Discuss how the changes in forest management in the colonial period affected the following groups of people:

1. Shifting cultivators
2. Nomadic and pastoralist communities
3. Firms trading in timber/forest produce
4. Plantation owners
5. Kings/British officials engaged in shikar (hunting)

1. Shifting cultivators — European foresters regarded this practice of shifting cultivation as harmful for the forests. They felt that land which was used for cultivation every few years could not grow trees for railway timber. When a forest was burnt, there was the added danger of the flames spreading and burning valuable timber. Shifting cultivation also made it harder for the government to calculate taxes. Therefore, the government decided to ban shifting cultivation. As a result, many communities were forcibly displaced from their homes in the forests.

2. Nomadic and pastoralist communities — The British government gave many large European trading firms the sole right to trade in the forest products of particular areas. Grazing and hunting by local people were restricted. In the process, many pastoralist and nomadic communities like the Korava, Karacha and Yerukula of the Madras Presidency lost their livelihoods. Some of them began to be called ‘criminal tribes’, and were forced to work instead in factories, mines and plantations, under government supervision.

3. Firms trading in timber/forest produce — The British government gave many large European trading firms the sole right to trade in the forest products of particular areas. This practice significantly impacted various aspects of forest management and local communities. Some firms adapted by collaborating with colonial authorities, while others faced economic challenges due to increased bureaucracy, restrictions and heavy taxes.

4. Plantation owners — Plantation owners, especially those cultivating tea, coffee, rubber, and other cash crops, relied on forest land. The British encouraged large-scale plantations, often replacing natural forests. 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. Plantation owners prospered economically, but at the expense of forest ecosystems and indigenous communities.

5. Kings/British officials engaged in shikar (hunting) — While the forest laws deprived people of their customary rights to hunt, hunting of big animals became a sport. In India, hunting of tigers and other animals had been part of the culture of the court and nobility for centuries. Many Mughal paintings show princes and emperors enjoying a hunt. But 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 civilise India.