NCERT 9th Class (CBSE) Social Science: Pastoralists in the Modern World

Question: “Under the colonial rule, the life of pastoralists changed dramatically.” Mention any four factors responsible for this change.
Or
How did the life of pastoralists change dramatically during the colonial period ? Explain.

Answer:

1. After colonialisation, their mobility was restricted. Now the people had limited area to move.
2. The new rulers encouraged settlement which had an adverse impact on the herds and the people.
3. The colonies were to be used as a source of raw material, so the new rulers encouraged commercial
   agriculture. The pastures were converted into big farms.
4. To exploit the natural resources of their colonies, the European countries started building roads and railway tracks. This resulted in the loss of pastures.

Question: How did Hie pastoralists cope with the changes brought by the colonial rule? Explain.

Answer:

1. Reduction in the number of cattle: When the grazing lands were taken over and converted into fields, this forced many nomads to reduce the member of cattle in their herds.
2. New pastures: Defining of boundaries forced many nomads to search for new pastures. For example, after the partition of India in 1947, the camel and sheep herding Raikas, for instance, could no longer move into Sindh and graze their camels on the banks of the Indus, as they had done earlier. The new political boundaries between India and Pakistan stopped their movement. So they had to find new places to go. In recent years, they have been migrating to Haryana where sheep can graze on agricultural fields after the harvests are cut. This is the time that the fields need manure that the animals provide.
3. New occupations: Over the years, some richer pastoralists began buying land and settling down, giving up their nomadic life. Some became settled peasants cultivating land others took to more extensive trading. Many poor pastoralists, on the other hand, borrowed money from moneylenders to survive. At times, they lost their cattle and sheep and became laborers, working on fields or in small towns.

Question: Why the Colonial government introduced the Waste Land Rules? Explain the impact of Waste Land Rules on the pastoral communities.

Answer. (a) Waste land Rules: Under this, uncultivated land was brought under cultivation.

Reasons:

1. Revenue: The basic aim was to increase land revenue because by expanding cultivation Government could increase its revenue collection.
2. Raw materials: Crops like jute, cotton and indigo were used as raw material in England. So the British government wanted to bring more and more areas under these crops.

Impact on the lives of the pastoralists:

1. After the Act, the mobility of nomads was restricted.
2. Under the Act the grazing land was given to big landlords. Due to this nomads’ grazing grounds shrank.
3. Due to shrinking grazing grounds, the agricultural stock of the nomads declined and their trade and crafts were adversely affected.