question_answer

Give a brief description about the woodcutter community of Java-the Kalangs.

Answer:

(i) The Kalangs of Java were skilled forest cutters and they practised shifting cultivation.

(ii) They were so valuable that when the kingdom of Java split, the Kalang families were equally divided between two kingdoms.

(iii) Without them, it was difficult to harvest teak and build kings' palaces.

(iv) The Dutch tried to make the Kalangs work under them.

(v) In 1770, the Kalangs resisted by attacking a Dutch fort but they were suppressed.