Indian Forest Act 1878
Topic: Colonial Economy: Land Revenue, Drain, Deindustrialisation · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Indian Forest Act of 1878 was a colonial law that divided India's forests into three types: reserved, protected and village forests. Reserved forests had the best timber. In these, local people could not cut wood, graze animals or practise shifting cultivation. They also could not freely collect forest produce. The Act made the first Forest Act of 1865 much stricter. It matters because it turned forests into state property and made the everyday life of forest people illegal.
Example
After 1878, villagers living near reserved forests could be fined or punished just for collecting firewood or grazing cattle there. Many forest communities later protested and rebelled against such rules.
Don't confuse with
- Indian Forest Act 1865: this was the first, milder forest law. The 1878 Act replaced it and created the three types of forest.
Related concepts
- India's share of world GDP
- Commercialisation of agriculture
- Canal colonies
- Dietrich Brandis
- Imperial Forest Department 1864