Question

According to the British how did the Indian farmers and traders destroy the forests ?

Answer 1

Indian farmers practised ​ shifting cultivation.For them such cultivation would be harmful for the forests and valuable timber might get exhausted.This is so because forests are burnt after few years which would loose productivity to grow trees like timber.Burning of trees destroys the forests.

Britishers blamed the Indian traders for destroying the forests by using it recklessly.The villages used to cut wood, collect timber, grazed cattle, hunt animals etc. which according to the British was harmful for forests.