History
Why Deforestation?
वनों की कटाई क्यों?
In this Class 9 History topic from “Forest Society and Colonialism,” students examine why forests were cleared and how colonial policies transformed forest use. They learn how railways, shipbuilding, commercial timber, plantations and expanding agriculture increased demand for wood and land. The topic also explores the effects on forest communities, shifting cultivators and pastoralists, including restrictions on customary rights, loss of livelihoods and resistance to state control. It helps students connect deforestation with colonial economic interests and social change.
Practice questions
Why can deforestation under colonial rule be seen as a process of land control and not only cutting trees?HardLevel 49What was the biggest bias in the colonial idea of calling forests waste land?HardLevel 49How does the relation between agricultural expansion and land revenue explain deforestation?HardLevel 49Why can railway expansion be called a structural cause of deforestation?HardLevel 49Why was timber demand for railway sleepers different from ordinary domestic demand?HardLevel 49How did the use of Indian timber in shipbuilding connect forests with imperial needs?HardLevel 49Why did the decline of oak in Britain increase pressure on Indian forests?HardLevel 49Clearing forests for tea plantations was not only agricultural expansion but an example of which change?HardLevel 49In rubber and coffee plantations the cause of deforestation was not only removing trees but what else?HardLevel 49While controlling forests which use did the colonial state prioritise over local use?HardLevel 49How is the link between revenue and trade visible in the causes of deforestation?HardLevel 49From forest dwellers' viewpoint why was deforestation a livelihood crisis?HardLevel 49How did the colonial idea of development help justify deforestation?HardLevel 49If railways and plantations expanded in the same area why could deforestation intensify?HardLevel 49What feature of colonial forest policy is shown by focusing on species like teak and sal?HardLevel 49Why is linking deforestation only with population growth historically weak?HardLevel 49Why was shortage of fuel and fodder due to deforestation not only a domestic problem?HardLevel 49What is the importance of soil erosion due to deforestation in historical study?HardLevel 49Which practice best identifies ‘scientific forestry’ during the colonial period?HardLevel 49How did construction of transport routes increase deforestation in two ways?HardLevel 49