Explain any four laws which were introduced by the colonial government in India which changed the lives of pastoralists.

Explain any four laws which were introduced by the colonial government in India which changed the lives of pastoralists.

Ans.

(i) From the mid-nineteenth century. Waste Land Rules were enacted in various parts of the countiy. By these Rules uncultivated lands were taken over and given to select individuals.

(ii) By the mid-nineteenth century, various Forest Acts were also being enacted in the different provinces. Through these Acts some forests which produced commercially valuable timber like deodar or sal were declared ‘Reserved’. No pastoralist was allowed access to these forests. Other forests were classified as Protected’.

(iii) In 1871, the colonial government in India passed the Criminal Tribes Act. By this Act many communities of craftsmen, traders and pastoralists were classified as Criminal Tribes. They were stated to be criminal by nature and birth. Once this Act came into force, these communities were expected to live only in notified village settlements.

(iv) To expand its revenue income, the colonial government looked for every possible source of taxation. So tax was imposed on land, on canal water, on salt, on trade goods, and even on animals (The Grazing Tax).