Forest Society And Colonialism

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In many parts of India, and across the world, forest communities rebelled against the changes that were being imposed on them.

1. The colonial government’s proposal of reserving two-thirds of the forest in 1905, and banning shifting cultivation, hunting and collection of forest produce, made the people of Bastar suffer.
2. Some villages, called the forest villages, were allowed to stay in the reserved forests if they worked free for the forest department in cutting and transporting trees and protecting the forests from fires.
3. The people of Bastar rebelled against the changes imposed upon them.
4. The initiative was taken by the Dhurwas of the Kanger forest where reservation first took place.
5. The British sent troops to suppress the rebellion.
6. It took them three months to regain control.
7. A victory for the people of Bastar was that the work on the reservation was suspended and the area was reduced to half.

1. Bastar is located in the southernmost part of Chhattisgarh and borders Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Maharashtra. 
2. The central part of Bastar is on a plateau.
3. To the north of this plateau is the Chhattisgarh plain and to its south is the Godavari plain.
4. The river Indrawati winds across Bastar east to west.
5. A number of different communities live in Bastar such as Maria and Muria Gonds, Dhurwas, Bhatras and Halbas.
6. The people of Bastar believe that each village was given its land by the Earth, and in return, they look after the earth by making some offerings at each agricultural festival.
7. Each village knows where its boundaries lie, the local people look after all the natural resources within that boundary.