NCERT Solution For Class 9 History Chapter 5
Pastoralists in the Modern World
NCERT Solution For Class 9 History Chapter 5
Q1. Explain Why Nomadic Tribes Need To Move From One Place to Another. What are the Advantages to the Environment of This Continuous Movement?
Ans. The nomadic tribes need to move from one place to another for the following reasons:
- They don’t have access to regular fields where they can feed their cattle. They require pastures for their livestock to graze.
- They cannot stay in one place for lengthy periods of time due to a lack of pasture and water.
- They reside in lower hills during the winter when the high mountains are covered in snow. Their herds have access to grazing in the dry scrub forests.
- During the summer, nomads began travelling up mountain slopes to summer grazing grounds. As the summer season approaches, the snow melts and the mountain fields turn green.
There are many advantages to the environment of this continuous movement. The pastoralists’ cyclic movement provides enough time for natural vegetation to recover. Humans and animals use the vegetation on the upper tracks of mountains and in the foothills, which is not allowed to overgrow. The pastoralist’s constant activity gives manure to the fields and allows the pastures to recover. Grazing on pastures avoids land from being overused for agriculture and other purposes.
NCERT Solution For Class 9 History Chapter 5
Q2. Discuss Why the Colonial Government in India Brought In the Following Laws. In Each Case, Explain How the Law Changed the Lives of Pastoralists:
(i) Waste Land rules
Ans. The colonial rulers deemed all grazing grounds to be waste lands because they provided them no revenue. If this land could be converted to cultivated farmland, it would improve land revenue as well as agricultural production of jute, cotton, and wheat. It was for this reason that the Waste Land laws were created. They did, however, ring the death knell for pastoralists, because a rise in cultivated land meant a clear drop in pastures, and hence a loss of a source of income.
NCERT Solution For Class 9 History Chapter 5
(ii) Forest Acts
Ans. Forest Acts were implemented to conserve and preserve forests for commercially valuable timber. Pastoralists’ lives were forever impacted as a result of these actions. Many forests that had formerly offered significant feed for their livestock were now closed to them. They were given licences that tracked their arrival and exit from the forests. They couldn’t spend as much time in the woods as they wanted because the permit limited the amount of days and hours they could spend there.
NCERT Solution For Class 9 History Chapter 5
(iii) Criminal Tribes Act
Ans. The British authorities regarded nomadic people with suspicion and contempt, because of their constant migration. Unlike rural people in villages, who were simple to identify and control, they couldn’t be traced down or confined to a certain location. As a result, colonial powers considered nomadic tribes to be criminals. In 1871, the Criminal Tribes Act was established, further destabilising the lives of pastoralists who were now required to live in registered settlements and were forbidden from leaving without a government authorization.
(iv) Grazing Tax
Ans. Grazing tax was imposed by the colonial authority in order to increase revenue. Pastoralists were required to pay a tax on each animal grazing on the pastures. Then the contractors were auctioned off this right. They charged the highest tax possible in order to recover the money they had paid to the government and make as much profit as possible. Later, the government began collecting taxes on its own. The pastoralists were harassed by tax collectors as a result of this. It became a financial burden for the pastoralists.
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Q3. Give Reasons To Explain Why the Maasai Community Lost Their Grazing Lands.
Ans. In 1885, an international boundary was drawn between the two territories of British Kenya and German Tanganyika, dividing Maasai land in half.
The richest pastures were set aside for white communities, and the Maasai tribes in south Kenya and north Tanzania were assigned arid, small territories. Due to a shortage of suitable grazing places and a two-year drought, the Maasai tribes lost about 60% of their livestock. Their problems were worsened by increased cultivation and marketing of game reserves. As a result of the growing authority of colonies and negative impact on the Maasai’s social life, this community gradually lost all of its grazing areas.
NCERT Solution For Class 9 History Chapter 5
Q4. 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.
Ans. Following were the similarities between the conditions of Indian Pastoralists and Maasai herders-
- Colonial powers regarded all uncultivated land as wasteland. It didn’t generate any cash or produce any agricultural products. This land was turned over to agriculture. In most cases, the lands taken over were actually grazing tracts used by pastoralists on a regular basis, therefore the spread of cultivation ultimately resulted in the reduction of pastures, posing a dilemma for both Indian pastoralists and Maasai.
- The colonial authority began placing limitations on pastoral groups in the nineteenth century. They were given permits that permitted them to move out with their stock, although obtaining permits without being harassed was difficult. Those found guilty of breaking the regulations received harsh punishment.