Question

Discuss why the colonial Government in India brought in the following laws. In each case explain how the law changed the lives of the pastoralists. a) Wasteland rules b) Forest Acts c) Criminal Tribes Act d) Grazing Tax

Answer 1

a) Wasteland Rules

• For British Government one of the main sources of revenue was land revenue.
• Revenue collection could be increased by expanding the cultivation.
• Uncultivated land was seen as unproductive land by the British Government officials, as it could neither help in agricultural produce nor could it produce revenue.
• Cultivated farms could help in producing agricultural products needed in England, for example, wheat, cotton, jute etc.
• Since all grazing lands were seen as waste lands, British colonial Government wanted to transform grazing land into cultivated farms.
• Therefore, in various parts of the country, Waste Land Rules were enacted from the mid-nineteenth century.
• As per wasteland rules, select individuals were given uncultivated lands.
• These individuals were encouraged to settle in these lands, and they were granted concessions.
• In the newly cleared areas, some of them were made headmen of villages.
• So expansion of cultivation meant a problem for pastoralists and decline of pastures.

b) Forest Acts

• In the different provinces, various Forest Acts were also being enacted by the mid-nineteenth century.
• The lives of pastoralists were changed by Forest Acts.
• Some forests were declared as Reserved forests through the colonial Forests Act.
• Sal or Deodar which was commercially valuable timber was produced in these Reserved forests.
• In Reserved forests, pastoralists were not allowed.
• Other forests were classified as Protected. In the protected forests, the movements of pastoralists were severely restricted, but they had some grazing rights in these forests.
• The colonial officials believed that young shoots of trees that germinated on the forest floor and saplings were destroyed by grazing.
• New trees were prevented from growing as the herds munched away the shoots and trampled over saplings.
• The forests which gave important forage to the cattle of the pastoralists, were now prevented from entering those forests.
• Even in the forests where they were allowed entry, there were heavy restrictions on their movements.
• The number of days the pastoralists could spend in the forests were limited, their entry and exit timings were specified and the pastoralists needed a permit to enter the forests.
• Even if the forests had ample undergrowth, even if succulent grass and forage was available, pastoralists were not allowed to remain in an area. Their lives were ruled by the permits given by the Forest department.
• If the pastoralists overstayed, beyond the permitted time, they were liable to pay fines.

c) Criminal Tribes Act

• Nomadic people were always looked upon with suspicion by the British officials.
• Pastoralists who changed their places of residence every season, moving in search of good pastures for their herds, traders and mobile craftsmen who hawked their goods in villages were not trusted by the British Government.
• The British Colonial Government wanted to rule over a settled population.
• If the rural people live in particular fields with fixed rights, in fixed places, British Government found it feasible to rule over such people.
• It was easy to control and identify such people.
• Nomadic people were considered as criminals and those people who settled in one place were seen as law abiding and peaceful people, as per British colonial Government.
• The Criminal Tribes Act was passed by the colonial government in India in 1871.
• Pastoralists, traders and craftsmen were classified as criminal tribes by this act.
• These communities were branded as criminals by birth and nature.
• After notification of the Criminal Tribes Act, these communities were forced to live in village settlements that were notified.
• They were continuously watched by the village police and without a Government permit these communities could not move out.

d) Grazing Tax

• The colonial government looked for every possible source of taxation to expand its revenue income.
• There was an imposition of tax on trade goods, salt, canal water, animals and land.
• For every animal that grazes pastures, the British colonial government collected tax from pastoralists.
• In India, by the mid-nineteenth century grazing tax was imposed in the majority of the pastoral tracts.
• The system of grazing tax collection was made increasingly efficient and there was a quick rise in tax on cattle.
• Contractors were given the right to collect the tax after conducting auctions, in the decades between the 1850s and 1880s.
• These contractors tried to earn as much profit as they could within the year, as they also had to recover the money paid to the British Colonial Government. Hence these contractors extracted as much money as possible by imposing very high taxes on pastoralists.
• Taxes were directly collected by the colonial government from the pastoralists, by the 1880s.
• A pass was given to each of the pastoralists.
• If a cattle herder had to enter a grazing tract, they had to pay tax and show the pass.
• The pass had the details about the tax that was paid and the number of cattle heads a pastoralist had.