JKBOSE 9th Class Social Science Solutions Chapter 4 Forest Society and Colonialism

Importance of Forests : Forests are a valuable resource; like a river system, it is a multiple resource. Forests provide mankind with a number of products. Forests have greatly influenced human activities. Modern civilization depends more and more on forests. The following are the direct and indirect advantages of forests :

Forests provide many things to meet out requirements, like : wild fruits, nuts, berries, etc. Many tribes are dependent on gathering of these products in forests.

1. Forests are a source of timber for house building, furniture making shipbuilding, etc.

2. Forests supply about 40% of fuel of the world. Wood has been the major source of fuel in houses, smelting industries and running locomotives.

3. The economic importance of forest products is also increasing. The forest is also vital as a watershed. Because of the thick humus layer, loose soil, and soil-retaining powers of the trees, long roots, forests are vitally important for preserving adequate water supplies. Soft wood supply raw materials for wood pulp, paper, rayon industries.

4. Many products, like rubber, pitch, gum, tanning materials, cork, camphor, fir, herbs, etc. are gathered from forests.

5. Forests provide plywood and fiber wood for packing purposes.

6. Forests help in rainfall by capturing moisture in the air. These affect the climate of the area.

7. Forest, prevent soil erosion and floods.

8. Forests increase the fertility of soil, help agriculture and maintain ecological balance.

9. Forests provide shelter to wild animals and help recreations, wild life and hunting.

10. They check the advance of deserts.

Forests and Colonialism : The forest living people did not like the extension of the British control and the intrusion of the colonial administration. They objected the penetration of outsiders in their forest life. The intervention of moneylenders, traders, revenue farmers and middlemen had disrupted the social cultural and economic system of these people. The British colonialists recognized the vast potential for profits in the backward hinterlands which were inhabited by the Adivasis. They exploited its rich minerals and forests resources to the maximum possible extent.

1. Scientific Forestry : A system of cutting trees controlled by the forest department, in which old trees are cut and new ones planted.

2. Sleepers : Wooden planks laid across railway tracks : they hold the tracks in position.

3. The Bygone Era : The period which has become a part of the past.

4. Pastoralists : People who are engaged in pastoral activities.

5. Deforestation : Disappearance of the forest cover.

6. Plantation : Single species planted in straight lines on large farms.

7. Extinct : Species of plants and animals which have completely vanished from wildlife.

8. Bari land : Land located in backyard or in front of the house.

9. Haat  : A common weekly market of local tribes.

10. Ulgulan : The tribal rebellion under Birsa Munda in the areas South of Ranchi.

11. Reserved : Supply of anything available to be used in future when is required.

1. 1770 : The Kalangs attacked the Joana Fort in Java

2. 1855-56 : The Santhal Rebellion took place

3. 1864 : The Indian Forest Service was set up

4. 1865 : The Indian Forest Act was passed

5. 1878 : The Indian Forest Act was amended by which forests were categorised into reserved protected and village forests

6. 1906 : The Forest Research Institute was established in Dehradun

Ans.— 1. Shifting Cultivators : Colonial rulers decided to ban shifting cultivation as it made harder for the government to calculate taxes. As a result, a number of communities, who used to do shifting cultivation, were forcibly displaced from their homes in the forests. Some had to change occupation, while some resisted through large and small rebellions.

2. Nomadic and pastoralist communities : The worst suffers were nomadic and pastoralist communities. The British Government declared some forests as reserved, some others as protected. This limited their access to the forest. They could not graze their herds in forest and they could not collect forest produce like, fruits, roots and fuel and timber. For medicines they could not collect the herbs. They had to give up hunting and fishing in the forest areas.

3. Effects on firms trading in timber and forest produce : The colonial rule affected the timber trading in many ways. First the British Government enacted rules for forest reservation. Under this rule, people were not allowed to cut trees and collect timber from forest. Secondly, by the early 19th century, oak forests in England were disappearing. This created a problem of timber supply for Royal Navy. Third, now the people were not allowed to get other forest products like ivory, silk, coconuts, bamboo, spices, resins, um etc. for trading. Fourthly, only a few European trading firms were given the right to trade in the forest products of particular areas. General firms had to suffer owing to this measure.

4. Effect on plantation owners : The concept of plantation agriculture emerged in India with the colonial rule. The owners of the plantation fields were mostly Europeans. Therefore, rules and regulations regarding the plantation were made by keeping in view the interest of the Europeans.

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. The planters were given a free hand to manage and regulate the farms. The laborers were exploited to the hilt and were paid low wages.

5. Effects on Kings/ British official engaged in Shikar : Under colonial rule, the scale of hunting increased to such an extent that various species became almost extinct. The British saw large animals as signs of a wild, primitive and savage society. They believed that by killing dangerous animals the British would civilize India. They gave rewards for the killing of tigers, wolves and other large animals on the grounds that they posed a threat to cultivators. Over 80,000 tigers, 150000 leopards and 200,000 wolves were killed for reward in period 1875-1925. Gradually, the tiger came to be seen as a sporting trophy. The Maharaja of Sarguja alone shot 1,157 tigers and 2,000 leopards up to 1957. A British Administrator, George Yule, killed 400 tigers. Initially certain areas of forests were reserved for hinting. Only much later did the environmentalists and conservators begin to argue that all these species of animals needed to be protected and not killed.

Ans.— Apart from various dissimilarities, there were many similarities in the colonial management of the forests in Bastar and Jawa in Indonesia. These are given below :

(i) Both were under the colonial rule.

(ii) For the forest management forest, Acts were implemented.

(iii) The traditional local people were debarred from the benefit of forest.

(iv) Scientific forestry was implemented.

In Bastar, the British government stopped hunting, shifting cultivation and collection of any kind of forest produce. Problems of these tribal people increased by many folds. Already the people were suffering from the forced labour, excessive taxes and increased land rents. As a result the people of Bastar rose to revolution in 1910. The problem of landlessness was very acute. There was much hardship caused by the imposition of extra levy and banning on forest produces. In fact the movement was centered around the traditional inalienable rights of the tribal people on the local resources-land and forests.

As in India, the Dutch enacted forests law in Jawa, restricting villagers’ access forests. Now wood could only be cut for specified purposes like making river boats or constructing houses, and only from specific forests under close supervision. Villagers were punished for grazing cattle in young stands, transporting wood without a permit, or travelling on forest roads with horse carts or cattle. As in India, the need to manage forests for shipbuilding and railway led to the

introduction of a forest service. In 1882; 280,000 sleepers were exported from Jawa alone. However, all this required labor to cut the trees, transport the logs and prepare the exempted some villages from these rents if they worked collectively to provide free labor and buffaloes for cutting and transporting timber.

Ans.— Railways : During 19th century India was industrially lagging behind. Therefore, in the development of communication wood played a vital role. The first railway track was laid in 1853 A.D. in India. Wood was used as fuel to run locomotives and sleepers were required for tracks to hold them together tightly. As per estimate around 2000 sleepers were required to lay down only a mile of railway track. Thu, it can be said that, in the decline of forest resources, railway played a vital role in India.

● Shipbuilding : As we know that wood is the raw material which is used in shipbuilding. In the 19th century, sea was the main route of trade and commerce. By 19th century, oak forests in England started disappearing. This created a severe problem of timber supply for the Royal Navy, For this reason in 1820, a timber search team was sent to explore the forest resources in India. Within a decade, trees were cut down on a massive scale because vast quantities of timber exported from India to England.

● Agricultural Expansion : After the advent of the Europeans especially the British, the exploitation of forest area increased. In order to supplement the need of food for the increasing population led to the rapid expansion of agricultural land. There were numerous reasons for this. They thought the forest as useless and so encouraged agriculture for revenue as well as to increase their income. Due to the increase in the demands of commercial crops required for industries, thus, the production increased as well as the cultivation area between 1880 and 1920 rose by 6.7 million hectares indicating progress in agriculture.

● Commercial farming : The British Government accorded the Indian forestry the status of commerce for her own interests. Earlier forest was a means for the sustenance of life and entertainment. But the colonial power used it for its own interest and exploited the forest commercially. They gave encouragement to the cash crops like jute, tea, rubber, sugar, ton etc. These crops were in great demand in Europe to feed its growing urban population as well as increase its industrial production. :

● Tea/Coffee Plantation : The land revenue was the main source of income of the colonial power. 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 known as plantation. To increase the income from land, they allotted vast forest areas. Gradually, plantation became a major source of income. There were a number of workers employed in this sector. For the accommodation of these workers forests had also to be cleared.

● Adivasis and other Peasant users : The British Government imposed certain forest laws in India but Adivasis and other peasants users were able to dodge laws by dubious means. They stole wood from the forest and grazed their cattle stealthy. If they were caught they bribed the forest guards. Even women continued to collect firewood. The police officials and forest guards demanded favors from the Adivasis and Peasant users for illegal felling of trees etc.

Ans.— Wars affected the forests in following ways :

(i) Demand of wood increases to meet the needs of war and more deforestation take place.

(ii) During war, large areas of forest come under fire which led to cleaning of forests.

(iii) At the time of war, Governments themselves put the large catches of wood as cutting machines on fire so that these resources must not go in the hands of enemy. It is known as the policy of ‘Scratched Earth’. Dutch rulers followed the same policy in Indonesia. They wanted to stop their forest resources to go into the hands of Japan.

Ans.— In order to bring Forest Management and Administration under the direct control of the mainstream policies of the Government of India, the Indian Forest Services were created in Jammu and Kashmir in 1968. As a result, the commercial forests of the State came under organized extraction.

Impact : (i) Now the felling of trees was started under the technique of Silvicultural System which was imported from Europe.ro

(ii) This system was applied to the Deodar-Kail, Chil-Fir forests of the region. But the system remained unsuccessful as it failed to produce the required results. .

(iii) In 1980s, the exploitation of forests increased due to prevalent system of rationing of firewood by the forest department to the cities, towns, municipality areas, religions places etc.

(iv) Additionally, the unrestricted grazing by the local cattle and by the livestock population of the migratory grazers such as Gujjars and Bakkerwals contributed to the devastation of the forests.

Ans.— During the last decades of the 20th century, many developments were made in Jammu and Kashmir in forestry such as :

(i) In order to integrate conservation and development of forests through active participation of the people, the government of J&K introduced the world Bank aided scheme of Social forestry in 1982. Initially, it was introduced for five years but it extended upto 1990-95.

(ii) This project envisaged sharing of produce like fuel, wood, fodder, small timber and other miner forest production with local communities for their basic needs.

(iii) Further, consequent to the guidelines of the National Forest Policy, 1988, the concept of Joint Forest Management was introduced in J&K in March 1992.

(iv) The Village Forest Committees were formulated under this project. They were expected to assist in protecting forests from theft, willful damage, trespass, enroachments, grazing or any such act against the interests of forests.

(i) Appearance of forests

(ii) Reappearance of forests

(iii) Burning of forests

(iv) Disappearance of forests.

Ans.—  (iv) Disappearance of forests.

(i) Timber

(ii) Iron

(iii) Elephants

(iv) Bamboos

Ans.— (i) Timber.

(i) Coffee

(ii) Rubber

(iii) Tea

(iii) Tobacco

Ans.— (iii) Tea.

(i) 1863

(ii) 1864

(iii) 1865

(iv) 1866.

Ans.— (ii) 1864.

(i) Dehradun

(ii) Shimlaub

(iii) Delhi

(iv) Kathmandu

Ans.— (i) Dehradun.

(i) protected

(ii) Village forests

(iii) Reserved forests

(iv) Unreserved forests.

Ans.— (iii) Reserved forests.

(i) Chena

(ii) Penda

(iii) Jhum

(iv) Podu.

Ans.— (i) Chena.

(i) Lord Reading

(ii) George Yule

(iii) John Kelvin

(iv) Metcalfe,

Ans.— (ii) George Yule

(i) M.P.

(ii) A.P

(iii) T.N.

(iv) Chhattisgarh.

Ans.— (iv) Chhattisgarh.

(i) 1912

(ii) 1910

(iii) 1915

(iv) 1872.

Ans.— (ii) 1910.

(i) 1865

(ii) 1864

(iii) 1871

(iv) 1872.

Ans.— (i) 1865.

(i) Jute

(ii) Cotton

(iii) Sugarcane

(iv) All of these.

Ans.— (iv) All of these.

1. Indian Forest Act was passed in ………….. A.D.

2. ………….. was the first Inspector General of forests in India.

3. Imperial Forest Research Institution was established at ……….. .

4. was the leader of Bastar Forest Movement. …………… .

5. forests are known as the best forests.

Ans.— 1. 1865, 2. Dyetrich Brandis, 3. Dehradun, 4. Gunda Dhur, 5. Reserved.

1. Kanu was the tribal leader of Chottanagpur region.

2. Rebellion at Bastar was took place in 1910 A.D.

3. Bastar is in Madhya Pradesh.

4. Shifting cultivation in Sri Lanka is called ‘Chena’.

5. George Yube was the most famous tiger hunter.

Ans.— 1. x, 2. √, 3. x, 4. √, 5. √.

Ans.—  Dyes, gum and honey are three forest products.

Ans.— For tea, coffee and rubber crops, the Indian forests were cleared to meet the demands of Europeans.

Ans.— A German expert, Dyetrich Brandis was appointed as the First Inspect General of forests in India.

Ans.—  In the year 1865, India Forest Act was passed.

Ans.— At Dehradun, in the year 1906.

Ans.— In shifting cultivation, parts of forests are cut and burnt in rotation. A mixture of crops is grown on these plots.

Ans.— 9.3% of total forest area of world disappeared between 1700 and 1995.

Ans.— Devsari is paid as fee by villagers in exchange of forest wood in Bastar.

Ans.— In 1910, there was a Forest movement at Bastar.

Ans.— Gunda Dhur was the leader of Bastar Forest Movement.

Ans.—The Kalangs of Jawa were a community of skilled forest cutters and shifting cultivators.

Ans.—  Around 500 different plants are available in one single forest pitch of Western Ghats of India.

Ans.— She was a women leader of Bhumkal movement. She wanted to re-establish Muria rule and wanted to abolish British rule in Bastar.

Ans.— Moisture in atmosphere from forests comes through the process of transpiration.

Ans.— (i) Exchange system: Both types of exchange systems on barter and money change are prevalent. Exchange of food materials, cooked food, services and that of gift items are also prevalent. In the market, the exchange of various materials takes place through money exchange. Things are sold to get cash and other things are purchased by cash.

(ii) Local Market/Hatt : The weekly Haat is a place where persons belonging to all age and sex group assemble and do the job of selling and purchasing. They buy rice, pulse, flour, salt, gur, soap, etc. They sell hares, mahua, baskets, honeywax, lac etc. The medium of exchange in the weekly Haat is money.

(iii) The weekly Haat is also a place where persons belonging to all age meet and exchange news of joys and sorrows.

Ans.— (i) The colonial system created and strengthens a three-fold division of the well-to-do headmen occupied the second position. The general mass was at the bottom.

(ii) The government restricted the transfer of land from tribals to non-tribals. As a result, a class of insider daku (land grabbers or zamindars) and professional, tribal moneylenders grew up. The tribal people could not sell their lands to nontribals. Hence, they were forced to either sell off their lands to tribal zamindars at low prices or borrow money at high interests from tribal moneylenders.

(iii) A rich stratum of tribal buyers of land emerged. There were conflicts and tensions within the tribal society but the bonds of kingship and ethnicity was too strong. Confrontation with the non-tribals and realization that outsiders were bent upon their exploitation strengthened and united the tribals.

Ans.— The best known of the tribal rebellions of this period was the ULGULAN (Great Tumult) of Birsa Munda in the area south of Ranchi(1899-1900). During this period, Birsa instigated the killing of Thikadars, jagirdars, Rajas, Hakims and Christians. He promised his followers that the guns and bullets would to water The Mundas gave out the slogan.

“Katong Baba Katong

Saheb Katong, Rari Katong,

{“O father, kill the Europeans, kill Kat other c er castes….o Kill, Kill…)

Nearly 350 Mundas were put to trial by the British, 3 were hanged and 44 were transported for life. Birsa Munda died in jail in 1900.

Ans.— (i) The First Phase (1795-1860) : The First Phase saw the rise of primary resistance movement. The tribes played a dominant role and a large section of non tribals also joined hands. The movements were a kind of regional upsurge. These coincided with the rise, expansion and the establishment of the British Empire. It was led by the traditional chiefs and their subordinates. It was a resistance against the new landlords, moneylenders and government officials. All of the above persons were thrown out in violent upsurge.

(ii) The above formulations generally, applies to all the movements of this period the Chuar rebellions (1795-1800), the uprisings of Chero zamindars and those in Chhotanagpur in 1820, the kol and Bhumij insurrections, the Gonds’ and the Khonds’ resistances.

Ans.— (i) Scientific forestry was first adopted in France and Germ-any, in which the mode of forest exploitation was based on the scientific theory. This scientific theory was adopted in the backdrop that, forest is also an exhaustible resource.

(ii) In India also, the colonial power accepted this manned exploitation of forest resources. However, the intention of colonial power was to incur maximum benefits from the forest. For this reason, many rules and regulations were enacted.

(iii) An Act was passed in 1865 A.D., for the protection and effective management of the Forests. In addition to this, several other acts were enacted in the later years.

Ans.— The impacts of colonial forestry are as follows :

(i) Creation of a great network of forest reserves.

(ii) Scientific cultivation of certain species of trees.

(iii) Ban on extensive cultivation, grazing traditional forms of hunting, fishing, settlements and exploitation of forests.

(iv) Forests villages of supply of captive labour for forest operations.

Ans.— (i) Bastar has a long tradition of movement.

(ii) The forest living people did not like the extension of British control and the intrusion of colonial administration in their life.

(iii) Imposition of forest regulations, ban on shifting cultivations and ban on free use of forest resources.

(iv) The forests were reserved as state forests.

(v) They were forced to begar. de boon she

(vi) The uprising was around the issues of culture, tradition and tribal way of life.

Ans.— There were various reasons for the expansion of cultivation in the Colonial Period as :

(i) The European powers encouraged the cultivation of commercial corps, like cotton, Indigo, Jute, tea, sugar, coffee, sugarcane, etc. for feeding the towns people and to supply raw materials for their home industries.

(ii) The British encouraged plantation agriculture like tea, coffee and rubber as they were in great demand in Europe. Plantation farms were large and extensive employing scientific means to increase the produce.

(iii) It was the firm belief of the colonial masters that forests were unproductive and did not contribute in the income of the state. Therefore, cultivation had to be extended and encouraged at the cost of forest.

Ans.— Shifting agriculture was stopped due to three reasons :

(i) European forest officers were of the view that this type of agriculture is dangerous for forests. It is not possible to grow furniture based wood on this land.

(ii) When forests were put on fire to clear the land then there was a danger of destruction of other valuable forest property goods.

(iii) It was difficult for government to collect taxes due from this type of agriculture. Impact: Local communities were forcibly thrown out of the forests. Some were forced to change their occupation and some revolted against it.

Ans.— During earlier times, people of J&K had free access to forests for their timber needs. Even for commercial purpose, nominal fee was charged for getting timber from forests. Such operations did not cause any major damage to the ecological balance. But due to increase in demand between two world wars, pressure on forests increased. The extraction of wood for construction, agriculture, wood based industry etc. increased the pressure on forests. Population pressure also did the same.

Ans.— J&K was having diverse significant species such as Snow Leopard, Markhor Goat, Himalayan Ibex, Blue Sheep and Musk Deer. By 20th century, J&K had become a major centre of hunters of the British empire. The British along with native hunters started hunting in areas such as Baltistan, Ladakh, Gilgit and Hunza. By the end of the 19th century, Markhor goat become on the veage of extinction. No one cared about their preservation. The colonial policies of exploiting natural resources also led to the increase in hunting in the region.

Ans.— (i) Hunting and Fishing : They hunt deer, jackal, sambhar, fox; wild goat is the purpose of eating. They do, fishing and also catch turtles and crabs for eating. They also hunt various kinds of birds like titir, bater, bageri etc.

(ii) Food Gathering : They do the collection of edible roots, shoots, leaves, flowers and fruits. Fruits collected are generally Jamun, Mahua, Bair, katahal, Amla, Imli etc. The varieties of roots, shoots, flowers, etc. collected vary from region to region.

(iii) Craft Making : These include rope making, mat making, broom making basket making etc. During the off season, basketry and rope making from bamboo, khajur, tar etc. provide gainful engagement.

(iv) Domestication of Animals : They rear animals for the purpose of eating flesh and milk and performing agriculture. They also sell them in market. They rear goat for flesh and earn money by selling them in the market. They also rear hen, cock, duck, etc. to get their eggs and flesh. They even sell them in the market for cash. Cows and buffaloes are reared to get milk and calves. you

(v) Agriculture : Agriculture has been an important economic activity for tribal. Shifting cultivation has been by the government to save the forest resources. In shifting cultivation, a suitable site on the hilly slope is selected for the first time. Bushes and small trees are cut to make the site clear. After performing agriculture in one year the site is left for 5 years or more to regain the fertility of soil.

(vi) Exchange System: Both types of exchange systems-on barter and money exchange are prevalent. Exchange of food material, cooked food, services and that of gift items are also prevalent. In the market, the exchange of various materials takes place through money exchange. Things are sold to get cash and other things are purchased by cash.

Ans.— Social Stratification : The colonial system created and strengthened a threefold vision of the tribal society. The first position was occupied by the feudatory chiefs/zamindars. The well-to-do headmen occupied the second position. The general mass was at the bottom.

The government restricted the transfer of land fro from tribal to non-tribal. As a result a class of insider daku (land-grabbers or zamindars) and professional, tribal moneylenders grew up. The tribal people could not sell their lands to non-tribals. Hence, they were forced either to sell off their lands to tribal zamindars at low prices or borrow money at high interests from tribal moneylenders. A rich stratum of tribal buyers of land emerged. There were conflicts and tensions within the tribal society but the bonds of kinship and ethnicity was too strong. Confrontation with the non-tribals and realization that outsiders were bent upon their exploitations strengthened and united the tribals.

Impact of Christian Missionaries : There always existed a close link between Christianity and colonialism. The Christian missionaries considered it their divine and sacred duty to “civilize” the aboriginal races. They closely collaborated with colonial political leaders, administrators to spread Christianity among the tribal and backward communities of India. They were active in many tribal areas (mainly Bihar and Assam hills) and lured people with the promise of jobs, lands, education and rise in the social hierarchy. The missionaries insisted that the Christians were loyal subjects, the bhai-bahen of British crown and therefore were entitled to certain privileges. The Indian Munity gave a setback to evangelization but after 1860 it was taken up with renewed vigor.

Ans.— Tribal Movements : For the sake of convenience, we have periodized the tribal movements under three phases. But is had to be borne in mind that there was a wide range of variations in local situations, social structure and many moments overlapped each other.

The First Phase (1795-1860) : The First Phase saw the rise of primary resistance movement. The tribes played a dominant role and a large section of non-tribals also joined hands. The movements were a kind of regional upsurge. These coincided with the rise, expansion and the establishment of the British Empire. It was led by the traditional chiefs and their subordinates.

The above formulations generally, applies to all the movements of this periodthe Chuar rebellions (1795-1800), the uprisings of Chero zamindars and those in Chhotanagpur in 1820, the Kol and Bhumij insurrections, the Gonds’ and the Khonds’ resistances.

The Second Phase (1860-1920) : This Phase coincided with the most intensive phase of colonialism. The movements were not violent which was led by those leaders who claimed divine-inspiration and magical powers. Then were large number of movements involving many tribes and on various issues-agrarian, religious and political. The tribes most involved were the Bhils, Santhals, Mundas, Oraon and Khonds. The tribes were high rents, forced labour and miserable conditions of peasants.

Millewarianism (belief in an imminent golden age) was typical feature of the movement of this period. The Kherwar movement of 1870’s, the rebellions of Naikda forest tribe in Gujarat in 1868 and rebellion of Kacha Nagas of Chachar in 1882 were important, the latter’s leader claiming that his magic had made his followers immune to bullets.

The best known of the tribal rebelions of this period was the Ulgulan (Great Tumult) of Birsa Munda in the area south of Ranchi (1899-1900). During this period, Birsa investigated the killing of Thikedara, jagirdars, Rajas, Hakims and Christians. He promised his followers that the guns and bullets would turn to water.

Nearly 350 Mundas were put to trial by the British, 3 were hanged and 44 were transported for life. Birsa Munda died in jai! in 1900.

The Third Phase (1920-1947) : This phase was characterized by the secular and political movements often being influenced by Gandhian movements for freedom. Gandhi had most ardent followers among the members of the Bhagat sects. The tribes largely participated in the national and agrarian movements. There was a strong separatist movement in Chhotanagpur.

Ans.— Forest tribes have been dependent on the forests for their livelihood and survival for centuries. They do hunting of birds and animals, fishing in ditches, ponds, etc. in and around forests. They do cultivation on hilly slopes and nearby plains. They work as casual labourers in the forest department and in mines available near their place of living.

They hunt deer, jackal, sambhar, fox, and wild goat for the purpose of eating. They do fishing and also catch turtles and crabs for eating. They also hunt various kinds of bird like titir, bater, bageri, etc.

They do collection of edible roots, shoots, leaves, flowers and fruits. Fruits collected are generally Jamun, Mahua, Bair, Katahal, Amla, Imli etc. The varieties of roots, shoots, flowers, etc. collected vary from region to region.

There are other minor forest products that are collected for selling in the market or for using as folk medicine. There are seeds of Imli, Babul, Jamun, Mahua, Harer, Behera, honey, lac, etc.

These include rope making, niat mah.ng, broom making, basket making etc. During the off season, basketry and ope making from bamboo, khajur, tar, etc. provide gainful engagement.

They rear animals for the purpose of eating flesh and milk and performing agriculture. They also sell them in the market. They rear goats for flesh and earn money by selling them in the market. They also rear hen, cock, ducks etc. to get their eggs and flesh. The even sell them in the market for cash. Cows and buffaloes are reared to get milk and calves. Calves and heives were sold to get money. Calves and buffaloes are also used to till the land.