Discuss why the colonial government in India brought in the following laws. In each case, explain how the law changed the lives of pastoralists:

• Waste Land rules

• Forest Acts

• Criminal Tribes Act

• Grazing Tax

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Describe five main features of the grazing tax introduced by the colonial government in India

Because but how what which when why

(i) Wasteland Rules - Wasteland Rules were enacted in various parts of the country.
By these rules uncultivated land was taken over and given to select individuals. In
most areas the lands taken over were actually grazing tracts used regularly by
pastoralists. So expansion of cultivation inevitably meant decline of pastures and a
problem for pastoralists.
(ii) Forests Acts - Forests Acts were enacted to protect and preserve forests for
timber which was of commercial importance. These acts changed the life of
pastoralists. They were now prevented from entering many forests that had earlier
provided valuable forage for their cattle. They were issued permits which monitored
their entry and exit into forests. They could not stay in the forests as much as they
liked because the permit specified the number of days and hours they could spend in
the forests. The permit ruled their lives.
(iii) Criminal Tribes Act — The colonial government wanted to rule over a settled
population. They wanted the rural population to live a settled life in villages. People
who moved from place to place were looked upon with suspicion and regarded as
criminals. The Criminal Tribes Act was passed in 1871 by which many nomadic
communities were declared as criminal tribes. They were supposed to be criminal
by nature and birth. Once this Act came into force, these communities were
expected to live in notified village settlements.
They were not allowed to move out without permits. The village police kept a
continuous watch on them.
(iv) Grazing Tax - Grazing Tax was imposed by the colonial government to expand
its revenue income. Pastoralists had to pay a tax on every animal they grazed on the
pastures. This right was now auctioned out to contractors. They extracted as high a
tax as they could, to recover the money they had paid to the state and earn as much
profit as they could. Later the government itself started collecting taxes. This
created problems for the pastoralists who were harassed by tax collectors. It also
became an economic burden on them.

A) Waste land rules The British enacted the Waste land rules in various parts of the country for the following reasons: Land revenue was one of the main sources of British finance. By expanding cultivation it could increase its revenue. To colonial officers all uncultivated land appeared to be unproductive and was seen as waste land. It could neither produce revenue nor agricultural products. Cultivation of jute, cotton and wheat was important as it was required in England. For this, they had to bring the land under them.

The laws of the colonial government made from time to time adversely affected the lives of pastoralists. Moreover, these Rules and Acts led to the lowering of the quality of the pastures, shortage of forage for animals and deterioration of animal stock.?

(a)?Effects of Waste Land Rules:

All grazing lands were considered as waste lands by the colonial rulers as they brought no revenue to them. So the government passed Waste Land Rules as a result of which all the uncultivated lands including the grazing lands, were taken over and handed over to select individuals to convert them to agricultural lands. As a result of this very soon the pastures vanished and this created a lot of problems for pastoralists.

(b)?Effects of the Forest Acts:

The British Forest Acts by which some forests were declared ?Reserved Forests? and some as ?Protected Forests?. These different Forest Acts passed in the mid-nineteenth century, greatly changed the lives of the pastoralists. In the Reserved Forests, no pastoral activities was allowed while in the Protected Forests, their activities strictly restricted since the colonial officials felt that the grazing animals would destroy the saplings thereby preventing the new trees from growing. Hence, because of these Forest Acts it became quite impossible for the pastoralists to graze their cattle in the forest areas and thus, to get sufficient forage for their cattle.

(c)?Effects of Criminal Tribes Act:

The British officials were suspicious of the nomadic people because they did not live at a permanent place. They were considered as criminals. The Criminal Tribes Act, 1871, declared such nomadic communities to be criminal by nature and also criminal by birth. As a result of this Act, the nomadic pastoralists were not allowed to move without a permit and required to live in the notified areas only. The village police also kept a strict watch on them. So, this Act came as a death blow for the moving activities of nomadic people.

(d)?Effect of imposition of Grazing Tax:

In order to increase its income, the colonial government imposed tax even on the animals. Consequently the nomadic pastoralists had to pay tax on every animal they grazed in the pastures.

 (a) Waste Land Rule
 (b) Forest Acts
(c) Criminal Tribes Act 
(d) Grazing Tax. Answer: ... The colonial government wanted to bring the grazing lands under cultivation so that they could get revenue and agriculture goods form this land.