why did the British clear forests and expand cultivation repeatedly explain three reasons
Answers
Under the British rule, forests were transformed into agricultural lands, thus cultivation expanded rapidly.
The reasons behind this were :
(i) To colonial officials, forests were unproductive land, because they believed all uncultivated lands were unproductive. It produced neither revenue nor agricultural produce.
(ii) Uncultivated lands were seen as ‘wasteland’ and by enacting the ‘Wasteland Rules’, uncultivated lands were taken over and given to select individuals.
These individuals were given various concessions.
(iii) The colonial rulers wanted to rule over a settled population. They wanted the rural people to live . in villages, in fixed places and have fixed rights on particular fields. So, they cleared the forests and made these as village settlements
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1) The British encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute, sugar, wheat and cotton. The demand for these crops increased in Europe where foodgrains were needed to feed the large growing population and raw materials were required for industrial production.
2) The British thought that forests were unproductive. They were considered wilderness that had to be bought under agriculture so as to earn revenue and useful products.
3)The spread of railways created new demand . Railways were essential to way transport goods for the British. Large number of trees were felled to lay railway tracks, for obtaining wood as fuel.
4) Oak forests in England were fast disappearing. This created problem of timber supply to Royal Navy. The forests of India were explored and forests were felled and timber was planted to meet the demand to build English ships
5)The natural forests were cleared to make way for tea, coffee and rubber plantations. These areas were given to European planters at cheap rates.
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