that the burning down forest would destroy timber and the dangerous flames would spread and burn valuable timber.
• Shifting cultivation made it harder for the government to calculate taxes, so British government decided to ban shifting cultivation.
• As a result, many communities were forcibly displaced from their homes in forest.
• Some had to change occupations, while some resisted through large and small rebellions.