CBSE Important Questions for Class 9 Social Science History Chapter 4 help students understand how forests changed under British rule, how new laws affected forest communities, and why tribal groups resisted colonial control. This chapter includes key themes such as scientific forestry, shifting cultivation, commercialization of forest products, and major tribal revolts.
By practicing these important questions for Class 9 Forest Society and Colonialism, students can gain clarity on causes, consequences, definitions, and case studies often asked in CBSE exams.
Forest Society and Colonialism Class 9 Important Questions
Students should prepare the CBSE Important Questions for Class 9 Social Science History Chapter 4 in order to prepare well for the exams. Below are the important questions given for preparation:
Section –A [1 Mark]
1 The introduction of Forest Laws by the British colonial government resulted in:
(A) Increased protection and preservation of forests
(B) Widespread deforestation and environmental degradation
(C) Enhanced cooperation between tribal communities and British authorities
(D) Encouragement of forest-based industries
Ans. (B) Widespread deforestation and environmental degradation
2. What was the main motive behind the establishment of "Reserved Forests" during colonial rule?
(A) To create spaces for recreational activities of the British officers
(B) To provide sanctuaries for endangered wildlife species
(C) To ensure a steady supply of timber for the British industries
(D) To settle displaced farmers from densely populated regions
Ans. (C) To ensure a steady supply of timber for the British industries
3. Which movement initiated by Amrita Devi Bishnoi to protect trees from being felled is famous in Indian history?
(A) Chipko Movement
(B) Jungle Bachao Andolan
(C) Forest Satyagraha
(D) Tree Hugging Movement
Ans. (A) Chipko Movement
4. The British transformed the landscape of hill stations like Shimla, Darjeeling, and Ooty to resemble:
(A) European towns and cities
(B) Dense forests and wildlife sanctuaries
(C) Traditional Indian villages
(D) Agricultural fields for local communities
Ans. (A) European towns and cities
5. What impact did the introduction of tea plantations have on the tribal communities in Assam during colonial rule?
(A) Improved socio-economic conditions of tribes due to job opportunities
(B) Preservation of tribal culture and traditions
(C) Forced displacement and labor exploitation
(D) Introduction of new agricultural techniques
Ans. (C) Forced displacement and labor exploitation
6. Who wrote the book 'The Forests of India' in the year 1923?
(A) David Spurr
(B) E.P. Stebbing
(C) Verrier Elvin
(D) John Middleton
Ans. (B) E.P. Stebbing
7. What was the main purpose of the Forest Act of 1927, passed during British colonial rule in India?
(A) To promote wildlife conservation and protect endangered species
(B) To grant unrestricted access to forests for tribal communities
(C) To establish national parks and wildlife sanctuaries
(D) To further tighten control over forests and regulate their use for commercial interests
Ans. (D) To further tighten control over forests and regulate their use for commercial interests
8. The British passed the Forest Act in India in which year?
(A) 1865
(B) 1882
(C) 1927
(D) 1947
Ans. (B) 1882
9. Which tribe in the Andaman Islands was severely affected by the British colonial policies of forest conservation?
(A) Jarawas
(B) Sentinelese
(C) Onge
(D) Great Andamanese
Ans. (D) Great Andamanese
10. The term "Sustainable Forest Management" refers to:
(A) Clearing forests for industrial and urban development
(B) Balancing environmental, social, and economic interests in forest use
(C) Completely preserving forests without any human intervention
(D) Encouraging deforestation for agricultural expansion
Ans. (B) Balancing environmental, social, and economic interests in forest use
Section –B [2 Marks]
11. ‘The ship industry of England was also responsible for deforestation in India’. Give one reason.
Sol. Due to the high demand, oak forests in England were disappearing. This created i a problem of timber supply for the Royal Navy which required it to build ships. To get the supply of oak for the ship industry, Britishers started exploring Indian forests on a massive scale.
12. How far the plantation agriculture was responsible for deforestation in India?
Sol. 1. Large areas of natural forests were 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.
13. Who was Dietrich Brandis? Why he was invited to India?
Sol. Dietrich Brandis was a German expert. He was made the first Inspector General of Forests in India. He was invited to India by the Britishers to save the Indian forests.
14. What was scientific forestry?
Sol. In scientific forestry, natural forests which had lots of different types of trees were cut down. In their place, one type of free was planted in straight rows. This is called as plantation. Forest officials surveyed the forests, estimated the area under different types of trees, and made working plans for the forest management. They planned how much of the plantation area to cut every year. The area cut was then to be replanted so that it was ready to be cut again in some years.
15. Name the categories of forests under the 1878 Forest Act.
Sol. • Reserved forests. • Protected forests. • Village forests.
16. What were reserved forests?
Sol. These were the best forests which produced commercially valuable timber. No individual was allowed to access to these forests.
17. What were forest villages?
Sol. The villages which were allowed to stay on in the reserved forests on the condition that worked free for the forest department in cutting and transporting trees, and protecting the forest from fires were called the forest villages.
18. What were the result of the Bastar rebellion?
Sol. • Work on reservation was temporarily suspended.
• Area to be reserved was reduced to roughly half of that planned before 1910.
19. Name any two local communities of Bastar.
Sol. • Maria Gonds • Muria Gonds • Dhurwas • Bhatras
20. Who was Gunda Dhur?
Sol. He was a tribal leader of the Dhurwas of the Kanger Forest. The tribal people revolted against the unjust forest policies of the British under his able leadership.
21. Mention any two factors which prompted the people of Bastar to rebel against the Britishers.
Sol. • The British government’s decision to reserve two-thirds of the forest.
• To ban shifting cultivation.
22. Who was Surontiko Samin?
Sol. He was the tribal leader who was responsible for launching the Samin Movement against the Dutch Government. He argued that the state had not created wind, water, earth and wood, so it could not own it.
23. What was blandongdiensten system?
Sol. Under this system, the Dutch exempted some villages from the rent on land if they worked collectively to provide free labour and buffaloes for cutting and transporting timber. Later, instead of rent exemption, forest villagers were given small wages, but their right to cultivate forest land was restricted.
Section –C [3 Marks]
24. Explain what is shifting cultivation. Why did European foresters regard this practice as harmful for forests?
Sol. A method of farming in which a patch of ground is cultivated for a period of few years until the soil is partly exhausted or overrun by weeds, and after which the land is left to natural vegetation while cultivation is carried elsewhere.
• Shifting cultivation made it harder for the government to calculate taxes. Therefore, the government decided to ban shifting cultivation.
• European foresters regarded this practice as harmful for the forests. They felt that land which was used for cultivation every few years could not grow trees for railway timber.
• There was also the added danger of the flames spreading, and burning valuable timber.
25. Who were Saminist? Mention any two methods used by the Saminist to revolt against the Dutch.
Sol. • The Saminists laid down on their land when the Dutch surveyors came to reclassify communal and salary lands, and used to cry out, “Kangoo” (I own it).
• They refused to pay taxes, fines to accept wages and to leave rented or communal land when their leases expired.
26. What changes can one observe towards forest policy since 1980’s?
Sol. • Conservation of forests rather than collecting timber has become a more important goal.
• The various governments have realised that the people who live near the forests must be involved.
27. Discuss how the changes in forest management in the colonial period affected the following groups of people: (a) Shifting cultivators (b) Nomadic and pastoralist communities.
Sol. (a) (i) Ban on shifting cultivation: As shifting cultivation was non-profitable to the government, therefore, the government decided to ban shifting cultivation. As a result, many communities lost the source of their livelihood.
(ii) New occupations: Due to a ban on the shifting cultivation, most of the people had to change their occupations. Some started working as labourers.
(iii) Large and small rebellions: When the colonial government proposed to reserve two-thirds of the forest in 1905 and banned shifting cultivation, people got together, and revolted against the decision of the government.
(b) (i) Reduction in Pastures: The various laws which were formulated had an adverse effect on the pastures. Through various acts, some forests were declared ‘Reserved. No pastoralist was allowed an access to these forests. Other forests were classified as ‘Protected’. In these, some customary grazing rights of pastoralists were granted but their movements were severely restricted.
28. Mention any four factors which prompted the Samins to revolt against the Dutch.
Sol. • The Saminists laid down on their land when the Dutch surveyors came to reclassify communal and salary lands, and used to cry out, “Kanggo” (I own it).
• They cut teak despite Dutch efforts to guard the forest.
• They refused to pay taxes, fines to accept wages, and to leave rented or communal land when their leases expired.
• Some piled stones on the roads which they had been ordered to build.
29. ‘In the colonial period, cultivation expanded rapidly for a variety of reasons.’ Explain any two.
Sol. • Need for raw materials and food problem: The Britishers encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute, sugar, cotton and indigo as these were used as raw materials by the British industry. They promoted the production of foodgrains as these were required to feed the growing urban population.
• Unproductive forests: In the early nineteenth century, the colonial state thought that forests were unproductive. They were considered to be wilderness that had to be brought under cultivation so that the land could yield agricultural products and revenue, and enhance the income of the state. So between 1880 and 1920, the cultivated area rose by 6.7 million hectares.
Section –D [5 Marks]
30. Explain the impact of various forest laws and policies which were adopted by the colonial rulers over the colonial people.
Sol. • Various restrictions: The Forest Act meant severe hardship for villagers: across the country. After the Act, all their forest activities like cutting wood for their houses, grazing their cattle, collecting fruits and roots, hunting and fishing became illegal.
• Impact on cultivators: Shifting cultivation was the most common cultivation practised by the people. But this was banned because European foresters regarded this as harmful for the forests.
• Displacement of the people: To protect the forests, the Europeans started displacing villagers without any notice or compensation.
• Various taxes: The Europeans started imposing heavy taxes on the forest people.
• Loss of livelihood: The Europeans started giving large European trading firms the sole right to trade in the forest. Grazing and hunting by local people were restricted. In the process, many pastoralists and nomadic communities lost their livelihood.
31. Explain the rebellion of Bastar people against the British.
Sol. (1) Reasons for rebellion:
• In 1905, the British Government proposed to reserve two-thirds of the forests. • To ban shifting cultivation.
• To ban hunting, and collection of forest produce. All these steps forced the locals to revolt against the British.
(2) Course of rebellion:
• People began to discuss all these issues in their village councils, in bazaars, markets and at festivals. The initiative was taken by the Dhurwas of the Kanger Forest, where reservation first took place.
• In 1910, mango boughs, a lump of earth, chillies and arrows, began – circulating between villages. These were actually messages inviting villagers to rebel against the British. Every village contributed something to the rebellion expenses.
• 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 in some way associated with the colonial state, and its oppressive laws.
(3) Leaders: Although there was no single leader, many people speak of Gunda Dhur, from village Nethanar, as an important figure in the movement.
(4) Suppression of the revolt: 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 villages were deserted as people fled into the jungle forests. It took three months (February-May) for the British to regain control. However, they never managed to capture Gunda Dhur.
(5) Consequences of the rebellion: In a major victory for the rebels, work on reservation was temporarily suspended, and the area to be reserved was reduced to roughly half of that planned before 1910. The revolt also inspired the other tribal people to rebel against the unjust policies of the British Government.
32. Explain any five causes of deforestation in India under colonial rule.
Sol. • Increase in population: AS the population increased over the centuries and the demand for food went-up, peasants extended the boundaries of cultivation, clearing forests and breaking new land.
• Commercialisation of agriculture: The British encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute, sugar. The demand for these crops increased in the 19th century. For this they cleared forests.
• Unproductive forests: The colonial government thought that forests were unproductive. They cleared forests for cultivation.
• Introduction of railway: The spread of railway from the 1850’s created a new demand. As the railway tracks spread through India, a larger and larger number of trees fell down.
• 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.
33. “The First World War and the Second World War had a major impact on forests.” Explain the statement with five facts.
Sol. Forests are affected by wars due to various reasons. The chief among them is the following:
• In modern times, the defending armies hide themselves and their war materials under the cover of the thick forests to avoid detection. As such, the enemy forces target forest areas to capture the opposing soldiers and their war materials.
• Because of pre-occupation of the participant countries in the war, many proposals for promoting the forest culture have to be abandoned half way and as such, many forests became a prey of neglect.
• To meet war needs, sometimes forests are cut indiscriminately, and as a result forests vanish within no time, one after the other.
• Fearing the capture of forest areas by the enemy, sometimes, the existing governments themselves cut down the trees recklessly, destroy the saw mills 1 and bum huge piles of great teak logs. Such a thing happened in Indonesia when the Dutch Government felt that the area under their control would fall to the Japanese.
• Sometimes, the occupying forces recklessly cut down trees for their own war industries as was done by the Japanese during the occupation of Indonesia in the Second World War.
• Finding the forest staff in difficulty during war times, some people expanded their agricultural land at the cost of the forest land. Some people who were excluded from the forest areas, once again tried to reoccupy their lands.
34. How was the introduction of the railway responsible for deforestation under the colonial era?
Or
The introduction of railways had an adverse impact on the forests. Justify by giving examples.
Sol. • Need for sleepers: Sleepers were the basic inputs required for constructing a railway line. Each mile of a railway track required between 1700 to 2,000 sleepers. To meet this demand, a large number of trees fell down.
• Fuel: To run locomotives, wood was needed as fuel. As railways were being spread throughout India, more and more wood was required which could be used as fuel.
• Expansion of railway tracks: From the 1860s, the railway network expanded rapidly. By 1890, about 25,500 km of track had been laid. Upto 1946, the length of the tracks had increased to over 765,000 km. As the railway tracks spread throughout India, a larger and larger number of trees fell down. As early as the 1850 s, in the Madras Presidency alone, 35,000 trees were being cut annually for sleepers.
• Contract to private individuals: The government gave out contracts to individuals to supply the required quantities. These contractors began cutting trees indiscriminately. Forests around the railway tracks started disappearing fast.
35. Mention any four ideas of Dietrich Brandis for the management of forests in India during the British period.
Sol. • Brandis realised 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.
• 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. Anybody who cut trees without following the system had to be punished.
• Brandis introduced scientific forestry under which natural forests which had lots of different types of trees were cut down and in their place, one type of trees were planted in straight rows.
• He set up Indian Forest Services in 1864.
36. “While people lost out in many ways after the forest department took control of the forests, some people benefitted from the new opportunities that had opened up.” Explain by giving examples.
Sol. • New occupations: Many communities left their traditional occupations and started trading in forest products.
• Employment: Before the arrival of the Europeans, the locals were dependent on nature for their livelihood, but now they started getting regular jobs. Many of them joined the forest department as workers and watchmen.
• Forest products: After the arrival of Europeans, the waste products of the forests also got the market value. Locals started selling latex to the traders.
• New class of people: With the development of industry and plantation and other economic activities, a new class of people was created which was not dependent on nature for their livelihood.
Section E [4 Marks]
37. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follows: Bastar is located in the southernmost part of Chhattisgarh and borders Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Maharashtra. The central part of Bastar is on a plateau. To the north of this plateau is the Chhattisgarh plain and to its south is the Godavari plain. 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. 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. In addition to the Earth, they show respect to the spirits of the river, the forest and the mountain. Since each village knows where its boundaries lie, the local people look after all the natural resources within that boundary. If people from a village want to take some wood from the forests of another village, they pay a small fee called devsari, dand or man in exchange. Some villages also protect their forests by engaging watchmen and each household contributes some grain to pay them. Every year there is one big hunt where the headmen of villages in a pargana (cluster of villages) meet and discuss issues of concern, including forests.
Answer the following MCQs by choosing the most appropriate option:
(i) The Central Part of Bastar is on a _______.
(A) River (B) Plain (C) Plateau (D) Mountain
Ans. (C) Plateau
(ii) Chhattisgarh plain lies on the _________of plateau.
(A) East (B) North (C) South (D) West
Ans. (B) North
(iii) The people of _________believe that each village was given its land by the earth.
(A) Bastar (B) Chhattisgarh (C) Rajasthan (D) Andhra Pradesh
Ans. (A) Bastar
(iv) Devsari, Dand or man in exchange were the small _________ paid by the village to take some wood from the forests of another village.
(A) Money (B) Amount (C) Fee (D) Token
Ans. (C) Fee
How to Prepare Important Questions of Chapter Forest Society and Colonialism Class 9
Here’s how to study the important questions of Forest Society and Colonialism Class 9 effectively:
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First understand how colonial forest policies changed the relationship between people and forests. This makes later revision easier.
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Focus on why the British introduced forest laws and how these laws affected tribals, nomads, and shifting cultivators.
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Understand terms like scientific forestry, shifting cultivation, forest acts, and working plans and link them with real examples mentioned in the chapter.
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Revolts like the Bastar Rebellion or changes under Java’s forest system often appear in exams; make quick notes on dates, causes, and results.
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Use headings, subheadings, and point-wise answers to score more, especially for long-answer questions on forest laws and impacts.