CBSE Class 9 Answered

The colonial government passed the Criminal Tribes Act passed in 1871. The act categorised the communities of craftsmen, traders and pastoralists as criminal tribes, mainly, because they moved from one place to the other.

It came to be believed that they were criminal by birth. These communities were forced by the government to live in notified village settlements. They could move out of these villages only after a permit was granted to them. They were continuously watched by the village police. Thus, they lost their customary rights to move freely in the region.

The colonists wanted them to settle down at one place because it was easy to control and collect taxes from the settled communities.