RBSE Class 9 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 5 Pastoralists in the Modern World
RBSE Class 9 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 5 Pastoralists in the Modern World
RBSE Class 9 Social Science Pastoralists in the Modern World InText Questions and Answers
Page No. 101
Activity 1
Read Source A and B given on Page 98 and 101.
Question 1
Write briefly about what they tell you about the nature of the work undertaken by men and women in pastoral households.
Answer:
- The men grazed the cattle and frequently lie out in the woods for weeks tending their herds and cultivated their fields.
- The women went to the markets every morning with baskets on their heads with little earthern pots filled with milk, butter-milk and ghee. Each of these pots contained the proportion required for a day’s meal.
Question 2
Why do you think pastoral groups often live on the edges of forests?
Answer:
They lived in small villages near the skirt of the woods where they cultivated a little ground and could get useful forest products.
- The women milked their cattle and took out milk and ghee to sell these products in towns so they lived near edges of forests.
Page No. 104
Activity 2
Question 3
Write a comment on the closure of the forests to grazing from the standpoint of:
- A forester
- A pastoralist
Answer:
Nomadic tribes need to move from one place to another. What are the advantages to
- A Forester :It is the duty of the forester to keep a watch on the pastoralists.
- Forester should not allow cattle and pastoralist in the forest. It may harm saplings.
- A Pastoralist: A pastoralist depends on forests for grazing their cattle. It also acts as their livelihood. They move according to the availability of grazing grounds and suitable climates.
RBSE Class 9 Social Science Pastoralists in the Modern World Textbook Questions and Answers
Question 1.
Explain why nomadic tribes need to move from one place to another. What are the advantages to the environment of this continuous movement?
Answer:
Nomadic tribes do not stay at a place for long time. They move from place to place to earn their living and to find pastures for their animals. All of them had to adjust to seasonal changes and make effective use of available pastures in different places. When the pasture was exhausted or unusable in one place, they moved their herds and flocks to new areas.
- Ip winter, when the high mountains are covered with snow, the nomadic pastoralists of the mountains move to the low hills.
- They also move from one place to another in search of fodder for their animals.
- The availability of foodgrains in different regions is also responsible for their movements.
- The movement of the nomadic tribes is partly influenced by need to sell plough cattle and goods to villagers. This continuous movement was advantageous to the environment.
- The pastoral movements allowed time for the natural restoration of vegetation growth.
- The flocks manured the fields.
- The pastoralism helped them to setup relation with farmers on the way.
Question 2.
Discuss why the colonial government in India brought in the following laws. In each case, explain how the laws changed the lives of pastoralists –
- Waste Land Rules
- Forest Acts
- Criminal Tribes Act
- Grazing Tax.
Or
Under colonial rule the life of pastoralists changed dramatically. Explain four reasons for it.
Answer:
(i) Waste Land Rules:
To colonial officials all uncultivated land appeared to be unproductive, it produced neither revenue nor agricultural produce. It was considered as waste land, which had to be brought under the plough. Wasteland rules were enacted in the mid 19th century in many parts of the country. By these rules uncultivated land was taken over and given to selected individuals. These individuals were granted various concessions and encouraged to settle these lands.
Some of them were made headmen of villages in the newly cleared areas. In most areas the lands taken over were actually grazing tracts used regularly by pastoralists. So expansion of cultivation inevitably meant the decline of pastures and a problem for pastoralists.
(ii) Forest Acts:
By the mid-nineteenth century, various Forest Acts were also being enacted in different provinces. Through these acts some forests which produced commercially valuable timber like deodar or sal were declared ‘Reserved’. No pastoralist was allowed access to these forests. Other forests were classified as ‘protected’. In these, some customary grazing rights of pastoralists were granted but their movement were severely restricted.
These Forest Acts changed the lives of pastoralists. They were now prevented from entering many forests that had earlier provided valuable forage for their cattle. Even in the areas they were allowed entry, their movements were regulated. They needed a permit for entry. The timing of entry and departure was specified. If they overstayed they were liable to fines.
(iii) Criminal Tribes Act 1871:
British officials were suspicious of nomadic people. They distrusted mobile craftmen and traders and pastoralists. The colonial government wanted to rule over a settled population. They wanted the rural people to live in villages, in fixed places with fixed rights on particular field. Those who were settled were seen as peaceable and law-abiding; those who were nomadic were considered to be criminals. In 1871, the colonial government in India passed the Criminal Tribes Act.
By this act many communities of craftsmen, traders and pastoralists were classified as criminal tribes. They were stated to be criminal by nature and birth. After this Act, these communities were expected to live in notified village settlement. They were not allowed to move out without a permit. The village police kept a continuous watch on them.
(iv) Effects of Grazing Tax :
The colonial government looked for every possible source of taxation to expand their revenue income. Hence in most pastoral tracts of India, grazing tax was introduced in mid-nineteenth century. Because of this tax the tax per head of cattle went up rapidly and the system of collection was made increasingly efficient. In the decades between the 1850s and 1880s. The right to collect tax was auctioned out to contractors.
These contractors tried to extract as high a tax as they could to recover the money they had paid to states and earn as much profit as they could. Later the government began collecting taxes directly from pastoralists. Pastoralists was given a pass. To enter a grazing tract, a cattle herder had to show the pass and . ( pay the tax. The number of cattle heads and amount of tax was entered on the pass.
Question 3.
Give reasons to explain why the Maasai community lost their grazing lands.
Answer:
(i) Before colonial times, maasailand stretched over a vast area from north. Kenya to the steppes of northern Tanzania. In the late 19th century, the European imperial powers scrambled for territorial possessions in Africa which led to slicing up the region into different colonies.
(ii) In 1885, Maasailand was cut into half with an international boundary between British Kenya and German Tanganyika. The best grazing lands were taken over for the white settlers.
(iii) The Maasais were pushed into a small area in South Kenya and north Tanzania. The maasai lost about 60% of their pre-colonial lands.They were confined to an arid zone with uncertain rainfall and poor pastures.
(iv) From the late nineteenth century, the British colonial government in East Africa also encouraged local peasants communities to expand cultivation. As cultivation expanded, pastur lands were tinned into cultivated fields. In pre-colonial times, the maasai pastoralists had dominated their agricultural neighbours both economically and politically. But by the end of colonial rule the situation had reversed.
(v) Large areas of Maasai grazing lands were converted into game reserves. Pastoralists were not allowed to enter these reserves; they could neither hunt animals nor graze their herds in these areas. Very often these reserves were in the areas that had traditionally been regular grazing grounds for Maasai herds.
Question4.
There are many similarities in the way in which the modern world forced changes in the lives of pastoral communities in India and East Africa. Write about any two examples of changes which were similar for Indian pastoralists and the Maasai herders.
Answer:
Both India and East Africa were being ruled by British power. Therefore both the countries were exploited in same way. Some similarities are given below :
(i) The pastoral communities of India and East Africa lost their grazing land because of various forest act. In India, the uncultivated land was considered as waste land which needed to be brought under cultivation. Therefore wasteland rules were passed by britishers. By this rules uncultivated lands were taken over and given to selected individuals. Similarly in East Africa the maasai’s grazing lands were being taken over by British colonial government in order to expand cultivation.
(ii) Forest acts changed the lives of Indian pastoralists. Now they could not enter many forests without permit. Similarly the pastoralists of East Africa were forced to live within the confines of special reserves. They were not allowed to move out with their stock without special permits. It was difficult to get the permit without trouble and harassment. Those found guilty of disobeying the rules were severely punished.
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