short note on rebellion of java
Answers
The Dutch wanted timber from Java to build ships. They banned the Practice of shifting cultivation. The Dutch enacted forest laws in Java, restricting villagers’ access to forests.
Now wood could only be cut for specified purposes like making river boats or constructing houses, and only from specific forests under close supervision.
Villagers were punished for grazing cattle in young stands, transporting wood without a permit, or travelling on forest roads with horse carts or cattle.
As in India, the need to manage forests for shipbuilding and railways led to the introduction of a forest service by the Dutch in Java.
The Dutch first imposed rents on land being cultivated in the forest and then exempted some villages from these rents if they worked collectively to provide free labor and buffaloes for cutting and transporting timber. This was known as the blandongdiensten system.
.Forest Rebellion in Java or Saminist Movement in Java:
In 1890s, Surontiko Samin a teak forest villager began questioning state ownership of the forest. He argued that the state had not created the wind, water, earth and wood, so it could no town it.
Soon a widespread movement developed. Among st those who helped organize it were Samin’s sons-in-law.
By 1907, 3,000 families were following his ideas. Some of the Saminists protested by lying down on their land when the Dutch came to survey it, while others refused to pay taxes or fines or perform labor.