How can deforestation under colonial rule be linked with revenue policy?

Correct answer: Forest land could be turned into fields to increase land tax

The direct answer is A: forest land could be turned into fields to increase land tax. Colonial governments often treated land revenue as an important source of income. If forests were cleared and converted into cultivated fields, the new agricultural land could be measured, assessed and taxed. Expansion of cultivation could therefore increase the taxable area and the government’s revenue. It could also supply commercial crops, but the question specifically asks about the link with revenue policy. Option A is correct because it gives the direct chain: forest cleared → field created → land assessed → tax collected. Option B is wrong because forest land and its products could provide income; it is not true that they could give no income. Option C is wrong because government policy was not limited to forest worship and did not explain deforestation. Option D is impossible and unrelated; forests were not intended to be changed into seas. The careful exam point is that revenue was an important motive, though not necessarily the only motive. Memory cue: taxable fields bring land revenue.