Why did colonial administration emphasize settling nomadic pastoralists?

Taxation, records and surveillance were easier over settled populations

Nomadic pastoralists move with their animals according to the availability of grass and water. Colonial governments often preferred people to live in fixed settlements because settled populations were easier to count, tax, record, and supervise. Officials could identify households, regulate land use, and monitor movement more easily when people were not constantly travelling across regions. Settlement therefore served administrative and political control, not merely pastoral welfare.

Option A is correct because it identifies taxation, record keeping, and surveillance as linked reasons. The other choices do not explain the policy: nomadic life did not give the government more control, animals were not meant to be sent to the sea, and authorities were not simply offering every pasture to pastoralists. The emphasis on settlement reduced mobility and made colonial administration more convenient.

This is a Class 9 History question. Chapter: Pastoralists in the Modern World. Topic: Colonial Rule and Pastoral Life.