Forest Society and Colonialism
Forests fed villages long before colonial forest laws fenced them off. Chapter 4 of the NCERT Class 9 History textbook, India and the Contemporary World Part One, shows how British rules on reserved forests, shifting cultivation, hunting and timber for railways and ships disrupted Bastar, Java and other forest peoples. It follows rebellions, scientific forestry, and wartime demands, comparing colonial practice in India and Indonesia to reveal how control over forests reshaped livelihoods, rebellion and conservation.
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