Forests and ecological history of Assam, 1826-2000 9780198069539, 0198069537, 9780199081240, 0199081247

Table of contents :
193339980
193340134
193340242
193340354
193340441
193340808
193341981
193344385
193345171
193346635
193347647
193349753
193351115
193351472
193351618

Citation preview

Forests and Ecological History of Assam, 1826–2000 Arupjyoti Saikia https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.001.0001 Published: 2011

Online ISBN: 9780199081240

Print ISBN: 9780198069539

FRONT MATTER

Copyright Page  https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.002.0003 Published: February 2011

Page iv

Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online

p. iv

  YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With o

ces in

Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in India by Oxford University Press, New Delhi © Oxford University Press 2011 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Oxford University Press.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193339980 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Subject: Colonialism and Imperialism, Environmental History, Asian History, Indian History

Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer ISBN-13: 978-0-19-806953-9 ISBN-10: 0-19-806953-7 Typeset in Minion Pro 10/12.6 by Sai Graphic Design, New Delhi 110 055

Published by Oxford University Press YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193339980 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Printed in India at Rakmo Press Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi 110 020

Forests and Ecological History of Assam, 1826–2000 Arupjyoti Saikia https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.001.0001 Published: 2011

Online ISBN: 9780199081240

Print ISBN: 9780198069539

FRONT MATTER

Figures and Tables  https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.002.0006 Published: February 2011

Pages ix–xii

Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online

FIGURES

1.1 A view of a gorge covered with dense forest in eastern Assam. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  21 1.2 Map showing distribution of forests in Assam. Based on Wilhelm Schlich's description of Assam during 1870s. Courtesy Prasanta Bhattacharya  58 1.3 Map showing distribution of forests in British Indian Empire. Based on Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. 26, Atlas 1909. Courtesy Prasanta Bhattacharya  59 2.1 A view of forest inspection bungalow and plantation in western Assam. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  72 2.2 Status of forests in Assam in twenty- rst century. Courtesy Prasanta Bhattacharya  82 2.3 Joint Forest Management (JFM) became another way of reinforcing ownership control of the Forest Department. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia  107 4.1 A view of railway sleepers in eastern Assam. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  153 4.2 Railway sleepers in eastern Assam. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  153 p. x

4.3

 Easing communication inside the forests—a railway bridge. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  154

4.4 Another view of a railway bridge inside forests. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  154 4.5 Logging depot became the key point of forest economy. Courtesy P. Bordoloi  162 4.6 Stones collected from the forests made good pro t during the Second World War. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  169 4.7 A tramway inside the forest in Goalpara. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  169 4.8 A view of departmental sawmill. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  182 4.9 Timber brought to a plywood factory. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia  182 4.10 Plywood production, a major source of revenue generation. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia  183

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340134 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Subject: Colonialism and Imperialism, Environmental History, Asian History, Indian History

4.11 Inside view of a plywood factory. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia  183 4.12 Plywood factories using new technology for wood processing. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia  184 4.13 Factories rede ning the nature of work inside and outside the forests. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia  184 4.14 Inside view of a plywood factory in eastern Assam. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia  186 4.15 Another view of a plywood factory. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia  186 4.16 Revenue earned by Assam Forest Department, 1876–1949  189 4.17 Wars created new markets for Forest Department. A view of poles for war supply. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  190

Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  206 5.2 Plantations brought hope to the Forest Department. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  207 p. xi

5.3

 Plantation was always the pride of the Forest Department. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  207

5.4 Modern plantation. Courtesy P. Bordoloi  208 5.5 Proportionate distribution of areas burnt and causes, 1896–7  225 5.6 Timber treatment plant in eastern Assam. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia  242 5.7 A timber seasoning plant. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  243 5.8 A modern timber processing unit. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia  243 5.9 Timber processing unit connected closely with modern transport facilities. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia  244 6.1 Plantation during the colonial era. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  255 6.2 Hunting for trophy became widely popular. A tiger after being hunted. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  257 6.3 Kheda operation formed a central component of forestry programme. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  283 6.4 Many viewed Kheda operation as inhuman and it gradually came to be replaced by Mela Sikar. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  285 6.5 Challenges to wildlife continue to haunt forest managers. Courtesy R. Soud  288 7.1 Villagers continued to collect fuelwood. Courtesy P. Bordoloi  313 7.2 Jhum was always seen as threat to forest conservation. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  323 7.3 Jhum also remained crucial for the agrarian economy of various communities. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive  324 7.4 Fragmentation of wildlife habitat. Courtesy R. Soud  326 p. xii

Tables 2.1 Area of Reserved Forest, 1877–8  76 2.2 Area of Reserved Forest, 1892–1950  77

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340134 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

5.1 A view of full grown and successful plantation. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest

2.3 Percentage of Reserved Forest, 1910–11  78 3.1 Works of Assam Forest Department, 1874–9  118 4.1 Estimate of Major Timber Produce, 1899–1955  166 4.2 Minor Forest Produce between 1899 and 1924  168 4.3 Out-turn of Tea-boxes, 1888–92  180 4.4 Revenue and Surplus of Assam Forest Department, 1875–1920  188 4.5 Estimate of Post-Independence Forest-based Industries  193

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340134 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Forests and Ecological History of Assam, 1826–2000 Arupjyoti Saikia https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.001.0001 Published: 2011

Online ISBN: 9780199081240

Print ISBN: 9780198069539

FRONT MATTER

Acknowledgements  Published: February 2011

Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online

Deforestation of Assam has almost become a buzzword. In another words, forests of Assam is now synonymous with deforestation. Public discourse around the question of deforestation unequivocally identi es the peasant society as the primary agent behind this process of deforestation. They also look at the contemporary practices to examine the root cause of this deforestation. This may not be always the best way to understand this process. Can we explain the historical process underpinning this? Is it unique to this region? Some of the answers to these questions have already been spelled out in the South Asian historiography on modern forests. The literature on political forestry explains this phenomenon of deforestation as a key outcome of imperial role. A wide range of literature had already described how these changes were de ned by the complex interactive process of imperialism and natural landscape. This book is an attempt to understand the complex dynamics of the changing forest landscape of Assam. In general, the case of Assam was no di erent from the larger South Asian scenario. Yet there exist key di erences. While massive deforestation caused by the tea-plantation has already played a key role in clearing the jungles, it is also the region's proneness to natural calamities that has remained a constant threat to the total landmass. Huge pressure on forest land was also created by massive human migration into the forested and riverine areas. Meanwhile, we overlooked the fact that over several millennia the region came to have three p. xiv

geographical patterns, namely, hills, rivers, and oodplains. Both the regional ecology

and agrarian

economy, critical to the health of our forests had been shaped by a close coordination of these three elements. This means that for any understanding of the fate of modern forests one needs to examine the making and unmaking of this relationship. The present book does not claim to do this but often reminds the readers of these issues. The present work is the outcome of my previous book Jungles, Reserves, Wildlife: A History of Forests in Assam, published by the Wildlife Welfare Trust of Assam in 2005. I would like to acknowledge the enthusiasm and support extended by the trust in the making of that title. In most places modern standard spelling for place name has been adopted, if otherwise mentioned, separately. I have used the category of eastern and western Assam to identify geographical description while the mention of ‘lower’ and ‘upper’ Assam refers to the British administrative division. The anonymous reviewers of Oxford University Press provided support and comments that not only helped to make my thoughts and writings more incisive but also enabled me to take the book out from the narrow ambit of regional geography to a larger geographical and theoretical perspective. I have bene ted enormously from conversations and feedback received at conferences, seminars, and public meetings where parts of this book or ideas were presented. Over the last few years Mahesh Rangarajan has played a key role in encouraging me to realize the importance of this study. A short-term visiting fellowship at the Centre for Inter-disciplinary Studies in Environment and Development, Bangalore, made me understand the science of conservation politics. I would like to mention the support received from and conversations I had with Sharatchandra Lele and M.V. Ramanna. Ramachandra Guha favoured me by listening to me and also giving crucial feedback to relook into pre-colonial forest management. My understanding of Assam and its history has been enhanced through my friendship with a range of people. Prodip Khataniar, who teaches philosophy in Cotton College and was once a colleague, is always ready to clarify my doubts. Rajen Saikia, a gifted

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340242 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Subject: Colonialism and Imperialism, Environmental History, Asian History, Indian History

historian, often came to my rescue from an inadvertent misreading of the sources. Amongst those who continued to interact with me are Rana P. Behal, Gunnel Cederlof, Rohan D'Souza, Ravi Rajan, Chandan Mahanta, Kishore Bhattacharjee, Raziuddin Aquil, Prabir Mukhapadhyay, Himadri Banerjee, Chandan p. xv

Kumar Sarma, Chandan Sarma, Dilip Menon, Uttara Devi, Jayeeta Sarama, Bodhisatta Kar,

Sanghamitra

Misra, Arnab Dey, and Anindita Ghosh. Gautam Bhadra was kind enough to help me in locating a number of key Bengali texts on Assam wildlife. Arun Bandopadhaya invited me to be a visiting fellow at the history department in the University of Calcutta where I spoke at length on the forest question of Assam. K. Sivaramakrishnan at Yale invited me to make a presentation on the issue of grazing. Ranjan Chakravarty and Himadri Banerjee at Jadavpur University were always helpful. I also owe special thanks to Anwaruddin Chaudhury and Prasanta Bordoloi for acquainting me with the intricacies of wildlife in Assam. Prasanta Bhattacharya in the geography department of Gauhati University has kindly prepared the maps for this book. My extensive interactions with activists of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Parisad and the Brihattar Tengani Unanyan Parisad have been a great help. Akhil Gogoi enlightened me by his extensive knowledge of showing interest in publishing occasional Assamese writings on the forests of Assam. Key support was given by Papyrus for making available various recent publications that would have been very di of in Guwahati. My doctoral students Rakesh, Ditee and Kawal, took time o

cult to get hold

from their work to provide key

support to my research needs. I owe a special debt to the sta but the sta

of the Assam State Archive in Guwahati. Not only is it a home for many of us

also make sure that despite numerous constraints research can be carried out. Haren Baisya,

the man whose knowledge about the les in this archive is now legendary, never turned down our request. The director and other o

cials were always prompt to nd out a solution to our odd demands. S.K. Bhuyan

Library, Cotton College, Guwahati; Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi; National Archive of India, New Delhi; Library of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests O

ce, Guwahati; National Library,

Kolkata; K.K. Handique Library, Gauhati University; Central Library, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong; Indian Council of Historical Research Library, Guwahati; District Library, Guwahati; Department of Historical and Antiquarian Studies, Guwahati; British Library, London; and Bombay Natural History Museum deserve mention for their help in providing prompt support to the research. No one will doubt that the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, is one of the best academic places to work in north-east India. The institute, colleagues, and students provided me excellent support. The editors p. xvi

at

Oxford University Press were prompt and supportive. They meticulously edited the manuscript and

responded to all my odd queries patiently. I am grateful to them. This book owes a great deal to my family members for their profound caring and forbearance. Nizan remained the necessary distraction. As I wrote this book, he learned to play with words and could read words in my manuscript. He would often ask me to read loudly and questioned the meaning of the words I had read out. It was a pleasure to write and play with him. My family, both inherited and acquired, had to su er due to my long absence from responsibilities. Banani inspired me to be more critical in my attempt at historical understanding. Her support was essential in the completion of this book. The idea and arguments incorporated in this book rest solely with me and I remain responsible for all the errors and mistakes. December 2010              ARUPJYOTI SAIKIA Guwahati

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340242 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

the present peasant movement. I would also like to thank Bhaskarjyoti Bora of the Dainik Janambhumi for

Forests and Ecological History of Assam, 1826–2000 Arupjyoti Saikia https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.001.0001 Published: 2011

Online ISBN: 9780199081240

Print ISBN: 9780198069539

FRONT MATTER

Abbreviations  https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.002.0008 Published: February 2011

Pages xvii–xviii

Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online

AAC Asia and Africa Collection AASU All Assam Student Union AC Assam Commissionerate AFP Assam Forest Policy Annual Report Annual Report on the Forest Administration of Assam ASA Assam State Archive ASP Assam Secretariat Proceedings BL British Library CSP Congress Socialist Party GoB Government of Bengal GoI Government of India GSI Geographical Survey of India IESHR Indian Economic and Social History Review ICHR Indian Council of Historical Research IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340354 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Subject: Colonialism and Imperialism, Environmental History, Asian History, Indian History

JFM Joint Forest Management MAS Monetary Authority of Singapore MFP Major Forest Produce NAI National Archives of India NEHU North-Eastern Hill University

Nehru Memorial Museum and Library OIOC Oriental India O p. xviii

ce Collection

PWD Public Works Department RCPI Revolutionary Communist Party of India WWF World Wildlife Fund

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340354 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

NMML

Forests and Ecological History of Assam, 1826–2000 Arupjyoti Saikia https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.001.0001 Published: 2011

Online ISBN: 9780199081240

Print ISBN: 9780198069539

CHAPTER

Introduction  Arupjyoti Saikia https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.003.0001 Published: February 2011

Pages 1–19

Assam forests were often depicted as enchanting forests in Assamese literatures. While the grandiose of the Assam forests were central to Assamese literature, contemporary literature however demysti es these forests and illustrates rapid deforestation and fauna depletion. Over the years the wilderness of the forests were tamed and the jungles were converted into mere forests. These transformations in the forest landscapes were brought about by the petty trades of forest products to blatant commerce in the international business. These practices have an immense impact not only in the landscape of the forests but also in the forest management and in the perception of these jungles. Within the commerce of forestry, several groups emerged, contesting rights over the forest resources. These battles contributed to the deforestation however, along the pandemonium over forest resource, came a new turn wherein the idea of forest conservation and reforestation took the centre stage.

Keywords: Assam forests, Assamese literatures, deforestation, fauna depletion, forest resource, forest landscapes, forest products, reforestation, forest conservation Subject: Colonialism and Imperialism, Environmental History, Asian History, Indian History Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online

The valley of Assam…is in point of physical resemblance closely connected with Bengal…the atmosphere is drier, clearer, less enervating and more wholesome…where forest alternates with stretches of grass or reeds, thick and dense, the home of the rhinoceros, bu alo and tiger. —Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909 Assam appears as a grand repertoire of mountains, gentle hills, mighty rivers, and sprawling plains covered 1

with rich vegetation. This description of nature goes back to the early Assamese literature, in which nature was seen to be not only grandiose but also integral to the making of the Assamese society. Contemporary literature, however, de es the mystical symbolization of nature and would rather point to the rapid deforestation or depletion of fauna. Environmental loss is painful to record and document. Attention has been drawn to the increasing con ict between humans and animals over their respective habitat. According to popular opinion, the intensity of oods and land erosion, a direct repercussion of deforestation, has become more threatening than previously experienced, compelling peasant communities to forcefully assert their claim over the government owned forest lands. Forest lands have been converted into agrarian zones. The peasant society and their livelihood practices have emerged as the greatest threat to the forested space. That the Indian Forestry programme continued to undermine the livelihood of forest-dependent communities has repeatedly surfaced in Indian political discourse. In doing so, the big capital has also come p. 2

under the scanner,

generating further debate. All these concerns have been crystallized into a contested

history of forest resources. This has created two separate spaces of public debate. One advocates greater preservation of wild animals and biodiversity. Another section, scattered geographically and socially, supports a more rational redistribution of forest areas amongst the community and peasants while a small

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340441 by Western University user on 08 May 2023

Abstract

section endorses a stricter regime of governmental supervision over forest resources. Scarcity of agricultural land for an increasing peasant population has led to the forest land coming under pressure. More forested areas have come under human occupation. The bene ciaries include not only the peasant society but also the industrial–business class. Can this concern over the environment and natural endowments be historically addressed? If so, is it possible to indicate the de ning moment since when dramatic and visible changes can be seen in the forests in Assam? Yes, on several accounts there were perceptible changes in the way the people understood and related with the forests since the nineteenth century. These changes can be broadly understood in terms of management of the jungles, conversion of the forest resources into saleable commodity, and also understanding about the forest. Over the years the wilderness of the forest was tamed and order was brought about. The ‘jungle’ was converted into ‘forest’. Jungle, an erstwhile space for wild animals and ghosts, often memorized through folktales, no more bore a story of unfamiliar and hostile territory. These forests had traversed a long journey from wilderness to an ordered jungle, from petty trade in forest changes had far-reaching impact in forest management as well as the perception of the forest. For instance, the sole privilege to extract timber from the forest and to direct the future of forestry remained with the Imperial Forest Department, and it continued with little modi cation after Independence. By creating and asserting an absolute right of the Forest Department, apart from alienating the traditional rights of the people, the colonial state converted the forest into a commercial commodity. To improve the commercial aspects, management of the forested landscape became vital and it was here that the science of forest management developed. Over the years, both commerce and science went hand-in-hand in the management of forests in Assam. Modern western science as an agency of the colonial state entered into the p. 3

complex world of forestry to change our perception about nature forever. Changes came

in the pattern of

spatial distribution of forest resources. In contrast to the previous history of heterogeneous biomass, the forests now acquired a homogenous character. Within the forest families there was a hierarchy of order which was de ned by their commercial importance. Similarly, a new social class came into existence to exploit the forest resources, the bene t of which went to a handful of people who never played any signi cant role in the society's larger well being or, earned unaccounted pro ts through this process but did not contribute to the reforestation. There was increasing pressure on the Forest Department to accommodate the interest of non-market forces in deciding the management of forest resources, leading to rapid deforestation. Equally revolutionary was the relation of the forestry programme with the fauna; the transition taking place in the last quarter of the twentieth century. At the same time, the twentieth century also witnessed a contested regime of struggle over the forest resources. The legislative discourses allowed customary agrarian practices like grazing or shifting cultivation to resist hegemony of the imperial forestry programme. The forestry programme had no other option but to negotiate with these claims and key concessions were granted at regular intervals. Amidst these, several popular protests have surfaced, challenging several state-sponsored projects aimed at the further taming of nature. These popular movements have successfully highlighted the onslaught on the local eco-system brought in by these massive projects. At the end of the twentieth century these contested notions of rights took a new turn, resulting in protracted public debate about the idea of forest conservation and utility of the forest resources.

Political Economy of Modern Nature These environmental changes—the changes in forest landscape in particular—were not unique to Assam alone. A rich body of historical literature has already contributed to an understanding of the dynamics of 2

changes. Studies ranging from regional to sweeping coverage of all continents have masterfully related the 3

underlying currents of these changes. Works based on the Indian environment have also contributed to this rich body of scholarship and have suggested how State intervention brought enduring changes into the South Asian environment during the colonial era. Despite attempts to generalize the environmental concerns it is a widely accepted scholarly position that unlike Europe the South Asian countries need to be subjected to speci c treatment over the question of environmental history. The South or for that instance p. 4

South-East Asian,

countries cannot ignore the period of colonial rule, which played a key role in bringing

several changes in their environment.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340441 by Western University user on 08 May 2023

products to brisk business in the international market, and from hunting areas to national parks. Those

As is well known, the South Asian environmental history began with a critique of the political economy of British imperialism. The Indian environmental history, in its early phase of the 1980s, essentially focused on those political movements that resisted the trader–political nexus leading to extensive deforestation. These enquiries were exhaustive studies of the imperial polity, as the latter was responsible for creating a regime of forest management as well as e ective commercial exploitation of the Indian forests. Another aspect of this phase of historical enquiry was to see how peoples’ right was alienated from their traditional dependence on natural resources. These studies could not escape strong challenges put forward by other scholars who refused to accord a primary thrust to a commercial motive in the imperial conservation and 4

forestry debates. Such scholarships highlight the role played by an enlightened group of colonial o

cials

who could well foresee the danger of rapid deforestation, that required immediate state intervention. A second wave of works representing a thin line of departure, from a previously total focus on environmental 5

history based on the political economy of imperial polity, began to appear in the 1990s. A collective body of social scientists, environmental scientists, and environmental activists began to rede ne the agendas of the Indian environmental history. This new wave of historical investigation was also witness to a series of strongly criticized the administrative–bureaucratic laxity in enforcing forest conservation. This enthusiasm of the Indian State hardly succeeded in bringing anything new to the imperial framework of conservation. A rigid understanding of conservation of forest based on an exclusionist policy further put people's livelihood at stake. New scholarship brought into light the complex interplay of people's livelihood and ecological dynamics. Essentially these scholarships suggest that the making of the modern forests in India was largely an outcome of the imperial enterprise. These key historiographical aspects are important to recast the evolution of imperial forestry programme in Assam.

Evolution of Ideological Paradigm The o p. 5

cial history of the Imperial Forest Department links the forestry programmes growth to the process 6

of large-scale removal of timber from the Indian forest since the middle of the nineteenth century. The agencies of removal were instruments of the imperial civilizing mission, the railway, which had begun to expand greatly, or the agenda of agrarian expansion. The colonial state advocated the destruction of the forests for the expansion of the agrarian frontier. Felling operations of the forests continued unsupervised. 7

For instance, the sub-Himalayan forests were destroyed very rapidly. Petty timber trade, involving both Indian and European capital, grew, catering to the imperial needs, and the movement of timber went beyond the territorial limits imposed by pre-imperial polity. The rst phase of modern deforestation began, requiring a supervisory control over this deforestation as well as creating a sustained supply for future 8

imperial needs. As the forestry programme began to evolve, the primary agenda was the management and exploitation of the inexhaust-ible timber resources. The south Indian forests o ered a ne example of the deforestation and simultaneous forest conservation schemes of the East India Company. In practising forest conservation, the Company administration appropriated the existing principles of resource use and allowed the Indian system to continue. A regular forest administration was put in place in Malabar in 1806, but soon it was dissolved and the a airs of the same were entrusted to the Revenue Department. This also resulted in the monopoly of the colonial state over the management of the Indian forest. For a considerable period, the Company administrators, who wanted a guaranteed supply of timber, ensured that preventive measures were taken to restrict the exhaustion of the natural resources. Thus, on one hand securing pro ts from trade in the forest produce, and on the other hand, revenue generation became the primary purposes of early colonial forest policy. D. Brandis, the German forester, repeatedly appeared on the stage with his various types of innovation in Indian forest management. He was instrumental in crafting the nineteenth-century India's forest policy and also in the making of the 1878 Forest Act. Moreover, he is credited for coining the magic words ‘sustainable management’. Along with the move to create a Forest Department, an attempt was made to develop commercial plantation. Though it failed initially, success came eventually with the experimentation at the Botanical Garden in Calcutta in 1805 to develop teak plantation, which made India's path towards monoculture plantations, primarily consisting of tropical hardwoods, an easier one. From p. 6

mapping to plantation, it was a great leap forward for the Indian forestry. Even though the o

cial scienti c

forest conservation commenced since the middle of the nineteenth century, the commercial

motive was

the primary agenda of such conservation projects. By the end of the century, a sizeable amount of forested areas came under the regime of colonial forest conservation. Exactly when the votaries of scienti c management of forest took over the reins of the Indian forest 9

administration is still a contested subject. Nonetheless, the intellectual burden of this new concept could be

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340441 by Western University user on 08 May 2023

interventions by the Indian State. A crucial entry was that of the proactive Indian judicial system, which

10

traced to those who propagated the idea of the desiccation theory.  

The principal argument of this theory

was that deforestation was central to the cause of climatic changes, including a decrease in rainfall and a general reduction of humidity, particularly the drying up of the soil. Botanists, doctors, and foresters were convinced of the water-storing function of forests. It was now an accepted proposition that forest coverage played a highly important role in the climate. This compelled the propagator of the desiccation theory to advocate for the rigid protection of forests as well as the creation of the Forest Department. The rapid depletion of forest in north and south India and growing need of sleepers for the railway department paved the way for the establishment of the Forest Department in various parts of imperial India. Several recent studies have strongly argued that the colonial era interventions were mediated in complex 11

ways by local pressures.

These often blunted the sharper edge of exclusion of traditional people's right

over natural resources. On the other hand, it has been suggested that imperial forestry in the subcontinent emerged out of contesting paradigms. It is also often argued that what won out in the end was the 12

continental European forestry paradigm.

I would also suggest that this continental forestry was largely

play key roles in the imperial forest management after the First World War, with impending economic crisis as well as the growth of Indian business houses, leading to more organized diversi cation of forest resources in the post-war period. This reorientation was fully supported by the State. It was at this time that the institutional support base of the forest produces was directed to Indian customers too. The alienation of community was further widened and was given a permanent form.

Contested Regime of Resource Use Wide-ranging works on South Asian environmental movements often highlight the con ict between the p. 7

agricultural practice and imperial forestry but stop short of looking into how land settlement politics tried 13

to rede ne forest management.

This con ict of interest between the agrarian revenue and forest

revenue was not merely con ned to ground con icts but often bureaucrats trained in two discreet branches of colonial administration entered into long drawn-out debates in deciding the priorities as was the case of Assam. Such con ict, between the science of forest conservation, development, and the agrarian frontier, is only representative of a wider phenomenon. It is now well known that practices of conservation are de ned by a narrow vision of scienti c practice that often counterproductive to local practices of understanding 14

nature.

More importantly, such State-sponsored hegemonic practices of conservation not only reject any

possibility of alternative programme of conservation but also marginalize the democratic political practices of society or a community's/marginalized community's claim to be a meaningful partner in the well being of nature. The social movement, mostly of the underprivileged, in the developing world has been in critical engagement with the epistemological foundations of the notions of development. These political engagements have predominantly brought in aspects of human and environmental costs into the structural component of development. This is an acceptance of the fact that the communities that are marginal and at the fringe of mainstream political privileges have successfully asserted ‘a cultural identity that entails “way of being” in the world’. This has been manifested in several recent environmental movements.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340441 by Western University user on 08 May 2023

dependent on the bureaucratic pillars of the imperial state. Both botanists and industrial lobbies came to

Rethinking Conservation: Forestry vis-à-vis Wildlife Recent scholarships have demonstrated how the animals inside the Indian jungles were endowed with the 15

new spatial identity.

While animals were seen primarily as a threat to the expanding agrarian activities, a

regime of annihilation of carnivores became the primary agenda of the Forest Department. In the wake of growing and widely popular practices of hunting and game, the fate of several species became deplorable. The department could in uence little in controlling these damages, which had acquired a serious dimension amongst the colonial elites. Hunting and sports came under regimented control since the rst few decades of the twentieth century only. This regimented supervision of wild animals laid down the principles of the establishment of game sanctuaries. And by the middle of the century the preservation of wildlife became a distinct programme of the Forest Department. Several recent studies have highlighted the limitation of the p. 8

existing conservation

16

programme.

With a note of optimism, in the last quarter of the twentieth century,

science-based wildlife studies began to play a key role in rede ning the wildlife conservation programme but ‘the pace at which conservation practitioners absorb new scienti c knowledge may be too slow to assist’ A shift of ideological paradigm with the science-

based paradigm not only challenges the exclusionist policy of the conservation programme but has also 18

brought under increasing scrutiny the primary and essential attention to only big species.

Is it possible to clearly demarcate between wildlife and agrarian life? Can we write a history of Indian wildlife without locating its link with the agrarian life? Possibly the answer would be negative. As it is now apparent, the threat to the ‘sanctity’ of various Indian wildlife habitats has increased manifold. The response of the Indian State, and the Indian forestry programme, to the crisis has not spilled over beyond the straightjacket understanding of poacher or crimes committed by them. Is it possible to go beyond this? Can there be coexistence between humans and wild animals and thus a possible rede nition of the Indian forestry programme? Though beyond the scope of the present book, these are fundamental questions that need to be addressed.

Independence and Political Ecology After Independence, the priorities of the Indian forestry programme quickly came to be de ned by the 19

Indian National Forest Policy of 1952,

which envisaged that the forestry programme must be subordinate

to the larger national goal of industrialization. These ideas were, over the years, laid out in the Indian planning. Exploitation of forest resources, primarily aimed at industrialization, went on with a highly unsuccessful a orestation programme. On the other hand, the hegemony of these State–scienti c regimes of natural resource-management remained a highly contested subject and often led to ‘social revolt’ that 20

became part of a spectre of intellectual protest.

Rajan argues that this led to a re-conceptualization of the

discipline of forestry with new approaches to silviculture, economics, law, and crucially, which also carried 21

the message of modernity.

This disciplinary change ‘constitutes nothing short of a cognitive revolution,

one that has been brought about by a clearly articulated political perspective on the orientation of the discipline of forestry by its practitioners’. Several State-sponsored programmes, with critical international p. 9

nancial implications, attempted to reduce these

social con icts. These policies claimed to emphasize on

a new approach that sought a shift in the existing inequitable distribution of management control by directly involving local people and institutions in forest management. That such claims do not in reality involve the transfer of ownership over forests and attempt instead to restructure the formal system of access, decision-making, and sharing of bene ts to account for the needs of local communities has been shown in several studies. While many object to this fundamental limitation, proponents of this approach regard it as a negotiating process, where the objectives of di erent users would be determined through a transparent and participatory process. The key departure was in the evolution of a new regime of wildlife management, as indicated in the previous section. This engagement of Indian environmental history cannot, however, trace the major departures of the postindependent forestry. This neglect is not to be merely understood in terms of institutional restriction in 22

accessing archival sources.

Our marginal interest in locating the critical departures in the ideological shift 23

within post-independent forestry is also important to explain this.

Will it not be too early to attach so

much signi cance to post-independent forestry without looking at various levels of interaction with which the Indian State had tried to overcome these challenges?

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340441 by Western University user on 08 May 2023

17

in attaining the goals of the conservation programme.

Assam and Modern Forests: Imperial to Post-colonial Can the practices of imperial forestry in Assam o er some insight into the present body of scholarship? Did Assam's case o er any crucial departure from the imperial forestry? How did the colonial state negotiate the various forms of existing resource uses? Did it see the forest resources in the hills and plains from a similar epistemological context? Did the local pressures, like that of the Assamese peasants or that of the powerful tea-planters lobby, reshape the imperial forest policies? Or how were the other natural resources, largely identi ed as mineral resources, viewed by the managers of the forests? Is there any possibility to bring these natural resources under the ambit of general policy discussions centred on forest-related questions? For instance, did the high intensity of the practice of shifting cultivation, or the savannah grasslands, as a distinct ecological setting, o er any crucial point of departure that required complex handling by the colonial forest o p. 10

24

region.

cials? These questions hardly nd any space in the recent literature relating to this

Some of these questions are addressed in public arena. The latter is primarily a

reaction of the

mostly suggests that loss of forest coverage is indicative of the general environmental degradation. In contrast to such a grim view of the ‘environment’, other writings also draw attention to the rich ora and 25

fauna found in the region.

While public debates on ecology and environment have already gained momentum the intellectual foundation of several recent studies on the growth of imperial forestry in Assam primarily rests on a non26

critical engagement with the praxis of colonial forestry.

The scope of these histories are limited due to

their mere sketch of the emergence of the forest bureaucracy and thus equally su er from an overemphasis 27

on forest bureaucracy.

On the other hand, while accepting the idea of a homogenous imperial forestry it

could not refrain from explaining the Assam experiment as more than an extension of the Bengal experiment. The practical di

culties faced by the foresters had played a much more important role in the

making of the forest. For many of the early foresters, the Assam forest was an extension of the eastern mountain ranges, having a geological connection with the topography of western South-East Asia. The encounter of the forested landscape of Assam with the imperial rule can be traced back to the period when the East India Company gradually became interested in this region. Once the Company administration was secured, the possibilities of integrating the existing complex range of forest-based trade practices with 28

the imperial economy became clear.

The initial intervention took place with the discovery of tea plants in 29

Assam when the Company administration began to lease out such lands to the European planters. since the 1870s that the newly established provincial Forest Department began to a

It was

rm its right over the

forest resources of the province. Though the Forest Department asserted its sole right over the forested land, the planters also began to rea

rm their distinctive right over it. Gradually, geologists came to be part

of the Forest Department to establish a crucial link with the imperial polity. The discovery of mineral resources and its emergence as a key aspect of the management of natural resources still awaits attention in the literature relating to the Indian environmental history. It is important to know to what extent the discovery of mineral resources in uenced the Forest Department in recon guring its forestry programme. Could the Forest Department negotiate with the speculators of mineral resources in asserting its claims over p. 11

the forested patches? While these two

components of the colonial state struggled for their respective

shares over the wastelands and mineral resources, the peasant society also articulated their claim over the wastelands. Throughout the nineteenth century the consistent colonial policy on wastelands was to open it for cultivation. The major bene ciary of such a policy were the tea planters. The local rich peasants also claimed a good amount of these lands, which necessarily helped in the formation of a class of rich absentee landlords. However, since the early twentieth century the government began to appreciate the bene ts of wastelands in terms of possibilities of opening of jute cultivation and encouraged peasants from the east Bengal to settle there. Clearly, both the tea plantation and forest conservation programme deprived the indigenous peasants of their access to the natural resources. This had also restricted the widely practised shifting cultivation. Such restrictions, however, were protested by the peasants who contested either their curtailment of traditional rights or enhancement of revenue. Large-scale relinquishment of land-lease took place, indicating the prevalence of peasant dissatisfaction. In the next century, along with the changing nature of the agrarian structure, the nature of peasant resistance changed and was also directed towards the 30

local landlords and other agencies of socio-economic exploitation.

This brings us to address two important aspects, that is, tea-plantation and land reclamation. What was the role of tea-plantation in the evolution of a distinct forest conservation regime in Assam? That the tea-

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340441 by Western University user on 08 May 2023

public intelligentsia to various natural calamities where the State failed to provide relief. Public opinion

planters were in the forefront of taking the forestland into their lease and eventually clearing them is adequately discussed in the existing literature. Did the tea-planters lobby have any determining impact on crucial policy formulation of the Imperial Forest Department, such as the selection of trees for plantation or deciding the fate of surveyed forested zone? By the close of the nineteenth century, tea plantation turned out to be one of the important sectors of colonial intervention in Assam. The tea-planters, with e ective support from the colonial administration, came to occupy a vast landmass. In the land thus owned, existing jungles or forest cover were cleared o

and replaced with tea seedlings and other trees, which were meant to

work as shadow trees for the tea saplings. This not only changed the landscape permanently but also transformed forever the pattern of the relationship of man and nature, also leading to extensive landscape fragmentation. However, the e ective use of land under the patronage of the colonial system continued, and p. 12

it is yet to be determined as to who was the ultimate bene ciary. On the other hand, since the early twentieth century, with the rapid reclamation of agricultural land by the peasants from east Bengal, the pressure on grass land, and also the oodplains of the Brahmaputra valley, had increased manifold. In the late twentieth century, popular opinion was directed against this settlement as having crucial impact on the

The ideas and the ideological issues involved in forest conservation took a de nite shape since the last quarter of the nineteenth century. By that time the colonial state had acquired the much-needed experience in forest administration. The rich experience of the other provinces helped immensely in understanding the forestry question with more depth. In the twentieth century, increased competition for the forest resources gave rise to con icting ideological moorings along with a wider public participation in the environmental and forest issues. While displaced peasants vied for a place in the Reserved Forest, State vigilance also increased over the forest resources. It would be unwise to suggest that forests remained a pristine and untouched zone in the pre-imperial period or that there was no trade in forested resources. That Assam and its neighbourhood had a rich and 31

complex trade system dependent on forest resources is well documented.

An instance of this is the

political economy of the Ahom–Mughal wars, which was crucially connected with the Mughal rulers’ insistence of securing access to the forest resources of the region, including the prized elephants. Contest over natural resources resulted in wars and frequent clashes between the Ahom kings and Mughal rulers. In the pre-colonial time, beyond the Ahom frontier, taxes on a variety of forest produce, which included cotton and birds, contributed to the revenue. The State exchequer also relied heavily on the exploitation of the forest resources, including the elephant. The most commonly used item was timber for constructing boats. The Ahom military system was crucially interested in securing its waterways and hence required sustained investments for naval warfare. Similarly, elephants were usually procured in large numbers not only to strengthen the military system but also for everyday uses of the royal palaces. The Mughal Empire insisted on getting elephants as war indemnity. However, this does not explain the pressure of the peasant communities on the forested zone and consequent forest clearances. That the pre-colonial forests were integrally connected with the expanding p. 13

agrarian frontier has been shown in several works. For instance, Amalendu Guha

argues that though the

Ahom kingdom had complete control over the forest resources it also encouraged the peasants to clear 32

forest land into agrarian land.

The peasants, who had opened these new lands, had to provide the normal

revenue as xed by the State. The most widely practised form of forest clearance was the shifting cultivation, which was practised both in the plains and hills. Normally such clearance was restricted to grasslands, which were easier to clear either by putting them on re or by using simple agricultural tools. On the other hand, away from the direct control of the Ahom kingdom, the relatively independent feudal chiefs and the tribal monarchies retained their hold over large forested areas. Clearly, the idea of forest as reserved territory, except some areas that were specially demarcated for hunting by the royal family, did not exist. The forest management during the pre-colonial times had little to do with a market economy. While there was a spectre of change in the colonial era in the way natural resources were seen and understood these changes had left behind a legacy of social con icts that were paramount to the political landscape of the late twentieth century Assam. Over the years, as the peasants lost their cultural right over land, the State further pushed them away from these resources for their inability to become cash-crop producers. A series of ethnic movements wanted a recon guration of the relationship of communities with natural resources, particularly their access to the forest lands. Here, we attempt to link the present day con icts in Assam, many of which are land and resource-based, to their root in the colonial era. The science and practice of conservation, driven by concerns of ecology and environment, remained a distant dream for

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340441 by Western University user on 08 May 2023

forest coverage in the state. What critical impact did it have on the forestry policy?

the forest conservationist. Much of the natural histories of wildlife, spanning several decades, has 33

overlooked the complex relation of wildlife to the imperial forestry programme.

At the same time, despite

popular claims of success of the conservation programme in Assam, science-based conservation studies have shown the limitation of this programme. Such a conservation programme is also lacking in the region. Not only is the forest bureaucracy generally reluctant to allow epistemological shift but even the institutional foundations of a science-based research programme hardly nds systematic state support. 34

That often the forestry programme has emerged as a threat to the wildlife habitat is generally known.

In

contrast, the growing depletion of wildlife habitat is being projected by recent popular interventions as often directly to due non-Assamese incursions or even demographic pressures.

p. 14

Overview This volume is about the historical transformation of Assam's nature over the last 200 years. It begins with became integrated with merchant capitalism. Gradually an imperial forestry framework helped to systematically explore the widely distributed forest resources. These resources were catalogued according to their economic value. The colonial state began to de ne its relationship with the forest resources by regulating timber trade and experimenting with excluding forested tracts from any general consumption. Chapter 1 discusses how this early management became part of a larger ideological paradigm of the continental forestry and, eventually, the road was cleared for the establishment of the Forest Department in Assam to complete the task of bringing ‘order’ to the jungles of Assam. Chapter 2 narrates the political economy of the new spatial order. Assertion of rights over this space required manifold negotiations and entailed a complex process. The complex evolution of institutions and the methods of governance of this new landscape are examined in Chapter 3. The governance required that claims of the colonial state be founded on legal premises and thus followed a series of forest legislations. The idea of governance could be put into practice by a team of ideologically motivated people, known as foresters. Chapter 3 also discusses how, as governance of forest acquired a strong foothold, the imperial forestry programme needed to rede ne its parameters. The best example of such a situation was the case of tea-plantation economy and agrarian practices. The ideological paradigm of the forestry programme witnessed little changes after Independence. The evolution of forest as imperial economy is addressed in Chapter 4. The chapter discusses how after the forests was codi ed into various marketable resources they were categorized into two main domains, that is, major forest produce and minor forest produce. Minor forest produce, as it came to be known, took care of the heterogeneous market. Arrangements were made so that these resources could nd their way e

ciently into the distant markets. Working plans were prepared to arrange for the planned extraction of

forest produce from the forest areas. Chapter 4 further details the growth of institutional customers for the forest products. Chapter 5 examines how science worked as the signi cant instrument of economic transformation of the forested landscape of Assam. The management, conservation, and e ective p. 15

regeneration of the

forest could be only possible through the intervention of the science of forestry,

primarily identi ed in the practices of silviculture. Chapter 6 explains the position of fauna in the imperial forestry programme. As imperial forestry and agriculture progressed, animals were seen primarily as a threat to mankind and to the expanding agrarian frontier. A regime of hunting and annihilation of carnivores became the prime agenda of the Forest Department. However, since the early twentieth century, attention shifted from guns to cameras. Hunting and sports came under regimented control. This regimented supervision of wild animals laid down the principles of the twentieth-century history of game sanctuaries. Chapter 7 addresses the livelihood practices and how the forestry programme had worked out the great strategy of encroaching into these practices. The concluding chapter takes the argument of the book into a comparative perspective with both South and South-East Asia and tries to foresee the future of the political forests. What has changed since then is that though the imperial interest subsided, the new political parameters have led to nowhere. Compared to the history of colonial forestry, the making of forest policy in the post-colonial period was de ned more by the complexities of the political matrix. This does not mean that in the colonial times, the forestry was free from political negotiation. While this book suggests that the working of the Forest Department in Assam was located in the larger regional ecological setting, still it could not escape the ambit of the imperial forestry paradigm. The study also examines how present day ecological con icts are intricately located in the colonial era when forests, land, and resource-based con icts began to take new shape.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340441 by Western University user on 08 May 2023

an enquiry of how, since the early nineteenth century, the forest resources in Assam were mapped and

Notes 1.

The best reference with clear indication of appreciation of nature would be charya-pada literature. See P. Deka, 2001, Charya-Geet Aru Bauddha-Tantra, Guwahati: Chadra Prakash. Shankardev, the medieval Assamese poet and social reformer graphically portrays the various outward forms of nature and its endowments. M. Neog, 1986, Asomiya Sahityar Ruprekha, Guwahati: Bani Mandir; S. Barman, 1997, Asomiya Sahityar Buranji, Guwahati: Abilac; K. Ayyappapanicker, Medieval Indian Literature: An Anthology, Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1997.

2.

A handful of literature deals the question of Indian imperial forestry. A historiography of these literatures may be found in R. D'Souza, 2003, ʻNature, Conservation and the Writing of Environmental Historyʼ, Conservation and Society, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 317–32; K. Sivaramakrishnan, 2003, ʻNationalism and Environmental Historyʼ, Seminar, vol. 522, pp. 25–30; Ramachandra Guha, 1989, 2009 (revised edition), The Unquiet Woods, New Delhi: Oxford University Press; R. Grove, 1998, ʻIntroductionʼ in Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins of Environmentalism, 1600– 1860, New Delhi: Oxford University Press; D. Worster, 1996, ʻThe Two Cultures Revisited Environmental History and the

p. 16

Environment and Ethnicity in India, 1200–1991, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 10.1017/CBO9780511523946 ; Mahesh Rangarajan (ed.), 2007, Environmental Issues in India, Delhi: Pearson Longman; Mahesh Rangarajan, 2001, India's Wildlife History, An Introduction, Delhi: Permanent Black; V.K. Saberwal et al. (ed.), 2003, Battles Over Nature, Delhi: Permanent Black. 3.

See, for instance, M. Williams, 2006, Deforesting the Earth: From Prehistory to Global Crisis, Chicago: Chicago University Press 10.7208/chicago/9780226899053.001.0001 ; B. McKibben, 1989, The End of Nature, New York: Doubleday; J.R. McNeill, 2001, Something New Under the Sun, Norton; J.D. Hughes, 2002, An Environmental History of the World: Humankind's Changing Role in the Community of Life, London: Routledge; J. Radkau, 2008, Nature and Power: A Global History of the Environment, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

4.

Grove, Green Imperialism; R. Grove, 1998, Ecology, Climate and Empire: The Indian Legacy in Global Environmental History, 1400–1940, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

5.

Grove, Damodaran, and Sangwan (eds), Nature and the Orient; Guha and Gadgil, This Fissured Land; Guha and Gadgil, Ecology and Equity.

6.

E.P. Stebbing, 1923–6, The Forests of India, London: The Bodley Head, vols 2–3.

7.

Guha, The Unquiet Woods, pp. 38–59 10.2307/3516963

8.

Williams, Deforesting the Earth, pp. 276–333 10.7208/chicago/9780226899053.001.0001

9.

D. Arnold, 2006, The Tropics and the Traveling Gaze: India, Landscape, and Science, 1800–1856, Delhi: Permanent Black; D. Kumar, 1990, ʻThe Evolution of Colonial Science in India: Natural History and the East India Companyʼ, in John Mackenzie (ed.), Imperialism and the Natural World, Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 51–66; R.S. Rajan, 2006, Modernizing Nature: Forestry and Imperial Eco-Development 1800–1950, London: Oxford University

p. 17

. .

Press 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199277964.001.0001 ; V.K. Saberwal, 1997, ʻBureaucratic Agendas and Conservation Policy in Himachal Pradesh 1865–1994ʼ, IESHR, vol. 34, pp. 465–98; H. Noltie, 2002, The Dapuri Drawings, Alexander Gibson and the Bombay Botanical Gardens, Bombay: Mapin; M. Lewis, 2003, Inventing Global Ecology, Tracking the Biodiversity Ideal in India, Delhi: Orient Longman. 10.

See, A. Skaria, 1998, ʻTimber Conservancy, Desiccationism and Scientific Forestry: The Dangs 1840s-1920sʼ, in Grove, Damodaran, and Sangwan (eds), Nature and the Orient.

11.

V.K. Saberwal, 1998, Pastoral Politics: Shepherds, Bureaucrats, and Conservation in the Western Himalaya, New Delhi: Oxford University Press; K. Sivaramakrishnan, 1999, Modern Forests: Statemaking and Environmental Change in Colonial Eastern India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press; S. Vasan, 2006, Living with Diversity: Forestry Institutions in the Western Himalaya, Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study.

12.

Rajan, Modernizing Nature 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199277964.001.0001

13.

I. Agnihotri, 1996, ʻEcology, Land Use and Colonization, The Canal Colonies of Punjabʼ, IESHR, vol. 33, pp. 37–

.

58 10.1177/001946469603300102 ; D. Ludden, 2003, ʻInvesting in Nature around Sylhet: An Excursion into Geographical Historyʼ, Economic and Political Weekly, November, pp. 5080–8; M. Williams, Deforesting the

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340441 by Western University user on 08 May 2023

Environmental Sciencesʼ, Environment and History, vol. 2, pp. 3–14 10.3197/096734096779522446 ; David Arnold and Ramachandra Guha (eds), 1995, Nature, Culture, and Imperialism: Essays on the Environmental History of South Asia, New Delhi: Oxford University Press; A. Agrawal and K. Sivaramakrishnan (eds), 2000, Social Nature, Resources, Representations and Rule in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press; G. Cederlof and K. Sivaramakrishnan (eds), 2006, Ecological Nationalisms, Delhi: Permanent Black; R. Grove, V. Damodaran, and S. Sangwan (eds), 1998, Nature and the Orient: The Environmental History of South and Southeast Asia, New Delhi: Oxford University Press; Ramachandra Guha and Madhav Gadgil, 1992, This Fissured Land: An Ecological History of India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press; Ramachandra Guha and Madhav Gadgil, 2000, Ecology and Equity: The Use and Abuse of Nature, New Delhi: Oxford University Press; S. Guha, 1999,

Earth 10.7208/chicago/9780226899053.001.0001 ; D. Arnold, 2002, ʻDisease, Resistance and India's Ecological Frontier, 1770– 1947ʼ, in J. Scott and N. Bhatt (eds), Agrarian Studies, Synthetic Studies at the Cutting Edge, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 186–205; V. Sarvanan, 2007, ʻEnvironmental History of Tamil Nadu State, Law and Decline of Forest and Tribals, 1950–2000ʼ, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 723–67 10.1017/S0026749X06002514 ; J.F. Richards, J.R Hagen, and E.S. Haynes, 1985, ʻChanging Land use in Bihar, Punjab, and Haryana, 1850–1970ʼ, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 19, pp. 699–732 10.1017/S0026749X00007770

; A. Saikia, 2008, ʻForest Land and Peasant Struggles in Assam, 2002–2007ʼ,

Journal of Peasant Studies, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 39–60 10.1080/03066150801983402 ; R. Brara, 2006, Shi ing Landscapes: The Making and Remaking of Village Commons in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195673012.001.0001

; V. Sarvanan, 2006, ʻColonial Agrarian Policies in the Tribal Areas of

Madras Presidency: 1872–1947ʼ, South Asia Research, vol. 26. no. 1, pp. 63–85 10.1177/0262728006063199 14.

A. Chhatre. and V. Saberwal, 2006, ʻDemocracy, Development and (Re-) Visions of Nature: Rural Conflict in the Western Himalayasʼ, Journal of Peasant Studies, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 678–706 10.1080/03066150601119991

15.

.

.

84 10.1525/aa.1997.99.1.70 ; Mahesh Rangarajan, 1998, ʻThe Raj and the Natural World, the Campaign Against “Dangerous Beasts” in Colonial India, 1875–1925ʼ, Studies in History, vol. 14. no. 2, pp. 167– p. 18

99 10.1177/025764309801400206 ; Divyabhanusinh, 2006, ʻJunagadh State and its Lions: Conservation in Princely India, 1879–1947ʼ, Conservation and Society, vol. 4, pp. 522–40; J. Radhika, 2007, ʻOf Paper Tigers and Invisible People: The Cultural Politics of Nature in Sariskaʼ, in Ghazala Shahabuddin and Mahesh Rangarajan (eds), Making Conservation Work: Securing Biodiversity in this New Century, Delhi: Permanent Black, pp. 48–80; R. Sukumar, 2003, The Living Elephants, Delhi: Oxford University Press. 16.

Ghazala Shahabuddin and Mahesh Rangarajan (eds), Making Conservation Work: Securing Biodiversity in this New Century, Delhi: Permanent Black, 2007; Ghazala Shahabuddin, 2010, Conservation at the Crossroads: Science, Society and the Future of India's Wildlife, Delhi: Pemanent Black and New India Foundation.

17.

K. Ullas Karanth, James D. Nichols, John Seidenstricker, Eric Dinerstein, James L. David Smith, Charles McDougal, A.J.T. Johnsingh, Raghunandan S. Chundawat, Valmik Thapar, 2003, ʻScience Deficiency in Conservation Practice: The Monitoring of Tiger Populations in Indiaʼ, Animal Conservation, vol. 6, p. 141 10.1017/S1367943003003184 special number on reconciling the needs of man and wildlife, Seminar, no. 466, June 1998.

. See, the

18.

See, the special number on reconciling the needs of man and wildlife, Seminar, no. 466, June 1998.

19.

Ramachandra Guha, 1983, ʻForestry in British and Post-British India: A Historical Analysisʼ, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 18, no. 44, pp. 1882–96.

20.

Rajan, 2006, Modernizing Nature, pp. 108–53 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199277964.001.0001

.

21.

From the blurb of Rajan, Modernizing Nature 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199277964.001.0001

.

22.

Guha, ʻForestry in British and Post-British India: A Historical Analysisʼ.

23.

Michael Lewis, Inventing Global Ecology.

24.

B. Malik, 2003, ʻThe “Problem” of Shi ing Cultivation in the Garo Hills of North-East India, 1860–1970ʼ, Conservation and Society, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 287–315; Ludden, ʻInvesting in Nature around Sylhetʼ, pp. 5080–8; Arupjyoti Saikia, 2008, ʻState, Peasants and Land Reclamation: The Predicament of Forest Conservation in Assam, 1850s–1980sʼ, IESHR, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 77–114; A. Saikia, 2008, ʻForest Land and Peasant Struggles in Assam, 2002–2007ʼ, pp. 39–60 10.1080/03066150801983402 ; R.P. Tucker, ʻThe Depletion of India's Forests Under British Imperialism: Planters, Foresters and Peasants in Assam and Keralaʼ, in D. Worster (ed.), 1988, The Ends of the Earth, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; R.P. Tucker, ʻThe British Empire and India's Forest Resources: The Timberlands of Assam and Kumaon, 1914–1950ʼ, in J.F. Richards and R.P. Tucker (eds), 1987, World Deforestation in the Twentieth Century, Durham: Duke University Press, pp. 91–111; D. Singh, 1996, The Last Frontier People and Forest in Mizoram, New Delhi: TERI; B.G. Karlsson, 1999, ʻIndigenous Nature, Forest and Community Dynamics in Meghalaya, North East Indiaʼ, in G. Cederlöf and K. Sivaramakrishnan (eds), Ecological Nationalisms: Nature, Livelihoods, and Identities in South Asia; Delhi: Permanent Black; S. Nag, 1999, ʻBamboo, Rats and Famine: Famine Relief and Perceptions of British Paternalism in the Mizo Hillsʼ, Environment and History, vol. 5, pp. 245– 52 10.3197/096734099779568317

p. 19

.

25.

H.P. Smith and C.P. Purkayastha, 1946, A Short History of the Assam Forest Service 1850–1945, Shillong: Assam Government Press.

26.

See, S. Goswami, 1987, Aspects of Revenue Administration in Assam, 1826–1874, Delhi: Mittal; R. Saikia, 2000, Social and Economic History of Assam, Delhi: Manohar.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340441 by Western University user on 08 May 2023

V. Saberwal and M. Rangarajan (eds), 2003, Battles Over Nature: Science and Politics of Conservation, New Delhi: Oxford University Press; P. Greenough, 2003, ʻPathogens, Pugmarks and Political “Emergency”: The 1970s South Asian Debate on Natureʼ, in Paul Greenough and Anna L. Tsing (eds), Nature in the Global South: Environmental Projects in South and Southeast Asia, Durham and London: Duke University Press/Delhi: Orient Longman, pp. 201–30; A.G. Gold and B. Gujar, 1997, ʻWild Pigs and Kings, Remembered Landscapes in Rajasthanʼ, American Anthropologist, vol. 99, no. 1, pp. 70–

R. Handique, 2004, British Forest Policy in Assam, Delhi: Mittal; P. Deori, 2005, Environmental History of Naga Hills 1881– 1947: Land and Forest: The Colonial Policy, Delhi: Anshah.

28.

H.K. Barpujari, 1963, Assam in the Days of the Company, 1826–1858, Guwahati: LBS.

29.

H. Antrobus, 1957, A History of the Assam Company, 1839–1953, Edinburgh: T.A Constable.

30.

For a detailed study of this period and the peasant movement see, A. Saikia, ʻAgrarian Society, Economy and Peasant Unrest: A Study of the Brahmaputra Valley 1945–52ʼ, unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Delhi, 2002.

31.

The best known historical sources for understanding the dynamics of agrarian society and forested space are Assamese buranjis. Several buranjis and inscriptions could possibly throw extensive light on the idea of forest and forest trade in precolonial Assam.

32.

A. Guha, ʻThe Medieval Economy of Assamʼ, in Tapan Raychaudhuri and Irfan Habib (eds), 1982, The Cambridge Economic History of India c. 1200–c. 1750, Volume 1, Delhi: Cambridge University Press.

33.

Representative of such literature are E.P. Gee, 1964, The Wild Life of India, London: Fontana; R. Barthakur and B. Sahgal, 2006, The Kaziranga Inheritance, Mumbai: Sanctuary Asia; P.D. Stracey, 1963, Elephant Gold, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.

34.

W.L.R. Oliver, 1991, ʻA Review of the Status of the Sanctuaries for the Pygmy Hog: A Report on a Visit to N.W. Assam, 1990ʼ, The Dodo: Journal of the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust, vol. 27, pp. 62–70; J.J.C. Mallinson, 1971, ʻThe Pygmy Hog Sus Salvanius (Hodgson) in Northern Assamʼ, Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, vol. 68, no. 2, pp. 424–33.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340441 by Western University user on 08 May 2023

27.

Forests and Ecological History of Assam, 1826–2000 Arupjyoti Saikia https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.001.0001 Published: 2011

Online ISBN: 9780199081240

Print ISBN: 9780198069539

CHAPTER

1 Mapping and Imagining Forests: From Mercantilism to Imperial Forestry  Arupjyoti Saikia Pages 20–68

Abstract In the early twentieth century, the forests of Assam were described as dense forests. Centuries later, the described forests of the northern bank of river Brahmaputra no longer looked like the way it was described. From forests of magni cence that evoked beautiful writings, the forests are now pictures of ruthless human interventions and of deprived forest virginity. This chapter discusses how the colonial state began mapping the Assam jungles and understood its commercial potentialities. The de nition of Assam jungles as reserved and un-classed forests not on the basis of biological science but rather on political and economic meaning forms the focus of the chapter. It also discusses how the early colonial management of the forests became a part of a larger ideological paradigm and eventually the road was cleared for the establishment of the Forest Department in Assam to complete the task of bringing ‘order’ to these jungles.

Keywords: forests of Assam, dense forests, human interventions, mapping, commercial potentialities, Forest Department Subject: Colonialism and Imperialism, Environmental History, Asian History, Indian History Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online

At rst sight Assam seems one large jungle, when viewed from the air… 1

P.D. Stracey, Conservator of Forests, Assam, 1949

The elevation of the ridges they inhabit is so considerable, that during the cold season, hoar frost rests on their summit, throughout the day, and at night… 2

R. Boileau Pemberton

Their country is densely forest clad…owing to a much heavier rainfall in this part of the province. From the Brahmaputra for 20 to 30 miles when the border is reached, the level country is covered with thick jungle everywhere and much intersected by streams, which in the wet season over ow, converting the locality into a vast morass. Near to and beyond the border the forests occur, enormous trees with dense undergrowth ourishing up to 8000 feet, the whole forming a country most di

cult to operate in. 3

Colonel L.W. Shakespear, 1929

When in the early part of the twentieth century, Colonel L.W. Shakespear, author of History of the Assam Ri es, described the forests of the northern bank of river Brahmaputra it no longer looked like what way described in the previous century by R.B. Pemberton. He was not the only one who encountered these dense forests. In the mid-nineteenth century the personnel of the East India Company had encountered the dense

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.003.0002 Published: February 2011

4

forest in various parts of Assam and had left behind their memoir of these landscapes. Many of them believed in the magni cence, astonishing nature, and enormity of these jungles. In the next century, neither p. 21

the colonial nor the Assamese writings register a similar landscape. They now

narrated the stories of

ruthless intervention of various human agencies in the forest and how it was deprived of its proclaimed virginity. The dense jungle was already tamed in the interim period to be referred to as ‘forest’ in everyday expression. From the romantic narration of the jungle, we now read more about the commercial aspects of these forests. Nobody now feels bewildered by the jungle. Rather, it is the jungle that seems bewildered. The colonial Forest Department was in total command over the forest topography. They knew exactly what was there inside and within the jungle (Fig. 1.1). Moreover, by the early twentieth century, a sizeable portion of p. 22

the forest in Assam came to be de ned as either

Reserved or un-classed state forests. These categories

were not based on absolute biological science but were de ned by wider political and economic meanings. The forest was categorized through of observation and the application of Western science and philosophical meanings. The new categories of forest, nonetheless, changed the nature of the landscape of Assam forever. understood its commercial potentialities.

Fig. 1.1

A view of a gorge covered with dense forest in eastern Assam. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive

Imagining a Landscape The material understanding of the nature did not deter the growth of a passionate view of the region. Eventually these evocations conferred the region with a metaphor of greenery and full of serene beauty, a view which is hardly contested. As it took a rmer root in Assam, the Company administration came to encounter a complex topography of the dense forests of Assam. Decades after the Company took charge of Assam, a British intelligence o

cer, who was travelling deep inside the erstwhile Lushai hills region, gave a

poetic description of his experience inside the jungle as follows: … di

cult to nd jungle and forest denser than in this area, which presents a network of forest-

clad hills and valleys. Huge trees with great buttressed trunks raise their straight stems to a leafy roof, creepers of all kinds wind round these massive columns, hanging in festoons from tree to tree, or trail on the ground knotted and twisted mass of vegetation, thorny canes, shrubs, so intertwined that it is only by dint of much cutting and clearing that a passage can be made through

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

The following sections tell the story of how the colonial state began mapping the jungles of Assam and

it. The pace at which jungle grows is incredible, in spite of two clearings annually; paths are often 5

impassable without more labour.

The stunned viewer reminded us that his description held good for the entire forest located in the neighbouring ‘Cachar, Naga, Abor, and Mishmi hills’. Far away from the centre of attention in the Brahmaputra valley, Colonel F. Roberts, another military man travelling inside the dense forest in the Barak valley in southern Assam, described its magni cence in this way, ‘beautiful with lofty wooded hills coming down to the water's edge, receding here and there to give glimpses of more distant ranges, and the river 6

continually winding with occasionally sandy strips diversifying the character of its banks’. The Nambor jungle, spreading over a vast area, provides us with more fascinating stories. In one such instance, Shakespear tells us how a group of police personnel lost their way inside the thick Nambor jungle while p. 23

following deer. Later, one of them found

that, ‘with hardly any sky to be seen through the canopy of

green above there was nothing to guide them…wandering after the rst four days or so and he was alone, he

The Assamese mind did not contest this romantic portrayal of the region. This goes back to an early period. An instance of this is the portrayal of Assam by the fteenth century Assamese vaishnavite scholarreformer Sankardev. In several of his writings, the rendition of nature and God became almost synonymous but also nature had various di erent forms. Folk tales collected in the early decades of the twentieth century echoed a similar apprehension about the jungles—that nature could be tamed without unleashing any large-scale damage to its resources. This engagement resulted in the creation of an idea of Assam as a space synonymous with natural, leaving aside its complexities beyond the comprehension of observers. At the same time, the Assamese continued to draw their sense of neighbourhood from the local topography, the river Brahmaputra in particular, which came to be reinforced though their world of orality. Later the newly created forests, through a complex plantation system as well as the tea-plantation, also came to be seen as an extension of Assam's nature.

Merchant Capitalism and Forest Produces Early observations of the colonial administrators had left behind an impression of a bewildered romantic landscape of Assam. But behind this romantic portrayal of nature lay a complex process through which the forest products of the region had already entered into larger economic transactions which began in the second half of the eighteenth century. While there is little doubt that this might have contributed signi cantly to the emergence of the tones and parameters of the provincial forest administration later it equally redirected the character of Assam's engagement with that of European capital. The complex forest economy was already known to the East India Company and their explicit interest in tapping these resources 8

into Calcutta market had already become evident.

The initial trade investigation was mostly con ned to the forest trades in the northern and eastern hills of the province. Several observers noted with curiosity about trade in various forest produces. Some 9

observations addressed key issues of natural science associated with various products. Many of these forest produces had a ready market by the standard of the late eighteenth century. The nancial ambience of p. 24

Calcutta worked as an

important channel to link these resources to a larger market. A popular route

through which these goods reached the markets in Calcutta was through Goalpara in the western boundary of Assam. A trade-post in Goalpara regulated the tra

c of forest goods. Speculation grew high about the

high potential of trade in these produces. And when as a fall-out of the rst Anglo-Burmese war the East India Company took control of the region they did not have any doubt about the potential of this region for 10

India's future need of timber.

Suryya Kumar Bhuyan gives an instance of this complex and lucrative forest

trades entered into by various tribes in the late eighteenth century: The Mishimis living in the hills…brought with them Lama swords and spears and the vegetable poison…and these they exchanged for glass, beads, cloths, salt and money. The Abors and Miris brought pepper, ginger, munjit and wax. The Singphos used in bring [sic] ivory in considerable 11

quantities. The Nagas brought cotton…

The volumes as well as industrial and scienti c signi cance of several species, lac in particular, found in 12

Assam was already well known among the British commercial interest.

The British chemist Charles

Hatchett (1765–1847) had published, as early as 1804, his signi cant nding of the industrial quality of lac

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

7

remembered nothing but that maddening green wall thick all round him.’

found in Assam. However, after the discovery of tea-plant in 1834, the vegetation and climate of the region gained serious attention and temporarily lac lost its importance. As the tea-prospect became higher the East India Company entrusted two leading botanists William Gri 13

1854) to make a botanical survey of Assam.

th (1810–45) and Nathaniel Wallich (1786–

Both of them were asked by the Company administration to

explore the distribution of tea-plant in various parts of Upper Assam. Gri

th, as he was more than

interested in understanding the distribution of the tea-plant, surveyed distributions of various plants in the region and this led him to observe: The soil throughout, a good part seemed to be of clay. The only plants of interest we found were two Bambusæ in ower, and two species of Meniscium, and a Polypodium venulis tertiariis simplicibus. A Sarcopyramis Sonerilae was also found, but rather past owering, and an Acrostichum? or Lomaria? We did not observe any ravinules or hollows, although mounds were by 14

no means uncommon.

15

having crucial importance for the emerging ‘plant capitalism’ were discovered in the process.

This was

immediately followed by the survey of Robert Boileau Pemberton who was more than attentive to the rich p. 25

16

texture of the timber quality of the region.

Much later, Griifth and Wallich's observations were endorsed

by the well-known British botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911) who played a further role in identifying plants and their economic uses in the eastern frontier of British India when he visited the Khasi 17

hills in 1850.

These surveys laid the foundations for the mapping of Assam's centrality in the tropical and semi-tropical 18

vegetation and widened the scope for entry of merchant capital in a speedier way.

However, the most

signi cant dimensions of these explorations could be found in the emergence of a systematic understanding of this region from the perspective of botanical endowment. Most of the explorers left behind rich descriptions of what they encountered in terms of bio-diversity. In fact, these happened even before much of such systematic explorations came up, precisely during the early days of the growth of tea-plantations. While the entire early project of tea-plantations resulted in a methodological investigation of soil, climate, and certain plant variety of the region, the later explorations in the upward limits of the river Brahmaputra forced the amateur botanists to lay their attention to certain unexpected terrain. Not only did some of them develop a keen interest in the science of hydrology but they also drew both hydrology and larger ecology into the same orbit for a meaningful understanding of the regional topography. It is also true that these amateur botanists also observed hard rocks, and left behind early accounts of the geological descriptions of the region. The entry of merchant capital required that these forest resources be mapped in a more systematic manner. Survey and examination of the forest resources of Assam soon began at a faster speed. The East India Company, within a decade of the annexation of Assam, prepared a detailed report on the forest resources of the region. Accounts were published describing the mercantile importance of these forest resources. John M'Cosh, an assistant surgeon employed with the East India Company, travelled through the length and breadth of the Brahmaputra valley in the early part of the company's rule. M'Cosh paid careful attention to the prospects of timber in Assam, which had already emerged as a serious matter for the survival of the Company's hold over the Indian territory. M'Cosh was convinced that ‘Assam abounds in many parts with 19

valuable timber, not of the ornamental but the useful order chie y adapted for canoes’.

Relying on a

catalogue prepared by the contemporary medical professionals, M'Cosh prepared a list of timbers found in abundance. His list included the names of 90 trees along with their scienti c names, commercial viability, 20

the average sizes, and their uses by natives. p. 26

Years later, in 1845, Captain S.F. Hannay, the commandant of the Assam Light Infantry Battalion, while travelling inside the eastern territories of Assam noticed ‘exotic’ forestland covered with splendid timber 21

trees.

Describing the 35 species of trees found there, Hannay tried to understand their local uses and made

speci c queries about the state's rights over these resources. For instance, he noted that even the precolonial state put restrictions on the use of a few species, such as Joba hingoree—quercus species—a variety of oak which was used for construction needs. Hannay concluded that with the decline of the Ahom state the importance of forests gradually declined. This resulted in the general decline of the knowledge of the forest resources, apart from forest-based economy like timber oating for long distances as well as expertise in boat-making.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

While these surveys aimed at con rming the commercial viability of the tea-crop several new species

Francis Jenkins, the commissioner of Assam, prepared a report on the entire political geography of the 22

north-eastern region in 1835.

In his submission, Jenkins included an account of the trees of Assam with 23

inputs taken from R. Bruce, a pioneer in tea-plantation.

Hopeful of the great commercial prospects of the

forest in Assam, Jenkins claimed that ‘the foregoing trees are in great plenty in Assam, which also contains immense forests of other valuable kinds of wood and being along strips of land which reaches to the 24

con nes of China’.

He was also optimistic that teak, oak, and r might be procured in Assam but that this

could be practically viable if the entire province came under the Company rule. His report also included the 25

names of 23 trees, which were identi ed by R. Bruce.

Bruce commented on the character of the wood, uses

in the local context, their marketability, and present price in the local market. Much later, in the 1850s, Captain Jenkins submitted another detailed report that further widened the scope of his previous report. By this time, the colonial state had established itself as a ruler in these parts and knew that revenue to be earned from the forestry would be the pillar of the provincial revenue. Elaborate o

cial interest was shown

in the ora and fauna of Assam. As the province was surveyed in search of forest resources and the revenue forest resources of Assam. Jenkins's contemporary, William Robinson, belonging to the Gowhatti Government Seminary and keen 26

observer of the province, included a full-length chapter on botany in Descriptive Account of Assam.

He not

only described the timber trees, but also bamboos, cane, palms, and various other trees produced for gums p. 27

and varnishes. He described the

trees that were useful for dyeing and tanning, and collected information

about plants that were locally cultivated for the manufacture of thread or cordage. His chapter on botany minutely observed those trees that reared silkworm, lac insect, plants used for chewing and smoking, plants cultivated for their saccharine juice, medicinal plants, ower plants, fruits and trees. The East India Company's knowledge base on the local ora and fauna was based on this survey. Robinson had no doubt that the region bore a similar ecological setting as that of neighbouring Bengal. In matters of local ora and fauna, Robinson was more con dent than his predecessors. By this time, the colonial rule had penetrated further into the length and breadth of the region. Topographical knowledge of the region became clearer. Robinson admitted that though the forests in Assam had an extensive geographical distribution, no systematic attempt was made to ascertain the species of the trees contained in it. Robinson was trained in the existing eld of botany. He was sure that the botanical knowledge of the region would help in many ways. Thus he was eagerly looking for the possible unknown species that might be found here and yet completely unknown to the European botanists. Supported by further investigation into this subject, Robinson then gave a detailed description of Gomari, Poma, Sam, and Kathal along with other species, but did not highlight any native importance to these species. His description of Gomari is reproduced here to understand the process through which the timber entered into the colonial network: Among those yielding the most valuable and useful timbers, are the Gmelina arborea, Roxb., called by the Asamese Gomari, and in Bengali Gumba. The wood of this tree is used for a variety of economical purposes by the natives, and very much resembles teak. The colour is perhaps a shade or two lighter, and the grain somewhat closer; at the same time that it is fully as light, if not lighter, and may be as easily worked. It bears the e ects of weather better than almost any other timber, without shrinking or warping, it derives no injurious e ects from being kept in water, and 27

is not readily attacked by insects.

Robinson, however, had elaborate comments for improving the durability of these canoes and thereby economic viability of timber found in Assam. He claimed that ‘probably its value may be greatly enhanced should it ever be used for the knees, curved timbers, bottoms, and upper works of vessels, for which purposes it seems admirably adapted’. Further, Robinson also reported that these timbers were also used ‘for turnery ware of all kinds; and cylinders of a proper size constructed of it, admit of being turned very 28

thin for drums, and other musical instruments’. p. 28

Robinson's account is valuable from the perspective of European plant capitalism. It also consolidated the East India Company's hold over the resources of the region. There were two approaches in Robinson's botanical understanding. One aspect dealt with modern forestry in which the natives had minimum interaction. The second group covered common vegetation that was used by the natives for either consumption or pre-colonial industrial bases. During the course of the nineteenth century, the attitude of the colonial state and its various agencies towards the natural world of Assam underwent several changes. From initial bewilderment to

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

potential of the same was estimated, the Board of Revenue in Fort Williams recorded a bright picture of the

understanding the forest resources to integrating them into the world map of forest conservation, this could be seen in this century itself. There was a metamorphosis of the jungle into a managed landscape. In the early part of the nineteenth century, the Company o

cials were merely looking for the commercial viability

of the forest in Assam. But later in the century, the colonial state had to address a mixed bag of responsibilities, including the problem of conservation, the expansion of the plantation and agricultural frontier, and the demand for more revenue. These complex worries continued to determine the exigencies of the forest administration of Assam. It would be a mistake to believe that the colonial state understood the forest as an isolated area. By the mid-nineteenth century, both agriculture and forest were seen as complementary to each other. A.J.M. Mill, a senior company judge o

cial touring Assam, commentated that

there were immense uncultivated churs in the Brahmaputra and at plains in the interior, covered with grass and reed jungle with innumerable swamps. Mill was highly optimistic of the utilitarian prospect of these inferior jungles. Thus he was sure that these places would a ord excellent pasturage for numerous 29

herds of bu aloes.

the Charduar forest in the northern part of Darrang. In 1841, the imperial survey conducted the rst survey of the forests and there was another round of survey in 1849. Survey, cataloguing, and mapping of these 30

tracts were carried out and gradually the forests were brought under colonial supervision.

It is interesting

to observe here that till now the mapping of the forest tracts overlapped with the revenue boundaries coterminous with the category called mauza. In other words, while identifying the boundaries of Charduar, the deputy surveyor general, who was responsible for the survey, eloquently talked about the various p. 29

mauzas that fell within the forest. The surveyor

mentioned that the ‘general appearance of the forest is

high woody jungle of sandy but rich and fertile soil at present totally uncultivated as well as uninhabited’. He further stated that the ‘the climate is said to be healthy except in the months of May to September when it is not safe to domain out’. The surveyor named seven trees as ‘valuable’. There were evidences of various native groups working in the forest. The trees were sown into planks and then taken away to the neighbouring places. Though the surveyor did not mention the names of the places, he assumed that the tree species might cross over to the neighbouring states. The surveyor had estimated approximately 2,000 Caouchone or India rubber tree. He also reported that the juice of the India rubber was exported from Assam. The report did not stop here and included the local evidence of availability of gold dust as well as the distribution of wild animals. Through this survey the Charduar forest opened another pro table prospect for the colonial state. There was also a distinct professional class of woodcutters who worked in the forests of western Assam. There were lumbers, known as Mechies, who lived a little down the hills on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra in western Assam. These lumbers also engaged in cultivation, and frequently reclaimed land for agrarian activities. Others like the Garos, who lived between the Mechies and densely covered hills, were also engaged in timber trade. Their activity was con ned to felling and removal of timbers from inside the forests. Elephants were used in removing the timbers. The timber trade was given further shape with the presence of da adors or headmen who controlled the timber trade. They also brought up the people, living 31

still further away from the hills in the plains, after their harvesting was over for timber cutting.

The

subject acquired a serious dimension only in 1850, when the Bengal woodcutters frequently entered into the government forest areas to cut timbers and then ow them by the river Brahmaputra beyond Goalpara. These early observers, military personnel, or Company engineers remained the keen observers of the potential of the forest resources of Assam. The portrayal of the forest was merely con ned to identifying commercially viable trees for timber and the scope for its trade and commerce. There was no question of forest conservation and the idea of protection or reservation remained a distant dream. At the same time, that these forests were extensively exploited by merchants was missing from these accounts. p. 30

Like the forest produces the region's mineral resources did not go unnoticed. Gold was a key tool of political negotiation in the pre-colonial wars. In the 1750s, the French traveller Jean-Baptise Chevalier found both the working of gold sands in the riverbeds as well as a commanding display of gold in the royal palaces 32

despite the poverty of the people.

But this early enthusiasm never became a real prospect for any of the

European companies interested in this region. By the middle of the nineteenth century the East India Company had with made substantial progress with respect to the natural resources of the region. The Company continued its search for valuable mineral resources and engaged scholars who had vast knowledge of the region's natural resources to chart out a possible mapping of mineral resources. Despite early setback the search for gold as a commercially viable mineral continued for another couple of decades, nally

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Before a formal programme of forest conservation could make any progress some activity was also seen in

culminating in the last decade of the nineteenth century. Failure of this venture never discouraged the colonial explorers to further expanding their search for other mineral resources. They kept their eyes open for prospective discoveries of coal, lime, and any other mineral. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, coal was produced commercially in eastern Assam. It came as a major respite for the already ourishing tea-plantation. Coal was found not only in the eastern Assam districts but was fairly well33

distributed in various localities that could be either navigated or travelled through.

Coal allowed

commercial enterprises and British capital to penetrate in to the region. At the close of the century the Assam Railways and Trading (ART) Company could extract coal pro tably from the eastern districts of Assam. The British interest in the coal resources could be ideally described as equally signi cant to that of the colonial capital investment in the tea-plantation and forestry programme. However, it was the discovery of petroleum that had crucial and exclusive impact in the future ecological landscape, polity, and economy of Assam. The possible existence of petroleum in eastern Assam was noticed namely, tea. While tea-plants were noticed only in the 1830s, one of the rst recorded notices of petroleum deposits was way back in April 1825, a year before the East India Company concluded the Treaty of Yandaboo with the Burmese to occupy Assam. Lieutenant Wilcox, an army man and geologist, remains till date the 34

earliest observer to notice the oil in an Upper Assam village.

Wilcox served as surveyor of the eastern 35

Assam districts, and his survey of Assam expanded possibilities of more geological discoveries. p. 31

survey

Wilcox's

carefully observed both the geological formation and mineral resources of the region. His chance

notice of oil was no less dramatic. Wilcox's claim that local communities had no use for these minerals, such as oil, signi cantly aided the assertion by the colonial state of an exclusive claim on the mineral resources of the region. As further exploration took place in the following decades, several others also commentated upon the local inhabitants hardly having any use of these resources though on oil and coal they elaborately described local traditions and applications. Wilcox's ndings could not have signi cant impact in the early days of colonial rule and remained an isolated exercise though the East India Company arranged elaborate schemes to locate commercially viable minerals. In the aftermath of Wilcox's chance encounters with oil several others followed. They included botanical surveyors, military personnel, or commissioned travellers, who notice the richness of mineral resources as re ected in the region's geology. Their ndings were reported in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. This also helped to bring these ndings to the notice of the Company government. Amateur discoveries hardly had any in uence on the nature of investigations of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) to be taken up shortly. With the formation of the GSI in 1856 the nature of mineral exploration acquired a distinct professional nature leading to coordinated explorations by a professional team. Armed with institutional support, the GSI had undertaken elaborate explorations for petroleum and coal in Assam and its neighbouring areas. With the arrival of more technologically driven exploitation of natural resources in the second decade of the twentieth century attention was shifted towards the possibility of producing hydroelectricity generation in the region. Possibly, spelling out the most signi cant technological taming of nature, the imperial government instituted a survey to map the hydroelectricity potentialities of the region. The survey was conducted in ve di erent potential river heads and it was estimated that the region could 36

well produce surplus electricity.

However, lack of capital worked as a strong deterrent towards the actual

implementation of these ambitious projects.

Regulating Timber Trade: Prelude to Conservation By the middle of the nineteenth century the East India Company was in total control of the political territory of Assam. This required that these be a systematic administrative mechanism. An e ective revenue collection mechanism was in place. Though yet unsettled, the region's land resources were headed towards p. 32

coming into the rm grip of the

colonial rule. Various arms of administration began functioning. One

such wing of the Company administration, the Public Works Department (PWD), was to lay down various infrastructural supports required for e ective administration. The PWD emerged as one of the largest o

cial consumer of timber, which was used both for construction and fuel consumption. In the meanwhile,

within the Company circle an imminent crisis of timber and forest-based fuel had become a reality. Frantic searches of timber were reported in the eastern frontier of the Company ruled territories, which had already 37

extended to Burmese territory, particularly its Tenasserim region.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

since the early nineteenth century. Such observations preceded the signi cant nding of another plant,

Mention of the necessity for regulation of some form of timber trade in Assam was made as early as 1850. The pressure did not come from unexpected quarters, as the powerful lobby of timber merchants in Calcutta 38

had already pressurized for a quasi-regulated timber procurement regime. either. The increasing di rank o

Assam was not a di erent case

culty of procuring timbers from the western forests of Assam forced the lower-

cials, the tahsildars, to make several representations to the deputy commissioner of Kamrup and

mention the increasing hardship caused by the petty timber traders. Arguments claiming about ‘reckless felling of the valuable trees’ in western Assam districts were put forward. The o

cial position was that 39

everywhere one came across scenes of a sizeable amount of partly worked trees lying unattended.

The

timber traders frequent journeys into Assam attracted the attention of the district administration and it demanded immediate government intervention. Dalton, the Deputy Collector of Kamrup, reported to the commissioner that woodcutters belonging to Bengal frequently appeared in Kamrup forests and rampantly destroyed the forests. They came in search of sal trees which led to indiscriminate and unchecked felling of these trees.

contractors to fell wherever they pleased after having paid unauthorized cess to the scal o

cers. He

admitted that this was a rampant practice of the time. He also advised the commissioner that there should be minimum restrictions on the felling of the young trees of valuable species. This measure would prevent 40

wastage and ensure the regeneration of the forests.

He proposed a tax structure in which he suggested that

Rs 15 per 100 logs or nearly two-and-a-half annas a log should be levied. The new tax, if levied, would result in a total income of Rs 500 to Rs 600 annually to the Company. The new tax would also replace the already p. 33

existing tax imposed in the previous year upon the

timber cut in the Garo and Khasi hills, which was

oated down the rivers Kulsi and Singri in Kamrup. Subsequently, the Bengal government approved the proposal. Thus, with a view to protect the sal trees and 41

also to realize revenue, a tax of Rs 15 per 100 logs was imposed in 1850.

During the rst year, the task of

revenue collection from the timber trade was entrusted upon the local scal o

cials belonging to various

pergunneh or doars. They were given a commission of 5 per cent on the revenue collected. On the other hand, these new regulations did not forbid the peasants from their pre-existing privileges like cutting of grass, rewood, and house posts for their private use without any cess. In the rst year of this arrangement, an amount of Rs 460 was realized. The administration claimed that this new imposition of tax did not create any problem for either the peasants or the woodcutters. The administration argued that the woodcutters had also accepted the new rules and that they had taken out licences in increasing numbers. It was hoped that this would lead to increased revenue in the next year. The system continued till 1852. Dalton's successor, Captain Rowlatt, was not convinced about the capability of this system to check the felling of the trees. He found that the native revenue o

cials colluded with the

woodcutters and there was an eventual fall in the revenue from the estimated collection. To improve the situation, Rowlatt suggested that either customs stations should be established along the line of the streams by which the timber was oated down or the right of the collection of revenue should be given to the highest 42

bidder at a public auction.

Dalton argued such measures were already in practice in a successful way in

other provinces, where the forest was classi ed as government wasteland and was farmed out on ve-year leases to the highest bidder with no felling restrictions by girth or species. The Board of Revenue replaced the existing system with the latter plan in May 1852. To make the arrangement more e ective, the Board also directed that each farm should comprise of a pergunnah or doar or other well-known division. It was suggested that the ve-year lease period could be relaxed in the case of a well-known capitalist. The Board of Revenue was of the opinion that the farmers should be allowed to work in the forest at liberty. They also opined that the question of felling trees of certain sizes and prevention of the destruction of young trees could be left for future consideration. These conservation matters could be considered ‘after the forests had been more cleared’. In fact, the leniency of the Board p. 34

towards the timber farmers in matters of management of revenue collection gave

much space to the

latter to usurp the power of imposing a cess called goorkatee tax, a tax on cutting grass, rewood, and house-post, varying in each farm and on each peasant. There was resistance to this illegal imposition of tax, 43

which resulted in violent clashes between the peasants and the bidders in many places.

Taking prompt

action, Captain Jenkins, the commissioner, prohibited all kinds of cess on the peasants. As the forest in the western Assam came under some rudimentary protection, the timber contractors moved to the forest in the Upper Assam. The increasing pressure of the timber traders inside the forest of Upper

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Dalton suggested that a timber tax should be levied on all timber felled instead of allowing the timber

Assam forced the Company to extend the system, after a decade of experiment in Kamrup, to the districts of Nowgong and Darrang in 1861. But this arrangement did not remain in force for long. In 1863, the commissioner had revised his earlier order and ruled that the system was legitimate only in Kamrup. His revised order was based on the assumption that there existed no valuable forest in Sibsagar. He levied a certain scale of fees on logs of varying lengths in Nowgong, Darrang, and Lakhimpur. The scal o

cers

were asked to protect the forests from destruction and prevent the felling of small trees of certain noted species. This system continued till 1868 when the introduction of mauzadary system left the protection of 44

the forest in the hands of mauzadars—the revenue collectors.

The mauzadars were authorized to fell the

trees and were required to pay a nominal tax of four-and-a-half rupees per axe per year. Since each axe yielded approximately 50 logs per year and each log was sold for at least Rs 10 in markets along the river 45

Brahmuputra, the mauzadars hardly felt any constraint due to such impositions.

It was a common belief

that these revenue agents collected a signi cant amount through such deals. The destruction of forest went on as before.

W.H. Brownlow, the deputy commissioner of Nowgong, reported that he had no other option but to adopt 46

some measures of conservation.

He had appointed a sarborkar to each forest and had drawn up rules for

their guidance. First, the pattadars would be allowed to cut some speci c trees; others were debarred from 47

doing so.

48

They would have to pay 12 annas for each tree from 3–4 hats

in circumference. Again, for trees

exceeding in this girth they would have to pay one rupee and four annas. Secondly, every pattadar would plant two seedlings of any of the trees that were cut down. The seedling would be planted within a moderate distance of water carriage. Thirdly, no pattadar would be allowed to cut trees below 3 hats in girth, the p. 35

violation

of which would bring penalty as speci ed in the patta. Fourthly, the new o

cial would pay tax

before the logs or timber were practically oated down. He would pay the amount monthly and would also keep a monthly account of the transaction carried out. The sarbokars would receive 5 per cent of the total collection. There was high degree of chance for manipulation in the new arrangement. To avoid any such misuse of the system he appointed a person in Jagee to count timber oating through the main river tributaries. He even directed the o

cer-in-charge at Golaghat to create a similar post there.

In fact, before the emergence of a distinct forest conservation regime, it was the sawmills and the teaplantation sector that were in a privileged position to exploit the rich forests. The lumbering was reckless and there was no future plan of conservation. The sawmills, those in the Upper Assam districts in particular, never had any working plan to work the forest. Thus, as Gustav Mann prepared the rst provincial forest administration report, there was uneasiness amongst the limited foresters about the condition of depletion in the forest arena of Assam. Mann did not hesitate to mention that the Upper Assam Tea Company should be held responsible for the reckless felling of good trees in Dibrugarh. He, too, referred to the felling by the Deehing Saw Mill of the ‘exceptionally ne poma’ forest near the river Sessa and other forest tracts on the Upper and Lower Dihing. In a similar vein, the forests containing ‘high quality’ trees along the river Dibru had also been worked to a considerable level. The major bene ciary was the sawmill of the Upper Assam Tea Company. Likewise, the Dihing sawmill had worked on the forest on the river Lower Dihing from Dihingmukh up to Jaipur, in eastern Assam, covering an area of 560 square miles. The Dihing sawmill company had already worked the area extensively, which was made possible by the good water transport facility. The company had reached the better portion of the forest on the river Upper Dihing and its tributaries to the junction of the rivers Dihing and Tirup. However, as one moved upward one came across more hurdles in transportation, which slowed down the working of this area. By the fourth decade of the nineteenth century the forests tracts and its resources had rmly entered into the market economy. Their uses and markets were clearly spelled out. For instance, in Kamrup, a large part 49

of the densely covered forest tracts were handed over to the Lower Assam Tea Company on lease.

In

neighbouring Darrang, the right of collecting rubber was sold to the highest bidder. Permission was granted p. 36

to acquire rubber free of cost under the condition that a tree sapling would be

planted and rubber be

collected. Similarly, the best of the tracts containing sal trees, now de ned as wasteland, were leased out to tea-planters. In Sibsagar, similar land grants had been parcelled out in Nambor forest. In Lakhimpur, the greater part was still forested but a vibrant trade was already in place. It will be wrong to suggest that such a new economy had no involvement of the Assamese. An instance of such intricate connection was that of the mauzadars in Lakhimpur who supplied timbers to the sawmill of the district. The Bengal government's noti cation imposing several restrictions came soon. Accordingly, in May 1868, the Bengal government sanctioned an arrangement between the Forest Department and the Northeast Saw

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Since 1863 we come across evidence of more deputy collectors expressing the need for forest conservation.

Mills Company for cutting timber within certain limits. Rules were framed to prevent unregulated felling to check the deterioration of the forests. Charges were laid down which varied depending on its market value. Arrangement was also made so that the Company, until marked and passed by the Forest Department, could not use any timber. Soon many within the administration also began to express opinion that similar regulations were required for the prevention of unregulated destruction of the government forests in places where timber companies had been established.

Conserving the Forests: Experiment with Nambor Forests Prior to the nineteenth century the Ahom rulers often used to clear these dense forests during their military engagement with the Nagas and there was partial habitation. To make its claim more meaningful in their diplomatic relations with their frontier states, the Ahom rulers often attempted to settle more populous areas, space was created for the Kachari rulers. The latter had found these areas suitable for settled agriculture and encouraged peasants to settle there. These clearances did not remain for long and the 50

terrain readily relapsed into dense forest.

Continuous wars amongst various tribal states discouraged the

people from choosing these areas for a permanent settlement. For pre-colonial times, though there is no detailed evidence about the exact nature of the advance and retreat of the ‘frontier’ between settlement and waste it is generally argued that the Ahom state retained its authority over forest cover while the population 51

had privilege over the forest produce. p. 37

Unlike the evidence from western India, where Maratha chiefs and 52

rulers appropriated the natural resources for their own needs,

the Ahoms continuously encouraged

expansion of the agrarian frontier. They encouraged wet-rice cultivation as a more e ective means of 53

agrarian productivity

and also vigorously pursued the establishment of settled villages from that of

shifting agricultural practices. The socio-religious reformation movement in the sixteenth century was also centred on the practices of settled villages and further strengthened the foundations of state. It will be pertinent to mention here that the Ahoms, faced with sparse population, had no other way but to continuously engage in a policy of agricultural expansion in the plains in preference to the hills. High 54

rainfall also helped the practice of wet-rice cultivation, even without irrigation.

In the second quarter of the nineteenth century, when the East India Company began initial exploration of these areas, it did not come across any signi cant human population but found the area to be extremely rich 55

in timber.

Along with Nambor, other areas—the districts of Lakhimpur, Nowgaon, and Sibsagar, in

particular—that were rich in forest cover also came gradually under inspection. The presence of hard trees like Jarul (Lagerstroemia reginoe), Nahor (Mesua ferrea), Sam (Artocarpus chaplasha), Paroli (Stereospermum 56

chelonoides), Gunserai (Cinnamomum glanduliferum), Uriam (Bischo a javanica), and

with good

commercial viability for the increasing needs of the Company made the administration and control of the forests in Nambor a lucrative one. Elephant and coal were other known sources of revenue generation. 57

Soon villages were established by settling peasants in parts of these forests.

By the mid-nineteenth

century, the PWD, as the major consumer of the forest wealth in Assam, needed timber both as fuel and for its rapidly growing construction works. In Upper Assam, the requirement of the department was supplied from the forests of Nambor. The department soon faced recurrent fuel crisis and scarcity of construction materials. Several attempts were made to ascertain the causes of the growing scarcity of timbers. These enquiries convinced the administration that the existing practice of opium cultivation largely contributed to 58

the destruction of the trees.

Usually the opium cultivators found the tall trees as destroyer of the poppy at

its owering stage, thus preventing its ripening. The cultivator, nding it di

cult to grow opium, slashed

down the trees at regular intervals. The felled trees were never used either as rewood or in other ways. It was also found that neighbouring rich peasants were taking up land near Nambor. The Company thought p. 38

that such reclamation was of speculative nature and it was an important cause

of restricting the

availability of timbers for their uses. As most of the forests were not located in the hills, those peasants who were close to the forests had traditionally practised shifting cultivation. They cultivated mustard as the most important crop apart from sugar cane. It must be noted here that a sizeable section of people living in the neighbourhood of these forests used to practise elephant catching apart from collection of forest 59

produce inside the forests. A few people used trees for making of canoes needed for local river navigation.

The administration considered these as ‘reckless’ practices of clearing of trees in Nambor and was a matter of serious concern for it. Lieutenant Colonel D. Reid, an executive engineer in the PWD of the Upper Assam

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

villages in these crucial areas. In the course of time, when the Ahom state partially withdrew from these

division, had already written to the colonial establishment in Bengal about the di

culty faced in procuring

timber for his department. Though destruction of forests for opium cultivation was a familiar state of a airs 60

in Upper Assam, Reid was convinced that the tea-planters

were not also far behind in causing damage to

the forests. The planters removed the trees because too much shade hampered the growth of tea-plants. They needed the trees as rewood and for making tea-boxes. Though he reprimanded the planters community for their role in causing damage to the forest coverage, Reid, nonetheless, o ered few practical propositions for the potential growth of the industry. The tea-industry was already taking o 61

nancial reward.

in terms of its

Expressing his anxiety over the grim situation of the forest condition of Assam, Reid

asserted that 20 years hence good timber would not be procurable anywhere in the plains of Assam if opium cultivation was carried on at the current rate and if tea-cultivators did not keep a large proportion of their land in forest. So much so that each planter looking to the future would have to keep in reserve some land for supply of timber for chests, charcoal, and for building purposes, and other such activities.

quantity of timber’ could be procured from this forest whenever the department needed. Many of these colonial o 62

worried.

cers did not yet think about the natural regeneration of forests and this made them more Accordingly, in 1859, Reid wrote to Captain Jenkins, the Commissioner of Assam, submitting a 63

proposal to place Nambor forest at the disposal of the PWD.

Till then Assam did not have any guidelines in

matters of forest conservation. Reid's suggestion was based on the recommendation of masters, who was p. 39

then the sub-assistant of Golaghat. Probably, Masters' account is one of those 64

colonial science in Assam.

early masterpieces in

However, the Burma experiment in forest conservation came as great help.

Many in the Assam administration admitted the similarities of South-East Asia climate with that of Assam and there was no doubt that rules which were in force in Lower Burma could also be easily applied to Assam. Accordingly, Reid prepared a draft rule embodying exclusive guidelines for the conservation of Nambor. The proposed reserved tract would be under the charge of the executive engineer of Upper Assam division with extensive rights over the forests of Nambor. Reid asserted that the very purpose of this reservation was to preserve and encourage the growth of valuable timber for ‘governmental purposes and also working the coal beds and limestone quarries’. Optimistic about the forest wealth of Nambor under a controlled regime, Reid also anticipated that soon there would be sawmill in Nambor catering to the needs of the PWD. Reid had no doubt that the reservation of Nambor would be a great step towards the e ective management of the forest resources of Assam. He also admitted that the success of the reservation would depend on the strict vigilance of the superintendent and in his means of exercising supervision. He suggested that attention should be paid to the collection of seeds and creating nurseries to urgently ll the blank spaces that were created by the blanket cutting down of the trees. Captain Jenkins, though sceptical of Reid's proposal, forwarded it to the Bengal government. The other aspects that quickly drew the attention of the colonial establishment were the rich ora and fauna 65

of Nambor.

That the Ahoms drew on the rich brine salt ores in the hills of Nagaland for a signi cant part of

their salt requirement was not unknown either. The possibility of coal deposits in the higher hills was already known. Preliminary explorations in the nineteenth century brought more certainty to the existing conjectures. This had further reinforced the claim of the state over forest resources. In the meanwhile, P.J. Hannay, a professional geologist, who was touring Assam looking for mineral wealth, strongly opposed any move to hand over the land of the Nambor forests to any company. His exploration made brighter the likelihood of discovery of more mineral resources in Nambor. During 1859–60 there was further enquiry into the geological as well as the botanical wealth of the vicinity surrounding Nambor. Hannay advised the Assam administration on the immediate need of conservation of forest resources in Nambor. Extensive lists of specimens belonging to the geological and botanical nature were submitted to Captain Jenkins, convincing him about the importance of Nambor. p. 40

Reid expressed the hope that the reservation of Nambor would be a great step towards the e ective management of the forest resources of Assam. He hoped that the success of reservation would depend on the strict vigilance of the superintendent and in his means of exercising supervision. Attention was paid to the collection of seeds and creating nurseries to urgently ll the vacuum that was created by the blanket cutting down of the trees. To repair the damage done to the forest wealth of Assam, Reid made several practical proposals. The non-existence of sal and teak in the Nambor locality was a matter of much anxiety. Reid suggested that every year around 100 trees should be planted. Moreover, teak and sal should be given priority. He proposed that several maunds of sal and teak seeds should be sown and there should be enough nurseries at the roadside to rear the plants. The unavailability of the seeds and the expertise of the professional people soon created further problems for the conservation plans of Nambor. Reid, in fact,

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

The best alternative, Reid thought, was to demarcate forest lands in Nambor as a reserved area so that ‘any

asked the higher authorities to supply him with seeds and professional people so that he could go ahead with his plan. He was convinced about the urgent need of plantation of high quality trees without which the whole agenda of conservation would become meaningless. This view was accorded the highest priority by the lieutenant governor too. In the meantime, during 1859–60 there was further enquiry into the geological as well as the botanical wealth of the vicinity surrounding Nambor. Till now the province did not have any guidelines to follow in matters of forest conservation. The PWD soon procured similar kinds of rules that were in force in Lower Burma. Reid prepared a draft rule for the Nambor reserve in which detailed planning was worked out. The draft rule embodied a thorough and extensive guideline. The reserved tract would be under the charge of the executive engineer of Upper Assam division. The latter was vested with extensive rights and functions over the forest wealth of Nambor. Reid again reminded the Bengal government about the delay in taking the decision by the government. Reid suggested that even Masters could do the work of a ranger provided he was given an extra allowance. He had now informed the higher authorities about the boat-building practices among the natives and argued that this had caused extensive damage to the forest. The tract was handed over to the department of 66

public works in 1859. p. 41

And after prolonged deliberation, the Nambor forest came under some form of 67

rudimentary

forest conservation.

The sub-assistant collector of Golaghat issued a proclamation 68

notifying the reservation of Nambor on 29 September 1859.

The proclamation restricted the right of

cutting timber between Dooigurrung and Dayang rivers. Several existing roadworks between the Nambor and Dimapur were taken up by the government as a way of forest conservation. The tract that was identi ed was on the banks of the Dhanseeree and Dyang rivers in Nowgong and Golaghat. It was found that peasants from the Barpathar locality took up land in these areas for opium and mustard seed cultivation. The local mauzadar was instructed to make a thorough inquiry into the type of cultivation and names of the settlement holders. Within the colonial administration there was apparent ambiguity about the future of Nambor. Supervision of forests needed a di erent kind of health and physical commitment in the challenging climate of Assam. Administration of forest was markedly di erent from the everyday civil administrative works. Reid thought that Masters had with him all the requirements for the forest administration. In fact, Reid gave him a long note of recommendation about his capability. Master commanded the respect as well as con dence of the other superior o

cials owing to his ability to take over the new responsibility. Reid wrote about Masters:

I don't think that any other gentlemen would be selected who combines more quali cations for the charge; Mr. Masters has not only a very competent botanical knowledge of plants and a practical acquaintance with arboriculture, but he has a greater acquaintance with country in question than any other gentlemen may and he adds to these quali cations what peculiarly ts him for the employment now designed for him a constitution which enables him without apprehension to go about his work in most unhealthy localities at all seasons and he possesses above all an untiring activity and an unsel sh zeal, always ready to be devoted to the service of government and a good 69

temper securing the willing cooperation of natives of all classes.

Although Captain Jenkins, the commissioner of Assam, appreciated the enthusiasm of Reid and Masters in their e orts to reserve Nambor, he pointed out the practical di di

culties. He thought that it would be really

cult to nd and appoint a ranger who would have the skill and temperament of Masters to examine and

protect the wealth in Nambor. He felt that the arti cial germination of sal and teak seeds in Upper Assam would not be pro table and scienti c, and that such a project should be undertaken in the Lower Assam 70

districts only. p. 42

In spite of Jenkins's hesitation, in the next couple of months, Reid was supplied with such

seeds, which he distributed to the tea-planters who accordingly sowed

them in their gardens. Reid had to

face the damages done by elephants and other wild animals. He thought of digging trenches around the forest that was to be reserved. This would prevent the young trees from being damaged by the wild animals. After a long period of dilly-dallying the Board of Revenue in Bengal sanctioned the formation of forest establishment and also the declaration of Nambor as reserve in 1862. However, the government made some modi cations of the rules drafted by Reid. Masters was appointed as a forest ranger in charge of Nambor reserve. Nambor would come under the charge of two departments. While the Revenue Department would look after the responsibility of the preservation of the forests, the superintendent engineer was entrusted 71

with the task of delivery of timber to the PWD.

A small establishment was created to supervise the

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

However, Jenkins had hardly shown any enthusiasm in creating an extra forest establishment. Eventually,

72

everyday works. The establishment consisted of a native ranger, an assistant, ve peons, and 10 coolies.

They bore the responsibility for guarding the trees and propagating useful kinds of timber by casting the seed through the forest and to raise small nurseries of plants for planting in the best localities. It was also stipulated that the forest ranger or his assistant would on all occasions be present at the site of timber felling when timber had to be cut for the supply of government or private parties. It was noted that there were many valuable kinds of trees such as nahor, jarool, bola-jamoo, poma, uriam, and tenga, the last being found in great number. The object of the establishment was to sow the seeds of these trees and also to rear teak and sal. Neither of the latter two varieties appeared to be indigenous to Nambor. Restrictions were imposed on the normal practice of people getting free access to the forest. No person would be allowed to mark, girdle, or fell any good timber trees or otherwise injure them. Such works could not be carried out without a written order from the executive engineer of Upper Assam or the magistrate of Golaghat. Other restrictions warned the elephant owners that they would be held responsible for any injury done to the nurseries or plantations.

material. They also burned small patches of forest areas for extension of cultivation. Often trees were felled for the construction of canoes. What would happen to the existing rights of the peasants in these forests? The colonial state was still not convinced of its absolute right over the forest. Thus the peasants were allowed to collect timber with written permits from the executive engineer or the magistrate of Golaghat. p. 43

However, they were prohibited

from using the felled trees to make canoes to sell. There would be clear

boundary marks to distinguish the reserve. It was also stipulated that the common people would be able to purchase timber to a limited extent at a rate to be xed by the executive engineer according to the value of timber required. However, the payment was to be made before the delivery of the timber. Masters, who was also in charge of the post of forest ranger, was entrusted with the charge of reserving any land t to be preserved. The ranger was responsible for the selection and recommendation of tracts for reservation. In 1863, J. Thronton, the superintendent of the Nambor forest, sent a report to the deputy commissioner of 73

Nowgong describing the post-reserved Nambor.

He categorically stated that there was no sale of timber

from Nambor reserve during the past few years. Apart from the normal responsibility of watching the forest, the small establishment was entrusted with the duty of raising nurseries of cham, ajhar, and nahor. In 1863, the commissioner too made it clear that the Nambor forest should be preserved. He advised the immediate deputation of the forest o

cers to Nambor to select and conserve the better trees in Assam. In

Assam, the better class of forest land was best suited for tea cultivation. This further created a problem for the deputy commissioners in deciding which classes of forest land might be sold or leased for this purpose and which would be retained by the State. Realizing the importance of conservation of Nambor the government thought of having another establishment for the express purpose of cutting and selling of the timber from this reserve. However, Masters, the acting ranger did not see any worth in keeping a separate 74

establishment.

75

Assam forest. o

The supreme government was not sure whether to continue with the conservation of the

The nancial result of the Nambor experiment was yet to take o . M.W. Agnew, the

ciating commissioner of revenue, had submitted before the Board of Revenue of the Bengal government

that the reservation of Nambor must continue. Suggesting for a more e ective establishment, he proposed an overseer for the better management of the Nambor. The new o

ce would be directly under the deputy

commissioner. He proposed that an establishment of 20 coolies was also an immediate requirement. They would be required to clear the more valuable kinds of trees from the creeper. They would also ‘cut the under wood and destroy the useless woods’. Nambor was an early attempt at conservation of the forest in Assam solely aimed at its commercial p. 44

exploitation. The concerns of the Empire

determined the conservation agenda of the colonial

government. But the colonial state was not sure about its absolute right over forests. The Nambor forests provided a good example where many complex issues like acquiring absolute rights were addressed and was tried to resolve for the bene t of the Empire. The early success of Nambor also convinced the administration of the need of further survey for forests in Assam. This is discussed in the next section.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

The peasants of Barpathar and other adjacent villages close to the forest often collected timber for housing

Looking Beyond Nambor As the consultations for the Nambor reserve were going on, the Commissioner of Assam Valley asked his deputy collectors to provide information on the marketable timbers in the various forests of Assam. Surveys were conducted in various other forests in the valley in an urgent need to preserve timber resources, ostensibly creating a timber reserve of the Assam government. Similarly these surveys also became part of the colonial state's early e ort to understand the region's economic potential. Reid, after aptly handling the Nambor case, was more than competent to report on the condition of the forests of the extreme east. In his report, the forest above the Jaipore from the Numsing up to the junction of the Noa-Diheen (Na-Dihing) with Buree-Diheen (Buri-Dihing) was included. Reid was very optimistic that this forest could a ord to supply ne quality timber with its abundance of nahor trees. Trees were also for building purposes. The administration had the option of either proclaiming certain kinds of trees or in icting nes. The Board of Revenue was assured that such measures, if adopted, would not interfere with the existing rights of the peasants in such localities. The district of Lakhimpur was reported by its Deputy Collector Major H.S. Bivar. In a report to Captain Hopkinson on the condition of the forest in his district, Bivar showed that in north Lakhimpur, except the alluvial chur grasslands bordering the Brahmaputra, the character of the whole district was of a ‘vast forest 76

interspersed with patches of grass jungle and lowland swamp and mash’.

He pointed out that two-third of

the district could be identi ed as forest. For Bivar, the forests contained ‘magni cent timbers and the nest trees were found along the foot of the hills on either side of the valley’. Bivar's report contained their names and di erent uses. Amongst the better varieties of the timbers, nahor and sissu were identi ed as the most important trees growing in the district. Bivar estimated that, on an average, this forest would yield more p. 45

than 12

million trees. The number of rst class timber was also very high and he estimated that, on an

average, these forests could yield 5,000 rst class trees per square mile. However, he criticized the natives for their lack of utilitarian and commercial interest towards the forest. According to him, ‘the timber is held in little estimation by the inhabitants of the district and within a recent time trees have been felled indiscriminately by any one requiring wood whether for fuel or for building purposes’. Describing the poor and backward condition of the timber technology, Bivar reported that there was virtually no seasoning of the trees that were removed from the forest in a green state and the wood was barked to render it lighter. Trees thus removed were neither squared nor shaped. In removing the timber, bu aloes were used when it was heavy, and if light it was carried on or dragged by them. Up to a limited scale, the European planters and few native gentlemen used the help of the elephant. Bivar stated that there was only limited exploitation of the timber. The inhabitants of Dibrugarh required a meagre amount of timber and used it for the construction of their houses. The colonial state had already secured its right over the forest resources. There were restrictions on the use of forest by the natives. Permission from the collector was required to cut the big trees. The violation resulted in punishment, as it was ‘dealt with as mischief and un-aggravated misdemeanours and punished accordingly by criminal code’. The colonial government was not sure of who should occupy the important position between the forest and agriculture. Though Bivar appreciated the necessity of forest wealth, his survey still represented an ambiguity regarding the primacy of the forest and agrarian frontier as an agent of revenue generation. As people continued to clear the forestland for agrarian purposes, Bivar reported that ‘the timber is of no value on the ground’ and the people of Lakhimpur opened up the forest for cultivation. Bivar did not expect a 77

timber market in the near futures: ‘There are no timber market, nor is there any export trade’.

To the utter

dismay of this colonial administrator, the energetic and dynamic Bengal timber traders continued to exploit the timbers of the district. For him the apparently unhealthy character of the locality and the practical reasons of navigation and scarcity of labour force combined together to not invite the Bengal traders to work these forests. He expressed his belief that unless the European entrepreneurs stepped in, nothing could be expected of the forest in Lakhimpur: ‘Until the capitalists may nd it to their advantage to enter upon speculation other p. 46

than cultivation of tea it will…be di 78

the district with regard to timber.’

cult to advocate measures for

the development of the resources of

He was equally dismissive of any conservation to be taken up in these

forests. He wrote that ‘to introduce any measures of conservancy other than what obtains might prove of questionable expediency’. Thus, Bivar's report was a combination of scienti c observation, colonial

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

felled without any restrictions. He argued that the time had come to prevent the felling of these trees except

economy, and understanding of the forest. The colonial state did not envision a great conservancy programme till this time as there was hardly any commercial prospect of the forest and the commercial motif of the colonial state was visible in the languages of these district o

cers.

It was a di erent state of a airs in the forests of central Assam. Lieutenant Herbert Sconce, the Deputy Commissioner of Nowgong, responded to the commissioner's request by submitting a detailed report on the 79

forest of Assam.

His report was more systematically organized than that of his counterpart in Lakhimpur.

Sconce had no doubt that compared to the relative peace prevailing in the forest of Upper Assam, the timber traders had already exploited the forest of Nowgong to a considerable extent. Sconce reported that it was the Bengal boat builders who predominantly worked these forests. To a limited extent, the PWD participated in this process, too. On the other hand, the forest in Sibsagar was even more unworkable. The jungles were of a mixed character along with various types of ne quality timbers and for the sole purpose of felling. This would be the only way in which a regular supply of valuable timber for marketable purposes could be ensured. Such tracts were to be also cleared of creepers and underwood. These treatments would promote the growth of seedling and the development of the growing trees. Compared to what was known of the eastern Assam forests, the colonial administrators had a fair knowledge of the western Assam forest. The extensive workings of these tracts both by the colonial and native private enterprises had given frequent access to the colonial administrators. It was common knowledge that both the Bengal boat builders and the PWD regularly worked these forests. But ‘little pains and less art are shown in working the timbers’. In Darrang, along the Bhutan hills, a belt of forestland that was both of superior and inferior quality was noticed. That the woodcutters had been working in these tracts was common knowledge. According to a conservative estimate, nearly 350–400 logs, which were threep. 47

and-a-half to four-and-a-half cubits in girth and eight cubits in

length, were worked out every year. In

Balipara there were about 70 trees on an acre of land. But the number of marketable trees did not extend to even perhaps half that quantity in the other forest. Petty traders also often purchased these worked out 80

logs.

Backet, the deputy collector, further reported that a large portion of trees thus felled was converted

into boats and were sold at Rangamatti in Mangaldai. Compared to Darrang, in Kamrup the general consensus was that the only aggregation worth the name of 81

forest was to be found on the left bank of the river Brahmaputra along the Khasi hills.

In a report

submitted by Lloyd, the deputy collector of the district, it was mentioned that in these tracts the rights of cutting timber had been auctioned to public bidders who could furnish security for punctual payment. The interest of the tea-planters was quite evident in the forest resources of the district. At many instances these 82

bidders were European enterprises.

There were no restrictions on their felling; their lessees could cut any

timber of any size or any quantity. Lloyd believed that this system had worked prejudicially and the inevitable destruction of the forest was in the o

ng. This was conditioned by the easy working condition as

well as easier mode of natural transportation. Trees were cut in the cold season. The timber traders waited till the beginning of the rainy season. As the water level in the river went up, the trees were hauled down into the tributaries and from there they were oated down into the river Brahmaputra. The felling of trees 83

under the mahal system failed to protect the forest from ruthless destruction.

And the deputy collector

expressed his displeasure at the way destruction had been caused to the forest. He suggested another improved system of protection whereby the better forests would be selected and demarcated by raising pillars or maunds. As Herbert Sconce took over as the new deputy collector, the situation had reached such a state that at one point of time he had suggested that the entire business of cutting of timber should be banned temporarily for another 8–10 years. In the bordering Goalpara district, most of the land had already been settled permanently with the local 84

zamindars.

The government was left with those forests which were part of the hills only where brisk

timber trade was clearly visible. Most of the trees were brought from Bhutan purganah Purbatgong, Koontaghat, Hutraghat, and Garo hills. The district practised an elaborate system of timber working. The trees were cut into nine descriptions of logs. The size of these logs varied from 9 to 36 feet in length, by 1 to 6 feet in girth, and were each with a di erent name. The principal products of these trees were mostly p. 48

di erent types

85

of boats.

Da adors, who were traders in timber, employed professional people known as

Barmecatios to cut the timbers and the latter were paid before the agreement. Often it was also agreed upon that the latter would be given half the pro t after all expenses were squared. The da adors paid the revenue to the civil authorities according to the number of axes employed. They did not dispose of the logs in the

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

those were loaded with creepers. The district collector emphasized on keeping certain tracts of forestland

jungle. The logs were brought to the stacking grounds near the big rivers. Subsequently, timber merchants from Dacca, Jamalpur, Serajganj, Murseedabad, and Rajshahi bought the logs on the stacking ground. Timbers such bought were then rafted down the stream to the Bengal markets. The prices used to vary. Like his counterpart in Kamrup, the deputy collector could visualize the inevitable destruction of the forests. He argued that as compared to timber cutting it was the clearing of land for cultivation that was to blame for this. In the eyes of the colonial state, the responsibility of such forest destruction obviously rested with the native Garo tribe.

Forests, Trade, and Company Administration The lucrative forest trades and interest of the East India Company have already been mentioned before. Those commercial ventures were signi cantly di erent from the late nineteenth century commercial culty. In fact, the early days of Company rule saw

innumerable problems of commercialization of timber though it was a primary motivating factor. R. Bruce, whose report was used by Captain Jenkins in his 1835 report, mentioned that some trade was carried on in 86

sal wood in the forest of western Assam. He found that advances for sal wood

were generally made to

du adars immediately after the rainy season. As mentioned above, they would lease the forests, cut the wood, bring it, and deliver it on the banks of the Brahmaputra once the rains began. The trade was carried on in good faith, as the da adars were liable for huge balances without disturbing the trade. It is interesting to note that even before the Company's occupation of the Upper Assam, the Company traders were involved in the timber trade. But the prices were not very high. Bruce sold his entire collection of wood at Rs 3 per 87

pair.

Bruce gave elaborate suggestions for the expansion of the trade network in timber and other secondary businesses in Cachar. He suggested that if the timbers were sent to Serajganj or Dacca or Narainganj it would p. 49

cost Re 1 per pair to oat them down with boats or duty tax and it would

88

be sold at Rs 5 to Rs 9 per pair.

The woods were used in these areas for building the boat. It was doubtful whether the present method of working would be helpful if the demand went up. It was suggested that arrangement could be made to supply trees on a large scale by partly employing people to cut and bring out the trees from the dense jungle. Bruce was against the idea of using bullocks to drag out the timbers. Bruce further suggested that the outer portion of the trees would have to be removed. It was also necessary for the large trees to be squared. To save the high cost of sending the boat to Calcutta, Jenkins suggested the formation of an establishment of building boats in Assam to make it a commercially viable venture. Alternately he also advised that a very large and strong raft might be constructed to oat the timbers for a long distance. These rafts would carry the timbers by placing the lighter konda of wood beneath and the heavier ones that might be sent down during the rains above. Rafts thus sent, by passing through the outer Sundarbund, could come around to Calcutta. Jenkins was, however, of the view that good European ship chassis would be required to construct these rafts and bring them around till the natives of Assam learnt how to do it. Secondly, Jenkins suggested that the timber could be cut into small pieces according to the requirement of the probable buyers and they could be oated down by boats to the river Paddah and other rivers to Calcutta for sale. Thirdly, once the timber reached the river Paddah it could be sent further up, which was a journey of ve to six days, to reach nally Balaghat. Jenkins knew the probable commercial misadventure of this business and hence he maintained that ‘if this business was undertaken on a large scale and especially if large trees are required without very active, honest and intelligent overseers, nothing but loss and disappointment will occur’. Within a decade, in Cachar, the revenue prospect of forest as a commercial commodity attained a practicable phase. In the 1860s, the revenue in Cachar was derived by establishing a custom ghat on the river at which all rafts being oated down had to pay duty for each piece of timber. Moreover, a lease of these forests had been o ered embracing the right of tapping for India rubber only. The annual amount produced was 89

supposed to be 5000–6000 maunds. The southern forests of Assam were no di erent either.

For instance,

as 1832, the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, in its rst volume, published an account of the forests of Cachar that stressed on the quality, nature, and commercial aspects of these resources. The Journal reported that: p. 50

It is further probable that as the forest have never been thoroughly examined by any intelligent European; we are still ignorant of many valuable productions, which they contain. Besides the oak

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

aspects of the timber. The early commerce was full of di

and tun, chumal well tted for furniture, wild nutmeg, cinnamon and clove trees have it is said been seen in them [sic]. Highlighting the mercantile importance of these forests, the Journal detailed the uses of the trees for boat building in Cachar and neighbouring Sylhet. It suggested how primarily three kinds of timber, namely, gundah, dhum, and kari had a potential market were in Cachar. These timbers were sailed through the excellent river networks to be marketed in the timber markets of Calcutta. That these trades were not merely con ned to boat-making but were also extended to meeting various housing needs such as posts or beams was also highlighted. The prices varied in proportion to their sizes. The expense of oating the timbers from the forest to the Bengal market was about Re 1 anna 4 per score. But this expense was more than compensated by the sale of the bamboo, which was received without payment by the woodcutters to form the rafts.

consolidate the hold of the colonial authorities and to streamline the forest resources to easily available 90

markets.

An attempt was made to employ local people on contract basis to supply logs and woods for the

local markets where the European as well the native demands were higher. However, this type of commercial venture was limited to the local markets. Neither did it face the constraints of conservation politics. There were new markets too. Large groups of tea gardens created huge demands within a short period of time. More and more timber had reached the market and there was no accurate estimate of the destruction of forest cover necessitated by the new-found markets. Revenue continued to come in. Before the establishment of the formal Forest Department, the civil o

cers

made various attempts to earn revenue from the loose system of working the forest. During 1865–6, a total Rs 1,500 of revenue was earned from miscellaneous forest produces, which included the fees for licences to 91

cut timber, and to collect cauthchouc. 92

1,499 o

93

and Rs 7,865.

In the next two years, the revenue thus earned was estimated at Rs

The larger part of these earnings was still collected from the forests under the civil

cers. In the meantime, as the forest was making a brisk business, the government proposed for the

establishment of a separate division for the Assam forest, including that of Lower Bengal, Cachar, and 94

Chittagong.

The north Bengal forest was already under the methodological survey and conservation policy 95

of the government. p. 51

The East India Company was eyeing at other forest resources to increase the revenue. Thus, it was not only 96

timber but also a few other things, that is, the rubber, rheea and hemp, 97

that o ered further hope for the government. 98

forest of Assam,

and silk, found in Assam forest

Gaustav Mann, while preparing his inspection report on the

specially mentioned the soom forests, used for the production of muga silk, in the

districts of Lakhimpur and Sibsagar. Soon the colonial government expressed its desire to learn more about it. The government had brought production of soom within the purview of forest produce. After investigation though, the government found large-scale distribution of this class of forest but admitted that the trade was unmanageable till date. In 1872, Hopkinson, the commissioner of the Assam valley, estimated a total 102,617 bighas of such land yielding an annual revenue of Rs 27,875 in the Brahmaputra valley 99

districts.

Apart from that, the production of India rubber in Cachar had also attracted the attention of the 100

colonial government.

The colonial state was convinced of the commercial prospects of the Assam forest as a practical proposition. Soon this amateurism in the timber trade found a more systematic arrangement. It was ensured that timber could reach the customers in an e ective way. Mann had even proposed the establishment of a timber depot 101

in Kulsi in Kamrup in 1873.

What was needed was a systematic survey and mapping of these vastly spread

out forest resources without much delay. Such a survey of the forest resources of Assam in the post-1850 period resulted in the emergence of a map of the forest resources in Assam. This eventually helped in the entry of the natural landscape of Assam into the hands of professional foresters. In the next sections I have discussed the organized survey and mapping of the forest in Assam.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

As the need of the local requirements for fuel consumption and tea gardens increased there were attempts to

Survey under Bengal Forest Department, 1868–74 The rudimentary forestry was given a new lease of life after the establishment of the Imperial Forest Department in 1864. The department was entrusted with the responsibility of identifying the sources of supply of strong and durable timbers to be used as railway sleepers. An assistant conservator of forest was 102

appointed to look into the forest resources of Assam in 1868.

Initially it was placed directly under the

order of the Bengal government as at that time, Assam was under the provincial administration of Bengal. Since then the colonial government, under the supervision of the Forest Department, began to survey the 103

p. 52

forest resources of the region.

The assistant conservator was to generally

examine and select the forest 104

reserves of Assam during this period as per the regulations of the Bengal Forest Act of 1865.

This process

helped in arranging the forest resources as per the imperial demands and also in the emergence of future forest reservation. cer who had extensive knowledge of the Burma forest, was entrusted with the

task of preparing a report on the condition of the forest resources of Assam. During 1868 and 1869 Mann, as an experienced forester, conducted an extensive survey of the Assam forest. This inspection commenced at the river Sunkosh, the western boundary of the province north of the Brahmaputra.

105

In the beginning, the

survey was con ned to the north side of the Brahmaputra between the rivers Manas and Dibrugarh. In the next year, the survey was extended to Lakhimpur and to the districts of Sibsagar, Nowgong, Naga hills, and Khasi and Jayantia hills. Between 1868 and 1970 Mann had also submitted two detailed reports on the condition of the forest of 106

Assam.

One report was appended with the Bengal Forest Administration report of the year 1869. Realizing

the potential of the forest in Assam, H. Leeds, the Conservator of Bengal, had forwarded these reports to the 107

Government of Bengal in the early part of February 1869.

The 1868–9 report had a smaller canvass

compared to the next one. Apart from a separate report on Assam, this report gave a good account of the forest resources in Goalpara, which were mostly in the hands of private owners. It was a meticulous documentation of the forest resources of Assam and included the means to exploit the same. Leeds expected that the present task would help in due appreciation of the revenue to be earned from the Assam forests. In his language, ‘their real value would now be yielding immense stocks of timber and large returns of revenue’. Mann suggested that the forest-covered land in Assam was of approximately 4,000 square miles though it did not have any uniform revenue prospects. For instance, he argued that while the Naga hill forests which were under reserve were rich, the forest of the Nowgong district were inferior in quality and over the years they had been destroyed by the reckless jhumming. It was also not that all the tracts contained the good quality timbers. Mann estimated that the most important of the tracts were the forests of PurbatJuar range, extending over about 144 square miles. This tract mostly contained sal. These were pure sal forests grown on high level and were in close proximity to the river Brahmaputra. Mann informed that the p. 53

pressure of the local people was minimal in these tracts as the local inhabitants normally did

not build

their houses with sal posts. Thus, they could be easily worked without plundering the tracts to be reserved. It was also realized that the income derived from this forest was less than the income derived from the equal amount of cultivated land. There was every probability that the revenue derived from the forest was going to decrease, as more and more land would be opened up for agriculture. The o

cials thought that if the owners

of the forested land could be induced to hand over the forestland in exchange for the equal amount of cultivated land, this would keep the forest revenue intact in the future. Moreover, this would also probably increase the revenue from the forest area. 108

Further away, Mann divided the forests in the Lakhimpur district into two distinct categories.

He placed

the forestlands that were within the jurisdiction of the civil authorities in the rst category. He informed that some form of conservation had been introduced in this category. In the second category he kept those forests that were outside the purview of the civil authorities. The government had apparently refrained from bringing these under them. The reason behind this is very clear. The colonial state had yet to settle down properly in this frontier with various tribal communities. The institutional apparatus of the colonial state was yet to penetrate deep into the frontier tracts. And it was better for them to avoid rather than to disturb the property rights of these communities. Mann was aware of the fact that there was good transport facility to work the forests of these tracts. He had referred to the forest on the left bank of river Brahmaputra lying between Saikhowaghat and Dibrumukh. The forest in this tract had already been extensively worked. The superior quality forest along the river Dibru was also worked mainly by the Upper Assam Tea Company's sawmill. Mann identi ed another tract of forest containing superior quality of forest on the left bank of the

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Gaustav Mann, a German o

Brahmaputra located between the Dibrumukh and Buri Dihingmukh extending over an area of 15 miles. It was worked to a limited extent in the immediate neighbourhood of the rivers Larooajhan and Gaboorijhan in places accessible to the villagers for their own. On the other hand, the forests on the Lower Dihing river from Dihingmukh up to Jaipur covered an area of about 560 square miles. The Deehing saw mill company's operations had already reached these forests, which contained a large supply of the most excellent timber in eastern Assam. These forests had good transport facility. During the early days of conservation, the department seemed to be hovering between the problem of actual p. 54

state of forest coverage and its

future condition. Mann argued that such an estimate was di

cult to make

in the face of two types of cultivation that were prevalent in Assam. One was the constant change of acreage that was coming under the tea-cultivation and the wet-rice cultivation. Mann nonetheless expressed his doubt about the actual character of the timber. He admitted that it must be remembered that the greater 109

part of this was what a forester would reckon to be mere rubbish.

Mann con ded his unhappiness with the

were merely suitable for the secondary timber. He spelt out the names of tea, lac, or cauthchouc which grew favourably in Assam. With a little bit of scepticism, Mann suggested that there were few places where there was the possibility of growing rst-class timber, namely, sal, teak, and the like, and this could be a good ground for the propagation of the plantation scheme. Mann's report came with a clear assumption that preservation and reservation should be con ned to ‘strictly what we could nd really merchantable timber 110

growth and to leave the rest to the uses of the local population’.

Mann's account of the forest in Assam was important from several accounts. These reports entail the con dence of a professional forester in the person of Gustav Mann. His extensive travels in the similar terrains of Burma and Sikkim had given Mann a fair idea of the forest types in Assam and its ecology. Nowhere did Mann express his inability to comprehend the forest character of Assam. Mann's reports are important also from the viewpoint of forest estimate, of various types along with their market value. Mann had carried out the survey of western Assam along with his survey of the north Bengal forest and hence for him the forest in western Assam was a further extension of the north Bengal types. These reports not only described the existing organization as well as its potential commercial prospect but also steered the history of colonial forestry in Assam. In fact, these reports became the guiding principle for the weak and nascent forest establishment of Assam.

Wilhelm Schlich and Ideas of Assam Forests The con guration of Assam must have been originally entirely hilly…in course of time deposits were made and the base of the valley has been raised Wilhelm Schlich, 1873 By this time the apparatus of forest administration was within the sight of the colonial state. This was p. 55

strikingly signi cant considering the rapidity

with which the colonial state grounded itself, so

passionately involved in the question of civil and revenue administration, in the new task of forest management. And it was with this view of bringing the dispersed forested tracts elsewhere that in 1873, 111

Wilhelm Schlich, the conservator of forests in Bengal, visited Assam.

Schlich was yet to succeed Brandis

in terms of taking the cudgel of practising continental forestry paradigm in India but his extensive understanding of eastern Indian forests was realistic as well as endowed with knowledge of natural 112

resources.

He travelled extensively in the forest of western and eastern Assam, which was crucial from the

perspective of timber trade that is the ‘Kusli sal forests, the Jeerung forests, Khasi hill pine and temperate forest, the forests between Debrooghur, Jaipure, and Makum comprising mixed plain, Soom and lower hill 113

forests and the two experimental teak plantations’.

At that time Mann was also touring Assam and had

acquired a fair knowledge about the forest resources of Assam. Schlich prepared a report on the condition of forest administration of Assam. This represented the command of the colonial government over the forest 114

resources of Assam in the early part of the 1870s.

The memorandum was based on both Mann's

observations as well as a survey conducted by Aylmer and Forrest along with Mann's personal experiences of the Assam forest. This long memorandum contained a detailed survey of the various aspects of the forest and climate of Assam. However, its importance was in laying out the scheme for the future forest management of Assam, thus ending years of uneasiness about the possible bene t of such management. During the time of his visit there had been already a schema of forest administration along with possible

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

timber quality of Assam as compared with that of Burma. He identi ed that the soil and climate of Assam

commercial viability. Thus, Schlich could throw much light on the existing activity of the Forest Department. It marked the heyday of the establishment of an important Forest Department in Assam. Schlich's visit formally incorporated the Assam forest administration into the wider orbit of the imperial forest policy. The memorandum gave a clear picture of the forest of Assam in the more accurate language of science and forestry. The memorandum is important on two accounts: it was the rst ever systematic classi cation and categorization of the forest resources of Assam and it laid down the principles of the future administration of the forest in Assam. 115

Schlich estimated that, in the province, out of the 92 per cent of land

that was not under cultivation ‘the 116

greater portion is under forest’, which gave the country an ‘extremely jungly aspect’. p. 56

estimate, he suggested that an estimated 4,565 square miles of land was

Relying on Mann's 117

under the forest coverage.

The Brahmaputra valley had been carefully examined by Mann and based upon this, Schlich classi ed the forests of Assam. He admitted that such classi cation was di

cult to arrive at. The number of species of

considerably, although essentially di erent in many points’. Schlich made a sevenfold classi cation of the forests of Assam, which was sal, mixed, soom, savannah, lower Hill, pine, and upper hill forest. The mixed plain, soom, and savannah and sal forests were to be found in the plains. The sal was to be partly found in the lower hills too. The lower hill forests were distributed from the foot of the hills to the elevation of 3,000 feet. The pine was located at an elevation of 2,500–6,000 feet whereas the upper hill forests were found above 4,500 feet elevation. Though the rst ve types had a large number of common trees it was the existence of some particular species that distinguished them from each other. For instance, the sal forests contained chie y sal trees only. This type of forest was found in Goalpara to Darrang along the foothills of the Himalayas but gradually thinning out as it moved eastward. In the poetic description of Schlich a similar strip of sal bearing forests was found running, ‘along the foot and lower part of the northern portion of the Garo and Khasi hills and the adjoining parts of the Kamroop district,— rst broad and rich in sal, but in running on to the Nowgong district becoming narrower and poorer as it proceeds towards the east, dying 118

away near the eastern boundary of Nowgong almost opposite the eastern limit of the Durrung district’. The mixed plain forest was predominantly of evergreen type and bore similarity with the soom forest

having more numerical presence of soom. In Schlich's scheme this type of forest was abundant in both sides of Kamrup but the strip became thinner as one approached the Darrang district, like that of the sal belt. Spanning a belt of 5–30 miles in breadth, this strip of forest was found in both sides of the Brahmaputra up to the eastern most portion of the province, varying in intensity. Between Nowgong and Kamrup it was found in scattered and detached blocks. Schlich reminded us that ‘where sal disappears in the east of Durrung and Nowgong naturally grown soom appears going on increasing on proceedings towards the east’. This belt, however, was mainly of small extent. Schlich opined that only in exceptional cases did this belt expand more than one mile in breadth. Both these types of forests were ‘always fully stocked—in fact dense and very moist’ and many of them had attained ‘a good size’. The chief timbers in these forests were ajhar, p. 57

sam,

jamu, and India-rubber. The greater portion of these forests was under water during the rainy

season. Schlich identi ed the landmass between Brahmaputra and the belt of mixed plain forest as savannah forest (see Fig. 1.2). This patch of land was covered with grass and scattered with trees. The lower hill forest was rich in bamboo, mostly containing deciduous trees, including sal. Such type of forests was found in Garo, Khasi, and Naga hills. The timber had attained a ner shape than the mixed plain forest. The upper hill forests, found in the Khasi hills in patches near watercourses or springs, contained mostly temperate trees.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

timber trees found in Assam was extremely varied and thus ‘some of the classes resemble each other

Fig. 1.2

Schlich's visit gave a shape to the forest administration in Assam. He brought with him the con dence of contemporary forest managers into the Assam forests and determined the trajectory from initial wilderness to apprehension about the e ectiveness of having a separate Forest Department. His memorandum went a long way in giving concrete shape to the forest resources of Assam and they became an integral part of the Assam administration. His ideas of the future of this natural endowment were spelled out with an elaborate scheme of the management. The destiny of the forests was to be in the hands of the trained and professional foresters.

Foundation of Imperial Forestry, 1879–89 In 1874, Assam was declared a separate chief commissionership and eventually the Department of Forest became an independent wing. Management of the a airs of forest and revenue earnings began on a war footing. New additions were made into the Reserved Forest areas. Also timber from the region found its way into the larger market. The colonial agencies, to be discussed later, constituted a huge consumer of this timber market. The principal consumers were the tea industry and railways. Once a part of a larger network, the forests came under more careful surveillance of the colonial state. The visit of Dietrich Brandis, the Inspector General of Forest in India, in 1879, signalled the nal culmination of the long years of 119

apprehension about the future of the forest in Assam.

Brandis, with his experience of Burma and its

forests, was more than familiar with the Assam climate and its forest vegetation. Brandis inspected the forests of Assam during February and May 1879. His inspection was more elaborate and methodological, being informed by the science of forestry. Local Forest Department o p. 58

administrative o

cials and other

cials accompanied and briefed Brandis.

p. 59 p. 60

Gustav Mann provided him with the local knowledge of the Assam forest. Years of systematic reservation and exploitation of the forest wealth had already passed by and this gave the department more assurance in its understanding of the forests of Assam. Returning to Calcutta, Brandis submitted a report. The report entitled ‘Suggestions Regarding Forest Administration in Assam’ was a detailed survey of the forest resources of Assam based on the idea of scienti c forestry, which was more than mere commercial 120

exploitation.

Already Brandis had prepared similar reports for other Indian provinces, which worked as a 121

model for Assam and elsewhere.

Assam's climate and its ecological setting was an eye-opener for Brandis

and he realized the complex nature of Indian forests. In fact, much of Mann's understanding about the forests of Assam had gone into the crafting of Brandis's account. This account remained a hallmark of the

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Map showing distribution of forests in Assam. Based on Wilhelm Schlich's description of Assam during 1870s. Courtesy Prasanta Bhattacharya

forest management in Assam. The account further elaborated on the existing classi cation of the forest resources of Assam, speculated about the commercial potentialities, and spelled out elaborate guidelines for the management of the forests of Assam. Brandis's survey and report on the forest resources of Assam gave a clear picture about its revenue prospects.

Fig. 1.3

There were di erences between the Schlich and Brandis accounts of the forest of Assam. While Schlich could not spell out a con dent tone about the a airs of the Assam forest, Brandis expressed con dence throughout his account. Brandis's account included details while Schlich had a very general scheme. It was a more detailed elaboration on the distribution of the forest wealth. Boundaries of the forested areas were well de ned. Brandis described eastern parts of Assam, including parts of Darrang district as forest country, while the middle and western Assam was comparatively ‘open country’ with vast extents of open grassland. In western Assam, in his estimate, the forest could be found only on the extensive tracts of high land, in the vicinity of the hills, and on the isolated hills. Further down, he noticed extensive sal forests and extensive tracts of grassland on the high ground to the north of the river Brahmaputra. Evergreen forests were located at the foothills of Goalpara and Darrang, along the streams and on stretches of low ground in Goalpara and Darrang. Brandis also identi ed the soom forest as a subdivision of the evergreen forest. In between, Brandis took note of open deciduous forest, which were mostly young varieties of khair and sissu. What lay south of Brahmaputra and beyond? Brandis noted that in the south of the Brahmaputra and east of p. 61

the Mikir and Rengma Naga hills there were considerable stretches of evergreen forest in the plains while in the west of the Mikir hills there was only deciduous forest. Within a few miles west of Gauhati, sal was a principal tree, which had a nominal presence in the east of Gauhati, while the forest was of mixed character. Brandis concurred with the classi cation made by Mann with little alteration. Apart from classi cation, Brandis highlighted the other timber types found in Assam which helped to depart from a complete reliance on hard timber to other varieties. He mentioned that ajhar, sam, otengah, and semul were found throughout the valley. Nonetheless Brandis's survey tapped the huge potentialities of the forest wealth of Assam, which was till then a matter of hesitation. After him, as the ninetieth century drew to a close, the Forest Department had evolved a consensus on the types and characters of the forest in Assam. Berthold Ribbentrop, who acted as the Inspector General of Forest during 1888–1900 and toured Assam in the year 1889, expressed views similar to those of Brandis 122

about the forest types of Assam.

He added one more type into the classi cation made by Brandis and,

accordingly, divided the forests of Assam into eight types; savannah grasslands; sal; sissu and khair; mixed deciduous forests; evergreen forests; bamboo forests; cane-brakes, and pine forests.

123

Brandis's

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Map showing distribution of forests in British Indian Empire. Based on Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. 26, Atlas 1909. Courtesy Prasanta Bhattacharya

classi cation was based on the possible maximization of the forest economy and suitability of distinct management. Since the early days of East India Company's rule, the forest in Assam came under supervision and gradually most of the forested areas were mapped. Mapping gave a con dence to the Forest Department to give the jungle the much sought after order. Trade in forest produces had in the meantime acquired further legitimacy with the publication of J.F. Michell's report on the hill territories of the province, which clearly endowed the colonial administration with the changing nature of trade relation in forest produces between 124

the hill people and the colonial empire.

In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, a possibly successful

idea of continental forestry began its own path in Assam; subsequent chapters discuss in detail the history of the management of the forest under the imperial forestry.

p. 62

1.

P.D. Stracey, 1949, Notes on Forest Industries of Assam, Shillong: Government Press, p. 1.

2.

R.B. Pemberton, 1838 (reprint 1991), Report on the Eastern Frontier of British India, Guwahati: Department of Historical and Antiquarian Studies, p. 66.

3.

Colonel L.W. Shakespear, 1929, History of the Assam Rifles, London: Macmillan, pp. 37–8.

4.

Mark Harrison has discussed the attitude of the colonial state towards the Indian climate and environment. See M. Harrison, 2002, Climates and Constitutions: Health, Race, Environment and British Imperialism in India 1600–1850, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

5.

Anonymous British O icer quoted in Shakespeare, History of the Assam Rifles, p. 79.

6.

Quoted in Shakespear, History of the Assam Rifles, p. 68.

7.

Ibid., pp. 160–1.

8.

For details about EIC's trade with Assam see, S.K. Bhuyan, 1974, Anglo-Assamese Relation, 1771–1826: A History of the Relations of Assam with the East India Company from 1771 to 1826, Based on Original Sources, Guwahati: LBS, chapters ii– v.

9.

One such instance was that of J. Kerr, 1781, ʻNatural History of the Insect Which Produces the Gum Laccaʼ, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. 71, pp. 374–82 10.1098/rstl.1781.0048 , where Kerr talked passionately about the biology of the insect which was instrumental in producing such a lucrative forest produce.

10.

The Yandaboo Treaty concluded between EIC and Burmese Kingdom clearly spelled out the rights of the former over forest resources.

11.

Bhuyan, Anglo-Assamese Relation, p. 55.

12.

C. Hatchett, 1804, ʻAnalytical Experiments and Observations on Lacʼ, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. 94, pp. 191–218 10.1098/rstl.1804.0011 . Pemberton estimated that an approximately 10,000 maunds of stick lac was exported from Assam in 1809 priced at Rs 35,000; Pemberton, 1991, Report on the Eastern Frontier of British India, p. 83.

p. 63

13.

For an exciting narration of Gri ith botanical voyage see, W. Gri ith, Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and the Neighbouring Countries. W. Gri ith, 1840, Report on the Tea Plant of Upper Assam, Calcutta, Presented to Parliament as part of the 1839 Parliamentary Papers relating to Measures for Introducing Cultivation of Tea Plant in British Possessions in India, vol. XXXIX, paper 63, p. 1840.

14.

Ibid.

15.

Arnold argues that ʻWallich identified several new species of orchidsʼ. See ʻA List of Terrestrial and Epiphytical Orchideae Found in Assam and the Neighbouring Hillsʼ, May 1850, in N. Wallich to G. Bentham, 20 August 1850, Bentham Correspondence, quoted in D. Arnold, 2008, ʻPlant Capitalism and Company Scienceʼ, p. 918, fn. 70.

16.

Pemberton, Report on the Eastern Frontier of British India, pp. 61–86.

17.

J.D. Hooker, 1854, Himalayan Journals or Notes of a Naturalist in Bengal, the Sikkim and Nepal Himalayas, the Khasia Mountains, etc., vol. II, (chapters XXVIII–XXX 10.5962/bhl.title.60447 . For a discussion on botanical career of Hooker see, J. Endersby, 2008, Imperial Nature: Joseph Hooker and the Practices of Victorian Science, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, for his Indian career see, D. Arnold, The Tropics and the Travelling Gaze: India, Landscape and Science, 1800– 1856, Delhi: Permanent Black.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Notes

Arnold, ʻPlant Capitalism and Company Scienceʼ, pp. 899–928.

19.

J. M'Cosh, 1837, Topography of Assam, Calcutta: Bengal Military Orphan Press, p. 37.

20.

For instance, it was mentioned that the Boro-helock's scientific name is Antidesma, found in mountain ranges, 6 feet in girth and the wood is used for furniture.

21.

S.F. Hannay, 1845, ʻObservations on the quality of Principal Timber Trees Growing in the vicinity of Upper Assamʼ, Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, vol. 4, pp. 116–33. He was one of those early professional geologists who kept fortifying the topographical foundation of the colonial empire in matters of local knowledge. Captain Hannay's journal of 1835–6 as part of his travel from Burma to Assam appeared as Selection of Papers Regarding the Hill Tracts Between Assam and Burmah and of the Upper Brahmaputra, Calcutta: Bengal Secretariat Press.

22.

F. Jenkins, 1835, second print, 1995, Report on the North East Frontier of India, (ed.) H.K. Barpujari, Guwahati: Spectrum.

23.

Ibid. appendix A (ii).

24.

Ibid., pp.

25.

The names included Loll Jea, Kala Jea, Panea Jea, Newer or Mahao, Chama or Cham, Powah or Pamah, Gundserai, Goojaraie, or Saul wood, Koom, Amree, Lall Jarool, Sufed or Bagah Karai, Pak, Surrul or Fir trees, Walnut, Bolah or Booleah, Beyer Nuny, Ashee, Budia, Teea Chumpa and Soloek. See Jenkins, 1995, Report on the North-Eastern Frontier of India, pp. 79–81.

26.

W. Robinson, 1841 (reprint, Delhi, 1975), A Descriptive Account of Assam, Guwahati: Spectrum, pp. 39–43.

27.

Robinson, A Descriptive Account of Assam, p. 41.

28.

Ibid.

29.

A.J.M. Mills, 1853 (reprint, 1984), Report on the Province of Assam, Guwahati: Assam Publishing House, p. 3.

30.

From Captain H.L. Therellier, Deputy Surveyor General to General Plawden, Secretary to Sadar Board of Revenue, File no. 364. no. 38 Bengal Government Papers Serial nos 1–3 (Assam State Archive, herea er ASA).

31.

From H. Leeds to the Secretary Government of Bengal, 5 February 1869, Mann Report, para. 30. PWD, Revenue-Forests, September, Proceedings nos 64–7 (National Archive of India, herea er NAI).

32.

J. Deloche (ed.), 2008, Adventures of Jean Baptise Chevalier in Eastern India, Guwahati: LBS.

33.

For an elaborate discussion on coal exploration in these areas see, H.K. Barpujari (ed.), 1992, The Comprehensive History of Assam vol. iv, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board.

34.

R. Wilcox, ʻMemoir of a Survey of Assam, and the Neighbouring Countries Executed in 1825–6–7–8ʼ, Asiatic Researches, vol. XVII, pp. 314–467. He belonged to the 46th regiment of the native infantry.

35.

The British home intelligence notified the visit of Wilcox in its report. The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Miscellany, p. 380.

36.

B.A. Blenkinsop, 1923, Report on Hydro-Electric Surveys, Assam, vol. 1, Shillong: Government Press.

37.

Raymond L. Bryant, 1994, ʻFrom Laissez-Faire to Scientific Forestry: Forest Management in Early Colonial Burma, 1826– 1885ʼ, Forest & Conservation History, vol. 38, no. 4, October, pp. 160–70 10.2307/3983602

.

38.

Ibid. 10.2307/3983602

39.

Annual Progress Report on the Forest Administration of Assam (herea er Annual Report), 1874–75, para. 10.

40.

The regeneration of forests became a part of the scientific management of the forest department. This is dealt separately in Chapter 6.

41.

From R. Thompson, O iciating Secretary to the Board of Revenue, Lower Provinces to the Secretary to the Government of Bengal, No. 719, 8 October 1861, File no. 374, Government of Bengal 1861 (ASA).

42.

Ibid. 10.2307/3983602

43.

Ibid 10.2307/3983602

44.

Annual Report 1874–75, para. 10. For a brief introduction of the revenue system of Assam in the nineteenth century, see, A. Guha, 1993, Medieval and Early Colonial Assam Society, Polity, Economy, Calcutta: KPB, pp. 280–96.

45.

Annual Report 1874–75, para. 15.

.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 64

18.

Letter from W.H. Brownlow, Deputy Commissioner, Nowgong to the Commissioner of Assam, Nowgong 10 April 1863, File no. 428 Assam Commissionerate (herea er AC), (ASA).

47.

The trees thus selected were: sal, karai, poma, jam, nahor, ajhar, hollock, gonsorai, and amari.

48.

Native scale of length measurement is the hand, from the top of the middle finger to the elbow.

49.

Annual Report 1874–75, para. 18.

50.

Early in the twentieth century personnel from the provincial agricultural department, who investigated into the possibilities of peasant cultivation in these forests, noticed traces of pre-colonial settlement in these areas.

51.

See, Bhuyan, 1974, ʻAnglo-Assamese Relationʼ, p. 126.

52.

This point has been elaborated and explained in a recent essay by S. Guha. see, ʻControl of Grass and Fodder Resourcesʼ, in M. Rangarajan (ed.), 2007, Environmental Issues in India: A Reader, Delhi: Pearson. For detailed elaboration of this dimension see his earlier work, S. Guha, Environment and Ethnicity in India, 1200–1991, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 10.1017/CBO9780511523946

53.

.

For further elaboration on this point see, A. Guha, 1983, ʻThe Ahom Political System: An Enquiry into the State Formation Process in Medieval Assam (1228–1714), Social Scientist, vol. 11, pp. 3–34 10.2307/3516963

54. p. 65

p. 66

.

Historians di ered on the origin and the nature of promotion by the Ahoms towards the wet-rice cultivation. To follow the debates see, N. Lahiri, 1984, ʻThe Pre-Ahom Roots of Medieval Assamʼ, Social Scientist, vol. 12, no. 6, pp. 60– 9 10.2307/3517004 ; Guha, ʻThe Ahom Political Systemʼ 10.2307/3516963 , and Guha, ʻThe Medieval Economy of Assamʼ, in Tapan Raychaudhuri and Irfan Habib (eds), 1984, The Cambridge Economic History of India, Volume I, pp. 478– 509.

55.

The East India Company came to occupy Assam a er the Yandaboo treaty signed following the Anglo-Burmese war in 1826. The region since the last quarter of the eighteenth century had already relapsed into series of civil war along with the gradual decline of pre-colonial authorities. The Burmese retained their political authority in several parts of Assam till 1826. Soon the Company began the process of introducing new judicial and revenue administration. For a critical insight into the aspects of these period, see, Bhuyan, Anglo-Assamese Relation.

56.

A.M. Long, 1893, Report on the Nambor and Adjacent Reserved Forests, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Sibsagar Division, 17 June, no. 114, in Assam Secretariat Procedings, Revenue-A, December 1896 (Asia and Africa Collection, British Library).

57.

One of the earliest such an attempt began in 1838. I have not come across any archival paper on it. One of the crucial aspect which strikes one is the way the next generation villagers of these early revenue villagers are asserting their claim over the forest resources inside the Reserved Forest. They do not have any hesitation in cutting down any trees for their need.

58.

For a general history of opium cultivation in Assam see, Guha, Medieval and Early Colonial Assam, pp. 280–96.

59.

It was a common practice for the Bengal boat-builders to come to Assam in search of better timbers for boat-making. They used to take way timbers during the rainy season in ra s through the river Brahmaputra and early colonial writers regarded it as highly lucrative trade. Assamese also used various forms of boats for varieties of needs. See, R. Saikia, 2000, Social and Economic History of Assam, Delhi: Manohar.

60.

The tea-plantation began in Assam in the 1830s and the first batch of Assam tea was sold in London 1838. It did not take a long time to get the Assam only with the name Tea. For a general history of tea-plantation in Assam see, Guha, Planter Raj to Swaraj; Barpujari, 1992, Assam in the Days of Company 1826–1856, 2nd edition, Guwahati; Antrobus, A History of Assam Tea Company. A recent work explains the relationship between science and making of Assam tea. J. Sarma, 2006, ʻBritish science, Chinese skill and Assam tea: Making empire's gardenʼ, Indian Economic and Social History Review, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 429–55.

61.

For a substantial part of colonial role in Assam, tea became a major interest of state. For the economy of tea-industry see, A. Guha, 1993, ʻThe Big Push Without Take O ʼ, in Guha, Medieval and Early Colonial Assam, pp. 186–205.

62.

It took many years for the forest department to realize the importance of natural regeneration in this place considering its high rainfall and soil character. Only in the last few years of the nineteenth century that the forest department began natural regeneration of sal a er encouraging artificial regeneration of various species for a long time.

63.

Jenkins was Agent to the Governor General in the Northeast Frontier and Commissioner of Assam.

64. 65.

An elaborate account of the flora and fauna of these forests was prepared by E.S. Carr, Assistant Conservator. This report is important on various accounts, which needs to be studied carefully while working on the history of colonial science in Assam.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

46.

From E.J. Trevor, Secretary to the Board of Revenue, Bengal to the Commissioner of Revenue for the Division of Assam, Fort William, 16th August 1859, File no. 428 AC (ASA).

67.

The following account is based on the File no. 428 in the Assam Secretariat.

68.

Letter from Masters, Sub-Assistant in Golaghat to the Captain E.P. Lloyd, Collector of Nowgong, 29 September 1859, File no. 428 AC (ASA).

69.

Letter from Lieutenant Colonel D. Reid, Executive Engineer, Upper Assam Region, Dibrugarh, to Colonel F. Jenkins, agent to Governor-General, N.E. Province and Commissioner of Assam, 11 October 1859, File no. 428 AC (ASA).

70.

Letter from Jenkins to Secretary Board of Revenue, 1860, File no. 428 AC (ASA).

71.

From Lieutenant Colonel C.B. Young, Secretary to the Government of Bengal, Public Works Department to the O iciating Secretary to the Board of Revenue, Fort William, 10 June, 1861 File no. 428 AC (ASA).

72.

The total annual expenditure was Rs 150 for the entire establishment.

73.

J. Thronton, Superintendent of the Nambor Forests to the Deputy Commissioner of Nowgong, no. 50, 7 April 1863, File no. 428 AC (ASA).

74.

No. 20. Letter from I.J. Masters, Assistant Commissioner in charge of Nambor to Herbert Spencer, Deputy Commissioner of Nowgong, Golaghat, 6 January 1862, File no. 428 AC (ASA).

75.

In fact the financial sanction for the ranger's establishment of Nambor was put on temporary basis, which was renewed a er review report from the Deputy Commissioner.

76.

Letter from Major H.S. Bivar Deputy Commissioner of Lakhimpur to Captain H. Hopkinson, Commissioner of Revenue, no. 472, 19 April 1861, Sadiya, File no. 428 AC (ASA).

77.

Letter from Major H.S. Bivar, Deputy Commissioner of Lakhimpur, to Captain H. Hop Kinson, Commissioner of Revenue, no. 472, 19 April 1861, Sadiya File no. 428 AC (ASA).

78.

Ibid.

79.

No. 358, Letter from Herbert Sconce, Deputy Commissioner of Nowgong to Henry Hopkinson Commissioner of Assam dated 24th April 1862 in File no. 428 AC (ASA).

80.

W.Q.A. Backet, Deputy Collector of Darrang also bought some 200 logs from such worked out logs during the time this report for the construction of Jail at rate of Re 1 a log which was much below the existing market value.

81.

Report from Captain E.P. Lloyd, Deputy Commissioner of Revenue, Kamrup to the Commissioner of Revenue, Assam, Guwahati, 29 April 1861, File no. 428 AC (ASA).

82.

Letter from Bambridge to Collector of Kamrup, 18 October 1862, File no. 428 AC (ASA).

83.

The deputy collector wrote that ʻnothing can be more destructive to the forests than the present system of farming the timbersʼ.

84.

For a history of revenue administration in Goalpara see, Barman, Zamindari System in Assam during British Rule.

85.

For an elaborate introduction to the boat making in nineteenth century Assam see, Saikia, Social and Economic History of Assam, pp. 131–5.

86.

It is interesting to note the use of the word ʻwoodʼ while in the later phase of the colonial rule this term was replaced by forest and timber.

87.

There is lack of evidence to estimate the total earnings made by the Company traders in such trade.

88.

Jenkins, 1995, Report on the North-East Frontier of India, Appendix-A(ii) pp. 79–81.

89.

ʻTimber Trade in Chacharʼ, Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal 1832. The author identified him as T.F.

90.

This has been discussed in detail in Chapter 3.

91.

Jenkins, 1995, Report on the North-East Frontier of India, p. 408.

92.

Ibid. p. 409.

93.

During 1870, the financial results of the department was thus: receipts Rs 1,13,753 charges Rs 95,874 and surplus Rs 17, 879. Ibid., p. 412.

94.

Ibid., p. 410.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 67

66.

95.

K. Sivaramakrishnan, Modern Forests.

96.

File nos. 283–612, 1857–9, Bengal Government papers (ASA).

97.

File nos. 151–287, papers 12, 1871–2, Government of Bengal (ASA).

98.

The early inspection of the forest of Assam by Mann is discussed in the Chapter 2.

99.

Letter from H. Hopkinson, Agent of the Governor-General, Northeastern Frontier to the Secretary, Revenue Department, Government of Bengal, 20 February 1872, File nos 151–287, papers 12, 1871–2 (ASA).

100. Papers 6, File nos 201–359, Government of Bengal, 1872–4 (ASA). 101. G. Mann, 1873, Annual Progress Report on the Assam Forest Administration, Letter no. 2171, 19 July, Secretary to Government of Bengal, vol. 50, July–October (ASA).

103. Survey operations were of three classes namely, those undertaken by the Imperial Survey of India department, those conducted by the Forest Survey branch of the Forest Department, and those executed by the local forest o icials. 104. Detailed discussion regarding the reservation of Assam forest could be found in the Chapter 3. 105. E. P. Stebbing, The Forests of India, vol. II, p. 425. 106. G. Mann, 1873, Annual Progress Report on the Assam Forest Administration, from H. Leeds to the Secretary, Government of Bengal, 5 February, PWD, Revenue-Forests, September, Proceeding Nos 64–67 (NAI); and Stebbing, The Forests of India, vol. II, p. 418. p. 68

107. NAI PWD, Revenue-Forests, September, Proceeding Nos 64–67, from H. Leeds to the Secretary, Government of Bengal, 5 February 1869; and also Stebbing, The Forests of India, vol. II, p. 418. 108. The matter contained in this paragraph and below is prepared from Stebbing, The Forests of India, vol. II, pp. 418–23. 109. G. Mann, 1873, Annual Report on the Assam Forest Administration, Letter no. 2171, 19 July, vol. 50, July–October (ASA). 110. Ibid. 111. Inspector General of Forest in India during 1883–5. G.A. Barton, 2002, Empire Forestry and the Origins of Environmentalism, New York: Cambridge University Press 10.1006/jhge.2001.0353

.

112. R. S. Rajan, 2006, Modernizing Nature, Delhi: Orient Longman, pp. 86–91 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199277964.001.0001

.

113. W. Schlich, 1872, Memorandum on Forest Operation in Assam, File no. 38/45, Bengal Government (ASA). 114. Memorandum on Forest operations in Assam, no. 36 Calcutta, 16 August 1873, Bengal Government Forest Operation in Assam, 1872, File no. 38/45 (ASA). 115. This included the landmass of Naga hills and Khasi and Jynteah hills, which had an extremely low percentage of acreage. 116. Memorandum on Forest operations in Assam, no. 36 Calcutta, 16 August 1873, Bengal Government Forest Operation in Assam, File no. 38/45, 1872 (ASA). 117. This estimate was for the districts of Kamrup, Darrang, Nowgong, Sibsagar, and Lakhimpur and Naga hills. The last district had coverage of 888 square miles. 118. Wilhelm Schlich, Memorandum on Forest Operations in Assam, no. 36 Calcutta, 16 August 1873, Bengal Government Forest Operation in Assam, File no. 38/45, 1872 (ASA). 119. For more on Brandis, see, I.M. Saldanha, 1996, ʻColonialism and Professionalism: A German Forester in Indiaʼ, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 31, no. 21, pp. 1265–73. 120. D. Brandis, 1879, Suggestions Regarding Forest Administration in Assam, Calcutta: Government Press. 121. See, D. Brandis, Suggestions Regarding Forest Administration. 122. B. Ribbentrop, 1889, Notes on an Inspection of the Forests of Assam during January to April 1889, Simla: Government Press. 123. Ibid. 124. J.F. Michell, 1883, The North-East Frontier of India, India Quarter Master General's Dept. Intelligence Branch, Calcutta. Also see, S. Sikdar, 1982, ʻTribalism vs Colonialism: British Capitalistic Intervention and Transformation of Primitive Economy of Arunachal Pradesh in the Nineteenth Centuryʼ, Social Scientist, vol. 10, no. 12, pp. 15–31 10.2307/3516897

.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193340808 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

102. Details leading to the establishment of Forest Department will be found in the Chapter 2.

Forests and Ecological History of Assam, 1826–2000 Arupjyoti Saikia https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.001.0001 Published: 2011

Online ISBN: 9780199081240

Print ISBN: 9780198069539

CHAPTER

2 Conservation, Spatial Order, and New Landscape  Arupjyoti Saikia Pages 69–113

Abstract To acquire command over the forest resources, the Forest Department introduced policies of reservation. They also categorized the forests into Reserved Forests and Protected Forests. In 1865, the Bengal Forest Act was rati ed. This provided the framework for reservation which was aimed to secure colonial government monopoly over forest resources. However, the existing forest management paved the way for new categories. These include the change in the spatial order of the Assam forests. This chapter discusses the political economy of the new spatial order that emerged in the Assam forests. It discusses the history of the transformation of the forest landscapes into desired spatial categories and examines how these acquired di erent shapes and characters have changed over time. It also discusses how the Forest Department negotiated against assertion of rights over this new spatial order and how the department negotiated to maintain its absolute right over forest resources and landscape.

Keywords: forest resources, Forest Department, reservation, framework for reservation, spatial order, political economy, new spatial order, forest landscapes, desired spatial categories, assertion of rights Subject: Colonialism and Imperialism, Environmental History, Asian History, Indian History Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online

Conservation meant a complete command of the Forest Department over the forest resources. To acquire this command over the forest resources, the forestlands were categorized into two separate categories: the 1

Reserved Forests and Open Forests or Protected Forests. In the former, the entire responsibility of administration and control over the forests and its products rested with the Forest Department. In the other category, the rights and privileges of the Department were con ned to speci c reserved trees or such rights that were de ned exclusively for a speci c forest. By creating two classes of forests, the colonial government recognized the complex character of the Indian forests and its resources. It also widened the potentiality of accommodating, and thus to some extent reconciling, the plurality of interests in these forests. Forest reservation entailed forest settlement, a procedure that entrusted the legal title of the State in Reserved Forests. This also proscribed accrual of rights of the people other than those recognized at the time of settlement. Forest settlement determined the extent to which the State proprietorship of the Reserved Forests was circumscribed by adverse rights and proposed a scheme for the exercise of rights that facilitated forest working for revenue and its preservation for the future. The wise men of the Indian forestry described forest settlement as the procedure that xed the matrix of rights, while management was a uid procedure that was expected to adapt to changing circumstances. While the Bengal Forest Act, 1865 p. 70

provided the basic framework for reservation, forest reservation was

mainly intended to secure for the

colonial government a monopoly over the commercial value of the forests. The notion of monopoly was always being rearranged so that the Forest Department remained the chief bene ciary of timber trade without paralysing the private interests. As the department learned the ground realities of forest management, the existing categories underwent changes and paved the way for the entry of new categories.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.003.0003 Published: February 2011

Changes in the spatial order of the Assam forest took place since the seventh decade of the nineteenth century. Once the responsibility of the management of the forested territory was taken over by the Forest Department, rapid progress was made in transforming the forestlands into the desired spatial categories. Much of the present day Reserved Forests was demarcated during this period. This chapter discusses the complex history of this transformation of forest landscape and examines how this acquired di erent shapes and character in the subsequent days. The chapter tells how, in arranging the new landscape, the Forest Department negotiated with various contending social spaces to reassert its absolute right over the forest resources and landscape.

Conserving Forests and Making of Reserved Forests Though the provincial Forest Department was established in 1874, as will be discussed later, Gustav Mann 2

Golaghat as work which began in 1870. In the former two, the tracts were mostly comprised of sal trees 3

whereas in Golaghat they were characterized as mixed evergreen forest. Survey was also done in the forest tracts in the northern areas of Brahmaputra, primarily in Darrang. While the actual declaration of these northern tracts as Reserved Forests could not be asserted due to both the political instability as well inability of the colonial state to assert its presence in the frontier, Mann placed a formal proposal before the Assam administration, seeking declaration of these tracts as Reserved Forests. In 1873, Henry Hopkinson, the commissioner of Assam, after getting Mann's proposal, asked the Bengal government to sanction the formal declaration of the selected tracts in the districts of Kamrup, Darrang, 4

and Nowgong as Reserved Forest. The forest tracts of Nambor and Mikir Hills, situated along the boundary of Naga hills and Golaghat, were also selected for the proposed Reserved Forests. The Bengal government p. 71

sanctioned this proposal in 1873 and forest tracts amounting to 269.58

square miles were declared as

5

Reserved Forest in Assam. In the next year, more areas were added to the reserves of Barduar, Jara, 6

Milmilia, Kholahat, and Nambor, taking the total area under Reserved Forests to 602.91 square miles. The largest addition, amounting to 326 square miles, was done only to the Nambor forest. In the same year, the existing boundary of the forest tracts in Golaghat was altered and the district boundaries were given a new shape. This alteration a ected the boundaries of Nowgong, Sibsagar, and the Naga hills districts. By this arrangement, portions of Nowgong and Sibsagar districts were transferred to the Naga hills district. The Mikir Hill Reserved Forest, which was within the boundary of the Nowgong district, was transferred to the Naga hills district. Moreover, the portion of forest reserve that was situated in the Sibsagar district was also 7

transferred to the Naga hill district. With the formal inauguration of the career of Reserved Forest in Assam, the Forest Department soon began the process of declaring the forests in other districts as Reserved Forests. Survey and enquiry were soon conducted in various districts to estimate the forest resources as well as to look for the viability of reserving a speci c forest. In 1876, as the next stage of conservation, more new Reserved Forests were noti ed in Tezpur and Goalpara. This addition included some carefully selected tracts containing only recently planted forested tracts. Some tracts had already seen several forms of exploitation on its resources. The best example was that of the Bhumuraguri Hill Reserved Forests, spreading across an area of 986.7 acres and covered with mixed plain forest, which was sold as a wasteland grant to a tea plantation. But, in 1867, this grant was repurchased by 8

the government to supply rewood to the government steamers. The area, amounting to 162 square miles, contained good quality timber in forests on both sides of the river Bhairabi. The remaining area, which contained inferior timbers and ‘had no possibility of improvement’, the Forest Department argued, would ensure that even it was declared reserved it would not disturb the supply of fuel to the steamers. As the conservation began to take shape and also during selection of a forest as reserve, the Forest Department ensured that it did not disturb the existing function of a forest. Both commercial interest and practical worries played a key role in the selection of certain tracts as part of the conservation programme. And this was why as the Forest Department moved upward the river Brahmaputra towards the east of Tezpur, the scarcity of sal ensured that all superior quality of sal forests would be protected in the future. Similarly the p. 72

Garumari forest,

which contained good quality sal trees, became the rst priority for the Forest

Department to select as a reserve (Fig. 2.1). But it will be mistaken to suggest that only the areas containing superior trees were declared as Reserved Forests. In the Garumari Reserved Forests, apart from the nucleus of a sal-covered area, an additional area of 155 acres of grassland was also added.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

had already completed the task of selection and reservation of few forested tracts in Guwahati, Tezpur, and

Fig. 2.1

Further westward and down the river Brahmaputra, the forests in Goalpara, mostly covered with sal, sam, and titachampa, were initially inspected in 1868. In the same year, Gustav Mann submitted a proposal for their management to the Bengal conservator of forests but a decision was not taken till 1872. As exploitation of forest resources in these areas by non-governmental agencies went on unabated, subsequently most of the forests in Goalpara, which were beyond the purview of the zamindars, were declared as Open Forest in 1872. Declaration of Open Forest meant imposition of several restrictions for the villagers. In the absence of any de ned mechanism of supervision, the district administration could not ensure that the woodcutters or villagers would abide by these restrictions. Though the Forest Department awarded permits to the da adors to fell timbers inside these forests there was no mechanism for implementation of permit rule. Many admitted that the da adors, on getting their permits from the Forest Department, felled the timbers without any restriction. p. 73

As the Forest Department did not nd any way to regulate the dependence of the neighbouring Bhutias on these forests the latter continued to work in these forests, which, the department had no doubt, entailed a considerable loss of revenue. The zamindars also exercised rights of ownership over vast tracts of good quality forest. Nearly all the forest tracts containing mature sal timbers in the Duars were felled by the zamindars before they came under government protection. Mann argued that he could hardly come across any sal forests measuring over ve feet in girth inside these forests. He could locate only a considerable amount of dead sal-wood of smaller dimensions. Another survey, conducted in 1875 to ascertain the 9

distribution of the valuable forests in the district, recon rmed the large-scale destruction of the Goalpara forest and the impracticability of keeping these forests as Open Forest. And this forced the Bengal government to expedite the process of declaring these Open Forests as Reserved Forests. Towards south, the forests in Cachar were also declared as Reserved Forests. However the forest tracts in south Assam created the most di

cult task in terms of rights of the Forest Department. Already, in 1873, the

‘inner line’ regulation was passed to regulate governance in hilly terrains. The fact that substantial portions of these forests were located beyond the inner line turned out to be the cause of further trouble. The origin of inner line goes back to a notion which distinguished hills and plains as separate and distinct economic and cultural formations. Accepted as historical reality, this distinction meant that there would be hardly any scope for socio-economic transactions between the hills and plains. Accordingly a line was drawn along the northern and eastern foothills of Assam and the hills were seen as inside the inner line. The social formation inside this line was understood as beyond modern nation-state phenomenon and required a di erent set of state intervention. While apparently, primacy was accorded to the community notion of political evolution the line was ostensibly aimed at ‘establishment of clear and defensible property rights’ that had emerged 10

under the new imperial regime and tea-plantations.

This soon emerged as a permanent feature of socio-

political separation between people and resources in the plains and hills. It was in this context that the forest boundaries in south Assam and, for that matter, in areas like Sibsagar and Lakhimpur turned out to be more complicated unlike the forests of western Assam. The forest containing tracts in Sibsagar and Lakhimpur could not be conserved, unlike in other districts. p. 74

Explaining this delay, Mann

accused the deputy commissioners for not extending support to forest

conservation. Mann also accused them of refusing to understand its importance and showing no special

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

A view of forest inspection bungalow and plantation in western Assam. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive

interest in acquiring such knowledge. However, behind the lack of complicity of the district administration in asserting property rights in the forested tracts lies the more serious riddle of the inner line. Despite Brandis's advice in 1879 to bring an estimated 1,104 square miles of tracts under conservation in Sibsagar and Lakhimpur o

11

cials were still apprehensive in declaring the tracts in Sibsagar as Reserved Forests.

The

Assam administration had no doubt that assertion of property rights beyond the inner line was still a great political risk in the southern neighbourhood of Sibsagar. Several o

cials reported how the Kampungia and

Ooramung Naga tribes had put forward their claims or asserted their right to practise shifting cultivation in these forests and opposed the formation of the Jhanji Reserved Forests. The administration thought that it 12

would not be advisable to ‘risk political complication with these tribes by refusing to grant their claims’. Though nally the claim of the Forest Department was withdrawn, it was suggested that except the

forestlands located at the extreme outer south of the district namely, Ghiladhari and Mukrung mauzas, all the forestland in Sibsagar was of inferior quality, which had forced the Forest Department to withdraw its 13

claim from these tracts.

These forests were also commercially unworkable. Market forces had hardly

with the supply from the Nambor forest. As pressure on these forests were still low ideas grew that it was still safe to wait before embarking on a rigid conservation programme. The best option for the Forest Department was to conserve only the tracts located along the southern boundary of the district which contained good timber and less assertion of claims by the tribes. During 1875–6, the forests in the southern borders of Kamrup and Goalpara, known as Garo hills, were 14

inspected.

An estimated 250 square miles of these forests contained good quality sal trees. Certain tracts

like the northern slope of the Garo hills, immediately above the Goalpara plains, were fully covered with sal. Down south in the lower Tura hills an area of 100 square miles was identi ed as being of a mixed nature while the interior and the southern portion of the hills were also covered with scattered sal forests. There was a low scrub of trees composing the mixed lower hill forests together with a thick growth of bamboos. p. 75

Such abundance of sal and other trees meant signi cant trade

and thus it required that they should be

preserved at the earliest. But before these forests were declared as Reserved Forests, the Department had to negotiate with various problems. These forests had better facility for waterways, which made the working of these forests realistic. As the rivers became dry during the winter due to their geographical character, working of timber became di

cult. The existing boundaries had many a complication. A number of

zamindars put forward their claims in these forests and eventually disputes were settled by compensating them. The department believed that there was to be considerable destruction of the Garo hills forests before any e ective protection could be enforced therein. Presence of timber markets in close proximity to these forests, both within and outside the province, facilitated their rapid destruction. It was common knowledge that during winter trees brought from the forests along with those from the private estates of Bijni and Mechapara zamindars were sold in the markets. As the native Garo people did not work in the forest, da adors had a monopoly of trade in the forests. They would supply timber to Calcutta for big constructions like buildings or bridges, and employed labourers from their own community to work deep inside the forest. As there was no restriction on the felling of the trees, the situation deteriorated to such an extent that sal was exhausted, and the traders began to look for the jarool trees. By 1875, this tree was found in the bazaar. Jarool not only fetched a higher price but also had a lucrative market. Apart from making boats the tree was used by the wealthier families of neighbouring Bengal as house posts. Subsequently, in 1883, forest tracts in the Garo hills were declared as Reserved Forests. Before the Bengal Forest Act, 1865 was replaced with the Indian Forest Act of 1878 a sizeable forest area was noti ed as Reserved Forest. During 1873–8 a total 1,933 square miles were noti ed as Reserved Forest, including the forest situated in Naga hills. All these Reserved Forests were situated in the districts of Goalpara, Darrang, Kamrup, Nowgong, Naga hills, and Cachar. By 1880, more changes took place in the forest boundaries of Sibsagar when the forest division of Golaghat was transferred to the district. The majority of the Reserved Forests came to be situated on the edges of the plains and along the foothills of the 15

main ranges. Table 2.1 gives an idea of the area under Reserved Forests between 1877 and 1886.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

operated in these forests despite the superior forest contains. Moreover, the local needs could be easily met

Table 2.1 Area of Reserved Forest, 1877–8 (square miles) 1877

1878

1880

1882

1884

1888

Goalpara

346

420

437

437

456

625

Kamrup

46

48

48

48

120

128

Darrang

258

261

272

272

274

294

Nowgong

3

4

8

8

8

111

Sibsagar

-

-

-

506

605

752

Lakhimpur

-

-

-

-

-

302

Cachar

745

745

745

745

776

745

Source: Prepared from the Annual Progress Report of Forest Administration of Assam for the respective years.

The Indian Forest Act, 1878 came as a new hindrance for the Forest Department in relation to the earlier p. 76

easier procedure of declaration

of Reserved Forests. As to the declaration of Reserved Forests, the Act

now stipulated that a noti cation of proposal to constitute any land a Reserved Forest must be published rst in the local gazette. After all claims regarding such land had been nally settled, for which a settlement period of not less than three months was to be allowed, such land might, by noti cation in the local gazette, 16

be declared reserved.

This further delayed the quick declaration of Reserved Forest by a few more months.

The Forest Department could select only 21 tracts as future Reserves in Kamrup during 1879–80. Despite these restrictions, hundreds of square miles came under the ‘benevolent’ supervision of the Imperial Forest Department and continued to do so. While in 1886 the total area of the Reserved Forests amounted to 5 per cent of the total landmass of the province, by 1888 all the districts had their share of Reserved Forests and an estimated 2,957 square miles of forested tracts areas were declared as Reserved Forests. In 1888, the districts of Goalpara, Cachar, and Naga hills had Reserved Forests amounting to 17

approximately 16, 20, and 11 per cent, respectively, of their total area.

The remaining districts had a

slightly lower share, on average 3–9 per cent. At the end of the nineteenth century an estimated 9 per cent of the total area of Darrang was brought under reservation while Kamrup had a share of 4 per cent of its 18

total area of the district.

A few years later, reviewing the status of conservation in Assam, Berthold Ribbentrop, inspector general of forest, hoped that under the existing circumstances this might be su

cient but ‘the time is rapidly

approaching when the province will be opened out by railways and will be much more extensively cultivated p. 77

19

than is now’.

It was very much essential that ‘reserves should be largely increased in order to meet future

requirement’. The conservator, Gustav Mann, however, admitted that the slow progress in the selection of reserves was mainly due to the weak provincial forest establishment. Again, in 1889, during his tour of Assam, Ribbentrop advocated the immediate reservation of all forests where sal was available. He further suggested that all other forested tracts which could be used to grow sal in future should also be reserved. Making clear his opposition against shifting cultivation and advocating a policy of its restriction, Ribbentrop argued that it would be wiser to reserve forested tracts in north Cachar and Mikir hills where jhum was in practice. The Inspector General also hoped that in the near future the reservation of mixed deciduous forest would be taken up at the earliest. Mann agreed with these proposals and measures were taken to expedite the reservation of more forest 20

tracts.

Mann also admitted that unlike in the 1870s, when the major obstacle in selecting and making

Reserved Forests was that the deputy commissioners had extended little support to forest conservancy and neither had they any special inducement of acquiring such knowledge, the situation had now changed. In the next couple of years more progress was made to increase the areas under Reserved Forests, as is shown in Table 2.2. Almost all the forest divisions came to share the new extension. Appreciating the progress of conservation, H.C. Hill, during his visit to Assam in 1896, agreed that the policy recommended by Brandis 21

had been successfully carried out.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

District

Table 2.2 Area of Reserved Forest, 1892–1950 (square miles) 1892

1902

1912

1932

1950

Goalpara

660

721

884

900

894

Kamrup

128

149

261

415

430

Darrang

298

321

336

541

604

Nowgong

144

142

198

662

1,040

Sibsagar

847

939

1043

660

752

Lakhimpur

429

196

333

1,179

627

Cachar

752

807

949

1,189

1,130

Source: Prepared from the Annual Progress Report of Forest Administration of Assam for the respective years.

In 1892, as the Assam Forest Regulation of 1891 came into force, the forest came to be constituted with three categories: Reserved Forests, Village Forests, and unclassed State Forests. The management of the p. 78

unclassed state-forests was directly under the district deputy

commissioners. The unclassed state forests

worked both as ready stock for peasant cultivation and area to be brought under Reserved Forests. Community rights also hardly got alienated in these forests. In Lakhimpur and Darrang along the foothills of Himalayas and also in the eastern ranges these tracts also acted as key suppliers of forest-based commodities. This was accomplished through the traditional networks of livelihood dependence of several tribal communities. Table 2.3 highlights the area and di erent categories of forests in Assam at the end of the rst decade of the twentieth century. Table 2.3 Percentage of Reserved Forest, 1910–11 District

A

B

C

D

Per cent C to A

Cachar

10,996

949

1,891

8.6

17.11

Goalpara

3,981

884

220

22.2

5.52

Kamrup

3,858

261

1,988

6.7

51.52

Darrang

3,398

336

2,007

9.8

59.06

Nowgong

3,804

198

3,651

5.2

95.97

Sibsagar

4,995

1,043

2,839

20.6

56.83

Lakhimpur

4,207

333

2,935

7.9

69.76

Total

35,984

4,002

15,531

10.16

43.16

Source: Prepared from B.F. Bryant, A Note of Inspection on Some Forests of Assam, 1912, para. 2. Note: A: Area of the district, B: Area of Reserved Forests, C: Area of un-classed State Forests, D: Percentage of Reserved Forests to total area.

However, in spite of a large area being brought under forest reserves, apprehension about the revenue prospects of these forest produces grew. Many believed that inaccessibility and poor communication into the forests would warrant a better market for the forest produces. This forced the Forest Department to look deeper into the question of improving the commercial potentiality of the existing Reserved Forests and the subject of reservation of forest areas temporarily took a back seat. Improvement came only in the second decade of the twentieth century. Bryant, the inspector general of forest, who visited Assam in 1912, strongly advocated for the speedier reservation of more areas. He had no doubt that the demand on the forest produces and also the communication into the forests had improved.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Districts

Bryant argued that ‘surely…will the demand and necessity for forest produce both within and outside the p. 79

province

increase, and the forest reserves as at present constituted will not su 22

demands’.

ce to meet these

Bryant argued that the province still had large blocks of wastelands, which were either

reclaimed by the peasants or were being damaged by grazing. He suggested that the provincial government must undertake the selection of all wastelands, that contained timber or was likely to have timber in the future. As the Forest Department was in a position to spare a few o

cers, Bryant insisted, they should be

asked to select and propose large blocks with simple boundaries as reserves. He further pointed out that all attempts should be made to help the provincial tea industry by providing them with tea boxes. As an instance of this stimulus to the tea industry Bryant argued that as the Simul—Adansonia digitata linn—had prospects for the tea-box industry, a special scheme of reservation of tracts with Simul tree should be taken up soon. C.S. Hart, Bryant's successor, also rea

rmed this general policy of forest reservation. The relation between

that ‘what the province requires now is blocks of Reserved Forest in situations convenient for the supply of produce to the people and of an extent su

23

cient to provide for the future requirements’.

Hart was of the

view that as these forest tracts were mostly covered with grass or situated in low-lying areas it would not ideally be t to be demarcated as Reserved Forests. Despite Hart's skepticism of selecting non-utilitarian forest tracts as Reserve Forests, the Assam Forest Department continued to select and demarcate more such tracts as Reserved Forest. The early twentieth-century hesitation to embark upon large-scale reservation of forest came to be 24

rede ned only in the early 1930s. The third ‘Empire Forestry Conference’, 25

that there was likely to be a world shortage of soft woods.

held in 1928, had pointed out

This would result in increasing the value of the

commercial forests. The expansion of the Indian industries also required su

cient supply of forest

resources. Realizing the commercial potential of forestry, the Indian government asked the provinces to be more liberal in their expenditure on forest conservation. Renewed e ort was made to look for more areas, that could be brought under Reserved Forest. Special o

cers were appointed and were entrusted with this

task. An instance of this is the district of Darrang, which still had a large portion of area that could be taken up for consideration as Reserved Forests. An assistant conservator of forest was appointed in Darrang and he was asked to examine an area of 200 to 50 square miles extending to the less-known forests along the p. 80

Bhutan

foothills. This tract, on the other hand, also included an extensive area in mauza Gohpur, that 26

had already been proposed by the revenue authorities for agricultural expansion. su

cient sta

made it di

But, in actuality, lack of

cult to examine and demarcate areas containing only timber areas. This led to

the bringing in of extensive tracts with no, or, limited timber contents. Referring to such laxity and complexities in the examination of forest areas, in 1913, the divisional forest o

cer of Darrang made it

apparent that the whole areas proposed for reserves will not be suitable for forest; but it is impossible with the present sta

to examine the forests and demarcate only the timber areas; when the forest have

been thoroughly examined and suitable areas, containing or likely to be satiable for good timber, have been selected and demarcated, the remainder may be relinquished, but at present owing to the demand for land it is necessary to take up all the land which contains a proportion of tree forests; otherwise it is probable that no forests will be left, and the district in future years will have serious di

27

culty in obtaining timber, fuel, and thatch grass.

Though the Forest Department declared large tracts as Reserved Forest, in reality the proposed relinquishment, as spelled out above by an o

cer of the Forest Department, never happened. This created

the space for future con ict amongst the peasantry and the Forest Department over their respective areas of activities. Thus, since the early twentieth century the area under reservation could not progress as in the late nineteenth century. The process of de-reservation and reservation went hand in hand, thus restricting the pace of reservation. The Forest Department became worried of the fact that the pace of reservation was slow which meant that on an average only one or two Reserved Forests comprising a nominal area were demarcated as reserves annually. In the second decade of the twentieth century, the department renewed its e ort to expand its area under the Reserved Forest category. As the colonial rule came to an end, the Reserved Forests in Assam represented only 9.7 per cent of the total area of the province. The total area of Reserved and unclassed State Forests at the end of June 1947 was 6,784 square miles. Most of these reserves were located on the edges of the plains and in the interior of the

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

forest reservation and the underlying primacy of commercial motive became more discreet when he argued

hills. There was no scienti c agreement about how much forest cover there should be. The percentage of forest coverage to the total geo-mass was determined not by the scienti c notion of conservation but by the imperial need of revenue generation, and this continued to be the basic thrust of the colonial forest policy p. 81

for at least a considerable part of the twentieth century. Though

the Forest Department believed that

there should be on average 20–5 per cent of the total area under the reserved category it was admitted that it was di

cult to nd additional compact areas of forests for reservation and the ‘only solution was to

reserve all suitable land t for the growth of forest trees whether such land is covered by forests or not, with 28

a view to re-a oresting such land gradually by plantations and natural regeneration’.

The provincial

government had maintained that such reservation was ‘most essential’ in the neighbourhood of the towns for the future supply of rewood and timber and also in the rural areas, which had been denuded of forest cover. As a large area amounting to 14,507 square miles was still under the unclassed State Forests, the Assam government, in 1946, instructed its divisional forest o

cers to report on the possibility of bringing

unclassed State Forests under the Reserved Forests category. It was not to be a successful attempt as only unavailability of compact forest areas for this failure. However, the department alternately proposed that the best way was to reserve all suitable land irrespective of whether it was covered with forest coverage or not. Barren tracts, the Department argued, if converted into Reserved Forest could be a orested by either plantation or natural regeneration. At Independence, in the year 1947, it was realized that it was only the Reserved Forests ‘over which the 29

Forest Department has any real e ective control’.

That the forest contents of these Reserved Forests were

poor was admitted by people like P.D. Stracey who had several years of understanding of the forests of Assam. In 1949, Stracey made it clear that Reserved Forests in Assam ‘are mostly small in area and insu

30

ciently stocked’.

He explained that while ‘large blocks of valuable forests situated on the best

possible land were given out as Tea Garden or Waste Land Grants’, pressure on those poor reserves had also increased to meet the agricultural needs of the province. What Stracey had visualized became a political reality years later. After Independence, Reserved Forests, mostly in the Brahmaputra valley, came under increasing pressure from the landless peasants. The provincial politics caved in, leading to the opening of Reserved Forests for the landless peasantry. Combined pressure of peasant activity and their political 31

movements continued to put pressure on the forestland.

The post-independent de-reservation agenda

came to be de ned by new political contingencies from that of the colonial context. While, during the p. 82

colonial period it was the interest

of the tea-planters and the various sawmills that determined the

course of de-reservation, both provincial politics and the pressure of the local peasants came to play a key role now. Still, and despite increasing de-reservation, according to an estimate done in 1962, approximately 39 per cent of the state's total area was covered with forest area, of which 6,396 square miles were classi ed as 32

Reserved Forest (see Fig. 2.2).

This higher allocation of the forested area was due to the geographical

character of Assam, which included large hilly tracts. At the beginning of the twenty- rst century, in 2003, the situation was still better, again despite more aggressive deforestation—the province had 18,060 square kilometres of Reserved Forest and 8,958 square kilometres of unclassed State Forests and the forest area 33

covered 34 per cent of the state's total geographical area.

The Reserved Forests shared 66 per cent of the

recorded forest area. Behind the arithmetic of these statistics, there was constant negotiation by the Forest Department and peasants to exercise control over its respective interests. Though the Forest Department had succeeded in consolidating its control over the complex natural territory, it was also under increasing pressure to rede ne the notion of forests. Scienti c conservation also came to play a prominent role in p. 83

rede ning the context of the forest conservation and 34

than the previous priority to a commercial agenda.

slowly primacy was given to the aspects of biomass

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

153 square miles of area could be earmarked for the proposed increase. The Forest Department blamed the

Fig. 2.2

Making a Reserved Forest: Boundless Anxiety Forest conservation went ahead hastily but without any actual survey of the forestlands. Two perceived dangers for the conservation of the forests were the tea gardens and the practice of shifting cultivation. To check the unregulated decline in the forest coverage it was more pragmatic for the Forest Department to survey the forest reserves in detail. Selecting and declaring a Reserved Forest involved a complicated process. As mentioned earlier, it was the Bengal Forest Act of 1865, that laid down the principle of declaration of Reserved Forests. The entire procedure of notifying a reserve required a search for viable forest tract, pushing backward the existing rights of the neighbouring people, and nally establishing the absolute right of the Forest Department. The general procedure in the declaration of a forest into a reserve was lengthy and involved various stages of o

cial work. The Bengal Forest Act of 1865 did not take the local

complexities into consideration. Thus, the entire process required less time and also the involvement of a less number of forest and revenue o

cials. However, the Indian Forest Act, 1878, as mentioned above,

accommodated the local interests and this delayed the process of declaration of a forest reserve. The Assam Forest Regulation, 1891 removed the di

culties faced by the Forest Department in demarcation as well as in

de ning the nature of the people's rights inside a particular forest. Still, the department continued to grapple with various levels of contending issues. Submission of a proposal meant di erences of opinion about the nature and character of the forest area in question amongst the civil and revenue authorities. The Langting–mahur and the Barail forests in the Cachar division provide a good example of the 35

complexities of the early history of reservation.

These forests consisted of 15,400 acres of area and had a

wide variety of geographical characteristics. The Langting–Mahur forest was situated wholly in the north Cachar subdivision while the Barail forest was distributed both in north Cachar and Cachar. In 1897, the assistant conservator of Forest of the Cachar division inspected the tract with the intention of assessing whether this tract could be declared a forest reserve. His primary task was to enquire and catalogue the available trees, which was done meticulously. The Mahur and Mupa valleys formed a dense crop of trees, p. 84

though in some places the canopy

was interrupted. The undergrowth was complete with san grass and 36

clump bamboos. The assistant conservator prepared a detailed list of the principal kinds of trees.

The next

important task was to look for the existing rights and practices of the local people inside the forests. On enquiry it was found that no shifting cultivation was practised in the forest of Langting–Mahur. But in Barail a ‘few patches were last year so cultivated by some wandering hill men who have not returned this 37

year’.

The deputy conservator further observed that there were no recognized rights, though the villagers

throughout the subdivision were permitted to cut forest produce for their own use, free of charge, and their cattle were allowed to roam all over the forests. Careful observation of the surrounding rivers convinced the department about the possibility of future trade. The two principal rivers, Mahur and Langting, pass through the forest, apart from many minor tributaries that were navigable during the rainy season. Diyung was good for larger rafts and the others for single logs or small rafts containing few logs. Gustav Mann understood that the Assam–Bengal Railway would pass though the centre of the proposed reserve in the near future. Thus he proposed that a one-mile broad strip on either side of the Assam–Bengal Railway line be excluded.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Status of forests in Assam in twenty-first Century. Courtesy Prasanta Bhattacharya

That imperial commercial interest was a major factor while declaring a Reserved Forest can be further understood from the reservation of the Mugakhal and Jharikhuri in Kamrup. The initial proposal to conserve 38

these forests came from H.G. Young, the Deputy Conservator of Forest of Kamrup, in 1892.

These forests

consisted mainly of sal and were considered to be of ‘good character but of small size’. Young believed that most of the trees were a regrowth resulting from the abandoned jhum. In 1883, the area was declared a Protected Forest and was brought under the management of the Forest Department. As the area was adjacent to villages that regularly practised shifting cultivation, the department protected the forest from re. The Assam Forest Regulation, 1891 did not recognize the category of Protected Forest. The existing Protected Forest was declared as Reserved Forests or was included in the unclassed State Forests. To keep the previous intention of declaring the tract as Protected Forest, it was now desirable that it be declared as Reserved Forest at the earliest. Young pointed out that the area was easily accessible as it was close to the Trunk Road, which would facilitate commercial exploitation of the area once the trees reached maturity. The p. 85

conservator agreed to the proposal and asked for the chief commissioner's approval. As there

was

1894. Even if people in the neighbourhood had exercised any rights, this was hardly noticed by the department because such activities were not deemed as rights. The aggressive conservation agenda aroused intense debate about shifting cultivation. The practice of shifting cultivation as the dichotomy between conservation and existing agrarian rights had intervened in a more dramatic way in the forests of the north Cachar hills. During an early inspection it was found that the forestlands of the north Cachar hills were of inferior quality and were not easily workable. Local o

cials

argued that only selective reservation of these forests should be done. It was also suggested that local peasants from the Mikir or Kuki community should be provided with su

cient land for future shifting

cultivation. Further, the forest in north Cachar was very irregularly distributed. Much of it was intersected by land where earlier jhum had been practised and was now covered with either grass or secondary growth of arborescent vegetation, besides villages, which were not very numerous, but yet too many to make their removal to other land di

cult. The Forest Department was also unsure about the commercial value of the

trees that were thus proposed to be reserved. Under these circumstances it was considered preferable to declare the best tracts in the country ‘Protected Forests’ as the means to give them the requisite amount of conservancy presently known and exclusively practised by the people, but prohibiting jhum cultivation on all such land as was still covered with forests, and this was accordingly done. The Forest Department armed with State support and a limited manpower, had to shoulder the vast responsibility of surveying the dense jungles and nally fencing it. Declaration of reserve was followed by the valuation and demarcation survey of the forest. The high cost of such demarcation, along with labour scarcity, forced the Forest Department to search for alternative arrangements. For a long time, the neighbouring villagers were asked to demarcate the reserves in the districts of Goalpara, Kamrup, Darrang, and Nowgong. They were given free grants of forest produce from the reserves instead of cash payments. 39

This system reduced the cost of demarcation work in a signi cant way.

At the same time it also led to the

growth of a complex labour procurement system by the department from within the displaced populations. An erstwhile free population was now made to serve the cause of commercial enterprise. Valuation survey p. 86

also required detailed identi cation of the trees found

in a particular forest. These surveys were

exhaustive in nature and took place frequently in the later decades of the nineteenth century. The excessive delay in the survey and demarcation of the forest areas forced the senior forest o their juniors. On such occasions the district forest o

cials to be very strict with

cers were brought under severe indictment. One such

example came in the wake of delay by Young, the forest o

cer of north Cachar hill. The conservator,

expressing his anxiety, noted that ‘it does not take many days to walk over 68 miles and the conservator 40

considers Mr. Young's excuse for this reason as most unsatisfactory’.

Moreover, as boundary disputes

became a common occurrence, it was now necessary to increase the boundary mounds, which would con rm the absolute right of the Forest Department. Mounds soon created problems, as during the rainy season they tended to disappear. Disappearance of boundary marks meant variability in the territory of the Reserved Forest. With the disappearance of boundary marks, neighbouring villagers normally re-entered into the forests. Thus, to retain territorial right within the forest, it was important that the mounds were more permanent in nature. Later wooden posts were placed to keep the identity of the boundary intact. In western Assam, strong sal posts were placed in the centre of each of the mounds. Further, to recon rm its rights, in the Forest Department ensured that there was regular inspection of these boundaries. While demarcating a Reserved Forest, the Forest Department also faced with the problem of boundaries of the private estates. Once a particular forest was noti ed as reserve, soon there were numerous objections to

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

apparently no claim of rights in the proposed area, the area was nally declared a Reserved Forest in March

the boundary. Constant boundary disputes since 1880 continuously delayed the declaration of the forest reserves in various parts of the province. To overcome this delay, the Indian Forest Act, 1878 wanted to give wider publicity to the process of the formation of reserves and there was legal space for disputing the Forest Department's claim over forest territory. Those who came to the forefront in such attempts were mostly the landlords, namely, the nisfkhirajdars of Kamrup, Darrang and Sibsagar, and the zamindars in Goalpara, and the tea-planters who continued to contest the claims of the Forest Department. The department had to wait patiently for a long period for an addition to the Charduar rubber plantation in Tezpur division as various private interests, the tea-planters in particular, began to claim their rights in these tracts. The dispute aggravated the situation to the extent that the deputy commissioner of Darrang had to ask a surveyor to p. 87

ascertain the area of the proposed

41

reserves.

But the planters refused to accept the new boundary

demarcated by the surveyor and continued with their request for a new and scienti c survey of the boundary.

exercised by them. Apart from the forest under the direct supervision of the government, a large part of the forest area was included in the zamindari areas of Goalpara. Brandis estimated that these areas amounted to approximately one half of the forestland of the total forest area of the district. The Forest Department faced the uphill task of settling the boundaries with the private estates of the Goalpara zamindars. The department proposed several reserves in 1881 in Goalpara and inevitably disputes regarding the boundary arose. The local zamindars began to pressurize the Forest Department with legal instruments claiming that the department had encroached into their private estates. The tea-planters also became a nightmare for the Forest Department, particularly in eastern Assam and also in the Surma valley. Quite often, the tea companies could not veil their antagonistic attitude towards reservation. In one such instance, during the reservation of Dulong forest in the Lakhimpur district, the 42

Dibrugarh branch of the Indian Tea Association strongly opposed the proposed move for reservation.

A

study of the land grants received by the planters during this period con rms that most of these grants were 43

situated either inside or in the vicinity of the good forestland.

These works further con rm that the tea-

planters constituted an important section, into whose jurisdiction a huge area of forest area fell. Quoting the annual tea report for 1878, Brandis had estimated that such land had amounted to 439,569 acres. In fact, Brandis had advocated that apart from the existing strength of the forest reserves an estimated 2,783 square miles of forest should be further brought under Reserved Forest. This would take the total area of Reserved 44

Forest to 6 per cent of the entire area.

The tea companies continued to apply for fresh land grants

ostensibly to expand their areas of plantation. Such new grants were also used to settle their labourers. Reservation of forest area meant an infringement of the aspirations of such companies. Once the conservation regime began, it was natural that many Reserved Forests came to be situated in close proximity to the tea-gardens. In Cachar, most of the forestlands could not be declared as Reserved Forests due to their proximity to the tea-plantations. Moreover, opposing reservation, the planters often argued p. 88

that the Reserved Forest,

which was full of swamps, meant unhealthy living conditions for the tea-

garden labourers. Boundary disputes were also not uncommon. Once a forest was declared a Reserved Forest, the Forest Department exercised its absolute right inside the forests. The local socio-political contingencies often de ned the rights of the existing villagers within the newly created reserves. The deputy commissioner usually looked into such rights and reported on whether to allow the villagers to remain inside the reserves or move out and to strike o

any kind of rights claimed

by the peasantry, that they understood as coming down to them traditionally. The o

cials entrusted to look

into these questions claimed that peasants did not turn up with any claim of right. However, one should take into account that many traditional societies did not have xed notion of rights and privileges. Further these peasants were yet to enter into the complex world of colonial language and courts creating a huge dichotomy between these rights and the contesting claims of the Forest Department. Whenever strong protests asserting the native rights over the forest emerged, the department came forward with a concession mostly in the form of grazing rights. Upon enquiry into the reservation of Dudkhuri forest in Kamrup, P.R.T. Gurdon, the Forest Settlement O

cer, admitted that the peasants had objected to the

proposed reservation on grounds of being deprived of their grazing rights. As a concession, Gurdon 45

proposed that the Forest Department could allow grazing rights and issue permits to cut rewood.

Extension of the rights of the Forest Department was not con ned to the forest areas. Quite often the department had taken recourse to selecting individual trees and declared them as reserved trees. A number of trees were brought within the ambit of Reserved Trees.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Such claims were more numerous in Goalpara where many zamindars put forward claims presumably

As conservation went ahead it was not merely a consideration of timber supply, that worked as the basis for the reservation of the forestlands. For example, more forest areas was added to the Kachugaon reserve in Goalpara, though it was not rich in timber quantity and growth, primarily as a future Village Forest to ensure labour supply to the Forest Department. Often the Forest Department exchanged their reserves 46

containing inferior forest with the neighbouring tea grants.

Along with these, the character of the

forestland, that was chosen for Reserved Forest also changed. Various inspector generals of forest who toured the Assam forest since the last decade of the nineteenth century suggested radical changes in the types of forest that were to be brought under reservation. Since then, forest areas containing other trees p. 89

were also considered for

reservation. In fact, the Government of India had asked the provincial 47

administration to protect all forest areas, which contained khair trees in 1892.

The consolidation of the Forest Department in the form of acquiring reserves into its jurisdiction drastically changed the landscape of nature as well as human habitat. The complex interaction of subordinate revenue cials with groups of peasants remained a constant threat to the character of the Reserved Forests. This

change came in the form of the man and forest relationship and the control of the notion of the erstwhile common property. The colonial state turned out to be the sole proprietor of the forest in spite of occasional withdrawal from the forefront. The new space was well de ned and properly integrated to the State machinery. The State had total control over the topography of the forest and knew how to work it for the well being of the empire. The command over the forest was made visible by the presence of the khaki-clad foresters and their strict implementation of the Forest Acts and regulation. What was new to the forest was that there was strict supervision and tending of the forestland unlike in the earlier days.

Forests Beyond Reserves: 1874–91 As rapid progress was made in bringing more areas under Reserved Forests, it soon became clear that the control over all other unreserved forests, which were in the charge of the district administration, was still a di

cult task. There was no restriction as to the clearance of trees or forestland. Although nominal revenue

was collected from the selected 29 Reserved Trees, there were no de nite rules for district o

cers for

collecting revenue. As these forests were presumably in nobody's charge, they drew minimal attention. The Assam Forest Department expressed its dismay that vast quantities of wood, which were not included in the list of Reserved Trees, were left to the people's use without being levied any fee. The department was also not well manned to take necessary steps to reserve these tracts. A delay in the reservation of these tracts was more than expected. The Surma valley was no di erent. Here the presence of increasing landlessness amongst peasants continued to exert pressure on the forestlands. The best way to escape from this dilemma was to create another category of forest, to be known as Open Forest. Section 2 of the Bengal Forest Act, 1865 had already spelled out the scope and provisions of Open Forest as a separate category from that of p. 90

Reserved Forests. Later the Indian Forest Act, 1878 had re-enacted Open Forest as Protected While the rights of the government were rea

48

Forest.

rmed inside the Protected Forest the private or community

rights were also inquired into and recorded. A Protected Forest entitled the local government to reserve any class of trees. Also this category of forests allowed the Forest Department to demarcate a portion of the forests where prohibition of forest produce could be ensured. The government could also restrict clearance 49

of forestland for agricultural expansion.

For foresters, like Mann, the Deputy Conservator, the agrarian activities inside the forests was more than a worry. He had already expressed his apprehension about the urgent need for the reservation of the forest in Assam. Arguing strongly against the practices of shifting cultivation, Mann highlighted how this had threatened the existence of good forests. ‘Enormous areas of valuable forests had thus been destroyed for the sake of a rupee or two more gain in consequence of the rich soil and the rich manure furnished by the 50

ashes of the trees burned.’

For Mann, the tea-planters who acted as the cause of rapid decline of the forest

coverage, were no better and were the reason for immediate forest conservation. He noted how application for wasteland grants for tea cultivation had been made with an equal disregard for the preservation of forests. The chief commissioner of Assam, in 1877, as a prelude to the creation of Open Forest, asked the deputy commissioners to make a distinction between the superior and inferior forests which would collapse 51

into the respective categories of Reserved and Open Forests.

The chief commissioner made it clear that the

increasing need of agricultural expansion could be met from the latter category of forest. This had reduced an existing unease amongst the district o

cials about the taking into consideration of the requests for 52

wasteland grants, which came predominantly from the tea-planters.

However, quite often the Open Forest

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

o

acted as a transitory phase before a forested tract was declared as Reserved Forests. With the sanction of the chief commissioner, the process of declaration of Open Forests began in 1877 when the Sidli Duar forests, amounting to 74 square miles in Goalpara, was declared as Open Forests. This tract was handed over to the Forest Department as Reserved Forest in 1878. E orts to bring the better forests in the districts of Kamrup, Darrang, and Nowgong under the Protected Forest category continued. Within the category of Protected Forest, Cachar shared a major portion. The widely distributed forests, which were yet to be brought under reservation, were facing the danger of destruction in the face of the extensive practice of shifting cultivation. The Forest Department did not p. 91

hesitate to term this

agricultural expansion ‘as reckless expansion of the agrarian frontier caused by the

shifting cultivation’ and thus ‘the Department was waiting for the unavoidable destruction of the district 53

forest in the district Cachar’.

Before the long procedure of reservation of these forests could be completed

the only alternative was to bring them under Protected Forest. Thus, the area under Protected Forest Cachar. A sizeable portion of forests, known as District Forests, still remained outside the purview of both the Protected and Reserved Forest. In 1879, the total area under this category was estimated at 5,400 square miles, which increased to 10,002 square miles in 1890, of which a major share was to be found in 54

Lakhimpur.

The total area of both these categories of forestland remained more or less at this level, with

the exception of a small addition to the district forests caused by the relinquishment of area by various tea companies. As the rst decade of forest administration in Assam came to an end there was detailed enquiry about the present status of the management of these forests under the district o

cers. This led, in 1879, the chief

commissioner to sanction a set of modi ed rules for the valuation of timber standing on lands assigned 55

under the wasteland lease grants rules or otherwise allotted for purposes of cultivation. e ectiveness to these rules Brandis now suggested that all the forest o

To bring further

cers should be placed as assistants

to the deputy commissioners. Soon after being declared as Protected Forest, the forests in Lakhimpur and Sibsagar were placed under the 56

protection of mauzadars as there was no forest establishment in these two districts.

In August 1877, the

chief commissioner had passed rules to regulate the working and collecting of forest revenue in these 57

forests.

58

These rules had reduced the number of reserved trees from the existing 29 to 12.

Along with

these 12 reserved trees three more commercially viable trees were brought under this category. Thus, the chief commissioner declared that all trees on the leaves of which silkworms were fed, lac insect was reared, and those which yielded India rubber would be reserved trees. As these forests were liable to be opened up for cultivation, the chief commissioner also ordered the payment of a certain levy on the trees standing on 59

such lands.

More importantly, the government retained its rights over the sal trees in any category of

forestland. This was soon followed by more rules that forced the peasant to pay various kinds of taxes on p. 92

land acquired for

60

cultivation.

During 1878–9 more than 60,000 acres of forestland was opened up for 61

cultivation, giving the Forest Department a revenue return of Rs 60,709.

The planting community saw these rules as a serious breach of trust and the government was forced to 62

modify them in 1879.

The modi ed rules made provision for a more di erentiated level of rate for the

timbers standing on the wastelands. As a result, the planters now would pay less on the timbers standing on their grant. An example of the concession given to the European company was that of the making of Makum Protected Forest. During 1880–1, the Assam Railways and Trading Company was given extensive concessions to work in the forest tracts, which were now proposed as Makum Protected Forest. Amidst intense pressure, the chief commissioner had agreed to retain the existing concessions given to the company within the Protected Forest. While declaring Protected Forests it was stipulated that the district o

cers would manage these forests on

trust and they would be handed over to the Forest Department when it would be in a position to take over. Till that time no clearance or occupation or felling of any mature trees would be allowed without the sanction of the chief commissioner. It was thought that the practice of shifting cultivation would also come to a halt as the administration took hold of the forest. Soon, the department embarked on the job of selecting as much area as possible to bring under Protected Forests. This intermediary arrangement, it was hoped, would not only save vast forest resources from destruction but also pave the way for the permanent 63

establishment of forest reserves.

The government was still not sure about the e ectiveness of the existing

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

increased to 932 square miles in 1890, mainly because of the creation of new Protected Forests in north

rules in realizing revenue from the timber trade from forests which were beyond any categories. Apprehension forced the chief commissioner to sanction separate rules, namely, Assam River Rules, Cachar River Rules, and Bhutan Timber Rules, to overcome these uncertainities. These rules came into e ect from 64

1880.

The new rules brought strict supervision in the movement of forest produce. While making the

Makum Protected Forest, Gustav Mann, who was now Deputy Conservator, argued that ‘everything depends 65

on the rules made for such forests’.

There was the further problem of administering the district forest in Lakhimpur. As mentioned earlier, the colonial rule was yet to enter deep into these areas, which hindered the management of the forest. The p. 93

government admitted that though they appointed many ‘illiterate

people’ as mauzadars, the villagers

were yet to learn the forest rules in a comprehensive manner. Though there were large tracts of protected and district forests in the district of Lakhimpur, these were not workable. The extensive labour force required to work in these timber tracts was not available locally. The government knew that the delayed early working of these areas. The possibilities of more revenue from these tracts became brighter with the possibility of the discovery of mineral resources in these areas and possible establishment of new industries in the near future. To improve the working conditions in these forests the government entered into an agreement to form a company with Shaw Finlayson Company for the construction of a light railway. The company was o ered an indenture, according to which the company could avail itself with the right to access of timber and wood without payment of royalty. Till 1879–80, this agreement did not become a reality. The company was given the exclusive right to fell and export or use all timber standing within oneand-a-half mile on either side of the Makum branch railway on payment of royalty according to the rules in force at the time. The government protected the right of the tea-planters in matters related to the supply of timber and fuelwood. The example of this company shows clearly how these District and Protected Forests became an important area where the colonial state tried to protect the interests of various colonial establishments. In fact, it is beyond doubt that the delay in bringing these forests under reservation was caused by the various con icting interests of the colonial enterprises. The presence of coal in these forests and their exploration by companies like Makum Coal Company and Assam Mineral Company delayed the forestry programme. The government believed that it would nally overcome all these hurdles and could 66

open the Lakhimpur forests towards more trade.

The Protected Forests as a category continued to be an important instrument of forest administration till the enactment of the Assam Forest Regulation of 1891, when the provision of the Protected Forest was replaced with the category of Unclassed State Forests. However, it again resurfaced during 1908. It was a temporary arrangement as the district of Jalpaiguri was added to Assam as per the provision of the Bengal partition. The next important attempt towards the Protected Forests was during 1919–20 when a local p. 94

government act made provision for making 67

miles.

a Protected Forest in Sadiya covering an area of 246 square

But such a negligible presence did not allow scholars to carry forward this discussion into the

twentieth century.

Unclassed State Forests and the Agrarian Frontier Unlike other Indian provinces, the Revenue Department in the Assam government had the most ambiguous attitude to the vast un-Reserved Forested tracts vis-à-vis the agrarian practices. The Revenue Department was still hopeful of the possibility of future agrarian expansion into these forests. To achieve this the Revenue Department emphasized on a policy of keeping large tracts of forest beyond the benevolent supervision of the Assam Forest Department. Over the years vast tracts of forestlands came under the indirect supervision of the Forest Department without actually being categorized as Reserved Forests. The geographical extent of these forests was larger than the Reserved Forests. As the idea of unclassed state 68

forests came to be coined in 1888,

before the Assam Forest Regulation, 1891, in an estimated 12 per cent of

the total geographical area of Assam was categorized as unclassed state forests compared to a mere 8 per 69

cent of Reserved Forests.

The Assam Forest Regulation of 1891 would now combine the legal categories of

both Protected Forests and District Forest to reclassify it as unclassed state forests. While the new category of space worked as a mediator of interests of the government, the planters, the Forest Department, and the agrarian society, it continued to unfold several layers of complex issues even into the next century.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

working of these forest resources would mean further exhaustion of the forests and soon began looking for

The unclassed state forests included all ‘lands at the disposal of Government’ as de ned by Section 3(8) of 70

the Assam Forest Regulation.

Till 1895, the unclassed state forests also included areas that were neither

necessarily forested areas nor having any probability of forest produce. These areas comprised of roads, 71

embankments, waterlogged areas, and other uncultivable lands. 72

area of 7,140 square miles in 1893.

Unclassed state forests began with an

Improper estimate of the actual coverage of forest under this class was

a constant matter of worry for the Forest Department. In spite of this the total area of unclassed state forests went spiralling up and never remained stable. By 1940 this area had grown by 57 per cent and stood 73

at 16,822 square miles.

The vast increase was mostly conditioned by the sweeping con dence of the Forest

Department as well as bringing under its ambit even recently relinquished lands. Addition to this category would not only come from beyond forested territories but often from within the departmental ambit. For p. 95

instance, if

an area earmarked for a proposed Reserved Forest could not be settled, it would be part of the

unclassed State forests. Relinquished land from the tea-gardens was added to this category. In 1897, the relinquished land from the tea-gardens being part of unclassed state forests was as high as 2,05,066

Unlike the Reserved Forests, where the exclusive authority of the Forest Department was ascertained, it was the Revenue Department assisted by the Forest Department that became the de facto authority in the management of unclassed state forests. This also allowed the revenue o

cials like mauzadars or tahsildars

to be directly responsible for their physical supervision. The grazing rights in these forests were also accepted and since 1896, the Assam administration claimed ‘liberal concessions’ were granted for the 75

collection of forest produces from these forests.

Looking at the superiority of the Revenue Department it

was a fairly realistic claim. On and o , the Indian government reminded the Assam administration of maintaining a liberal control, with a hope that ‘rules will be framed with discretion and enforced without 76

harshness’ while asserting claim over unclassed state forests vis-à-vis the agrarian classes.

As the

unclassed state forests were ready to be prospective agrarian zones the government allowed the civil administration to remove timbers or to ensure that the government was not deprived of their value. Managing such widely spread-out forested areas was becoming bureaucratically cumbersome. Realistically, even a joint supervision of both the forest and civil administration over the unclassed state forests was impossible. On its part, the Forest Department had no doubt that the task of bringing these forests under the 77

Reserved Forests would take a rather long period.

Most of these unclassed state forests also did not have

good prospects for conservation. Within these forests, the timber containing tracts were too scattered for their e ective commercial exploitation. Apprehension of the forest conservators about the commercial prospect of these tracts was not unknown. Thus, an assistant conservator of forest in Lakhimpur reported that the Solaguri Protected Forest, now to be under unclassed state forests, hardly had any worthwhile 78

forest coverage within it.

The Assam Company which had acquired these tracts on a thirty-year lease term

had already exhausted timbers in these forests. Partial clearance was done by peasants from the neighbourhood who had opened up parts for cultivation. Conceding the agrarian pressure and that of the tea-plantation, in 1917, these forests were divided into p. 96

three categories. The new classi cation

practically equated these forests into the revenue category of

mauza. Categories were formed according to the needs of both private capital as well as agrarian pressure. The rst category included those forests that could be leased out primarily for prospective tea-plantation. Less timber containing tracts were again included in another category to be available only for the ordinary peasant cultivation. The third category prohibited squatting and leasing out and was under strict supervision. This category was further divided into two groups: while the rst group could be leased out by the deputy commissioner on a regular written petition, the chief commissioner's sanction was required for the second group. The area under unclassed state forests began a downward movement in the early decade of the twentieth century. The Assam government was pressurized to expand the area under acreage because of its high scal 79

de cit.

Due to the encouragement of the provincial administration, the Assamese peasants took up more

land for cultivation. During 1915–17 an estimated 440 square miles of unclassed state forests were opened 80

up for cultivation.

81

The agrarian pressure on unclassed state forests had further increased in the 1920s.

The pressure was mostly con ned to the districts of Goalpara, Kamrup Darrang, and Nowgong. In the meanwhile, peasant migration from East Bengal, already given an institutional form under the colonization scheme, further complicated the scenario of agrarian relations. As the provincial politics further opened up forested areas for agriculture the idea of the unclassed state forests came under serious scrutiny. The unquali ed opening up of this category of the forest led the provincial administration to give a new

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

74

acres.

82

dimension to the leasing rules.

The provincial land-settlement policy of the 1940s had a severe impact on

the forest resources of Assam. On several occasions, the unclassed state forests containing good quality timber were disposed o

to the landless peasantry. The demand for the de-reservation of forest areas 83

continued for the next couple of decades amidst the intense peasant movement of Assam.

The uneasy

relation between agriculture and the Forest Department probably had already gone down to its lowest ebb with regard to their respective zones of rights and privileges. The following extract gives an impression of the bitter relation between the two contending sides. It rued that for many years it had been the ‘opinion of the majority of the inhabitants of Assam including many o

cials that the province had limitless forests and

the tendency had been to regard them in general as a nuisance to be cleared away as rapidly possible in order p. 97

84

to make room for smiling crops and orderly tea gardens’.

The

Nambor experiment of colonization had 85

given the Forest Department ample experience of the destruction of forest resources.

To avert such

uncontrolled damage the provincial government had assured the Forest Department that the latter would be taken into con dence while taking up planned settlement of unclassed state forests. cials about the growing scarcity of the unclassed state

forests. Frequently they protested against the peasantization of such forests. Though the urgency of creating Village Forests was not overtly expressed, it was admitted that the reservation of every area 86

suitable for Village Forest should be undertaken as rapidly as possible.

In Kamrup, the unclassed forests

were settled with the landless and the ood a ected peasantry. The continuous exploitation of the unclassed state forests invited the attention of the Forest Department to impose further restrictions whenever it was possible. Such restrictions were imposed with the approval of the local administration. A 87

series of such restrictions came in the rst decade of the twentieth century.

These restrictions prohibited

felling, cutting, girdling, marking, lopping, tapping, or injury to the trees. Over the years, the Forest Department withdrew its superior rights over these tracts and concentrated on securing revenue from the forest produces only. After Independence, as the area under the unclassed state forests uctuated constantly, with the pressure of the agrarian society increasing manifold, the Forest Department boldly asserted that the ‘government should enforce closer coordination between the civil authorities and the Forest Department to prevent wanton felling and burning of valuable timbers in squatted areas before the trees could be disposed o ’.

88

Moreover, by the middle of the century, it was clear that these forests were the source of the major part of 89

forest revenue. At the end of the twentieth century, o

cially it was asserted that approximately 22 per cent

of total forested area of the State was still classi ed as unclassed state forests. More importantly, however, the early imperial apprehension about unclassed state forests as a viable forestry project was overcome and the grip of the Forest Department was again rmly asserted over this space.

Deforestation: Extending the Agrarian Frontier In spite of so many precautions taken to conserve and keep the forest coverage intact, the Forest Department came under various compulsions to deforest Reserved Forests. The process of deforestation p. 98

began in the

late nineteenth century but its intensity increased and also acquired new dimensions in the

next century, in the 1940s in particular. This was the time when amidst complex politicization of the land question in Assam, the provincial government decided to distribute land from the Reserved Forests to landless peasants. Since the early days of forest conservation, the idea of deforestation was gaining ground amongst the revenue o

cials. Many of them insisted that such deforestation would not only increase revenue earnings

but also relieve the administration of the responsibility of taking care of less valued forests. Such ideas gained more ground due to the fact that even amongst the forest o

cials there was disagreement about the

potentiality of revenue earning of particular forests. Since the late nineteenth century, as the colonial government was looking for more agrarian revenue and area under acreage, various Reserved Forests were brought under the deforestation scheme. The makers of the regulation of 1891 took care to make room for deforestation and, accordingly, under the provision of Section 28 of the Assam Forest Regulation 1891, deforestation was permitted with the sanction of the Government of India. Soon the colonial government, to maximize revenue potentiality, went ahead with the policy of deforestation. Initially, lands lying fallow or without any commercially productive timber were deforested or disposed o

to meet the requirement of the 90

tea companies. The best example of such deforestation was the Nambor colonization scheme.

The initial

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

There was unending anxiety amongst the forest o

proposal for colonization came from Bampfylde Fuller with the express purpose of settling peasants from the Surma valley in 1904. In the next decade, along with the expansion of the Assam–Bengal Railway the prospect of immigration from Surma valley become brighter and more areas in the Nambor reserve were brought under deforestation. Since then, peasants mostly from the Brahmaputra valley colonized the forestland. The provincial administration in its anxiety to increase its revenue earnings readily looked for deforestation of large tracks of Reserved Forests. The major bene ciaries of the deforestation were the various railway companies, tea-planters, and individual landholders. The rst two, by virtue of their close proximity to the colonial state, were privileged enough to share a higher portion of such deforested land. The tea-gardens always tried to gobble up forest areas from the Reserved Forests. The lands thus possessed were opened up for agricultural purpose. In one such instance, T. Henderson, superintendent of the Salona Tea Company, while requiring a grant of 300 p. 99

acres from the Reserved Forest on lease, wrote

to the deputy commissioner of Nowgong that keeping

91

grazing ground.

As the deputy commissioner called for an enquiry to estimate the forest value of the

proposed area, both the civil authorities and the Forest Department agreed that these tracts of land could be handed over to the tea company. A distinctive character of the deforestation was that while in the Surma valley land was opened up for ordinary cultivation, in the Brahmaputra valley the various tea companies or railway companies were the major bene ciaries. The pressure of the peasantry in the Surma valley for deforestation was so high that even before the actual deforestation began, peasants squatted and brought forestlands under settlement in 92

anticipation of deforestation.

The history of deforestation is a complex web of contesting rights and power to be wielded by various colonial agencies. Deforestation, in spite of the resentment of the Forest Department, was taken up in elaborate ways in both the valleys and continued without any restrictions well into mid-twentieth century, when this process was taken over by the provincial land settlement programme. New exicengies amongst the political class had put some form of restriction on the way land was liberated from the forest cover. Many members in the assembly raised strong opposition against the rampant distribution of forestland. Making a departure from the ongoing practices, in 1940, the forest minister of the province wanted a more 93

controlled regime of deforestation.

The history of deforestation during this period clearly exempli ed the

close relation between the revenue needs of the colonial government and forest conservation. Such urgency often became so acute that the colonial government went ahead with the programme of deforestation in contravention of all ethics of forest conservation.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

such forested land would help them in retaining their labour supply and could be taken up for cultivation or

The Dilemma of Labour As villages were pushed away from the proximity of the Reserved Forests the regular supply of essential labour needed for sustaining the forestry programme turned out to be a serious challenge. Scarcity of labour became closely linked with territorial gains of the Forest Department and it became acute since the early twentieth century. The scarcity was also a result of the complex processes of agricultural expansion and relocation of villages from the frontiers of the forests. That, since the last decade of the rst century of the p. 100

colonial rule, the provincial administration had

encouraged rapid agrarian expansion is now known to us.

The crisis often re ected in policy announcements made by various inspector generals of forest during their successive visits. What resulted from the labour crisis was an attempt to rede ne the nature of conservation and access of humans to the forests. The advantage was surely with the Forest Department. The social nature of this labour service hardly entailed any de ned skill; the skill the labour required for felling and skilled works, everyday works of the forest management could be done by a class of labourers pulled from the peasant society. The rules framed under the Assam Forest Regulation of 1891 paved the way to rede ne the notion of human interaction with conserved forests. The regulation empowered the forest o

cials to

relax rules so that labour could be managed in return for allowing limited privileges from the forests. Often such practice came to be known in everyday discourse as beggar. At the close of the nineteenth century, as such practices came into surface, mostly in Goalpara, many strongly protested against such coercive labour service. The case which drew the attention of the government was the peasants–labourers of Sidli in Goalpara. Since 1898, they refused to provide such coercive labour service to the department. They represented the Indian government in March 1900 and objected to ‘furnish labour’ even in return for ‘privileges’. This representation forced Henry Cotton, the Chief Commissioner, to admit that ‘some relief was 94

necessary’.

Though concession was granted in the winter of 1900 in the form of the government

increasing the labour wage from 4 to 6 annas the matter hardly improved. In the meanwhile, the government was already contemplating to settle these areas with the zamindars of Goalpara and it would mean the loss of direct assertion of control over these peasants. Failure to get the consent of the peasants was further aggravated and the ‘probability that spirit of discontent’, the government realized, would spread to other areas. To overcome this worst fear of labour crisis, which had already been faced by the teagardens, the government tried to evolve ‘a practical working basis’ to be known as forest villages, an experiment already existing in Central Province. In September 1900, Henry Cotton laid down rules for regularization of the existing practices followed by the Forest Department. Thus, the new rule stipulated that ‘… the Forest Department should obtain in return for forest privileges as much labour as possible’. For p. 101

the government, the

success of this new bureaucratic arrangement to overcome the key to the forestry

programme would ‘entirely depend on the tact and discretion with which’ the department carried out this rule. The establishment of forest villages was within the bureaucratic setup of the existing Reserved Forests or, mostly, in new areas that were earmarked for creating the forest villages. An illustrative example of the establishment of forest village was that of Kachugaon in Goalpara. The forest village was established in 1901 95

by making a new addition to the Reserved Forests to make way for a forest village.

This also meant that the

Forest Department was not willing to disturb any status quo inside the already acquired territorial rights. The department made sure that the newly added tracts did not contain any marketable timber. This practically meant that the forest villagers got little time to carry their own agricultural works. Two other forest villages, that is, Panbari and Bamujhora, established in Goalpara in 1902, also turned out to be similar in the nature of expropriation of labour service by the Forest Department. Those who became part of these forest villages belonged mostly to the tribal communities. Peasants belonging to the Rava community, who had migrated from neighbouring north Bengal, numbering approximately 265 families, owned around 12 bighas of land per family. They provided 1,828 days of labour, which saved the department a sum of Rs 470. 96

Apart from that another 1,075 days of labour was also received on payment of wage of six annas per day.

The creation of forest villages often resulted in sorting out bureaucratic complexities between the civil and forest authorities. A representative instance of forest village as an instrument of negotiation is the Amguri village in Goalpara. The village remained outside the ambit of Chirang Reserved Forests, as a temporary arrangement to allow the peasants to move away, and the deputy commissioner as the interim revenue collector emerged as a bone of contention; neither the civil administration nor the Forest Department was

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

preparing timber for markets could also be done by professionals. Beyond the compartmentalized and

97

willing to relinquish their respective claim.

To avoid further protracted con ict the latter proposed the

transfer of the village as forest village. As the civil administration remained de ant and the matter could not be resolved, the Forest Department suggested, a couple of years later, that the villagers wanted to become 98

forest villagers.

This claim of willingness was more than a strategic suggestion used by the Forest

Department vis-à-vis the claim of the Revenue Department. The village was part of the estate of Sidli p. 102

zamindar. Tenant dissatisfaction o

99

cial accounts.

against the exploitation by landlords was by now widely reported in

The creation of forest villages, with governmental concession, could now provide

temporary relief for these tenants. What would be the entitlement of the rights and privileges of the forest villagers? Or who would be settled within the forest villages? In deciding these issues, the Forest Department allowed the ground realities to take precedence. The habit of living within the forest was seen as a primary requirement for settlement 100

within the forest villages.

It was stipulated so because of the understanding of the colonial government 101

annual patta land and revenue was xed at a concession.

Every adult villager was required to render 20

days of manual labour annually in return for ordinary wages. In actual practice, however, the Forest Department forced the villagers to work at a highly reduced wage. Except for personal uses for construction of houses, no forest material was given free. Further, a family was entitled for ten cartloads of fuel every year in return for another ten days of labour, and these privileges were granted to the shifting cultivators too. Apart from these controlled rights and privileges, forest villagers were not allowed to work for other departments. As days went by, more concessions came in. With the increasing pressure for grazing inside the Village Forest, grazing concessions were sanctioned in 1918. A.W. Blunt, conservator of the western Assam circle, apprehended that unless the villagers were not allowed to graze liberally they might leave these villages. To control the situation the Forest Department wanted some form of control over the grazing 102

and asked the district administration to levy a fee of eight annas per head per annum.

This ensured that

the Forest Department derived maximum bene t from such concessions. The forest villagers had to pay only one-quarter of the revenue on those lands on which they were settled, outside the Reserved Forests. They were also given free grazing rights for a limited number of cattle. These concessions came with harsh stipulations: every adult male member of a family had to work for the department for ten days for free within a month and was bound to work for a further period of 15 days for a daily wage of 4 annas. The establishment of forest villages came as a boost for carrying out forest management. Normally, the villagers were allowed to take up land along the re lines as the Forest Department believed that cultivation p. 103

103

in these tracts would minimize the spread of re.

Cultivation done by the

forest villagers also helped in

better protection of the Reserved Forests. Almost a decade after the beginning of this experiment, G.C. Hart, the Inspector General of forest, admitted that in forested tracts where labour was di 104

forest village system was a most excellent one.

cult to procure the

Encouraged by Hart and the increase in forest revenue

during the First World War, more forest villages were established in Cachar in the 1920s. Poor peasants 105

belonging to various castes were given settlement in the forest villages.

Though the number of forest

villagers increased slowly since 1930 they continued to exist. A combination of factors—the failure of the agrarian economy combined with the increasing pressure on land—forced the peasants to settle as forest 106

villagers.

By 1937 the forest minister of Assam estimated that 312 such forest villages, spreading over 107

9,713 acres, mostly in Goalpara, Cachar, and Kamrup, already existed.

As these villages became stable for

a couple of decades their claim for tenurial rights was consolidated. Resistance against such coercive practices inside the forest villages, which ironically began both as a mechanism to overcome opposition from the labouring class and also legitimize coercive labour extraction 108

method, however, never disappeared.

To overcome such protests the Forest Department initially took

care that only the ‘right class of men’ were allowed as forest villagers. Such protests spread across di erent parts of the province. In the 1930s, these protests acquired more organized form and the labour service was 109

equated with ‘slavery’, leading the government to strongly reject the idea of coercive labour.

In the

meanwhile, the Forest Enquiry Committee suggested that revenue not be levied in the land cultivated by the 110

forest villagers inside the forests.

The establishment of forest villages that began with a motive of

generating labour value inside the forests, is clearly indicative of the forestry programme's ability to withstand intricate local crisis. More importantly, this experience exposed the Forest Department to local exigencies. This arrangement had run parallel to the practice of taungya cultivation though the larger 111

ideological plank of the latter evolved separately.

In the meantime, over the years as the villager's settled

down inside the forest land, gained a loose form of tenurial rights, and paid rent; they also began to consolidate their undeclared rights inside the forests. More infrastructural support came in for everyday

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

about the cultural sociology of work. Once a person or family was settled within the forest, they were given

112

life. p. 104

In 1963, these forest villages came under the purview of the Assam Panchayat Act and the villagers

were turned into a class of privileged tenant within the

113

forests unlike that of taungya villagers.

This

privilege began to unfold only later when in the post-1980 period the Indian government began to assert 114

exclusive rights over these tracts.

Conservation and Community Rights: Paradoxical Paradigms Can imperial forestry primarily driven by the logic of commercialization and then production forestry make way for private needs? The imperial forestry often tried to accommodate possible ways to create provision for mostly rural society. The institutional mechanism through which attempt was made to address this apparently challenging idea was the provision of Village Forests in the Assam Forest Regulation, 1891. The primary idea behind the notion of Village Forests was to make accessible the supply of domestic Village Forests. Since the early twentieth century there was growing tension amongst the forest o

cials

about the increasing depletion of the forest cover in Assam. However, what nally created the institution of Village Forests was beyond the purview of the original idea. Taking recourse to the formation of Village 115

Forest could bring a better supervision over the forests resources lying beyond the regulated areas.

In

1915, the Revenue Department made an enquiry into the feasibility of the constitution of Village Forests and 116

scope for their management.

The logic behind the proposed move was to provide fuel and timber to the

village population. But undoubtedly, the move towards the formation of Village Forests was to extend the right of the State over more and more areas containing valuable forests. The chief commissioner nally agreed to the proposition and rules were published in 1918. The new rules empowered the deputy commissioner to determine the villages in the vicinity of the Village Forests and the inhabitants thereof who would be entitled to privileges in the Village Forest. The government was not interested in incurring any further expenditure for the creation of Village Forests. The responsibility of the management of this Village Forest was entrusted to the village panchayat where the mauzadars would play the central role. The Village Forest would be demarcated by means of mounds on which simul or other quick growing trees were to be planted. Such works were to be undertaken by those villagers who were entitled to some privileges. In 1920, 117

the government began the process of declaring certain tracts in Sibsagar as Village Forest.

But many of

them never stood up to the expectation of the Forest Department. In 1927, the deputy commissioner p. 105

reported

118

that most of the mauzadars showed little interest and care for the Village Forests.

The area

under Village Forests had increased slowly, and at the end of 1927, was estimated at 33,689 acres. The very purpose of the establishment of the Village Forest and its appreciation by the villagers probably di ered. For instance, the deputy commissioner of Kamrup reported in 1927 that though the policy of keeping fuel reserves for villages had on the whole proved bene cial, it had served no useful purpose beyond the provision of grazing and providing small amount of rewood. The World Economic Depression of 1929– 30 forced the government to do a rethink about the necessity and viability of the Village Forests, and in 1932, the government advocated throwing open these Village Forests for cultivation. In 1935, the Forest Department abandoned the policy of forming Village Forests and all such land came to be regarded as 119

unclassed state forests.

This short-lived experiment was, nonetheless, an important step towards a more

human and mature cooperation but could not be sustained as its commercial non-viability went against the policy of the forest administration. The idea of community forestry began to gain currency since the Royal Commission on Agriculture in 1927 stressed on the desirability of the Village Forest to meet the needs of the villagers. The idea was further given a rmer but highly regimented shape in the Indian Forest Act of 1927. After Independence the idea of creating space within the general production forestry programme resurfaced but was both ideologically and structurally di erent from what the regulation of 1891 had mooted. The National Commission on Agriculture (1976) advocated the idea of social forestry and suggested it be an integral component of the national forestry programme. The growing importance of the Village Forest should be seen in the context of increasing pressure on the forest resources. Accordingly, it was decided to stimulate private e orts at tree planting. Villagers were encouraged to plant trees in village commons and along roadsides. This was supported by a policy of planned a orestation on lands at the disposal of various government departments and other institutions. However, there was no clear agenda before the Forest Department as regards what should be the role of the social forestry. The National Commission on Agriculture insisted that the role of the social forestry would be to meet the needs of the community for agricultural timber and fuelwood,

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

requirements. However, arrangements were made only in the rst decade of the next century to create

grazing and grass, and recreation. In 1976, in one of the earliest re-evaluations of India's forest policy in the p. 106

post-colonial period, the Government of India initiated a massive nationwide social

forestry programme

in an attempt to reconcile industrial forestry and the basic forest-related needs of rural communities. The objective of the social forestry was to make it possible to meet the needs of various forest products, such as agricultural small timbers and fuelwood, from readily accessible areas. This would lighten the burden on the forest areas, which would continue to provide necessary support to the industrial houses. The idea of social forestry, though, was implemented since the Second Five-Year Plan but remained a modest exercise till the Fourth Five-Year Plan. The scale of investment and areas that came under social 120

forestry in Assam went spiralling up.

The Forest Department implemented the social forestry programme

aimed at achieving a speci c a orestation target. Already between 1956 and 1979, an estimated 34,435 hectares of area came under a orestation. The Assam government too was forced to believe that in terms of a orestation, most social forestry projects had been extremely successful. The idea of success was primarily social forestry programme got further momentum with the additional nancial grant coming in for the 121

rapid implementation of large-scale planting.

An estimated 7,200 hectares of area covering Kamrup,

Goalpara, Sibsagar, and Cachar was brought under the social forestry programme between 1980 and 1985. However, as it came to be practised, the ideology involved with social forestry was markedly di erent from that of community forestry as well as the history of plantation. Two of the most problematic aspects were the commercial orientation in the social forestry scheme, as exempli ed in the species selected for a orestation, and the level of intervention or the type of management institution utilized. Most projects under social forestry focused on the planting of eucalyptus, which, due to its rapid growth and marketability for construction poles, was conceived as providing a quick economic return. Eucalyptus required excessive watering and also discouraged both undergrowth planting and the production of non-timber related products. Further, the preference of rural communities was plantation of mixed tree species for fruit, fodder, and timber. In focusing on growing eucalyptus monocultures for sale, social forestry projects did little to address the problems of fuelwood or fodder scarcity. With consolidation of bureaucratic intervention more areas came under the complete control of the Forest Department; in fact, the Forest Department came to exercise similar and also complex layers of rights over this near territorial space of p. 107

social forestry, as was the case

with Reserved Forests. Thus, though apparently claimed as instrumental

in introducing a people-oriented perspective into the ideological apparatus of the forestry programme, the primacy of community need in the social forestry remained a distant dream in Assam, as was the case in 122

other parts of the world.

At the end of twentieth century, the Indian forestry programme had again pushed the idea of community forestry, which has by now become more contradictory. While the national policy for the joint forest management (JFM) began in 1990 (Fig. 2.3), the Assam government noti ed the programme in November 123

1998.

The Forest Department stated that its primary goal would be to have ‘plantation of short rotation

crops like cane and bamboo’, to be carried out through a series of a orestation programmes. The rhetoric of community participation again resurfaced, which was done primarily to mitigate the labour crisis. Thus, in spite of its claim for participatory community share in the management of forest, through the JFM programme, the Indian State further pushed the agenda for commercialization of forest resources. The JFM programme became a mere face-saving agenda of the Forest Department in the name of ensuring p. 108

community rights. Apprehension on the e

cacy of JFM as a positive toll of protection of community rights

was widely articulated. Both Assam Forest Policy (AFP) 2004 and JFM not only collectively reasserted the department's right over forested land but rede ned peasants’ right in the forests by including them in the forests. The colonial state's dilemma, while implementing the scienti c forestry, of whether to adopt natural or arti cial regeneration of forest was indeed, to an extent, resolved by the immediate economic logic of the State. At the beginning of the present century, though, JFM claimed to have no inclination for appropriating both methods, yet arti cial regeneration became the sole prerogative for the Forest Department. While the state government has already made a move towards e ective commercialization of bamboo plantation the questions of community and people's rights have been carefully avoided in these 124

policy deliberations. The early euphoria for people-friendly plantation still evades the reality.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

understood in terms of increasing forest coverage but not in restrengthening biodiversity. Since 1980 the

Fig. 2.3

Notes

p. 109

1.

National Archives of India (herea er NAI) Proceeding nos 45–6, PWD (Rev-For) August 1866 (NAI).

2.

E.P. Stebbing, 1926, The Forests of India, Vol. III, London: The Bodley Head, p. 216.

3.

Gustav Mann, 1873, Annual Progress Report on the Assam Forest Administration Letter no. 217I, 19 July, Secretary to Government of Bengal, Revenue Department, vol. 50 (ASA).

4.

These proposals were sent on di erent dates notifying di erent areas.

5.

Annual Report, 1874–75, appendix II.

6.

Annual Report, 1875–76, para. 30.

7.

Notification no. 3386, 24 December 1875, in The Assam Gazette, 1 January 1876, p. 5.

8.

The amount of firewood bought by India General Steam Navigation Company and Rivers Steamer Navigation Company, the two important steamer companies working in Assam, during 1875 was 46,910 maunds. The steamers in Cachar did not burn firewood. See Annual Report, 1875–76, para. 103.

9.

Fisher and D'Aroy who had their professional expertise these tracts conducted the survey. This survey counted the concentric rings in twenty sal trees. See, Annual Report 1875–76, para. 86.

10.

S. Barua, 1999, India Against Itself: Assam and the Politics of Nationality, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, p. 30; H.K. Barpujari, 1992, The Comprehensive History of Assam, vol. 4, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board.

11.

D. Brandis, 1879, Suggestions Regarding Forest Administration in India, Calcutta, pp. 44–55.

12.

Annual Report, 1885–86, para. 50.

13.

Annual Report, 1880–81, para. 154.

14.

The description given in this paragraph is worked out from the description given in the Annual Report, 1875–76, para. 8–27.

15.

The area under Sibsagar district is high because of the inclusion of the forest reserve in the Naga hills. During 1932, within the forest areas of Cachar and Lakhimpur, a vast tract of Lushai hills and Frontier tract were also added which shows a high area under the reserved category.

16.

Annual Report, 1878–79. para. 18.

17.

Annual Report, 1887–88, para. 15.

18.

Ibid. p. 13.

19.

E.P. Stebbing, The Forests of India, Vol. III, p. 241.

20.

Letter from Gustav Mann, Conservator of Assam, to Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam no. 38A, Shillong, 7 June 1890, Assam Secretariat Proceedings (herea er ASP) nos 25–6, Revenue-A, Revenue and Agriculture, December 1890

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Joint Forest Management (JFM) became another way of reinforcing ownership control of the Forest Department. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia

(ASA). 21.

H.C. Hill, 1896, Note on an Inspection of Certain Forests in Assam, Simla: Government Press, p. 2.

22.

B.F. Bryant, 1912, A Note of Inspection on Some Forests of Assam, Calcutta: Government Press, para. 3.

23.

C.S. Hart, 1915, Note on a Tour of Inspection in Some of the Forests of Assam, Simla: Government Press, para. 37.

24.

G. Barton, 2001, ʻEmpire forestry and the origins of environmentalismʼ, Journal of Historical Geography, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 529–52 10.1006/jhge.2001.0353

25.

ASP, nos 1–2, Forest-A, Revenue Department, December 1930.

26.

Annual Report 1912–13, paras 3–4.

27.

Ibid., para. 4 10.1006/jhge.2001.0353

.

28.

Ibid., para. 1 10.1006/jhge.2001.0353

.

29.

P.D. Stracey, 1949, Assam's Economy and Forests, Shillong: Government Press, p. 5.

30.

Ibid., p. 7.

31.

See Chapter 4 for a discussion on the history of encroachment into the forest areas.

32.

Government of Assam, 1962, Techno-Economic Survey of Assam, p. 44.

33.

Special Report, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun.

34.

J. Westoby, 1989, Introduction to World Forestry, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, pp. 122–4.

35.

ASP nos 82–99, Revenue-A, March 1897 (ASA).

36.

The Deputy Conservator of Forest gave the local vernacular names along with scientific names.

37.

ASP nos 82–99, Revenue-A, March 1897 (ASA).

38.

Reservation of the Mugakhal and Jharikhuri Forests in the Kamrup, Young's letter no.168A 12 December 1892, ASP nos 140–59, Revenue-A, April 1894 (ASA).

39.

Annual Report, 1890–91, para. 17.

40.

Annual Report, 1883–84, para. 52.

41.

Annual Report, 1881–82, para. 129.

42.

Resolution by the Sub-Committee of the Indian Tea Association, ASP, nos 109–35, Revenue-A, September 1901 (ASA).

43.

See, for example, Khadria, 1992, ʻSome Aspects of the Rural Economy of Assam: a study of the Brahmaputra valley districts of Assam, 1874–1914ʼ. Center for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, unpublished thesis; R.P. Behal, 1983, ʻSome Aspects of the Growth of the Plantation Labor Force and Labor Movements in Assam Valley districts, 1900–47ʼ, Center for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, unpublished thesis.

44.

Brandis, Suggestions Regarding Forest Administration in India, para. 16.

45.

Reservation of the Dudkhuri Forest in Kamrup, ASP Progs nos 51–67, Revenue-A, February 1902.

46.

For instance, 97 acres of Diju reserve were deforested in return for a right of way concession over tea-garden roads in 1915, Annual Report 1915–16, para. 2.

47.

Letter from J. Mckee, Conservator of Assam to the Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, No. 195A, Shillong, 12 December 1893, ASP nos 124–62, Revenue-A, April 1896 (ASA).

48.

Chapter 4 of the Indian Forest Act 1878 made provision for the creation of the Protected Forests. The Act came into e ect in Assam since 19 October 1878. Assam Gazette, Part II, 19 October 1878, p. 494. Also see, The Indian Forest Act, 1878 in the Explanatory Notes on Forest Law, Imperial Forest College, Dehradun, Calcutta, 1913, pp. 19–20 and 106–8.

49.

It suggests that Protected Forest rules had to recognize the legitimacy of clearing wastelands for bona fide cultivation or face opposition, see Sivaramakrishnan, Modern Forests, pp. 174–5.

50.

Annual Report, 1875–76, para. 45.

51.

Annual Report, 1877–78, para.159.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 110

.

Ibid.

53.

Ibid.

54.

Annual Report, 1878–79, Form no. 45.

55.

Annual Report, 1879–80, para. 49.

56.

Annual Report, 1878–79, para. 184.

57.

Circular nos 43, 10 August 1877.

58.

Annual Report, 1877–78, para. 173.

59.

Ibid., para. 174.

60.

Circular no. 27, 15 August 1878.

61.

Annual Report, 1878–79, para. 196.

62.

Circular no. 50, from S.O.B. Ridsdale, Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, 25 September 1879, Shillong (ASA).

63.

Annual Report, 1878–79, para. 5.

64.

Annual Report, 1879–80, para. 209–13 and Annual Report, 1880–81, paras 206–8.

65.

Gustav Mann to Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, no.117 A, Shillong, 6 August 1888, ASP nos 215–89, Revenue-A, September 1892 (ASA).

66.

This paragraph is based on the Annual Report, 1879–80, paras 188–91.

67.

Annual Report, 1918–19, pp. 1–2.

68.

A.L. Home, The Assam Forest Manual, Simla: Government Press, 1898, p. 131.

69.

E.C. Buck, Secretary, Department of Revenue and Agriculture, Government of India to Chief Commissioner of Assam, 27 October 1890 in ASP KW, nos 1–5, Revenue-A, March 1891.

70.

Section 3(8) of the Assam Forest Act 1891 explained that land at the disposal of the government meant that land in respect of which no person has acquired a permanent, heritable and transferred right of use and occupancy under any law for the time being in force and land in respect of which no person has acquired any right created by grant or lease made or continued by or on behalf of the British government.

71.

Annual Report, 1895–96, para. 6.

72.

Annual Report, 1892–93, Calculated from form no. 46. This area also included an area amounting to 787 square miles of forest in the Naga hills, Garo hills, and Sylhet.

73.

Annual Report, 1939–40, para. 6.

74.

Annual Report, 1897–98, para. 3.

75.

E.A. Gait, O iciating Secretary to Chief Commissioner of Assam to Secretary, Revenue and Agricultural Department, 15 September 1897 in ASP, Revenue-A, nos. 64–83, April 1898.

76.

From Daniel Ibbetson, Secretary, Department of Revenue and Agriculture, Government of India to Chief Commissioner of Assam, 10 August 1897, in ASP, Revenue-A, nos 64–83, April 1898.

77.

Annual Report, 1912–13, para. 11.

78.

Assistant Conservator of Forest, Lakhimpur division to the Conservator of Forest, no. 112A, 24 December, 1881, ASP nos 93–9, Revenue-A, February 1898 (ASA).

79.

For a discussion on the fiscal policies of the colonial government during this period see, Tirthankar Roy, 2006, The Economic History of India, 1857–1947, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 314–38.

80.

Annual Report, 1916–17, para. 6.

81.

For a detailed discussion of the colonization scheme see, A. Saikia, 2002, ʻAgrarian Society, Economy and Peasant Unrest: A Study of Brahmaputra Valley Districts 1945–52ʼ, University of Delhi, unpublished thesis.

82.

Annual Report, 1919–20, para. 8.

83.

This aspect has been discussed in Chapter 4.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 111

52.

p. 112

ʻIntroductionʼ, Annual Report, 1926–27.

85.

Colonization of the Nambor Forest in the Sibsagar district, ASP nos 1–14, Revenue-A, February 1914 (ASA).

86.

Annual Report, 1919–20, para. 3.

87.

ASP, nos 1–4, Forest-A, Financial Department, September 1910 (ASA).

88.

Annual Report, 1950–51, para. 16.

89.

Annual Report, 1948–49, para. 8.

90.

The account in this paragraph is based on ASP nos 1–14, Revenue-A, February 1914 (ASA).

91.

T. Henderson, Superintendent, Salona Tea Company to the Deputy Commissioner of Nowgong, ASP nos. 24–43, Revenue-A, June 1900 (ASA).

92.

Monahan described how the peasants in the Surma valley had settled in the parts of the Inner Line Reserve much before any proposal for such work. Deforestation of a portion of the Inner Line reserve in Cachar, F.J. Monahan, Secretary to the Chief Commissioner, Assam, no. 145 Forests, 1791, R, 1 June 1899, ASP nos 55–61, Revenue-A, July 1899 (ASA).

93.

Annual Report 1940–41, para. 160.

94.

Resolution of Assam Forest Report, 1899–1900, F.J. Monahan, Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, Extract from Proceeding of the Chief Commissioner, General Department, 4 January 1901.

95.

Annual Report, 1902–3, para. 2. Between 1901 and 1903 this forest village had 447 families with a total 6,026 bighas of land under cultivation. Memo, Conservator of Forests, Assam, 23 July 1904, no. 140, in ASP, Revenue A, nos 140–3, ASA.

96.

Annual Report, 1902–03, para. 76.

97.

Letter from E.S. Carr, Conservator of Assam to Inspector General of Forests, Government of India, 13 July 1904, no. 141 in ASP, nos 140–3, Revenue A, September 1904, ASA.

98.

Letter from E.S. Carr to the Secretary, Chief Commissioner, Assam, 27 February 1905, Shillong in ASP, nos 4–6, Revenue-A, April 1905 (ASA).

99.

The most comprehensive description of tenants' protest could be found in A.J. Laine, 1917, An Account of the Land Tenure System of Goalpara, Shillong: Government Press.

100. ʻRules for the Establishment and Control of Forest Villagesʼ, Notification no. 4631 R, 6 December 1930 in The Assam Forest Manual, Vol. I. 101. Annual patta means that the department could reassert its rights over it whenever it desires so. 102. A.W. Blunt, Conservator to the Chief Secretary, no. 314 A, 20 March, 1917, ASP nos 48–9, Revenue-A, Revenue Department, April 1917, and also ASP nos 4–7, Forest-A, Financial Department, April 1917 (ASA). 103. A.L. Home, Conservator of Forest in Assam to the Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, no. 109A, Shillong, 4 September 1897, ASP nos 93–9, Revenue-A, February 1898 (ASA). 104. Hart (1914), p. 28. 105. Speech by A.J. Laine, Assam Legislative Council Proceeding, 19 March 1930. 106. For a discussion the on the agrarian relation of Assam in the 1930s, see Saikia (2001). 107. This number was inclusive of 71 forest villages in Sylhet. Speech by Shamsul-Ulma Maulana Abu Naser Waheed, Assam Legislative Assembly Debate, 21 December 1937. In the early twenty-first century the number stood at 499 which is onefi h of total number of forest villages of the entire country. 108. The Annual Reports repeatedly mentioned about the ʻtroubleʼ forest villagers. p. 113

109.

Such opposition was more prominent in the floor of the Assam Legislative Assembly.

110. Report of the Assam Forest Enquiry Committee, 1929. 111. See Chapter 6. 112. In 1954, the Assam Forest Department established markets in several forest villages of Goalpara. The department believed that this would also ensure some revenue to the department. Letter from M.C. Jacob, Conservator of Forests, Assam to the Secretary, Forests, Department of Agriculture, Government of Assam, nos 0396/49–54, 15 November 1954 in AFR 483/54 1954 (ASA).

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

84.

113. Proceedings of Forest Standing Committee, Assam Congress Parliamentary Party, 30 March 1963, in FA, 337/67, 1967 (ASA). 114. I have discussed the unfolding character of this in elsewhere see, A. Saikia, 2008, ʻForest Land and Peasant Struggles in Assam, 2002–2007ʼ Journal of Peasant Studies, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 39–60 10.1080/03066150801983402

.

115. Annual Report, 1915–16, para. 16. 116. Rules for the Constitution and Management of Village Forests in the Assam Valley Districts, ASP, nos 1–10, Revenue-A, April 1918, Revenue Department (ASA). 117. Constitution of Certain Areas as Village Forest in the Sibsagar District, ASP nos 41–62, Forest-A, June 1920, Financial Department (ASA). 118. Annual Report, 1926–27, para. 2. 119. P.D. Stracey, Assam's Economy and Forests, p. 9; Annual Report, 1932–33, para. 2.

Year

1956–61

1961–6

1966–9

1969–74

1974–9

1979

1956–79

Rupees (in lakh)

19.62

10.07

11.35

7.82

36.64

19.57

105.07

Area in hectare

1,480

9,499

2,254

620

19,604

978

34,435

121. N.D Bachkheti, 1984, Social Forestry in India. 122. N.L. Peluso, 1993, ʻ“Traditions” of Forest Control in Java: Implications for Social Forestry and Sustainabilityʼ, Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters, vol. 3 (4/6), pp. 138–57 10.2307/2997766

.

123. The Assam Gazette Extraordinary, 20 February 1999. For a critical discussion on the origin and growth of JFM policy in India see, N. Sundar, 2000, ʻUnpacking the “Joint” in Joint Forest Managementʼ, Development and Change, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 255–79 10.1111/1467-7660.00154

.

124. According to Forest Department's own evaluation of the success of JFM schemes during this period the focus is still in the artificial regeneration with a highly marginal focus on cane and bamboo.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193341981 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

120. The following table prepared from Ministry of Agriculture, Forest Planning Cell Report, Government of India gives an idea of the amount of money and areas brought under social forestry programme in Assam during 1956–79. See also, ʻSocial Forestry Through the Plansʼ, in N.D. Bachkheti, 1984, Social Forestry in India: Problems and Prospects, Delhi: Radiant, Table 5, p. 21.

Forests and Ecological History of Assam, 1826–2000 Arupjyoti Saikia https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.001.0001 Published: 2011

Online ISBN: 9780199081240

Print ISBN: 9780198069539

CHAPTER

3 Regional Forest: Institutions and Organizations  Arupjyoti Saikia Pages 114–145

Abstract The responsibility of governance and control over forests was organized through institutions and a legal framework that emerged after the conservation was put in place. In Assam, a provincial Forest Department under the direct supervision of the imperial department was established to manage the forests. This chapter discusses forest management in Assam after the introduction of conservation policies. The process of establishment of a Forest Department in Assam began in 1868. While the Forest Department was given the task of managing forests, the lack of de nitive forest laws rendered the Forest Department weak in its control over forests. Over the years, the government and the Forest Department of Assam worked for the increased authority of the department. After several ideological transformations and forestry rule reformations, the Forest Department became an e ective force in the conservation of Assam forest wherein preservation became the basic agenda of the department.

Keywords: governance over forests, control over forests, conservation, Forest Department, forest management, ideological transformations, forestry rule reformations, Assam forest Subject: Colonialism and Imperialism, Environmental History, Asian History, Indian History Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online

The task of governance and control over the forests was organized through institutions and a legal framework that grew after the conservation programme set in. Like in other Indian provinces, a provincial Forest Department under direct supervision of the imperial department would be best suited for these tasks. As it happened, the Forest Department could rarely follow the advice of the imperial order literarily. Departures followed, as would be the case in the implementation of the working plans, in creating the framework of governance, as will be seen from the following discussion.

Regional Forestry and Imperial Administration The process of establishment of a Forest Department in Assam began in 1868 with the deputation of Gustav 1

Mann, an Assistant Conservator of forest, to inspect the forests of Assam. Largely following the administrative arrangement of the time, an unorganized supervisory mechanism continued to function until 1873 when Assam became an independent province. To look into the a airs of these vast forested areas, to be brought under government control, Assam had a Forest Department. As territorial arrangement was carried out in 1874, the province was divided into two divisions—Lower Assam and Upper Assam—and its forested tracts became part of this arrangement. Thus, the forests in Kamrup and Goalpara became part of the Lower Assam division while the forests of Lakhimpur, Sibsagar, and Naga hills division were included p. 115

in the Upper

2

Assam division. Gustav Mann began extensive survey of the tracts and estimated that

approximately 4,565 square miles of forests could be brought under Reserved Forest.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.003.0004 Published: February 2011

In 1871, the Bengal conservator of forest proposed the transfer of several thousand miles of forest in Assam to the Forest Department, without actually carrying out any demarcation or de nition of the boundaries. The government, however, only recommended that early selection and demarcation of the better forests to be earmarked as Reserved Forests was essential before handing over these tracts to the Forest Department. The better forests would be placed in the charge of the Forest Department, while the remaining forests would be managed by the deputy commissioners, to each of whom a forest sta

consisting of one o

cer at

Rs 40 a month and four watchers at Rs 8 per month each would be allocated. The geographical distribution of the Assam forest was vast and the establishment at its present form could hardly hope to manage it desirably. Until 1871, two assistant commissioners were posted in Assam. This was a huge impediment to the work undertaken. In the early part of 1871, the Bengal government further appointed four assistant conservators along with other o

ce sta

to meet the increasing demands on the

Forest Department, thus widening the administrative jurisdiction of the Forest Department. Now there

Assam being under the Bengal administration, it naturally followed that the Forest Department in Assam was a sister concern of its counterpart in Bengal. It was hardly easy sailing for the department, as it met with hostility from the provincial colonial administration. Hopkinson, the Commissioner of Assam, was 3

very critical of the government attitude towards the formation of a forest establishment in Assam. Sceptical as he was, he did not mince words in suggesting that the whole exercise of forest conservation lacked seriousness. Advocating the early exigencies of a forest establishment, Hopkinson argued that the establishment should be capable of determining exactly what should be done and doing it; it should be su

ciently provided with the means and appliances to carry out what might be done pro tably and

economically. He rmly pointed out that the agency should be capable of forming opinions on its own and should possess its own professional expertise. He went to the length of using the metaphor of a military p. 116

organization, with the conservator being required to have the temperament of a military commander. Ironically, the lieutenant governor took this seriously and remarked that the conservator could not be entrusted with powers like that of the military management. The unresolved political relationship with the frontier was singled out as the practical reason for which the conservator of the Assam forests could not be thus empowered. 4

5

W. Schlich, as discussed earlier, visited Assam during 1872–3 and his visit heralded the beginning of forest administration in Assam in more strong footing. His visit formally incorporated the provincial forestry 6

programme with the larger Indian forestry administration.

By 1873, the Board of Revenue in Bengal was enthusiastic about the way the foresters were working in Assam. In spite of their heavy workload there was the skeletal presence of a forest establishment in the province. Regular foresters were not yet employed. A large area of forest was demarcated but there was no infrastructure in place to look after it, which had thrown up a great challenge for the administration. By now, the other sides of the forest history were also underway. Plantation experiments were more or less successful. The experimental plantation of cauthchouc and teak plantation paved the way for the future 7

nancial possibilities of the forest in Assam. And rightly so, the Assam commissioner declared that 8

‘matters have been got into something like working order’. With this reassurance, in 1872, the commissioner proposed to the Bengal government for the establishment of a Forest Department in the 9

province. The commissioner expected that the new establishment would incur a monthly expenditure of Rs. 72. The establishment would be under the district deputy commissioners. The commissioner's proposal was sanctioned by the Governor General in Council in the same year. Accordingly, in January 1873, Gustav Mann was appointed Assistant Conservator of Forest in charge of Assam marking the beginning of the career of a 10

Forest Department.

Gustav Mann, who came to assume the leadership in the forest administration, had

formerly been employed in Cooch-Bihar to assess the forest resources. He had started out his Indian life as a gardener on the cinchona plantations. However, within the Forest Department there were apprehensions about his capability to run a newly established department. Few had any qualms about the opinion that ‘Mr. Mann was a rambling-minded sort of man, industrious, but not good at administering a department’.

11

Immediately after the formation of the chief commissionership in 1874, the Forest Department was p. 117

transferred to Assam and was placed under the jurisdiction of the chief commissioner of Assam. Important changes took place in the forest divisions. Gustav Mann was promoted to the rank of Deputy Conservator of Forest. In 1874, the strength of the Forest Department was minimal, comprising of a deputy conservator, 12

two assistant conservators, and one sub-assistant conservator; its subordinate strength was 83.

In the

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

would be one assistant conservator for each of the six divisions of Assam.

same year, the chief commissioner sanctioned ve forest divisions, comprising of Goalpara, Guwahati, Tezpur, Golaghat, and Cachar. The Goalpara division included the government open forest in the Eastern Duars, covering an area of 422 square miles, with headquarters at Goalpara. The division had 80 square miles of forest, with good quality of sal forest in the entire province. In 1873, Schlich had estimated the total number of sal trees at 2.5 million, out of which annually the department could work 25,000 trees. The forests in the Garo hills were also part of the Goalpara forest division. The Guwahati division comprised the forest reserves of the entire Kamrup district and the western half of the Nowgong district. These forests had good quality sal forests, extending over an area of 50.76 square miles. Apart from sal, the division also had experimental plantations of rubber, teak, and sissu. Forest reserves in the Darrang district, comprising an area of 179.59 square miles, were situated in the Tezpur division with headquarters at Bhairabighat. The forest was primarily of mixed variety and had only one square mile of sal forest. Near the western boundary of the district, the division had a khair tract in the Khallingduar. The Naduar reserve, without a demarcated boundary, was also included in this division.

14

the Mikir hill reserve

reserve in the Sibsagar and Naga hill districts and

in the eastern half of the Nowgong district. The forest was of mixed character. The

forest in the division was managed by an o

cer under the supervision of the political agent of the Naga hill

district. The Golaghat forest division altered drastically in 1875, with the transferring of some portions of Nowgong and Sibsagar districts into Naga hill district. This alteration of boundary helped in the transfer of some portions of Nowgong and Sibsagar districts into Naga hill district. In addition, the Mikir hill Reserved Forest, already part of Nowgong, and also parts of the Nambor forest reserve, presently part of Sibsagar, 15

were transferred to Naga hill districts.

The Cachar division comprised of the forest reserves in Cachar and

Sylhet. The forest establishment remained in this condition till 1879. Such reordering of territorial p. 118

jurisdiction of forested tracts was solely decided by administrative convenience rather than forest typology. However, the control of the colonial state over the forest increased manifold. Within a couple of years the Forest Department was convinced of its own work inside the forests of Assam. Table 3.1 shows the various works carried out by the department during this period. Table 3.1 Works of Assam Forest Department, 1874–9 Year

Area of gazetted forest (square miles)

Fire protected area (acres)

Area surveyed, mapped, valued (acres)

Area under plantation (acres)

Revenue (Rupees)

1874– 5

1,024

33,600

576

313

65,949

1875– 6

1,107

18,211

16,202

502

107,302

1876– 7

1,984

59,290

32,910

619

81,568

1877– 8

2,672

60,028

34,551

774

134,325

1878– 9

2,672

33,250

41,682

958

161,779

Source: Prepared from Annual Report, 1878–79, para. 7.

By the early twentieth century the Forest Department had more areas under its control and its jurisdiction also expanded. This made the e ective running of the department quite cumbersome, and hence more changes into the administrative category of the Forest Department were made and more o

cers recruited.

Further territorial alignment was e ected since the rst decade of the next century. The rst-ever restructuring took place in April 1909 when the department was divided into two circles, namely, western 16

and eastern circle.

This bureaucratic distribution of the forest administration was indeed a major

departure of the colonial visualization of Assam as space; the Brahmaputra valley was already known as Upper and Lower Assam following the course of Brahmaputra. The forest divisions of Goalpara, Kamrup, and Darrang were included in the western circle apart from the newly added divisions of eastern Bengal. The arrangement of the eastern circle was more complicated and it included a complex spatial distribution. It was inclusive of Lakhimpur, Sibsagar, Nowgong, Cachar, and Sylhet apart from the Eastern Bengal

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

13

The Golaghat forest division comprised of the Nambor

divisions. But the arrangement soon turned out to be problematic and elicited harsh remarks from the inspector general of forest. With the increase in the revenue, more divisions came into being. In 1915, the provincial government created the central and eastern sections of the North Eastern Frontier tracts so that the department could give more attention to the local requirements of the Forest Department. The chief commissioner pointed out that planting of simul in these forests was successful and that the existing p. 119

infrastructure could hardly

17

take care of the vast management needs.

Along with the creation of new

forest divisions to control the expenditure of the Forest Department, attempts were made to reduce the cost of the forest establishment. In 1922, when it was assured that most of the forests tracts in Nowgong had already been reserved and only nominal revenue was coming from trade in lac, the Nowgong division was converted from a major to a minor division. Towards the end of the decade there was more demand for timber, primarily caused by the increase in the immigrant peasant population. Correspondingly, the revenue also began to increase: from half a lakh rupees in 1921–2 to three and half lakh rupees in 1929–30. Increased area of Reserved Forest and the new potential for trade in lac forced the provincial administration

Regional Departures and Limits of Imperial Policies After half a decade of administration the total strength of the Reserved Forest of the province was estimated 19

at approximately 1,983 square miles and that of the Protected Forest at 689 square miles.

Despite such

expansion of control over the forests, control over the Reserved Forest was hardly well-de ned. There were no restrictions, as the clearance of the forests did occur. Revenue was collected nominally on 29 varieties of reserved trees. There were no de nite rules for district o

cers to follow in the collection of forest revenue.

It was only in April 1883 that the chief commissioner prescribed the rates of royalty to be paid in the Assam valley districts on trees and other forest produce. Further, the conservation of the forests beyond the Reserved Forests and gazetted forests was under nobody's control. Vast quantities of wood were also not included in the speci ed list of 29 trees. Wood and other forest produce included in the category of minor forest produce and all timber standing on the land opened up for cultivation was used free of cost. In Cachar, the situation was worse. Here the reserved or open forests were neither selected nor gazetted. The only restriction that existed in Cachar was that Jarool and Nageswar with girth below 4 feet could not be felled. This restriction was con ned to a small area. The forest revenue was collected at the Sealtok tool station by the highest bidder who would buy it annually. The toll collector who farmed the ghat was supposed to keep regular statistics of the export of the forest produce, but his statistical gures were usually an understatement. Thus, in spite of success, the situation was not altogether assuring. p. 120

In 1879, Brandis, by now a well-known name in forest conservation, extensively travelled through the various forests of Assam. His visit gave a new orientation to the matters of forest administration in the years to come. His suggestions stimulated forest conservation in Assam, giving it a new sense of direction and purpose. His suggestions for the forest administration of Assam soon become crucial in matters of policy decisions and classi cation of forest resources according to the standard forest knowledge. Brandis was 20

unsure about the e ective running of the Forest Department.

He suggested that it was necessary for both

civil and forest administration to work closely. To achieve this goal, he recommended that the boundaries of the forest divisions should coincide with the boundaries of civil administration, proposing the post of a district forest o

cer who would look after the a airs of the forest within a district but would be subordinate

to the deputy commissioner. Brandis emphasized that fundamental economic considerations must be kept in mind behind the establishment of the forest administration in Assam. He stressed on four such aspects, that he thought would be crucial in guiding the forest administration. Firstly, he emphasized that the basic intention of the Forest Department was to ensure ‘a permanent supply of timber for the Bengal market from Goalpara and Kamrup districts’. Secondly, he argued that the department must also ensure a permanent supply of timber as well as rewood and charcoal for local requirements. Thirdly, the department must work seriously to increase the supply of India rubber by planting in such areas. Care must be taken of specially selected tracts where rubber plantation was undertaken. Finally, the department must work as a catalyst for other colonial departments. In the event of failure of more convenient sources of timber or other forest products the 21

department must facilitate the supply of wood and timber for public works, roads, bridges, and buildings.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

18

to soon re-convert the division into a major one.

The principles under which the deputy conservator of the Forest Department managed the a airs were 22

articulated in the annual administration report of the forest of 1878–9.

The rst priority was given to

secure all the better forests from further abuse as speedily as possible by having them gazetted and properly demarcated. Secondly, the need to increase the revenue from the government forests by all legitimate means was emphasized, since the nancial success of forest management was the only basis on which it could be permanently established and maintained. Thirdly, it sought to protect areas to be maintained as p. 121

forest from all that tended to interfere with their highest productiveness.

Fourthly, it would ascertain by

survey, as soon as possible, the nature and contents of each forest accurately. Fifthly, it would divide the forests as soon as practicable into well de ned and manageable divisions, ranges, and beats, because such arrangements were absolutely necessary for systematic forest management and to ensure a remunerative economy. Finally, it would improve by sowing and planting as much income may permit those forests in which expenditure on such work was most likely to prove most remunerative.

owners’—the tea-planters being the chief bene ciaries. Brandis estimated that approximately 1,438 square 23

miles of forestlands were under the occupation of both tea-planters and zamindars in Goalpara.

The rights

asserted by the zamindars remained a cause of constant worry in the later days too. When Ribbentrop visited the forests of Assam as inspector general of forest in 1889, he noted that the sal forest in western Assam was completely devastated by the zamindars. Brandis, however, explicitly argued that the forest administration 24

in Assam would in no way become hostile or antagonistic to the healthy development of the tea industry.

Further, the chief work of the forest administration was the formation, maintenance, and improvement of large government forest estates. This would directly bene t the planting community, he had no doubt. The continued encroachment into the forestland might be restricted if some kind of royalty was imposed on the forest resources in the lands alienated by the tea-planters. This required immediate corrective measures by 25

the Forest Department. But it was not a successful attempt.

The most assuring thing for the department,

Ribbentrop thought in 1889, was that requirement of the local people was not much from the forests though 26

such views came to be contested.

This was extremely bene cial for the department in its attempts at

protecting the forest resources. By the end of rst decade of the establishment, both the Forest Department and civil administration came much closer in the a airs of forest administration. It was found that the foresters were helping the deputy 27

commissioners in the management of the forests in their charge.

The Indian Forest Act, 1878 gave the

department a more e ective control over the forests. A proposal was submitted to the chief commissioner for framing rules under the Act during 1879–80. By now the powers of the individual forest o p. 122

cers were

well de ned and they could prosecute those who violated the forest rules. The new forest rules

de ned

the parameters of elephant hunting and poisoning of waters. During the same year, the chief commissioner also approved the new rules regarding the valuation of timber standing on lands assigned under the Waste Land Lease Rules, or otherwise allotted for purposes of cultivation or other objectives. To bring in better coordination between the civil and forest administration, the chief commissioner had, in 1881, placed all the district forest o

28

cers under the supervision of the deputy commissioners.

there was increasing con ict between the civil and forest o

But in spite of Brandis's hope

cials over their respective sphere of privileges

and the inter-departmental rivalry never receded. Such con icts became a common a air when the Forest Department resisted the interest of the tea companies, especially in the last couple of years of the nineteenth century. Regular interference by the chief commissioner became a common phenomenon. Such interferences and regulations of the activity of the department had become essential for various reasons. It was di

cult to demarcate the respective spheres of authority of the forest and other civil departments.

As the years passed, the department was entrusted with increasing responsibilities such as the careful examination of the forest, valuation, demarcation, improving the existing demarcation, clearing the boundary lines, and e ective protection of the forest from various kinds of damage. Even the boundary mounds fell prey to damages caused by pigs or such wild animals. The better protection of the boundaries was a continual problem for the Forest Department. The department admitted that as the tea gardens often took up forestland for plantation or various cultivating groups took up land for shifting cultivation, it was 29

essential that the boundary be better protected.

The acute labour scarcity often disrupted the works of the Forest Department. Tea-plantation already aggravated the labour conditions. The department could hardly nd enough labourers to do the regular work of the department like laying down the demarcation marks, clearing forest lines, and the like. In 1883– 4 such labour scarcity forced the Forest Department, particularly in Sibsagar and Lakhimpur, to go in for the

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

A major concern for the Forest Department was the large-scale occupation of the forestlands by the ‘private

contract system for making of the boundary and clearing of the boundary lines. Though this helped in reducing the labour cost, the method was rather complex, and had, in fact, actually increased the expenditure. The civil administration and Forest Department, hardly agreed on the issue of forests owned by the nisf 30

khirajdars—the privileged landlords—of the province. p. 123

the

These landlords used to enjoy great privileges in

nature of forest wealth in their holdings. Referring to such instances in Kamrup, Fatick Chandra

Baruah, who submitted a report to the Assam administration, estimated that nisf khirajdars—of which leading landlord families like Parbatiya Goswami owned 1,303 acres of land in the mauza Modartola and another nisf-khirajdar Anando Ram Phukan had 1,041 acres of land in the Chila Sinduri mauza—held a 31

sizeable section of area containing sal forest. and, in 1882, the chief commissioner rea

The Forest Department asserted its rights over these tracts

rmed the right of State's not to allow the privileges of the nisf-

khiraj holders. The nisf-khirajdars, already a powerful lobby within the provincial body polity, strongly Gosain, a leading nisf-khirajdar from Kamrup, reminded the Assam government that ‘this seems to be an 32

altogether new demand on us’.

But as dissatisfaction grew amongst these privileged landlords in 1883, 33

another enquiry was instituted to study the rights of these holders in the forestland.

This enquiry had

modi ed the earlier stand of the provincial administration and the nisf-khiraj holders were allowed the 34

rights over their trees at the payment of half the rate of the existing royalty.

Forests, Governance, and Legal Framework, 1865–91 The e ective governance of forests rested on the empowerment of the provincial Forest Department with a legal framework that would ensure capability to handle regional challenges. One of the crucial issues that continued to haunt the department was the nature of ownership of forests. The prehistory of this dilemma could be traced back to the period even before the advent of the o

cial conservation. Few doubted that the

forests was closely linked to the notion of private property. In the neighbourhood of Cooch-Bihar, Colonel J.C. Haughton, Commissioner, mentioned that the forests at no time belonged to the State. He argued that ‘these forests and their vicinity are the birthplaces of the owners of the soil for many generations. These 35

forests are the chief source of their pro ts’.

Similar was the explanation in the private estates of Goalpara

where most of the valuable forests were in the hands of zamindars. That the latter leased out their forests at a high rate of pro t was already observed by several o

cials.

By putting to rest all these speculations the Forest Acts and Regulation, adopted and framed during 1865 p. 124

and 1891, not only rede ned the rights and privileges of the Forest Department but also gave it an absolute status in matters of forest resources. The Forest Department became more relevant and powerful with the promulgation of various Forest Acts in the nineteenth century. Till 1891 there were centralized pieces of legislations, which included the 1865 and 1878 Acts. These Acts were important on various counts. Firstly, they brought in the statuary rights of the Forest Department over the forest resources. Secondly, it triggered o

debates about the State right over the forest resources as well as encroachment into common property.

The latter act became the model for future legislations on forestry in the years to come. 36

The 1865 Act came as an eye opener for the colonial state.

The Act did not contain any understanding of the

forest resources and was hurriedly drafted and passed to facilitate the acquisition of those forest areas that were earmarked for urgently required railway supplies. The Act sought to establish the claims of the State to the forests it immediately required, subject to the proviso that the existing rights were not curtailed. In the same decade, there came to exist a vast network of forest establishments throughout the empire, which facilitated the critical review of the Forest Act, 1865. The impact of the Act was not immediately felt in Assam. In fact, the Act wanted to establish the State's rights over the forestland without eroding the existing rights of the people. It was soon realized that the Act would not be able to protect the interest of the Forest Department or the larger interest of the British Empire. There emerged three distinct viewpoints on the forest question. One group advocated the strong hand of the Forest Department and the State over the vast 37

mass of the forest over that of the common people.

The second group, led by the Madras government,

argued the prima-facie cause of the village communities, while the third group, led by Brandis, looked for a middle ground where both the State and the villagers could coexist. Brandis prepared a preliminary draft in 1869. A conference was held in 1874 to look into the defects of the 1865 Act. This conference emerged as the intellectual path nder for the 1878 Act. Though the main architect, Brandis remained, another senior civil

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

protested against any such imposition of royalty. Writing to the deputy commissioner of Kamrup, Parbatiya

servant B.H. Baden Powell, who had already devoted much of his time to the Indian revenue history, helped him. The Act came into e ect in Assam from April 1879. Gradually there was apprehension amongst the forest o

cials about the applicability of the Act in Assam as

it soon turned out to be impractical in Burma. The strongest criticism came in the words of the inspector general of forests, Ribbentrop, when he visited Assam in 1889. He was of the opinion that there could not be p. 125

any justi cation for the two

classes of demarcated government forests. He argued that ‘whilst they are

constituted the greater bulk of the forests remain unprotected, in so far that the local government can make no provision protecting certain classes of trees, or for e ectively regulating the extraction of forest 38

produce’.

The local government was in a position to protect the local forest under the proviso of the Act.

The foresters repeatedly complained about the impracticability of the Indian Forest Act, 1878. The control over the forests of western Assam, particularly in the Garo hills, had already come under challenge from growing petty trade-networks. Accordingly, to regulate these trades, the department was empowered with from Bengal, prohibited non-Garo traders from being engaged, without permission, in the trade of timber, 39

hunting, or ‘collection of wax, ivory, India-rubber or any jungle products’.

The regulation, preceding the

Assam Forest Regulation of 1891, not only necessitated the region-speci c need of the regulation but also signalled the era of forest governance within the larger framework of imperial rule in the region. The entire decade of 1880s, alongside the framing of the Assam Land Revenue Regulation, 1886, witnessed deliberations for the making of the Forest Acts. The Forest Regulation, 1891 was framed keeping alongside the model of Upper Burma Forest Regulation, 1887, which incorporated the most recent experiences 40

available in regard to forest legislations.

This Act provided scope for the formation of Village Forests; it

was admitted by Ribbentrop as being superior to the Indian Act of 1878. More importantly, however, which became so crucial for Assam was the provision that clearly emphasized that the ‘practice of shifting 41

cultivation conveyed no right and could be abolished at the pleasure of the government’.

The Assam 42

government had already made up its mind about the ecological similarities between Assam and Burma.

The Indian government sanctioned the draft regulation in December 1891, which came into e ect from April 43

1892.

The new regulation divided forestlands into three categories, namely, Reserved Forests, Village

Forests, and unclassed State forests; it removed the provision for the constitution of 44

Protected Forests under the Indian Forest Act, 1878.

The areas under the classi cation of Protected Forest

were now reclassi ed as unclassed State forest. The government could now constitute any tracts of forests as unclassed State forests that had not been transferred to any person in any form. The regulation also p. 126

declared shifting cultivation inside any tracts to

be brought under the Reserved Forests as only privilege,

fully subjected to ‘control, restriction, and abolition’, not as right. The regulation admitted the agrarian practices like rights to pasture or forest produce with prior permission from the Forest Department. Beyond Reserved Forests and Village Forests the governmental supervision became more stringent. Not only were the practices of shifting cultivation further restricted in any areas owned by the State, whose presence was now omnipresent, petty forest trades also came to be regulated. The most comprehensive case was that of India rubber. The regulation also prohibited private trade in India rubber. Waterbodies came under renewed pressure. Contrary to the provisions of the 1878 Act, the Regulation of 1891 did not allow the Forest Department to take over control of private forests for speci ed reasons. Since then certain forests belonging to the Bijni estate in Goalpara came to be managed with the consent of the Forest Department, which later lost its absolute control over such forests. The 1891 regulation and its predecessor—the 1878 Act— empowered the Assam Forest Department as the sole authority of forest resources that came under its jurisdiction. Not only the interests of private capital, namely, the lucrative India rubber trade, but also the powerful zamindari estates had their presence in the regulation. Territoriality of the forest could be rede ned to accommodate the interests of private estates. As the Forest Department was not an independent entity, the Revenue Department, with a strong mandate of agrarian expansion, came to assert temporary rights over the forests. The rights, now de ned as privilege only, of the people were regulated. Despite being armed with the ideological framework of law, the Forest Department had to travel a long and complex journey in consolidating its control over the forest resources. Faced with complex problems, there was a concerted attempt on the part of the department to overcome these di

culties. Regular rulings from

the provincial administration and experiences helped it to strengthen its position within the colonial setup. This was further reinforced by the continuous increase in the ow of revenue generated by the department. Simultaneously the Assam Land Revenue Regulation, 1886 further reinforced the e ectiveness of the forest regulation. The former, along with cadastral surveys, had already rea

rmed the notion of absolute

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

the Garo Hills Regulation in August 1882.The Regulation, with a clear intention of restricting timber trade

ownership of the State over landed properties. Practical exigencies forced the government to look into the aspects of applications of the Assam Forest Regulation, 1891 and this brought occasional amendments. p. 127

Amendments in the next century further consolidated the control of the Forest Department.

45

These

amendments addressed two distinct aspects: one set of amendments tried to consolidate the scope and parameters of the department whereas the other set intended to accommodate the interests of various class interests. The rst set was determined mostly by the practical experiences of the foresters. They demanded more rules that would bring independent discretion to assert control. The Assam Forest Regulation came under further scrutiny after 1935, with provincial politics playing a key role in forest management. In 1946, the Congress ministry pushed ahead for another amendment, with risking political stake, which intended to empower the Forest Department to evict the peasants who had recently occupied the Reserved Forests. The ‘Grow More Food’ campaign under the political leadership of the Muslim League ministry since the early 46

1940s had already opened up more land to landless peasants.

As forest lands were brought under 47

empowering the Forest Department to evict encroachers. After an acrimonious debate the bill was adopted. It would be di

cult to deny the primacy of political exigencies of both Congress and Muslim League in the

provincial politics in creating opinion vis-à-vis this new amendment. Many members, belonging mostly to the Muslim League, wanted the bill to be referred to public opinion but eventually left it buried. Maulavi Mudabbir Hussain Chaudhuri belonging to the Muslim League criticized the Congress ministry for appropriating forests as a tool against the Muslim League social base. He said: At rst it may appear somewhat odd that a bene cial measure which has been brought before this house for the protection of our milch cow—the forestry of Assam—should be opposed by these benches. But if he goes down and try to trace the origin of this Bill he will be convinced that a subtle policy of eviction has been laid down in it. The Bill to my mind has been conceived in fear and is an 48

outcome of the malice towards the bogey of Pakistan.

The experiment of 1891 proved to be a successful one as the regulation remained in force with little change till after Independence.

The Turning Point: Assam Forest Enquiry Committee The most fundamental opposition and serious relook into the application of the Regulation and forest governance took place in 1928, with the rise of provincial politics, when the Assam Forest Enquiry p. 128

49

Committee came down harshly upon the Assam Forest Regulation.

The origin of

the committee went

back to the 1920s when amidst pressure from the agrarian society the Assam Legislative council was forced to pass a motion to ‘enquire into the alleged oppression and corruption of forest o

cers, to examine the 50

existing forest laws and rules, and submit proposals for the removal of any defects.’.

The formation of the

committee and allowance of many of the recommendations of the committee not only signalled the gradual weakening of the authority of the imperial forestry but also of allowing space for provincial polity into the sphere of forest management. Also the committee conceded the interests of the regional agrarian economy. The report strongly highlighted the scope of the Assam Forest Regulation, 1891 which gave ‘important concessions and privileges’ in the unclassed State forests and suggested e ective implementation of these 51

concessions.

To minimize the presence of the unclassed State forest, the committee suggested

modi cations of the Assam Forest Regulation taking into consideration the Indian Forest Act, 1927. Thus, it transpired, the most signi cant aspect of the report was denial of exclusive rights till now enjoyed in the sphere of unclassed state forests by the Forest Department. Recognizing the complex agrarian dimensions of the region, the Report clearly highlighted how they ‘received some complaints that the rights of the jhuming tribes were being encroached upon chie y by lessees of unclassed state forest lands…general reclassi cation of forest lands appears to be necessary’. The committee directed its attention to the the Royal Commission of Agriculture on the principles to be adopted. It quoted: The ideal to be aimed at in all provinces between the land which is suitable for the growth of good timber, trees or fuel plantations (including land, the preservation of which under forests is desirable on climatic or physical grounds), land which is suitable neither for timber, fuel

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

agricultural practices Reverend J.J. Nichols Roy moved the Assam Legislative assembly with a bill

plantations nor for ordinary cultivation, but may possess possibilities for development as fodder 52

reserves and grazing grounds, and land which is suitable for ordinary cultivation.

The Forest Enquiry Committee gave precedence to the agrarian economy than forestry, but for a short while. The report came as a big challenge to the Forest Department and the forestry programme. The department was willing to accommodate only limited concessions. For instance, in 1929, rules were amended to identify forest produces, that could be removed from such tracts, for home consumption after obtaining a permit. Most of the recommendations became null and void. The Assam government forthrightly rejected the idea 53

of the reclassi cation of forested lands. p. 129

Taking cognizance of the Forest Enquiry Committee Report the Assam government tabled a bill in the council in the winter of 1930 with a view to amending the Regulation through which the longest possible 54

debate in matters of the forest legislation in Assam took place.

The bill wanted to incorporate more land

members, namely, Nagendra Nath Chaudhury and Pramathesh Chandra Barua, came to in uence the interests of the powerful Goalpara zamindars. It was agreed within the government that in spite of the sizeable proportion of land in Assam under the department, the government was not still sure whether the present arrangement was su

cient for forest conservation. Members representing the interests of the

private landlords resisted the government interest in enhancing revenue as the foremost priority. Pramathesh Chandra Barua called it ‘a direct infringement of the rights of ownership of permanently55

settled owner and as such, is objectionable’. The bill was passed in 1931.

Through this amendment a new

category of forest called Protected Forest was created. The local government was now empowered with the extensive right to regulate and prohibit any forest and wasteland to be declared as Protected Forest. There was more to come in the following years. Legislators in the council brought some lively debate over the ora and fauna of Assam. In 1933, the government brought in another amendment. These amendments dealt exclusively with the protection of the rhino and other wild animals. In 1933, A.J. Laine, the crucial member in the council with years of experience in the revenue administration, admitted that the Forest Enquiry Committee recommendations helped the government not only to assert its control over the private forests 56

but also allowed the provincial exigencies to be part of forest management.

Governance, Forest Department, and Ground Reality The Regulation of 1891 could not still convince the Assam foresters who felt that they were not properly armed with enough power to manage the forest. There were repeated complaints from the di erent divisions about the weak and vague interpretation of the Regulation. The helpless condition of the foresters was best exempli ed when, in 1894, for instance, the deputy conservator of forest in Cachar lamented that 57

the misreading of the 1891 Act resulted in the demoralization of the foresters. p. 130

commissioner, he argued that ‘there has been a failure of

Writing to the chief

justice, and it will a ect the administration of

an important department and weaken the authority of executive o

cers if it is not set right’. Prior to this

admission, the deputy conservator of forest attempted to punish one Askar Ali of Silchar who had removed drift timber before paying the royalty. Though the lower courts found the accused guilty of the o ence, in subsequent trial the high court did not nd su

cient reason to punish him. Soon the ruling became a major

obstacle for the foresters in controlling trade in drift timber. The foresters even asked the chief commissioner for stringent ruling to empower them in a better way for protecting the forests. Petty power con icts between the foresters and the deputy commissioners were a common phenomenon. Interpretation of the forest rules was the basic reason behind such a low war of words. Who was to be more responsible for the well-being of the forests? There was con ict of opinion among the civil and forest o

cials. For instance, E.S. Carr, the conservator, thought that compared to the civil o 58

had more responsibilities in conservation.

cers, the foresters

Such a viewpoint was not accepted by the civil administration.

The provincial chief commissioners often played the role of mediator and not only were ambiguities cleared but also the presence of the imperial authority was reasserted. There was also the problem of the con ict with the villagers about forest rights. The 1878 Act widened the 59

executive powers of the foresters.

Within the Reserved Forests there was a ban on felling, girding, loping,

tapping, and burning trees. Even stripping the bark of trees and collection of leaves was prohibited. The 60

provincial government could declare an area as a Reserved Forest within a year of issuing a noti cation.

The passing of the Act did not mean that the commoners accepted it. It was a lengthy process. There were

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

under the Forest Department. The tabled bill got the ascent from the Select Committee in which two

public protests against the encroachment of the Forest Department upon traditional forest rights. The Golaghat Hitasadhini Sabha pointed out to the Assam administration about how their traditional rights were being impinged upon. In a representation before the deputy commissioner, the Sabha argued: that the government has recently for the rst time asserted the right of the state to forest produce growing on state lands; that royalties and rates have been levied on forest produce derived from state property and that in this way even bamboos and canes have been taxed, which were formerly free to all; that royalties have been imposed on forest produce growing on lands held by raiyats both khiraj and nisf-khiraj;… hardship and inconvenience have been caused to the people by the 61

constitution of Reserved Forest in thickly populated parts of the country. p. 131

Probably this was the rst such organized public questioning of the Forest Department. The department was quick to respond. The gravity of the protest was such that it reached the council of the Governor General. It council opined that peasants were entitled to take forest produce free of charge for domestic purpose from the district forests. However, they would have to pay a royalty if it was taken for the purpose of sale. This was also not applicable for the reserved trees. In such cases, the local mauzadars would have to give a permit. Such permits were given free of charge for the rst time and in subsequent cases it was charged with an annual payment of 8 annas. The council made it clear that the peasants taking up new land were required to pay for the reserved trees if they desired to cut them. Further, no royalty was levied on trees planted by the peasants themselves. The nisfkhiraj holders had to pay half of the royalty. The council nally asked the Forest Department to make a more detailed enquiry into the existing rights before declaring a Reserved Forest. On several such issues, the chief commissioner expressed a favourable opinion to the position taken by the 62

Forest Department.

Various colonial enterprises also opposed the conservation agenda. The Assam

Railways and Trading Company, which was responsible for the laying down of railway tracks and industrial exploration of the mineral resources in eastern Assam, is an important example of enterprises that came to interfere in the a airs of forest conservation. The provincial administration entered into an agreement with the company by which it granted concession over the timber required for laying down tracks and other purposes. Both the foresters and other colonial o

cials thought that the company misused such

concessions. Many a time the Forest Department came into direct con ict with the company. The foresters complained that the company indiscriminately felled the trees, of which some were very valuable from the point of conservation. The company even refused to pay royalty on timber that was used by them. The situation worsened to such an extent that the Forest Department had to convince the chief commissioner to threaten the company with discontinuance of contract. The company, however, paid no heed to the warning. As strong protests came from the planters against forest reservation, there were attempts to accommodate p. 132

their interests. The planters were apprehensive of the fact that once conservation of the forests became a reality it would hamper the possibility of future expansion of the frontiers of the plantations. The provincial branch of the Indian Tea Association took the most equivocal stand against conservation and argued that 63

‘the present system of hemming in grants with forest reserves is most prejudicial to planting interests’.

They argued that once the forest in vicinity of the garden was reserved it turned into an area infected with malaria. This caused many problems. The conservator clari ed that the interests of the Forest Department should not be in opposition to the tea-planters. He suggested that such areas could be made available to the planters on the terms of wasteland settlement grant but not unless it was necessary from the department's point of view. The chief commissioner agreed to the suggestion put forward by the conservator and it was 64

accordingly executed.

After 1883, there was signi cant change in the attitude of the Forest Department regarding the common people's access to the forest resources for home consumption. In tune with the changing attitudes of the provincial administration, new rules were framed for the district forests in 1883. In the Assam valley, these rules authorized the mauzadars to issue permits to peasants to procure for themselves timber and other forest produce. The mauzadars, in matters of the forest, were placed directly under supervision of the district forest o

cials. These rules were applicable to the Surma valley peasants but the authority was

vested with the tahsildar. Here the permit charged was 8 annas per year. On the other hand, the peasants in the North Cachar hills, where the practice of shifting cultivation was most popular, were given free permits. 65

Though the vernacular press welcomed the new rules it did not go without criticism.

Many even expressed

the fear that the government had actually intended to tax the peasants for the forest produce which they had

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

was asserted by the department that the question of the royalty and rights needed better clari cation. The

collected. The provincial administration immediately refuted this apprehension and made it clear that the forest produce collected by the peasants was totally free. In the following year, it was found that the district forest rules had failed to deliver and the department blamed the inability of the mauzadars to comprehend the new rules for this failure. To remove the ambiguities, the chief commissioner, upon representations, revised the permit collection rules. Accordingly, in the district forests the peasants were not required to possess the permit, known as home permit, to collect ordinary dry branches, needed to prepare their daily meals. These new rules allowed them to cut occasionally a stick or bamboo which they might require to repair their huts or fences. These rules minimized the interference of the forest o p. 133

access

cials with regard to the

of the common people over the district forests. It so happened that both to reinforce the right of

the Forest Department over that of the common people in the forestlands and also to help it to come closer to them, forest rules printed in the vernacular were extensively distributed in the villages adjacent to the Reserved Forests. With the passage of some time, the government was under the impression that the common men were now fairly acquainted with the rules and regulations of the department. To 66

giving free grant of forest produce to the mandal and patwary.

Local pressure sometimes turned out to be more unbearable than foreseen and such exigencies required that forest rules undergo extensive modi cations. By the early part of the twentieth century the problem of scarcity of labour to work in the forests led to fresh thinking about the prevalent rules of the rights of the neighbouring villages. Moreover, in the wake of villagers making careful and articulated demands for their rights within forestlands, it was also important that more concession be given to these villagers. Thus, during the time of the second addition to the Pantan Reserved Forests in Kamrup, E.S. Carr, the O

ciating

Conservator of Forest, categorically suggested that existing villagers should not be displaced to provide 67

labour to the department.

Another source of constant trouble was the question of rights of ownership over the drift timber. The intricate river system in the province allowed drifting of timber throughout the year. The department could hardly monitor their movements but had no doubt they were a source of constant revenue loss for the department. Drift timber found in various rivers was used traditionally as rewood both for petty trade or home consumption. In various places close to the rivers, like Guwahati or Dibrugarh, petty trade grew in drift timber. To avoid these complications and also warranted by lack of manpower, the Assam Forest Regulation, 1891 stipulated that the settlement-holders could procure such timber for personal use. This was not denied by the Imperial government. In 1893, E.C. Buck, Revenue Secretary to the Government of 68

India, wrote to all provinces advising them to consider the unmarked drift timber as private property. McKee, the O

J.

ciating Conservator of Assam even relegated the subject as ‘not very important’, except in 69

Cachar where he admitted ‘moderate revenue’ was realized from the drift timber.

Since 1896, the Forest

Department began to levy fees on drift timber on those sizes that could be used for, petty trade evoking p. 134

70

strong protest from these traders.

Under pressure, in 1898, the government relaxed the rules and

hereinafter driftwood could be used for personal use without paying any tax.

Ideology in Conservation: Imperial to Provincial Service Forest management meant shaping the landscape and creating forest wealth through planning and science as well as protecting this wealth. The responsibility of these multilayered tasks was entrusted to a hierarchy of ideologically motivated o

cials supported by sta . The early responsibility of creating an independent

department was taken by German conservator, Gustav Mann, whose methods of forestry was closely monitored and supported by the people in the imperial forestry. He was soon joined by British foresters, and after Mann's retirement the task was taken over solely by the British. As the Forest Department still failed to prove its revenue credentials, in the rst decade of its operation, the department supported by a weak establishment, which managed the a airs of the forest, were vertically divided into two groups, the superior 71

and the subordinate sta , the latter being recruited from amongst the Assamese and Bengali.

In fact, till

the eve of Independence, provincial forestry was primarily manned by British team with only a few by the Indians. This total dependence on a British team was a clear signal of the ideological leaning of the imperial forestry programme as was the case with other branches of science and technology in British India.

72

While forest management emerged as a top-down phenomenon, the appointment of regular forest sta

in

all the districts was a slow a air. In the initial years, the task before the department was to select as speedily

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

accommodate various interests of the provincial bureaucracy the department relaxed rules like that of

as possible ‘all the best and most advantageously situated forest areas remaining and to make them 73

government reserves’.

Wherever this was not possible for want of skilled or subordinate o

cers such

forests should be brought under Protected Forest, which would prohibit shifting cultivation. For instance, even after the formal commencement of the forest establishment no such appointment was made for both Lakhimpur and Sibsagar. The chief commissioner of the province wanted a junior forest o

cer for the 74

general conservation work in these two districts, which the government of India considered as unviable.

The government questioned the Chief Commissioner of Assam on what the latter meant by the ‘alienation of 75

valuable forest revenue’. After a lot of persuasion, a forest division came up for Sibsagar in 1878.

Similar

was the case for Cachar where the revenue administration was allowed to have a say in the forest matters. A p. 135

forest division began to function independently

76

only since 1876.

Until 1908, there was one conservator

to look after the a airs of the Assam forest. Up to now there was no recruitment of the Assamese into the Imperial Forest Service.

of supervising a large area of reserved and unclassed forest. To meet these exigencies and also to impose the physical presence of the Forest Department more appointment at the subordinate level was suggested; recruitment could be from within the province. In 1908, the secretary of the state had sanctioned the 77

reorganization of the imperial, provincial, and subordinate forest services. recruitment of natives into the Assam Forest Service. But the existing sta

This resulted in the

was hardly adequate to look after

the massive responsibility of the forest administration. The Imperial Forest Department did not feel shy about the poor performance of the provincial sta . Bryant even went to the extent of condemning the poor performance of the native o

cers. He even suggested that at the cost of the provincial recruitment non-

resident outsiders should be appointed at both the services, arguing that the sta

required to be materially

strengthened in every branch. The matter barely progressed beyond that. In 1913, rules came in for the regulation of the provincial and subordinate sta . Since then both these services were required to undertake an annual preliminary practical training to keep them acquainted with the new developments in forestry. The great economic depression of 1930 put the revenue generation of the Forest Department at stake and the new post of the conservator was withdrawn. But the a airs of the department were becoming far too complex. To avoid di the o

culty in the administration of the department a deputy conservator was attached to

ce of the conservator. In the 1940s, in the face of the increasing workload and diversi cation, the

idea of a second post of conservator was again mooted. After the creation of the two posts of conservators, the senior conservator was entrusted with the overall responsibility of the forest administration. He was also entrusted with the responsibility of looking after silviculture and forest utilization. The idea was to have a chief conservator of forest along with two other conservators. The proposal became a reality only during the Second Five-Year Plan at the close of the 1950s. In the early 1960s, apart from the two conservators there were 18 deputy conservators who were in charge of the various divisions. Another 24 p. 136

assistant conservators further assisted them. Most of them were recruited from either the

provincial

forest service or by promotion. Below the cadre of the assistant conservators there were the forest rangers who were the key to the actual management of the forest matters. In 1921, after the Montague–Chelmsford reforms, the responsibility of the Forest Department was entrusted to the Indian ministers. Coinciding with this restructuring of forest management, the responsibility of forest management was taken over by Indian foresters. Matters related to the administration of the department became part of the council debates. During this period the question of needs of landless peasants and threat of wild animals in the fringes of the agrarian frontier came to dominate the legislative debates. As a consequence of the new interest taken by the provincial legislators, in 1929, the Assam Forest Enquiry Committee widely accepted the alleged oppression and corruption of forest o

78

cers and suggested remedies to the existing forest laws and rules.

After the formation of the provincial ministry the Assamese ministers played a prominent role in shaping the forest management. The provincial politics never trusted the forestry programme. The ideological transformation of the forest conservators underwent several institutional changes. The ideological transformation of the Indian Forest Department had begun since the days of the German foresters. The conservators, recruited from the Imperial Forest Service, constituted in 1867, were trained in 79

France and Germany from 1867 to 1885.

Thereafter, with a gradual shift towards a British forestry, these

men, until 1905, were trained at Cooper's Hill, London. The task of creating forest conservators from 1905 to 1926 was brie y with the British universities, and was followed by change in 1929. With the formation of the Indian Forest Service the responsibility of training these foresters was passed on to the Forest Research Institute based in Dehradun. The Government of India Act, 1935 transferred the subject of forest, which was managed by the Federal Government until then, to the provincial government. Subsequently, recruitment to

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

By the early twentieth century the provincial forest administration came to be burdened with the huge task

the Imperial Forest Service was also discontinued, a subject strongly decried later. The o 80

the Provincial Forest Service were trained at the Indian Forest College in Dehradun.

cers recruited to

Having realized the

importance of the complex character of the forest administration and necessity of recruiting natives into the forest administration, the Provincial Forest Service was constituted, the legacy of which has been felt in the present day forest administrative hierarchy. p. 137

Till the mid-twentieth century both the superior and subordinate sta s had to spend considerable working hours inside dense jungles. A careful scrutiny of the o

cial records reveals that on an average an o

cer

would spend half of his duty period deep inside the jungle, which involved multitudinous responsibilities. 81

After independence further bureaucratization took place in forest management.

They hardly deviated from

what was framed by imperial forestry. There have been changes since, and the former was now expected to look after the expanding administrative responsibilities of the department. After independence with an increasing numbers of the forest divisions the responsibility of the Forest Department had widened and the 82

exigencies of provincial politics.

Deputation from any provincial Forest Department was primarily meant at orientating the sta imperial forestry paradigm. Gradually, it was becoming nancially di

in the

cult to send the sta . With the

strong percolation of the forestry programme to the provincial level, the need of complete reliance on Dehradun for forestry training came down. To overcome this problem, in 1908, a provincial forest school was established in Goalpara to train rangers and foresters, the rst batch consisted of three rangers and eight foresters. They were imparted training in some key areas where these sta s’ essential familiarity was deemed crucial. It was here that they were exposed to methods of silviculture, re-protection, utilization, charcoal-burning, manufacture of Areca catechu, surveying, engineering, collection of botanical specimens, law, and nance. At the provincial level the need for a local training centre for the foresters was felt and accordingly the Jalukbari Forest School was established in 1948. The school imparted practical as well as grounding in theoretical principles, forest utilization, practical engineering, botany, surveying, forest law, and accounts to the newly recruited foresters. Amidst this hostile and complex transition many survived to emulate the colonial forestry programme. Not many of these Indian foresters who worked in Assam had left behind their impression about the complex nature of their job. Their writings are centrally aimed at a critical appreciation of Indian wildlife. Amidst this lack of autobiographical works, Babu Pramatha Nath Bhattacharyya, witness to this critical transition from 83

empire forestry to the Indian forestry programme, penned down his own metamorphosis. p. 138

into a traditional

Born in Sylhet

literate class Bhattacharyya joined the Assam Forest Department as forest ranger in

1931 after completing graduation in science, rather unwillingly. It was never a choice for him but a compulsion to get a job. He got a six-month practical training as forester in Goalpara. It was in Kachugaon forest school that he was exposed to the nature of ‘research and experiments’ of the Forest Department centred around the sal forests. He was deputed to Dehradun to undergo training in imperial forestry, which 84

promoted him to the post of assistant conservator of forest in March 1948.

Bhattacharyya wrote how the

foresters who joined the Forest Department without any knowledge of forestry were exposed to various 85

‘tough, compact and crowded programme’ which made them directionless.

Over the years, with

experiences of exposure to intricacies and problems of governance, they became an essential part of the imperial forest programme.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

administrative arrangement of the department was expanded. Often such expansion was necessitated by the

Empire Forestry to Indian Forestry: Myth of Transition The forestry programme for the independent nation rested on the intellectual premise of the National Forest Policy, 1952. The new policy rea

rmed its trust with the imperial foundation by famously suggesting

that it ‘still holds good’. Assam's case was no di erent. As will be clearly discussed in the next chapter the Assam forests had seen another spell of aggressive commercialization. However, the timber market faced the constraints of market, created by partition, and renewed attempt was made to ‘capturing the market for 86

railway sleepers’.

To overcome the possible gloom in the existing market, the forestry programme began

to direct its attention on research on forest produces in Assam. Essentially the forestry programme came to be de ned by six key areas: balanced and complimentary land use, strengthening of the forest governance, 87

reforestation of over-exploited areas, soil conservation, communication, and e ective use of technology. The actual priorities and degree of emphasis on these sectors, however, varied. The political leaders from 88

soil conservation.

The great question before the government was about the minimum area that should be 89

under forest coverage, apprehension was also raised on whether such xation was really possible.

Thus

both production forestry as well as the need for forest as an instrument of soil erosion gradually began to de ne the new forestry programme. In 1962, the Assam government, still continuing an imperial programme, could safely proclaim the twofold agenda of the p. 139

forestry programme: ‘a sustained yield of

timber and minor forest produce’ and, secondly, the function for ‘preventing soil erosion, controlling oods 90

and conserving water supplies’.

Till the 1970s, commercial exploitation of forestry remained the main agenda of the Indian forestry programme. From then minor changes came in with the Forest Department giving priority status to the conservation agenda. This conservation programme came to be re ected mostly in the arena of fauna conservation. For instance, the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 was extended to Assam from January 1977. However, as sustained yield of Indian forests was now defeated, in the wake of rapid commercialization, there was extensive deforestation of the Reserved Forests. Pressurized by the demands of the industrial houses the Indian government was to ensure that there was no further deterioration of the forest cover of the country. Towards this came further legislative measures that aimed at reasserting the control of Forest Department as the de facto authority of the forested territory. The signi cant piece of legislation was the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, which became e ective in October 1980; Assam also came under its 91

purview.

The Act outlined the new conservation programme of the Forest Department and put restrictions

on de-reservation of the existing Reserved Forests, making the prior approval of the central government essential. One of the factors which went into the making of this legislation was the idea that provincial politics largely could not ignore the local agrarian pressures that allowed deforestation for agriculture to go on. The Act also restricted the commercial exploitation of timber. But, in spite of the new thrust, the forest policies remain burdened with local political considerations rather then the science of forestry. At the same time, the essential control and superiority of the Indian State over the forests vis-à-vis the livelihood 92

practices was reemphasized.

Whether the forestlands could be converted for agrarian purposes remained a vexed issue, the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 brought a change in the relationship between the people and forest wealth. Diversion of forestland for agricultural purposes was given a new dimension. Strongly prohibiting all post1980 encroachments inside the forestlands, the Act permitted the regularization of pre-1980 encroachments in accordance with previous laws. The National Forest Policy, 1988 also asserted that no regularization of encroachment was possible. This also led to acrimonious debates. Subsequently, guidelines p. 140

were issued to regularize these encroachments if the respective state

had issued any such policy prior to

1980, bringing an e ective ban on the move towards regularization. As pressure from some groups of environmentalists was gaining ground, the Supreme Court, in May 2002, gave a ruling whereby the Forest Department issued noti cation in May 2002 stating that all encroachment was ineligible for regularization since 1990. According to an estimate in early 1980 nearly 7 lakh hectares of land was under encroachment of 93

which Assam shared a substantially bigger area amounting to 2.547 lakh hectares.

Unfortunately the

debates surrounding the question of encroachment hardly take note of the con ict of agrarian economy with a landscape shaped by both geography and imperial rule. As the twentieth century was coming to an end, the State was more under pressure of a strong environmental movement. To have a fresh look into the forest management of Assam, the North East Forest Policy Committee was constituted in November 1998. The task before the committee was to suggest a more

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

the hill districts, where the practice of shifting cultivation was widespread, had also raised their concern for

appropriate forest policy for the region within the framework of the National Forest Policy, 1988. The commission suggested modi cations in the National Forest Policy in relation to the North-East region. It was suggested that increased focus should be given on weaning away the people from shifting cultivation. Secondly, policies should be taken up for the conservation of natural heritage, genepool, and biodiversity and maintenance of environmental stability through preservation and soil and moisture conservation speci cally on steep slopes, river catchments, and eco-fragile areas. Thirdly, encouragement must be given for e

cient utilization of forest produce and maximum value addition. And nally survey and demarcation

and preparation of working plans for all forests for sustainable and scienti c management should be taken up at the earliest. These policies, however, failed to address the concerns raised against increasing con ict between forestry programme and peoples livelihood. As the twentieth century came to an end there was both optimism and scepticism about forestry. The forestry agenda was dealing with both conservation and exploitation. To give a concrete shape to the forest principles in shaping the career of the forest and environment. The result was the National Forest Policy, 1988 and the Assam Forest Policy, 2004. O p. 141

cially the basic aim of the latter was to assign a distinctive

character to the Assam forests and environment, emphasizing the bio-diversity. Four key areas were identi ed as responsible for deforestation: natural calamities, like the earthquake of 1950; population pressure on forestland; grazing and poaching as well as failure of forestry programme to withstand these social realities. Despite its claim to be an ‘environment and peoples friendly’ forest policy, in actuality by framing these policies the government again consolidated its superior rights over forests but nowhere denied the primacy of production forestry. While the o

cial policies are being shaped another aspect that

has come to the forefront was the increasing popularization of environmental issues as public debate. Under such social pressure, the Supreme Court of India imposed severe restrictions on the felling of timber in 94

various parts of north-east India.

After a long and eventful journey, the Forest Department in the twenty-

rst century has acquired a di erent character. Compared to the colonial agenda of timber exploitation, preservation became the basic agenda of the department. There was wider concern for forest conservation arising out of greater scienti c awareness and growing international and local public awareness.

p. 142

Notes 1.

B. Ribbentrop, 1900, Forestry in British India, Calcutta: Government Printer, p. 77.

2.

E.P. Stebbing, 1926, The Forests of India, Vol. III, London: The Bodley Head, p. 423.

3.

ʻMy conception is that it will gain little by answering government requisitions by frequent reports…ʼ H. Hopkinson, Commissioner, Assam to Secretary to the Government of Bengal, Revenue Department no. 164T, Shillong 13 May 1872 in Vol. 38/45 Bengal Government, 1872 (ASA).

4.

He was the Inspector General of Forest in India during 1883–5.

5.

File no. 38/45, Bengal Government, 1872 (ASA).

6.

Gustav Mann Forest Operation in Assam, no. 36 Calcutta, 16 August 1873 File no. 38/45, 1872 Bengal Government (ASA).

7.

The story of plantation would be discussed in Chapter 6.

8.

Gustav Mann, Annual Progress Report on the Assam Forest Administration, Letter no. 217I, 19 July, Secretary to Government of Bengal, Revenue Department Vol. 50, July–October 1873 (ASA).

9.

From A.O. Hume, Secretary, Government of India (GoI) to the Secretary to Government of Bengal (GoB) NAI, Proceedings nos 25–6, Agriculture Revenue Commerce, Forests-A, 9 August 1872 (NAI).

10.

Ibid.

11.

K.W. Proceedings no. 19, Forests-A, January 1873 (ASA).

12.

The later figure included 2 untrained rangers, 12 foresters, 57 forest guards, 6 clerks, and 6 peons. Quoted in H.P. Smith and C. Purkayastha, 1946, Assam: A Short History of the Assam Forest Service, 1850–1945, Shillong: Government Press, p. 9.

13.

It was comprised of an area of 389.5 square miles.

14.

It was confined to a small area of 65 square miles.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

and environment, both at the national and provincial level there were attempts to formulate guiding

Annual Report, 1875–76, para. 2.

16.

Annual Report, 1908–9, para. 86.

17.

Chief Secretary to the Chief Commissioner to the Conservator of Forests, Eastern Circle, Assam, no. 2691R, 29 June 1915, in ASP, nos 176–86, Revenue-A, Revenue Department, 1915 (ASA).

18.

Proposal for converting Nowgong Forest Division to a Major Division, ASP nos 39–46, Forest-A, Revenue Department, December 1931 (ASA).

19.

Annual Report, 1878–79, para. 29.

20.

D. Brandis, 1879, Suggestions Regarding Forest Administration in India, Calcutta: Government Printer, para. 26.

21.

Ibid., para. 27.

22.

Annual Report, 1878–79, para. 6.

23.

Brandis, 1879, Forest Administration in Assam, para. 15.

24.

Ibid., para. 22.

25.

From Gustav Mann to the Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, 7 June 1890, File nos 25–6, Revenue-A, Revenue and Agricultural Department, 1890 (ASP).

26.

B. Ribbentrop, 1889, Note on An Inspection of the Forests in Assam, Shimla: Government Press, para. 68.

27.

Annual Report, 1879–80, para.1.

28.

Annual Report, 1881–82, para. 1.

29.

Annual Report, 1883–84, para. 21.

30.

For a detailed discussion on the growth of land system in Assam, see Arupjyoti Saikia, 2002, ʻAgrarian Society, Economy and Peasant Unrest: A Study of Brahmaputra Valley Districts 1945–52ʼ, University of Delhi, unpublished PhD thesis, Chapter 2.

31.

F.C. Barua, EAC, Nisf-Khiraj Settlment, Kamrup, 16 May 1883, in Rights of Nisf-Khirajdars to Timber or Other Forest Produce on their Holdings, ASP nos 11–18, Revenue-A, Revenue and Agricultural Department, August 1883 (ASA).

32.

Parabatiya Gosain to Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup, 5 September 1883, in Rights of Nisf-Khirajdars.

33.

W. Ward, 19 February 1883, Commissioner of the Assam Valley Districts to Secretary, Chief Commissioner of Assam, in Rights of Nisf-Khirajdars.

34.

A.L. Home, Assam Forest Manual, part. 3, section I, para. ii, p. 136.

35.

From Colonel J.C. Haugton, Commissioner of Cooch Bihar Division to Under Secretary, Government of Bengal, 27 August 1870, NAI, Proceeding nos 8–10, PWD, Revenue-Forests, November 1870 (NAI).

36.

For a detailed discussion on the Forest Acts of 1865 and 1878 see, R. Guha (ed.), 1989, The Unquiet Woods: Ecological Change and Peasant Resistance in British India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 123–34.

37.

For a detailed elaboration of these issues, see R. Guha, 1990, ʻAn Early Environmental Debate: The Making of the 1878 Forest Actʼ, Indian Economic and Social History Review, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 65–84 10.1177/001946469002700103 categorized the first group as annexationist, the second pragmatic, and the third as populist.

. Guha had

38.

Ribbentrop, Note on An Inspection of the Forests, para. 67.

39.

The Assam Forest Manual, part 1, p. 2.

40.

Act VI, 1887.

41.

Ribbentrop, Forestry in British India, p. 17.

42.

Letter from F.C. Daukes, Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, Forest Regulation for Assam, ASP 14 March 1891, Revenue-A, March 1891. Also, B. Ribbentrop, Forestry in British India, p. 17.

43.

Notification no. 612 R dated 23 February 1892. See, The Assam Gazette 27 February 1892.

44.

The Assam Forest Regulation, 1891, IOR/L/PJ/6/313 File no. 104, 6 January 1891 (Asia Pacific and Africa Collection, herea er APAC).

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 143

15.

Discussion on specific amendments in the post-independent period is avoided here. Extensive amendments came in 1995 Assam Forest Regulation (Amendment) Act, 1995 which received the assent of the governor on 30 April 1995.

46.

This has been discussed in detail in Chapter 8.

47.

Assam Legislative Assembly Debates, 18 March 1946.

48.

Speech by Maulavi Mudabbir Hussain Chaudhuri, Assam Legislative Assembly Debates, 18 March 1946.

49.

Report of the Forest Enquiry Committee, chapter II, pp. 3–6.

50.

The committee had both members from the council and Forest Department. The lone member from the Forest Department was A.J. Milroy.

51.

Recommendations of the Forest Enquiry Committee regarding Certain amendments to the Unclassed State Forests, ASP, Revenue Department, Forests-A, December 1931, no. 6 (ASA).

52.

Report of Royal Commission on Agriculture, para. 2.29, quoted in Report of the Forest Enquiry Committee.

53.

Letter from G.E. Soames, Chief Secretary to Government of Assam to the Commissioner, Assam, and Surma Valley and Hill Division, nos 4266–7 R, Shillong, 4 October, 1920, in ASP, Revenue Department, nos 23–6, Forests-A, December 1931 (ASA).

54.

The Bill was sent to the select committee twice as the government was forced to concede to the demands of the zamindars of Goalpara. In the council, Promotesh Chandra Baruah and Nagendra Narayan Chaudhury, amongst others, represented Goalpara zamindars.

55.

Assam Forest Manual, vol. I, pp. 21–3.

56.

The Assam Gazette, 25 October 1933.

57.

Notes by the Deputy Conservator of Forests, Cachar division, ASP nos 51–6, Revenue-A, September 1894 (ASA).

58.

ASP nos 20–39, Revenue-A, March 1905 (ASA).

59.

NAI, no. 7, Revenue and Agriculture Department, Forest, April 1878, Appendix A, p. 16, Act VII of 1878. Section 25 of the Act listed activities banned in the Reserved Forests.

60.

GOI Resolution, 15 April 1878, NAI, no. 9, Revenue, Agriculture, and Commerce, Forest, April 1878, p. 273 (NAI).

61.

Extract from the Proceedings of the GOI, no. 184, Revenue and Agricultural Department, Revenue-A, ASP nos 27–8, September 1886 (ASA).

62.

Makum Timber Concession and Makum Coal Concession, ASP nos 32–4 & 35–6, Revenue and Agriculture, Revenue-A, September 1886 (ASA).

63.

Letter from Secretary, Assam Branch, Indian Tea Association, 19 August 1892, ASP nos 5–10, Revenue-A, January 1893 (ASA).

64.

Ibid.

65.

Resolution of the Chief Commissioner, Annual Report, 1883–84, para. 19.

66.

ASP, nos 5–11, Forest-A, Financial Department, August 1906 (ASA).

67.

ASP, nos 244–75, Revenue-A, November 1904 (ASA).

68.

E.C. Buck, Secretary to Government of India, Revenue Department to Chief Commissioner of Provinces, Circular no. 24 F, 17 October 1893, in File ASP Revenue-A, nos 62–7 December 1893.

69.

J. McKee, O iciating Conservator of Forests to Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, no. 198 A, Shillong, 13 October 1893 in File ASP Revenue-A, nos 62–7 December 1893.

70.

In 1898, two years later a er dri timber rules came in, petty timber traders from Guwahati petitioned the Assam government protesting against such rule. They wrote: ʻWhat we most sorrowfully groan under is we are being constantly harassed and prosecuted on trivial grounds for not observing the technicalities of the law, which we have neither the sense nor education enough to appreciate or understandʼ. See, Petition of Dehiram Koch and Others of North Guwahati, in File, ASP, Revenue-A, nos 71–81 July 1898 (ASA).

71.

In 1974, there were one deputy conservator of forests, 2 assistant conservator of forests, 1 senior assistant conservator, 6 clerks, 6 peons, 2 rangers, 12 foresters, and 57 forest guards. Annual Report, 1879–80, para. 69.

72.

For further details, see David Arnold, 2004, Science, Technology and Medicine in Colonial India, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 144

45.

Annual Report, 1878–79, para. 5.

74.

ASP nos 14–15, Revenue-A, September 1877, Department of Revenue, Agriculture and Commerce (ASA).

75.

Annual Report, 1878–79, para. 212.

76.

Ibid.

77.

Annual Report, 1908–09, para. 85.

78.

Report of the Forest Enquiry Committee, 1929.

79.

For a detailed history of the early probationers in the forest department see, Stebbing, 1923, The Forests of India, Vol. II, and Vol. III, pp. 485–509, and pp. 306–43.

80.

It was established in 1938.

81.

The Indian Forest Service, one of the three All India Services, was constituted in the year 1966 under the All India Services Act, 1951 by the Government of India.

82.

The Assam Gazette, 19 August 1980, part II, A, p. 1117. During 1980s, the existing circles were rearranged to facilitate the smooth functioning of the Forest Department. At the close of the previous century a large hierarchy of forest o icials began to manage a airs of the department.

83.

I was able to read Bhattacharyee's unpublished Bengali memoir, titled Bon Biharir Aranya Parikrama, a bulky manuscript detailed with meticulous description of forestry programme and diagrams, by courtesy Kishore Bhattacharjee and Kulada Kumar Bhattacharjee of Guwahati. I duly acknowledge their support.

84.

Annual Report, 1948–9, para. 118.

85.

These are quoted from his manuscript. The page numbering is done by him. Translations are mine. Preface. p. 1.

86.

Budget Speech, Assam Legislative Assembly, 10 March 1952.

87.

P.D. Stracey, 1955, Senior Conservator of Forests, Assam to Secretary to the Government of Assam, Forest Department, Forest Branch, no. B/45/Plan/ XXI Shillong,

88.

Budget Speech, Assam Legislative Assembly, 10 March 1959.

89.

A.M. Das, 1955, Secretary to the Government of Assam, Forest Department to Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, New Delhi, no. For.482/54/19 Shillong.

90.

Government of Assam, Techno-Economic Survey of Assam, 1962, p. 44.

91.

The Act was further amended in 1988 bringing more restrictions in the form of de-reservation.

92.

Nandini Sundar, ʻDevolution, Joint Forest Management and the Transformation of Social Capital,ʼ in Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya et.al. (ed.), Interrogating Social Capital: The Indian Experience, Delhi: Sage, 2004, p. 226

93.

V.K. Bahuguna, 2002. IG Forest, Presentation on Problems of Encroachment on Forestland, RUPFOR series no. 3.

94.

M. Ramnath, 2006, ʻMeghalaya: Impact of Ban on Timber Fellingʼ, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 41, no. 48, pp. 4774–6

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193344385 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 145

73.

Forests and Ecological History of Assam, 1826–2000 Arupjyoti Saikia https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.001.0001 Published: 2011

Online ISBN: 9780199081240

Print ISBN: 9780198069539

CHAPTER

4 Forests in Assam: Merchant Trade to Imperial Economy  Arupjyoti Saikia Pages 146–204

Abstract Commercial exploitation of the forests products became the predominant agenda of the colonial forest policy during the 1870s. During this period, forestry was seen as pro t-generating machine where the Imperial Forest Department depended on for its nancial pro t. This chapter discusses the ways through which the Assam Forest Department became a self-sustaining department and how the department contributed to the colonial revenue earnings. Through codi cation and valuation survey, the Forest Department paved the way for the commercialization of the forests. This was furthered by the various ways of governmentality such as surveys, working plans, and improved communication which transformed the nature of the forests into commercial hotspots. Timber trade proliferated, minor forest produces were exploited, and forest industrialization emerged increasing the department's revenue. This commercial mechanism retained after the Independence. However, after 1980, the forest production was changed with preservation paradigm as the policy discourse of the Forest Department.

Keywords: commercial exploitation, forests products, colonial forest policy, forestry, Imperial Forest Department, financial profit, Assam Forest Department, colonial revenue earnings, commercialization of the forests, timber trade Subject: Colonialism and Imperialism, Environmental History, Asian History, Indian History Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online

By the 1870s the Imperial Forest Department became aware of the revenue potential of the forests in Assam, their commercial exploitation became the predominant agenda of the colonial forest policy. Forestry emerged as a frontrunner to provide the department with continuous nancial pro t. To give a better shape to the commercial prospect of the forests of Assam it was important that forest be codi ed into standard products. Within a short period of time the Forest Department began extensive valuation survey of the forests of the province. Soon the forest products were divided into two distinct categories of major forest produce and minor forest produce. The rst category took care of those products, that had to do with the logs and direct timber produce. It included those that got better care in the hands of the foresters; science also intervened in making them more productive. The second category was born out of nature's own system with limited intervention of science. By the close of the nineteenth century there was a foolproof mechanism to extract timber from the forest and to take it to the appropriate markets. Elaborate arrangements were made to work the forest, giving birth to the illustrious career of the working plan. Communication in the forests was also improved for an e ective commercial enterprise. In the twentieth century, even after Independence, the commercial prospect of the forests never diminished. In fact, the history of forest conservation remains an untold success story of commerce. This chapter discusses the ways through which the Assam Forest Department became a self-sustaining department and contributed an p. 147

important part of the colonial

revenue earnings. I argue that it was not mere colonial revenue earnings

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.003.0005 Published: February 2011

but involved a complex terrain that needed to be travelled by the Forest Department. Some important changes took place in the way previously the forest trade was organized in the region.

Forest Produces, Codification, and Valuation Survey, 1872–90 The most comprehensive valuation survey of the Assam forests and their codi cation as an economic entity took place during 1872–91. Begun with the careful observation by Gustav Mann, these surveys found their best con dence tone in the framing of the Assam Forest Regulation, 1891. The mapping and codi cation of the forest resources helped them to easily enter the international market. The codi cation meant the identi cation of various timber species into standard nomenclature as well as the preparation of a standard dictionary of its uses. This also required that the utility of these species needed to be con rmed for a crosssection of customers. The most comprehensive attempt to identify and select timber species of Assam from serialized according to the prevalent ranking. He estimated their size in the full-grown stage. With great care, he noted down both the scienti c and vernacular names of the trees and their spatial distribution. Mann also observed that the majority of the sal trees found in the province were of size above six feet in girth. Months later, echoing Mann, regarding the commercial value of these trees, Schlich commented that indigenous trees were more important than the exotic trees in Assam. He was convinced that compared to 1

any other tree it was sal, poma, sissu, and sam that had commercial potential.

Despite such a strong view expressed by none other than Schlich the Imperial Forest Department was not convinced of the revenue-generating capacity of the forest resources in Assam till Brandis arrived in Assam. What he saw was a history of poor revenue management of the forests. He did not hesitate in blaming the poor quality of the trees in Assam for such a pathetic situation. Brandis, with his reach to South Asian forestry, had realized that good and marketable trees like sal, sam, and ajhar, found mostly in western Assam, were already overworked. Other forests could hardly o er any promise for the market. To overcome the situation, Brandis eloquently spelled out the commercial responsibility of the newly formed Forest 2

Department. He was convinced that the object of the forest administration in Assam was to secure a p. 148

permanent supply of timber for the Bengal markets from the Kamrup and Goalpara

forests by careful

3

categorization of the Assam forests into a proper classi cation.

Once the spatial distribution of the Assam forests could be visualized as economic categories, further surveys were carried out to recon rm their economic values. A series of valuation surveys were conducted inside the Reserved Forests. Valuation provided the Forest Department with an accurate estimate of timber. The rst survey began in the Sidli Duar Reserved Forest in Goalpara after 1874. In this survey, two imperial valuation experts W.R. Fisher and D'Aroy surveyed an estimated 15,716 acres. The process involving a fair amount of physical work, aimed at dividing the entire area into several blocks, compartments, and subcompartments and conducting their values as per the contemporary market trends. Fisher and D'Aroy primarily estimated the quantitative spread of sal trees, including its saplings, at below one cubit. In their survey, they found a large quantity of second-class sal trees, on two blocks on a hundred acre basis. The age of the trees was also estimated by counting the concentric rings. In 1877, linear valuation surveys were conducted in an area of over 299 acres in the Guma Reserved Forests in Goalpara. As these surveys provided the department with practical logistics of forest operation they were extended to other forests. Similar surveys were also conducted in the forested tracts already opened up for special cultivation, especially tea plantation.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

across the region was started by Gustav Mann who identi ed 101 trees. The identi ed species were then

Even after a decade of surveys, notwithstanding the valuation surveys, the Forest Department was not still convinced of the comprehensive nature of these works. In the 1880s, it became apparent that the surveys were conducted only in a piecemeal manner. The valuation survey got a boost after 1883 when the provincial administration began cadastral survey of land. In the same year, extensive survey was carried out in the forests of the entire province. Maps on the scale of 4 inches to the mile, followed by survey of the boundaries with prismatic compass and chain for these Reserved Forests, were prepared. The expenditure for these 4

surveys was not too small. The high cost of the survey became imperative in the wake of the necessity of 5

labour recruitment and high wages. Until a working plan division was sanctioned in 1886, the divisional forest o

cers with the assistance of sta

and trained surveyors continued to carry out these surveys. This

responsibility was handed over to the working plan division once it came into force. By the end of June 1893, the survey in the forests, covering an area of 126 square miles, was completed. Aggressive survey inside the forests was done till the p. 149

following decade, after which it became casual. The Survey of India, by that time 6

a well-known name in map preparation, applauded the works of the surveyors in the forest of Goalpara.

details, when the Indian government advised the surveyors to take note of the nature of forest growth and 7

classi cation of soil.

By 1891, after the promulgation of the Assam Forest Regulation, attempt was made to work out di erent valuation for the timber on the wastelands. There was strong opposition to such survey from the tea gardens. The divisional superintendent of Jokai Tea Company had no doubt that such surveys would bring 8

hardship to the tea-gardens. The tea-gardens contested that the timber on such land should not be charged with the same rate as proposed for the other type of forest area. The tea-gardens even threatened that unless such rules were not revised the tea planters would be forced to withdraw opening up of the land. William Ward, the Chief Commissioner, brie y reviewed the matter, though no de nite step was taken. Previously, an amount was xed on the entire forests standing in wasteland. This helped the leaseholders to gain pro t by selling these forest produces. Making a departure from this practice the new rule authorized the Revenue Department to count timber standing in a plot of wasteland and accordingly x rates. This would also ensure an increase of provincial revenue. Athough the colonial administration was clearly divided on the new rule of settlement, yet such policies temporarily endowed superior rights to the provincial administration over the tea-planters. After the introduction of the working plans survey and codi cation of the Assam forests gained rapid momentum. Preparation of the working plan guaranteed that all living and dead produce inside the forests could be marketed in an ever increasing volume and to a cross-section of customers. The individual strength of each tract could be monitored, each single tree and its components could be identi ed, and a prospective customer could be located. The era of survey premised on presumption gave way to the science of imperial forestry as embodied in the working plan, which will be discussed separately.

Markets, Supply, and Traders Once the legal rights over the forested tracts and its commercial viability was ensured it was also important p. 150

that the Forest Department assert its control, however incomplete it may be, over the markets. In fact, the transition from the explicit private business concern to governmental supervision was slow. The department allowed, even after the implementation of the Bengal Forest Act, 1878, marking of trees to be felled and worked out a permit system for the extraction of the timber from within the forest. The private traders had complete access to the Reserved Forests till 1876. The trader, with a permit, would extract the timber after paying a xed royalty per log and remove it either on pack ponies or bullock carts. Where this permit system did not work, the department engaged petty contractors. It was rarely that one contractor would do the entire corpus of the work to bring timber into the market. Selected trees were sold by the department either as standing tree, or from departmental depots at speci ed rates. Timbers were sold as rewood by weight. The department engaged various persons for carrying out activities like felling, sawing, dragging, and oating. Seasonal labour was recruited to carry out felling, conversion, and transport of timber.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Changes were introduced in the methods of survey, till now primarily concerned with the topographical

Unlike the eastern Assam forests the merchant capital had an elaborate network of forest exploitation in Goalpara. Here arrangements for extraction of the timber from the forests and taking them into markets had already acquired institutional shape. The pivotal role was played by people from the Mech and Garo community. These people and their network of timber-cutters had developed over the years-skills in locating, cutting, and extracting timbers from the dense forests. They would go inside the forest during the winter season in parties of 15–20 under a da ador. The latter was mostly an agent to the timber traders from Bengal or connected to the estates of zamindars. The da adors paid advances to the timber-cutters for expenses. Once timbers were felled they were oated down to the large rivers in the month of August. Timbers were converted into pieces according to the market demands. The larger trees were cut into lengths of 7–8 feet pieces known as dhums. These pieces were mostly used for boat-building in the lower Bengal. The other pieces brought to the market were classed as pucca or kutcha. O

cials, locally known as jumonovis, would

da adors sold the timber to local merchants who would then further export them to markets in Goalundo, 10

Dacca, or Calcutta.

While not all types of timbers were brought into the markets, sal and sam found ready

markets. Timber trade in Goalpara had already developed an institutionalized mechanism of supply even before the p. 151

departmental timber depots were

established. For instance, supply to markets was arranged from a few

speci c centres of forested tracts. Timbers from the Garo hills were sold in the markets located in the 11

district. Several important markets that solely depended on the timber trade developed.

Timbers from

these markets and forests had regular trade exchanges with markets in Serajegunje, Golaundo, 12

Mymmensingh, Bhairob Bazar, and Dacca that were located beyond the province.

While these markets, now further strengthened, took care of the larger markets, everyday needs were supplied by a network of petty timber traders. They collected fuelwoods, a range of forest produces, or sometimes timber needed for household needs. A low urban population could hardly encourage more than petty trades. However, the government, to overcome the uncertainties of these supply networks, came out with a formal scheme for the regulated supply of timber to places like Guwahati, which was sanctioned by 13

the Bengal government in February 1872.

The Forest Department identi ed Bhoraldhap forests near Rani

as suitable for felling timber, from which the timbers and logs would be oated to Guwahati by the river Bharalu. The agreement for this scheme was done with an Assamese contractor and it was stipulated that he would deliver logs to the Forest Department at Rs 5 per log. The contractor agreed to deliver 150–200 logs of sal by March 1872. The scheme did not work as expected mainly due to lack of labour. The local contractors 14

rarely used elephants for extraction of logs.

To avoid disagreement of contract, the contractor used 15

another river, at a distance from the town, to supply those woods.

These logs were collected by boatmen

and brought to the town. The rst batch of 780 cubic feet of timber was sold at an auction in the Guwahati market in October 1872, from which a total of Rs 275 was earned. The forest o

cials mentioned that there

was an overwhelming response to the rst ever market and many went away disappointed. After this the Bengal government had no doubt that those timbers that could not be extracted from the forests should not be felled. The government clearly instructed that departmental elephants should be used while the 16

contractors' responsibilities were con ned to felling and squaring the logs.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

9

collect the revenue from the greater part of the private forests like that of the Purboot Juar forests. The

Gradually very few Assamese traders began to participate in the timber trade and earned quick pro t. Few became successful but many could not survive probably due to the latter's inability to cope with the intricacies of the timber trade that mostly operated from Calcutta. The local institutional markets were also p. 152

limited. The example of success

in timber trade, and also an example of early Assamese mercantile

capitalist, was that of Bholanath Barua (1853–1923) whose timber trade was primarily outside the province. Barua, the rst Assamese graduate, gained enormously from his timber trade and soon expanded his trade 17

network into the forests of south Bengal and Orissa.

He began his career in timber trade as a manager in a

timber rm owned by his uncle Manick Chandra Barua, later a council member, but soon left for Calcutta, 18

seeking further trade opportunities. He began by exporting timber from Assam.

He established business

opportunities and gained favours, and this led him to become a millionaire, as his biographer, J.N. Bhuyan, would like us to believe. Barua's timber trade took him to seek favours from the imperial politics. He met the Secretary of State in London in 1908 with the intention of expansion of the Bengal–Nagpur railway line into Mayurbhanj in Orissa. Bhuyan mentions that Barua was successful in getting the sanction. Subsequently and business partner of Baruah, Lakhinath Bezbarua (1864–1938), the Assamese literary doyen, earned a 19

fortune as a timber trader in Orissa.

There were cases too where one had to face various odds. Manick

Chandra Barua, who formed a company by the name of M.C. Baruah and Company, worked mostly in the 20

Garo hills.

The company was given monopoly work in the forests under the condition that it would look

after the upkeep of the forest roads. Many years later the Forest Department argued that the company had completely failed to invest capital as well as create timber trade. Mann strongly suggested to the chief 21

commissioner to cancel the agreement which was readily accepted.

The rm's timber stock was detained

and cost was recovered. The epidemic of kala-azar had, in the meanwhile, swept away the labour sources for timber work. Since then Manick Chandra's timber trade declined. The failure of the Assamese traders to enter into the timber trade was best explained as early as 1900 when Kanaklal Barua, later on Director of Industries and also nationalist historian, wrote how lack of capital had restricted the Assamese traders from entering into the lucrative timber trade, namely supply of sleeper (Figs 4.1 and 4.2) or dugouts, and the like, 22

unlike the Marwari traders.

Roads, River Routes, and Tramways: Overcoming Early Challenges Stebbing argued that good communication into and inside the Reserved Forests of Assam was a major cause p. 153

of the non-development of commerce

23

(see Figs 4.3 and 4.4).

The subject of poor communications

remained a major concern since the early days of imperial forestry. New roads were laid down or improvement of the existing ones became a priority. This was done mostly through an arrangement with the PWD. Often, even tea-gardens came forward to improve the road networks. The support of the teagardens was never voluntary, rather it was based on a mutual understanding of the possible bene ts. Such fragmentary investment could not link the majority of forested tracts till the early twentieth century. The p. 154

Reserved Forests remained inaccessible even for private

Fig. 4.1

A view of railway sleepers in eastern Assam. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Barua acquired concession from Raja of Mayurbhanj to supply sleepers to this railway line. Another friend

Fig. 4.2

Fig. 4.3

Easing communication inside the forests—a railway bridge. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive

Fig. 4.4

Another view of a railway bridge inside forests. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Railway sleepers in eastern Assam. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive

p. 155

timber traders to carry bulk business. A regular phenomenon during the rainy season was that of the forest pathway becoming impassable. The only way through which the timber trade continued to survive was through the pre-imperial and traditional methods of transportation. Such transportation relied extensively 24

on local skills, which were both risky and physically challenging.

Notable were the intricate and mighty

bamboo rafts, known as meleng, between the central Assam hill forests and the southern valley in which the timber traders had proved their skill over powerful river courses. River routes trade also used boats, known as bajras and panshis, mostly owned by people from north India, which were used in the timber trade. These bajras had a crew of 10–13 men and could oat 200 pairs of dhums. The panshis had only four men and could carry 50–80 pairs of dhums. With four loaded boats it was necessary to take one jalpana, a small boat supported by two men. This helped to better navigate in the river and also came as a mechanical support. If this was the uncertainty inside the forests, the main arteries of transport were no better either. Bryant expressed his dismay on the condition of the bridges on the grand trunk road from Guwahati to western Assam, serving an important network for the export of sal from Goalpara, which he thought was always cult to nd.

The inaccessibility of forest tracts was further compounded by the di 26

timbers.

Boats were di

culty in oating down saleable

cult to procure in abundance. Loading into the boats and their sail through the

river routes was often complicated. Traders wanted to bring their timbers to the markets as quickly as possible. As the gestation period for capital investment in timber trade was long and traders wanted to quickly gain the pro t, they forced the boatmen to overload the boats. The overloaded boats, however, could not get over the di

cult river routes. Such route blocks were often reported from the shallows at the mouth

of the river Kulsi in Kamrup. This journey, an important link for the arrival of timber from the Guwahati division to the Dhubri depot, mostly delayed timber sales in Goalpara. The river Brahmaputra was not safe for rafting till the end of September. Most of the timber brought from central and eastern Assam down the river would wait for about nine months in the Dhubri depot before it could be sold. To minimize transport di

culties the traders resorted to cutting long logs into short lengths suited for making boats. These logs 27

were then rolled over long distances of temporary tracks to bring them into the river. p. 156

In 1882, referring to the deplorable condition of the roads, the Forest Department admitted that there was perhaps no work so urgently required for the proper protection of the forests as road-making to render them readily accessible. Practical exigencies, like topography and long rainy season, also rendered construction of roads a di

cult task. The sparse population also made a newly built road becoming

unrecognizable as it would be covered with rank grass within a period of three months, making it di

cult to

distinguish between the road and the forest. Passage through some of these roads was possible only through carts. Di

culties in transportation became a challenge to the claims of scienti c forestry, as it made the

implementation of working plan di

cult. Thus, evaluating the ine ective implementation of the rst

Goalpara working plan in 1912, A.V. Monro, Conservator of Assam, blamed the ‘wants of means of transport’. Monro knew that ‘purchasers have to hitherto had to roll or carry by hand the timber, often for 28

very long distances’.

To overcome these hurdles the department gradually adopted schemes for roads in various forests beginning 1881. A series of river rules known as Assam River Rules came into e ect since 1880. However, these rules caused detention to the timber traders and many of them protested against the levying of fees 29

for the pass at Dhubri.

This pass system was done away with from January 1882. With the introduction of

steamers in Brahmaputra, the traditional boats were rapidly replaced. The Assam Forest Regulation allowed for the establishment of revenue stations along the riverside to monitor the movement of forest trade and to collect levy from these. In the next few years, river-based revenue stations came up in, initially in Goalpara, and then in Kamrup and Nowgaon, to regulate the tra entrusted with enumeration of tra

30

c in the forest produce.

These stations were

c in forest produce and collection of revenue as often as was laid down

by the Forest Department. Necessitated by the increasing volume in the forest produce revenue stations 31

were established in the other forest divisions.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

25

unsafe and the road itself was sometimes di

The most important State intervention came with the construction of the Goalpara tramway. The tramway played an important role in the working of the Goalpara sal forest. The proposal for having a tramway went back to Gustav Mann but he also expressed his apprehension about the pro tability of such a project. In 1899, the district forest administration of Goalpara re-emphasized the necessity of the tramway. Convinced, Henry Cotton, the Chief Commissioner did not face any di p. 157

Government of India. Accordingly, a grant of

culty in getting the consent of the

Rs 15,000 was made for laying down the two-and-a-half

miles of track with wooden sleeper though the Forest Department had asked for the durable steel sleeper. Once laid out, the tramway was utilized to extract timber from the coupe. The department continued to advocate the idea of a steel sleeper. It was also suggested that in the initial years the tramway would have to be moved from place to place for which the steel sleeper would be best suited. The government also 32

sanctioned the steel sleeper.

The tramway was worked entirely by manpower. Diversion of labour force for

the running the tramway resulted in a shortage of manpower in the coupes. To overcome the labour shortage Bryant suggested that the use of small locomotive would lead to economy and greatly facilitate 34

In 1913, the department came up with a proposal to convert the tramway into a steam haulage.

The work was completed by 1916 and started functioning from that time. This tramway was further extended and by 1931 it comprised of 44 miles of tract. The tramway became a major link for the private trading interests carried by it. In 1933, of the total 3,72,764 cubic feet of timber transported by this tramway more than 99 per cent belonged to the private purchasers'. Operations of the tramway also became self35

sustained.

The tramways e ectively exposed the sal bearing tracts into the timber markets. Appreciating

the power of new technology, Monro noted: ‘The advantage in the use of the tramways is not restricted to the saving in transport charges, but renders feasible the working of valuable sal in waterless forests which 36

otherwise could not be utilized.’

Forest Exploitation, Sustained Yield, and Coming of Working Plan Few would be found to dispute the point that the time has arrived when every forest in the country should be under a Working Plan. Its nature may be simple, but it should embody de nite prescriptions… Working Plans work in Assam has not got very far beyond the elementary stage. It is somewhat di

cult to say to what the very backward state of this Province in forestry is due. 37

E.P. Stebbing, 1926

The working plans, the mechanism through which the ideology of scienti c forestry was visualized and implemented, marked a shift towards forest resources. It implied intensive o

cial supervision inside the

Reserved Forests. The working plan prescribed limits to the volume of removal and out-turn. Extraction p. 158

must be, the working plan assumed,

preceded by several layers of requisite operations, such as sowing,

planting, thinning, and lining'. Beyond this ‘simple’ arithmetic of laying down the plan for future forest management, however, lay complex layers of issues related with imperial forestry and governmentality, a 38

subject that has been well treated in the case of north Bengal forestry.

The long-term goals envisioned in a

working plan categorically spelled out the imperial forestry programme in its totality. While preparing a working plan, in the normal circumstances, foresters had to choose whether or not to eliminate inferior quality trees. In doing this and also to enhance the survival prospects of commercially valuable trees, the department regulated through the working plan, the forest land-use pattern. While such strategies had been tested in the past, a forest land management plan was formulated more systematically. Working plans speci ed felling cycles and also xed the maximum quantity of forest produce to be extracted. It involved meticulous planning and making an estimate of the forest resources. The working plans led to more intensive uses of the forest resources as well as careful enforcement of forest rules. Making a working plan 39

is problematic, but it also enabled the foresters to exercise their practical wisdom.

Foresters' role was

widened beyond granting access to private timber traders. It would not be wrong to suggest that rede ning of the nature of access of private capital into government forests was a prelude to the working plan. More importantly, with the arrival of the working plans, varieties of localized and traditional customs of management of forest resources gradually lost their relevace.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

33

export.

If the working plan forecasted a major out-turn from imperial forestry why then did E.P. Stebbing have to reprimand the Forest Department in the strongest words? Did the working plan help in increasing forest yield? That forests in Assam were mostly multi-species were clear to the department. Planning a working plan for such complex forested tracts would also merit several layers of dilemmas. Foresters too tried to escape from these dilemmas and began to show favour towards only species that could fetch high nancial return. This led to sal and teak becoming the as primary target of several working plan that were produced in the next couple of decades. With the ourishing of the timber trade in the forests of western Assam, the department began preparing a working plan, an urgent necessity for the forests of Kamrup, Goalpara, and Garo hills. The only restrictions that were in practice in these forests closely resembling any principles of a standard working plan was that p. 159

‘all trees for felling must

be marked by the department and no trees less than four and half feet in girth 40

measured at four feet above the ground be felled’.

Apart from these rules there was no standard

imperial markets the forests in eastern Assam were still less pressurized. As trade in forest resources mostly involved the extraction of sal trees from the western Assam forests, the department assumed that the abundant sal tracts, apart from other hard timbers in the forests of the Upper Assam, would not face any pressure from the trading classes. In 1883, the Department admitted that ‘no working plan exists yet; the preparation of them would require 41

the time of one or two o

cers to the exclusion of all other works’.

A Forest Department with a small

establishment could not o er such luxury and the plan was deferred till the deputation of an expert from the working plan division of the Imperial Forest Department. In January 1886, the Government of India approved a plan for the constitution of a working plan division in the province and Indian surveyors were 42

employed to expedite this work. 43

forests of Goalpara.

Soon work began towards drawing up a working plan for the Dambu

T.J. Campbell, with several years of experience in the forests of Assam, was entrusted 44

with the responsibility and he was soon to be joined by C.P. Fisher.

Special working plan sta

were

employed in the Goalpara forest to inspect the sal bearing areas. The Imperial forest survey branch commenced work in 1889 and continued it for several years. The working plan division surveyed the topographical details of the interior and the forest was divided into compartments. This was followed by a survey of the selected tracts, and their demarcation from the biennial measurement of the trees standing in these tracts. The survey team began the preliminary work of 45

triangulation and traversing over an area of 94 and 439 square miles, respectively.

An area of 180 square

miles was topographically surveyed. A record of the distribution of forest species along with its soil quality 46

was prepared. In doing this, the extensive surveys prepared by the tea-gardens came in handy. 47

number of labourers were recruited from Hazaribagh of Bihar to assist in survey works.

A large

The primary aim

was to select and identify better classes of sal trees. The Goalpara working plan estimated that an area of 120 square miles contained pure sal forest and 85 square miles contained mixed variety of sal, out of these about 1,40,000 numbers of sal was exploitable. Other districts also followed the Goalpara example, and by 1897, p. 160

approximately 15 per cent of the total Reserved Forests was

brought under the working plan. The forests

of Goalpara continued to have the largest share of 522 square miles. Though more schemes to draw working plans for various Reserved Forests were taken up in the next century, in reality, the progress never acquired speed. W. F. Perree had drawn up another extensive working plan for the sal forests of Goalpara, which came into e ect from 1906. The actual implementation of the working plan, began in 1909. This plan had a combination of both—improvement in felling and removal of mature trees. An area of 16,452 square miles of unclassed State forests in 1900 was still left beyond the ambit of the working plan. After the revocation of the Bengal partition in 1911, largely coinciding with the British-India trend, only 26 per cent of the total 48

Reserved Forests were under working plan.

Goalpara still retained its major share, amounting to 719

square miles. Others like the Nambor, Holongpar, and Jokai working plans attracted the attention of the 49

higher authorities.

As the Assam forest was divided into two circles, the two conservators estimated that

during 1915–25, plans covering an area of 3,000 square miles would be required, including the revision for 50

the existing plans.

In 1927, W.R. Jacob, conservator of the province, lamented that in matters of working 51

plan Assam was lagging far behind in comparison with other states. 52

for occasional expansion.

The situation did not improve except

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

arrangement for the working of the forests. Compared to the exposure of the western Assam forests to

The planning and ideological investment in working plans was highly complex. Depending on the nature of their species' contents, forest tracts were categorized into blocks. This allowed the forest survey team to make their presence felt in every inch of these blocks. With more skill the trained foresters could tell the productive capacity of even the smallest plots. In terms of topographical range and methods of survey another colonial instrument that came closer to the working plan was the land cadastral surveys that were introduced in the province of Assam in 1883. Working plans best represented the political economy of imperial forestry, though afterwards they began to incorporate guidelines of silvicultural practices aimed at regeneration of the forests. The following ideological underpinning was often openly stated: ‘It is simply an e ort to introduce some sort of system into the exploitation and to provide for the improvement of the 53

forest by prescribing the cultural operations to be undertaken each year’.

With institutional customers

emerging as major buyers the guidelines of working plans required their demands and necessities to de ne 54

changes according to demands and necessities.

The Forest Department rarely followed the working plans literally. This was not due to their ideological opposition to the plans but to the spirit of economic exploitation of the forest embodied in the guidelines. Rather, the need to maximize economic exploitation of forced them to overcome limits embodied in working plans. Also, often short-term nancial exigencies, like acute budgetary shortfall, led to the violation of the working plans. These deviations did not go unnoticed and thus the Government of India was forced to observe: ‘Many existing working plans did not allow su

cient exibility of action to conservators

in carrying out prescribed forest operations, particularly works of improvement and necessitated frequent reference to government in matters of minor importance which could properly, and ought to be dealt with 55

by the conservators on their own responsibility’.

The government largely conceded to the need of these

departures. A major departure from the working plan prescription occurred during the Second World War when a considerable area of Reserved Forests, much to the dissatisfaction of the Forest Department, which 56

were without any working plan, was worked out to meet with the requirement of the war.

The most

condemning rebuttal of working plan came from none other than Bryant who in 1912 commented that ‘Assam is very backward in the matter of working plans and this is a natural consequence of the underdeveloped state of the country as regards communications and consequent lack of demand for the 57

forest produce for it is useless to prepare a working plan for a forest the produce of which can not be sold’.

Bryant hardly deviated from the general principles of forestry as he was quick to suggest that though there was no urgency for a working plan in Assam, it must be drawn up as soon as possible to work a forest systematically. Such works should be taken up even if an area was leased out to private companies. His view was hardly acceptable for the provincial foresters. The later working plans tried to address this recurrence of deviations by identifying the nexus between the lower sta

of the department and the timber contractors.

After Independence, the Forest Department, in framing a working plan, largely followed those principles laid down previously. The tenure of most of the working plans that were framed for the province was not yet over. Signi cant changes occurred in the nature of ideological investment in the making of a working plan. While the colonial thrust of creating a sustained reservoir for the various industrial needs never lost its key importance, consolidation of bureaucratic supremacy soon surfaced. The latter phenomenon, which was p. 162

directly aided by the

regional political establishment, making industry a dominant partner of its 58

existential logic, led to the general decline of forests as a source of sustained yield.

Working plans

produced in the last decade of the twentieth century hardly bear the testimony to the foresters' intellectual struggle to comprehend the complex forested terrain except the fact that the region's biodiversity was now accepted amongst the managers of the forests. The post-Independence political class in Assam leading the forest administration did not leave behind any trace of their engagement with the larger ideological purview of the working plan.

Wood Trade and Political Economy of Major Forest Produce By the end of the nineteenth century the Forest Department successfully emerged as the frontrunner in terms of its revenue earnings. A substantial contribution of the forest revenue came from the trade in wood which was regulated by the mechanism of major forest produce (MFP). The early counterpart to MFP was minor forest produce. The MFP not only determined the way the forested tracts were categorized and 59

codi ed but also became a symbol of the economic logic of forest conservation.

As the MFP acquired key

attention within the forestry programme, the latter became equivalent to economic vocabulary, namely, lumbering and logging (Fig. 4.5).

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 161

Fig. 4.5

p. 163

Timber was mostly worked by the departmental agency till 1879. The felled timbers were converted into logs, estimated in cubic feet, and brought to the timber depots which were then sold to other governmental departments or bought privately. The PWD was one of the principal consumers and their demands were mostly decided by the nature of expansion of governance. Private purchasers were allowed to buy trees at 60

standing.

Customers were also ready to buy dead trees, which could be bought at a highly low rate. Low

demand of timber began to worry the department, forcing it re-examine further possibilities in timber trade. The existing method of the departmental operation required a huge investment, both in terms of money and labour. In 1878, the system was replaced with another, allowing the merchants to work out the 61

timber on their own.

This system allowed the timber cutters, who were now often forced to seek

employment with the department, to go inside the forests by themselves. Once they felled the timbers they were required to obtain permits from the department. The scope for speculation and manipulation was high. The new arrangement worked magic, chie y in Goalpara and Kamrup, allowing entry of private capital in the emerging forest trade. Signalling a key shift, by 1881, the system of departmental operation was completely discontinued except the ful lment of o

62

cial needs.

The department continued to induce the

timber traders into this system. Such an arrangement not only reduced the possibility of loss to be incurred by the depots but also minimized the involvement of the forest sta

in the actual operation of felling of

trees. The Barak valley in the south continued to operate like the former system of the Brahmaputra valley. Here the timber traders were asked to secure permits to enter the forests and cut trees. Once these trees 63

were brought to the revenue stations they were measured and the traders paid the royalty.

Five di erent

types of permit depending on the nature of trade, namely, elephant, gurkati, trade, home, and rewood, 64

based on the types of trade forms were issued.

65

Trade exploitation of woods began from western Assam.

The best example of wood trade in western Assam

was the case of trade in dugouts in Goalpara. A departmental report prepared in 1875 provided a picture of the intensity of timber trade by suggesting that the hard trees used for dugouts in Goalpara ‘had already been exhausted, making way for the stocks of Upper Assam districts’. Though sal was known for its ability to resist climatic challenges, the best preference was not for sal, due its heavy weight that made it liable to p. 164

sink. This allowed species like sam, titachapa,

koroi, gomari, jamu, and hilika to be exploited for dugout

trade. The speculation in dugout trade had also brought soft quality species such as gugera, patamari, poma, and paroli into the timber trade. Despite low preference and, on the other hand, its simultaneous availability helped sal to remain at the forefront of departmental operations. Many a times it became di

cult for the

department to meet the requirement. From 1884, the department categorized the trees into three classes only. Sal was placed in the rst category exclusively. The other trees were divided into two other categories according to their market value.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Logging depot became the key point of forest economy. Courtesy P. Bordoloi

In eastern and central Assam, trade in hard woods did not develop except for highly localized private needs. While the prospective customer, namely, the ever-increasing tea-gardens, would meet their everyday needs mainly from within the forested tracts of the gardens and the private needs could also be met from the unclassed State forests, there were hurdles, the Forest Department thought, that acted against the 66

commercialization of the eastern Assam forests.

The department categorically pointed out that the

exorbitant rate imposed by the steamer companies and high railway freight made timber export very di

cult. The water current of the river system made the transportation of timber with the help of the raft a

highly risky one. Unpredictable river transport also resulted in uctuations of the timber trade. Timber trade also varied depending on the local requirement as well as means of communication. Thus, as the PWD needed more timber for the construction of the Jorhat and Kokilamukh tramway, the demand for timber 67

increased substantially.

To understand the metamorphosis of the Forest Department and forestry, it is important to examine how promulgations initiated by the Assam administration had already begun to rede ne the nature of the landed property. A similar fate awaited other natural resources. Several rules were sanctioned for felling of the trees 68

in both the Reserved and District Forests during 1883 and 1884.

These rules, by indicating a better

coordination between the forest and Revenue Department, made forestry a permanent partner in the great progress of imperialism. As the Forest Department gained primacy of distinctiveness as a revenue earner it could in uence several layers of rural networks. The best example was the case of the mauzadars, authorized to supervise the district forests, who came under the direct control of the Forest Department. p. 165

As commercialization of forests went ahead, the exploitation became the key component of the ideological framework of the working plan. Through the two methods of improvement and selection felling the working plans, mostly in the western Assam forests, began to attract private capital in the timber trade. Absence of a working plan meant that an impoverished pre-capitalist method of forest exploitation—the permit holder would select a tree and a forest o

69

cial would mark them—would remain there in practice.

The Forest

Department could only complain of ‘wasteful felling of young trees as well as matured trees’. But what turned out to be crucial for timber trade was the rate of royalty and timber species. The rate of royalty was steady for nearly three quarters of a century. The department lamented that due to there being no scienti c basis for the xation of the royalty of forest produces, Assam always fared behind in terms of getting a higher royalty. The royalty increased only during the First World War. If the rate of royalty worried the department, the unpredictability of the local market was no less worrisome. An anxious department could only expect that in future the situation would improve once the forests of the tea-estates would be 70

exhausted, and then the tea-gardens would become a major source of demand.

But the general decline in

the tea-economy and subsequent discontinuance of new plantations hampered any prospect of revenue growth of the Forest Department. Non-availability of local markets was not the only worry for the department. The lack of knowledge about forest resources, inaccessibility into Reserved Forests, failure of Assam timber to nd a market in Calcutta, and failure to keep pace with the local demands of railway sleepers and tea-boxes had a combined e ect on the prospects of the Forest Department. Beyond this, free timber grants became a matter of concern; the bene ciaries were from varied, and often important, branches of government. One instance was the case of the Assam Railway and Trading Company, which received during 1884–6 a free grant of 8,987 trees from both Reserved and unclassed State forests. Despite these di

culties the timber trade improved gradually. Also timber trade increased manifold with

the horizontal increase of timber traders. In 1900, an estimated 62, 592 tonnes of timber was purchased by various agencies, including the government, which got doubled to 129,896 tonnes in 1911.

71

The volume of

timber removed by traders varied annually. During 1902–3 this was estimated at 6,286,968 cubic feet, it p. 166

came down to 2,387,000 cubic feet in 1918–19. By this time the

expansion of railway as well the timber

markets of east Bengal began to buy sal from western Assam. With the onset of the economic depression of 1930 the timber trade came under more pressure. The depression brought restriction on the extension of railway track in the province. The general slowdown in jute prices could hardly boost up the east Bengal timber markets, which were largely created by the rich east Bengal landlords. The lucrative timber market in western Assam slowed down temporarily. Products from the timbers from the eastern Assam forests 72

continued to be marketed to tea-plantations.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

the provincial Revenue Department gained momentum since the 1880s. A series of administrative

Table 4.1 Estimate of Major Timber Produce, 1899–1955 (million cubic feet) Timber

Fuel

1899–1904

24.8

39.9

1904–9

22.2

34.7

1909–14

28.8

38.7

1914–19

25.1

41.9

1919–24

34.5

41.1

1938–9

63.4

58.4

1944–5

109.9

164.5

1946–7

91.5

48.2

1950–1

10.0

10.5

1954–5

15.5

16.6

Source: Prepared from respective years of the Annual Reports. The timber trade (see Table 4.1) revived slowly and during the Second World War there was spiralling growth in the timber trade. This temporary boom led to a disruption of the implementation of the working plan. Even after the war, demands for sal on permit from 50 to 500 trees continued in Kamrup, though it 73

was not possible to meet this demand without upsetting the working plan.

And gradually the boom 74

declined and continued to fall even after Independence as the above table indicates.

Minor Forest Produce and Redefining Forest Economy (1880s–1947) The extraction and trade in the minor forest produce constituted a major quantum in the forest revenue. The scope of the minor forest produces changed regularly. Forest regulations turned out to be another means to p. 167

regulate this thriving trade and push ahead the aggressive

commercialization of the forests. The

governance of the minor forest produce was usually done through granting permits or through the 75

departmental marketing of speci c produces.

The parameters of inclusion within the category of minor

forest produce depended largely on the regional ecology and local ora. The volume and contents of such trade expanded along with the expansion of the territorial jurisdiction of the Forest Department. Initially the contribution to the forest revenue was nominal compared to the earnings from trade in timber. E ective control over minor forest produces by the Forest Department meant complete alienation of local peoples' dependence on varieties of forest produces. Further, this also meant gradual disappearance of petty forestbased trades across the communities.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Period

During the initial days there was no revenue collection from forest produces, which later on came to be recognized as minor forest produce. Rules were initially laid down in 1877 by the chief commissioner of the 76

province for the collections of such produces from the forest of Langlai and Singla in the Sylhet district.

These rules brought restrictions and imposed royalty. This was replaced by granting of licenses for cutting unreserved timbers, bamboos, canes, and to allow trade in these produces. The number of such licenses was quite high, unlike in the timber trade. A total of 2,774 licenses were granted in the Reserved and un77

Reserved Forests in Cachar in a short duration during the nancial year of 1878–9.

The chief 78

commissioner sanctioned a royalty for the bamboos collected from the forest in the Brahmaputra valley. Apparently, bamboos collected for beyond trading needs were exempted from royalty. Till the

implementation of the Assam Forest Regulation of 1891, other forest produces contributed in a signi cant way to the forest revenue. The 1890s witnessed more stringent rules and regulations for the control of the trade of minor forest produce. Initially, bamboo, cane, and grass were included in the category of minor forest produce. After 1892, like grazing tax, lac, bamboo, cane, rubber, and agar were included in this list so on. Further enquiry was made during the 1880s about trade possibilities in various forest produces. And years later other produces such as ivory, sheries, honey, wax, pipul, bil-grass, cinnamon, turmeric, satkara, patidoi, and seeds of chaulmugra—a small tree found in the evergreen forest, used for avouring arti cial substitutes for butter—came directly under the minor forest produce. The spatial distribution of these produces p. 168

varied from forest to forest. Whenever these enquiries could convince the department of

the high volume of trade in such forest produce, a proposal was sent to the provincial government for the imposition of royalty. In the 1880s, a great volume of trade was noticed in Goalpara in both thatching grass and reed. During the ve-year period of 1883–8 the department estimated that 246,779 bundles of thatching grass and 5,189,965 cubic feet of reed were exported from the Assam valley through Dhubri. In 1887, rules were sanctioned for the collection of royalty on thatching grass and reeds exported by the river 79

Brahmaputra from these forests.

Revenue was collected from thatch and reed at the Dhubri and Fakiraganj

revenue stations. The trade in thatch and reed never declined. An estimated 76,930 bundles of thatch grass and 2,399 cubic feet of reed were sold in Kamrup during 1891–5. Both the two World Wars increased their trade volumes. In the wake of war, with the increasing demand for thatch, an indiscriminate removal of thatch began. The nature of petty forest trade acquired a new dimension and the Forest Department, to ensure its control over this trade, in 1926, created a number of thatch mahals in the unclassed State forests 80

of eastern Assam (Figs 4.6 and 4.7).

Minor forest produce (Table 4.2) was extracted through permit and monopoly lease systems. Charges were levied at an ad valorem rate on the produce extracted from the forests. Except some species, after 1919, the department only allowed monopoly lease system inclusive of all royalty. But rubber in the governmental plantations of Kamrup and Darrang was collected through departmental agencies. Cane and agar were worked out through contractors or mahaldars. They were leased out with the sole right of removing these two items for terms varying from three to ve years. These two systems of extraction of minor forest p. 169

81

produce continued to function till after independence.

p. 170

Grazing, vital for the peasant society of Assam, was allowed in various forests but only a few selected Reserved Forests were opened to grazing. While the peasant was allowed to graze free of royalty in the forest, the Nepali graziers had to pay at a rate of 8 annas per head since 1890. This duty was chie y realized 82

from the unclassed forests in the districts of Lakhimpur, Nowgong, and Goalpara.

Grazing duty was chie y

collected by the village mauzadar, it began to increase after 1921. The control of grazing was transferred to the Revenue Department in that year.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

which expanded subsequently to incorporate forest produces, namely, lime, stone ballast, thatch, reed, and

Table 4.2 Minor Forest Produce between 1899 and 1924 Year

Bamboos

Grazing fodder grass (Rs) Value (Rs)

1899–1904

132.4

100,425

1904–9

150.1

1909–14

Miscellaneous

Quantity (maunds)

Value (Rs)

520,510

11,144

22,669

1,577,975

122,222

758,660

40,316

152,236

2,171,430

162.6

197,886

1,238,413

38,847

86,774

2,258,816

1914–19

144.6

218,771

2,975,547

1034

2168

2,068,849

1919–24

147.8

335,064

1,628,997

45,508

309,097

2,585,810

Source: Prepared from respective years of the Annual Reports.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Quantity (million nos)

Lac

Fig. 4.6

Fig. 4.7

A tramway inside the forest in Goalpara. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive Another produce that continued to draw the departmental attention was cane. Found across the province, particularly in Goalpara, Darrang, Sibsagar, and Lakhimpur, departmental trade in cane began since 1889. The rst cane mahal was sold in Lakhimpur and Sibsagar for a period of ve years. Both trade permit and mahal system continued in cane trade. The lease was given on payment of an annual sum of Rs 2, 848. Most of these cane mahals were leased out to private traders. The possibility of trade even drew attention of traders from afar, in this case the Bombay merchants, though it never materialized. Trade speculation turned cane-bearing tracts into a good example of over-exploitation, and also a challenge to the idea of sustained yield. Overworking often led to temporary closure of the cane mahal from extraction and cane was 83

allowed to grow naturally.

Speculation in cane, like any other produce, largely depended on the markets

based in Calcutta. Nonetheless, the volume of cane trade increased manifold between 1891 and 1947.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Stones collected from the forests made good profit during the Second World War. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive

There was trade in agar in the forests of Sibsagar, Naga hills, Darrang, Cachar, and Sylhet. Though earlier enquiries reported agar wood's availability only in Cachar and Sylhet, further enquiries made in 1890 reported a ‘fair quantity’ of agar from the Sibsagar and Naga hills forests. Used as incense, agar was extracted from the resin of Aquilaria agallocha. Its commercial value varied extraordinarily, depending on its quality, from Rs 20 to Rs 400 per maund in the years of twentieth century. The traders who had years of trade interests in various forest produces negotiated with the Forest Department to begin trade in agar in 84

Sibsagar and Naga hills.

With sanction from the government, trade in agar began since then. Agar brought

from the Naga hills was subjected to taxation at the authorized revenue stations in Sibsagar. But what concerned the government was that, like rubber trade, the collection of agar from the forest and making it available for the formal market, required skill and intensive knowledge of forest topography, which was p. 171

beyond the scope of the department. Skilled agar juice collectors took advantage of this

bene t and

directed the collected agar into the informal market, which was as powerful as the formal one. What resulted was the o

cial framing of this trade as illegal requirig further governmental intervention. The

the stringent import duty rules. In 1906, to control such trade practices, certain routes were earmarked for 85

carrying forest produce from the Naga Hills to Sibsagar. evade these formal trade routes and o

The result was that many private traders began to

cially, by 1907, agar trade in Sibsagar had rapidly declined, though

the department believed only overworking led to such a halt. A large quantity of agar-containing tracts, 86

claimed by the Forest Department as belonging to Sibsagar, were actually belonged to the Naga hills.

This

unfolded two problems for the department: rst, as these agar-containing tracts came to be part of Naga Hills trade inside formal sanction like inner line permit and such others. Despite this, trade in agar, increased after the First World War. The war expanded the market for this produce. Speculation brought similar fate to agar as was the case with cane years before. This led the department to admit that ‘agar had 87

been rapidly exterminated owing to the wasteful method collection’.

To improve the condition, steps to

form plantations of Aquilaria agallocha and impose stricter control over the mahaldars were taken to improve their present method of collection. Agar continued to be an important minor forest produce till the post-Independence period. During 1953–4 and 1954–5 an amount of Rs 11,730 and Rs 8,756, respectively, was collected from the sale of agar. Similar was the story for produces like ivory, which was collected departmentally, to be auctioned or leased out. Such trade was often scattered. For instance, in 1914, 37 tusks 88

weighing approximately 16 maunds were sold at Dhubri for nearly Rs 18 per seer. 89

ivory was sold experimentally in London though it hardly resulted in pro t.

Small consignment of

Ivory trade never emerged

successful in the face of supply from southern India. Similarly, honey was mostly collected from the forests of Kamrup while lac was collected from the forests of Darrang and Nowgong, to be sold under trade permit system on payment of royalty, which proved to be ine ective. Duty on lac was abolished on the ground that it was an agricultural crop but was again reimposed in 1922 when it yielded a revenue of Rs 151,873. Trade in minor forest produce was mostly determined by local availability as was the case with bamboo and khair. Bamboo became a crucial component of Assam's forest produce. p. 172

The primary market minor forest produce was regulated by the merchants in Calcutta and hence prices also largely depended on the Calcutta markets. This was further determined by the world trends, resulting in the frequent ups and downs in the revenue earned from these produces. For instance, on the eve of the First World War in 1911–12, the cane supply from Sibsagar declined mostly due to a surplus in the Calcutta market with the superior class of cane produced in Bengal forests. But the First World War suddenly created a market and revenue from minor products like bamboo, cane, and thatching grass increased. As the forests in Assam failed to cater to the needs of the War, the department now mooted the idea of quick regeneration of forest tracts bearing these produces. The revenue increased in the two boom periods but the expenditure always depended upon revenue and consequently in the periods of depression there was little work for the large sta

when money had been spent to get the improvements done cheaply and thus help cure the

depression.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

department tried to impose an import duty on agar from Naga hills but it never became a reality because of

If trade in wood earned the Forest Department pro t, the emergence of minor forest produce as distinct 90

form of forest revenue further alienated the peasants from their source of livelihood.

This exploitation

further widened as the ambit of minor forest produces expanded. The competition and struggle of the peasant for access to minor forest produce was more acute unlike the hard timbers. Similarly, minor forest produce also helped in the growth of petty forest traders. Even rich traders monopolized such trade as was the case of Haribilash Agarwala who quickly took advantage of the declining rubber trade to redirect his investment in cane trade. Sivaramakrishanan suggested that such a quantum of revenue was never t to be minor forest produce and this case was also a best t for Assam forests. Gradually a widespread and complex forest trade, mostly of petty trade nature, came under the ambit of minor forest produce to be regulated by the imperial forestry. However, what kept it strikingly separate from the timber trade was that only rarely attempt of any signi cant nature, was made for further investment for their regeneration. This also ensured that the debate of sustained yield would not come into the picture of exploitation of these produces.

Trade inside the dense jungles of Assam, as mentioned in Chapter 2, began with brisk but informal trade in p. 173

the India rubber (Ficus elastica) and later

became a source of revenue for the department. However,

formalization of its trade, creating non-exhaustive yield continued to haunt the Assam Forest Department till the next century. The volume of trade, however, remained marginal compared to production in other 91

British colonies.

With extensive trade in rubber as a product of considerable strategic and economic

signi cance, it became a key instrument of British economy by the middle of the century. This meant that the overseas British Empire would need to ensure a secure supply. In the following few decades, rubber 92

became a commodity of global signi cance alongside the imperial enthusiasm for free trade. di

A major

culty of rubber trade was the existing informal trade establishments. Private traders, mostly in the form

of Marwari trading houses, locally known as golas, had already asserted their presence and built up a 93

complex trade network with the rubber collectors.

As prospects for internal rubber trade grew the Assam

administration negotiated with this informal trade network by o ering rights of trade to the highest private bidders. This also led to trade rivalries amongst the Indian traders. For instance, prior to 1874, in Darrang, with vibrant rubber trade in its bordering hills, the right of collecting gum from rubber trees was sold to the highest bidder. Initially these rights were sold for free, rst annually and then for a 10-year lease, a system 94

that was in practice in other parts of the empire like upper-Burma,

with the exclusive condition that the

barren tracts would be replanted with further stipulation that rubber would be collected in the winter season 95

between November and April.

This also left the collection of rubber from the trees largely unsupervised

and led to speculation. Supervision was made impracticable both by the di used distribution of the rubber trees and their inaccessibility. Also the stocks of rubber trees were far beyond the existing visible imperial boundary and the political reality did forbid the government to interfere with the movement of rubber trade beyond the British boundary. The best way, the government realized, was to enter into political relation with the existing social network rather than have a direct method of collection. Thus, in 1872, to make sure that rubber from adjacent hill forests of Cachar could be collected without any hindrance the government conferred a local leading nobility Baboo Hari Charan Sarma with the title of Rai Bahadur, ‘giving him a 96

social status that would make him more useful in his proposed new appointment’.

With speculation

gaining ground, the government brought changes in 1879 whereby the rubber-containing tracts inside the 97

government forests were leased out by public auction.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

From Mercantile to Free Trade: The Fate of Rubber

p. 174

There was never any attempt to estimate the volume of rubber trade before the entry of imperial trade 98

except for wild guesses. Schlich estimated the volume at approximately 51,000 maunds in 1870. 99

Stebbing also believed that they had fetched a high commercial value.

Later,

Between 1870 and 1872 Schlich 100

noted a slight decrease in rubber export from Assam and estimated it at approximately 40,500 maunds.

Schlich also believed that the rarely adulterated, naturally collected rubber would be able to compete in the Calcutta market and would bring a higher price. Distribution, collection, and the informal rubber trade was 101

mostly con ned to the districts of Darrang, Lakhimpur, and Cachar.

Between 1870 and 1875 the quantity

of rubber brought into Cachar from its neighbouring areas stood at 15,746 maunds. In 1871, W.W. Hunter noted that, the volume of rubber trade in Lakhimpur, mostly in the hands of both Marwari and European 102

traders, accounted for 13 per cent of the total export value of the district.

Rubber export from Assam had

gained considerable importance after departmental supervision began. Most of the rubber found markets in 103

Calcutta, Golaundo, and Naraiangunge.

Between 1876 and 1900 an approximately 49,792 maunds of 104

rubber was exported from Assam, which earned the province an approximately Rs 229,132 as revenue. 105

1882.

106

Rubber collection was integral to the livelihood practices of a number of hill tribes in British Assam.

This

helped in the growth of several forms of methods for rubber-tapping. Amongst these widely practised 107

forms, D.P. Coopland, the Deputy Conservator of forest in Darrang, identi ed three speci c methods.

In

the rst method, practised by an European rm in Tezpur, small funnel-shaped cane or bamboo baskets were prepared and coated with cauthchouc. The baskets were then attached to the tree under the incision which was made diagonally and was elliptical in shape, being about three inches across the centre and from six inches to one foot in length. On becoming full these baskets were emptied into cane containers coated with cauthchouc. Later they were sent to the factory where the milk was poured into large wooden boxes or bins. The rubber thus prepared was shipped directly to the London market. In another method, widely practised by the Assamese and Nepalese tappers, collection of rubber juice began from the top of the tree working downwards. Juice was collected by making an incision into the rubber tree. The collected milk, p. 175

some of it over owed on the ground. After a couple of days, the dried milk would become hard, and could be pulled easily. It was then wound into balls or left loose. The former fetched lower prices as very often various forms of impurity got inside the ball to add to the weight. The tappers tried to get rid of the rubber as early as possible, as it lost weight after drying. The traders could escape from this di

culty by keeping

the rubber in barrels and wetting it well before shipping. With the imperial network in command the trade came to be primarily regulated from the markets in 108

Calcutta.

In the 1870s, by the time the Forest Department came into existence, the vast forest tracts

covered with India rubber trees were already exhausted. The stipulated plantation clause was rarely followed by the traders. Obviously the tracts could hardly sustain any commercial prospect. After the establishment of the Forest Department it expressed its apprehension about the nature of supply of rubber 109

from the natural forests of Assam.

In collecting revenue from the natural rubber, the department faced

the problem of both asserting control and protecting its leases. Resistance from tribes to enter into the 110

capitalist trade relationship was well known.

The stock of cauthchouc yielding trees, though grown 111

abundantly, could not be naturally increased much.

The best way to escape from this possible scarcity and

great trade losses would be to make arrangement for arti cial plantation in selected forest tracts. A new chapter was added since the early days of forest administration in Assam when rubber plantations were 112

established near Kulsi in Kamrup and in Bamuni hill and Charduar in Darrang.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Brandis, on the other hand, estimated that Assam exported rubber worth approximately £109,000 in

Despite the attempt to bring this extensive rubber trade into the imperial trade network, pre-colonial trade relation, now being noti ed as smuggling or illegal trade, continued. The mechanism, methods, and participants in this voluminous informal trade was complex. The most widely reported informal trade was from the Bhutan forests, where between 1868 and 1875 the quantity of rubber thus seized was estimated at 113

153 maunds.

The revenue loss for the Assam Forest Department was also considerable. As the import of

natural rubber from areas beyond the inner-line continued it also put considerable pressure on government 114

leased tracts.

In most cases, the Nepali graziers were accused of these practices. They used to conceal the

rubber and without paying the import duty they crossed over to the north-Bengal market. As the matter came to the notice of the Forest Department, there was a varied level of discussion on how to control such trade and loss of revenue. To minimize the revenue loss Brandis had already favoured, singularly aimed at p. 176

115

asserting government monopoly, an imposition of levy as well as ne on the rubber

brought to Assam.

Brandis's proposal was strongly rejected by Charles Elliot, the Chief Commissioner (1881–5) who termed it 116

as a ‘peculiarly obnoxious and detrimental form of taxation’.

Years later, as the trade in rubber from the

rubber trade. In 1881, the lease-holders were given licences to collect rubber beyond the inner-line. This arrangement could still not ensure the government of receiving the real value from the trade transactions in rubber. The reason for this under-report was not too far to seek: Ribbentrop, in 1889, admitted that this was largely due to the monopoly of the Marwari traders, which ‘threw the lion's share of the pro ts into the 117

hands of the capitalists’.

Ribbentrop disagreed with Elliot's view and believed that it would never cause

hardship to the actual collectors. In 1890, Gustav Mann armed with support from Ribbentrop, again proposed a levy of Rs 12 per maund for all the India rubber produced in Assam or imported into Assam from 118

the frontier regions.

The proposal again met with a similar fate in the face of opposition from the Chief

Commissioner, James Wallace Quinton (1889–91). The fate of India rubber beyond the inner-line became uncertain as the Forest Department could not levy tax after the arrival of the Assam Forest Regulation of 1891. McKee, the O

ciating Conservator, thought that such levying could be implemented mostly by 119

farming the right to contractors.

William Ward, the Chief Commissioner, strongly motivated to increase

the revenue share of Assam, felt nothing wrong in the imposition of levy on rubber imported into Assam, to 120

which the Government of India agreed soon.

The new rule stipulated for the transportation of India

rubber only through authorized trade routes and the traders were liable to pay duty of Rs 12. This new administrative arrangement would reassert the government monopoly on all forms of rubber trade. This not only ensured a temporary state monopoly but also put to rest for the time being the uneasiness in the government circles on the speculative rubber trade that was thriving and creating lucrative pro t for traders 121

beyond British-Indian territories.

The traders also tried to escape the taxation by showing lower volume

of import. Levying of taxation was hardly a permanent solution for sustained rubber yield from the forests. The 122

volume of rubber export began to fall.

One way to escape from this falling rubber revenue was to increase 123

the levy, which came into e ect from 1900 and was xed at Rs 17. p. 177

came as a relief as international rubber 124

down and export from India declined.

However, state intervention hardly

trade declined with the onset of the First World War. Prices came Its impact on Assam was distinctly visible. In 1918, a small quantity

of rubber from Assam that was sent to London for selling could not be sold till the next nancial year. Attempts were made to export rubber from the Charduar rubber plantation. Sale was advertised both in England and India but the response was dismal. While tea companies made attempts to buy rubber plantations the Forest Department admitted that such response was aimed at acquiring the land on which 125

the plantations stood.

Despite increasing export of rubber from India, after 1918 the London brokers

expressed their pessimism about the trade value of the rubber exported from Assam.

126

Subsequently rapid

changes took place in the international rubber trade, and the rubber plantations in the south-east colonies 127

got a boost along with the discovery of synthetic rubber.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

frontier areas into Assam increased manifold, further attempts were made to increase the earning from the

Since then there was no entry of revenue earned from the India rubber in the books of the department. The rubber trade and also further investment in rubber plantation declined. The existing rubber plantations in Kulsi and Charduar became a neglected endeavour of the Forest Department and remained without tapping for years. In 1940, the Assam government began to rethink the commercial scope of Assam forest produces. M.C. Jacob, Conservator of Forests, was asked to prepare a report. It so happened that the history of rubber 128

trade was ignored in this report.

Renewed attempt to tap rubber in these plantations was made only in

1955. Several tender notices could bring no prospective trader for rubber tapping. Another round of search resulted in locating an enterprising woman from Shillong and a private rm from Calcutta who expressed 129

their interest to tap rubber.

The department awarded the contract to the private rm at a nominal rate.

The imperial rubber trade in Assam became a success only in the last quarter of the nineteenth century but 130

came to an end in the next century and also failed to retain the initial euphoria of the department.

The

volume of trade had only marginal importance in the imperial forestry of Assam.

The railway experiment, which began in 1896 with the Eastern Bengal Railway laying down tracts in western 131

Assam and gradually expanding since then, evolved as a key consumer of the Assam Forest Department.

In the early twentieth century, as the railway network was expanding in Assam, with the railway tracts in p. 178

Assam accounting for an approximately

132

7 per cent of the total railway mileage in British-India,

the

department geared up to keep pace with the new demands. The empire forestry was already gearing up to meet the fuel and sleeper requirement of the great Indian railway boom; more than one million sleepers 133

were required by the 1870s.

Would the Assam Forest Department be able to form a formidable commercial

venture with the Indian railway companies? The Assam forests had two important species, namely, sal and nahor, which were used for the 134

manufacturing of the railway sleeper.

Often the supply of good quality timber from Burma at low rates

had reduced the prospect of these two species. Commenting on the excellent condition of the Assam forest for supply of the railway sleeper, Hart, said ‘nowhere are forests of considerable extent from which railway sleepers might be supplied more favourably than situated in Assam, and a better wood for the purpose than 135

Mesua ferrea which has many of the qualities of pyiankado…’.

But on various occasions the government

expressed its apprehension about the success of supply of wood for the railway sleeper. At the end of the nineteenth century the Assam administration came down heavily on the inability of the Assam Forest 136

Department to create a market for railway sleepers unlike its counterpart in Burma or Bengal.

In 1899,

Henry Cotton, the Chief Commissioner, again doubted whether ‘a single sleeper on the Assam–Bengal Railway between Guwahati and Lumding is made of Assam wood’. Negotiation between the railway companies and the Forest Department gradually improved the commercial prospects. The rst large-scale trade order came from the East Bengal Railway, which required more than 300,000 of sleepers for their extension line between Dhubri and Guwahati. In 1902, the department entered into an agreement with the company to supply 50,000 of sleepers from the sal-bearing tracts of Goalpara, Kamrup, Khasi hills, and 137

Garo hills.

Soon several long-term arrangements with the railways ensured continuous supply of sleepers

of the mixed forests of eastern Assam. Since 1904, the Assam–Bengal Railway too began to buy sal metre 138

gauge sleeper from western Assam.

With pro t being ensured, the Assam Railways and Trading Company

entered into an arrangement with the Forest Department for a 30-year lease from 1929 for the supply of sleepers. The Forest Department undertook to supply 10,00,000 pieces of sleeper made of several non-sal 139

species between 1928 and 1933.

The demand for the railway sleeper did not subside and, in 1938, it was

estimated that 5,00,000 cubic feet of sal were supplied by various agencies to di erent railway companies p. 179

earning a pro t of Rs 2,04,623.

The supply of sal from Indian forests as sleeper both for the laying down

of new lines as well as maintenance of the old lines continued and reached its peak during the Second World 140

War.

The railway sleeper brought pro t to the Assam Forest Department in spite of competition faced

from other provinces.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Imperial Forestry and Institutional Customers

If the railway could play an important role serving as customer of the Forest Department what would be the role of the tea-plantations? The physical distance between the tea-gardens and Reserved Forests was negligible and this would make the former an important ally for the latter's long-term commercial venture. Would the Forest Department supply the tea-gardens with tea-boxes at a lower rate? Was it possible for the garden managers in Assam to negotiate with the department to bargain a favourable rate, a subject in which 141

the tea-planters in the neighbouring Duars could rarely convince the department?

However, the scenario

was not bright for the tea-box industry either. Lamenting the state of a airs, the Indian Planters' Gazette wrote in 1898: It seems somewhat of an anomaly that about half of the tea crop of Assam is shipped and imported Japan, Burma, Norway and Great Britain, and it points to a serious error in the conduct of the vast 142

forest territory of Assam that such a state of things should exist.

143

imported.

The gardens used to import venesta, a strong but light wood, to make tea-boxes. Boxes were

made of three layers of thin veneer cemented together, with the grain running in opposite directions. A large volume of these tea-boxes were made from the pine supplied from Norway, Sweden, and Russia. Overtime, shortage of pine from these countries led to the use of birch and maple to make these boxes. Teak and thitka planks from Burma and mango wood from Bengal were also imported. Apart from this, large numbers of boxes were sawn locally either in gardens or in manual sawpits. The Forest Department began to lobby to divert these prospective volumes of trade from the Assam forests. Brandis was highly optimistic about the enormous quality and possibility of the Assam timber for tea-boxes, which he thought would reduce the 144

high cost of importation.

The department had to provide an alternative to the existing system of

arrangement of tea-boxes. To create a regular supply of tea-boxes, two sawmills began to function from 145

1880 in Lakhimpur and Cachar. p. 180

the tea industry,

Some more sawmills were established in the next few years. The growth of

mostly in the eastern Assam, increased the demand for the locally made tea-boxes. For

making these boxes the sawmills used simul and other soft woods that were supplied from the north bank of 146

the Brahmaputra and also from the northern foothills of Lakhimpur.

Various sawmills began to operate in

the last decade of the nineteenth century; Assam had 11 of the 90 sawmills that India had at that time, 147

Lakhimpur alone having seven sawmills. 148

technology.

Many of them used contemporary advances in sawing

Some gardens of eastern Assam still used steam engines, which were primarily used for

rolling tea, to cut planks from the gardens to make tea-boxes. In Cachar, similar extraction of timber for making the boxes from both Reserved Forests and unclassed forests continued till 1910. An enquiry conducted in 1898 revealed that sawmills engaged in making of tea-boxes worked on two systems: payment at the ordinary royalty rates on the standing tree or by the box. The volume of production increased manifold: from an approximately 1,19,000 boxes in 1889 to 4,11,000 boxes in 1900. The initial impetus for the establishment of sawmills came from the tea-industry. Table 4.3 shows the numbers of tea boxes 149

produced by the sawmills.

Table 4.3 Out-turn of Tea-boxes, 1888–92 Year

Large box

Medium box

Small boxes

Cubic feet

Royalty paid

1888–9

112, 320

–

6, 328

86, 778

7, 218

1889–90

95, 293

1, 021

9, 670

75, 898

6, 305

1890–91

139, 272

11, 422

13, 457

116, 118

9, 659

1891–2

347, 499

24, 738

24, 890

282, 986

17, 792

Source: Prepared from respective years of the Annual Reports.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Before the Assam forests began to supply the bulk of wood for making tea-boxes the boxes were mainly

The tea-box making industry, however, continued to face several threats. With the increase in the number of tea-gardens in eastern Assam the demand for tea-chests increased. For a long period the supply of locally manufactured tea-boxes in Assam was by no means con ned to the turnout of sawmills working either under the box royalty system or otherwise. Production of tea-boxes increased with the expansion of a new 150

railway tract.

While the Forest Department believed that making of tea-boxes would be a successful

venture, the tea-gardens took a cautious position in getting the tea-boxes locally. While they argued that p. 181

non-availability of labour made it extremely di

cult to take into tea-boxes

from Assam forests, in

reality it was both the comparatively low prices of the imported boxes and their durability that convinced 151

the tea-gardens to continue to rely on imported boxes.

Bryant believed that the commissioning agents in 152

Calcutta who imported these boxes also played a key role in keeping the import volume high. these mills often complained of the di

Similarly,

culties in connection with the imported labour, transport, and 153

denudation of timber in adjacent localities.

The tea-planters lamented that ‘half of the tea crop is shipped

in packages imported from Japan, Burma, Norway and Great Britain, and it points to a serious error in the They blamed the Forest Department for the excessive rates

charged by them and demanded a reduction in royalty, to which the government agreed. Bryant, during visit in 1912, made a serious note about the decline in the Assam tea-boxes. As competition with the imported 155

tea-boxes never decreased, in August 1912 the government completely remitted the royalty on tea-boxes. 156

The commercial partnership cemented as the First World War interrupted the import,

and by 1912 157

approximately two-thirds of the total out-turn of the tea-boxes was manufactured locally.

After the war,

import of tea-boxes was further revived and the sawmill industry could not become successful. The situation further deteriorated with the beginning of the production of plywood (Figs 4.8 and 4.9). In 1917– 18, two private sawmills—in Cachar and Lakhimpur—began to produce plywood and gained favourable leases from the government to acquire timbers. Despite the local plywood, supported by a concession in lease, being good and being cheaply priced, a few years later they faced sti

competition due to the

introduction of imported three-ply-tea chests. The government was further compelled to sanction a reduction in royalty and provided them with a 20 per cent ad valorem protection in 1927. Gradually both the railway and tea-industries paved the ground for sawmills as a lucrative private enterprise solely to thrive on exploitation of the forest resources. The geographical distribution of these two customers was apparent depending on the nature of timbers: the railway sleeper was more in western Assam whereas both location and timber character helped the tea-box industry in eastern Assam. Like its European counterpart, there was no exclusive domestic consumption. The growth of the sawmill industry brought rapid exploitation of the forest tracts (Figs 4.10, 4.11, 4.12, and 4.13). The nature of control of the p. 182

Forest Department over the quantity and methods of forest exploitation

was still not well-de ned. The

government saw a sound economy in the spread of the sawmill industry and did not want to lose this opportunity. The government pulled up the department for their non-appreciation of the fact that sawmills could be turned out to be the real backbone of the provincial nance. But improvement in terms of p. 183

technology hardly

came in. Despite their speculative felling of the timbers, the department hardly

attempted in any reforestation. During the Second World War the speculation increased and there was a major boost for sawmills. Assam had little or no sowing capacity to meet the large volume of demands. New mills supported by advanced technology were established. The speculation and boom in demand declined p. 184

immediately after the Second World War. After Independence while the plywood industry became

more

consolidated with both state support and capital investment, private sawmills became a petty industry that mostly catered to the domestic needs.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

154

conduct of the vast forest territory of Assam’.

Fig. 4.8

Fig. 4.9

Timber brought to a plywood factory. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia

Fig. 4.10

Plywood production, a major source of revenue generation. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

A view of departmental sawmill. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive

Fig. 4.11

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Inside view of a plywood factory. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia

Fig. 4.12

Plywood factories using new technology for wood processing. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia

Fig. 4.13

Factories redefining the nature of work inside and outside the forests. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia

p. 185

Forestry as Viable Economy: Conservation or Preservation? Over the years Assam forests, like its other colonial counterparts, was converted into a viable commercial commodity. Various instruments of governmentality, namely, surveys, working plans, or improved means of communication, transformed the nature of forests. In framing guidelines for governance, the con ict of interest between the Forest Department and the Revenue Department became apparent. For instance, in 1895, the Deputy Conservator of Forest of Kamrup proposed a royalty of four annas on those trees whose 158

leaves were required for rearing silkworms as it was believed that silk production was thriving.

William

Ward, the Chief Commissioner, did not go for any hasty suggestions. As he received the opinions of various o

cials, he took a negative position towards a proposal. Ward also made it clear that such a tax would not

only bring in protests but would also doom the already weak industry.

But over the years such hostility became marginalized and since the third decade of the twentieth century the Forest Department witnessed, along with peasantization of forest lands, rapid commercialization of forest resources (Figs 4.14 and 4.15). The Royal Commission on Agriculture (1928) had already stressed the importance of the growth of local industries based on the locally available forest produce. At the provincial level changes were introduced in the working of the Reserved Forests in Goalpara by the introduction of a monopoly system in place of the earlier permit system. In the earlier system, blocks of forest as spelled out in the working plan were put up for auction and sold to the highest bidder. The system never became attractive for the timber traders. The traders could not nd ready markets for the inferior timbers. As they lost in pro t they tried to make up for it by evading payment to the department. The traders not only had to invest a high amount in acquiring rights of the permit system but also lacked the infrastructure to convert 159

these logs into sleepers.

The primary thrust of the Forest Department was commercialization of the hardwoods. The departure had soft wood. The Indian provincial governments also redirected their commercial interest towards softwood. In pursuance of this policy, an attempt was made to look for the commercial possibility of the softwoods. An 160

instance of this was the attempt to use soft trees like bhelu for making tea boxes. p. 186

demands for several hardwoods, away

161

from sal and teak, also kept steadily increasing.

impetus came in 1935 when a forest utilization o

An important

cer was appointed with a view to reorient the existing

commercial dimension and activities of the Assam Forest Department. The o p. 187

At the same time,

cer had a mandate to secure

contracts and arrange for the supply, through the contractors, of di erent forest

divisions. The o 162

on several occasions, successfully negotiated for a reduction of railway freight for forest goods. coordinated between various rms of Calcutta and divisional forest o

cer,

It

cers to supply forest produces. It also

advised contractors on commercial matters and did the necessary propaganda for pushing timber and other forest produce in markets outside the province. For instance, enquiry conducted by this o

cer made it clear

that the province had a great potentiality of providing more than 15 varieties of trees for a viable match 163

factory.

The Assam Match Company in Dhubri needed approximately 5, 000 tonnes of simul for making

matchboxes and packing cases for their nished products.

Fig. 4.14

Inside view of a plywood factory in eastern Assam. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

come with the establishment, in 1906, of the Forest Research Institute, which focused its research on the

Fig. 4.15

The Forest Department intensi ed it's attempt to explore further commercial prospects of the local forest 164

produces.

This diversi cation was closely connected with the growth of various Indian industries in the

post-First World War period. The link with the industries had vastly opened up the prospect of the Assam forests. An example of such diversi cation and industrial link was in the case of grass with the Assam Oil Company, which used thatching grass for packing its kerosene canisters for transportation in the railway 165

wagons. The increased consumption sent the prices of grass up by 12 per cent.

Buoyant by such

unforeseen pro ts, the provincial government temporarily embarked on an attempt to gain a share in the 166

international timber markets; this remained essentially at the level of experiment.

As they looked beyond 167

the provincial markets, the Forest Department also failed to meet the local public demand.

For instance,

the demand for supply of timber had increased manifold in the aftermath of the earthquake of 1897 though the department could hardly meet the demand. O

cial enquiry convinced the government that the high rate 168

of timber acted as strong deterrent against a competitive timber market.

To overcome further

governmental censure, the Forest Department organized exhibitions to showcase its products aimed at encouraging the growth of local consumer markets. In the exhibitions held in Tezpur and Bongaigaon, in 1938, wood samples and small articles of furniture made of timber, bamboo, or cane were exhibited. We can only conjecture the material gains for the Forest Department from these exhibitions though it was quick to 169

claim that these took the local forest produces much closer to the local consumers.

The Forest

Department never looked back, unlike many other wings of the colonial state. Table 4.4 gives an idea of the p. 188

170

revenue collection of the Assam Forest Department in the heydays of imperial rule.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Another view of a plywood factory. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia

Table 4.4 Revenue and Surplus of Assam Forest Department, 1875–1920 (In Rupees) India Revenue

Assam Revenue

Per cent of Col. (2) to Col. (3)

Per cent of Surplus to Revenue

1875

2,139,309

68,194

3.19

−23.98

1877

6,164,680

81,570

1.32

6.44

1879

6,057,500

161,780

2.67

14.09

1881

7,096,450

169,000

2.38

−3.43

1882

8,748,960

166,050

1.90

20.58

1884–5

9,869,840

180,420

1.83

−7.29

1886–7

11,039,700

212,010

1.92

18.88

1888–9

13,490,470

303,880

2.25

34.12

1890–1

14,480,020

326,790

2.26

20.53

1892–3

15,913,320

382,830

2.41

45.34

1894–5

16,315,480

435,090

2.67

32.68

1897–8

17,395,140

384,820

2.21

−23.98

1898–9

1,859,868

398,180

2.00

23.31

1900–1

19,467,945

549,525

2.82

36.68

1902–3

19,471,545

580,200

2.98

43.55

1904–5

24,029,955

815,670

3.39

38.25

1905–6

26,693,490

1,106,100

4.14

46.31

1907–8

25,989,150

1,430,445

5.50

44.05

1909–10

26,030,790

1,534,725

5.90

34.02

1911–12

29,282,685

1,778,865

6.07

37.62

1913–14

33,448,080

1,097,970

3.28

17.10

1914–15

29,709,780

832,875

2.80

−7.86

1917–18

40,969,260

1,309,950

3.20

47.58

1924–5

56,744,683

1,567,983

2.00

37.12

Source: Prepared from respective years of Annual Reports. The provincial forestry had a surplus budget since 1877, except for the sudden downward trend in 1883, 1889, and 1917. Similarly, the Forest Department's share of the total revenue budget of British India, though signi cant, continued to uctuate. The general upward trend of revenue generation became downward in the economic depression period. The forest revenue began to rise every year and in 1924–5 it stood at Rs 2,478,756 and expenditure was Rs 1, 330, 854, thus indicating a net surplus of Rs. 1,147,902. At the p. 189

beginning of the period in 1901 the revenue was Rs 563,400 the surplus being only Rs 220,437. The period between 1925 and 1945 was marked by alternative periods of boom and slump. Long respite came only since the outbreak of the Second World War. The boom period of 1914–18 continued up to 1929–30, and the slump continued after that till 1939 when there was an increased demand for timber for supply to India, the Middle East, and Iraq. After the occupation of Burma by the Japanese in 1942, the demand for timber and minor forest produces increased enormously to meet the local requirements of the army along the border of Assam. During the boom period of 1925–9 it had been realized that it was necessary to replace large quantities of timber that were being annually removed from forests and that the sta

should be increased to

cope with the extra work involved, but the planning took a long time. In the meantime the slump occurred.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Year

Figure 4.16

Revenue earned by Assam Forest Department, 1876–1949 Source: Prepared from respective years of the Annual Reports.

could derive signi cant bene t only during the Second World War. Between 1939 and 1943 the average 171

revenue surplus of the Forest Department stood at 40 per cent (see Fig 4.16).

The exploitation of Assam

forest was best illustrated by the Assam government thus: ‘It was realized that the forest wealth of the province which had been considerably denuded to provide war supplies will have to be replenished by wise planning and regeneration so that it may play its important role in the economy of the Province in years to 172

come’. p. 190

After the war, as prices fell, mostly by the release of the large quantities of this timber from

various military engineering services, at

a comparatively low price, huge quantities of forest produces, 173

already extracted on speculative nature, could not be sold. the Forest Department to relook into o

This sudden fall in the forest revenue forced

cial policies, particularly its attempt to emerge as the frontrunner

of provincial industrialization. H.P. Smith, the Conservator of Assam, strongly criticizing this industryoriented forestry programme had no hesitation to claim that: Industrial development has in the past been encouraged by giving timber at a very low rate of royalty and sometimes timber has been given free of charge. No thought has been given when making these concessions as to the cost of replacement of this capital. The tax-payers money has been thrown away and as receipts were poor the development of the forests has also su ered so 174

much so that we are now facing critical times in the provision of soft wood.

Notwithstanding the suggestion of Smith, and Assam government's support to it, commercialization of forests and conservation of forest

Fig. 4.17

Wars created new markets for Forest Department. A view of poles for war supply. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive went hand-in-hand and it was further consolidated. The need for forest conservation as a means of generating more resource for the state was openly stated just before the Second World War in 1940: ‘…there are still areas which should be carefully examined for potential reservation, either to meet the demands of p. 191

175

the larger markets or to satisfy local needs’ (Fig 4.17).

As imperial forestry was taken over by the post176

Independence forestry programme the essential thrust of imperial forestry remained its hallmark.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Though the Indian forests underwent considerable changes during the two World Wars the Assam forest

Independence and Production Forestry The programme of forest development has placed emphasis on creation of large scale economic plantations to meet growing demand of the forest based industries and demand for timber for construction etc. Government of Assam, 1979 After 1947 the provincial timber markets abruptly faced uncertainties of market conditions. The immediate threat came because of the new territorial arrangement and also because the existing markets became part 177

of East Pakistan.

Uncertainties in the movement of railway wagons added to the loss of markets. Both

together made it even more di

178

cult for the forest produce of Assam to nd a competitive market.

This

forced the Forest Department to state that ‘the anticipated demand for the setting up of new forest An uneasy relation with the railway further aggravated

the grim commercial prospects. M.C. Jacob, the Conservator, spoke out against the railway administration, telling how large areas for stone quarries needed for their tracks had been carved out without paying any revenue. The situation did not improve in the next couple of years. Meanwhile, the Assamese intelligentsia, trying to unfold the causes of Assam's underdevelopment, realized that trade in forest produce had been a lost case. Like Kanaklal Barua, the subject was most succinctly expressed by Assamese nationalist poet and also a trader in rubber and elephant, Kamalakanta 180

Bhattacharya.

He found one sympathizer from the Forest Department to support his views. The person

was no less than M.C. Jacob, who expressed apprehension that the Assamese traders would be able to invest in the forest trade due its highly competitive character. He advocated for concessions to the Assamese 181

traders.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

179

industries in Assam has not so far materlized…’.

A recovery from the grim commercial prospects was only possible through quick State initiative. Absence of regional capital meant that private capital from other parts of India must be encouraged along with the diversi cation of forest-based industries. A wide variety of forest produces found di erent kinds of industries to be their consumers. The primary thrust of the Forest Department could no more rely on only p. 192

hard timbers. To overcome this crisis, the Forest Department could

only foresee a large-scale

reorientation of the emphasis on species. For instance, manufacture of agar and katha, with export possibility, became a priority for the forestry programme. Forest produces, earlier regarded as inferior quality, now readily made their way to industrial houses. To give a larger perspective to this new 182

reorientation, surveys were conducted to reassess the commercial strength of the Assam forest.

One

instance of these surveys was that of L. Vinton Burns, an expert from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), who was engaged to explore the industrial prospects of the Assam forests. Burns's mission to Assam was part of an agreement between the Indian government and FAO towards ‘the development of forests in 183

the state’.

Accordingly, Burns would appraise the forest resources, investigate the production forestry,

predominantly biased towards industrialization, came to play a great role in outlining the line of investigation for Burns. He completed the survey and compilation of forest resources in 1954 and highlighted the need for improving the transport system, severely disrupted by the partition of India, 184

between Assam and centres of market.

This examination helped in restoring the con dence of the

political class of Assam to take the forest resources of the region more aggressively towards a renewed phase of industry and forestry nexus. Accordingly, the Forest Department undertook a series of comprehensive programmes of forest industrialization, namely, establishment of paper and pulp mill 185

industries.

Subsequent to this thrust, a resin and turpentine industry was established in Shillong in 1950,

whose products were sold at an extremely low price. The Public Accounts Committee of the Assam State Legislative Assembly pointed out that turpentine was sold at the price of 15 annas per gallon while the market price of this product in Assam at that time was Rs 5 or 6 per pound. It was not di

cult to predict the

failure of such state industrial initiatives. The Department admitted that it did not collect any reliable data prior to the establishment of the industry and the expenditure was grossly underestimated. With the possible collapse of any future state initiative the entry of private capital became easier. A major private investment proposal came from Straw Products Company, specializing in paper production, which visited Assam in June 1954 along with experts from the Forest Research Institute to explore the viability of 186

establishing a paper mill. p. 193

The company was primarily interested in a paper mill based on pinewood either

in Guwahati or in Dimapur though

India had attained self-su

ciency in bamboo paper by that time. It

also demanded that power supply should be provided to them at a concession. The Conservator, P.D. Stracey, argued that ‘every inducement should be held out to the party to set up their plant in Assam’. For years the department explored with the idea of establishing a hardwood board and insulating factory. Burns's report had already indicated on the viability of such industries in eastern Assam. Stracey was not convinced of the commercial viability of such industries. He suggested that such enterprises should be left to the private 187

interest with limited concessions from the government.

The department had to wait a few more years to

see these proposals to be materialized. A number of forest-based industries, like resin and agar, came under 188

scrutiny and those that were economically unviable were closed.

The government continued to place

emphasis on further diversi cation of the forestry programme, and various state-sponsored programmes pushed this agenda. Such diversi cation resulted in rapid increase in the production of timber: from an estimated 4.99 million cubic feet in 1950–1 to 7.58 million cubic feet in 1956–7. Diversi cation of species also took place but six principal species, namely, sal, hollong, hollock, simul, makai, and cham came to form 189

two-thirds of the entire timber market of the state. 190

industries.

Table 4.5 gives an idea of this diversi ed forest based

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

and suggest ways for developing existing and new forest-based industries. The second Five-Year Plan,

Table 4.5 Estimate of Post-Independence Forest-based Industries Year

Saw Mills

Plywood Factory

Match Factory

Paper Mills

No.

Cum

No.

Sq. m.

No.

'000 gross boxes

No.

Tonnes

1976–7

339

228,000

45

23,432

4

5671

1

16,068

1978–9

395

262,000

52

24,891

5

5533

2

12,354

1981–2

459

254,000

55

313,000

4

55,000

2

4821

1985–6

524

262,000

59

425,000

4

5,050,000

–

–

Source: Economic Survey of Assam.

the approach to forestry development in this region cannot be based merely on the conventional approach which focuses attention on products like timber, plywood, fuel wood and pulping material. There are certain other activities which need to be integrated with forestry development plans. The more important of these are oak tasar culture, the cultivation of fodder trees, 191

horticulture, development and the collection of medicinal plants. p. 194

The post-Independence forestry programme created massive diversi cation of the markets for the forest 192

produces.

A sizeable section of these forest-based industries began to emerge with the capital investment

of the Marwari traders. The forests in eastern Assam became synonymous with a series of plywood factories. The departmental control over the methods of extraction of the softwood from the forests was highly loose, leaving enough scope for the rapid decline in the areas under forest coverage. This increased manifold the 193

revenue share of the Forest Department.

The general timber trade, however, had fallen down. Though the

timber trade had fallen down compared to the pre-independence gures, the major share of the forestry 194

programme still continued to come from timber and fuel trade.

The complete emphasis on production

forestry changed after 1980, with the new preservation paradigm becoming visible in the policy discourse of the Forest Department.

Notes 1.

W. Schlich, 1872, Memorandum on Forest Operations in Assam, para. 48–51, Forest Operations in Assam, File no. 38/45, Bengal Government (ASA).

2.

D. Brandis, 1879, Suggestions Regarding Forest Administration in India, Calcutta: Government Press, para. 7.

3.

Ibid, para. 13.

4.

In 1886, the cost of surveying the Dambu Reserved Forest was estimated at Rs 177 per square mile, Annual Report, 1885– 86, para. 74.

5.

Annual Report, 1887–88, para. 58.

6.

Annual Report, 1892–93, para. 21.

7.

E.D. Maclagan, 1894, Under-secretary to Government of India, Department of Revenue and Agriculture to the Surveyor General of India, no. 1097 F, 30 October, in File ASP, Revenue-A, nos 88–92, November 1894, 1894 (ASA). Accordingly soils were now divided into four classes and forests were divided into five classes.

8.

Working of the Rules for the Valuation of Timber on Wasteland Applied for Special Cultivation, ASP nos 130–7, Revenue-A, December 1891 (ASA).

9.

From D. Brandis, 1873, to Secretary of Government of Assam, Revenue Department, Kew, 1 November 1872, NAI, Revenue, Agriculture and Commerce-Forests, nos 19–21 (NAI).

10.

This and the following paragraphs are based on an account made by W. Fisher, the Assistant Conservator of forest in the Goalpara division. Annual Report, 1875–76, para. 21.

11.

In Goalpara, Nagorberra, Mornai, Maijunga, Punchrotton, and Lakhipur were recorded as the most important ones.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

In 1981, the Indian Planning Commission had no doubt that

Annual Report, 1875–76, para. 17. On the north bank of Goalpara, the government forests in the Duars, Zamindari forests in Purbutjhar, forests in the Khuntaghat belonging to the Bijni Zamindars, and the Bhutan forests were the principal sources of timber supply. On the south bank, government forest in the Garo hills, forests in the Mechpara zaminadari, and forests in the Habraghat belonging to the Bijni zamindari supplied the timber.

13.

Correspondence regarding Timber Operations in Kamrup and Sale of Sal Timber at Guwahati, Bengal Government, File no. 40/48, 1872–73 (ASA). This and the following paragraph are based on the basis of these correspondences. The contract was given to Govind Ram Chowdhury, an Assamese contractor.

14.

The assistant conservator of forests mentioned an interesting anecdote when he saw 35 labours were dragging one log for a considerable time, which was done by his elephant within a short period of time without any exertion.

15.

It was sent through the river Kanajan, west of Guwahati.

16.

Though Aylmer had suggested that the wasteland below the Bharalu river could be converted into a timber depot for the entire Assam logs this did not find any favourable opinion with the Henry Hopkinson, Commissioner of Assam at that time.

17.

The details have been taken from his biography. See, J.N. Bhuyan, 1993 Sadagar Bholanath Barua, Diphu: Assam Sahitya Sabha.

18.

Jonaki, the powerful Assamese literary magazine, published advertisement of Barua's timber export trade in Calcutta.

19.

L.N. Bezbarua, 1988, ʻMor Jiban Sowaranʼ, in, J.N. Goswami (ed.), Lakhinath Bezbarua Rachanawali, Vol. 1, Guwahati: Sahitya Prakash, pp. 1–131.

20.

From Gustav Mann, Conservator of Forests, Assam to Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, Shillong, 26 July 1890, ASP, nos 16–28, Revenue and Agricultural-A, November 1890 (ASA).

21.

F.C. Daukes, O iciating Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam to the Conservator of Assam, 3 November, 1890, in ASP nos 16–28, Revenue and Agricultural-A, November 1890 (ASA).

22.

Kanaklal Barua, 1892, ʻAsomot Utpana Banijya Bastuʼ, Jonkai, vol. 3, pp. 11–12.

23.

E.P. Stebbing, 1926, The Forests of India, vol. III, London: The Bodley Head, p. 382.

24.

An Assamese literary account masterfully describes the intricacy involved in this trade. See, B. Das, Meleng.

25.

The situation improved only with arrival of the provincial local administration. Five-year programmes were taken up along with the local government to improve the road networks.

26.

Such apprehension about the lack of transport facility was a recurrent argument for the Assam Forest Department. See Annual Report, 1877–78, para. 56.

27.

Annual Report, 1898–99, para. 50.

28.

A.V. Monro, 1912, Goalpara Working Plan, Shillong: Government Press, Part I, para. 26.

29.

Annual Report, 1881–82, para. 51.

30.

Letter from M. Hill, Conservator of Assam and East Bengal to the Financial Secreaty to the Government of East Bengal and Assam, 23 April 1908, no.1, in File Forests-A, Finance, ASP nos 1–6, June 1908.

31.

In one such instance, in 1894, the government had by a notification sanctioned Raha in Kamrup as revenue station for the realization of the duty revenue levied on India Rubber. ASP nos 1–6, Revenue-A, October 1894 (ASA).

32.

ASP nos 5–11, Revenue Department, Revenue-A, June 1900, and also ASP nos 66–72, Revenue Department, Revenue-A, July 1901 (ASA).

33.

B.F. Bryant, 1912, A Note of Inspection on Some Forests of Assam, Calcutta: Government Press, para. 14.

34.

ASP nos 17–31, Revenue Department, Revenue-A, April 1917 (ASA).

35.

In 1933, the department a profit of Rs 58,146 from operations of the tramway.

36.

A.V. Monro, Goalpara Working Plan, Part I, Shillong: Government Press, para. 34.

37.

Stebbing, The Forests of India.

38.

K. Sivaramakrishnan, 1999, Modern Forests: State Making and Environmental Change in Colonial Eastern India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. See, specially pp. 123–4, 251–77.

p. 195

p. 196

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

12.

Circular no. 20-F, From E.C. Buck, Secretary to the Government of India, Revenue Department, 6 September 1893, ASP nos 21–4, Revenue-A, October, 1893 (ASA). During 1890–1 all the forest o icials in making the Goalpara working fell sick forcing the work to halt for a considerable period.

40.

Annual Report, 1882–83, para. 45.

41.

Ibid.

42.

Annual Report, 1885–86, para. 84.

43.

Stebbing, 1926, The Forests of India, p. 243.

44.

Annual Report, 1886–87, para.79.

45.

Ibid.

46.

The tea plantation industry since its early days prepared extensive surveys of the region's climate, soil quality, moisture level, and the like. These reports acted as a prelude to the later working plan of the Forest Department. See, for instance, C.A. Bruce, 1839, Report on the manufacture of tea: and on the extent and produce of the tea plantations in Assam, Calcutta: Bishop's College Press.

47.

Annual Report, 1892–93, para. 27.

48.

Out of a total of 4,344 square miles of Reserved Forest of which only 1,134 square miles was under the working plans. W.W. Hunter (ed.), 1907, Imperial Gazetteer of India, London: Clarendon Press, vol. 3, p. 113.

49.

A.R. Dicks, 1905, Working Plan of the Nambor Reserved Forest, Shillong: Government Press.

50.

C.S. Hart, 1915, Note on A Tour of Inspection in Some of the Forests of Assam, Simla: Government Press, para. 11.

51.

Introduction to the Annual Report, 1926–27.

52.

Another comprehensive working plan covering eleven numbers of Reserved Forests of Lakhimpur and Sibsagar was drawn up which came into e ect from 1932, C.G.M. Mackarness, 1932, Working Plan for the Eleven Forest Reserves in the Lakhimpur and Sibsagar Divisions, Shillong: Government Press.

53.

A.R. Dicks and E.S. Carr, 1905,ʻIntroductionʼ, in Working Plan of the Nambor Reserved Forest, 1904–1919, Shillong: Government Press.

54.

The Assam Forest Department advocated for the revision of the first Goalpara working plan once it became apparent that Eastern Bengal Railway would not procure sleepers from Goalpara forests for long. H.C. Hill, IGF, lowered the size of the girth accordingly. Letter from C.G. Dingwall-Fordyce, Conservator of Forests, Assam to Inspector General of Forests, GOI, no. K-178, Shillong, 28 August, 1901, in ASP, Revenue-A, nos. 87–90, November, 1901 (ASA).

55.

Circular no. 20-F, From E.C. Buck, Secretary to the Government of India, Revenue Department, 6 September 1893, ASP, No. 21–24, Revenue-A, October, 1893 (ASA).

56.

Annual Report, 1945–46, para. 44

57.

Bryant, A Note of Inspection on Some Forests of Assam, para. 9.

58.

In an interesting note, the only one that I could locate, shows how the political establishment elaborately attended to the problem of bureaucratic arrangement than the silvicultural practices of the working plan. See, Note, Joint Conservator of Forest to Secretary, Forest Department, Assam, 24 December, 1954, no. UO B929, Programmes in Revision of Working Plan, AFR, 208/54, 1954 (ASA). See, for instance, Working Plan of the Aie Valley Forest Division, Western Assam Circle Conservancy, Department of Environment and Forests, Assam.

59.

For a discussion on the intellectual origin of the ideas of MFP and minor forest produces see, Ravi Rajan, 2007, Modernizing Nature: Forestry and Imperial Ecodevelopment, 1800–1950, Delhi: Orient

p. 197

Longman 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199277964.001.0001

.

60.

In 1875, the trees sold in such ways was estimated at 65. In the previous year, the number of trees sold in this way was as low as two only.

61.

Annual Report, 1879–80, para. 9.

62.

Annual Report, 1881–82, para. 55.

63.

Annual Report, 1884–85, para. 169.

64.

Chief Commissioner's Resolution on the Assam Forest Report, Annual Report, 1884–85.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

39.

Annual Report, 1880–81, para. 40.

66.

Su icient amount of timber was also extracted by the private right-holders and free grantees. These two categories used to extract timber from the unclassed forest only.

67.

Annual Report, 1881–82, paras 66–7.

68.

Annual Report, 1883–84, paras 149–54.

69.

Annual Report, 1898–99, para. 45.

70.

Letter from E.S. Carr, Conservator of Forest to the Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, ASP nos 20–39, RevenueA, March, 1905 (ASA).

71.

Bryant, A Note of Inspection on Some Forests of Assam, para. 23.

72.

Annual Report, 1929–30, para. 87.

73.

Annual Report, 1945–46, paras 60–9.

74.

The table is based on statistics compiled from Stebbing Forests of India, Vol. III, p. 627; and respective Annual Reports for 1938–39, 44–45, 50–51, and 54–55.

75.

Sivaramakrishnan, Modern Forests, p. 187.

76.

The Assam Gazette, 22 September 1877, p. 323.

77.

Annual Report, 1878–79, para. 172.

78.

Annual Report, 1878–79, para. 195. Royalty was imposed on katah, jati, and bhaluka bamboo at the rate of Rs 1, Rs 2, and Rs 2, respectively, per hundred bamboo.

79.

Annual Report, 1886–87, para. 188.

80.

Annual Report, 1926–27, para. 35. Revenue derived from these mahals was credited to the head of land revenue.

81.

Annual Report, 1954–56. Between 1890 and 1955 the total revenue earned from minor forest produce was Rs 9473380. Figures for some selected years are tabulated prepared from the respective Annual Reports 1890–91, Rs 41,845; 1895–96, 54,761; 1908–09, 3,37,084; 1918–19, 3,53,252; 1925–26, 4,87,265; 1949– 50, 27,85,241; 1954–55, 54,13,932.

82.

Annual Report, 1891–92, para. 80.

83.

In 1908 a number of cane mahal in Nowgong could not be worked due to the overworking in the previous years

84.

Annual Report, 1891–92, para. 85.

85.

Annual Report, 1908–09, para. 58.

86.

Annual Report, 1906–07, para. 48.

87.

Annual Report, 1919–20, para. 82.

88.

Annual Report, 1913–14, paras 99–100.

89.

Annual Report, 1912–13, para. 95.

90.

The alienation perhaps never improved as later enquiries showed. See, V. Das, 1996, ʻMinor Forest Produce and Rights of Tribalsʼ Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 31, no. 50, pp. 3227–9.

91.

In the 1920s amongst the leading rubber producing colonies of the British Empire the Indian production was as low as only 2 percent. The majority of this production came from south India and Burma together whereas Malaya's rubber production was estimated at approximately 57 per cent. Report of a committee appointed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to investigate and report upon the present rubber situation in British Colonies and Protectorates, 1922, Committee on Rubber Situation in British Colonies and Protectorates, London.

92.

See, J. Drabble, 1973, Rubber in Malaya 1876–1922, Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press; J. Drabble, 1991, Malayan Rubber: The Interwar Years, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan Academic and Professional; C. Barlow, 1978, The Natural Rubber Industry: Its Development, Technology and Economy in Malaysia Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press; and C. Barlow, S.K. Jayasurya, and C.S. Tan, 1994, The World Rubber Industry, London: Routledge.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 198

65.

p. 199

An instance of such rubber trade by the Marwari traders was that of Hari Bilash Agarwala who later on diversified his mercantile interests into several businesses. In 1871, Agarwala had a profit of Rs 2 lakhs from rubber trade. Internal rivalries amongst the marwari for trading rights was also reported. See, H. Agarwala, 1967, Atmajibani, Guwahati: Tarunkumar Agarwala, p. 31. His profit in rubber trade helped him to expand his business into tea-plantations. See, J. Agarwala, ʻDangaria Haribilash Agarwalaʼ, in Hiren Gohain (ed.), 2003, Jyotiprasad Agarwala Rachanavali, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board, pp. 873–6.

94.

ʻIndia-Rubber in Upper Burmaʼ, 1888, Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information (Royal Gardens, Kew), vol. 1888, no. 21, pp. 217.

95.

Stebbing, The Forests of India, p. 215.

96.

A. Mackenzie, O iciating Secretary to Government of Bengal, Judicial Department to Secretary to Government of India, Foreign Department, 23 August, 1872, Goverenment of Bengal, Papers 6, File no. 201/359, 1872–74 (ASA).

97.

File no. 43/51, no. 11, 1873, Bengal Proceedings (ASA).

98.

W. Schlich, Report on the Forest Administration of Bengal, 1872–73 (OIOC); Statistics Relating to Forest Administration in British India 1872–1873 IOR/V/24/1244 (OIOC).

99.

Stebbing, The Forests of India, p. 221.

100. Ibid. p. 221. 101. Ibid. pp. 232–3. 102. Rubber Mahals in Lakhimpur, File no. 406, Serial no. 1–25, 1872–73, Bengal Government Papers (ASA). Also, see, W.W. Hunter 1879 (reprint, 1975), The Statistical Account of Assam, vol.1, Delhi: B.R. Pub. Corp, p. 384. 103. Annual Report, 1880–81, para. 215. 104. The table includes the rubber exported from the districts of Goalpara, Kamrup, Darrang, Nowgong, Sibsagar, Lakhimpur and Cachar, Garo hills and Sylhet. Further this estimate was based on the rubber exported by the steamer only. There was a considerable trade in the rubber by the country boat in the districts of Cachar and Sylhet. 105. D. Brandis, 1897 (reprint, 1994), Forestry In British India, Dehra Dun: Natraj, p. 41. 106. There were rubber-tappers in the Madras province and there was communication between the two provinces as to the usefulness of such rubber-tappers in Assam. 107. From D.P. Coopland, Deputy Conservator of Forest, Darrang, to the Conservator of Assam, 6 May 1895, ASP nos 1–5, Revenue-A, Revenue Department, June 1895 (ASA). 108. ʻThe Trade and Manufactures of Indiaʼ, Journal of the Statistical Society of London, vol. 38, no. 1, March 1875, pp. 97. 109. B. Ribbentrop, Note on an Inspection of Forests in Assam, para. 18. 110. Haribilash Agarwala, Atmajibani, p. 31. Agarwala mentioned how Dafla tribes killed the contractors who were engaged in rubber trade in the boundaries of Darrang. p. 200

111.

ʻCultivation of India Rubber in Assamʼ, Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information (Royal Gardens, Kew), vol. 1896, nos 117/118, 1896, pp. 171–4 10.2307/4118337

.

112. The subject of rubber plantation has been discussed elaborately in chapter 7. 113. Ibid. 10.2307/4118337 114. Letter from J. Mckee, O iciating Conservator of Forests, Assam to Secretary to the Chief Commissioner, Assam, no. 204A, Shillong, 27 February, 1892 in ASP nos 228–338, Revenue-A, December, 1893 (ASA). 115. Brandis, Suggestions Regarding Forest Administration in Assam, para. 11. 116. Quoted in Letter from Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam to Secretary to GOI, Revenue and Agricultural Board, 5 July 1892, no. 3016R, in ASP nos 228–338, Revenue-A, December, 1893 (ASA). 117. Ribbentrop, Note on an Inspection of Forests in Assam, paras 56–58. 118. Letter from Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam to Secretary to GOI, Revenue and Agricultural Board, 5 July, 1892, no. 3016R, in ASP nos 228–338, Revenue-A, December 1893 (ASA). 119. Letter from J. Mckee, O iciating Conservator of Forests, Assam to Secretary to the Chief Commissioner, Assam, no. 204A, Shillong, 27 February 1892 in ASP nos 228–338, Revenue-A, December, 1893 (ASA).

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

93.

120. Telegram from Secretary to GOI, Revenue and Agricultural Department, to Chief Commissioner, Assam, Simla, 21 September, 1892, no.262, in ASP nos. 228–338, Revenue-A, December, 1893 (ASA). 121. The government carried out extensive trade enquiries into the form and volumes of cross-border rubber trade involving Chinese and Burmese frontier. see, E.H. Parker, O iciating Adviser on Chinese A airs in Burma, Memorandum on India Rubber, ASP nos 228–338, Revenue-A, December, 1893 (ASA). 122. The export fell from 4, 844 maunds in 1890–1 to 3, 599 in 1899 only to rise slightly to 5540 maunds in the next year. Statement-A, ASP nos 83–9, Revenue-A, December, 1900 (ASA). 123. Letter from E. Maconochie, Under Secretary to GOI, Department of Revenue and Agriculture to Chief Commissioner, Assam, Shimla, 22 August 1900, 694F, in ASP nos 83–9, Revenue-A, December, 1900 (ASA). 124. M.A Havinden and D.Meredith (ed.), 1993, Colonialism and Development: Britain and its Tropical Colonies, 1850–1960, London: Routledge, p. 122.

126. The rubber export from India to Britain increased suddenly a er the First World War. During 1917–18 an approximately 75, 269 Cwt rubber exported from India which increased to 237215 Cwt during 1918–20. Prepared from Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1885–86 to 1894–95, thirtieth number, London, 1896. See, also Annual Report, 1920–21, para. 29. 127. Barlow et al. (ed.), The World Rubber Industry, pp. 95–111. 128. M.C. Jacob, 1940, Forest Resources of Assam, Shillong: Government Press. p. 201

129.

Conservator of Forests, Assam to the Secretary, Department of Forest, Government of Assam, no. c/1001, Shillong, 21 February 1955 File no. AFR, 377/54, 1954 (ASA).

130. The tragic fate of Assam rubber has striking similarities with that rubber trade in African colonies. See, J. Monson, 1993, ʻFrom Commerce to Colonization: A History of the Rubber Trade in the Kilombero Valley of Tanzania, 1890–1914ʼ, African Economic History, no. 21, pp. 113–30 10.2307/3601812 ; E. L. Osborn, 2004, “ʻRubber Fever”, Commerce and French Colonial Rule in Upper Guinée, 1890–1913ʼ, The Journal of African History, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 445– 65 10.1017/S0021853704009867

.

131. For the early history of railway in Assam, see, S.B. Medhi, 1978, Transport System and Economic Development in Assam, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board. 132. Prepared from Table 126, Mileage of Railway Lines in India, 1896 Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1894–95 to 1903–4, Thirty-ninth number, London: Government Print. 133. ʻʻThe History of a Railway Sleeperʼ, 1892, Indian Forester, vol.18; Madhav Gadgil and Ramachandra Guha, 1992, This Fissured Land: An Ecological History of India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, p. 22. 134. Other varieties of trees were also used for making the sleeper Dibru-Sadiya railway used meter-gauge sleepers of nahor. Forest Utilisation Report, 1938–39 and also Annual Report, 1902–03, para. 59 135. K.W. no. 2, ASP nos 1–5, Revenue-A, April 1897 (ASA). 136. Supply of railway sleepers and exploitation of government forests, from Secretary, Chief Commissioner, Assam to Conservator of Assam, 14 June 1898, in ASP nos 55–60, Revenue-A, June, 1898 (ASA). 137. Annual Report, 1902–03, para. 77. 138. Between 1904 and 1910 the Assam Bengal Railway bought 370, 084 of sleeper. Indian Forest Memoir, 1913, p. 63. 139. C.G.M. Mackarness, 1932, Working Plan for the Eleven Forest Reserves in the Lakhimpur and Sibsagar, Eastern Circle, Assam, section 10, para. 2, Shillong: Government Press. 140. Elizabeth P. Flint and John F. Richards, 1992, ʻContrasting Patterns of Shorea Exploitation in India and Malaysia in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuryʼ, in J. Dargavel and R.P. Tucker (ed.), Changing Pacific Forests: Historical Perspectives on the Pacific Basin Forest Economy, Duke: Duke University Press, p. 89. 141. To overcome this high rate the Duars planters sought to import from Japan and Sweden. B.G. Karlsson, 2000, Contested Belonging: An Indigenous People's Struggle for Forest and Identity in Sub-Himalayan Bengal, London: Routledge, p. 79. 142. ʻTimber and Boxes for Teaʼ, 1898, Indian Planters' Gazette. 143. H.A. Antrobus, 1957, A History of the Assam Company, 1839–1953, Edinburgh: T. & A. Constable, p. 286–8.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

125. Annual Report, 1920–21, para. 28.

p. 202

144. Brandis referred to roghu, semul, kokon, sappa, poma, hollong, hollock, jutili, sutiana, and gomari which could be used for the tea-boxes. He was of the opinion that though bola, ajhar, gonserai, makai, would make excellent tea boxes they would be much better for other purposes. Brandis, Suggestions regarding Forest administration in India, para. 14. 145. H. Das, 1947, Asomor Banaja Sampad, Guwahati: Assam Academy, p. 50. 146. Bryant, A Note of Inspection on Some Forests of Assam, para. 11. 147. W.W. Hunter (ed.), 1879, Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. 3, p. 228. 148. A sawmill owned by Haribilash Agarwala in Tezpur had employed two British engineers. See, J. Agarwala, 2003, ʻDangaria Haribilash Agarwalaʼ, pp. 873–6. 149. The list is prepared from Annual Report, 1891–92, para. 75.

151. Brandis, Suggestions Regarding Forest Administration in India, para. 14. His conservative estimate was that compared to the imported price the native price would be half. 152. Bryant, A Note of Inspection on some Forests of Assam, para. 28. 153. Saw Mill Industry in Assam, ASP nos 68–74. Revenue-A, December 1898 (ASA). Saw Mill Companies Working in the Lakhimpur Division during 1948–9: Margherita Saw Mills; Jeypore Timber and Veneer Mills; Saw Benches of S.M. Singh, Digboi; Saw Benches of A.R. Singh, Digboi; Saw Benches of B.N. Singh; Saw Benches of Wood Land Works; Saw Benches of Universal General Traders; Saw Benches of Modern Timber Coy; Halkata Saw Mills. 154. Quoted from an article published in the Indian Planter's Gazette, 28 May 1898, ASP, nos 55–60, Revenue-A, June 1898 (ASA). 155. Annual Report, 1912–13, para. 94. 156. History of the Assam Railway and Trading Company, p. 33. 157. Bryant, A Note of Inspection on Some Forests of Assam, para. 27. The number was doubled in 1912 and was estimated at 82,5000 tea-boxes. 158. ASP nos 108–27, Revenue A, June 1896 (ASA). 159. Report on the Forest Enquiry Committee, 1929, vol. I. p. 16. 160. In 1938 the Assam Forest Department received an bulk order of Rs 72,000 for the supply of tea-boxes from this variety of so wood. Such plantation programme was also taken in Nowgong division. See Forest Utilisation Report, 1938–39, p. 8. 161. The species like amari, bonsum, chickrassy, ping, sam, titachapa, and toon became important. 162. Governor of Assam, Resolution on the Report of the Forest Administration in the Province of Assam, 1940–1, para. 1. 163. Forest Utilisation Report, 1938–39.

p. 203

164. Few varieties of trees like Shorea assamica or Morus laevigata were sent to the Rifle factory based in Ishapore both for rifle furniture and rifle chests. In 1938, samples of another tree, paroli and bhe, popularly known as willow wood were sent to a firm based at Sialkot to explore the possibility of making hockey sticks and cricket bats, respectively. Forest Utilisation Report, 1938–39, p. 2. 165. Ibid. 166. In one such instance, one maund of seeds of chalmugra was sold to Mogambique in Africa. 167. In Guwahati, one Gilman who had his sawmill near Burdwar supplied the public demand. The private estate of him had already exhausted. 168. Commissioner Henry Cotton even doubted whether the department made ever any attempt to compete in the timber markets. 169. The Chicago exhibition of 1893 was one such event which helped the Forest Department to place it itself in a larger market. ASP nos 49–51, Revenue-A, Revenue Department, September 1892 (ASA).

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

150. Henry Cotton believed that he did his ʻutmost to extend and encourage the local manufacture of tea-boxesʼ. H. Cotton, 1910 Indian and Home Memories, London: T. Fisher Unwin, p. 246.

170. Tabulated from Statistical Abstract Relating to British India. London. In the financial year of 1930–31 there was only 6 per cent revenue surplus. Except during the period of 1905–11 when a new province of East Bengal and Assam was created the territorial share of the Assam Forest Department remained the same. Readers will notice that during 1905–11 the revenue share of Assam Forest Department to India became more. 171. Annual Report, 1944–45, chapter V, para. 59. 172. Resolution on Annual Report, 1946–47, Government of Assam, para. 1. 173. Annual Report, 1945–46, appendix. II, para. 29 174. Government of Assam, 1879, Economic Survey of Assam. 175. Governor of Assam, Resolution on the Report of the Forest Administration in the Province of Assam, 1940–41, para.1.

177. For a excellent discussion on these territorial arrangement see, W.V. Schendel, 2005, The Bengal Borderland: Beyond State and Nation in South Asia, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 149–64. 178. M.C. Jacob, Senior Conservator to Secretary, Forest, Government of Assam, 8 June 1955, File no. ASP, Forest, 147/54, 1954 (Assam Secretariat Collection). 179. Annual Report, 1946–47, p. 9, para. 58. 180. In his poem Purnimar Ratiloi Chai, he talked about the entry of non-Assamese capital in trade of rubber and the like. See, P.D. Goswami (ed.) 2007, Kamalakanta Bhattacharjee Rachanwali, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board, p. 287. See, for his trade interest, J.N. Bhuyan, 1993, Sadagar Bholanath Barua, Diphu: Assam Sahitya Sabha, p. 6. 181. M.C. Jacob, Senior Conservator to Secretary, Forest, Government of Assam, 8 June 1955, File no. Forest, 147/54, 1954 (Assam Secretariat Collection). 182. Annual Report, 1948–49, p. 34, para. 39. 183. L.V. Burn, 7 September 1954, to Minister of Forests, Assam. 184. L.V. Burns, 1957, Development of Forest Industries in the State of Assam, Shillong: Government Press. p. 204

185.

Project Report, nos 2 and 3, From L.V. Burns to Secretary to the Minister in Charge, Forests, October and December 1954, File no. AFR 387/54 (ASA).

186. P.D. Stracey, Conservator of Forest, Assam to the Secretary to the Government of Assam, Forests and Revenue Department, no. B 538, Shillong, 18 June 1954, File no. AFR 126/54 (ASA). Another proposal was made to establish a paper mill at Ledo-Lekhpani. 187. Establishment of Hardwood Board and Insulating Board factory in Assam, File no. AFR 481/54, 1954 (ASA). 188. Conservator to the Under Secretary to the Government of Assam, Planning and Development Department, dated 14 May 1955, File no. AFR 470/54 1954 (ASA). 189. Techno-Economic Survey of Assam, 1962, Government of Assam, chapter 3, Forests, p. 50, para. 3.22. 190. Table prepared from respective statistics of Economic Survey of Assam. 191. Report on Development of North-Eastern Region, National Committee on the Development of Backward Areas, 1981, Planning Commission, Delhi: Government of India. 192. Das, Asomor Banaja Sampad. 193. Economic Survey of Assam, 1978–79, chapter VII, para. 7.1.2, Department of Economic Survey, Government of Assam. Revenue data available for this period are scanty. The data, which are available, give only a bird's-eye view of the revenue statistics. 194. The average annual timber and fuel outturn during 1973–8 was estimated at 5 m. cubic feet and 2 m. cubic feet. Economic Survey of Assam, 1978–9, chapter VII, para. 7.1.2, Department of Economic Survey, Government of Assam. Calculated from table 7.3.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193345171 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

176. R. Guha, 1983, ʻForestry in British and Post-British India: A Historical Analysisʼ, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 18, no. 44, pp. 1887–8.

Forests and Ecological History of Assam, 1826–2000 Arupjyoti Saikia https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.001.0001 Published: 2011

Online ISBN: 9780199081240

Print ISBN: 9780198069539

CHAPTER

5 Science in the Forests: Rethinking Conservation  Arupjyoti Saikia Pages 205–252

Abstract This chapter examines how in the urge for scienti c forestry, the foresters in Assam took recourse to the local experiences. It also discusses how both scienti c management and commercialization of forests began to mould the history of forest conservation in Assam. Under the colonial rule, the Assam forests were subjected to the application of science. Intricate scienti c experiments were carried out inside the Assam forests and these include forest plantations, silvicultural practices, taungya cultivation, and regulation of forest res or insects. Throughout the early nineteenth century, science contributed to the various aspects of Assam forests. Although dependence on science in the late nineteenth century diminished, the entire forest management came to depend on science in the twentieth century. This transformed the commercial character of the forests including forest behaviour and its ecological system. In the long run, it was science that transformed the character of the local forest landscape.

Keywords: scientific forestry, scientific management, commercialization of forests, forest conservation, scientific experiments, forest plantations, silvicultural practices, taungya cultivation, regulation of forest fires, forest management Subject: Colonialism and Imperialism, Environmental History, Asian History, Indian History Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online

Before Assam came under imperial rule an o

cial of the East India Company had declared that once the 1

Europeans had landed in Assam, science was always at work to understand the its resources. As science became a partner of imperial rule its impact was also felt in forest conservation. The core of imperial forestry was sustained yield from the forested tracts. This required the application of science into the management of the forested tracts as well as infusion of technology into it. Intricate scienti c experiments, alien to the customary knowledge of forest management, were carried out inside the forests since the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Several recent works have highlighted the complex nature of the 2

engagement of science with the Indian forests. These studies tell the battle for application of science and the nal victory of the continental European forestry paradigm. The latter ensured both sustained yield as well as dramatic improvement in the commercial capacity of the forested tracts. The colonial foresters heavily relied on these corpuses of western scienti c knowledge embedded in this paradigm in spelling out programmes for the e ective management of Indian forests. Contrary to the belief of total implementation 3

of western science, several works have shown the regional variations that the Indian foresters learnt from the local experiences, and that these overriding principles were often contested and were locally impoverished. The application of science became identical with varieties of experiments with forest p. 206

plantations, silviculture, taungya, or regulation of forest res or insects, and so on.

Plantation, for

example, was an important episode of the scienti c aspect of forest management. The plantation programme (Fig. 5.1) was designed to derive the maximum bene t from the natural resources. The forests acquired both a new landscape and a uniform character in forest types. At the same time, the progress of

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.003.0006 Published: February 2011

scienti c forestry was an indication of the con dence of the colonial state. The foresters, it was assumed, worked inside the jungles with con dence to bring the seemingly invincible forests under the domain of scienti c forestry. The commercial interests of the Imperial government overshadowed the scienti c temperament of the foresters and management of the forests, both complementing each other. The experiment with the forests of Assam was also not a di erent one. This chapter examines how in the urge for scienti c forestry, the foresters in Assam took recourse to the local experiences and how both scienti c management and commercialization of the forests began to shape the history of the conservation of forests in Assam.

Fig. 5.1

Forests, National Wealth, and Silvicultural Practices A general consensus within the Forest Department was that in spite of the reliance on natural regeneration, p. 207

4

the average revenue per acre was too insigni cant. It was assessed that if the expenditure on each acre

p. 208

of forestland went up, the return also would be higher. But there was a severe scarcity of trained sta

to take

care of such sensitive issues. The practice of natural regeneration did not entirely convince the foresters and they were looking for scienti c intervention. At the same time, regeneration of plantation was considered very expensive. Most of the funds were utilized for the improvement of natural forests and, where necessary, for sowing indigenous species as against exotic species. Apprehension of wrong investment in forest plantations (see Figs 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4) was particularly high amongst the colonial bureaucracy. For instance, in 1881, the Assam chief commissioner expressed his strong apprehension about the utility of the plantations of teak and rubber. His idea was that such works should be used as ‘a toy’ to occupy the leisure hours of the foresters whose main task remained the exploration and utlization of the resources of the forests. Some of these anxieties came to be resolved within the next few years through a careful application of the silvicultural practices, which was a key feature of colonial forestry.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

A view of full grown and successful plantation. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive

Fig. 5.2

Fig. 5.3

Plantation was always the pride of the Forest Department. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive

Fig. 5.4

Modern plantation. Courtesy P. Bordoloi Silviculture was variously de ned as the art and science of producing and tending a forest: the application of silvics in the treatment of a forest, or the theory and practice of controlling the forest establishment, composition, and growth. One early practioner Schlich had no doubt that silviculture encompassed ‘the p. 209

5

creation, regeneration, and tending of forests, or woods, until they become ripe for the axe’. In fact, many of the ways of governing the development of forests depended heavily on cuttings and other treatments that altered or modi ed the factors of the environment that regulated vegetation. The economic returns from forestry were not high enough to make it feasible to shield forests from all the vicissitudes of nature. Therefore, silviculture was usually a better imitation of the natural processes of forest growth and

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Plantations brought hope to the Forest Department. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive

development than a substitution for them. These processes could be improved upon, channelled, and were limited in scope. It was also realized that excessive disruption led to severe losses, high costs, and other unfortunate consequences, immediate or delayed. Moreover, the science of silviculture rested heavily on the manipulation of the microclimate of a site, but its e ects on the macroclimate were limited to those caused by a photosynthetic removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Silvicultural practices, strongly advocated by Brandis, with a clear intention of recasting ‘Indian forests 6

along European lines’ were already in practice in the forests of British India and Pegu. The silvicultural practice as propounded by Brandis laid down stricter rules aimed at maximizing forest revenue. This meant that strict adherence was followed in the selection of trees for felling and careful husbandry of tress before they were selected for felling. While Brandis's policies helped in advocating the cause of sustained yield, it took some years to obtain a clearer idea of the practice of silviculture in India. After Brandis, a further 7

precise method was spelt out during the tenure of Berthold Ribbentrop. He suggested that silviculture so far as this had the improvement of the peuplement in view. Under regeneration, these measures comprised all such operations as the dibbling in of seed and even such planting that had for its purpose the completion and improvement of natural reproduction. Again, the after-treatment included the weeding and clearing of young forests, creeper-cutting, and the killing of inferior trees that interfered with the growth of trees of better kinds. Ribbentrop was convinced that such arti cial intervention would provide the expected results. Though there was a general overarching science behind silviculture operation, the local topography contributed signi cantly to the rede ning of that operation. In the early days of forest conservation the practice of silviculture was con ned to creeper cutting and p. 210

plantations of teak, cinchona, and rubber. Silviculture was practised through two methods—felling and improvement-cum-selection. The latter was a newer version and it was initially applied only in the forests 8

of Guma and the central ranges of the Goalpara forests. At the close of the nineteenth century there was more experiment with sowing. One of the earliest experiments in sowing was carried out in the Pobha Reserved Forests of Sadiya. This sowing was primarily aimed at the prevention of weed growth. As this experiment went on, unmarketable trees were sold to the nearby Assam Saw Mills and Timber Company. Only the trees of small girth and climbers were left out. The labour for this clearance was collected from the Naga villagers and in return for their labour the felled trees were allowed to be used by them as fuel. While the refuse was burnt, sawmills also bought them at about Rs 14 per acre. After this, seeds of terminalia myriocarpa, morus laevigata, cedrela toona, lagerstraemia os-reginae, chikrassia tabularias, and bischo a javanicaI were sown in lines 20 feet apart. Terminalia seed was found in abundance and was used to nurse other species. The lines were rst cleared of debris and were lightly hoed. The gap between the lines was lled with high saplings that assisted in drawing up the plants. The seeds were mixed proportionately with the seeds of terminalia, tun, lagerstraemia, and chikrassia. This system proved successful and, by 1925, a 9

whole of 80 acres of coupe was under this system. The Forest Department also adopted the silvicultural practice of the strip-and-group system for uniform regeneration of trees. Rotation of trees was also adopted for the production of better quality timber. Periodic blocks were created that were usually given 20 years as the length of a period, especially for the tracts in Kamrup. In the early days, an absence of standard practice of silviculture was easily noticed. Within the province, regional variation was quite prominent and the application of silvicultural practice was mostly decided by the men in the eld. Interaction between local practitioners and the formal silvicultural practices, as an extension of European forestry, was highly conditional. To remove this discrepancy, the Government of India mooted the idea of regular interaction between the silvicultural branch of the Forest Research Institute and provincial foresters, also to standardize the methods of data collection and of the practice of silviculture. A signi cant development took place in 1918 with the holding of the rst silviculture conference. After this, provincial foresters began to exchange their experiences of silviculture with their counterparts from other forests. Similarly, the next silvicultural conference, held in 1922, de ned these p. 211

regional variations in a more concrete way and also accommodated

regional variations as standard

practice. For instance, the process of thinning was accepted as a normal practice to be followed by every province. Thus, the silviculture practice acquired uniformity and general principles were adopted in the 10

early twentieth century.

11

The next important step was the appointment of silviculturist Harry Champion in 1926.

The classi cation

pattern used by Champion in his Forest Types of India and Burma soon became a landmark reference for the foresters. Since then and with increasing standardization, scope for allowing localized variations within

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

include all arti cial help to e ect the natural regeneration of the forests as well as their after-treatment, in

silvicultural practice gradually lost its relevance. This also meant that commercial interests of the Forest Department came to be intricately connected with the silvicultural process. The relationship became more discernible in the early twentieth century when the forest industry became more vibrant which led the department to reorganize such practices more seriously. The result was a systematic collection of information from di erent parts of British India for use in silvicultural practice. For instance, up to the early twentieth century there was no collective information regarding the natural regeneration of evergreen forests. A. W. Blunt, conservator of the western circle, admitted that the lack of such information was a great 12

hurdle in operating the regular working plans.

By the mid-twentieth century several types of silvicultural systems were in force in Assam. This included clear-cutting, selection, uniformity, improvement, selection-cum-improvement, coppice with standards, simple coppice, and fuel. The selection and the selection-cum-improvement method had the highest share 13

of areas in operation.

These practices soon found their way into the various divisions of the province and

14

these forests.

Trained forest sta

carried out silvicultural experiments in their respective centres during

the rainy season. Skill in silvicultural application was highly desired among the forest o

15

cials.

Their

responsibility included the maintenance and upkeep of existing sample plots, linear sample plots, thinning research plots, and also the laying out of new sample plots during the dry season. In sum, the silvicultural practice which came to be part of the Assam Forest Administration had its own variations and reinforced the idea of tropical forests of the region. On the other hand silvicultural practices led to degradation of biodiversity of landscape which was hardly agreed by the department.

p. 212

Plantations and Changing Paradigms of Regeneration Prior to the colonial government's framework for a plantation programme, Dietrich Brandis had already laid down a road map for the future of forest administration in Assam. While he gave the go-ahead for forest management in Assam it did not take long time to begin the experiment of the plantation scheme. In Assam, the move for plantations gained momentum from an understanding that the existing forests were hardly worth any market value, and, therefore, needed quick arti cial regeneration through science. The whole aspect of ‘plantation’ was shaped by the imperial exigencies and the scienti c temperament of the colonial 16

foresters. One of the pioneers was Henry Hopkinson, Commissioner of Assam . Hopkinson, while taking note of the growing need for plantation, directed himself towards the scienti c aspects of plantation. In 1872, Hopkinson wrote to the secretary of the department of revenue, Government of India that ‘I cannot primarily advise upon the subject of the technical details of forest management, although I would state my conviction of forest conservancy to succeed must be thoroughly done in the forest…knowing exactly what 17

they have to do and doing it.’

Thus was laid down the policies and principles on which the plantations

would move ahead. So what was to happen in the next couple of years? Although there was a scattered plantation programme in small pockets, but there was lack of optimism in the Forest Department about the 18

early progress of the plantations and scepticism about the expenses involved.

The provincial chief

commissioner thought that it was meaningless to plant ‘exotic’ trees, which were not doing well in Assam. The department put virtual restrictions on the further expansion of the plantation area in terms of the existing forested area. Moreover, the experiments with plantation, both arti cial and natural, required a complex interaction of colonial science and local knowledge. The direction of the former was always motivated by the commercial needs of the colonial Forest Department and hence often came into con ict with the indigenous forest management. Many such experiments lost their enthusiasm quite early. Those that survived did so because of their commercial viability. In the early days of plantation, both India rubber and soom trees were given priority in Assam though there 19

was no a priori knowledge about their management.

The importance of soom for rearing the silkworms

was noticed during all the early visits of Schlich and Brandis. Like other aspects of forest management the p. 213

colonial foresters blamed the Assamese

peasants for not possessing systematic knowledge of forests. In

fact, Hopkinson suggested that the Burmese foresters should be brought into Assam and given control over the vast forest resources. It was clear by this time that both Assam and Burma shared a similar tropical forest region. As early as 1873, Dietrich Brandis submitted a proposal to establish large-scale teak 20

plantations in Assam.

Major Graham, the Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup, had already reported on teak

having formerly been indigenous to Assam in the tracts between Tezpur and Biswanath. Apart from the cultivation of teak, Brandis was also of the opinion that India rubber, that is, cus elastica would be

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

in the mid-twentieth century there were 40 di erent types of silvicultural experiments being carried out in

remunerative and it was probable that species like toon, astocarpus, and sisso and perhaps bamboo might also be cultivated here to great advantage. Gustav Mann noticed that khair or aacia catechu was grown on the 21

banks of the river Manas just down the foothills.

22

There was already ample progress of the experimental teak plantation in Burma.

The imperial government

was not sure whether teak would grow well in Bengal. Sir George Campbell the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal was of the opinion that Bengal, would not be a safe and healthy place to grow this tree. This made Assam a better place for the experimental teak plantation. Con rming this position in a rm tone, H. Leeds, the then Conservator of Forests in Bengal, wrote that nowhere else did teak have a better prospect of success 23

than in Assam.

William Schlich found that the teak plantation in Gauhati, established in 1839 on an

experimental basis, had already shown good results. There was a favourable report of growth of the planted teak seedlings. The other experimental teak growth in Makum on the river Dihing in eastern Assam also gave su

cient reason to the Forest Department to be happy. These early experiments convinced the

Leed commented that the timber near the streams on level ground would grow to a larger dimension than on the hills, though it was believed that the hill timber was the strongest. The very process of the Burma type of growth was important for both quality and value. Here the tree would grow quite fast in the initial 10–15 years. In this process, the expenses of rearing would also come down considerably. Leed also concluded that teak, like any other tree, if grown singly, spreads out into large branches to the destruction of the bole as timber. The trees would clear themselves of their branches and keep down all grass within the p. 214

plantations. After the third year, the plantation would take care of itself, thinning being the

only

operation required. This would be done initially very sparingly and gradually so as to keep too much sun from entering the plantation. The moment the sun acted on the young trees, and they stood too far apart, they acquired healthy branches. The conservator was more pragmatic and he suggested that toon might be planted along with teak. The former matures at about 30–40 years. That would provide support to the teaplanters in the preparation of the tea-boxes. The conservator soon found strong support from the lieutenant governor and he was asked to nd more places suitable for plantation.

24

The question of teak

plantation, however, did not receive a favourable response from the Assam commissioner, but his subordinates at the district level contradicted him. Bringing relief from such speculative ideas on the future growth of teak, the deputy commissioner of Darrang at the time mentioned that there was healthy growth of teak at Mangaldai in Darrang. The plantation work up to 1873 was of an experimental character and the primary focus was on teak plantations. The main purpose of this plantation was to see whether teak would thrive in the Assam province. Experimental plantations were established at a place close to the river Kulsi in Kamrup in July 1872 and at Makum on the river Dihing in July 1869. Interestingly, both these places were chosen for their proximity to the river. It would provide an easy route for timber transportation in the future. The plantations in Kulsi covered an area of eight square miles. Both the Burmese and the local seeds of teak were used in the Kulsi plantation. The character of the soil, located at the foothill, was a mixture of loam clay and sand. There was also an extension of teak plantation into some other forest tracts, but on a limited scale. Along with this experimental plantation the Forest Department began to face the problems of the nongermination of teak seed as well as the infestation of young seedlings by grubs as early as 1875. Many of these young plants were also bitten o

by insects just above the ground, creating large vacant spaces. It was

only compensated by the seasonal rains bringing relief to the department as new seedlings soon appeared. 25

The attacks of the borer also hampered the normal growth of trees.

Moreover, the department tried to ll

the vacant spaces with the seedlings of other species like poma, nahor, and sissu. Though 168 acres of teak were stocked between 1872 and 1881 the department could not arrive at a decision whether to continue this plantation or not even after ten years of experimentation. Further, though it was found that sal could be p. 215

reproduced in Assam in su

cient quantities and at lower costs

compared to teak the decision still found

support in favour of teak. The fact that the cost of extraction of teak was less because of it being lighter than sal was helpful. In the next couple of decades, as we will see from our discussion in a later section, plantations of teak became not only economically viable but also a success in terms of the Forest Department's negotiation with the science of forestry. Experimental plantation schemes proved successful since the late nineteenth century, and by 1940 all the forest divisions in Assam had actively drawn up their plantation schemes. By now the department could rely extensively on the seeds from the plantations itself. This reduced the high cost of importing seed from Burma. There was another problem regarding teak plantation and this was the

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

department that there was the possibility of faster growth of teak in the soil conditions of Assam. Later,

long gestation period required for the teak to mature. However, all things considered, the Forest Department was convinced that their experiment with teak was a successful one. With the formal establishment of a Forest Department in 1874, more diversi ed plantations were taken up and by 1875 there were varieties of experiments in the di erent forest divisions. There were cauthchouc, sissu, and teak plantations in Kulsi in the Gauhati division while in the Tezpur division there was a cauthchouc plantation in Charduar and Bamuni hills. The cauthchouc plantation at Kulsi reached the total strength of 86 acres in 1877–8. While most of the plantations were under the direct supervision of the Forest Department there were a few plantations under the civil administration. In Shillong, the Forest Department moved ahead with the complex experiment of plantation with di erent timbers. Exotic trees, that is, Juglans regia, Eucalyptus rostrata, and Pinus maritime were experimented with in the Shillong plantations, which came to be successful in the years to come. Initially the foresters had to cope winter of 1875, out of 1,492 planting spots, 202 died. These vacancies were soon lled up with new saplings. Others su ered either from frost in the winter or required far more nursing than could be a orded by the Forest Department. The young trees of indigenous oak were also attacked by rats who bit o

great numbers

of young trees above the ground. And then came the sowing of Pinus kasya brought in from Burma. It was planted rst on an area of 20 acres that proved promising from the very start. In fact, these plantations p. 216

created a beautiful landscape for the Shillong sky that has since captured the imagination of the

people.

Exotic plants like Spanish chestnuts did not thrive in the timber plantations of Assam and hence they were transferred to the Shillong farm for trial at a higher elevation. Experimental plantation of eucalyptus was also conducted in the Shillong plantation. This tree was planted initially in small baskets of bamboo and 26

afterwards in well-prepared holes to give them a chance of growing stronger in the rst two years.

Another big task was the fair growth of the Shillong pine. The department was optimistic about deriving turpentine from Pinus kasya. By 1892, research con rmed the possibility of getting this chemical on a 27

commercial scale from this tree which was abundant in Burma.

However, the matter did not progress

much. There were repeated attempts for the regeneration of that variety among the pine. It was reported in 1929 that the vacant spaces caused by felling in the Shillong pine forests had not, for the most part, been fully regenerated. The seeds from the middle-aged or mature trees, though fairly fertile, did not give rise to healthy seedlings. The local population realized this well before it drew the attention of the department. As a remedial measure the local people had taken to regenerating the land by sticking in cones bearing branches cut from the young trees, at regular intervals. By the end of the 1920s, the Forest Department had also 28

adopted this method of regeneration.

Compared to teak the rubber plantations acquired more signi cance in scienti c management. The department had to make the plantations scheme economically viable. The experiment with teak needed a long gestation period. The best alternative was to develop the locally grown rubber. The provincial forest managers had acquired extensive information on the methods and technical details of natural rubber 29

growths in the northern frontiers of the province.

The Marwari traders had already been participating in 30

rubber trade along with the tribal communities who used to collect and bring it down. There was twofold di

culty of making the rubber trees grow and also making them economically viable.

The rst experimental rubber plantation began in the Charduar forests near Tezpur in 1874. The initial work began with setting up a large nursery in which cuttings were laid down and seeds sown in April 1874. The 31

plantations of rubber began spanning 180 acres, which was further extended by another 143 acres.

Arti cial shades were also constructed in the nursery as a precaution. This experiment was found to be a p. 217

mistake by the next year. The heavy drip caused the death of a large number of seedlings and cuttings. The seed germinated best on broken brick, less well on broken charcoal, and least of all on the earth base. Eventually the second category proved to be the best. Four hundred seedlings were collected from the Miris of the Arunachal hills. These seeds germinated readily and were very comfortably growing in the wellcultivated tea gardens. Interaction with the tribes convinced the foresters that the best time for making the cuttings was between the middle of January to the end of May. As an experiment, young seedlings, raised from cuttings, were planted on the newly created lines. To secure better timber not only weekly cuttings were carried out, but plants with weak and deformed shape were, annually, given ner shape. Those attacked by the borer pest were cut back. Trees were planted on small mounds raised about four feet in height.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

with various kinds of problems in raising the Shillong pine plantations. The rst challenge came when in the

The rubber plantation did not enjoy the support of scienti c experiments till the end of the nineteenth century. O

cials were still looking for ways to produce best quality rubber. Further, in their to attempt to

bring more areas under the rubber plantations, foresters planted as many plants as possible without actually looking into the health of the saplings. The total area of the Charduar rubber plantation increased to 1, 168 acres by 1885. But there was uctuation in the revenue earned from the plantation. In 1897, Ribbentrop made a thorough inspection of this plantation and expressed his doubt about the poor ‘undersized and suppressed specimens from old nurseries’ that had resulted in unhealthy growth of rubber 32

plants.

His strongly suggested that this should not be practised any further. Soon it was found that the

transplantation of two-year old seedlings proved to be the best. The immediate problem faced by the seedlings was that the deer were very destructive. As a result, plants were ‘bitten perfectly bare’, and large trees 10–15 feet high were bent down or broken down by the deer with their horns, to get to the young leaves at the top. The deer threat forced the department to construct powerful fences of plaited bamboo.

Assam Forest Department. They took care of these plantations by means of cuttings and seeds sown on beds covered with charcoal. After the initial experiments of planting by di erent methods it was found that planting in the ground on small mounds of about three feet in height was quite e ective. It was also found that the best time to plant was during the short rainy weeks of November and December. The approach to rubber plantation was still exible and the department held that there was more experience still to be p. 218

gathered.

In 1875, the department used strong cane baskets that were placed in the forks of trees as part

of the planting. Though there was some initial success, the experience convinced the department that it could not be done on a large scale as widening of the inspection paths also required removal of weeds and 33

extensive fencing was expensive.

Similarly to do away with the deer threat in 1881 a new system was

introduced for the plants in Charduar. Trees were allowed to remain in the nursery until they were 10 feet or more in height and then tied to stout stakes when they were transplanted from the nursery to the plantations. This prevented the deer from bending them down with their horns and also did away with the 34

expensive fencing.

This experiment was found to be quite e ective in procuring healthy trees. Convinced

of the ‘scienti c’ character of this new plantation programme the chief commissioner sanctioned the extension of the plantation at the rate of 100 acres per annum for the next couple of years. The Charduar plantation had its last extension in 1893 and gradually lost its appeal as a viable economic activity. In 1897, Ribbentrop inspected the plantation and commented upon the unhealthy condition of the trees. He made several suggestions for the e ective regeneration of the rubber plantations. He pointed out that the practice of planting poor undersized saplings had resulted in sickly trees. He suggested that in future only the known and better-shaped saplings should be planted, like the ones prepared by the district forest o

cer. He further suggested that the tea gardens should be encouraged to plant rubber trees on their

unused land with the active support from the Forest Department. In the next couple of years there were more experiments with plantations. Some of them died out at the early stages. There was an experiment of planting nahor in the Nambor reserve after clearing the 35

undergrowth of useless scrub.

A similar experiment was made in sowing ajhar. The sowing was made both

in the forests as well as on open ground, though the former had shown better results. A small sissu plantation in Kulsi was not productive and the department had no plans to expand it as the natural sissu forest coverage in Goalpara was less expensive. What the latter needed was e

cient protection against

damages caused by frequent forest res. Within years of this experiment, ajhar replaced the sissu in Kulsi. It was then found that the young ajhar trees overtopped the high grass and reeds, carving out their own p. 219

healthy growth. The mahogany trees planted in 1878 also proved successful. Seeds of this tree

were

obtained from the botanical gardens of Calcutta and Ceylon. The Calcutta botanical garden also provided technical support for the sowing of the seeds. That the Pithecolovium saman was growing in healthy conditions in the Kulsi plantation became a matter of relief. Along with the better varieties of timber, attempts were also made to plant the soft species. Bamboo was one such experiment that attained rm commercial prospects. Brandis also strongly advocated a plan for extensive bamboo plantation in various parts of Assam. Accordingly, an experimental bamboo plantation came up in Kulsi with a view to ascertain the accurate yield of fresh shoots that might be t for paper production. The other intention of this plantation was to know whether the yield could be increased by irrigation, manuring, and other treatment. It had to be observed whether the yield of the fresh shoots had diminished or not annually by cutting out all such shoots. The species, that were selected were jati and bijuli bamboos of which stocks with roots were rst planted in June 1879 at a distance of 12 feet by 12 feet. Within

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Similarly, the species of cauthchouc or the popularly known rubber plantation drew the attention of the

a couple of months all the roots had died. The department conclusively felt that these roots did not have su

cient time to establish themselves in the ground. Furthermore, heavy rains set in and ooded the

plantation area before the new roots could grow. Information regarding bamboo plantation was collected from the local villagers. But the department believed that much of this knowledge rested on random 36

understanding. the sta

Many a time the plantations lost their experimental character because of the negligence of 37

associated with it. They needed to be reminded of the original intention by the ‘superior sta ’.

A

couple of years later it was found that this experimental bamboo plantation was doing quite well. The only 38

work required for its better growth was to clear the undergrowth once or twice during the rainy season.

Bamboo plantation was also carried out in the Goalpara forests where the bamboo produced was used for the production of daos. Bamboo was also planted between the lines of the rubber trees to minimize the loss of available land. The department was sure that because of non-availability, good bamboo would continue to fetch higher prices and hence it decided to continue with the bamboo plantation programme.

1888 an estimated 1,389 acres of area came under plantations in these areas. Gradually, attempts were made to integrate the plantation scheme with the peasant society. The abandoned jhum-ed land was brought p. 220

under schemes of plantation in various parts

of Assam. The Forest Department admitted that initially

there was a strong aversion to such initiatives and till the end of the 1890s there was no assurance that it would result in pro ts. To counter the aversion of the peasants, it tried various kinds of incentives. At some places, the peasants, for instance, the Mikir peasants in the district of Nowgong, had to be induced to begin 39

such plantations in exchange for free cultivation within the Reserved Forest area.

At others, the peasantry

was gifted with one rupee for every 150 seedling, transplanted or one rupee for each acre of sowing. The forest managers gradually realized that the extermination of timber could go on forever without taking care of natural regeneration. When this harsh reality dawned upon the department they began to take initiatives for the regeneration of the important trees—the sal, in particular—through natural methods. The department realized that ‘the climate of Assam is favourable to natural reproduction and the growth of 40

trees in all forests, that the regeneration is all that could be desired’.

Sal could reproduce remarkably, to

the great excitement for the department. The departmental proclamation made it clear that ‘exploitation of this tree should continue with as much activity as has been the case during the last two years, the power of reproducing itself is so great that the removal of the parent trees will rather aid than retard the abundant 41

growth of sal seedlings in the forests’,

clearly indicating the capability of sal to withstand commercial

demands. The department soon came forward to assist in the spreading of the sal by sowing seeds in areas where it did not grow freely. At the same time, re protection was extended to all sal forests. It was generally believed that re protection helped the growth of sal seedlings in good shape. The practice, identifying species which supposedly hampered with the growth of sal needed to be ‘felled or girdled’, also continued in western Assam. At the same time, the canopy of the sal forest suppressed the growth of any grass below it. In the mixed evergreen forests, natural regeneration was also assured by disallowing the felling of immature trees. Such areas were fully stocked with the existing trees. The sal forests in Assam were originally planted in thatch lands, mainly Imperata cylindricala, with sal seedlings nestling in the grass. Renewed attempt in the sal plantations was made with induced re as an instrument of regeneration during 42

the time of A.J.W. Milroy, p. 221

the Conservator of Forests. During 1916–26 extensive burning was undertaken to

release the sal seedlings and hasten their establishment,

as also to facilitate germination. Was this an

e ective method of sal regeneration? Most of the forest o

cials were convinced that it was. Milroy noted

that the only alternate method was hoe cultivation. A subsidiary local e ect of burning was that it encouraged stool shoots to be thrown out by even quite large stumps, stimulating them in a way that re protection had not done. This had combined with the canopy opening to stimulate sal regeneration, which was done successfully in the forests of Boko in Kamrup. Reversal regeneration, as this came to be known, combined regulated canopy opening and controlled re to induce the forest oor with a carpet of various small vegetations. The latter grass acted as a nursery for the sal seedlings, which, as they established themselves, suppressed the grass. In the next century, with the increasing cost and apparent success of re protection, the department almost did away with the practice of re control except for a few occasional attempts. However, the attitude towards re remained ambiguous for a long time and re protection was again reintroduced in the sal forests of Goalpara in 1927. By the time of Independence, re protection as a method of science was more or less a successful venture. For natural reproduction the Forest Department looked patiently for the owering and seeding of sal, mostly in the Lower Assam forest divisions. Other species including that of ajhar, jam, kadam, cham, poma,

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

In the 1880s, plantation was given higher priority in Kamrup, Darrang, and Nowgong. Between 1881 and

and uriam regularly seeded and owered, and the need for the arti cial regeneration of these varieties was minimized. Natural regeneration of simul in the Sadiya and Darrang forests was always successful. Local foresters gave adequate attention to improve the conditions of such natural regeneration. In Darrang, it was thought that better results could be achieved by the burning down of the undergrowth while in Sadiya it was thought that grazing, by bu aloes, over light jungle lands, at the most for two years would help in yielding 43

better results.

The burning of the undergrowth in the sal forests helped in the growth of bata grass that

helped to nurse the young sal. Where both the covers had been opened and the undergrowth burnt as in the experimental areas near Haltugaon in Goalpara, bata rapidly asserted its predominance. In the evergreen forests, girding of trees was carried out. The girdles were cut in the rst of two instances. During an experiment conducted in 1918–19 most of the species in the evergreen forests sustained this experiment, with the exception of the nahor. An increase in the girding to a higher level led to unhealthy trees. By this time the department came to realize that controlled grazing was quite e ective in having better sal p. 222

regeneration.

This also helped in reducing the thatch undergrowth and the subsequent forest res. The

experiment of moderate grazing was extended to other divisions of Goalpara, Nowgong, and Darrang. In the 1940s, assisted natural regeneration of various timber species like hollong, sappa, and makai in the districts 44

of Sibsagar and Lakhimpur was undertaken with much enthusiasm.

Natural reproduction of timbers that were best suited to the commercial interest of the Forest Department in the colonial period su ered in the evergreen forests. This was primarily due to the excessive undergrowth 45

of the evergreens and bamboos that invariably obstructed the growth of young seedlings. di

46

culty, the overgrowth could be managed by the taungya cultivation.

To overcome this

As the con dence of the

department grew in regard to the expected results of the plantations, they came up with the plan of planting more and more variety of trees in the various divisions of Assam. Such attempts resulted in the limited redistribution of various species of trees in the forests there. Thus, in Goalpara, to attain a better reproduction of sal, attempts were made to grow macaranga—a large genus of tropical trees. This, however, 47

did not prove successful.

In Nambor, experiments of inoculation were also carried out in sachi trees to get

48

agar.

The area that remained mostly under water for a considerable period of time was no less small. To overcome 49

wastage of revenue, the department came up with a plan to plant bhlekor in the ood inundated areas.

The

Kamrup division went ahead with a number of experiments with exotic plants since the early forest operations. During 1874–84 there were the plantations of ceara rubber, mahogany, pithecolobium, 50

phillipine plantin, paper mulberry, and cinchona.

The latter was also planted at Tura in the Garo hills. By

1886, the experiment with cinchona at Tura proved to be a failure, for which the reason given was its higher 51

elevation.

The failure proved so dismal that the department argued that it would be able to bring in the

much cheaper cinchona from the extensive plantations of Darjeeling. Experiments were carried out in 1880 52

in the Kulsi plantation with the seed of ceara rubber received from the botanical garden of Ceylon.

This

was successful, as it was found that within a couple of years the growth was healthy and the plant was thriving in the climate of Assam. After years of ‘managing’ reproduction the department began to give importance to three types of reproduction: natural production, arti cial reproduction, and the taungya p. 223

cultivation.

Plantation works were extremely costly. The expenditure was so high that even in the early

days of plantations the chief commissioner did not favour the idea of extending the plantation programmes any more. Since the early part of the twentieth century the character of regeneration underwent many important changes. In the late nineteenth century, attention was directed mainly at the regular plantations. Though such experiments were largely successful, yet they proved to be expensive, and on account of the labour involved it remained a slow process. In the second decade of the next century, attempt was made to decrease the cost of regeneration by utilizing the natural spreading of the seeds over larger areas. In the eastern forest circles, mostly in tracts like Sadiya, such natural regeneration experiments with hollock, poma, ajhar, 53

and siling proved successful.

In the large tracts, which were already extensively worked out by the Assam

Saw Mill and Timber Company, the natural regeneration of poma, hollock, and siling also proved successful. Similar experiments with hollock also found a favourable response in the soil of Sibsagar. The history of plantation was overall a product of colonial anxiety for increased revenue earnings as well as an attempt to redesign the character of the forest landscape of Assam. Plantation was also a history of the colonial state's negotiation with the local forest. From anxiety to experiment, the colonial state took up plantation as an essential component of forest management.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

forest of Kamrup was proof that the presence of grazing actually helped in sal regeneration. Soon this

Protecting the Forest: Fire, Wild Animals, and Insects However, before general practices of forestry emerged and acquired consolidated shape since the rst decade of the twentieth century, the task of protection of forests against both natural and arti cial threats was left to the local circumstances. While the Forest Department defended its territorial rights through legal endowments, natural challenges remained beyond the purview of such protection. As was clear, forest conservancy came under the constant threat of re, wind, wild animals, as well as insects, it required quick remedies. One of the most important things that the foresters had to deal with was to check the damage in icted by them on the forest resources. Compared to animals or pests it was the forest res that remained a constant worry for the foresters. Forest res not only caused damage to the trees and other forest produce but also demoralized the foresters. It is not that the res were unique to the nineteenth century as forest p. 224

res had been a universal problem for

54

a long time.

Even in local idiom narratives of banjui (forest res)

however, had little to say on aspects of damages caused to utilitarian dimensions of forests. In the precolonial times, there was no regulated control over forest res and rarely attempt was made to seek relief against them. There was neither any attempt to understand the spread and origin of forest res nor any estimate of the loss caused by them. In the second half of the nineteenth century, as forest res became a major challenge against the principles of Indian forest conservancy, the imperial Forest Department began to treat the impact of both forest res and shifting cultivation as a major cause of concern for the forest 55

res.

The foresters carefully began to estimate the extent of the forest res. Attempt was made to control

them in spite of the high nancial stake. A few of years later, through regulated re control the Indian forestry programme began to focus on the possible impact of the forest res on forest regeneration. A careful scrutiny of the various issues related with forest res reveals that there was a dichotomy in 56

managing the res and the existing knowledge in re management.

Fire protection thus became a marker

of forest conservancy, serving not only to distinguish state forests from others, but exemplifying care and farsightedness in management. Since the early days of the forest conservancy in Assam the forest res played an important role in the a airs of the Forest Department. Graphic portrayals of the spread and intensity of forest res were sent by the local foresters. In Assam, forest res normally occurred during the winter, albeit varying from locality to locality. Most of the res occurred in the districts of Lower Assam due to the low moisture level there. Examples from the early days of re protection indicate the ravages and destruction caused by the forest res in Assam. The pages of the annual reports of the forest administration are full of descriptions about the damages caused by these res. What could be the causes of the forest res? The foresters struggled to understand this, and lined up a range of causes. It is not that these causes remained xed forever. In the early days, the Forest Department gave primacy to both natural causes as well as human factors as the origin of res. Mention of instances of human involvement leading to large-scale forest res is fairly visible. These human actors mostly belonged to the plebeian class: they could be either a Gurkha military or ‘runaway tea-garden coolies' while the p. 225

department took care to mention how ‘His

Highness the Maharaja of Kuch Behar's shooting party’ took

care to ensure that re not be caused by them. At the same time, the department also considered both local climate and weather as primarily responsible for the origin of the forest res. The department argued that the cold and dry seasons, aggravated by the westerly gales, helped the res to spread with great violence’. Poor rainfall and subsequent dry weather was favourable for the spread of the res. How were the forests to be safeguarded against the devastation caused by the (Fig 5.5)? The prevalent method was to employ a number of rewatchers during the dry season, from January to April. They were supposed to keep an eye on the origin of the forest res and report the spread of these res to the 57

foresters.

Moreover, along with the employment of the rewatchers, digging of re lines of 50 feet in 58

width was introduced across forest reserves. In Assam, such practices of re protection began from 1873.

Fire protection began in the reserves of Barduar, Pantan, Matiakhar, Kulsi, and Jara in Kamrup and Balipara, Kholahat, and Doboka in the Darrang forest division. As the existing re-lines became ine ective, the department tried to widen these re lines to a width of 80–100 feet. Protecting the forest, primarily the commercially valuable ones, and sal, in particular, against the re turned out to be a tricky task. We can see that in the early years of conservation, the department was at a loss regarding the control of the res. But as the years passed by, the department became con dent of its accumulated knowledge of its experiences and

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

are all pervasive. Banjui was always seen as full of mystery and caused by unknown reasons. Such narratives,

these helped a lot in not only ascertaining, promptly, the causes of the res but also gave direction to the steps to be taken in controlling it.

Fig. 5.5

These conventional experiments did not provide favourable results in the sal forests of Assam and the p. 226

department looked for other alternatives.

In 1886, it was admitted that ‘ re protection in Assam is to put

it in few words, a question of patient teaching of the people living in the neighbourhood of the forests, 59

because they have from time immemorial resorted to burning them in a most reckless manner…’.

The

people who lived near the Reserved Forests were identi ed as the reason behind the continuous burning of the forest and could not be rescued from their ‘bad habits’ so easily. In their search for the origin of the forest res, the foresters identi ed the persons responsible for the forest res. In Goalpara, the woodcutters and the hunters were commonly identi ed as the causes of forest res. Thus, more often than not, a dewan of the Goalpara zamindari, or a disgruntled forester who was dismissed, or sometimes a reckless villager passing through the forest were identi ed as the cause of the forest res. The foresters considered the lackadaisical attitude of the forest guards or rewatchers to be the commonest reasons for the outbreak of the res. In one such instance, the foresters insisted that during 1875–6 all the res in the Guwahati division originated from the outside as the rewatchers had failed to control the entry of the re into these forests. In this example, the responsibility was xed with the rewatchers. In Tezpur, during the same year, it was found that one dismissed forester along with the villagers, whose cattle was prohibited from grazing in the forest, set re to the forests. In 1886 in Goalpara, the department convinced itself that the people from the Imperial Forest Survey, who were engaged in the survey of these reserves, had set re to the forests. The department arrested them but could not prosecute them as they failed to produce any concrete evidence. Di

culties in keeping the re-lines clear of falling leaves made re protection ine ective. And

thus, sometimes a blaze could spread even into the well-protected areas through the spot where the re line was faulty. Often the foresters admitted that the growth of the grass in the forest made re protection an 60

impossible task.

On various occasions the department opined that the res could have been controlled if

the neighbouring villagers were willing to do so. Sometimes the res originated beyond the areas where the department had no jurisdiction as such. The re that took place in the Sankosh reserve was reported to have spread from one of the Bengal reserves northwards into the Bhutan hills. It was thought at one time that it would be conducive for future re protection if the northern boundary between Assam and Bhutan were well cleared. But such works required heavy nancial cost as this boundary line travelled though heavy forest. p. 227

Fire protection soon became an important agenda of the Forest Department—from an 61

acres in 1877 the area under re protection increased to 1,02,910 acres in 1881.

area of 59,290

The area under re

protection increased manifold with the progress of the forest administration. At the close of the nineteenth 62

century, in 1898, approximately 7,69,118 acres of forest reserves were under re protection.

By now, most

of the forest divisions, excluding the districts of Sibsagar and Lakhimpur, were under re protection. As re protection was a signi cant problem for the entire British territory, serious attempts were made to relocate the re within the principles of forest science. The best example of such an attempt could be found in the works of Brandis. He elevated the prevention of re from local tactics to leading principles of 63

forestry.

He advised o

cials to control res only in the areas with a ‘promise of good production of timber

and other produce’. By preventing res, foresters manipulated cycles of renewal to selectively assist timber trees. In later years the department brought re back as a necessary technology of regeneration of various selective timbers. Fire came to be used in the regeneration process of the forest, the sal in particular. Can re help in the regeneration of trees or does it destroy valuable timbers? This question haunted the foresters for many years, and science came to their rescue. A correct decision in this regard could only help in the measure to be taken to control the ravages of res. A large group of the foresters believed in the positive

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Proportionate distribution of areas burnt and causes, 1896–7

aspects of forest res. Major Graham and Major Lamb, the deputy commissioners of Darrang and Kamrup, respectively, were of the strong opinion that forest res helped clear land for cultivation, extirpate wild 64

beasts, and regenerate pastures.

Another district o

cer argued that the rank and dense undergrowth that

comes up in a Protected Forest increased malarial parasites. Amidst this uncertainty the rst important departure in the perception of re came in 1906. S. EardleyWilmot, the Inspector General of forest, stressed on the necessity of having a fresh look into the existing 65

methods of re protection.

Analysing the problem of re in the sal forest of Goalpara, he argued that in the

dry sal forests re conservancy was a necessity for the production of good sal crop and for the successful regeneration of the species. The cost of re conservation could be recouped a hundredfold by its results. On the other hand, in the moist sal forests it might be worthwhile to experiment with the use of re in forests where the standing crop was not of the rst quality or value. This method would also help in avoiding the p. 228

high expenditure that was required for

the employment of manual labour over the years. He

experiment and the forest should be burnt at the time of the leaf fall until there were indications of a good sal seed year, when rigid protection should be again enforced. Thus, experiences in re protection provided the foresters with practical bene ts of re. In the early twentieth century, re was taken into con dence and it was thought that res could help in the fast regeneration of sal tree in the moist forests. In 1915, re protection came to a halt in the moist sal forests. After a few years re came to be associated with better sal in the forest history. Accordingly, controlled and arti cial re was allowed towards this end. It was found that in western Assam, continued re protection of sal forest for a period of about 40 years during 1890–1930 altered the character of the forest. It introduced previously non-existent evergreen undergrowth, increasing the soil moisture and decreasing the soil ventilation. As a consequence, even though the previously established crop continued to ourish and the 66

tree seeded freely and the seeds germinated, new regeneration could not establish itself.

At this stage

regeneration of those forests that were too damp to burn posed a serious problem and the only way out was clear felling, burning the dry refuse, soil working, and arti cial regeneration. This system remained in practice till independence. The area under re protection was reduced drastically and in 1931 it was 67

estimated that 10,775 acres of forest was under re protection.

After Independence the Indian government proposed to e ectively monitor forest re incidences. Accordingly, the Forest Department gave more importance to collecting information about the re incidence. Forest re prevention became an important function of the Forest Protection Division in the Ministry of Environment and Forests. At the close of the twentieth century damage done by the forest res was minimized in Assam. In 1995, it was estimated that the total area under forest re was negligibly low; it only covered an area of 24 square kilometres. This was a mere fraction of the total forested area of the state 68

while a total 14,516 square kilometres of forested area of the country had been a ected by re.

Fire was

controlled from engul ng a large mass of area, much to the relief of the department. Fire was primarily seen as a destroyer of resources in the early phase of re control whereas in the later period the department came to realize that controlled re was necessary for the regeneration of the forest, especially sal. p. 229

It was not only the forest res that caused extensive damages to forest wealth. Wild animals often damaged the seedlings. In the forests of Kamrup and Garo hills, both pigs and monkeys often damaged the sal seedlings. Along with forest res, the department tried to tackle the troubles caused by various pests and forest creepers. This required a huge expenditure and also the keen involvement of the rank and les of the Forest Department. As a preliminary measure, fencings were erected to protect the seedlings against pigs in 69

many sal plantations of Kamrup and Goalpara.

Such practice of putting fencing against the pigs was also

prevalent in the neighbouring districts of Bengal. However, it was soon found that the pigs often managed to make their way to the plantations through the fences. Moreover, the small deer used to get into the plantations through the holes already made by the pigs. Compared to the pigs the deer created more damage 70

to the planted saplings.

On the other hand, in the process of healthy growth of the evergreen forest the greatest obstacle came from the ‘luxurious growth’ of the creepers. The problem was further aggravated by the growth of the weeds. Both these combined to kill the natural regeneration of various species in the early stages and later hindered the healthy growth of saplings and poles. The creepers prevented the mature trees from attaining healthy crowns for the production of seed. They were extremely injurious to the health of the trees and prevented the formation of a straight and cylindrical bole. This was particularly true in the case of the sal trees. The

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

recommended that a considerable area, between two to three square miles, should be selected for this

problem of creepers became more rampant along with the number of sal felling, facilitating the growth of the former in a more e ective way. The problem of creepers and weeds was not unique to any single forest in the province, and in line with the practices in other provinces, creeper cutting, known as ‘cultural operations’, was introduced in the forests of Assam. This practice soon became a regular feature of the Forest Department with occasional intervals. Normally the method adopted for the removal of the creepers was to place about 60 labourers in a line, under the direction of a forester and four forest guards, across a vertical path inside the forest and then to march them through the forest. In this process, each man kept the same relative position while cutting all the creepers on the space assigned to him and completed the work in a relatively short time. This type of work was particularly practised in those forests like that of the Balipara sal forest in the Tezpur division, where the number of the trees with twisted and crooked boles burdened the forests with huge creepers. p. 230

Though funds were earmarked for such works at regular intervals yet the removal of creepers and weeds operations to a few divisions only. To overcome such di 71

with grass or other produce.

culty of funds labourers were often paid in kind,

The cost of creeper cutting also varied depending on the availability of

labourers. To overcome the problem of creeper-cutting and the associated cost the department looked for alternative arrangements. It was argued that if transplantation could be carried out directly from the nursery, the problem of creepers could be overcome. Soon attempts were made to transplant directly from 72

the nurseries during the cold weather in the Lakhimpur and Sadiya divisions.

The foresters in their

competition with the weed made more experiments, like use of a motor cultivator to control the weeds. By the 1940s, growing of interlinear weed suppressors such as Tephrosia and the amount of seeds sown 73

received greater attention from the department.

Next to these, injury from insects remained a matter of concern for the Forest Department. In the early twentieth century the situation aggravated to such an extent that in 1901 the Government of India placed E.P. Stebbing, a Deputy Conservator of Forest and well-known authority in matters of forest resources, to 74

look into the matter.

Defoliating caterpillars had stripped o

many trees of their leaves. Occasionally they

were found in abundance in Goalpara. Often longicorn beetles disturbed the healthy growth of rubber trees. Fungus and borer were also identi ed as other destructive elements of the sal forest. Another pest that continued to pose a threat, was Aggeratum. The frustration with this pest was such that during the preparation of the 1916–17 Annual Report it was mentioned that ‘it appears to be impossible to devise any means of dealing with this pest, which infests all wasteland, except by simultaneous concerted action both 75

within the forests and in all privately occupied land’.

The impact of this pest was further aggravated by the

fact that the seed of this pest was very light and during the windy season one uncut bush could infect the country for miles around. The department, to relieve itself from the anxiety, took recourse to self-assurance that the pest would probably disappear in time as it was reported by some to be one in a sequence of noxious weeds that had repeatedly died out. The Pinus kasya, the popular Shillong pine, posed the problem of high mortality rate. In 1929, a scienti c enquiry into the causes of such deaths con rmed that many such trees p. 231

were dying out because of the

attack of a beetle named Blastophgus khasianus. The department had no

other alternative but to begin a line of campaign against the pest. The initial days of forest history thus began with attempts to grapple with the uncertainties of nature. E ective use of science and technology assured the Forest Department of larger prospects. Once these were assured, the department could go ahead with the greater ambition of plantation, either arti cial or natural.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

continued to face huge nancial constraints. The only way out was to con ne regular practices of cultural

Shi ing Cultivation: Anxieties of Forestry As the imperial forestry advanced, the traditional agrarian practices emerged as a major cause of concern for the science of forestry. The most di

cult question for them was whether the practice of shifting

cultivation, widely popular amongst various peasant communities, mostly known as jhum, could coexist as a viable economic activity? While for the managers of the agrarian revenue it was not only ‘a wasteful’ but 76

also ‘strange, repulsive and fascinating’ experience

the foresters, on the other hand, had to grapple with

the complex issue of whether the practice of shifting cultivation aggravated the deterioration of the forest cover or whether it could be controlled or not. There was a clear ambivalence in this matter. Early in the days of forest management the foresters did not have any clear view of shifting cultivation and its impact on the forest. In the other provinces, foresters maintained that the practice of shifting cultivation or jhumias played an excellent role in the larger issues of conservation. The best tree-lines were found in the areas Provinces the jhumias were able to preserve the best trees as groves. Gustav Mann was eager to nd a 77

middle path.

He commented afterwards that there was no reason why such practices of shifting cultivation

could not be banned politically. Soon the debate acquired a di erent dimension forcing the Forest Department to distinguish between the destruction of the forest by the tea-planters or by the practice of shifting cultivation. Torn between colonial benevolence and pragmatic wisdom, the department argued that as the tea planting, would be of permanent nature, there should be no logic that could compel these planters and preserve their forest coverage. On the other hand jhuming had no such inherent value in itself which 78

could support its continuance.

There was no other option but of the shifting cultivation to retreat. The

chief commissioner of the province issued a circular as early as 1875 to protect the forests, which were yet to 79

p. 232

be brought under the reserved category, against the impending danger of shifting cultivation.

These

restrictions imposed resulted in increased taxes for those villages practising shifting cultivation. However, shifting cultivation remained in practice even after the restrictions. The department was in a dilemma over the need to grant permits for shifting cultivation and the ethics of conservation. This resulted in the reorientation of the Forest Department's notion of rights and jurisdictions. The department simpli ed the regulations regarding the district forests. It made sure that such rearrangement should not be at the cost of the reserved areas. The evidence of the Jhanji reserve in Sibsagar was a good example of such a 80

rearrangement.

The Reserved Forest was situated at the foot of the Naga hills. After the declaration of the

reserve the Naga villagers belonging to the villages Kampungia and Ooramung claimed a larger portion of the reserve arguing that they had been practising shifting cultivation in these forests. The department claimed to o er compensation to the existing population within a Reserved Forest but it was hardly practised in reality. In this case Mann, the conservator, thought it advisable to throw open the reserve and ll the gap by reserving land in the adjoining district. In 1879, in another example of such ambiguity and con ict of interest among the various departments, the political o

cer of the Naga hills disapproved of a

proposal of an extension to the Mikir hills reserve on the assumption that it would put the Mikir people in dire straits with regard to fresh land for jhum. An opposite view was taken by the conservator who argued that the Mikir hills were sparsely populated and hence there was far more land than the local population could possibly use for their agricultural needs. Gradually another idea came to take shape among the foresters for which they suggested that changes in this mode of cultivation could only be brought about very 81

gradually and cautiously.

At some point of time it was felt that various communities had come to realize

the bene ts of forest conservation. In the early part of the twentieth century, foresters argued that the shifting cultivators, referring for instance to the practices of the Adi tribe in the frontier of Lakhimpur, exhausted the fertility of the soil to 82

such an extent that plants could not survive there even for a short duration.

Reports also came in about the

re from the shifting cultivations that had destroyed sizeable areas of good forests. Early in the next century, the foresters came to believe in the damage done by shifting cultivation to the forests. Frederick p. 233

Beadon Bryant best summed up the situation

by writing that ‘the practice of…shifting cultivation does 83

great harm in any country and this becomes more pronounced on steep hill-sides with unstable soil.’

He

categorically argued that apart from destroying forests, shifting cultivation was the principal cause of landslips, silting up and drying up springs and rivers and causing oods. Bryant suggested that the time had come to control such damages. The department was trying to understand the relationship between the 84

forest and the retention of the atmospheric moisture and soil moisture.

Arti cial res caused by jhuming

along the hilly section of the Assam Bengal Railway Line also posed a serious threat to the safety of the track. The newly laid track came under threat of erosion around 1904 and the department was forced to

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

where shifting cultivation was widely practised. For example, it was a well-known fact that in the Central

85

prohibit shifting cultivation along the track without the permission of the deputy commissioner of Cachar. Shifting cultivation within a distance of one quarter of a mile from the railway line was, therefore, made illegal.

Contrary to the views expressed by the leading foresters in the twentieth century for stricter control over the shifting cultivators, the government had no option but to hold a very ambiguous position regarding the practice even though they were no less worried about the destruction caused. Shifting cultivation found favour with the revenue o

cials. They argued that while forest conservation was necessary, attention had

to be paid so that the cultivators did not su er. Many ardently supported the idea of keeping adequate areas for shifting cultivation. They argued that though the Forest Department had come to control extensive forest tracts, many of them did not have any potential for forestry. These areas were primarily suitable rather for shifting cultivation. Referring to the vague notion of the forests in the Indian Forest Act, 1878, they explicitly argued that ‘in the act there is no de nition of forest…the term may be applied to land totally These revenue o

cials reasoned against the need for reserving vast areas with little or

no potential for commercial forestry. They argued that the forest reserve was a juridical category and not a descriptive one. The creation of extensive government forests had been ‘not so much for the purpose of forestry’, as for the alienation of property rights to land. Many areas were annexed because there was no one to whom the government could invest with property rights. The colonial state was aware of the need for the expansion of the agrarian front. This created an obvious con ict of interest with the Forest Department. However, it must be kept in mind that for the colonial state the agrarian frontier meant the plantation sector in particular. The basic question before them was the p. 234

extent to which the operations of the

Forest Department stood in the way of extending cultivation. After

the passing of the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886, the government took serious interest in the expansion of the agrarian front. Both William Ward and Henry Cotton (1845–1915), the two successive chief commissioners of the province, attended to the subject with the highest interest. Both of them put the interest of the Revenue Department into the forefront to that of the Forest Department. Ward asserted that the operations of the Forest Department should in no way interfere with the extension of cultivation. He also suggested that the valuation of timber on wasteland grants had in many cases been excessive and this had kept the peasants from taking up land. He advocated that, if necessary, even the areas in the reserved tracts could be curtailed in response to the legitimate demands from the European tea-planter or the ordinary cultivator. His successor Henry Cotton, the Chief Commissioner of the province during 1897–1902, also espoused similar views. Cotton argued that the forested area was unlimited in the Brahmaputra valley, and hence the question of deforestation did not arise. He thought cultivation could be ordinarily extended whenever there was an e ective demand for land, without encroaching on Reserved Forests. He also stated that the proposal for deforestation would not jeopardise the basic ethics of conservation. The colonial state was careful to safeguard the future interests of agrarian revenue and pursued a policy of deforestation. Cotton was very optimistic about the coexistence of the forest and the agrarian frontier of Assam, he was of the opinion that hundreds of year must elapse before any appreciable diminution of forest throughout this vast area can be e ected. He further argued that such clearace would be of immense and unquali ed gain to the government though it would be impossible to bring thousands of square miles of jungle under cultivation. Cotton's proposal did not go unattended. The Imperial government agreed that many of the reserved tracts, where the value of timber was meagre, had been unjustly reserved. It was also felt that there were many areas that had been left without actually estimating the real value of the timber therein. Pursuing a policy of agrarian expansion, large tracts of forested areas were deforested. Both the valleys and forestlands were opened up for cultivation. The valuation of timber also underwent revision. Accordingly, peasants taking up p. 235

land on an annual patta basis did not have to pay revenue unless they decided to fell the trees standing

on

it. It would be wrong to suggest that the government did not want to lose the revenue from these timbers. Timber on the newly opened up land also provided the Department with good revenue. It was made sure that once the peasants felled the trees they would be liable to pay royalty. The rate of the timber on such lands was high. Despite a proposal from the chief commissioner, the department was reluctant to lower these rates. The Forest Department's, mandate was clear: it must protect, as early as possible, the vast forest tract before the ‘axe and re of the jhumias destroyed it’. Despite this bitter struggle for the fate of shifting cultivation, its ghost had not disappeared from the policy ambit of the Forest Department. Rather it became consolidated. After Independence the problem came to be identi ed with the ‘primitive’ lifestyles of the people living in the hills. A good example of such stance was

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

86

destitute of trees’.

that of the opinion of P.D. Stracey who thought shifting cultivation as core to several environmental 88

problems of the region.

He listed loss of forest cover, erosion of topsoil, deserti cation, and decline in

forest productivity as some of the key aspects of these issues. Over the years these came to be strongly 89

associated with the shifting cultivation and with the erosion of soil and recurrence of ood.

Protection of

the forests from the dangers of shifting cultivation could only be brought about through a change in the attitude of those people who practised it. Formulating strict guidelines restricting such practices also brought forth con icting interests over the larger areas in the tribal and caste-Hindu peasants. At one point of time the department withdrew from directly interfering in the control of shifting cultivation and 90

entrusted the same to the tribal leaders.

Under the Five-year Plans, elaborate schemes were taken up to

control shifting cultivation. These schemes undertook both to rehabilitate families practising shifting cultivation and to reclaim such lands for them that were suitable for raising agricultural crops. In spite of the e orts to control shifting cultivation, it has remained a common land use pattern in this region. There 91

are varying estimates by di erent agencies regarding the areas a ected by shifting cultivation.

The area

This clearly indicates the signi cance

of shifting cultivation, despite the early hostilities of imperial forestry, in the agrarian practices of the 93

region.

The relationship between shifting cultivation and forest conservation found better advocacy in the

form of taungya cultivation, which is discussed below.

p. 236

Taungya and Forest Regeneration The debate about the impact of shifting cultivation on forest conservation convinced the Forest Department to experiment in taungya cultivation. This practice was a complex combination of both arti cial regeneration and shifting cultivation. Normally under taungya, the department encouraged clear cutting of forests by the peasants, who otherwise practised shifting cultivation, and replaced the cleared tracts with 94

more or less uniform forest crops.

The method reached its peak both in terms of application and principles 95

in Burma where the method was best applied for producing teak in abundance.

This model had already

achieved limited success within the imperial forestry. For the Empire, the forests of both Burma and north Bengal were a good example of its suitability. Gradually taungya came to be seen as the best possible method for coexistence of both shifting cultivation and the regeneration of forest species but foresters could not agree regarding the selection of place for taungya cultivation. The department had two choices before it: taungya work could be taken up in grassland, which were devoid of sal or in tracts where the forests had 95

been clear-felled and then arti cially regenerated.

While most of the Bengal foresters were of the opinion

that the former would yield better results, their colleagues in Assam thought otherwise. Such uneasiness on the part of the Assam foresters to assert control over grassland primarily emerged from the fact that such forests were mostly part of the unclassed State forests, largely controlled by the Revenue Department. In Assam, in the early days of forest conservation, Brandis, to overcome the problem of shifting cultivation, looked for a system where coexistence of agriculture and forestry was possible. Such a coexistence was to be never at the cost of destruction of forest wealth. And it was here that taungya came to the rescue of the Assam Forest Department. Within the department, taungya was seen as a practice that ‘not only provides a 96

living for the cultivators but makes the cost of the plantations far less, as weeding costs are reduced’. Taungya would be applied in a region when regeneration of forest tracts would be needed.

Taungya became an integral feature of the Assam forests a decade later when acute labour scarcity became on obstacle for the expansion of the simul plantation in the eastern Assam forests. The economic prospects for Simul tree increased once the tea-planters began to use it for making tea-boxes. The Forest Department p. 237

brought more areas under simul

plantation. The experimental plantation of simul in the Dibru Reserved

Forests turned out to be expensive for the cost of clearing and tending. To avoid the prohibitive labour 97

expenses the department opted out for taungya cultivation.

The small experiment began with an estimated

51 acres in the Dibru Reserved Forests of Lakhimpur in 1914. The agrarian expertise of the Miri peasants and Nepali graziers living in the neighbourhood of the Reserved Forests came in handy for the plantation of simul. The Forest Department enforced some regulation in allowing the peasants to plant saplings. Tracts were planted in lines 24 feet apart at a 12 feet interval in the lines. After a couple of years the department lukewarmly claimed that ‘the results may be regarded as most satisfactory, more especially as they have cost government nothing, with the villagers doing the work free 98

in return for being allowed to jhum in the reserve’.

There was enthusiasm in the Forest Department for its

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

92

a ected in the North East was reported to be 3.81 million hectares.

expansion but in reality the subject never received great attention. Since then the area under taungya only marginally increased to 302 acres in 1919. After a couple of years of experimentation the Forest Department could only think that taungya promised, both nancially and from the point of silviculture, a ‘great future’ in Assam for the regeneration of 99

evergreen forests.

Within the department, taungya was seen as a practice that ‘not only provides a living 100

for the cultivators but makes the cost of the plantations far less, as weeding costs are reduced’.

In the

third decade of the century, most of the forest divisions in Assam were under this system, covering, approximately 8,376 acres. The largest share went to the forests of eastern Assam; Sadiya with 3,225 101

acres.

The total number of peasant families under this system was negligible as in 1940 only 950 peasant 102

families were practising taungya.

This early thrust to the simul plantation under taungya began to witness variations with the change of the with sal, showed that natural regeneration of the plant was extremely scanty. The forests could neither help maintain the growing stock. Taungya was adopted as an alternative to induce arti cial regeneration of sal 103

along with simul and teak. Taungya was also introduced in other forests of eastern and central Assam.

Peasants were given saplings or seeds to grow along with their paddy crop. Arrangement had been made to pay wages to the peasants according to the number and condition of the two-years-old seedlings. The p. 238

department hoped to further expand taungya

throughout the forests of eastern Assam, which could be

instrumental for the sustenance of the emerging sawmill industry in the neighbourhood of the tea-gardens. Deviation from standard principles can be seen with the beginning of the taungya cultivation in Cachar in 104

southern Assam in 1920. The experiment was done with the plantation of teak.

Once the process of cutting

and burning a tract was completed, it was planted with root and shoot cuttings of teak. This gave the 105

saplings rapid growth over the weeds.

In the next year, after the cultivators harvested their new crops,

more areas were sown with teak seed. Along with this, the low-lying tracts were planted with Jarool, species of hard timber. Experiments were also carried out to allow teak saplings to grow faster than the paddy growth. Along with simultaneous paddy cultivation four seedlings of teak at each stake was thought to give excellent results, preventing the young teak from being overcrowded by the paddy. As a measure of ensuring further durability of the young teak plants the surplus plants at stake in the original lines were utilized after the root and shoot were pruned, to plant up intermediate lines ten feet apart. In the second year in some places, macaranga seeds were sown between the lines of teak. The average height of the teak after two years was six feet wherever it had been properly weeded during the rains. In some cases, this height could reach up to 18 feet. Further experiments were carried out in the next few years. In 1925, grown teak plants of 5–12 feet height, brought from neighbouring Sylhet, were planted after their root and shoot were pruned. Excellent results could be derived from such experiments. After the peasants would vacate their area there were still chances of weed undergrowth, and to overcome this, the Forest Department planted quickgrowing species of jackfruit in between the teak lines. Departure from the general practice of taungya went on. For instance, changes were introduced in 1940 into the method of crop sharing only in the forests of central Assam. The immediate reason for this change was practical di

culties faced in the application of taungya. The Department reported how peasants were more

interested in taking care of their crops rather than attending to the labour requirements of the department. This forced the department to adopt an intermediate method which allowed the peasants to take a free crop o

106

the land between planted lines, which eliminated the cost of the rst year's weeding.

Despite localized innovation in the general principles of taungya it did not take too long for the method to be p. 239

seen as associated with

insurmountable di

culties. Explaining such odds, Stebbing argued that both the

lack of knowledge and the disinclination of subordinate foresters were mainly responsible for the failure of 107

the taungya practice.

He also argued that the foresters were accustomed only to revenue work and they

were hardly interested in undertaking such challenging jobs. He further suggested that as the foresters continued to hold the practice of shifting cultivation in distrust and vis-à-vis, the very ‘expectations of the 108

taungya cultivation’ also could not deliver.

The only hope of the hour, in the wake of resistance to the

practice, was an imminent collapse of the agrarian economy of the tribal population which would eventually force the tribal people to enter into negotiation with the Forest Department and force them to take up taungya cultivation. Within the taungya system the primary concern was the healthy growth of the timber in the plantation area. Once their healthy growth could be ensured the department began to experiment with various species of

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

landscape. The best example was that of the forests of western Assam. Inspection of these forests, covered

trees. Selection of trees for the taungya cultivation depended on the immediate commercial prospect of forests. Later such selection came to depend on the viability of the specie inside a particular forest. For instance, quite often a particular species, despite its high probability of being selected, but equally highly vulnerability in the face of wild elephants and deer, was not selected for adoption under the taungya programme. Apart from the highly-valued sal, teak, ajar, jarool, poma, uriam, gomari, hillock, and kokon varieties the choice for taungya cultivation was also determined by the demand of local industrial needs. One such important industry was the expanding factory industry match. The possibility of simul being replaced to make tea-chests was already doing the rounds in the o

cial circles; the department looked for

those species to use in taungya cultivation from which three-ply veneer tea-chests could be 109

manufactured.

Another early choice was bamboo of the jati variety and match-timber, which was

introduced in taungya in southern Assam. Similarly, as the commercial motive began to dominate taungya practice it was suggested that it was much better to cultivate agar than trees, which would be used as 110

timber.

agrarian activities of peasants and, second, it reduced the expenses on labour. Several factors ensured the rst condition: the taungya peasants were provided with the free grant of a rst-class tree for a dug out and p. 240

cash payment according to the number and condition of the seedlings. Taungya cultivation had remained con ned to a limited area of operation. It was allowed primarily in places where shifting cultivation was wide in practice. High demand for the land and increasing recurring labour expenses of the Forest Department came to have a combined impact. Despite such impact taungya also unfolded a con ict of interest between the department and the peasants. The department was not sure about the pro t to be earned and thus often mentioned that economic viability of such practice depended largely on the ‘amount of supervision’ that could be exercised by the Forest Department. Knowledge about better species suitable for a particular forest and employing the best methods to ensure germination and protection of seedlings against the weather could be another way to gain better 111

results.

Often foresters identi ed inexperience of the peasants as the chief reason for the failure of the

taungya experiment. Neither did the taungya peasants accept the principles being laid down by the department literally. The department lamented that the peasants planted only that variety of timber that had a prospective market or by newly established forest-based industries in their vicinity. The peasants' reluctance to accept the general principles was also best expressed when the department, citing the independent nature of the jhumias, reported how it was di

cult to get them to plant any species other than machilus bombycina on which they

fed the silk cocoons. After several years of experience, despite its ability to generate healthy timber along with parallel existence of peasant farming, taungya lost its appeal within the Indian forestry programme. This was largely due to the unwillingness of the Indian forest managers to see agricultural practices inside the forests. After Independence, the taungya as a practice of forest regeneration did not gain much popularity amongst the 112

foresters but taungya villages continued to be there.

Their presence, however, unleashed critical impact in

the arena of forest conservation. Neither could taungya as a form of experiment within the scienti c forestry attract much attention. Over a period of time, forest villages, also an o -shoot of the imperial forestry programme and taungya came to be seen as embodied with similar property rights within Reserved Forests. This belief was further consolidated with occasional state-induced welfare schemes. While the taungya peasants continued to live inside the Reserved Forests without any tenurial rights, they came to be identi ed as forest encroachers.

p. 241

Imperial Forestry: Framing Friendship With Industrial Ventures Assam does not enjoy the reputation of being a country where there is much wood-carving, and the enquiry which has been recently set on foot in the province shows that is not in itself an industry or a branch of art which employs much labour and capital. 113

Monograph on Wood-Carving in Assam, 1903

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Taungya gave rise to twofold results for the Forest Department: rst, it could avoid any direct clash with the

A cursory glance at this comment will make us believe that the imperial forestry only played a role of supplier of marketable timbers for the ever-expanding market. While a recent work suggests that the wood114

based handicraft industry struggled to survive

the imperial forestry began to support mercantile and

industrial interests. Several pre-independent forestry programmes were based catering to the needs of the 115

emerging industries in the close neighbourhood of the forests.

In doing this, a key role was played by the

newly established Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun. Research carried out in FRI diversi ed the commercial aspects of the forest produce. Research work was carried through the various branches of silviculture, economics, botany, entomology, and chemistry. Except for a brief period during the early 1930s' worldwide depression, the forestry research, carried out to meet with the post-First World War 116

exigencies, acquired a strong foothold.

The potential of FRI and its impact in imperial forestry were best

described by Stebbing who thought the new forest research institute as the ‘most imposing edi ce and one of the best equipped of its kind in the world’.

century, tried to maximize the revenue potential of the forest resources by carrying out research into various soft woods found in the region. Additional pressure came from the recurrent shortage of fuelwood faced by the tea-gardens. A number of unsuccessful experiments were also carried to create a reservoir of 117

fuelwood.

However, it was timber treatment that got a distinct thrust from the Forest Department. High

humidity worked as a strong obstacle for proper seasoning of timbers found in Assam. Timber was normally seasoned under cover, and a long period was required for it to be seasoned. Despite these manual 118

treatments, the railways, the main consumer of the Assam Forest Department and also imperial forestry,

used to su er losses because of the regular changes needed for the sleepers. This forced them to look for an p. 242

alternative. The arrival of timber treatment (Figs 5.6 and

5.7), which could o er antiseptic treatment of

timbers, brought relief to them. A plant was established in Jaipur in eastern Assam to test the absorption of preservatives in 1918. These antiseptically treated sleepers were used by the Assam–Bengal Railway, from which satisfactory results were forthcoming. O

cials in the Assam–Bengal Railway thought that such

treated sleepers would give a life of more than 12 years. The Assam Railway and Trading Company established another sleeper treating plant in Margherita. The plant impregnated a fair amount of timber (Figs 5.8 and 5.9) mostly to the tea-gardens and also for the sleepers required by Assam Railways and 119

Trading (ART) Company.

Fig. 5.6

Timber treatment plant in eastern Assam. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

The Assam Forest Department, following broad guidelines formulated by FRI, since the early twentieth

Fig. 5.7

Fig. 5.8

A modern timber processing unit. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia

Fig. 5.9

Timber processing unit connected closely with modern transport facilities. Courtesy Arupjyoti Saikia Experiments were carried out to make various erstwhile ‘unworthy trees’ useful for various daily needs. An experiment of this nature was conducted in Nambor Reserved Forests to test the possibility of inducing 120

arti cially the formation of agar in the sachi tree.

Experimental inoculation of sachi trees showing signs

of agar wood displayed positive result in 1928. Similarly, more experiments were carried out to use other soft woods for various local industries, such as uriam for pencils, haldu and toon for penholders, ping for large tool handles, umbrella handles from bamboo species Pseudostachyam polymorphum and bonsum for 121

indigenous shuttles, and so on. p. 243 p. 244

In the case of bamboo species the wood was sent to England for

ascertaining its technological viability.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

A timber seasoning plant. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive

These ndings suggested the possibilities of use of bamboo for various soft wood industries. Subsequently the export of the species was also recommended. However, Assam Forest Enquiry Committee strongly opposed any export unless proved otherwise that there was not su

cient usage in the local industries. In

the wake of this protest, such a project never acquired a commercial character. In spite of the hostility of the Assam government, forest research with an industrial thrust continued. Arrangements were made with various private rms like sawmills, tea-gardens, or ART Company to buy these impoverished forest produces. The commercial prospects of the forest produces increased manifold on the eve of the Second World War, which led to intensive research work to improve the marketability of the forest produce. Various forest produces that had not attracted the attention of the Forest Department, acquired a new commercial 122

identity.

123

Assam forest got a further leap with the publication of Flora of Assam.

Kanjilal, the main architect of these

multi-volume works, began preparing a descriptive list of the Assam ora and fauna since 1913. Specimen book was written with the active support of the Forest Department. Alongside, a herbarium was also p. 245

established on an experimental basis in Shillong, made permanent

in 1940, which gave a more concrete

shape to the existing forest research in Assam. With this, species identi cation, not only acquired faster speed but also came in handy for the development of trade in forest produces. The forest research gained strong footing also with the publication of provisional statistics of volume and rate of growth of timbers in 124

1934.

The relationship of forest and industries became much stronger after Independence. The increasing con dence with which forests came to seen as an integral part of industry was noticed in the observations of the foresters. A good example of this was P.D. Stracey, the Conservator of Assam, who even in 1949 would 125

like to categorize the forest types of Assam according to their industrial uses.

Four distinct types of

forest-based industries, namely, sawmills, plywood, match factories, and paper mills became key features of these industries. Alongside, limited experiments were carried out to provide further support to these industries. Cane plantation found a most vigorous reorientation in 1954 with the beginning of large-scale cane plantation. A large project of planting wattle and medicinal plants was a successful venture giving the Forest Department a tremendous boost in the post-Independence period. Soon, various kinds of queries and demand for plants and products of economic and medicinal importance were received from various governmental departments and other commercial enterprises. A number of specimens of medical plants, mostly of foreign origin, were pressed and preserved after collection from the experimental nurseries and plantation to ensure correct identi cation in the future and also for the purposes of displaying them as exhibits in the various exhibitions. It was now easier to handle the disease of a particular plant and the department could save valuable resources in many experimental plantations. Two di erent approaches were adopted to handle such kinds of diseases. While in the nurseries spraying was done with known fungicide, in the plantation the diseased plants were weeded out selectively. The timber treatment plant at Naharkatiya turned out to be an e ective and most sought after institution for the treatment of timbers. It was the local sawmills, tea-plantations, and various railway agencies that needed the support of this plant to maximize their uses of the timbers. An experimental resin and turpentine factory came up on a 126

commercial scale in 1953 but had to be shut down soon.

The cost of collection of resin was too high to be

economically sound. During its short life the factory produced both commercial and medicinal turpentine p. 246

oil, and various types of resin. The

FRI provided various technical help not only to the departmental

activities but also private entrepreneurs. The scientists from FRI visited the Surma Valley Saw Mills to 127

advise them for the installation of seasoning kiln.

By the middle of the twentieth century the ora and

fauna of Assam became part of modern science. The region continued to attract the attention of leading botanists. Among them, Francis Kingdon Ward's discovery of a new species whose complex relationship 128

with the industrial economy was yet to be studied.

But the critical friendship between science and

technology had already contributed to various aspects of forests of Assam. While dependence on science in the late nineteenth century was minimal the entire forest management came to depend on the virtues of science in the twentieth century. This had not only transformed the commercial character of the forests but also reinvented the forest behaviour as well as its ecological system. In the long run, it was the heavy dose of science and associated technology that transformed forever the character of the local forest landscape. Forest became more a commercial commodity than a matter of rich biodiversity. Thus, the forest was protected from various unwanted factors. This helped in the better regeneration of a few speci c timbers. It was only in the later decades of the twentieth century that the idea of soil conservation became closely

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

collected by him, and his assistants, was sent to the Sibpur herbarium or Kew Garden for identi cation. The

involved with the forestry programme and this helped the Forest Department to gradually shift to a new paradigm of forest preservation, of course with a limited success.

Notes Captain Welsh during his expedition into Assam in 1893.

2.

R.S. Rajan, 2007, Modernising Nature, Delhi: Orient Longman; R. Drayton, 2005, Nature's Government: Science, Imperial Britain, and the ʻImprovementʼ of the World, Delhi: Orient Longman. The general history of the impact of western science in the making of imperialism has also been studied in various recent works. See, M. Adas, 1989, Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Technology, and Ideologies of Western Dominance, Ithaca: Cornell University Press; J.M. MacKenzie, 1997, Empires of Nature and the Nature of Empires: Imperialism, Scotland and the Environment; East Linton: Tuckwell Press; D.R. Headrick, 1981, The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

3.

K. Sivaramakrishnan, 1999, Modern Forests: State Making and Environmental Change in Colonial Eastern India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

4.

With the advent of colonialism ʻscientific silvicultureʼ with the practice of rigorous experimentation and record keeping was first developed in Britsh India under the leadership of Brandis. See, J.W. Toumey, 1928, Foundations of Silviculture upon an Ecological Basis, New York: John Wiley.

5.

W. Schlich, 1889, ʻFundamental Principles of Sylvicultureʼ, A Manual of Forestry, vol. 1, London, p. 99.

6.

For details of early development of silviculture in India see, Rajan, Modernizing Nature, pp. 85– 6 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199277964.001.0001

.

7.

B. Ribbentrop, 1900, Forestry in British India, Calcutta: Government Press, 166.

8.

E.P. Stebbing, 1926, The Forests of India, vol. III, London: The Bodley Head, p. 412.

9.

Ibid., p. 434.

10.

In 1909, R.S. Troup (b. 1874, d. 1939) was head of the branch. Troup contributed considerably for the development of the silviculture branch. In 1915, Marsden took over the charge of branch

11.

Both Trevor and he collectively had complied The Manual of Indian Silviculture.

12.

ASP nos 39–50, Forest-A, August 1920 (ASA).

13.

During 1940–1 both these two systems occupied 40 and 20 percent out of the total area under the Silvicultural system. See Annual Report 1940–41, para 40.

14.

Annual Report, 1954–55.

15.

An interesting example of such over emphasis on silvicultural practice for the forest conservators was the case of P.N. Bhattacharjee, already discussed in Chapter 4, a forest conservator in Assam in the middle of the previous century. Bhattacharjee described in detail how they were exposed to various methods of silviculture. Bhattacharjee, unpublished Autobiography,

16.

Henry Hopkinson served in Assam as commissioner during 1861–74.

17.

Letter from H. Hopkinson agent to the Governor General and commissioner of Assam to the Secretary to the Government, Revenue Department in File no. 38/45, 1872, Bengal government Forest Operations in Assam. ʻI cannot primarily advise upon the subject of the technical details of forest management, although I would state my conviction of forest conservancy to succeed must be thoroughly done in the forest…knowing exactly what they have to do and doing it…ʼ

18.

Annual Report of the Forest Administration in Assam (herea er Annual Report), 1875–76, para. 63.

19.

Letter from H. Hopkinson, Agent to the Governor General and Commissioner of Assam to the Secretary to the Government, Revenue Department, File no. 38/45, 1872, Bengal Government Forest Operations in Assam.

20.

Letter from D. Brandis to Secretary, Government of Assam, KW, 1 November 1872 Proceedings of Department of Revenue, Agriculture and Commerce-Forests, nos 19–21, January 1873 (NAI).

21.

Report of G. Mann, Proceedings of Department of Revenue, Agriculture and Commerce-Forests, nos 19–21 January 1873 (NAI).

22.

For incisive discussion on the history teak plantation in colonial Burma see, Bryant, 1996.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 247

1.

p. 248

Letter from H. Leeds, Conservator to the Secretary, to the Government of Bengal Revenue Department, 9 April 1872, no. 7 in File no. 38/45, 1872, Bengal government Forest Operations in Assam. Leed wrote that the climate of Assam was warm and damp like that of Burma. Its soil varied in many places along with the raised and drained sides of the splendid streams emanating from the Naga hills and they were admirably suited for the timber operations.

24.

Letter from Under Secretary to the Government of Bengal to the Conservator of Forest, Bengal, 24 April 1872.

25.

Ibid., para. 67.

26.

Annual Report, 1877–78, para. 46.

27.

Revenue-A, nos 62–6, March 1892 (ASP).

28.

Annual Report, 1929–30, para. 26.

29.

ʻAssam Rubber for West Africaʼ, (Ficus elastica, Bl.). Source: Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information (Royal Gardens, Kew), vol. 1891, no. 52 (1891), pp. 97–102; Cultivation of India Rubber in Assam, Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information (Royal Gardens, Kew), vol. 1896, no. 117/118 (1896), pp. 171–4.

30.

Gunabhiram Barua, the Assamese historian noted how the traders from Rajasthan had already engaged in extensive rubber trades in these areas. See, G. Barua, 1884 (reprint, 2001), Assam Buranji, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board, p. 151.

31.

Annual Report, 1877–78, p. 5 para. 33.

32.

ʻI am sorry, but think it rather preferable, that a hiatus should occur in the extension of the planting operation, rather than that unsuitable material should be usedʼ, ASP nos 164–5, Revenue-A, Revenue Department, January 1897 (ASA).

33.

In 1875, it was estimated that it would cost Rs 10 per acre. Annual Report, 1875–76, para. 69.

34.

Annual Report, 1882–83, p. 5, para. 84.

35.

Annual Report, 1877–78, p. 5 para. 28

36.

The above account was based on Annual Report 1879–80, para. 49.

37.

The Conservator of the western circle during his visit in 1918–19 had reprimanded his sta in Cachar for such negligence. See Annual Report 1918–19, para. 80.

38.

Annual Report, 1882–83, para. 81.

39.

Annual Report, 1890–91, para. 73.

40.

Annual Report, 1890–91, paras 55 and 91.

41.

Ibid.

42.

A.J.W Milroy (b. 1883, d.1936) of Indian Forest Service came to Assam in 1908.

43.

Annual Report, 1918–19, para. 39.

44.

Annual Report, 1946–47, paras 41–42.

45.

Annual Report, 1916–17, para. 65.

46.

The taungya method of cultivation has been discussed in a separate section in this Chapter.

47.

Annual Report, 1911–12, para. 47.

48.

Annual Report, 1928–29, para. 65.

49.

Annual Report, 1940–41, para. 54.

50.

Annual Report, 1882–83, para. 82.

51.

Annual Report, 1885–86, para. 137.

52.

Annual Report, 1879–80, para. 47.

53.

Annual Report, 1929–30, para. 27.

54.

Pyne discussed how fire had ravaged the forest at various times across the world, Pyne, 1982.

55.

A French book Incendies En Foret or Forest Fires, which eloquently dealt with the techniques of fire control, was very

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 249

23.

popular amongst the early generation of the foresters. See, Jacquot, Incendies En Foret, originally published in French, translated in C.E. Fischer, 1910, Forest Fires, Calcutta. Indian environmental historiography is clearly divided on the position of fire and imperial forestry. Ramachandra Guha, 2001 (ed.), Nature's Spokesman: M. Krishnan and Indian Wildlife, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 118–9, 169–70. Also see, Sivaramakrishnan, Modern Forests, pp. 223–4.

57.

Annual Report, 1875–76, para. 32.

58.

Annual Report, 1881–82, para. 21.

59.

Annual Report, 1885–86, para. 107.

60.

Ibid.

61.

Annual Report, 1877–78, Form 51, and Annual Report, 1881–82, Form 51.

62.

Annual Report, 1898–99, Form 53.

63.

Note by D. Brandis, Inspector General of Forest, NAI, nos 15–19, Revenue and Agriculture, Forests-A, September 1876 (NAI).

64.

Memo by H. Leeds, Conservator of Forest, Bengal, 4 July 1872, P/243 BRC (For) A1873–5 A no. 18, January 1873 (OIOC).

65.

Beadon Frederick Bryant, 1912, A Note of Inspection on Some Forests of Assam, Calcutta: Government Press, para. 11.

66.

Sivaramakrishnan, Modern Forests, p. 237. This would be discussed in the next sections.

67.

Annual Report, 1931–32, form no. 14. By now there was no fire protection in the forest divisions of the eastern circle.

68.

Fire Mapping of the Country, Special Report, Forest Research Institute, 1995, Dehradun. Forest Survey of India conducted mapping of the fire a ected areas of the country since 1995 by visual interpretation of satellite data. The study was supported by extensive ground truth verification.

69.

Annual Report, 1929–30, para. 17.

70.

Annual Report, 1879–80, para. 46.

71.

One such instance was mentioned during 1916–17 in the Kamrup division. See Annual Report, 1916–17, para. 59.

72.

Annual Report, 1940–41, para. 55.

73.

Annual Report, 1940–41, para. 51.

74.

ASP nos 1–2, Revenue-A, March 1901 (ASA).

75.

Annual Report, 1916–17, para. 56.

76.

For the early views of colonial o icials on shi ing cultivation see, Bela Malik, 2003, ʻThe “Problem” of Shi ing Cultivation in the Garo Hills of North-East India, 1860–1970ʼ, Conservation and Society, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 286–301.

77.

Gaustav Mann, Annual Report on the Assam Forest Administration, Letter no. 217I 19 July, Secretary to Government of Bengal, Revenue Department in File no. volume 50, July–October 1873 (ASA)

78.

Annual Report, 1877–78, para. 160, p. 31.

79.

Annual Report, 1875–76, para. 90.

80.

Annual Report, 1892–94, para. 15.

81.

Annual Report, 1875–76, para. 16.

82.

Report on the Forest Resources of the Abor Country, chapter IV, pp. 9–10, in Assam Secretariat Proceedings, nos 32–5, Revenue-A, September 1912 (ASA).

83.

Bryant, A Note of Inspection on Some Forests of Assam, para. 6.

84.

ASP nos 24–38, Forest-A. December 1908 (ASA).

85.

Notification by the Chief Commissioner, no. 1299R Shillong, 16 March 1904, in Revenue-A, nos. 86–107, May 1904 (ASP).

86.

GOI circular, 2 February 1893, nos. 16–181, Revenue and Agricultural Department, Forest-A, pp. 1–3, March 1893, NAI. The position of revenue and forest o icers in regard to the administration of state forest lands had been well argued here.

87.

P.D. Stracey, 1967, ʻA Note on Nagalandʼ, Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, vol. 64, pp. 440–6.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 250

56.

88.

Report on Pilot Project on Control of Shi ing Cultivation, Government of Assam, in File no. Forest/Soil/22/78/1978 (ASA).

89.

Immediately a er Independence, the Secretary of the Forest Department, Assam wrote to his counterpart in the Department of Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Government of India that as shi ing cultivation was mostly practised in the hills, hence the government had been trying to convince the tribal leaders to take to permanent cultivation. See Letter no. For. 482/54/19 Shillong, 21 March, 1955 in File no. AFR 155/49 (ASA).

90.

The assessment was done for the period between 1987 and 1997. The satellite data on 2-years interval corresponding to the periods 1987–9, 1989–91, 1991–3, 1993–5 and 1995–7 have been used. While visual method of interpretation was adopted the sensors were Landsat TM and IRS–1B (LISS II).

91.

Report on Status of Shi ing Cultivation in NE States, 2002, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun.

92.

Several recent works have highlighted variegated impact of the shi ing cultivation in the region: see, D. Choudhury and R.C. Sundriyal, 2003, ʻFactors Contributing to the Marginalization of Shi ing Cultivation in North-east India: Micro-scale

93.

J.D. Matthews, 1991, Silvicultural Systems, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 80. Also see, R.L. Bryant, 1994, ʻShi ing the Cultivator: The Politics of Teak Regeneration in Colonial Burmaʼ, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 225– 50 10.1017/S0026749X00012397

p. 251

94.

.

A best exposition of the taungya practice and its evolution within the empire forestry could be found in Bryant, ʻShi ing the Cultivatorʼ, pp. 225–6 10.1017/S0026749X00012397

95.

Stebbing, The Forests of India, vol. III, p. 424.

96.

Annual Report, 1940–41, para. 120.

97.

Annual Report, 1913–14, para. 76.

98.

Annual Report, 1916–17, para 77.

99.

Annual Report, 1922–23, para. 33.

.

100. Annual Report, 1940–41, para. 120. 101. Annual Report, 1931–32, para. 42. 102. Annual Report, 1940–41, para. 50. 103. Annual Report, 1916–17, para. 82. 104. Ibid. 105. There were two other methods of planting with balls of earth and without balls of earth. But these two systems prove unproductive. 106. Annual Report, 1939–40, para. 52. 107. Stebbing, The Forests of India, vol. III, p. 424. 108. Ibid. 109. Annual Report, 1920–21, para. 29. 110. Annual Report, 1921–22, para. 31. 111. Annual Report, 1918–19, para. 45. 112. C.J. Sonowal, 2007, ʻDemographic Transition of Tribal People in Forest Villages of Assamʼ, Studies Tribes Tribals, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 47–58. 113. A. Majid, 1903, Monograph on Wood-Carving in Assam, Shillong: Government Press, p. 1. 114. R. Saikia, 2000, Social and Economic History of Assam, 1853–1921, Delhi: Manohar. 115. This view is against a commonly held view that forestry and industrial link became visible only in the post-independent era. See, Ramachandra Guha, 1983, ʻForestry in British and Post-British India: A Historical Analysisʼ, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 18. no. 44, pp. 1882–96. 116. Richard H. Grove, Vinita Damodaran, and Satpal Sangwan (eds), 1998, Nature and the Orient: The Environmental History of

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Issuesʼ, Outlook on Agriculture, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 17–28 10.5367/000000003101294226 . D. Borah and N.R. Goswami, 1973, A Comparative Study of Crop Production under Shi ing and Terrace Cultivation (A Case Study in the Garo Hills, Meghalaya). Ad hoc Study 35, Jorhat: Agro-economic Research Centre for North East India.

South and Southeast Asia, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 472. 117. During 1918–19 morhal was planted in Lakhimpur with this purpose. See, Annual Report 1918–19, para. 208. 118. For further discussion on imperial forestry's dependence on Indian railway, see, M. Williams, 2003, Deforesting the Earth: From Prehistory to Global Crisis, Chicago: Chicago University Press, p. 360. 119. It was followed by experimental sheds for the air seasoning of railway sleepers at Makum in 1926. See, Annual Report, 1929–30, para. 84. Annual Report, 1926–27, para. 60 120. Annual Report, 1920–21, para. 65. 121. Annual Report, 1937–38, para. 91. 122. Report on the Forest Utilization and Economic Research in Assam 1939–40, bears the enormous amount of e ort made by the Forest Department towards such an end. 123.

U.G. Kanjilal, 1913, Flora of Assam, Simla: Government Press.

124. These data collected from Lakhimpur and Sadiya divisions were for the specific trees of ajhar, hollong, hollock, nahor, jutuli and simul. See, The Assam Forest Records (Silviculture), 1934. 125. P.D. Stracey, 1949, Assam's Economy and Forests, Shillong: Government Press, p. 17. 126. Annual Report, 1954–55, Appendix II. 127. Annual Report, 1937–38, para. 90. 128. F. K. Ward, 1940, ʻBotanical and Geographical Exploration in the Assam Himalayaʼ, The Geographical Journal, vol. 96. no. 1, pp. 1–3 10.2307/1788494

.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193346635 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 252

Forests and Ecological History of Assam, 1826–2000 Arupjyoti Saikia https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.001.0001 Published: 2011

Online ISBN: 9780199081240

Print ISBN: 9780198069539

CHAPTER

6 From Game to Wildlife Conservation: Rede ning Conservation  Arupjyoti Saikia Pages 253–305

Abstract This chapter discusses the rede nition of term ‘conservation’ which is extended not only to game reserves but also to the wildlife. In the nineteenth century, the conservation of forest landscapes was hampered by wild animals. While Assamese revered wild animals, the colonial government eradicated them to forward and expand its agrarian frontier. Although forest conservation was one of the policies of the government, the conservation of wildlife was often ignored. The wildlife conservation was a later phenomenon and came only after a proper understanding of the importance of wildlife in native society. Since 1905, colonial rules and non-colonial personnel took active interest in protecting the wildlife. And in 1990s onwards, active and staunched protection of wildlife was given prominence in the vernacular press of India. Among the issues discussed herein are zoology, wildlife crime, privileged hunting, elephant hunting, and the contemporary practices in the wildlife preservation.

Keywords: conservation, wildlife, agrarian frontier, wildlife conservation, zoology, wildlife crime, privileged hunting, elephant hunting Subject: Colonialism and Imperialism, Environmental History, Asian History, Indian History Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online

Abounding, as Assam does in extensive tracts of wild and uncultivated wastes, it is, as may be conjectured, the rendezvous of a countless multitude of animated beings, which live and move 1

upon its surface. W. Robinson

While the forests and natural landscape of Assam bewildered nineteenth century observers equally challenging was the subject of wildlife. The latter was not only a favourite pastime subject but the very survival of the forestry programme began to be contested by the wild animals. Similarly, the Assamese practised both hunting and revered them. Assamese folktales tell how the villagers often stayed away from 2

dense forest for fear of wild animals. However, as the colonial government expanded its agrarian frontier it was obvious that vermin eradication became the o

cial policy in regard to wildlife management. Even when

forest conservancy came to play an important role in the agenda of colonial history, conservation of wildlife still occupied the back seat. Since the early nineteenth century there was signi cant change in the history of wildlife in Assam in matters of understanding and its relation to the native society. The colonial interest in the protection of wildlife is a much later phenomenon. This was signi ed by the occasional legislative pieces and increasing interest shown in the protection of wildlife by the colonial administrators. The signi cant point is that in wildlife conservation it was not only the foresters but also the large ocks of colonial as well p. 254

as

non-colonial personnel who took active interest in safeguarding wildlife.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.003.0007 Published: February 2011

In Assam, the earliest attempt came in the form of the establishment of game reserve as early as 1905. Since then it was a long journey and there grew a considerable number of wildlife parks, sanctuaries, and so on in the post-Independence period. The State took the initiative, though albeit fragmented, in the generation of awareness in wildlife protection. In the 1970s and 1980s there was increasing participation of the local wildlife lovers. In the 1990s and then onward, the wildlife issue got more prominence in the vernacular press. The third generation of the wildlife lovers have come from a di erent background. Many of them have professional expertise in the science of wildlife preservation.

Agrarian Frontier and Colonial State: Battling Wild Animals The peasants' understanding of the wildlife in Assam, as in other provinces, was directly related with the agrarian expansion. Peasants in di erent parts of the province needed to check the aggressive attitude of measures taken by the native peasants to protect the paddy from the wild animals. In fact, in the precolonial period there were frequent encounters between the peasants and the wild animals as the agrarian frontier expanded. The peasants did not have any modern weapon to tackle the wild animals' menace. They resorted to re, collective chase, or night watch at the eld. There was no State support for the peasants in this regard. As early as 1835, Captain Jenkins had noted the status of wildlife as follows: Of wild animals we have herds of every species, elephants, rhinoceros, bu aloes, tigers, leopards, jackals, and numerous kinds of monkeys. They all commit serious depredations on the crops, and more particularly the elephants, which often demolish granaries in the open day to get at the grain 3

and salt.

The expansion of the agrarian frontier continued to face grave threat from the wild animals (Fig. 6.1). Presence of wild animals also kept the peasants away from expanding their agrarian frontier in the foothill areas.

Fig. 6.1

Plantation during the colonial era. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive Such reports can be seen throughout the colonial period. A conservative estimate made during the early decades of colonial rule paints a grim picture of the number of the people killed by the wild animals in the 4

Darrang district. According to this estimate, wild elephants killed 17 people in the year 1833 while in the p. 255

next year 17 lost their lives. In 1833, wild bu aloes killed 2 people. Tigers killed 12 people duirng 1833–4 while 3 people were killed by wild pigs. Alligators killed one person during 1834. Writing in 1879, W. Hunter also took notice of the large-scale damage done by the wild animals to the crop and humans. He thus estimated that during 1869 approximately ‘254 people met their death from wild beasts, and 102 from snake 5

bites, or an average from both causes of about seventy a year’ while in Kamrup ‘129 persons were reported 6

to have lost their lives from wild beasts or in consequence of snake bites’ in 1868. Hunter wrote that the peasants in other districts also shared a similar experience. The devastation was so detrimental to the peasant society that, Hunter informs, in Kamrup during 1866–7 the entire population of a village left the 7

village. Elephants often frequented the villages during the harvesting season and caused problems for the 8

villagers for their crop in the district of Darrang.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

the wild animals in their paddy elds. There are innumerable tales and local legends of the defensive

Early in the twentieth century both the revenue and agricultural departments continued to show their dismay at the damage done by the wild animals. Describing the condition of the erstwhile Sibsagar district one report mentioned that ‘a great impediment to the extension of cultivation is that the tree jungle which surrounds newly-cleared elds harbours wild pigs, monkeys, elephants and even in west Golaghat 9

rhinoceros which prey to crops and cause considerable damage’. The report further suggests that killing of cattle by tigers was very common. In the district of Lakhimpur, another report tells of how the presence of p. 256

elephants, found in large numbers, was ‘particularly disastrous 10

crops, they also trample down a considerable amount’.

for not only do they eat the standing

The number of cattle being killed by a variety of

wild animals kept haunting the Forest Department. The matter deteriorated to such an extent that between 1892 and 1893 one report estimates that an approximately 34,080 numbers of cattle were killed by wild 11

animals.

To keep up the agrarian expansion against the wild beasts, the easiest way was to kill the latter. The Rs 5 and Rs 2.80 for a leopard. Within the next couple of years there was a considerable increase in the prize 12

money to Rs 25 for a tiger and Rs 5 for a leopard.

Such an exorbitant increase was necessitated by the

express need of the agrarian expansion. A considerable sum of money was spent in the three districts of 13

Kamrup, Darrang, and Nowgong to kill the animals.

The imperial design for the extermination of wild animals took shape along with the agrarian expansion and the management of the vast forest areas. Extermination of the wilds was necessitated by, both constructed and imagined, the necessity to expand the agrarian frontier and for hunting practices. The selection of the animals in the list of extermination was determined by the native and colonial cultural practices. The control of errant animals and of disobedient subjects was integral to the establishment of the British power in the countryside. Indian as well as European hunters were encouraged to kill carnivores. The collection of trophies had already begun in earnest, anticipating the obsession of the late nineteenth century. While imperial intrusion in this phase in hunting in India may have been limited, it was a foretaste of the future. In the meanwhile, Richard Temple had rede ned the system of disbursing rewards for killing carnivores in a much more systematic way. In the meantime, one army o

cer Captain Rogers proposed an eccentric

scheme to exterminate tigers. His plan led to intense debate and nally was abandoned. Most provincial o

cials agreed on the need to eliminate the species, but di ered on the means to achieve this aim. Rogers 14

had suggested that spring guns be placed along paths inside the forest frequented by the tigers.

He further

admitted that this strategy was unsporting and bound to be viewed with ‘supreme care’. Shikaris (hunters) 15

in each district in British India were to be organized into regular bands to implement the scheme. p. 257

the British army o

Led by

cers, they would reduce the number of wild animals. The general impression was

that tigers were the animal counterparts of ‘thugs and dacoits’ to be destroyed in any e ective manner. The extermination of the wild animals continued into the twentieth century. Large-scale opening of agricultural land in the 1930s and 1940s had depleted the numbers of wild animals to the worst-ever level. As the twentieth century progressed there was a sharp break from the conventional wisdom about the wild and its impact on the agrarian history. Thus, in the beginning of the career of wildlife sanctuaries the department believed that ‘an increasing population and expanding land settlement must inevitably lead to 16

the extinction of the wild life: such is the price which civilized progress demands’.

A forest o

cer from

Goalpara found the expanding agrarian frontier to be the sole reason for the continued poaching and 17

trespasses into the reserved areas.

p. 258

Encountering Wild Animals and Understanding Trade In the nineteenth century, as the o

cials of the East India Company ventured into the dense jungles of

Assam they encountered the wild animals. Within a few years as the company consolidated its political position they o

cials took their time o

to enjoy a moment of leisure and went out for shooting and

hunting (Fig. 6.2). Such history of the wildlife in nineteenth-century Assam was a period of understanding and hunting for leisure.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

administration declared a prize for killing wild animals. In 1870, the prize o ered for killing of a tiger was

Fig. 6.2

In 1837, in one of the earliest accounts, John M'Cosh described the contemporary practices of trade in wildlife and their distribution. M'Cosh wrote that ‘wild elephants are plentiful, and move in large herds, and are very destructive both to the crops and to human life; entering villages in daylight, and plundering 18

granaries, and stores of salt, of which they are very fond.’

Describing the nature of the Assamese people's

attitude to these animals he mentioned that they were caught in large numbers in every season and were transported to various countries. He also estimated that approximately 700–1,000 elephants were exported from Assam every year. A duty of Rs 10 was levied at Goalpara on every elephant exported. However, he believed practices to be crude and to substantiate his argument he mentioned how ‘Singphos killed elephants by using poisoned arrows red from a musket, and after striking out their teeth, left the carcasses 19

to be devoured by beasts of prey’.

M'Cosh's list of animals found in the region was rather long. Rhinoceros

occupied an important place in M'Cosh's account. He mentioned that they inhabited the densest part of the forest. ‘The young ones were a good deal looked after for transmission to Europe; but they are so di

cult to

be found, that a party with two or three elephants don't succeed in catching above one or two in session, and these when caught frequently die in the nursing.’ He clearly mentioned the limited con ict between the human habitat and animals like tigers, leopards, and bears, which were ‘numerous but though the tigers occasionally carry o

a bullock, accidents to human life are but rare’. In the early nineteenth century, there

was a reward of ve rupees a head allowed by the government for extermination of every tiger. M'Cosh referred to this as caste practice and also a profession. He further mentioned that wild bu aloes, larger than those of the neighbouring Bengal, were found in abundance. In his description there was further mention of cows, horses, sheep, hogs, poultry, porcupines, snakes, leeches, white ants, crocodiles, tortoise, porpoises, p. 259

and sh. Wild games were found in

abundance. ‘Deer, hares, jungle fowl, pheasants, peacocks,

partridges, orican, snipe and weather fowl of all descriptions are procurable but no game keepers interest 20

themselves in catching them’.

M'Cosh's account will remain incomplete if we do not take account of his contemporary, Robinson. With Robinson, the study of wildlife became part of zoology. He included quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, shes, and 21

insects in his study. Robinson mostly relied on the extensive survey done by physician McClelland.

This

description was also an attempt to place the wild resources of Assam in the larger framework of European science. He was opening up a vast eld for further observation. ‘The native zoology must therefore present a vast eld for observation, and so remarkable is it for the variety, splendour, and singularity of its forms, that it is di

cult to say in which department it is most interesting’. At the same time Robinson was all in

praise for the geology and climate of the region. ‘Flourishing beneath a genial clime, and nourished by dense vapours and frequent showers, in a soil naturally humid, vegetation here attains luxuriance 22

inconceivably magni cent’.

The wildlife had taken the blessings of this geology, resulting in brilliant

colours and singular shapes. His contemporary, Gri

th, however, diverted his attention more to eastern 23

areas of the province and meticulously described the spatial distribution of birds found there.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Hunting for trophy became widely popular. A tiger a er being hunted. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive

That trade in wildlife could play a crucial role was noticed by Jenkins. He reported that merchants from Bengal made an annual visit to all parts of the province with koonkees (decoy elephant) to catch wild animals and were generally very successful. Jenkins thought that out of the 600 or 700 elephants caught in Assam in 1850, around 500 were exported, whereas in the next year about 900 were caught. Newly caught elephants could often be purchased, if under ve feet in height, for Rs 100 but the merchants seldom disposed of the ner ones in the province as they realized Rs 800 to Rs 1, 000 each for them in Bengal and Hindustan, if they 24

succeeded in keeping them alive for two to three years. 25

and rhinoceros horn were exported from Assam.

A few years later Mill also observed that both ivory

However, serial statistical data is unavailable for the

entire period, which went un-scanned. Later accounts also corroborate the large-scale spatial distribution 26

of the wild animals across the province.

Hunting, Sport, and Livelihood Practices p. 260

jungle, generally near a river or Bheel lake, in a very

miry place. The squeaking grunt of this

beast is peculiarly sharp and erce, and the elephants become so alarmed that few wait its approach in the shape of a charge, but mostly quit the eld with utmost speed, scarcely giving the sportsman time to have a shot. 27

John Butler, 1855

In the nineteenth century, the relationship between the wildlife in Assam and colonial state was never cordial, as was anywhere in the colonial world. While the few big animals were either ruthlessly killed or maimed, many escaped this cruelty. The most illustrative of them was the elephant, who, as the luckiest one, provided the colonial state with substantial revenue. The number and variety of unlucky ones, however was more widespread, though game was not a very favourite activity in Assam mainly because of the soil condition of the region. Illustrative of such game in Assam was pig sticking. Regarded as a masculine game and also popular among the European civil servants, the game faced hostility from the topography. The sticky soil worked as a deterrent to the fast action needed by pig sticking. The conditions of the sport had been best described in this way: In Assam and Burma, as in many other parts, pig is plentiful, but the ground impassable. On the Brahmaputra the pig are abundant, in fairly open country but as it consists for the most part of paddy elds, the ground is only passable in dry weather, and is then so hard, slippery, and ssured, 28

that it is unrideable even to men like Colonel Pollok, accustomed to cotton soil.

Colonel F.W.T. Pollok, with seven years of experience of sport in Assam, had no doubt that ’there is no 29

country—not even Africa—where there is more and varied game than Assam and Burma.

The Assamese, across classes, were generally characterized by alluvial inundated grasslands comprising tropical wet evergreen forests and tropical semi-evergreen forests. Nonetheless, the riverine belt of the river Brahmaputra became a hunting ground for the British o 30

planters.

cials as well as other European tea-

The region's topography, soil quality, and long spell of rainy seasons meant that sportsmen look 31

for some innovative games. It would be wrong to suggest that hunting was merely a European activity.

The

Assamese, across their class position, participated in the hunting. As it was not merely con ned to the higher echelons of the society, the poor too killed wild animals. However, it is di

cult to qualify the level of

destruction of the game by the British and the Assamese. In all probability, three distinct cultural layers for hunting could be identi ed. p. 261

The rst of these categories was that of British sport. In the middle of the nineteenth century, Major John Butler of the 55th Regiment of the Bengal Native Infantry found the sport in Assam as an exciting pastime for the English sportsman. He wrote, ‘from the vast extent of waste or jungle land everywhere met with it in Assam, there are, perhaps, few countries that can be compared with it for a ording diversion, of all kinds, 32

for the English sportsman’.

Butler informed the various forms of sport, namely, tiger, elephant, rhino, and

deer sport. According to his count, in one day's sport it was no uncommon event for three or four sportsmen to ‘shoot thirty bu aloes, twenty deer and dozen hogs, besides one or two tigers’. Bu alo was seen as a big challenge to agriculture. Butler had no doubt that in western and central Assam one could easily come across incalculable devastations of the paddy elds by large herds, which might sometimes comprise of

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Not less exciting is the rhinoceros hunt. This animal is found in the highest and most dense reed

hundreds of bu aloes. T.T. Cooper, a British sportsman in Assam, said of the wild bu alo, ‘it was so 33

numerous and so destructive as to be an absolute pest’.

Captain Pollock, a military engineer responsible

for laying down the road networks in the Brahmaputra valley in the nineteenth century, an anecdote 34

claimed, shot dead one rhino or bu alo for every breakfast.

The Indian hinterland was richer than England in terms of the availability of game animals. Europeans were keen to experience the thrills of chase and hunt. Encounters with big animals like the ‘savage tiger’ and the ‘noble lion’ were far more attractive and exciting than the routine business of spending small shots on birds. For James Forsyth, posted in India in 1857, ‘the main attraction of India lay in the splendid eld it o ered for the highest and noblest order of sport, in the pursuit of the wild and savage denizens of its 35

forests and jungles, its mountains and groves’.

The range of the rearms of the colonial o

cers, however,

may well have limited the impact of early British hunters on local fauna. Antelope shooting, for instance, 36

could be only successful if the hunters got within 80–100 yards of the animals.

Kaziranga, to be declared a

a later account of E.P. Gee who had rst-hand account of the game reserve in its early days. Gee, describing the condition of sport in Kaziranga in the late nineteenth century, writes: In 1886 a certain sportsman went out on elephant in the area, which is now Kaziranga to shoot rhino. He encountered one and red about a dozen shots at it from very close range. The wounded 37

rhino made o , and as it was too late in the evening the hunter returned to his camp. p. 262

The hunting practices of the colonial o

cials expanded and a variety of animals came under their shot. 38

Reminiscences of these sports could be found in various forms. the animals, conditioned by the o the imperial malaria o

The notion of adventures and easy reach to

cial formalities, now began to determine the nature of game. H.E. Shortt,

cer, with his extensive tour programme and busy o 39

himself to crocodile, hunting in Guwahati in the river Brahmaputra.

cial duties had to con ne

Such game was of temporary nature

with less fanfare and yet they gradually began to in ict less damage to the wildlife. Shortt's notes meticulously narrated the physical behaviour and distribution of Indian crocodiles with accuracy. Others, using their social and political privileges, went on practising game with fanfare till the middle of the 40

century.

Sport destroyed the animals at a ferocious speed and only rarely contributed to the increasing 41

wealth of knowledge on wildlife.

The next layer of hunting could be associated with that of the Assamese elites. Such hunting practices went beyond the purposes of recreation and could be linked with the question of cultural negotiation with the colonial elites. There was a good social network amongst these families, both within Assam and outside it. A few illustrations would provide a better understanding of this aspect. Tarunram Phukan (1877–1937), an early nationalist and Swarajist and barrister, was known for his skill in shooting practices. This was particularly true for elephant hunting. Photographs with his trophies from game were a familiar picture of Tarunram Phukan. Phukan also trained local people, mostly belonging to the tribes, as a helping hand for his hunting. Shikar Kahini, a memoir on hunting by Phukan, vividly captures his struggle to become a good 42

hunter.

43

Other members of his family, including his father, were also known for good skill in hunting.

elder brother, Nabinram, served as a trainer for the local colonial o

His

cers in their hunting lessons. The

Maharaja of Cooch Behar was also a close family friend of Phukan by virtue of their hunting practices. To obtain the reputation of a good sikari (hunter) such networks were important and desirable. Hunting was more popular in western Assam. Hunting in these areas upheld one's social status—a higher social status required a more ferocious animal to be hunted. Prasannalal Chaudhury (1898–1986), an Assamese nationalist and also a well-known literary gure, born and served in western Assam, recounted in 44

his autobiographical memoir how he learned skills of hunting from his own family tradition. p. 263

tahsildar, had a glorious career in hunting. Another example is that of 45

Behar.

His father, a

the ruling families of Cooch

They regularly visited the various forests in the northern bank in western Assam for hunting. Often

they escorted colonial bureaucrats into these hunting camps. Such hunting was with great fanfare, involving large number of peasants. The common victims were rhino, elephant, and tiger. Between 1871 and 1907 Maharaj Nripendra Narayan shot dead no less than 370 tigers, 208 rhinoceroses, 430 bu aloes, and 324 46

barasingha deer.

Display of tiger skin or elephant tusk, collected from such hunting events, in the private

portico of these families is another familiar story. The narratives of hunting in the families of Gauripur 47

zamindars still play an important role in the social and literary imagination of Assam.

Another member of

these landlord families Prakitish Chandra Barua, also known as Lalji, admitted how he hunted and killed 111 48

cheetahs between 1926 and 1965.

Compared to such hunting involving killing we can notice a fairly low

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

game reserve in the early twentieth century, was a planter's heaven for the sport in rhino, as can be found in

rate of damages being in icted in elephant hunting. The forests of south Assam, presently part of 49

Bangladesh, were also a favourite ground for elephant hunting.

Most importantly, elephant hunting not

only followed rules of nature, an aspect Prakitish Chandra Barua had so emphatically stressed, but it helped in the formation of a corpus of knowledge of practices. Plenty of folklores around such hunting practices are clearly indicative of such a knowledge system. It was the relationship of elephant to the political economy of social authority and wealth that played a central role in keeping the elephant in such high esteem. But all such hunting practices, collectively shared by the Assamese elites or zamindars of Goalpara, fell little short of from the spread and aggressiveness that their British counterparts had injected into the forest of Assam. The third form of hunting was that of peasant communities who made regular forays into the jungle to kill animals for various reasons—the purpose of livelihood being the most signi cant one. Such hunting practices were regulated by a wide variety of popular customs. There was no distinct species of fauna that were targeted by the hunters. Some were killed for mere joy while many were brought down for meat. The cials

began to ascribe cruelty with such hunting practices. The best example of such emphasis on cruelty was that of M'Cosh, who as early as 1837 mentioned that in the northern frontier of the province the Singphos killed elephants by using poisoned arrows red from a musket. After striking out the teeth, they would leave the p. 264

50

carcass alone there to be ‘devoured by beasts of prey’.

Later writers, though not

necessarily focused on

51

the ravages of such practices, noticed the wide variety of such skills.

Illustrative of such utilitarian needs is that of western Assam where bu alo was also hunted for the purpose of domestication. It was believed that the wild animals that were domesticated gave more milk and were better suited into the ecological context of the rural side of Assam compared to the animals bought from the markets in Bengal. The hunters took extreme care not to hurt such animals. For instance, elephant catching involved many rituals and other cultural practices. The question of enjoyment or sports came to be associated naturally herewith. Peasants took recourse to tiger hunting as a measure to protect the agricultural production. Popular hunting was only widely practised during ood. The wild animal was looked upon with fear and could be the cause of various damages to the everyday lives of the peasant society. Such stories can often be found in the Assamese folktales.

Wildlife, Zoology, and Science of Conservation, 1830s–1940s The subject of understanding wildlife beyond the parameters of game or mercantile trade began with the arrival of both amateur wildlife lovers and professional zoologists. It began with species like birds or reptiles. Since the middle of the nineteenth century we come across early initiatives that could be indicated as part of the early science of zoology. One of the earliest accounts of the region went back to the 1830s when the Asiatic Society of Bengal carried out investigation into the zoological behaviour of mammals of the 52

region.

The society further undertook a similar survey when, in 1851, Edward Blyth (1810–73), the British

zoologist and curator of the museum of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, extensively reported on the 53

mammals, birds, and reptiles in Khasi hills.

His observations were based on a survey carried out by fellow

zoologist R.W.G. Frith. Blyth's observation came along with the survey of plants of the region during an extensive survey taken by Joseph Dalton Hooker between 1847 and 1850. Hooker rarely ignored to observe 54

the fauna.

Many zoologists would come across newer varieties of animal species through such supplies

from the colonies. Company o

cials often ‘gifted’ animal species to their Naturalist friends and mentors in

London. William Jardine Bart (1800–74) received species of a hollock from the Garrow hills from Captain A. 55

Davidson posted in Goalpara.

These developments reached out to a wider audience with the publication of the Journal of Bombay Natural p. 265

56

History Society.

The

journal issued a series of essays based on these amateur observations and notes,

mostly on birds and reptiles. Birds came to capture the imagination of the people from mere meat to natural life came to be appreciated. Prominent among them was E.C. Stuart Baker who was a well-known name in the Indian ornithology by that time. He spent a considerable part of his career in Assam and the adjoining localities. His interest mostly focused on the birds and their nesting habits, and towards this end, collected their specimens in great detail. Between 1892 and 1901 he published a number of essays on the birds of north 57

Cachar hills and Cachar. 58

Khasi hills.

Decades later he returned to Assam and reported from both eastern hills and

Since then his ‘Fauna of British India’, completed during 1922–30, helped in the cataloguing of

the birds in India and Assam in particular. His The Game Birds of India, Burma and Ceylon and Nidi cation of

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

ways and ends of these practices di ered according to the needs of the strata involved in it. British o

Birds in Indian Empire, published in 1932, further strengthened the cause of ornithology. Several others, 59

including a number of tea-planters, followed the professional career of Baker. Colart, a medical o

For instance, Henry Neville

cer employed with the Makum Tea Company, studied birds since the late nineteenth

century. He began his career in ornithology by studying birds in various parts of Assam, including the erstwhile Naga hill districts. His interest was to study birds' egg and breeding habits. He also discovered two new sub-species. Charles McFarlane Inglis (1870–1954), a planter, spent most of his Saturdays and Sundays inside the dense forest, studying the birds. Another amateur ornithologist Dorothea Craigie Milburne, who happened to be a tea-planter's wife, took passionate notes of her observation of birds found in her garden. 60

She used to communicate her ndings with Inglis though the latter often failed to clarify her doubts.

The

ornithology came to be consolidated based on the discovery of new species, understanding of their breeding habits, and observation of their biological behaviour. Collection and preservation of the birds' skins, classi cation, identi cation, and geographical distribution of birds were the main features of ornithology in the pre-Independence period. This gradual shift from an aggressive damage to the appreciation of wildlife 61

and hunter, who passionately recorded and commented on animals, birds, reptiles, and insects.

In the

meanwhile, printed Assamese literary journals also began to publish essays on wildlife. Most of them were p. 266

in descriptive in nature, translated from English and generally followed the path of European science. That growth of wildlife science essentially based on Euro-centric focus on zoology seriously weakened traditional understanding of fauna is beyond doubt. Till the middle of the twentieth century zoology and the science of conservation was primarily in the hands of the Europeans. It was they who regulated and shaped the career of this science. Rather than big mammals it was birds and reptiles that played a key role in drawing attention to this region. Gradually people who manned the Forest Department began to show keen interest in the lives of animals away from the powerful paradigm of animals as an element of anti-forestry. An example of this shift was the career of the forest conservator A.J. Milroy. During his career in Assam, Milroy directed his attention to the well-being of the elephant and successfully integrated this changing paradigm with the institutional practices of imperial 62

forestry.

63

P.D. Stracey, a contemporary of Milroy, had further advanced the cause of the elephant.

Since

then the subject gained further institutional support and the fauna of the region became part of the larger science. Similarly, making a departure, another planter E.P. Gee helped in comprehensively reorienting the space given to fauna within the political practices of the province. Not only did he direct key attention to the big mammals but he also helped the animals to become part of the larger nationalist discourse.

Privileged Hunting, Wildlife Crime Already there was enough hunting and sport mainly by the colonial o

cials as well as the European

planters. As mentioned above, Kaziranga, which was declared a game reserve in the early twentieth century, was a planter's heaven for the sport in rhino. E.P. Gee, describing the condition of sport in Kaziranga in the 64

late nineteenth century wrote about how inaccessible these tracts were.

While there was limited control over the European sport, the native hunting practices were identi ed as based on cruelty. The Indian Forest Act, 1878 vested the Forest Department with the power to regulate access to the government woodlands. The de nition of forest produce was widened to include hides, horns, tusks, and skins. All such products belonged to the government if they originated in the Reserved Forests. The Assam Forest Regulation, 1891 retained the basic thrust of the 1878 Act in matters of wild animals. The Act of 1879 soon restricted the access to elephants. Throughout the British Empire there were other Acts p. 267

that

65

were passed ostensibly to protect the game.

In 1889, the Assam chief commissioner prohibited

hunting and shooting in the Reserved Forests from November to June, a fairly long period, without the permission of a range o

66

cer.

This initiative came not from the civil administration but from the Forest

Department, and was not innovative either as such rules were already in practice in Lower Burma. The Wild Bird and Game Protection Act, 1887 and the Indian Fisheries Act, 1897 relating to were important pieces of legislations but most of these Acts remained a dead letter in Assam till the early twentieth century. The most important intervention came in 1912 when the department promulgated the Wild Birds and Animals 67

Protection Act to regulate access to the wildlife.

The Act restricted hunting in the Reserved Forests during

the rainy seasons. Shooting of the rhinoceroses was also prohibited. The growing concern about the depletion of the game had probably forced the foresters to strictly implement the Act. Licences were issued to shoot wild animals with a primary purpose of protecting the crops. The number of such licences was

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

came to be re ected in the works of H.S. Nood, belonging to the Indian Medical Service and a civil surgeon

4,500 during 1917–18. Within a couple of years of its implementation, the department admitted that the Act 68

su ered from many lacunae.

There was not su

cient sta

in the department to look into the a airs of the

Act. During ood, there was indiscriminate slaughter of animals, in particular the deer, with the aid of nets, 69

guns, and spears in the areas of Nowgong, Darrang, and Sibsagar. police and revenue o

The Forest Department blamed the

cials for indiscriminate killings of the animals. Prohibition during some seasons of

the year did not mean an end to killings of the animals. During 1917–18, six cases of killing deer during such prohibited season were taken to the court in Darrang. The conviction rate was abysmally low: in this case only one resulted in conviction and could realize a ne of Rs 15. As there was increasing pressure by the colonial government to control access to wildlife, the colonial sportsmen looked for more privileges in matters of sport and hunting in speci ed tracts, which resulted in the formation of game associations. From the early twentieth century there is information that suggests the formation of game association in Assam. For instance, a game association was formed in Darrang in 1913 to There is no conclusive evidence to

suggest the social milieu of the members of the game association or the history of its formation but in all p. 268

likelihood, the planters were the members of this association. 71

1916–17.

The association had only six members in

The basic purpose of these game associations, like their counterparts in the British Empire, was

to regulate game as well as evolve rules for the future preservation of the game. The Darrang Game Association suggested that there should be rules and regulation for the control of game and shooting in 72

Assam in line with the Nilgiri Game Association.

After prolonged negotiations the association was granted

the privileges of hunting, shooting, and shing for ten years from 1 July 1915 in the few reserves in the district of Darrang. The association also undertook to employ watchers to protect the game, and, accordingly, four watchers were employed. However, the euphoria of the game association soon disappeared. Amongst the Europeans, a small section of the planters' community began to express concern about the preservation of the rich fauna of Assam. A number of colonial o

cials were also aware of the fact

that there had been a concerted e ort in several parts of British India, the forests of Central India in particular, to protect the game. Crimes involving the fauna also increased after the game regulations were 73

introduced.

The number of such o ences, with the strict imposition of forest rules and regulations,

increased manifold. A few decades later the idea of crime was generally transformed into the notion of poaching. Some Assamese also took active interest in wildlife conservation; they wrote eloquently on hunting and conservation. In the everyday practices too, a number of tribes showed respect to the wild animals despite 74

there being no cause for their conservation as understood in the contemporary language of conservation.

The number of people who practised professional hunting was marginal, only for a few it was part of their leisure. The signi cant association was with the elephant, involving their capturing, ownership, and domestication. Trade in elephant was both in live elephant and in ivory, and this has been discussed below. This resulted both in social wealth and economic pro t. Those who became rich by the elephant trade came to be socially known as hati-dhani. Such acquired social prestige was inherited by the next generations. It is di

cult to estimate the wealth they had earned through this process but that its impact was surely of the

highest level could not be minimized. It was only through the legislative a airs and the space created by the newspaper that the Assamese could express their opinion for conservation of wildlife. Though the experiment of game reserve was yet to emerge as an aspect of wildlife habitat, there was considerable expression of concern about the p. 269

deteriorating condition of the wildlife amongst a few

leading Assamese intellectuals early in the

twentieth century. Though their number was limited, at least those who spoke and spelled out the wisdom of the preservation of protection had considerable in uence in the local society. The most signi cant piece of contribution came from one of the leading intellectuals Pitambaor Dev Goswami (1885–1962). As a satradhikar (religious head of the Vaishnavite monastery), Goswami not only had a strong presence among the peasants and Assamese middle class, but he used to draw attention also from the government. His concern for wild animals was more utilitarian than religious. In a rather well-thought out essay, Goswami expressed concern about the decreasing number of wild bu alos which he categorized as Assamese bu alo 75

and had precious social value amongst several communities.

He considered them as strong and with great

milking capacity. In his essay he recounted the tragedy through which these bu alos had to pass through despite repeated attempts to draw the attention of the government. He spelt out clear policies for preserving these bu alos and also showed the availability of the forested areas that could be safely used for the preservation of these animals. Goswami was categorical in spelling out the necessity of wild bu alo

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

70

coordinate with the Forest Department in matters of wildlife protection.

conservation and indicated that they could provide a remedy to the growing demand for milk. He also did not shy away from appreciating the physical beauty of the animals.

Preserving the Wild: Conservation in Kaziranga The Colonial sportsmen took keen interest in the rhinoceros. Pollock, writing in the late nineteenth century, 76

saw only two varieties of rhino in Assam.

A specimen of the two-horned rhinoceros Sumatrensis, whose

range was extensive, though it was rare and extremely localized, was recorded from the Brahmaputra valley 77

in 1875.

The same specimen was found in the early twentieth century at di erent places.

The game reserves and sanctuaries were the products of the early twentieth century colonial understanding of the Indian fauna and the international fauna preservation movement. By the early twentieth century the attracted the attention of the public too. In 1903, Times of Assam published a letter that decried the extensive killing of animals. The writer lamented the rampant way in which the local Mikirs had taken to the profession of killing. By this time even hunters from Bengal arrived in large numbers to have an experience p. 270

of killing the animals, resulting in reckless and indiscriminate destruction

of all the game in the

province. It was found that by this time the rhino had completely disappeared from North Lakhimpur, a fact mentioned in o

cial records.

With the threat to the rhino becoming apparent such concern for game acquired a new dimension. One of the earliest o

cial manifestations of such destruction of game became apparent when the Zoological

Garden in Calcutta requested the Assam government to supply it with matured rhino. The Zoological Garden, established in 1875 and one of Asia's oldest one, had by then became a centre of collection of various animal species in British India. Their e ort to collect animals from across the country often resulted in dismal condition of the animals. Illustrative of such rarity was the case of the lions in the present Gir National Park when it was found that the animal was now only con ned to a handful of locations from that 78

of previously wider territories.

One-horned rhino also began to draw attention. Reports about its rarity

was published in Nature, the leading journal of science. Despite prospects of good revenue from the supply of rhino, the Assam government expressed its inability to comply with the request. A preliminary enquiry revealed the existing condition of the rhino population, which was far worse compared to the measures adopted in other parts of British India to protect the game. Describing the condition of the fauna in general and the rhino in particular the O

ciating Commissioner of Assam valley J.C. Arbuthnott, in a letter to B.

Fuller, the Chief Commissioner of the province, in 1902, argued that ‘the animal which was formerly common in Assam has been exterminated except in remote localities at the foot of the Bhutan hills in Kamrup and Goalpara and in a very narrow tract of country between the Brahmaputra and Mikir hills in Nowgong and Golaghat where a few individuals still exist’. He emphatically pointed out that in the last couple of years the killing of the animal had been accelerated and the game had almost disappeared from various forests. Explaining the reason for killing, he also argued that the hunters from Bengal ‘who included of novices’ red ‘at anything that got up in front of them’. He claimed that in the case of the rhino the 79

slaughter of females and immature animals had brought the species on the verge of extinction.

‘I am

convinced that, unless an order of the kind is issued, the complete extinction of a comparatively harmless and most interesting creature is only a question of a very short space of time’. That the Assam Forest Department was hardly aware of such a condition of the animal also became apparently clear. Arbuthnott p. 271

suggested that there should be some form of restriction on the killing of

the animal. He claimed, ‘An

order prohibiting or limiting the destruction of rhinoceros without special permission would, I feel sure, be 80

welcomed by all true lovers of sport and natural history’.

81

The Assam Forest Department had very little means to protect its fauna.

Whatever sporting rules did exist

in the Assam Forest Manual, the Assam administration had no doubt that it was only a ‘dead letter’. The rampant killing of the rhino attracted the attention of the public too. There was already a public concern 82

about the protection of rhinos in Kaziranga.

Several Assamese, and also British o

cials, in Sibsagar

expressed their dissatisfaction at the deplorable condition of the game in the forests of Kaziranga. The rhino, unlike the elephant, however, was a species that was neither relegated to the backseat nor ardently sought after by the pre-colonial state. The earliest mention of rhino in regional religious texts can be found in Kalika-purana where sacri ce of the rhinoceros that was in practice in Kamakhya temple had 83

been described.

Rarely associated with domestic practices it used to live in grassy land. As the latter

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

threat of rhino poaching had reached a frightening level. There was rampant killing of the rhino and it

worked as cultivable agricultural land, the threat to its habitat was under constant pressure. However, the comparatively low pressure of agrarian expansion and the con icts with its habitat never acquired a serious magnitude. The early nineteenth century accounts of rhino describing it as living in the ‘most densest and retired parts of the country’ also mentioned the use of rhino horn for medicinal uses. By the early decades of the nineteenth century, Assam became known for its rhino horn along with bees, wax, and the like as key 84

forest produces.

85

A few others also noticed the domestication of the rhino. 86

record also mentioned private ownership of rhino.

Another nineteenth-century

M'Cosh, also mentioned the export of the young calves

to Europe. By the early twentieth century, the entry of mercantile capital into rhino horn trade became well 87

known.

The gradual expansion of the agrarian frontier in the unclassed forested zone, characterized by 88

grassland, also worked as a new deterrent to the animal's habitat.

An animal, found in scattered places and 89

often killed for its horn trade, gradually came to be identi ed as rarity. 90

Kaziranga indicated the number of one-horned rhinos at 100.

An estimate taken in 1912 in

The possible extinction of some animals, 91

like the American Bison, had already drawn the attention of wildlife conservationist.

though it was desirable to ban the killing of the rhino the sanction of the legislative council was most necessary. An Act aimed at regulation and prohibition of shooting was yet to come in the province. Given the interests and pressure of those interested in the game, Fuller rightly appreciated that such a legislative 92

intervention would undoubtedly come.

Another alternative for the government was to consider the

formation of an ‘asylum’ to protect the rhino. Such an asylum could be formed by ‘taking up as Reserved Forest a su

cient area of suitable land’ as habitats. Fuller also suggested that a larger forest tract could be

considered for the rhinos or other such game. Demarcation of tracts for game was not to interfere with the existing agricultural practices and the government decided to allow expansion of agriculture into the unclassed forests to accommodate new demands. Fuller made it clear that the department should not spend much public money on such an undertaking and the department would not a orest land that was suitable 93

for cultivation.

For Arbuthnott, the idea of an asylum appeared as more than agreeable. Support from several deputy 94

commissioners came in handy.

A. Playfair, the Deputy Commissioner of Sibsagar, was hopeful that there

would not be too much expenditure in the creation of game reserves except the maintenance of forest guards or keepers. An apprehension about the e ectiveness of such asylums in Goalpara, usually identi ed as easy access for the Bengal hunters, still remained. To overcome such ‘unsportsmanlike practice of indiscriminate shooting to swell the bag’, Arbuthnot still thought only prohibitions could work. This resulted in selection of several tracts that could be reserved as special protected areas for the rhino. Certain tracts in North-Kamrup, Kaziranga—a tract lying in both the districts of Sibsagar and Nowgaon—and Laokhowa in the district of Nowgaon were identi ed for this purpose. These tracts were mostly located in the unclassed forests covered with reed and grass. The primary characteristics of ora in Kaziranga was the dense and tall elephant grass intermixed by small swamplands supported by annual ood caused by the river Brahmaputra. This ecology also meant the presence of a wide variety of animals. The river Brahmaputra as the main artery running across the province crossed the forests, this also worked as a catalyst for travellers to aim their gun at the games. And closeness to a large tract which became suitable for jute cultivation posed a serious challenge the long-term survival of the forested tracts of Laokhowa. In fact, by the end of the twentieth century, a substantial part of the reserve came to be reclaimed as agricultural p. 273

land. Despite a proposal for such game reserve forthcoming, the government made its

intention clear

95

that it could not a ord to expend ‘public money on the undertaking’.

This changing ground reality also coincided with a shift in the imperial concern towards fauna. Lord Curzon, the Indian viceroy, had in the meantime written to the Burma Game Association about the general 96

extinction of rhino.

Curzon also talked about, in another context, about the ‘progressive diminution’ of 97

wildlife in India, caused by petty trade and impoverishment of rearms.

Finally, in December 1904, Fuller

instructed E.S. Carr, the Conservator of Assam, to submit a proposal notifying game reserves. In accordance with the rules that were in force in the Central Province a set of rules were framed to regulate shooting and hunting in January 1905. In June, Carr submitted a proposal for the formation of a game reserve in Kaziranga along with Laokhowa and North-Kamrup forests. As consideration of an asylum for the rhino gave way to the formation of game reserves, this led to elaborate enquiry into the existing agricultural practices and customary rights. Issues of additional manpower and expenditure also needed to be addressed. In the meanwhile, since 16 March 1905 shooting rules came into force. Hunting, shooting, trapping, and shing within a game Reserved Forest was absolutely prohibited. Complete prohibition of hunting came in the case of female rhinoceros and bu alo, accompanied by their young calves; hunting of female bison and

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

While the administration began to highlight the rarity of rhino, a few months later, Fuller admitted that p. 272

green pigeon was also prohibited. Some animals came under the seasonal protection. Hunters were required to obtain permits, after paying a xed rate, to hunt. Rates for permits varied according to their nationality: an Assamese was to pay Rs 30 while a non-Assamese was to pay Rs 50. O

cial reports are silent about what happened in the subsequent days. New areas were added to Kaziranga.

Measures were taken to protect existing natural boundaries. The challenge came from the northern 98

boundary of the sanctuary which ran parallel to the river Brahmaputra.

O

cials began to express their

apprehension about the survival of wild animals in a forested land often chosen by the grazers to herd their 99

animals.

P.R.T. Gurdon, the Assam valley commissioner, however, thought that the success of the game

reserve depended mostly on the hard work to be done by the lone game-keeper appointed for the reserve. Thus he thought ‘…if he did his duty, it should not be possible for Mikir shikars to poach in the reserve…the Conservator of Forests should be directed to insist on the game-keeper keeping a proper look out and 100

reporting all trespassers’.

While the government began to assert an exclusionist policy as a means of protecting the fauna the peasants began to protest. In 1924, a large number of peasants from the neighbourhood of the sanctuary, through a petition signed by several hundred peasants, strongly protested against the very idea of the creation of a reserve exclusively meant for animals and demanded that they be allowed land for cultivation. They argued 101

that this had emerged as a major threat to their agricultural practices.

The conservator was willing to

create some space within the outer periphery of the sanctuary but the subject never got any further attention within the bureaucracy. As the Forest Department tried to expand the existing territorial boundary of the reserve, there must have been some enthusiasm amongst the o

cials. Hunting, in the form of game,

continued to be practised inside the reserve. The game reserve was renamed as game sanctuary in 1916. A semantic shift gradually helped to dissociate the ethical and bureaucratic foundation of the game reserve from that of the forestry programme which looked at the forest economy as a source of revenue. Since then a few foresters' pro-animal focus within the general framework of the forestry programme's ideological paradigm came to have signi cant bearing on wildlife management. The beginning perhaps is located in the intensive elephant management programme that evolved with A.J. Milroy, who shifted his bureaucratic focus towards the evolution of a more humanitarian elephant catching programme. In doing this, Milroy 102

faced strong opposition from within the department.

With the introduction of a privileged and hierarchical system of hunting rights, now mostly con ned to a limited few, and animals like rhino coming under complete protection, the traditional hunting practices in Kaziranga came under serious scrutiny. Regulation of hunting required surveillance by a few sta

from the

Forest Department. In the early days, with a meagre fund being allotted, the management of game reserves had increasingly become a di

cult task. Not only this, those who were specially entrusted to regulate the

game did not have any expertise in knowing the hunters' social networks. That unauthorized hunting was going on was not unknown to the keepers of fauna. This gradually brought the idea of poaching in the o

cial discourse of the department. The areas were regularly patrolled against poaching without bringing

in additional infrastructural support. Such vigilance often met with armed resistance, and threat to the lives p. 275

103

of the forest guards became obvious.

As the department admitted the increase in the destruction of 104

game the vernacular press also exerted enormous pressure.

the

Publicly, the department came to express its

desire to protect the ora and fauna of the region. The social pressure created by the press about the game came to play a vital role in the policy formulations of the department towards wildlife. Despite such challenges, the department, decades later, could conclude that the stock of wild animals had ‘de nitely increased’. The nature of ecology in Kaziranga was self-su

cient enough to create other problems since its early days,

which became a serious threat to the conservation programme of the fauna in the mid-twentieth century. The ecological setting of the game reserve was generally associated with reed and grass coverage. Such an ecology o ered favourable ground for both grazing and production of winter crops. The practice of grazing by professional grazers in unclassed forests adjacent to the game sanctuary was reported since the early twentieth century. Scattered peasant cultivation was a prevalent practice. As already mentioned, the game reserve, since its early days of formation, was added with new territories at the cost of existing agricultural practices. Such restriction on agrarian activity remained a temporary strategy as the pressure from the peasants never disappeared. The new agrarian frontier had reduced the area for grazing of these animals. Also the area o

cially earmarked for grazing got squeezed with the coming of the game reserve. The Forest

Department was strongly against any settlement with the neighbouring grazers whom the department

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 274

regarded as unwelcome. Within a decade o

cials were almost unanimous that these grazers were mere 105

‘inveterate poachers’ and ‘their proximity to a game sanctuary is most undesirable’.

Since the establishment of the Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary it essentially remained a place for game and recreation for a limited few. After Independence the attitude towards the wildlife sanctuaries has 106

changed.

Concern for wildlife came to occupy an important position in various public debates. Systematic

arrangement was introduced to ‘watch’ the wild animals. It a orded the natives to appreciate their wildlife and help in the growing concern for the preservation of the wildlife. In March 1949 the Assam government invited India's renowned wildlife conservationist and ornithologist Salim Ali and the American ornithologist Dillon-Ripley to enquire into the condition of wildlife of Assam and make recommendations 107

for the improvement of sanctuaries.

They were accompanied by people like E.P. Gee and C.G. Baron in

acquainting them about the condition of wildlife in Assam. Ali and Ripley visited four main sanctuaries and p. 276

submitted their report

to the government. They made a lm on Kaziranga and prepared a report on the

habitat, at least from the perspective of the ornithology. This was also a major initiative taken by the government of Assam to publicize the cause of wildlife throughout the country. The most important aspect of the report was the brake that it had put on the raised number of rhino population in Assam. Their estimate was drastically opposite of the already believed number of rhino population in Assam. For example, prior to the visit of Ali and Ripley, various o

cial estimates about the rhino population in the

Manas sanctuary were somewhere between 40 and 150 while Ali and Ripley put the number at a maximum nine. Both of them found only two tracks during their six days of stay in that game sanctuary. For a couple of decades, the objective of establishing the game sanctuaries seemed to be a success in spite of the many hurdles it faced. The wildlife protectors believed that the numbers of wild animals had increased in some cases. In 1950, the game sanctuaries were again given a new terminology—they were to be renamed as Wild Life Sanctuary. The o

cial reason behind the change was that the word ‘game’ referred to those animals and

birds that were shot for trophies and for meat whereas the term ‘wildlife’ embraced all living creatures, and implied their conservation. To give protection of wildlife more legitimacy a State Wildlife Board was formed in 1953, a year after the Indian Board of Wildlife was set up at the national level, with people like Satradhikar 108

Goswami of Garmur, Prabhat Chandra Barua, and E.P. Gee as its members.

Their selection was based on

their interest in the preservation of wildlife and also their public standing. But the board turned out to be an ine ective one, since its formation it met only once in 1958. Revenue generated by the sale of rhino was nominal. In 1949, the Assam Forest Department sold one rhino to Cairo Zoo for Rs 20, 000. Such sporadic sale continued and was welcomed by the Forest Department. The 109

one-horned rhino became a state emblem in 1948.

O

cial acceptance of rhino as the state symbol of

Assam gave further political credibility to the cause of the rhino. However, the rhino continued to face severe threat for its horn. The situation had deteriorated in the post-Independence period. In 1954, writing to J.L. Nehru, the Prime Minister whose appreciation of wild animals had enduring impact on the history of p. 277

Indian wildlife conservation, the Chief Minister of Assam Bishnu 110

on the verge of being extinct in Assam.

Ram Medhi admitted that the rhino was

Shortly afterwards in December 1954, the Assam government

introduced the Assam Rhinoceros Preservation Bill to protect the rhino from being killed, captured, and 111

injured.

The bill aimed at controlling its destruction outside the Reserved Forest, the leased land in

particular. It came under harsh attack from its members. Questions were raised about its unproductive 112

nature of the rhino and its low birth rate.

Members across their party a

liation argued that the animal

needed to be protected, considering the animal's importance as ‘state heritage’, its ability to generate money, and pressure on its habitat. In the meanwhile, the Indian Board for Wildlife also put pressure to protect the animal in the earnest. Since 1963, the Indian Board for Wildlife took up the matter of wildlife seriously. During this time, the board had acquired a new dimension in managing the wildlife sanctuaries. It stressed the need for more numbers of such sanctuaries and prohibition of grazing within these areas. The board had taken another important initiative of not allowing socially privileged groups variously identi ed as ‘foreign dignitaries’ or ‘VIPs’ to shoot inside the parks. This was a rather signi cant directive to spearhead the cause of preservation of wildlife. There was a continuous pressure to allow the Department of Tourism to manage tourists inside these sanctuaries. With the cooperation of professional wildlife conservationists it was now realized that the protection of wildlife inside the sanctuaries needed the cooperation of the neighbouring people. The problems arising from close contact between the human habitation and the wildlife could not be evaded any

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

condition of the wildlife in the Kaziranga. Their visit gave legitimacy to the Kaziranga as a site for wildlife

more and hence the programme of the national parks. It was felt within the Forest Department that the two wildlife sanctuaries should be converted into a national park. Growing pressure of international wildlife experts to inspect the claims of success of this sanctuary led the sanctuary to be opened for further 113

inspection.

The situation changed in 1967 when a larger international survey was undertaken in India as

part of a Smithsonian project to assess various wildlife habitats. A census by Juan Spillet, undertaken at the initiative of E.P. Gee, a signi cant initiative in terms of assessing the bio-diversity of Indian wildlife 114

habitats, brought out the continuous pressure on the fauna by various pressures in Kaziranga.

Spillet's

survey made it clear that enough destruction was done to various nationally recognized wildlife habitats, 115

which required immediate intervention.

p. 278

Elephant: Hunting and Preservation 116

fauna preservation as well as in generating revenue.

The extensive local knowledge and expertise in

matters of elephant hunting and preservation came in handy in the nineteenth century. These experiences contributed signi cantly to the making of the colonial notion of the Indian elephant. This section broadly outlines this complex foundation of the colonial understanding of elephant. Elephant continued to play a key role in the pre-British era. It was a major item of pre-colonial war booty. Apart from being a royal gift, it worked as the symbol of royal prestige and magni cence. Within the geographical territory of Assam the capture and domestication of elephants acquired much sophistication during this period. Accounts of large-scale transportation of elephants to the Mughal emperor in Delhi can be found in Assamese buranjis. Parallel to this, the handicraft industry, specializing in ivory, also ourished 117

in the region.

The pre-colonial knowledge of the elephant came from local practices, understanding, and

observation. Apparently such knowledge had two utilitarian perspectives: one was for the protection of the paddy elds and the other one was for their capture, management, and domestication. All this had passed into the oral as well as written tradition. Large corpuses of folklores, from western Assam, are proof of the 118

extensive transmission and use of local knowledge.

The Hastibidyanarba, an ornamented manuscript

prepared under the auspices of the Ahom kings, exempli es the extensive knowledge of the Assamese on 119

the health and well-being of the elephant.

120

The manuscript, now available in print form, 121

describes the several methods of elephant keeping, its breeding, and domestication.

meticulously

The manuscript hints

at how no one in particular was the chief patron of the elephants. Patronization was to be supported both by wealth and social sanctity. Trade in elephant allowed individuals to gain both economic and social capital. 122

These classes of people came to be known as hati-dhani in Assamese vocabulary.

Amongst the chief

agents of elephant management and capturing in Assam were the religious heads, the gossains or vaishnavite priests. They were also the chief owners of the hunted elephants. Many of them lived on the pro ts earned from elephant trade. The social practice of elephant hunting by the religious heads continued even in the post-Independence period. p. 279

The elephant came to play an important role with the beginning of the colonial rule. They came to be used for the transportation of the colonial administrators into remote areas. Elephants could be used in di erent seasons. It empowered and provided a newly acquired prestige to the very person who rode it, and turned out to be a symbol of social status. The elephant also had other utilitarian goals. First, since the beginning, the British o

cials were optimistic of the revenue potential of the elephant. Thus, way back in 1837, M'Cosh

estimated that about 700–1,000 elephants were exported from Assam annually at an average price of Rs 300. M'Cosh further mentioned that these elephants were captured by the private suppliers and were mostly bought by the Bengal Commissariat Department. With the elephant beginning to contribute to the revenue of the government the Revenue and Agriculture Department dealt with its management. These revenue proceeds were categorized as a minor forest produce. During 1875–80 the total revenue derived from sale of 123

mahals in Assam was estimated at Rs 123, 766.

Second, the elephant contributed to the strategic needs of

the colonial empire, which signi cantly led the government to undertake protective measures for the elephants. Apart from this strategic need, the regulated hunting was seen as an imperative in order to defend the local inhabitants from the havoc caused to their lives and property. Simultaneously, there was growing awareness that it was necessary to protect the wildlife from other forms of threats, such as indiscriminate shooting. What came to be adopted was a policy of protection with a utilitarian thrust that was advocated by

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Within the history of the wildlife of Assam the elephant occupied an important place both in the rhetoric of

G.P. Sanderson, the superintendent of Kheda in Dacca since its establishment and who later on became a renowned authority on the elephant, and who came to dominate the elephant catching and management of 124

the colonial world. Sanderson ardently espoused that ‘protection and utilization should go hand in hand’. Ideas about the exigency of State intervention in elephant hunting thus arose alongside the perceived necessity to extend protection to the life and property of the local inhabitants. Despite its presence in various localities of India the craft of elephant-catching operation was practically 125

available only in parts of Chittagong, and the sub-Himalayan forests, that included Assam and Bhutan.

Several tribes, spreading over the northern and eastern hills of the state, developed specialised practice of elephant capturing. This practice came to be utilized by the medieval polity. Sanderson mentioned that p. 280

amongst the principal sites of elephant procurement in India, Assam was the major 126

along with hill Tipperah.

source of supply

As domestic catching failed to meet the local needs, import of elephants from 127

Burma and Ceylon helped overcome the crisis.

Since the mid-nineteenth century Assam became the most

By the mid-nineteenth century the colonial state began to assert its monopoly of right in elephant catching and trade. The question of government monopoly in elephant catching was rst raised in 1851 when it was pointed out that both law and custom a

rmed government monopolies in Arrakan and Cachar, but such

claims were not supported in Sylhet and Chittagong. By 1855, the government moved towards new rules 128

declaring methods of elephant catching a State monopoly.

To assert the government's right over the

elephant, it prevented the Jaintia Raja and others from hunting in Assam. Such debates over the ownership of the elephant continued for another two decades. The only regulation, however, whereby the Assam government claimed ownership of the elephants was created in 1873 when the inner line system included elephants in the list of items requiring permits for trade across the line. By now the colonial state had asserted that ‘elephant is in Assam a royal beast and can only be hunted under 129

government license’.

This caused hardships to the peasants whose crops were regularly destroyed by the

elephants in cultivated areas. Landlords who claimed a right to hunt elephants were also peeved at the loss of privilege and revenue. At the same time the costs of operating the monopoly led to the partial dismantling of monopoly right by 1859 in Assam. There was a lingering debate over the absolute property rights over the big animal. Sanderson emphasized the absoluteness of the right owned by the state. Such claims did not go unchallenged. The protracted legal battle fought by the zamindars of Mechpara and Bijni amply proved the 130

hidden tension over the matter.

It was only after a long-drawn legal battle that the colonial state was

empowered with the absolute right over elephant. Yet, in another instance, in 1872, the deputy commissioner of Sibsagar refused to recognize the rights of a tea-planter over a wild elephant. The case involved an incident when the manager of Attabarrie tea-estate had captured a wild elephant within its own grant. However, the deputy commissioner had claimed the elephant and sold it on the ground that ‘all 131

elephants are the property of Government’. p. 281

The tea-estate argued that the estate where the elephant was

caught fell under the category of ‘fee-simple grant’ without any rights reserved and hence the company should be allowed to retain the captured animal. A great deal of confusion was created, and ultimately it led to the intervention of the lieutenant governor, which necessitated the permission of the civil authorities to sanction such a right. At least till 1872–3 there was no distinct set of laws about the ownership of elephant. The Board of Revenue and the Commissioner of Assam represented to the government about the necessity of legislative action to realize the in iction of nes for the capture of or killing of wild elephants in Assam without lawful 132

authority.

Throughout the British administration there was disapproval of the wholesale killing of

elephants. When forests were declared as Reserved Forest there was doubt whether it would be possible to hunt elephants in the Reserved Forests. However, in 1875, the government permitted hunting of elephants within the Reserved Forests but invested the deputy commissioners with a discretionary power to decide the 133

viability of elephant hunting.

In 1879, the Elephant Preservation Act was enacted in India and soon

extended to Assam. Hence onward, elephants became a protected species all over British India, though they could still be shot on private lands or if they proved to be dangerous to humans. From the discussions that took place amongst various forest and civil o

cials it can be safely assumed the Act failed to protect the

interest of this princely animal. In spite of the o

cial legitimacy of capturing of the elephant, there was much concern about the killing of

the rogue elephants among the colonial administration. Henry Hopkinson needed to explain to the Revenue 134

Board regarding the killing of one rogue elephant in 1873.

He defended a junior o

cer by arguing that the

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

important area contributing to the colonial needs for elephants.

elephant that was killed had already killed eight human beings. Graham, the person who killed the elephant, argued that he knew the condition of the elephant and it was not a ‘musth’ elephant. The elephant was no more a property of the government, rather a liability. The incident is a key example of the growing control of the colonial state over the elephant and also wanting to bring to an end to the reckless killing of the animal. While the subject of ownership gained attention, the question of elephant trade also became complex. Elephants were bought mainly by the traders outside the province through a network of merchants who came mostly from Purnea. With much di

culty the Purnea merchants would take these herds of elephants 135

to the Sonepur fair, which normally took 40–50 days of road march. p. 282

Provinces and Bihar. Often, zamindars from Goalpara and Coochbihar

Buyers were mostly from the United would also keep elephants in their

private custody. A.J. Milroy, soon to become a good authority on the elephant in Assam, noted that these elephants were used for the entertainment of their children so that could play with them. Eventfully many 136

children from these families grew up with these elephants.

Such practices disappeared only with the

deployment by the tea-planters who used them to carry tea-boxes. Away from such private needs the provincial government also bought elephants as transport for the o

cials.

With the progress of the administration of catching and management of the elephant, they were captured through either the kheda or government leasing out system. The responsibility of supervising the capturing and training elephant was entrusted to the kheda establishment based in Dacca. The Department of Kheda not only monopolized the capture of elephants but also their training and sale. Under the lease system, the government auctioned hunting rights of the elephant mahals to private lessees. Large areas of jungles inhabited by the elephants were divided into mahals and the right to capture elephants in them was sold by public auction to the highest bidder. In many ways this system was largely an extension of the kheda system (Fig. 6.3). Apart from the auction price a further sum of Rs 100 was imposed on each elephant captured as 137

royalty.

Through a right of pre-emption the Assam government had retained the right to buy elephants 138

over 6–7.5 feet in height at the xed rate of Rs 600.

There were further rules which forbade the capturing

of female elephants heavy with calf, and aged elephants had to be released.

Fig. 6.3

Kheda operation formed a central component of forestry programme. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

arrival of the motorcar. Another instance of employment of elephant in the private sphere was their

139

The Kheda Department in Dacca was established in the early nineteenth century. department was operated by private contractors under a European o

In its early days the

cer to capture elephants required for

the service of the commissariat department in Bengal. In the mid-nineteenth century the elephants were brought to Dacca from Burma either in sailing vessels or overland, but the large-scale mortality led to an all-out e ort to capture elephants within the subcontinent, especially in the southern and north-eastern parts of the country. Around this time European management was introduced to lessen the fatalities. The establishment worked properly from 1866 and since then the area of Garo hills in Assam was identi ed as the best place for elephant hunting. p. 283

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the Government of India administered the elephant hunting through the Military Department. This ensured that the elephant capturing in Assam was a matter of

p. 284

privilege of this department only. During this period the Military

Department used to receive supply of

elephants from Assam. The provincial government required elephants mostly for the transport and they met by the government were kept in an establishment, they were in use in Lakhimpur in eastern Assam for a 140

short duration during the 1880s. A superintendent used to manage the establishment.

In the last quarter

of the nineteenth century there was another proposal to establish an elephant depot in Sibsagar though it never became a reality. However, what remained central to the history of elephant management was its method of capture. Two methods were employed to capture the elephant. In the rst method, the elephant was captured, mostly allowed only during October and March, by erecting kheda or stockades round pung (waterbodies) frequented by the elephants, into which they were driven. The second one was by running them down and noosing them with tame elephants, which came to be known as melashikar. In the kheda or stockade system, a whole herd was captured at one time. These stockades, which required the labour of some 20–5 men to construct them, were placed in close proximity to any pung or matikhula that showed signs of being visited by wild elephants. After completing their work, that usually occupied some 5–6 weeks, these men would wait patiently for the advent of a herd to feed at the lick. This wait might sometimes exceed to two to three months but eventually one night a herd would turn up, and as it was unsuspectingly feeding at the lick it would be quietly surrounded and the ring of one or two guns and the blowing of a few hours would be su

cient to make it rush o

in the required direction. Before the herd had time to recover from its alarm it 141

would nd itself inside the stockades and lost to the jungles forever.

Kheda required a primary outlay of from Rs 8, 000 to Rs 10, 000 and the lessee was required to have in possession a large number of elephants to tame the wild elephants so that they could be used for various types of work. Sanderson admitted that such a huge investment was practicable only for the government and native princes. On the other hand, in the mela shikar (Fig. 6.4), one or two parties consisting of three koonkie elephants, two of which must be selected for speed and endurance, called uthanee, and one for its strength, named khoonti, were sent to the resorts of the wild herds. These, on nearing a herd, put on full p. 285

speed and singled out an elephant, noosed it and tied it up in the jungle and then proceeded or two more. This system turned out to be popular due to the low capital investment.

to catch one

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

this requirement by taking the elephants after paying the value xed for them. All such elephants procured

Fig. 6.3

Though there were xed regulations for capturing the elephants in Assam, more rigorous than in any other province, Sanderson admitted that all elephant hunting regulations were grossly violated. He mentioned an p. 286

instance where an individual, not himself a hunter, with resources

at his disposal, purchased a lease for

Rs 2,000 at a public auction. The sale of hunted elephant in each tract allowed speculation by a class of middlemen. Often the hunter and mahaldar were two di erent persons. Buying a mahal required huge capital, which was not always possible for the hunters. Sanderson admitted that most of the hunters had a poor economic background and could not invest resources. In eastern Assam, often good hunters came from the Miri community, which had a meagre income from agriculture. The mahaldars, coming from a rich social milieu, in turn leased out their rights to skilled hunters, and Sanderson admitted that in this process these middle strata earned a huge pro t. The mahaldars often underquoted the number of animals that they had captured and this also gave them extra pro t. Such pro ts did not subside even in the mid-twentieth 142

century when private companies were formed to earn more from the elephant-catching operation.

Extra care was taken to look after the everyday a airs of the elephants in the custody of the district administration. A district superintendent was there to supervise the a airs of the elephants. The district forest o

ces maintained a register of elephants captured in various types of shikar. In this register, the

information on the name of the elephant, its size and health, and details of its owner were described in detail. On the other hand, the mahout came to play an important role in the a airs of the elephants' health and their working capability. Often the poor health of the elephant, mostly caused by the heavy workload, was ascribed to the negligence of this caretaker. There are evidences when the mahout's services were 143

dispensed with due to the death of elephants.

Keeping elephants also incurred a cost to the state. During

1869–70, the total cost of keeping and maintaining ve elephants was found to be approximately Rs 2, 214. The expenditure was for keeping jammaddar, mahout, grass-cutter, cost of medicine, and ration. Elephants remained a cause of con ict amongst various branches of administration. While there was a pressing need of elephants for various types of works the elephants could not be procured by the district administration itself. The Kheda establishment decided about the respective share of each district. While in Goalpara it was possible to have elephants on hire from the houses of zamindars, the same was not true in 144

Kamrup.

The elephant was a further cause of con ict between the Assamese privileged class and colonial

authorities. Acrimony was common before the onset of any e ective set of rules to supervise the elephant p. 287

catching operations. For a long time the Forest Department

articulated unsuccessfully to keep the right

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Many viewed Kheda operation as inhuman and it gradually came to be replaced by Mela Sikar. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive

of the elephant capturing in its hand. The only time it had succeeded in having a voice in matters of elephant hunting was when it disallowed capturing elephants in the re protected areas in the winter. The revenue earned from the elephant mahals was credited to the Land Revenue administration. Between 145

1875 and 1900 approximately Rs 302, 836 was earned from elephant mahals.

Prices of elephant kept rising

from the mid-nineteenth century till the early twentieth century. At the same time, the establishment of the 146

railways in Assam facilitated the better transportation of the elephants beyond the province.

Traders

from outside the province found it much easier to take the elephants away without causing any serious physical injury. Elephant hunting got a fresh momentum in the second quarter of the twentieth century under the 147

stewardship of A.J. Milroy.

He suggested modi cations in the very form of elephant hunting. At this time

it was widely feared that the stock of wild elephants had seriously depleted. Many feared that the local it was suggested that the rotational practice should be adopted in the identi cation of the localities where elephants were supposed to be captured. Years back Sanderson had also echoed a similar concern over the wasteful method adopted by the native hunters. A small number of captured elephants fall prey to death every year (Fig. 6.5). However, there was a decline in the markets for the elephants. Identifying the reasons for the decline in the elephant business, Milroy suggested that apart from political and economic uncertainty resulting out of the 1930 World Economic Depression, the elephant was no more the convenient 148

mode of transport after the emergence of the motorcar.

He also suggested that the growing in ux of

immigrant peasants had led to a decrease in the feeding areas of the elephant. The elephant owners found it extremely di

cult to maintain them because of the scarcity of feeding areas and it had forced the local

aspirants to move out of these businesses.

Fig. 6.5

Challenges to wildlife continue to haunt forest managers. Courtesy R. Soud The two systems of elephant hunting continued till the early twentieth century when the Department of Kheda in Dacca was transferred to Burma. Soon the Assam administration was allowed to look after the 149

elephant mahals and the leasing out system became the only way of supplying elephants.

But there was

apprehension about the viability of the stockade system and the continuous depletion of elephants in p. 288

150

Assam.

During 1903–18, an o

cial estimate suggested that, the

number of elephant caught under the

leasing system was 5, 029. Till the rst decade of the twentieth century the mahals were leased out for two years only and in the next two years hunting operation was prohibited. This was done with an idea to keep the process of regeneration of herds intact. However, as forest o

cials began complaining about the decline

in the number of elephants the system was further modi ed in 1913. Accordingly the new system only adapted the method of two years of hunting and eight years of rest with a view ‘to ensuring the continuance of su

151

cient stock’.

During 1917–18 a census was taken to estimate the numbers of elephants in various

divisions. Though the estimate did not nd favour with many forest o 152

number of elephants around 3, 610.

cials, this conservative guess put the

Elephant capturing never receded and it forced the legislative council

to discontinue the system of selling the elephant mahal since 1921. With the new system of arrangement of working the elephant mahal in place, the operations and management of these mahals were entrusted to 153

persons with skill and bearing a sense of humanity.

A few years later the Assam Legislative Council made

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

hunting practices were more than responsible for the unwanted depletion in the number of elephants. Thus

an attempt to ban all other types of elephant hunting except mela shikar. Exception was made to allow kheda shikar in the hill districts and frontier tracts where mela shikar was di p. 289

154

cult.

In spite of the attempt to regulate hunting, elephants continued to provide considerable revenue to the Forest Department. In 1941, the department further imposed limitation on the number of elephants to be captured in the kheda mahals. Both kheda and mela remained in practice concurrently till the postIndependence period but the number of elephants captured and mahals had declined since, leaving behind the experiences of traditional elephants caretakers to disappear gradually.

In Search of Paradigm: Foresters and the Naturalist Wildlife had traversed a long path before attracting the late twentieth-century international fauna conservationists. For instance, venison was sold in the open and was regarded as a delicacy. As mentioned earlier, with enforcement of new fauna preservation practices and with foresters like A.J. Milroy and P.D. Stracey at the helm of a airs, the wildlife management was placed in a new trajectory. There were a few foresters whose contribution into the history of wildlife protection in Assam is remembered by many. Milroy made e orts to turn the elephant hunting rules to an e ective instrument, not only to protect them from human prey but also to humanize the elephant catching operations. Since then these operations came to be supervised more e ectively. The mother elephants along with suckling calves were released without any delay. Milroy also employed a large force of Assam Ri es to ward o

poaching in the newly established

Manas Game Sanctuary. He also took measures to declare the rhino horn as a forest produce, which would prevent it from being traded according to the Assam Forest Regulation, 1891. He thought observation of wildlife was essential for the study of natural history. He argued that this would further help in the prevention of poaching and illegal shooting of any kind. To create the scope for observation he distinguished between bad and good hunting, and encouraged game as an end towards good hunting. In fact, the career of modern wildlife conservation began with the career of Milroy in Assam. He was regarded as an e

cient forester and many of his ideas went into the making of the Indian twentieth-century wildlife

history. P.D. Stracey, both a conservationist and shikari, and also a proli c writer on the problems of wildlife, took great care in taking out the problem of wildlife from the narrow con nes of forestry. His writing in mid-twentieth century had already urged for the appropriate measures to save the ‘vanishing 155

rhinoceros’. p. 290

The prestigious career of E.P. Gee should be mentioned as the beginning of a new chapter in the wildlife history of Assam. Gee, educated at the University of Cambridge, began his career as a manager of a teaplantation but soon diverted his attention to the rich wildlife potential of Assam. As early as 1933 he wrote about the species of hornbills found in Assam. The time then was also critical as the wildlife history of India was passing through the most delicate phase of its career. This period could be termed as a transformation from hunters-shooters to wildlife observers but in a reluctant manner. Rangarajan mentioned that Gee never was a big game hunter but ardently participated in another gentlemen sport of the time, namely 156

angling.

Not only did he practise it but he was also an advocate of angling and argued about its non-

harmful e ects. He came to be known for his famous black and white photography and his insightful pieces of journalistic writing. He also became a non-o

cial member of the Indian Board for Wildlife, the apex

body to advise the Indian government on wildlife matters, which rst met in the year 1952. The expectation of the time was that nobody was t enough to take charge of the wildlife until and unless one had shot dead a tiger. Gee came up with an alternative by the middle of the 1950s and asserted that no one should take charge of the forest division until he had caught sh with rod and line. He argued in favour of having separate wildlife wardens who would be within the Forest Department but would have speci c powers in relation to the fauna. He also participated in the rst ever rhino census that took place in Assam in 1948. These initial interests in wildlife and its conservation took him far beyond his professional career as a teaplanter in Assam. This took him far beyond his adopted homeland of Assam. He closely monitored the recovery of the rare swamp deer and the build up of rhino numbers in the Kaziranga game sanctuary. In Manas, he discovered a new species, namely the golden langur. His cooperative style won encomiums from the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on his visit to Kaziranga, where Gee accompanied the prime minister on a tour. In his rare gesture to Gee's work, Nehru had written his only piece on wildlife as a foreword to Gee's book. Gee's career not only brought new life to

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

movement. During this interim period a few individuals remained stalwarts in carving out their space as

the wildlife history of Assam but also radically changed the perception of the Indian State towards this aspects. The local foresters worked more closely at par with national bodies and groups in matters of wildlife protection. On his own, Gee had close access to such accounts and his understanding of the wildlife p. 291

of Assam was fairly based on such accounts. Gee believed that the most indiscriminate killing of Assam wildlife took place during the time of the Second World War. While eastern Assam was converted into the theatre of warfare, moving military personnel, stationed throughout the length and breadth of the province, had caused enormous damages to the regional fauna. The governmental control over ora and fauna of the state had also temporally disappeared. A number of Assamese professionals brought newer nuances into the wildlife conservation, as for example, 157

the illustrious career of Robin Banerjee, a trained medical practitioner.

With the help of the twentieth-

century technological innovation Banerjee gave the wildlife of Assam a larger canvass. He not only earned a living from the wildlife conservation but also promoted the question of wildlife on a larger national and followed by a larger and wider young generation of wildlife protectionists. At the close of the twentieth century the numerical strength of the third generation of the wildlife lovers went up manifold. The arrival of science was largely a temporary phenomenon. The larger scenario of wildlife as seen from the perspective of conservation practices had rather got entangled with the colonial forestry framework. This resulted not only in the dominance of the imperial forestry programme but also slowed down the arrival of science-based conservation due to bureaucratic procedures. The conservation programme largely centred on the paradigm of strict regulation of access into the territorial jurisdiction of wildlife habitats. In the meanwhile, away from this professional conservation practices, traditional values associated the care of wild animals also came to be catalogued and appreciated in a limited circle. Despite this, such practices and their e

cacy remained a matter of doubt for the o

cial wildlife managers.

Wildlife, Internationalism, and Contemporary Practices In no country life is valued in theory so much as in India, and many people would even hesitate to 158

destroy the meanest or the most harmful of animals. But in practice we ignore the animal world. Jawaharlal Nehru 1956

By the end of the twentieth century the management of wildlife came to be administered by a separate wing of the Forest Department, though deviating slowly from the forestry programme. Since the middle of the p. 292

century, with the growth of an international fauna conservation 159

impose strict surveillance. 160

wildlife.

movement the department tried to

The Indian political class became more sensitive to the issues of protection of

Indian leaders began to show personal interest in the well being of the wild, which became part

of the new governance. Jawaharlal Nehru's love for the wild is well known. The government initiated the wildlife week celebration, which, however, had limited success in creating awareness. At the same time, because of the concerted e orts of a few conservationists, wildlife protection became more e ective. New laws were passed ostensibly to protect the wildlife which culminated in the passing of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The Act, which declared several species as rare, further strengthened the position of the department. The Assam government passed several orders in 1939, bringing some regulation in shooting. Most of the orders drew their inspiration from the Assam Forest Regulation of 1891. Immediately after the Independence, there was a larger concern for the preservation and protection of animals and birds at an allIndia level. There were more restrictions on shooting and hunting of birds and animals in various unclassed State forests. The department made a conclusive case that amongst the animals, deer of all kinds, bu aloes, bison, and rhino, and amongst the birds, peacock, wood duck, and hornbills of all types needed immediate protection. In 1951, the Assam government widened the scope of the restriction on the protection of wildlife. The government had increased the rates of royalty on animals shot under the shooting licences, which also became dearer. The new rule also introduced royalty at ad valorem rates on birds, animals, and reptiles 161

captured alive and exported from the unclassed and Reserved Forest of the province.

This had not only

strengthened the authority of the Forest Department but also moved towards the wildlife awareness in the province. Shooting and hunting were always regarded as the privilege of the socially higher classes and any breach in these rights created bitter debates within the political class. While regulations were sterngthened

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

international perspective. He captured the moments of wildlife in both still photography and movie. He was

what went missing from this new regulatory regime was careful planning of restoration of ecosystem involving ecological scientists. The fauna preservation movement came to be exempli ed both in the rhino and tiger. The well being of the wild animals in Kaziranga even distracted the attention of the politicians in the 1970s, and it so happened that many a times questions were raised in the Assam legislative assembly about the growing killing of wild p. 293

animals in Kaziranga. In March 1968, a bill was introduced in the Assam Legislative Assembly with a view of preserving the rhino in Kaziranga as well as to attract wider international attention to it. This again brought back the concern raised by the legislators in 1954. At the national context speci c concern for animals like tiger and lion was yet to take shape. The ner shape to an assertion of national concern came only in 1969 when Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi rea

rmed the government's position in the

International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Localized regional nationalistic undercurrents coalesced around the rhino before similar national level concerns crystallized around the tiger leading to the Chaudhury, and without any major change it was passed in the winter session of the assembly in 1968. The 162

Assam National Park Act, 1968 came into e ect from 1969.

This also resulted in the submission of a

proposal to declare the Kaziranga Game Sanctuary as a National Park in 1969. In January 1974, in pursuance of the Assam National Park Act, 1968, the Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary, distributed across an area of 430 163

square miles, was declared a National Park.

This resulted in getting in the Park more centralized fund and

helped attract tourist attention. This was an important step towards the infusion of a more systematic attempt in drawing serious attention from the community of scientists, though it would hardly become an integral part of management of Kaziranga National Park, to strengthen the idea of making the Kaziranga National Park as a major site of wildlife habitat. Several decades of restriction in the close neighbourhood of Kaziranga could keep on agrarian practices at bay but such pressure was bound to bounce back years later. Though the tiger hardly had any role in the political economy of Assam's imperial forestry, except hunting 164

by colonial elites and zamindars,

outside the province, the tiger became a treasure house for the 165

commercial safari operators in the twentieth century.

In the year 1968, it was estimated that about 50

commercial hunting parties spent over two million rupees as they set out into India's forests in hunt for the tiger. Several layers of the Indian society, namely princely houses, o

cials, and traders, were still engaged

in the activities of tiger hunting. At the same time, the rapid expansion of the agrarian frontier, expedited by the use of chemical pesticides, decreased the habitable area for the tiger, forcing the latter either to seek o ensive defence or go for extinction. This brought a variety of public responses, which demanded that some emergency measures should be taken up as early as possible to save the tiger from extinction. The p. 294

IUCN conference hosted by India in

166

1969 put the Indian tiger on the ‘endangered’ list.

The animal, 167

already integrally connected with the Indian national emblem, found support in the Indian government. 168

Till now there was no upper limit as to the numbers to be killed by the hunters. wildlife was put on a better footing with the a 170

foresters,

The move to protect 169

rmative support coming from the Indian political class,

and wildlife enthusiasts. Increasing international pressure and advocacy from global voluntary

groups such as the World Wildlife Fund brought nancial support towards the cause of the tigers, which 171

came to be known as Project Tiger.

The Indian government readily agreed to take over the responsibility

of the project, though the participation of the provincial government, was very crucial in the success of the 172

programme.

The tiger preservation movement began with a nationwide census based on identifying and 173

counting tiger pugs in 1972, which gave a grim picture of an estimated 1,800 animals.

This laid the

foundation for a more concrete proposal to conserve the tiger in its natural state. The idea was to select a set of sites that were representatives of the tiger's various habitats, each with a core area of at least 300 square kilometres, free from any human intervention. And nally the Project Tiger, a 40 million-rupee scheme, was launched in April 1973, and in Assam, the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary was selected as the site for the project. Preparing the working plan for the Manas Tiger project, it again reinforced the imperial idea that the tiger habitat declined in this region mostly because of the expansion of cultivation and disappearance of 174

deer.

The project also channelized more nance to an otherwise neglected sector within the forest

management. The relationship between forestry and wildlife has undergone structural changes in the last hundred years. This is particularly true in terms of the need of preservation of certain species. This change became apparent in the last quarter of the century. The logic of fauna preservation continues to be addressed not essentially from the perspective of ecosystem but often political exigencies of the region. The best example is that of the rhino preservation movement centred around the Kaziranga National Park. At the end of the century, despite talks of restoration and management of ecosystem holding key to the fauna conservation as

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Project Tiger. The bill was sent to a select committee, chaired by Chief Minister Mohendra Mohan

well as renewed understanding on the coexistence of speci c wild animals with humans, an exclusionist policy, political exigencies, and other ideologies drawn from the imperial forestry programme still continued to be the primary driving force behind wildlife management.

p. 295

1.

W. Robinson, 1975 (1841, first print), A Descriptive Account of Assam, Delhi: Sanskaran Prakashak, p. 92.

2.

For example, Lakhinath Bezbarua. ʻBurhi Air Sadhuʼ, in J.N. Goswami (ed.), 1988, Lakhinath Bezbarua Rachanawali, vol. 1, Guwahati: Sahitya Prakash.

3.

Report on the Judicial and Revenue Administration of Assam, Jenkins, 1835, ASP no. 298, Bengal Government, General Department 1836, para. 200, (ASA).

4.

James Matthie, who was the Principal Assistant Magistrate of Darrang, prepared the report.

5.

W. Hunter, 1879, A Statistical Report on Assam, vol. I, Shillong: Government Press, p. 176.

6.

Ibid., p. 25.

7.

Ibid.

8.

The following table indicates the frequency of elephant's visit to the villages in the district of Darrang. J. McSwiney, 1910, Report on the Land Revenue Resettlement of Darrang, 1905–09, Shillong: Government Press, para. 13.

Group

Ahin

Kati

Aghun

Pus

Total

Patharughat

42

99

92

45

278

Kalaigaon

534

536

563

576

2209

Khallingduar

264

225

187

72

748

Kariaparaduar

41

108

134

101

348

Haulimuhanpur

350

333

242

80

1005

Chapori

37

43

30

99

209

Panchnoi

42

99

92

45

278

9.

C.S. Hart, 1915, Note on a Tour of Inspection in Some of the Forests of Assam, Simla: Government Press, para. 29.

10.

S.N. Mackenjee, 1912, Report on the Land Revenue Resettlement of Lakhimpur 1908–1912, Shillong: Government Press, para. 19.

11.

J.P. Hewett, O iciating Secretary to Government of India (GoI), in Resolution on Extract from the Proceedings of the Government of India, 20 September 1894, ASP no. 103, January, Home, APA Collection, BL.

12.

Killing of snakes still did not attract the attention of the colonial state, the only exception being the district of Lakhimpur.

13.

Thus, Hunter informs that during 1875 an estimated £287 and £172 were spent in the districts of Kamrup and Darrang, respectively. Hunter, A Statistical Account of Assam, pp. 25 and 176.

14.

Proposal of Major B. Rogers regarding the Organization of a System for the Destruction of Wild Animals in India by Means of Spring Guns, Note, Original Scheme by Captain Rogers, August 1869, NAI, nos. 151–2, Home, Public, July 1875 (NAI).

15.

Note by Captain Rogers, August 1869, NAI, no. 56, Home, Public, September 1871 (NAI).

16.

Annual Report, 1938–39, p. 19.

17.

Annual Report, 1948–49, p. 22.

18.

J. M'Cosh, 1837, Topography of Assam, Calcutta: Bengal Military Orphan Press, p. 44. M'Cosh gave a detailed description of the method of capturing the elephants.

19.

Ibid., p. 45.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 296

Notes

Ibid., p. 48.

21.

Robinson described him as one of the eminent naturalists in India. His investigation was published in the Quarterly Journal, July 1837.

22.

Robinson, A Descriptive Account of Assam, p. 92.

23.

W. Gri ith, 2001 (first print, 1847), Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and the Neighbouring Countries, Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal.

24.

H.K. Barpujari (ed.), 1995, F. Jenkins, Report on the North-East frontier of India: A Documentary Study, Guwahati: Spectrum.

25.

A.J.M. Mills, 1984 (first print, 1854), Report on the Province of Assam, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board.

26.

Hunter in his Statistical Account of Assam provides graphic portrayal of wild animals in Assam. Allen in his Gazetteer of Assam also gives an account of the wild life in Assam.

27.

John Butler, 1985, Travels and Adventures in the Province of Assam during a Residence of Fourteen Years, London: Smith Elder and Company, p. 218.

28.

Baden Powell Bart, n.d., Pig-Sticking or Hog Hunting, A Complete Account for Sportsmen and Others, London. There was a sizeable organized sport in colonial India. Various clubs took the lead in organizing such sports. The Calcutta Tent Club established in 1862, is the oldest such club.

29.

F.W.T. Pollock, 1900, Wild Sports of Burma and Assam, London: Hurst and Blackett, p. viii 10.5962/bhl.title.28425

30.

Bart, Pig-Sticking or Hog Hunting, p. 263.

31.

Though there was no straightjacket stratification, the hunters in the early-twentieth century Assam can be categorized into two groups. One group practised hunting to earn a livelihood while the other group performed it for social status and other necessary social ʻcausesʼ.

32.

J. Butler, Travels and Adventures in the Province of Assam, p. 215.

33.

Mahesh Rangarajan, 2001, India's Wildlife History: An Introduction, Delhi: Permanent Black, p. 25.

34.

P.D. Starcey quoted in Thapar, 2003, Battling for Survivals: India's Wilderness Over Two Centuries, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, p. 218.

35.

Rangarajan, India's Wildlife History, p. 148.

36.

Ibid.

37.

E.P. Gee, 1962, ʻThe Management of India's National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuariesʼ, part IV, Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, vol. 59, no. 2, p. 219.

38.

See, Maharaja of Cooch Behar, 1946, ʻSome Reminiscences of Sport in Assamʼ, Part I and Part II, Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 199–209, 321–24.

39.

H.E. Shortt, ʻGauhati Crocodilesʼ, Private papers, IOR, Mss. Eur.C.435, APA Collection, British Library.

40.

Governors of Assam were always escorted by the zamindars of Goalpara during their hunting expedition inside the jungle. Maharaja of Cooch Behar, 1946, ʻSome Reminiscences of Sport in Assamʼ, vol. 45, part III, p. 487.

41.

Pollok claimed that he and his friends never pretended ʻto be learned naturalistsʼ but they had ʻbeen keen sportsmen and kept our eyes open, and have studied the manners and habits of the animals we have hunted, and we flatter ourselves that many points which we have noted have been ignored or overlooked in the best Natural Historiesʼ. Pollock, Wild Sports of Burma and Assam, p. viii. The number of animals ʻshotʼ and ʻkilledʼ varied from year to year. The Annual Forest Administration Report collected this information. In 1944–5 among all the animals killed there were 74 tigers, 53 wild elephants, 156 barking deers, and 58 spotted deers. See, Annual Report, 1944–45, para. 102.

42.

T.R. Phukan, 1983, Shikar Kahini, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board.

43.

For biographical details of Phukan and his hunting life see, L.N. Tamuli (compiled), 2003, Tarun Ram Phukan Rachanavali, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board.

44.

P.L. Choudhury, 1988, Shikar-Nihar, Guwahati: Bani Prakash. Several others also le behind their accounts of hunting, See, L.S. Barua, 1974, Shikar of Assam, Guwahati.

45.

The best illustrative example of their engagement with the game is, Maharaj of Cooch Behar, 1985 (first print 1908), Big Game Shooting in Eastern and North Eastern India, Delhi: Mittal.

.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 297

20.

p. 299

Quoted in Valmik Thapar, 2003, Battling for Survival: India's Wilderness over Two Centuries, p. 218.

47.

Members of the Gauripur Zamindari kept elaborate records of their shikars.

48.

P. Bhattacharya, 1981, Hatir Sange Panchas Basor, Calcutta: Ananda, (Heramba Saikia, 2007, Assamese translation, Guwahati: Jyoti Prakash). The book, intended to be a personal memoir of Lalji, compiled by Bhattacharya, provides an account of Lalji's hunting expedition and also his knowledge of wildlife of this region.

49.

For the best example of such hunting expeditions, see, D.K.L. Chaudhury, 2006, A Trunk Full of Tales: Seventy Years with the Indian Elephant, Delhi: Oxford University Press. The well-known Bengali writer Leela Majumdar's father, a surveyor in British Assam, had eloquently penned down his memories of pig hunting. See P.R. Rai, 1956, Baner Khabor, Calcutta. The author is thankful to Gautam Bhadra for providing him with this information.

50.

M'Cosh, Topography of Assam, pp. 44–5.

51.

P.D. Stracey, 1963, Wildlife in India: Its Conservation and Control, Bombay: Government of India.

52.

J.T. Pearson, 1838, Assistant Surgeon, ʻA Letter to Dr. Helfer: ʻOn the Zoology of Tenasserim and The Neighbouring Provincesʼ, Journal the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. viii, pp. 357–67.

53.

E. Blyth, 1851, ʻNotice of a collection of Mammalia, Birds, and Repitles, procured at or near the station of Cherra Punji in the Khasi Hills, north of Sylhetʼ, Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal, no. 6, pp. 517–19.

54.

J.D. Hooker, 1854, Himalayan Journals, Notes of a Naturalist, vol. II, p. 472 10.5962/bhl.title.60447

55.

W.J. Bart, 1833, The Natural History: Mammalia., vol. I, Monkeys, London: Longman and Co., p. 101.

56.

A detailed bibliography of works published on the birds of Assam in Anwaruddin Choudhury, 2000, The Birds of Assam, Guwahati: Gibbon Books and WWF.

57.

He began with a report on the Bulbuls of North Cachar. See, E.C.S. Baker, 1892, ʻThe Bulbuls of North Cacharʼ, Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, vol. 7, no. 1, part I, pp. 1–12. Later he published another eighteen pieces on Assam birds.

58.

E.C.S. Baker, 1913, ʻDescription of a New Subspecies of Warbler (Acanthopneuste trochiloides harterti) from Khasia hillsʼ, Bulletin of British Ornithological Union, vol. 31, no. 184, pp. 36–7; E.C.S. Baker, 1913, Exhibition of a Pair of Blood-pheasants (Ithagenes cruentus kuseri) from the Mishmi hills, with remarks and a description of the female hitherto unknown to science, Bulletin British Ornithological Union, vol. 33, no. 193, pp. 83–4.

59.

Baker was followed by Hugh Whistler, from the Imperial Police Service, who significantly contributed to the study of birds in Assam. His book ʻPopular Handbook of Indian Birdsʼ contained numerous references to birds in Assam. Ornithology was given further popularity by people like A.M. Primrose, F.N. Betts, Walter Koelz, R.M. Parsons, and H. Stevens.

60.

D.C. Milburne, 1933–45, ʻNotes on Birds near Dhendai, Darrangʼ, IOR, Mss. Eur. D 863, APA Collection, BL.

61.

H.S. Nood, 1936, Glimpses of the Wild: An Observer's Notes and Anecdotes on the Wild Life of Assam, London: Witherby. He began by describing the behaviour of jackals found in Assam.

62.

Selected notes, writings of A.J. Milroy, both published and unpublished, can be accessed in his collection of private papers. See, Private papers of A.J.W. Milroy, Mss, Eur. D1054, APA Collection, BL.

63.

Stracey's observations on elephants are recorded in his Elephant Gold. See, P.D. Stracey, 1991 (first print 1963), Elephant Gold, London: Weidengel, p. 63.

64.

E.P. Gee, 1964, The Wild Life of India, London: Collins, p. 219.

65.

See Thapar, Battling for Survival.

66.

F.C. Dukes, Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam to the Deputy Commissioners, Shillong, 14 January 1889 in ASP, Revenue and Agriculture, January 1889.

67.

Act VIII, 1912. Annual Report, 1913–14, para. 199.

68.

Annual Report, 1920–21, para. 238.

69.

Ibid. paras 238 and 47.

70.

ASP no. 35–46, Revenue-A, February 1913 (ASA).

71. 72.

.

Annual Report, 1916–17, para. 221. For details of the Nilgiri Game Association, see, E.P Stebbing, 1909, ʻThe Nilgiri Game and Fish Associationʼ, Indian Forester,

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 298

46.

vol. 35, 1909, pp. 121–2. Ibid.

74.

See, S. Chauduri, 2008, ʻFolk Belief and Resource Conservation: Reflections from Arunachal Pradeshʼ, Indian Folklife, serial no. 28, January, pp. 3–6.

75.

P.D. Goswami, 1939, ʻBanaria Moh Rakhsar Guri Kathaʼ, Abawahan, vol. 26, no. 10, pp. 26–9.

76.

F.T. Pollock, Sports in British Burma, Assam, and the Cossyah and Jyntiah Hills. He was a Lieutenant Colonel and was engaged in laying out the roads in the Assam valley. He was an ardent sportsman and did lot of shooting during 1860– 1870.

77.

P.D. Stracey, 1949, Assam's Economy and Forests, Shillong: Government Press, p. 470.

78.

Divyabhanusinh, 2005, The Story of Asia's Lions, Mumbai: Marg Publications.

79.

Letter from J.C. Arbuthnott, Commissioner of Assam Valley to the Secretary to the Chief Commissioner, Assam, 4 November 1902, ASP nos 75–134, Revenue-A, September 1905 (ASA). The name of Lady Curzon is commonly associated with the preservation of the rhino in Kaziranga though she did not play a central role in the story of Kaziranga.

80.

In Bengal, the killing of the rhino was already prohibited.

81.

Letter from F.J. Monahan, Secretary to the Chief Commissioner, Assam to the Commissioner of the Assam Valley Districts, no. 12, Forests-1283R, Shillong, 15 March 1904, ASP nos 75–134, Revenue-A, September 1905 (ASA).

82.

Ibid. J. Donald, Deputy Commissioner of Sibsagar wrote to the Commissioner, Assam Valley that he had spoken to ʻseveral gentlemen who are acquainted with the tract, and have been shooting therein, and all are of opinion that the tract should be certainly reserved in order to prevent the extermination of the rhinocerosʼ.

83.

ʻThe flesh of antelope and rhinoceros give my beloved (kali) for five hundred yearsʼ. Quoted in William J. Wilkins, 2001, Hindu Mythology: Vedic and Puranic, Boston: Adamant Media Corporation, p. 262. The Kalika-Purana composed in the tenth century in Assam is one of the 18 Upapuranas. The text has been critically commented upon by several authorities.

84.

The Monthly Review from January–April 1839, vol. I.

85.

The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China, and Australia, 1836, Parbury: Allen and Co., May–Aug, p. 30. Also, M'Cosh, Topography of Assam, p. 46.

86.

Anil Roy Chaudhuri, 2008, ʻRhinosʼ, in Sadin, p. 10.

87.

The entry of Marwari traders in the rhino trade has been mentioned in several Forest Department reports and has been discussed elsewhere in this chapter.

88.

For a comprehensive understanding of the habitat of the one-horned-rhino see, W.A. Laurie, 1978, ʻThe Ecology of the greater one-horned rhinocerosʼ, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Cambridge.

89.

E. Dinerstein and G.F. Mccracken, 1990, ʻEndangered Greater One-horned Rhinoceros Carry High Levels of Genetic Variationʼ, Conservation Biology, vol. 4. no. 4, pp. 417–22 10.1111/j.1523-1739.1990.tb00316.x

.

90.

Ibid 10.1111/j.1523-1739.1990.tb00316.x

.

91.

The case of American Bison has been well-illustrated in M. Moulton, 1995, Wildlife Issues in a Changing World, 2nd edition, CRC Press.

92.

Letter from Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam to J.C. Arbuthnott, Deputy Commissioner, Sylhet, no. 2160 Misc, 9628G, Shillong, 18 December 1902, ASP nos 75–134, File no. Revenue-A, September 1905 (ASA).

93.

Ibid. The tracts thus identified were mostly without cultivation, the o icial argument was on the line of the chief commissioner's wishes.

94.

P.R.T. Gurdon, the Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup, in fact argued that if such a reserve was to be formed the authority to issue shooting licenses be only invested with the deputy commissioners. Quoted in letter from J.C. Arbuthnott to the Secretary to the Chief Commissioner, Assam 28 August, 1903, Jowai, no. 77 in ASP 75–134, File no. Revenue-A, September 1905, nos 75–134 (ASA).

95.

Secretary to the Chief Commissioner, Assam to Commissioner, Assam Valley, 15 March 1904, Shillong, no. 12 Forests-128R, no. 79 in ASP nos 75–134, File No. Revenue-A, September, 1905, (ASA).

96.

Curzon wrote: ʻThe rhino is all but exterminated save in Assamʼ. Curzon's reply to Burma Game Preservation Association, 23 September 1901, Home Public Deposits, no. 15, August 1904, National Archives of India. Also see, G.N. Curzon, 1906, Sir

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 300

73.

Lord Curzon in India: Being a Selection from His Speeches as Viceroy and Governor-General of India, 1898–1905, London: Macmillan, pp. 435–40. 97.

Quoted in W.M. Adams, 2004, Against Extinction: The Story of Conservation, London: Earthscan, p. 110. For understanding the changing perspective of British Raj, specially Lord Curzon, towards the wildlife, see, V.K. Saberwal, M. Rangarajan, and A. Kothari, 2001, People, Parks, and Wildlife: Towards Coexistence, Delhi: Orient Longman, pp. 17–23.

98.

Note by J. Errol Gray, 1913 in Extension of the Kaziranga Game Reserve, ASP nos 37–57, Revenue-A.

99.

A. Playfair, the Deputy Commissioner of Sibsagar, argued that ʻit is a remarkable fine place for a grazing reserve such as has been discussed by the government on more than one occasion, but it is not, to my mind, an ideal one for wild animals, though certainly it might become so by the growth of jungle in the course of time.ʼ A. Playfair, Proceedings in connection with the proposed addition to the Kaziranga Game Reserve, no. 186, 29 July 1915, in ASP nos 181– 214, File No. Revenue-A, September 1917 (ASA).

p. 301

101.

Petition of villagers against game sanctuary, letter from Conservator of Assam to Second Secretary, Government of Assam, no. A-212, 6 December 1924, in Revenue-Forests, June 120–8, 1925.

102. The issue has been addressed by me later in this chapter. 103. One Bhimbahadur Chetri, regarded by the department as a ʻkeen and energeticʼ game watcher was killed in the SonaiRupai Sanctuary. Annual Report, 1938–39, para. 119. 104. Annual Report, 1938–39, p. 19. 105. Letter from W.F.L. Tottenham, O iciating Conservator of Forests, Eastern Circle to the Chief Secretary, Chief Commissioner, Assam, Rev, A, no. 181–214, 29 January 1916 (ASA). 106. Wild animals were still shot inspite of various regulations. For instance, the following statement of Wild Animals Shot in Assam during 1945–9 prepared from Annual Reports show the gravity of the problem. Accordingly, though it is a highly conservative estimate, Tiger-182, Tigress-26, Leopard-115, Wild Cat-54, Cheetah-8, Wild dog-131, Himalayan black bear-2, Sloth bear-65, Wild Elephant-93, Rhino-9, Mithan-6, Wild bu alo-12, Goral-21, Barking deer-471, Swamp deer-31, Spotted deer-97, Hog deer-239, Pig-289, Porcupine-116, Wild monkey-237, Ape-32, Squirrel-243, Jackal-25, Hare-10, Crocodile-2, Python-103, Turtle-422, Fruit Pigeon-280, Horn bill-8 were killed during this period. 107. Annual Report, 1948–49, para. 130. For the collective contribution of both Ali and Ripley in the conservation history of India see, Michael Lewis, 2004, Inventing Global Ecology: Tracking the Biodiversity Ideal in India, 1945–1997, Hyderabad: Orient Longman, pp. 29–69. 108. File no. Forest/WL/178/59, 1959 (ASA). 109. Since 1948 the public sector undertaking Assam State Transport Corporation used this emblem widely and thus helped the popularity of the symbol too. The author is thankful to Kumudeswar Hazarika for sharing this date. 110. Chief Minister's Fortnightly Letters to the Prime Minister, File no. CMS 4/54, 1954 (ASA). 111. The bill was introduced by the Forest Minister Ramnath Das, a Congress member. Though it was passed without any opposition some lighter form of opposition came from leading Communist Party of India (CPI) member Gaurishankar Bhattacharya. The Assam Gazette, part vi, 15 December 1954, no. 28. 112. Socialist leader, Hareswar Goswami and CPI leader Gaurishankar Bhattacharya was amongst those who expressed their doubt about the utilitarian objective of its preservation. 113. The most well-known case of such resistance from the Assam Forest Department was that of Thomas Foose from the University of Chicago who was denied permission to study the rhino in Kaziranga. Such denials arose mostly due to the apprehensive character of bureaucracy towards other international observations. p. 302

114. J.J Spillett, 1966, ʻA report on wild life surveys in North India and southern Nepal: The Kaziranga Wild Life Sanctuary, Assamʼ, Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society vol. 63, pp. 494–533. 115. For understanding the global dynamics see, Lewis, Inventing Global Ecology. For Spillet survey, see ʻA Report on Wildlife Surveysʼ, pp. 233–5. 116. D.K. Lahiri-Choudhury, 1999, The Great Indian Elepahnt Book: An Anthology of Elephants in the Raj, New Delhi: Oxford University Press; R. Sukumar, 1989, The Asian Elephant: Ecology and Management, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

100. Letter from P.R.T. Gurdon, Commissioner, Assam valley districts to Under-Secretary, Revenue Department, Chief Commissioner of Assam, no. 6510G, Gauhati, 3 October 1912 in Extension of the Kaziranga Game Reserve, ASP nos 37–57, Revenue-A, May 1914 (ASA).

117. For a discussion on ivory cra in nineteenth century Assam, see, R. Saikia, 2000, Economic and Social History of Assam, Delhi: Manohar, pp. 53–8. 118. The colonial and post-colonial Assamese literary figures used the elephant as an important literary image to highlight to social tension of the society. 119. Written by Sukumar Borkath, with the help of illustrators Dilbar and Dosai who had done the illustrations for the manuscript in 1734 under the guidance of the Ahom king Siv Singha and his wife Ambika Devi, Hastibidyanarba describes in details the anatomy, behaviours, and methods of elephant management. See, S.K. Bhuyan, ʻHastibidyanarba Puthiʼ, in J.N. Bhuyan (ed.), 2005, Suryya Kumar Bhuyanar Bibidh Prabandha, Guwahati: LBS, pp. 152–6. Similar medical treatise was also available on horses. See, H.C. Goswami (ed.), 1932, Ghoranidan, Guwahati: Government Press. 120. P.C. Choudhury (ed.), 1975, Hastividyarnava, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board.

122. A list of such hati-dhanis are mentioned in B. Sarma, 1987, Tukura Bahor Kuta, Guwahati: Benudhar Sarma Smarak Nyas; p. 288. Sarma also mentions songs that were used to capture elephants. Another Assamese drama portrays the methods and social life of the elephant catchers and their relationship with the elephant lease owners. See, M. Bhuyan, Hati Aru Phandi, Lakhimpur. 123. Letter of Superintendent of Kheda to the Secretary to the Chief Commissioner, Assam, 20 September 1881, ASP no. 34R, 1881 (ASA). 124. N. Nongbri, 2003, ʻElephant Catching in Late Nineteenth Century North-East India: Mechanisms of Control, Contestation and Local Resourcesʼ, in Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 38, no. 30, p. 3192. 125. Letter from G.P. Sanderson, Superintendent of Kheda, Dacca to the Assistant secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, 17 September, Simla, ASP, no. 34R, 1881 (ASA).

p. 303

126. The number of elephants caught by lessees in Assam alone during 1877–80 is as follows: 1977–8: 172; 1978–9: 338; 1979– 80: 122. Out of this 60 either died or were released. The supply of Tipperah was on an average was 50 per annum. A large number of elephants were also annually imported into India from Burma and Siam. The Madras Commissariat department had been exclusively supplied by shipment from Burma for many years. 127. During 1863–76 India imported 1659 elephants from Ceylon. Letter from G.P. Sanderson, Superintendent of Kheda, Dacca to the Assistant secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, 17 September, Simla, ASP no. 34R, 1881 (ASA). 128. Sivaramakrishnan, Modern Forests, p. 102. 129. From Assistant Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Government of Bengal to the Commissioner of Assam, 9 June 1873, Government of Bengal Papers no. 6, File no. 6/1a, 1873 (ASA). 130. Nongbri has discussed about the protected legal history in detail. See, Nongbri, 2003, ʻElephant Catching in Late Nineteenth Century North-East Indiaʼ. 131. Messers J. Mackillican and Company to Secretary to the Board of Revenue, 21 January 1873, File no. 6 (Ia), Papers 6, Government of Bengal (ASA). 132. From J.W. Edgar, Junior Secretary to Government of Bengal to the Secretary of Government of India in NAI, nos 63–4, RAC, Forests, December 1883 (NAI). 133. Annual Report, 1875–76, p. 79. 134. From Henry Hopkinson to the Secretary to the Bengal Government, File no. 74/113, Judicial Department, Papers 6, Government of Bengal (ASA). 135. Letter of J. Errol Gray to W.F.L. Tottenham, 28 April 1917, ASP nos 107–133, Finance Department, Forest-A, July 1919 (ASA). 136. Report of A.J. Milroy, ASP nos 107–33, Finance Department, Forest-A, July 1919 (ASA). 137. Letter from G.P. Sanderson, Superintendent of Kheda, Dacca to the Assistant Secretary to the Chief Commissioner, Assam, 17 September, Simla, ASP no. 34R, 1881 (ASA). 138. During 1875–80 the Assam government bought 174 numbers of elephant under this clause from the lessees. Letter from A.D. Campbell, Superintendent of Kheda in Lakhimpur to the O iciating Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, 27 December, ASP no. 34R, 1881 (ASA). 139. In 1825–6 the Dacca stud had about 300 elephants. As Assam was part of the Bengal province since 1874, we also need to understand the dynamics of these complex issues here.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

121. Suryya Bhuyan, the Assamese historian, wrote that the Ahom state depended on the several neighbouring tribes on elephant keeping. It was from them that the Ahom kings selected and appointed elephant keepers known as mahut.

140. Major A.D. Campbell was the Superintendent of the Kheda during 1880–81. 141. Demi-o icial Letter of J.L. Errol Gray, 28 April 1917, ASP nos 107–33 Forest-A, 1919 (ASA). 142. The company entitled Kashikata Komarbari Elephant Catching Company, based in Bihpuria, and Tileswar Barua was its secretary, Lakhimpur made eight captures during 1958. Letter from Conservator to the Secretary to the Department of Forest, Letter no. C-168/55–56, Shillong, 22 September 1955, (ASA). 143. Elephant Establishment in Goalpara, Government of Bengal Papers, File no. 72/111, Papers-2, Agriculture Department (ASA). p. 304

144.

Goalpara Papers, File no. 62, Government of Bengal Papers, 1868 (ASA).

145. The figures are prepared from the Annual Land Revenue Administration Report for Assam during 1875–1900. These figures are for the Brahmaputra valley districts and include both license fees and royalty.

147. He authored an important text on the elephant hunting operation. 148. A.J.W. Milroy to the Chief Secretary of Assam, ASP no. 432, Forest-B, September 1931 (ASA). 149. ASP nos 1–8, General Department, Military-A, June 1903 (ASA). 150. Letter of J. Errol Gray to W.F.L. Tottenham, 28 April 1917, ASP nos 107–33, Finance Department, Forest-A, July 1919 (ASA). 151. Letter from A.W. Blunt and W.F.L. Tottenham, Conservators of Forest in Assam to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, 4 September 1918, ASP nos 107–33, Finance Department, Forest-A, July 1919 (ASA). 152. Ibid. 153. Notes, ASP nos 54–73, Forest-B, September 1931 (ASA). 154. Ibid. 155. P. Stracey, 1949, ʻThe Vanishing Rhinoceros and Assam's Wildlife Sanctuariesʼ, Indian Forester, November, p. 470. 156. Rangarajan, India's Wildlife History, p. 85. 157. The life sketch of Robin Banerjee is based on various newspaper articles. 158. J. Nehru, 1956, in Why Preserve Wildlife?, Leaflet no. 1, Delhi, Indian Board of Wildlife. 159. For details on the twentieth century international fauna preservation movement see, W.M. Adams, 2004, Against Extinction: The Story of Conservation. 160. Rangarajan, India's Wildlife History, pp. 108–23. 161. File No. 337/56, Wildlife Forest Department, Forest, Wildlife, 1956 (ASA). 162. Act IX of 1969, see, The Assam Gazette, 4 September 1968. 163. Notification no. For/WL/722/68 dated 11 February 1974, The Assam Gazette, 27 March 1974. 164. The members of Gauripur and the Cooch-Behar royal family extensively hunted tigers in western Assam. 165. Rangarajan, India's Wildlife History, p. 95. 166. This move was strongly resented by the commercial safari operators and old time hunters. Ban on tiger shooting was brought in July 1970. 167. For an interesting account of tiger in Indian history, see, Valmik Thapar, 2002, The Cult of Tiger, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 168. Ban on tiger shooting was imposed in July 1970.

p. 305

169. Rangarajan had discussed the role played by Indira Gandhi as a young prime minister in saving the tiger. She was associated with the Delhi Bird Watchers Society, had travelled to a Kenyan wildlife reserve, and had close connection with the new generation of wildlife lovers within the ranks of bureaucracy. M. Rangarajan, India's Wildlife History, p. 95. Mahesh Rangarajan, 2009, ʻStriving for a Balance: Nature, Power, Science and India's Indira Gandhiʼ, Conservation and Society, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 299–312. 170. Prominent among them was M.K. Ranjitsinh and Kailash Sankhala. The latter was critic of shikar and commercial forestry and presented a paper entitled ʻThe vanishing Indian Tigerʼ in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

146. Letter of J. Errol Gray to W.F.L. Tottenham, 28 April 1917, ASP nos 107–33, Finance Department, Forest-A, July 1919 (ASA).

conference of 1969. He played a key role in dra ing the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. 171. Established in 1960, the WWF played major role in activating governmental awareness for the wildlife. 172. Forest and wildlife were brought under the concurrent list of the constitution in 1976. 173. A census taken in 1969 had a figure of 2,500. 174. Chief Conservator of Forest, 1973, A Management Plan for Manas Tiger Reserve and Orang Charduar Area 1973–74 to 1978– 79, Shillong: Government of Assam.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193347647 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Forests and Ecological History of Assam, 1826–2000 Arupjyoti Saikia https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.001.0001 Published: 2011

Online ISBN: 9780199081240

Print ISBN: 9780198069539

CHAPTER

7 Livelihood Practices and Dynamics of Forest Conservation  Arupjyoti Saikia Pages 306–349

Abstract In the formative years of the Assam Forest Department, forest management and implementation of forest laws often collided with the livelihood practices of the people and the natives. As a result, peasants and people often interfered with the foresters in the hopes of asserting their rights on forestlands. These petty disturbances such as removal of timber marks, cattle trespass, and ploughing inside the Reserved Forests were identi ed as forest crimes. This chapter discusses the dissent and protest of peasants over the colonial intervention and forest conservation of the Assam forests. The conservation and intervention of the colonial rulers and foresters changed the landscape and the manNature relationship in terms of traditional livelihood practices hence instigating a con ict between peasants and foresters. Movements have been made to understand the dichotomy between forest and agriculture however, the con ict between agrarian and forest frontier remains to be unresolved.

Keywords: Assam Forest Department, forest management, Reserved Forests, forest crimes, protest of peasants, forest conservation, cattle trespass, timber marks Subject: Colonialism and Imperialism, Environmental History, Asian History, Indian History Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online

Five Miris were sentenced to one year's rigorous imprisonment and nes of Rs. 30 each for assaulting and obstructing a forester…another ve villagers assaulted a head guard and snatched away his timber-marking hammer… Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, 1897–98 The above example was not an isolated incident but was clearly indicative of how the imperial and also postindependence forestry programmes faced several layers of challenges. Some of them could be addressed with strict implementation of the forest regulation or re-evaluating the methods and tactics of the conservation programme. Some others required larger policy changes or rede ning the political economy of the forestry programme. The rst type of challenges requiring bureaucratic will to ensure that the forest laws were easier to handle. The second variety which anticipated radical change in the forestry programme ensured that it would remain an integral part of force by management. Also the dimension and social basis of the second category widened as the forestry conservation progressed. But the core context of both remained the same: the alienation of livelihood practices as well as complex relationship between the political economy of these livelihood practices and the forestry programme. In the early days of forest management, the question of livelihood hardly surfaced in any organized form while the subject of reinforcement of forest laws continued to bother various layers of forest management. Within the p. 307

vocabulary of the forest management such crimes were entered into the o

petty disturbances came to be identi ed as forest crime. These

cial statistics, and gradually the control over the quantitative dimension of

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.003.0008 Published: February 2011

these gures came to represent the success of forest management. Crimes were codi ed according to the provisions of the various Forest Acts, particularly the provisions of the 1878 Act and 1891 Regulation. All of them got further boost with the coming of the Indian Forest Act of 1927. Most of these crimes related to theft of timber, lighting re, cattle trespass, removal of timber marks, illegal felling of trees, ploughing inside the Reserved Forests, and other such activities. The best way to ensure minimal crime was to have e ective departmental supervision—both physical as well as with large authority of in icting punishment to the guilty. The task of physical supervision however, was handicapped by the lack of trained departmental subordinate sta s. The Assam Forest Department, in the early days, believed that forest crimes in the state were insigni cant compared to other provinces. Low incidences of forest crimes, the department pointed out, was because of the abundance of forest produce and grazing grounds outside the Reserved Forests, that is, unclassed state forests. E ective implementation of the forest laws gave the department the required control over the forest the departmental regulation, in rubber was highly speculative. The nature of spatial distribution of rubber forests and the methods and nature of rubber collection and trade, like small quantities of rubber extracted by individual collectors, made non-departmental trade di

cult for the department to detect. The

community that came to be identi ed for such trade was the Nepali graziers. High pro t along with exible legal punishment as well as dual form of trade allowed such trades. This was particularly true whenever prices of rubber increased in the Calcutta markets. Improved means of communication like telegraph allowed the marwari traders to keep track of prices in the Calcutta market and they encouraged the Nepali 1

graziers to go for large collection. The department thought the best way to stop such trade was to bring the rubber trade under its exclusive jurisdiction. To overcome de ciencies of physical monitoring and thereby to minimize crimes, forest o

cials resorted to

conventional practice of the colonial police department. Informers were encouraged to provide information on ‘forest o ences’ in return for monetary incentives. Such practices were organized mostly at the informal p. 308

level and without

the sanction of the imperial department. Detection of forest crimes, with attempts to

exert departmental presence and increase the level of punishment, could hardly result in overcoming departmental worries. The matter was aggravated by the complex social relationship that operated at the ground level. In this scenario of relative lack of departmental supervision, despite the department's best attempts to do so, a divisional forest o the forest crimes. The o

cer of Darrang, in 1916, expressed concern over underreporting of

cer, while taking stock of the large-scale felling of reserved and unreserved trees

by peasants and their practice of reclamation of unclassed state forests without acquiring a formal lease from the Revenue Department, had no doubt that the mauzadars, who were to supervise the unclassed state forest, hardly paid any attention to these matters. The o

cer expressed his helplessness in tackling such

crimes as these peasants with the active support from the Assamese mauzadars, acted on grounds of bona 2

de and would only acquire the lease later on. E ective control of the Forest Department further loosened after 1921 with the spread of the non-cooperation movement, which called for violation of o

3

cial policies.

Since then, forest crimes booked under the Assam Forest Manual and Indian Penal Code had increased 4

manifold. Many of these crimes that were committed could not be proved in the court of law and thus the number of convictions was much less. Despite low convictions, other aspects of the forestry programme began to unfold, which revealed the continually increasing con ict between agrarian economy and forestry, as will be discussed later. Both imperial and post-independent forestry programmes rarely bene ted the Assamese agrarian society. It was only a few Assamese traders who bene ted from timber trades, but this bene t was highly localized.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

resources. The only variation from this general example was the case of rubber trade. Private trade, beyond

Livelihood Practices, Forestry, and Contested Rights With the creation of the Forest Department there came strict rules and regulations over the jurisdiction of the department over forestlands. These rules clearly marked out the existing notions of the peasants' rights inside the forestlands. The department began to exercise arbitrary and exclusive rights over the forest areas. Often such assertion of exclusive rights was not based on serious or rational thought. Though, apparently, rights needed to be investigated while declaring a Reserved Forest, the entire question of ‘rights’ was understood from the perspective of the colonial state. Further, even if a villager dependent or living inside p. 309

forested tracts

opposed and tried to articulate opposition against the Forest Department, such resistance

was hardly noticed. Though the Forest Regulation, 1891 reclassi ed forestlands allowing certain existing agrarian rights, the rights and privileges of the peasant largely depended on the forest settlement o

cer

depriving the former from their livelihood. With more restrictions in the twentieth century the peasantry cultivation, collection of rewood, or shing inside the forests, came under a regime of strict restrictions. For the peasant society, the forest conservation meant a disruption of their customary practices and dependence on forestlands and forest produces. Various acts and regulations were now staged as counterpoised to the peasant economy. The relief to the peasant society in the form of the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886, which allowed peasants to clear wasteland for agricultural expansion, also came to be contested by the Forest Department. The latter often expressed its apprehension over such allowances. The department admitted that the peasants felled trees inside the forestlands without having any governmental sanction. The department pointed out that peasants, to avert harassment, would often collect a patta and would assert 5

their right over that plot of land. In 1915, George Hart, the Inspector General of Forest (1913–21), strongly protested against this practice in unclassed state forests. He argued that the two instruments of governmentality, that is, the Assam Forest Manual and the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, should not run counter to each other. Felling of trees in unclassed State forests was declared illegal in 1915, this also restricted the practice of shifting cultivation. The latter, a way of life for large numbers of peasants in various ecological settings, was a ected in several ways. Signi cant intervention in the shifting cultivation has already come since the early days of the forest conservation. Though begun on a small scale the enormity of the problem grew as the area under conservation expanded manifold since 1874. In 1875, in many parts of the province the practice of shifting cultivation came under rigorous supervision. In the next couple of years, the department brought more regulations that prohibited shifting cultivations. This was clearly visible in the way large areas were brought under unclassed state forests. Meanwhile, these forests became important sites where the con ict of interest between the peasantry and forestry became more acute. The ecology of these forests, often dominantly grasslands, made it easier for peasantization and the p. 310

practice of shifting cultivation was also widely

prevalent. The Sylhet Jhum regulation, a signi cant piece

in rede ning shifting cultivation and also the rst of its kind in the region, came into e ect in 1891. The regulation commuted all the existing rights in matters of shifting cultivation rights in the protected areas or 6

any other kind of forested lands. With territorial rights of the Forest Department over the unclassed state forests becoming stronger the areas traditionally meant for peasants' access for common rights declined. The forest rules also allowed for the eviction of the settled villagers inside the forest. As forests patches were declared reserved, these villagers were asked to vacate their lands in a short period and also without any rehabilitation being provided. Notices were issued to the peasants, in most cases to the neighbouring villagers, notifying the creation of Reserved Forests and prohibiting them from the rights, which were hardly codi ed any legal language, they were enjoying. Further, the Forest Acts restricted the free 7

movement of cattle inside the Reserved Forests. In 1921, of the total 5,648 square miles of Reserved 8

Forests, approximately 84 per cent area did not have access to grazing in any form. This restricted the erstwhile free movement of the herds. Often, the village herds were now in the custody of the departmental cattle pounds. Peasants had to pay a ne to get back their cattle. The only relief was the provision within the 9

Assam Land Revenue Regulation that allowed the formation of the village grazing grounds. The access to the village grazing grounds was without restrictions but many a times these reserves were located at a distance with threats from wild animals, which made the e ectiveness of these reserves doubtful. Another practice that came under the territorial jurisdiction of the forestry was shing inside the forests, an essential livelihood of the peasant society. The peasants collected shes, mostly as their daily food requirements and also for petty trade, with the help of locally developed traps, from the ranges of the 10

waterbodies.

The State, in need for revenue, tried to bring these waterbodies under its managerial control

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

was further alienated from their traditional privileges. Everyday requirements, namely, grazing, shifting

and sold out the right of shing to the highest private bidders. The earlier shing rights had now been restricted to the ownership of a single bidder, who mostly belonged outside the village community. The trader continued to appropriate the skills of the traditional shermen. Along with shing, the peasants' dependence on the wild animals or birds, mostly to meet their culinary needs or petty trade, also came 11

under strict restrictions. These restrictions became harsher since the framing of game rules.

Such

alienation of customary practices did not go without any contest.

p. 311

Peasant Contested Conservation: The Early Days There was continuous public protest against the curtailment of rights inside a forest. Many petitions were submitted during the time of the proposal for reservation. The nature of demands put forward by such petitions included the loss of rewood and grazing grounds. In one such interesting petition, the petitioners In another instance, the

petitioners argued that such a proposed reserve was used by them for grazing and, at the time of ood, as a 13

place of refuge for their cattle.

Throughout its entire history of reservation there was a fair amount of

evidence of the de ance of the forest authority by the commoners. In 1884, in one such instance the 14

villagers almost refused to o er their manual service for the demarcation of the boundaries.

Various recent works have shown how the local practices and beliefs also helped in understanding the forest ecology. Various practices that were closely connected with conservation of the forest resources were common amongst these communities. Such popular perception and beliefs strengthened the community's hold over the forest resources. These beliefs acted e ectively against the excessive damage to a forest tract. For instance, there was a small fee called murung paid to the Garo headman known as lashkars to appease the deities under whose protection large sal trees were supposed to grow. Once the area was taken over by the Forest Department this practice declined. Reservation of forest brought sharp criticism from the local press. The Assamese press continued to complain against the departmental o

cials. The nature of the complaints was the restriction in the age-old

customs of the local peasantry. By early 1873, the Assam Mihir, an Assamese weekly, representing the early generation of the native newspaper, came out with a strong criticism of the Forest Department. The weekly 15

found fault with the ‘inferior government servants engaged as watchmen’.

Hopkinson believed, the reason

was the inability of the peasants to use timber for their home consumption. This forced the government to look into the matter in a more serious way. Hopkinson, based on reports submitted by district o

cials,

argued that there did not seem to be any obstacles for peasants acquiring timber for their everyday use. Most of the deputy commissioners were equivocal in their a

rmative response. Major Campbell presented a

di erent version to allow us to understand the di erence of opinion in the Assam Mihir and the provincial p. 312

administration. He admitted that

‘no interference takes place when the ryots con ne themselves for

their ordinary wants’. In the normal cases, the peasants could not understand the di erence between the classes of timber. Ideas of classi cation as de ned by forest acts were beyond their comprehension. Thus when he cut down a tree for his normal requirement the watchman would come and nd that the tree cut down by the peasant fell into the restricted category. They were supposed to preserve the trees belonging to the rst and second classes. Public protests against the encroachment of the Forest Department into the traditional forest rights also began to surface. In one such instance, the Golaghat Hitasadhini Sabha strongly opposed the restrictions of traditional rights and probably this was the rst such organized public questioning of the department. It is di

cult to presume the social origin of the sabha but it successfully articulated their concern in the

management of the forest resources. Framing their arguments, they argued that the government had for the rst time asserted the right of the state to forest produce growing on State lands. It further argued that royalties and rates had been levied on forest produce derived from State property, and that in this way, even bamboos and canes which were formerly free to all had been taxed. The imposition of royalties on forest produces growing on both khiraj and nisfkhiraj lands was another area where the petitioners expressed their strong disapproval. They also disapproved of the Forest Department in the way it had declared reserved almost all the trees that were necessary for building purposes and on which the peasants depended for fuel. In fact, these restrictions were also true for those timbers on which the people living on the riverbanks depended for building material and rewood (Fig. 7.1). The sabha had no doubt that extreme hardship and inconvenience had been caused to the people by the constitution of Reserved Forest in thickly

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

12

highlighted that the re from the nearby reserve would destroy the habitat.

16

populated parts of the country.

The protests must have been articulated in a powerful manner and the

department quickly responded by giving a few concessions in the neighbourhood of Golaghat.

Fig. 7.1

With the progress of the forest administration di erent strata of peasants continued to exert pressure on the frontier of forestland. Many peasants knew what they were demanding from the forest authority. The following examples represent a typical protest before the department, which took place during the proposed move to reserve the Behali and Biswanath forests: Lyndoli Mikir a villager belonging to the Kolaguri village, p. 313

told the forest o

cials that ‘My village is 20 nals from the proposed

line, which I know. I require this land

for my cattle to graze and also to get thatch from. I own cattle myself. The mandal has not pointed out any 17

grazing ground in our village or in any of the neighbouring villages….’

Similar was the kind of right that these peasants had asserted inside the proposed reserves. ‘My objection is that I want to bring rewood and thatch from the proposed reserve’ was the most common type of such objections. It might also happen that they would seek some modi cations in the boundary of the reserve to accommodate their interest. In 1894, during the proposed reservation of khair forest in the Subankhata, R.B. McCabe, the deputy commissioner of Kamrup, informed the commissioner of the Assam valley that ‘the 18

people of those villages objected to the curtailment for their grazing rights’.

Protests against the Forest Department never subsided. The character of disapproval against the policies of the Forest Department changed from place to place. In the nineteenth century, most of these protests were of isolated nature. The spatial distribution of these protests occurred in such a way that it was di

cult to

distinguish between petty crimes arising out of personal needs and those forms of protests that were well articulated against the policies of the department. In an interesting example of such articulation of protest, a sizeable number of peasants from the vicinity of the newly established Kaziranga game reserve argued that wild animals thus protected had only destroyed their crops. The villagers suggested that the only p. 314

remedy for them was to move back the boundary of the

19

game reserve to a safe distance.

The petition

was a challenge to the works of the department, and reacting to the petition, the conservator of forest even remarked that there would be ‘similar outcry a few years hence to have the new boundary moved back again and so on until the sanctuary is nally abolished by being wholly given over to cultivation’. The number of forest crimes increased manifold since 1874. One reason for this was the increasing control of the Forest Department over the forest resources by means of various forest acts. However, the increasing incidences of forest crimes also meant the further alienation of the people who were dependent on the forest resources. It was only in the next century that these protests took a new shape when a large number of peasants began a collective e ort to assert their right over the forest resources. Dissatisfaction of the peasant society got a rm shape after the formation of the Assam Forest Enquiry Committee in 1928. Under pressure the provincial government was forced to admit a resolution to enquire into the question of curtailment of forest rights in various parts of Assam. The committee enquired into the ‘alleged oppression and corruption of forest o

cers’ and also suggested remedies to examine the laws and rules. The committee

received a number of petitions from various sections of the peasantry. A large number of peasants represented before the committee, stating their displeasure with the department. A most representative example of such protests came from the practitioners of shifting cultivation who vehemently protested 20

against the way the lessees of the unclassed state forests encroached into their areas.

The committee also

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Villagers continued to collect fuelwood. Courtesy P. Bordoloi

received a large number of petitions that suggested that paddy land lying inside the Reserved Forests should be opened up for cultivation as early as possible. The committee asked the provincial government to consider such proposals seriously. Since then the provincial politics became synonymous with the politics of land settlement.

Agrarian Economy and Grazing: Redefining Forestry Conservation also meant that not only were the forests to remain beyond the reach of agrarian practices but also that the livestock should be prohibited. The exclusion of livestock became a test of the rigid attitude of the Forest Department towards the older systems of land use. The foresters and the cultivators perceived cattle in radically di erent ways. Contrary to the perceived threat of livestock to the forestry, the peasant 21

society, on the other hand, encouraged cattle grazing to help in fertilizing farmlands. had the power to prohibit the entry of

Though foresters

livestock into vast areas, the department was not under much

pressure to grant access to cattle at the time of the creation of Reserved Forests. The issue at stake was not merely how many cattle were admitted into government forests—it was closely bound up with the assessment of the impact of the cattle on the vegetation in general and timber coverage. The strong bias of the imperial forestry against cattle was highly apparent. The matter reached such a proportion that, in 1899, the Assam branch of the Indian Tea Association had to complain how the department would levy Rs 30 for every ock of sheep, brought for sale into the province, which was passing through any unclassed state 22

forests.

Neither was it practical to completely ban grazing inside Reserved Forests. The provision of

earmarking areas for grazing as stipulated in the 1878 Act was retained in the 1891 Regulation. At best the Forest Department could choose which tracts were to be kept completely beyond the reach of cattle. But to assert its exclusive right over forested tracts, the department began to charge sheep, goat, or cattle owners a grazing fee for allowing their animals access to the forests. In certain areas, the department prohibited the entry of goats and sheep in order to assist the reproduction of timber trees. In 1890, Ribbentrop reminded the foresters that grazing and forestry were ‘incompatible’. Goats and sheep were the most ‘powerful or universal’ cause of deforestation. He argued that goats were indiscriminate browsers and the entry of herdsmen increased the risk of res. The government took up the question of fodder and pasture for the cattle whenever possible. There was such a proposal in 1892 when the government seriously considered that adequate areas be kept reserved for the pasture and fodder of the 23

animals.

In allowing grazing, the conservator did not see any great loss of revenue and suggested the 24

continuance of this practice.

Since the early days of the twentieth century the attitude of the imperial

forestry towards grazing changed. In 1900, Ribbentrop readily admitted ‘the extension of our forest reserves absorbed too large a portion of the customary grazing grounds of the country, and that they must 25

yield fodder as well as wood’.

Despite hopeful of grazing inside the forests, Ribbentrop was still unsure

whether in reality the foresters would allow it as he rightly thought that ‘a Forest O

cer's heart may bleed

that he cannot bring all his forests to that state of perfection, nor e ect their regeneration as rapidly, 26

satisfactorily, and completely as might be achieved if grazing were entirely excluded’.

The centrality of

grazing in the forest ecosystem as well as ability to generate revenue and healthy forest was recognized. p. 316

Illustrative of this new found meaning of grazing

came from Robert Scott Troup (1874–1939), forestry

scientist and author of Indian Forest Utilisation, who argued that ‘there are exceptional circumstances under which a certain amount of controlled grazing may even be bene cial. Thus grazing tends to keep down rank grass and under-growth; this lessens the danger from re, and may even assist in freeing seedlings which 27

would otherwise be suppressed.’

The strong position taken by Ribbentrop and Troup was not agreed upon by Bryant as suggested by the 28

provincial forest administration.

In 1912, while referring to the nature of grazing in the Reserved Forests

of Assam, Bryant mentioned that they were ‘remarkably free from injurious grazing’. He also admitted that the Nepali graziers who squatted in the unclassed state forests did not cause any harm to the forest if abundant land was available. He did not forget to remind them that levying of grazing tax had contributed to the revenue. Bryant estimated that in 1910 approximately 1,35,000 bu aloes and 5,12,000 cows and bullocks 30

were found grazing in government forests, which earned a revenue of Rs 2,98,860 as fees.

Despite support

from Bryant the department could not a ord to allow any increase in the area under grazing. The widening commercial scope of minor forest produce had already compelled the department to review its grazing policies. It was in this context that the department found it extremely di

cult to cope with the presence of

large herds and pointed out that they ate or trampled down all the young growth. The department was

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 315

advised to impose strict rules for controlling the grazing inside the unclassed state forests. The government assumed that there was an abundance of grazing grounds in Assam and thus it was not required that a separate place be reserved for pasture. Despite ambiguity regulated grazing, in the meantime, came to be seen as supportive of forest regeneration. The Indian Famine Commission in 1898 also strongly suggested 30

that forests must be opened for fodder during the time of famine.

To avert discontentment and also to convert ‘non-productive’ tracts within Reserved and un-classed state forests, thereby to maximize revenue, the Assam administration began advocating the selection of speci c 31

tracts as professional grazing reserves in 1912.

Situated in the riverine areas the professional grazing

reserves would be primarily an exclusive production area within the forests but without causing any harm to forestry. The grasslands that would have rarely come under peasantization or any production forestry were p. 317

earmarked as professional grazing reserves. The other factor that hastened such a decision was the increasing migration of Nepali graziers into Assam. Though insigni cant in terms of their numerical While their settlements resulted in

the growth of consolidated but complex grazing economy, with the interest of the Assamese rich peasants becoming closely integrated with it, it was equally important that these settlements be brought under 33

regulation.

This essentially brought the provincial Revenue Department into partial management of the

forested tracts. 34

Di erent rates of fees were levied on cattle and bu aloes.

The Forest Department began to monitor the

distribution of livestock in the grazing reserves and the fees came to form a component of forest revenue. The Assamese rich peasants entered into this lucrative business and came to own several such professional grazing reserves. As the government continued to increase the fees these rich peasants pressurized the 35

government through lobbying in the legislative council.

The controversy over the grazing tax arrived at a

new phase after the formation of the provincial legislatures and was given a new direction in 1919 when Rohini Kanta Hati Baruah, the Congress leader, placed a resolution in the Assam legislative council challenging the increase of such fees. Acrimonious debate followed but the colonial government did not want to lose the lucrative revenue earned from the tax and refused to accept the proposal of the Assamese landlord interests. The working plans made provision for grazing as compatible to scienti c forestry. A later working plan claimed that grazing could be a partner of forestry in two ways: rst, regulated grazing helped in the reduction of heavy grasses and thereby ‘it would be best to get the jungle reduced by grazing before starting 36

plantation or taungya work’.

Secondly, ‘everything be gained in permitting grazing’ in speci ed forests 37

was what the department strongly advocated.

Once grazing emerged as a partner to forestry the subject

lost the attention it used to get in the forest management. By 1946, the total area meant for such grazing reserves, mostly distributed in Kamrup, Darrang, and Nowgong, was estimated at 2,85,950 acres 38

approximately.

The reliability of these statistics was problematic as either the dairy-farm owners would

under-report, precisely to avoid higher fees being charged, or inability of the Forest Department was unable to access the situation. While the department accepted the grazing as central to the regeneration of forests and integral to production forestry, within a couple of years the department and the forestry programme p. 318

lost its control over these spaces. In the 1940s they

turned out to be a major site for landless peasants, 39

rallied around caste and religion, to stage political struggle demanding land for cultivation.

Peasantization of Forests and Anxieties of Forest Boundary We have already discussed how forest lands came under increasing pressure from the Revenue Department. The best illustrative example of increasing in uence of the Revenue Department over the matters of imperial forestry was that of Nambor. As deforested Reserved Forests were leased out to the tea-planters the whole idea of generating more revenue from these areas was defeated by such deforestation. It must be mentioned here that the Forest Department retained its right on the timber located in the deforested land. Even while permitting cultivation inside the Reserved Forests through the mechanism of deforestation peasants were prohibited from felling any reserved trees. Arrangement was also required for the disposal of timber or their valuation to be paid by the lessee. Again, it was not that the department easily succumbed to the pressure from various quarters for opening up forestlands for deforestation. Rather, on several occasions, the department successfully opposed the pressure from the tea-planters to open up land for tea grants. A distinctive character of the deforestation was that while in the Surma valley land was

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

32

distribution this came to be seen as destructive for the forest wealth.

opened up for ordinary cultivation, in the Brahmaputra valley the various tea-companies or railway companies were the major bene ciaries. The pressure of the peasantry in the Surma valley for deforestation was so high that even before the actual deforestation began, peasants squatted and brought forestlands under settlement in anticipation of deforestation. It was at this time that the Assam administration quali ed their previous understanding of Nambor forests and admitted that these forests were of very recent origin. Concrete evidences of settlement of villages in the pre-colonial times also came to the notice of Assam administration. Encounters with traces of previous settlement forced the administration to examine the disappearance of such settlements. Many within the administration would now believe that the raids of the neighbouring Naga tribes in the wake of decline of the Ahom rule forced the villagers to move away from these areas. The villagers preferred to settle in more secure areas which were comparatively free from any such raids.

Assam administration began to frame new policies whereby forest patches would be parcelled out for p. 319

peasant

cultivation, which also came to a ect the Nambor experiment. The idea of deforestation and

eventual peasantaization of Nambor was there since 1893. The colonial government came out with various proposals of converting parts of Nambor into agricultural areas. It was during this year that A.J. Long, the assistant conservator of forests, ‘examined and reported upon in some detail…with reference to the 40

desirability of throwing open portions of them to colonists’.

Long's idea of deforestation turned into

concrete proposal when the rst ever proposal came from Assam's Chief Commissioner William Ward in 41

1896.

Ward's stated idea was to deforest parts of Nambor and transfer them to the intended tea-planters

so that tracts across the Assam–Bengal Railway track ‘could improve its hygiene to a liveable condition’. Many employees of The Assam–Bengal Railway Company used to reside across the railway tract and they frequently complained of the unhabitable character of the forests. Ward asked the conservator of forest to submit a report on the possibility of deforestation of Nambor. Accordingly, the conservator of forest submitted his report suggesting the suitability of the deforestation of Nambor. However, before any concrete proposal could be framed, Ward had retired, making way for Henry Cotton to replace him. 42

Compared to his predecessor, Henry Cotton

was more than enthusiastic to bring more areas of the

Brahmaputra valley under peasant cultivation. At some point he even proposed to bring ‘capitalist-minded families from northern India’ to take up cultivation in the region. He was only prevented from such high optimism by the higher authorities in the Indian Revenue Department. Cotton had begun to look into the forest patches lying towards the south-eastern part of Nagaon for future peasantization. Cotton was also convinced that in various pockets of the Brahmaputra valley there were peasant settlements—with holdings being divided and subdivided to elaborate degree of minuteness—that needed encouragement for migration to forested areas. Under pressure from various lobbies, the jute millowners in Bengal in particular, Cotton quickly took up Ward's proposal to the Government of India for opening of approximately one- fth of the forests tracts in Nambor. Accordingly, in 1897, a proposal inviting peasants from Surma valley to reclaim lands in parts of Nambor was placed by Cotton before the Government of India. Administrative arrangements were made for the smooth facilitation of the peasants arriving in Nambor. The tracts that were intended for deforestation came to be declared as unclassed state forest, making the authority of the Forest Department very marginal. p. 320

Cotton's

suggested terms for intended applicants was that such lands would be revenue-free for the

initial three years, after which land would be assessed at 8 annas per bigha. The chief commissioner, however, made it clear that no royalty would be charged on the timbers if they continued to stay there and unless they were removed for sale. While the government had no problem with Cotton's terms and conditions they objected to the proposal for deforestation on the grounds that the Forest Department was not clear about the very character of the forests in Nambor. The Indian government maintained that unless the tracts consisted of an intermixture of trees like nahor or ajhar with sure economic viability the provincial administration could go ahead with the opening of the forest tracts. Commenting on the future deforestation of Nambor, the government maintained that the government did not foresee any di

culty in

opening this tract but proper care should be taken to retain good portions of these timbers which would become valuable in the days to come. Justifying his proposal for deforestation Cotton argued that the Nambor did not have many valuable timbers that could justify its remaining intact. He claimed that certain trees could be retained even if there was deforestation. On the other hand, those who were at the helm of the a airs, realizing the unattractiveness of

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

In the wake of non-realization of its primary goal of distributing these forested lands to the peasants, the

the Nambor colonization programme for the Brahmaputra valley, suggested for bringing peasants only from the southern districts of the province, that is, Surma valley. For the colonial administrators the con icts between landlord and peasants in the Surma valley would be a natural cause for the latter's migration in search of land. Cotton even proposed to o er lands inside Nambor on ten years of renewable tenurial security. Though the proposal was given wider publication to elicit public attention, it did not generate any great interests from even the landless peasant families of Surma valley. However, landless peasants from neighbouring areas had already begun to reclaim land, and villages were established. As early as 1890, four such villages, that is, Ahomoni, Tengani, Dubarani, and Singimari, were established by a local 43

mauzadar.

Amongst these new villages, Barhola, Tengani, and Dubarani, which were situated on the bank

of the river Dhansiri, were already cultivated. Bureaucratic legitimacy was derived for deforestation of these forests by ceding these villages away from the jurisdiction of the Forest Department into the revenue 44

administration.

p. 321

45

colonization programme of Nambor a success.

Fuller argued that the expediency of retaining the 46

of the Nambor reserves was ‘open to very serious doubt’.

whole

Fuller was convinced that the forests in Nambor

were of very recent origin and it was ‘indeed cultivated until comparatively modern times’. Making a departure from the conventional understanding that the areas west of these forests were agriculturally more productive, Fuller realized that large tracts close to the river Dhanseeree which criss-crossed these forests, were of ‘much agricultural value’. Fuller was convinced that … if good cultivable land is available in this locality, cultivation is likely to be far more pro table to the people and to the state than the maintenance of mixed forest of the ordinary Assam type, and that under the peculiar conditions of Assam, forest administration must be judged from a commercial standpoint more strictly than is the case in provinces where forests play a vital part in 47

the economy of the country or are needed to conserve humidity in soil or atmosphere.

However, E.S. Carr, the then Conservator of Forests in Assam, suggested that several tracts in these forests had commercially viable timbers. ‘I give this opinion on the ground that the present and prospective value 48

of the forest area is very great now that the Railways in Assam are using Nahor and Uriam for sleepers’.

However, Carr suggested that one expert from the agricultural department could inspect these areas and suggest tracts which could be taken up for deforestation. Accordingly, Rai Bahadur B.C. Basu, the assistant 49

director in the department of land records and agriculture, surveyed these areas and submitted his report.

The report submitted by Basu made signi cant departure about the nature of understanding of Nambor, the character of forest and nature of peasant settlement. Basu not only met several old people who themselves or their previous generation used to live in these forests. Basu found various evidences that could convince him that these areas used to have peasant settlement previously. He estimated that these settlements went back to approximately a hundred years ago. It was only due to a weak Ahom rule in these areas in the late eighteenth century and subsequent imposition of taxes and often raids by the people from the neighbouring Naga hills that these villagers retreated in more secured neighbourhood. Basu argued that ‘the desertion of all pathars was caused by Naga raids. These head-hunting savages, once kept in check by the Assam Rajas, got out of control during the decadence of Ahom rule, and mercilessly put the villager to death whenever they could. The raids continued to a recent period and were not nally stopped until the last Naga expedition 50

in 1879.’ p. 322

Basu also came across signi cant traces of a pre-colonial irrigation system in these localities.

Basu suggested that approximately

110 square miles of forested area could be deforested for future

peasant cultivation. 51

The chief commissioner decided to throw open the tracts without formally declaring them as deforested.

He thought that a formal deforestation could be done after the actual land being taken up the peasants. By now it was clear that tea-planters had already taken the best and easily accessible forests for their teaplantation. The forest-lands which the government was desirous of opening out for cultivation were not suitable for tea-plantation and the planters were not keen in opening this area. For the Assam 52

administration, the best option left was to open it for the peasants.

In the next year, approximately 100 square miles of forests was thrown open for cultivation. Three new mauzas—namely Kardaiguri, Naojan, and Rengmapathar were formed and mauzadars were appointed. Since then, to a limited extent, peasants from the neighbouring dense populated localities of the Sibsagar district began to reclaim forest lands. Though in the next few years more peasants joined them, by 1912 it was clear that the attractiveness of Nambor as an area of colonization remained limited and only 193

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

In 1903, the new Chief Commissioner, Bampfylde Fuller, made a renewed and forceful attempt to make the

peasant families, mostly from neighbouring areas, took up 3,320 bighas of land. Out of this, only 2,448 bighas were actually cultivated. The provincial administration made its intention clear—it would discourage reclamation and accumulation of land of more than 150 bighas per family. The administration was decidedly against the growth of sharecropping in the province and thought that it was against the whole spirit of 53

ryotwari settlement.

With the repeated failure to open up these forest tracts for cultivation the government began to blame the ‘unhealthy character of the forests’. Improvements were made to the inaccessible character of the forest tract, with gravel roads to facilitate the arrival of the peasants. For the peasants, reclaiming Nambor was a very di

cult task, considering its dense forest growth and the presence of wild animals. Patches that could

have been brought under cultivation easily were also not contiguous. The conservator of forest even opined that peasants should be encouraged to take only non-uniform patches. The administration did not agree and went ahead with opening out contiguous patches of forests, making it unattractive for the peasant

In the meanwhile, in 1905, to tackle the regular shortage of labourers inside the forests, four forest villages p. 323

were formed in the Doiyang Reserved Forest, adjacent to Nambor, by giving settlement to peasant families. What were the rights and privileges that the forest villagers were entitled to? Or who would be settled within the forest villages? In deciding these issues the department was not free from colonial bias. The habit 54

of living within the forest was seen as a primary requirement for settlement within the forest villages.

It

was stipulated so because of the understanding of the colonial government about the cultural sociology of work. Once a person or family was settled within it, they were given annual patta land and revenue was xed 55

at a concession.

Every adult villager was required to render 20 days of manual labour annually in return for

ordinary wages. In actual practice, however, the department forced the villagers to work at a highly reduced wage. Except for personal uses for the construction of houses no forest material was given free. Further, a family was entitled for ten cartloads of fuel every year but had to provide another ten days of labour. Similar privileges were granted to the jhumias too (see Figs 7.2 and 7.3). Apart from these regulated rights and privileges, forest villagers were not allowed to work for other departments. As days went by, more concessions came in. With the increasing pressure for grazing inside the Village Forest, the department p. 324

sanctioned such grazing concessions in

1918. A.W. Blunt, who was the Conservator of western Assam

circle, apprehended that unless the villagers were not allowed to graze liberally they might leave these villages. However, to control the situation the department wanted some form of control over the grazing 56

and asked the district administration to levy a fee of eight annas per head per annum.

Hence, in its anxiety

for labour required for the department, the latter ensured that it derived maximum bene t from such p. 325

concessions. The

establishment of forest villages also made way for both the arrival of peasants and the

subsequent expansion of peasant villages. As there was no clear regulation in restricting the expansion of their holding inside the forest tracts by the forest villagers, many forest villagers began to accumulate lands. Limited reclamation continued as and when the forest villagers expanded and increased their existing holdings. This a orded them a rich peasant status in the subsequent period.

Fig. 7.2

Jhum was always seen as threat to forest conservation. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

cultivation.

Fig. 7.3

The slow attraction of Nambor as a land for peasantization continued to be a major setback for the Assam Revenue Department. In 1914, expressing his dismay, P.R.T. Gurdon, the Assam valley commissioner, wrote to the chief commissioner that … there is little chance of colonizing the culturable area in the Nambor for years to come: because of its unhealthiness, because of the trouble that would be inevitable in clearing the tree forest and jungle, and because there are better areas than the Nambor in the Assam valley easily available for 57

colonisation.

Gurdon rightly appreciated the mood of the Brahmaputra and Surma valley peasants. For the peasants, the dense jungles and dangers mostly from the wild animals in Nambor remained major obstacles for any land reclamation. With a high presence of wild animals and snakes, Nambor soon found place in local folklore as a place to be cautious of. An early twentieth-century estimate suggests that in a single year six persons and 58

990 cattle were killed by wild animals in these areas.

Though Gurdon's apprehension continued to be true

until the middle of the century, nonetheless Nambor began to attract smaller batches of peasants arriving and reclaiming lands. Nambor and the adjoining forests witnessed the major spurt of land reclamation only in the postIndependence period. It was the time when the province's forest resources began to face increasing pressure from the peasants. One of the primary reasons of a sudden increase in the forestlands was the large-scale arrival of peasants from East Bengal in the other arable patches. While the drama of the forest conservation was unfolding, the local agrarian economy underwent tremendous transformation. As part of its colonization programme, since the early twentieth century the colonial state wanted to settle peasants in the wastelands for jute cultivation. It was since then that the East Bengal peasants came to play a vital role 59

in the regional agrarian economy.

Since the second quarter of the twentieth century the peasants in Assam

had to share their available resources with an increased number of peasants, nally leading towards an p. 326

increasing pressure on the forest resources (Fig 7.4).

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Jhum also remained crucial for the agrarian economy of various communities. Reproduced from Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, Assam State Archive

Fig. 7.4

60

The settlement of East Bengal peasants in the wastelands began in the late nineteenth century.

It has been

estimated that during 1870–1950 over 7,00,000 hectares of dense forest and woodland were shifted to 61

agricultural use, of which the immigrant peasants shared a sizeable portion.

These settlements never

became a great burden on the local resources till the second quarter of the twentieth century. It must be mentioned here that in the nineteenth century the colonial state's attitude towards the wastelands in Assam was exible. Such exibility was made possible because of the complex intervention of the tea-planters, Forest Department, and the Revenue Department. However, in the rst quarter of the twentieth century, the political development arising out of the immigration of East Bengal settlers forced the administration to bring in a more systematic intervention in the wasteland settlement policy. Amidst growing revenue demand in the late nineteenth century, the provincial administration began to express its desire to promote jute cultivation in the rich alluvial wastelands of the Brahmaputra valley. Provincial revenue o

cials had already noticed with concern the apathy of the local peasants for jute

cultivation. In 1873, J. Sheer, the Deputy Commissioner of Nagaon, noticed the apathy of the Assamese p. 327

62

peasants towards the jute cultivation.

Sheer noted that whatever limited jute

cultivation was practised

by the indigenous peasants was never done at the expense of paddy cultivation. In the last few years of the nineteenth century the provincial administration became con dent that the greater portion of the available cultivable wasteland in the riverine areas of Brahmaputra was well adapted for jute cultivation. O

cial

estimate indicated that ample land was available in the districts of Nagaon, Lakhimpur, the eastern portion 63

of the Darrang, eastern duars of Goalpara, and the Barpeta subdivision of Kamrup for jute cultivation. the local peasant society did not show su

As

cient skill in jute cultivation, the Assam administration argued,

the best available alternative was to bring peasants from the East Bengal. Peasants' migration from these areas would help them in two ways. While, on the one hand, it reduced the pressure on the already overpopulated East Bengal districts, on the other hand the government could see the possibility of increasing revenue from Assam. Already the zamindars of Goalpara invited the peasants from the neighbouring districts of East Bengal to cultivate the char areas. A few came and reclaimed land for jute cultivation. But these peasants who migrated to Goalpara remained in their previous socio-economic condition of a tenant. They only contributed to the increasing wealth of the few zamindars in Goalpara. Beyond that they had a shared cultural ecology with the Goalpara tenants. This limited migration failed to have any serious impact in the regional peasant economy. In 1898, F.J. Monahan, the Assistant Director in the Department of Land Records and Agriculture of Assam, in an exhaustive report on the possibility of jute production in the region, agreed that as Assamese peasants would not shift to jute cultivation the immigrant settlers from nearby East Bengal could be encouraged to 64

take up land and cultivate jute.

There was also pressure from the Bengal jute factories on the provincial

administration to induce more East Bengal peasants to take up jute cultivation in the Brahmaputra valley. The Assam administration had ceded to this pressure. And in the course of the next two decades large blocks of wastelands, including the professional and village grazing reserves, were thrown open to the East Bengal 65

peasants for cultivation.

Muslim peasants formed the majority of these new comers. The huge

immigration quickly brought large areas under jute cultivation. The magnitude of this expansion can be understood from the fact that from an area of 49,47,237 acres in 1903 the acreage had increased to 56, 40,

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Fragmentation of wildlife habitat. Courtesy R. Soud

616 acres in 1920. This agricultural expansion introduced large-scale production of jute barring a natural p. 328

expansion of the area under rice. The

jute acreage had increased from a mere 38,568 acres in 1904 to

66

1,37,337 acres in 1920.

The settlement of wasteland soon began to face opposition from various corners. The strongest opposition 67

came from the local peasants and Nepali grazers.

The areas that were reclaimed for cultivation were

common resources for the local peasants, serving not only work as grazing ground for the cattle but also supplying the peasants with various produces. Soon there was mounting pressure from the local peasants for both the better management of grazing reserves and e ective control of the immigrant settlers in their 68

neighbouring localities.

The Forest Department contested the land settlement on the ground that the

immigrant peasants very often encroached inside the Reserved Forests. With demands of forest produces for 69

the European market increasing in the wake of the First World War,

the advocates of forest conservation

demanded more e ective preservation of better forests. The tea-planters, on the other hand, suggested the It must be mentioned here that

the continuous pressure from this lobby became successful in prohibiting the immigration into the various Upper Assam districts. Thus, apart from the need to extract more revenue the colonial state had to deal with 71

pressure from di erent interest groups to rede ne its wasteland settlement policy.

To bail out of this

tricky situation, the colonial state, in collaboration with the provincial politics, evolved a mechanism to create a conducive environment for the settlement of the immigrant peasants. This mechanism, known as Line System, also failed to check peasant discontent. The urgent necessity to raise the agricultural revenue compounded by a heavy fall in international tea prices paved the way for a peasant-friendly land settlement policy. Many in the administration now agreed that cultivation and grazing could not be carried on simultaneously. They suggested that the areas reserved for professional grazing reserves were probably too large for the requirement of the local peasants or grazers. This could be thrown open for cultivation for the immigrant peasants. To e ectively control any kind of mounting pressure from the local peasants, the government took extreme care to keep a limited number of these reserves from being thrown open to cultivation. A new initiative of settlement of these peasants, o

cially described as the colonization

programme, was adopted in 1928 as a cautionary measure to maintain a balance between the needs of p. 329

various competing groups. However, the Indian Forest Act 1927 tilted more in favour of the Forest Department, and its rights over the Reserved Forests were reinforced. The Assam administration looked towards the unclassed state forests as a prospective area for agricultural expansion. The colonization scheme was evidently guided by a concern for revenue enhancement and it was a positive 72

step for raising the revenue of the provincial administration.

Between 1928 and 1935 the government alone 73

earned 443,717 as a premium received from the sale of wasteland under this scheme.

The rapid land

reclamation changed the character of the regional agrarian economy and relation in various ways. Not only did the regional agriculture quickly move towards commercialization, it also brought in tremendous pressure on the local resources. In the previous decades commercialization had a limited impact in the local peasant society. The colonization scheme indeed directly contributed to the expansion of area under jute cultivation. Increasing acreage, however, did not lead to the proportionate increase in the area under food 74

crop.

The area under jute cultivation also increased along with the expansion of the colonization scheme.

The two districts of Nagaon and Kamrup had the highest share of jute acreage. In 1933, the area under jute cultivation had reached an all-time high of an approximately 3,03,000 acres, only to gradually decline due to the adverse impact of the Depression on the jute market. This was almost a 45 per cent increase from that of 1920. The rapid expansion of acreage was also associated with increasing instances of moneylending and land-speculation. Moreover, the rice production did not match with the rapid pace with which population 75

grew. The area under rice production remained practically the same.

This had substantially contributed to

the rise of food price after 1930. Local peasants' access to the land resources became restricted as these peasants began to settle down in the Lower Assam districts. With growing scarcity of the agricultural land, the peasants, mostly tribal, began to clear patches from various Reserved Forests. In the following decades, extreme land scarcity even compelled the new migrants, who preferred to settle in the riverine area suitable for jute cultivation, to reclaim land in the forest lands. Adding to it were those peasant families who had become virtually landless due to the impacts of the Depression in the 1930s. The number of landless also grew when peasants in various parts of Upper Assam lost their land in the river erosion in the 1950 earthquake. By the middle of the previous century the numbers of landless peasants had grown manifold and landlessness acquired a serious dimension in the provincial politics.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

70

preservation of ‘good lands’ for the future expansion of the tea plantation.

p. 330

It is important to note here that the idea of encroachment entered into the administrative vocabulary approximately in the 1940s when peasants from East Bengal cleared forest lands in contravention of the directive of the Revenue Department. These peasants were expected to clear land in the riverine areas for agricultural needs. Bureaucratic facilities were created to encourage such land reclamation. However, once land resources became scarce these peasants laid claim and cleared lands from Reserved Forests. This spontaneously brought opposition from the Forest Department, and the peasants were declared as 76

encroachers.

At this moment the Assamese peasants did not come under such classi cation but soon they

swelled the numbers of encroachers. This became highly visible since the late 1940s, when they, as part of the ongoing Left-led peasant movement, forcibly occupied lands from the Reserved Forests or the teagardens. Amidst politicization of the land problem, coupled with the growing pressure from landless peasants, the provincial government decided to deforest more tracts from Reserved Forests to these peasants in the early helped in the removal of timbers from these forests. The Forest Department did not take up any scheme for either arti cial or natural regeneration plantation. Thus extensive working and simultaneous absence of plantation for more than seven decades led to the rapid decline of forest coverage. One of the crucial factors, which worked as a serious restraint on the part of the government to not to carry out any signi cant plantation here was the presence of oil deposits. Ever since the discovery and commercial production of oil 77

in eastern Assam,

the Assam administration carefully made attempts to keep its rights in a sizeable part of

the southern bank of Brahmaputra in eastern Assam and also not take up any concrete plantation proposal. The areas north of Nambor had already begun indicating the presence of oil. The Assam government encouraged the opening of more industries based on soft timbers. While this resulted in both legal and illegal large-scale clearance of timbers from the forests, this also helped in thinning out of dense forest tracts—otherwise a di

cult task for the peasants.

The land settlement scheme got a new twist in the next few years. In July 1942, the Bengal legislative council demanded the Central government to bring to an end all the hurdles that had stood in the way of the 78

immigrant peasants in Assam. p. 331

the policy of distributing

Consequent to this demand in August 1943, the Saddulla ministry adopted

land among the landless peasantry under the scheme of ‘grow more food’.

Under this scheme, it was decided to dereserve professional grazing reserves in Nowgong, Darrang, and Kamrup and to distribute such lands to di erent communities. It was also decided to open surplus reserves in all the submontane areas and also in Sibsagar and Lakhimpur for settlement of land to landless 79

indigenous peasants.

The new land settlement policy authorized the deputy commissioners to open

portions of professional grazing reserves according to the standard laid down by the government. 80

Accordingly, from the winter of 1943 the government threw open the professional grazing reserves.

However, reclamation of lands also soon resulted in the alienation of the forestlands. S.P. Desai, who prepared a report of the problem on encroachment of the immigrant peasants into the forestlands, admitted 81

that the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation was virtually non-existent. to have bypassed the local sta

and o

The immigrants openly claimed

cers in claiming forestlands. The pressure on the forestlands became 82

so intense that it was soon argued that there was no surplus land available for new settlement. the opposition of the revenue o

In spite of

cials, the Muslim League ministry threw open, in large quantities, few

professional grazing reserves in Lakhimpur, Sibsagar, and Nagaon for the immigrant peasants. In 1944, an estimated 1,02,000 bighas of lands were taken up for cultivation in the districts of Nagaona, Lakhimpur, and 83

Sibsagar.

The demand for settlement of land both within and outside the legislative assembly remained

vibrant even in the post-Independence period. Immediately after Independence, the legislative assembly passed more bills aimed at resolving the contentious land settlement problems. From 1947 there was increasing clamour for distribution of land among the landless peasants both within and outside the legislative politics.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

1940s. This quickly increased the intensity of deforestation. The operational working of Nambor also quickly

Forest Conservation and Provincial Politics, 1947–80 The continuous tension between the forestlands and agrarian space took a new shape after independence. In the post-1947 years the cause of the landless peasants was in the forefront of the peasant politics in 84

Assam.

A well-organized peasant movement, directed towards the occupation of forestlands, came to

dominate the political landscape of Assam since then. Various political groups, having varied social base, mobilized the peasants of Assam with the ostensible aim of occupying forestlands or tea-garden wastelands. Several peasant organizations strongly rooted in Left ideology had some form of political p. 332

presence in the political matrix

85

of Assam by that time.

Both the RCPI and CPI successfully mobilized a

large number of peasants around the slogan of ‘land to the tiller’ since 1945. The professional grazing reserves, wasteland of the tea-gardens, forestlands, and sometimes lands of rich landowners became the target of these organizations and encouraged the landless peasants to squat upon them. Criticizing the land to every family—a minimum 33 bighas and a maximum 100 bighas. Moreover, the ambiguous land settlement history of the provincial government helped in intensifying the movement for land occupation. The movement for land occupation spread out in both eastern and western Assam in di erent trajectories. In Assam, the occupation of forestlands remained con ned to smaller areas and it was primarily the sharecroppers who occupied land from their landowners. There were evidences of landless peasants 86

reclaiming land from wastelands and reserves.

Often the peasants squatted on them without waiting for

the permission from the provincial administration. The Makeli grazing reserve located in south Kamrup was 87

one such example of land occupation.

Compared to this low intensity of land occupation in western Assam,

it was the eastern Assam where the forestlands bore the brunt of the increasing pressure of the landless peasantry. The land occupation movement became very popular in the districts of Sibsagar and 88

Lakhimpur.

Soon these areas became the major centre for such land occupation and the tea-garden lands 89

and the grazing reserves became the focal areas where the political organizations directed their attention.

In some places of Sibsagar, the peasants reclaimed portions of wastelands or the Reserved Forests without any support from the peasant organizations. The peasant organizations also demanded that the wasteland 90

and unclassed forests be settled with those landless peasants who lost land due to ood and river erosion.

For instance, the CSP, which formed units of land army called bhumi sena, in places, such as Mangaldai and Golaghat, to be in the forefront of land reclamation demanded that the government should distribute land 91

to the landless and ood-a ected people of south Mangaldai.

Peasant organizations kept alive their demand for occupation of wasteland and forestlands in the 1950s. The large number of landless peasants remained their support base. These peasant mobilizations acquired new p. 333

dimensions as many of them began to draw inspiration

from various modes of protests from the now

popular Gandhian politics. Small and large peasant processions in the towns became visible during this period. Staging satyagraha along with the occupation of tea-garden lands, which was already requisitioned by the government, became quite popular during this period. An illustrative example of such kind of protest was the satyagraha in the Giladhari tea-grant in Golaghat. The Ghiladhari Satyagraha became a major area 92

of protest where the CSP successfully mobilized local landless peasants to occupy land forcibly.

A

cooperative was formed among the peasants to gain e ective mobilization. The CSP claimed that the landless people petitioned the authorities for a long period to settle the tea grant with them but the government did not pay any heed. As the satyagraha began, more numbers of landless peasants joined the movement. The police evicted the occupants and arrested a few of them. The Assamese newspaper Sadiniya Assamiya reported that ‘about 350 landless Assamese peasants forcibly occupied 35 acres of requisitioned 93

land of Giladhari tea estate to protest against the delay in the distribution of the land’.

The CSP claimed

that students, teachers, and tea-garden coolies supported their satyagraha. The CSP decided to expand the 94

Giladhari example into other areas of the Brahmaputra valley.

In the 1950s, the demand of land to the landless peasant reached a higher level of politicization. Distribution of land to the landless peasants was the core agenda of the legislative debates in the 1950s. Village streets 95

reverberated with discussion about settlement of villagers in the grazing reserves. 96

moved more frequently looking for land.

Landless peasants

More and more local leaders emerged to take the initiative in land

reclamation. Often the enormity of landlessness in certain areas compelled the peasants to seek redress locally and in their own way. The reluctance of the provincial government to act more swiftly strengthened the local mobilization. The peasants who were looking for land also included those who lost land either due land erosion process caused by the oods or the siltation as an after e ect of the perennial oods. By 1950,

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

settlement policy of the provincial government these organizations asked the government to distribute land

in the aftermath of major earthquake, many more petitions had reached the government demanding land. New groups had joined the poor peasants. The clerical sta

in the tea-gardens of eastern Assam had sent

numerous such petitions. While the public debate, such as in the legislative assembly or in the Assamese p. 334

press, talked about the strict imposition of the procurement policy and a better distribution of the reclaimed land, the peasants were still reclaiming land. By the end of 1951 it was reported that in the Jorhat 97

subdivision alone there were more than one lakh landless peasants who had applied for land.

Under

pressure, the government took the policy of distributing wastelands either in the forest reserves or in the tea-garden. In some cases, the peasants were the forest villagers. In one such instance, Natun Assamiya reported that 106 families were given land as forest villagers in the Doiyang forest reserve.

98

In most of the

instances, however, it was the non-peasant social groups who took the bene t of their access to the administrative authorities to occupy land distributed in this process. Such actions of the non-peasant social groups did not go unnoticed and often the peasants complained that land should be given to the local peasants only.

to distribute land among the landless peasants put the Congress government in crisis. In the next few years, stealing the show from the Left parties, the ruling political class also began to pressurize the managers of the forests to open up land for the landless peasants. In one such example, Bimalaprasad Chaliha, who was then the president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, wrote to both the revenue and forest 99

ministers of the province asking for the de-reservation of a forest reserve in Sibsagar district.

Chaliha was

aware of the outcome of such a request, and hence he did not forget to mention that ‘I am one who is against de-reservation’. As expected by Chaliha, strong opposition came from P.D. Stracey, the senior Conservator of Forests, who argued that it was not desirable to take up further deforestation. The land question kept on haunting the Congress government in the next few years. It forced the provincial Congress committee to urge the government to dereserve the forest areas, to requisition the tea-garden lands and wastelands, and 100

to distribute it among the landless peasants within the stipulated time.

The government distributed the

surplus area of the professional grazing reserves for agricultural expansion. Accordingly, between April 1950 and December 1950, 9,839 bighas of village grazing ground and 29,174 bighas of professional grazing reserves were settled with the landless and ood a ected peasants. Further, the government also settled an 101

estimated 37,290 bighas of forestlands among 6,300 peasants.

Occupation of forestland continued till the

1970s without any uniform pattern of occupation. An exact estimate of land occupied in such manner could p. 335

not be possible due to the paucity

of statistics. Gradually such occupancy was given further legitimacy by

according various state initiative programmes such as establishment of schools and the like. Accordance of such state programmes nonetheless unfolded into another phase of protracted contest over forest areas in the subsequent period. Signalling a departure, the deputy conservator forest of Sibsagar, however, tried to argue that such deforestation would ‘seriously e ect the adaphic, climatic and ood conditions of the surrounding 102

country’.

The forest o

cer's apprehension did not get any strong favour in the Assam administration and

more lands were opened up in the subsequent days. In 1958, the implementation of the Ceiling Act a ected many tea-gardens neighbouring Nambor and adjoining areas. Peasants, with support from CSP, continued their forceful occupation of these lands. The Forest Department also extended its e ort to accommodate both the local practices of shifting 103

cultivation and forest plantations through the practice of taungya cultivation.

In 1953, the department

established several such villages in Tengani. The participating villagers were provided with the free grant of a rst class tree for a dug out and cash payment according to the number and condition of the seedlings. Taungya cultivation never occupied a large area and remained con ned to a limited area of operation. This was primarily practised in places where there was an extensive practice of shifting cultivation and demand for the land as well as nancial inconvenience of the department. The case of peasantization of forest land became a highly contested subject in the forests of eastern Assam, particularly in Nambor, which was integrated to imperial forestry almost a hundred years back. These Reserved Forests were exposed to new intricacies of land settlement since the early 1960s. The district of Nagaland in Assam was declared as a state in 1963, creating immediate dispute over the provincial boundary. The new state of Nagaland pushed ahead an aggressive demand for a solution of the inter-state boundary problem. With the growing pressure from Nagaland, the general consensus amongst the Assamese politicians was that the best way to keep control over the vast uninhabited border areas of Assam along the Nagaland state was to settle Assamese peasants in the forested tracts, laying claim in the disputed

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

The land distribution policy of the government caused a lot of resentment in the agrarian society. The policy

boundary areas. Eventually, a move was made by the Assam government to distribute lands, amounting to ten bighas, to the peasants. The government began to encourage the settlement of Assamese peasants in the p. 336

adjoining forest tracts of Nambor

and Doiyang. O

104

cially known as ‘half-a-mile settlement’,

landless

peasants from neighbouring areas came and settled within a distance of half a mile from the Nagaland boundary. In the 1960s these peasants were also joined by other batches of peasants. The left and socialist leaders were still in defence of the state's landless peasants. In the later part of the 1960s, they renewed their movement amongst the landless peasants. They compelled the Bimala Prasad Chaliha-led Congress government to distribute lands to these peasants in the Reserved Forest. Thereafter, land reclamation in Nambor and Doiyang acquired a faster pace. Peasants came mostly from various central Assam villages. Most of them 105

lost their land in the river erosion caused by annual oods.

Peasants who lost their land in this manner in 106

Majuli, the river island of Brahmaputra, migrated to this forest.

Tea-garden labourers migrated and

central Indian villages mostly in the nineteenth century, did not return to their original villages. After their work contract with tea-companies was over they preferred to settle down in a land and began a new life as a peasant. Many tea-gardens even preferred such an arrangement and often rented out their own fallow lands to these labourers on a sharecropping basis. However, in the middle of the twentieth century the labourers could not nd any cultivable land near to their gardens and went out to distant forests to reclaim land. Many amongst those who migrated then encountered dense jungles. Di

culty in clearing jungles compelled them

to remain only as small landholders. While this process went on, the Forest Department failed to assert any agenda of forest conservation in the post-independence period. It continued with the ambiguities of forest conservation that began in the colonial time. On the one hand, while it pushed ahead a forceful programme of timber-based industries, leading to the more workings of Reserved Forests, the provincial politics had to continue with its land settlement policies in the forestlands. The state government had pursued its land settlement programme through the Revenue Department. The latter was accorded priority over the Forest Department in deciding the a airs of the forest lands. Gradually the department had virtually withdrawn from asserting its absolute right in Nambor and its adjoining forest tracts like any other forests in the state. In 1963, the Forest Standing Committee of the Assam Congress parliamentary party strongly advised the department to explore p. 337

as much as possible to settle land in the unclassed

state forests. It also took a cautious position by 107

suggesting that precaution should also be taken to avoid clearance of sal containing tracts.

By 1970, the

Revenue Department became the de facto authority in these forested areas. The former aggressively 108

pressurized the Forest Department to explore possibilities of deforestation for peasant cultivation 109

this encouraged landless peasants to continue to migrate here and reclaim land till the 1980s.

and

Most of this

migration happened whenever there was ood or other such natural damages. Those who became landless after mortgaging their land to the moneylenders also came. A few amongst those who migrated into Tengani were also victims of development displacement. The peasants who reclaimed land in these forests, however, never got any tenurial right on their lands. Their unsecured occupancy soon became a concern. As the peasants settled down in these forest areas, they began to face hostility from various quarters. The rst challenge came from the tea-companies in Nambor–Doiyang in the latter half of the 1960s. They parleyed with the administration to evict peasants who occupied their land. This led to some occasional eviction in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Peasants protested mostly through negotiation with the district administration. Such eviction was not really supported by the Assam government, and hence it never acquired a larger momentum. But soon peasants had not only sought governmental interventions but also went on a path of political struggle. The rst ever peasants' struggle to secure their land right began in 1968 in Doiyang. They were organized by left and socialist elements. With demonstration of ‘thousands of peasants participating’, they reasserted their claim for control over lands that they occupied from the teacompanies. While the tea-companies challenged the peasants reclamation of land in the 1960s the peasants succeeded in garnering strong support from the provincial Congress government. Peasants were thus not evicted from the tea-garden lands. Since the early 1970s it turned out to be the Forest Department who again asserted its claim over the forests. Nambor again became a site of this contested right between the revenue and Forest Departments. In the wake of the new attitude of the Forest Department peasants inside the forest lands increasingly came to be identi ed as encroachers. Repeated evictions were carried out during 1973–4. It would be a mistaken idea to suggest that the department succeeded in its struggle with the Revenue Department. On the other hand, the

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

reclaimed lands in these forests. These labourers, who came to work in various tea-gardens from various

p. 338

Assam–Nagaland boundary dispute critically helped the Forest Department to regain a powerful position in these forests. It was during this time that the Assam government, by accepting the 1971 K.V.K. Sundaram commission's interim report on the Assam–Nagaland border dispute, had agreed to de-populate 110

these forest tracts.

The department was asked to carry out partial eviction.

The most aggressive phase of eviction took place in 1973. It was during this crucial period that, with the experiences of leading popular civil movements, the All Assam Student Union (AASU) made its entry into the world of rural politics. In the weeks after the eviction, AASU played a signi cant role in mobilizing the peasants. The eviction also attracted the attention of the ongoing Bengal Naxal movement. At the invitation of a few local youths, the CPI-ML leader Bhaskar Nandi along with cadres visited the area and attempted to mobilize the evicted peasants. They demanded patta, the o

cial land document con rming the rights of a 111

peasant over a particular patch of land—for these peasants.

Later on, Jehirul Hussain, a well known

Assamese short-story writer, recalled that the Naxal struggle could not make any progress in Nambor as 112

Doyang.

Even though the Naxalites failed to mobilize disgruntled peasants, politicians from CPI and CSP

lled the vacuum but occasional eviction continued. It is not di

cult to presume that such eviction never

actually forced the peasants to relinquish their rights over the forestlands. The state government was not still favouring a strong agenda of forest conservation, as expected by the Forest Department. The provincial politics was marked by a strong pro-peasant orientation. A few years of mobilization brought the result. In the 1978 assembly election, the peasants voted Soneswar Bora, a socialist leader, to the Assam legislature, who was inducted as the agriculture minister in the new 113

Janata government.

Peasants celebrated Doiyang bijoy ustav in 1978, as a symbolic mark of their rightful

claim over these forests. The new government awarded the peasants with various provisions of public amenities such as roads, schools, and so on. The peasants also gained concessions in terms of assurance from the district administration to withdraw the eviction programme. In June 1978, Chief Minister Golap Borbora agreed to open the Doiyang Reserved Forest to the peasants who had been settling there since the post-Independence period. He admitted that peasantization had already taken place in parts of these forest 114

reserves.

The short-lived Janata government, though it failed to deliver any permanent land right to these

peasants, nonetheless brought a sense of security to them. p. 339

115

As the surge of eviction generally disappeared after 1978,

the movement also gradually died out. The next

two decades saw rather uncontested reclamation of land in these forests. More peasants came in search of 116

better cultivable land.

Others came like their predecessors after losing their land in river erosion. A few

began to expand their existing holding by reclaiming more forests. Further, the growing interstate border dispute between Assam and Nagaland become more complex and acquired a violent turn when, in 1979, a 117

few Assamese villagers lost their lives. 118

either side.

The hostility further increased in 1985 claiming more lives on

The state also came under President's Rule in June 1981 after a few years of the anti-

foreigners movement led by AASU. With more Central supervision over the a airs of the Assam administration, the massive deforestation in these areas had drawn the attention of the Central forest ministry. Meanwhile, the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 had signi cantly re-strengthened the scope of the Forest Department for e ective supervision over forest resources. Eviction by the department began to take place after 1981. Between October 1981 and April 1999, according to a conservative estimate of the 119

department, 13 evictions were carried out in these areas.

Most of these evictions were arbitrarily carried

out in di erent villages but without any signi cant level of a orestation. The peasants continued to protest against these evictions, but these protests never acquired an organized form of political platform. The peasants in Tengani continued to get political support for their land reclamation in Nambor. Peasants' mobilization and their struggle, along with tactical support from various political groups, helped the evicted peasants to stay inside the forest but never got any permanent rights to 120

their occupied lands.

These struggles, which tried to push the agrarian frontier, were often short-lived

and died down amidst the competition between the revenue and Forest Departments. Thus, while challenges to the peasants' settlement were there since the 1960s, it acquired a much more political character since the beginning of the present century. As the century drew to a close, the peasants in Nambor–Tengani were exposed in the middle of 2002 to the most crucial phase of eviction. Soon, the struggle and contest over forestlands acquired a new dimension with the emergence of collective protests against the eviction. For the time being the Forest Department withdrew from the conservation agenda. The antagonism between the peasants and the department became paramount leading to a spate of hostility. This came to be gradually 121

coined in the public discussion as the Doyang–Tengani struggle.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

they failed to appreciate the internal dynamics and relationship between peasants and forest lands in

p. 340

Conservation, Deforestation, and Contemporary Discourses In the meanwhile, as has been discussed in Chapter 2 in this volume, the Indian forestry programme, largely to accommodate dissents, began to rede ne its relationship with communities and peasant societies. ‘The peasants' struggle in Doyang–Tengani, which expanded to more areas of Assam, questioned and raised doubt about the government led forest programme’, the joint forest management (JFM) in particular, claim to create coexistence between peasants and a sustainable forestry. Not only did they resist the implementation of the JFM scheme but they also provided an alternative framework to this industry122

orientated motive forest conservation.

Agreeing to the need for conservation, they expressed their

willingness to become a genuine partner to it. Not only had they wanted to plant trees that would be ecologically viable, but they also to a orest areas which they would never require for future agricultural expansion. While they advocated for locally meaningful trees and bio-conservation, they rejected the that unless the question of ood and river erosion could be solved, peasants' search for land and migration into forestlands would never stop. Peasants' migration into the forest land and the gradual reclamation of the forested areas of Assam in the twentieth century contributed to the thinning down of the dense grass forest coverage. As these forests came under the increasing control of human intervention and there was agricultural activity the con ict between the two frontiers of agrarian and forest boundaries became prominent. However, the seeds of competing claims over natural resources were already sown. In an age of anxieties for control over Nature, the East India Company laid its rights over vast forest territories of Assam. This was aimed at staking claim over economic resources. Soon more areas were brought under their control. Such intervention not only changed the region's landscape forever but also crucially dislodged people dependent on them; without their consent. Legal and social discourses gave legitimacy to the changing ideas of rights and natural claimants over these resources. The tea-planters, in the meanwhile, rapidly became the legal owners of vast forested tracts and began the lucrative cash crop production. The new landscape that they had created came to be identi ed as extended forest frontier only. In the course of time, Assamese literary works did not have p. 341

any hesitation in identifying such landscape as part of the wilderness. Also,

even though o

cially forest

conservation commenced, the commercial motive remained the primary and utmost agenda of such conservation. The question of preserving the region's bio-diversity never came into the forefront. More crucially, although the State did not have any great hesitation in sharing and rede ning the boundaries of the ‘conserved’ forests whenever required by the planters it also pursued a policy of shrinking the forest boundary. This was done to increase the revenue of the agricultural department. Over the years, as the local peasants lost their cultural right over land, the State further pushed them away from these resources because of their inability to become cash crop producers. Peasant settlements came up close to these forest reserves but they did not necessarily come to be recognized by the Forest Department as revenue villages and in subsequent days, became identical with encroachers. The State in independent India continued to practise these agendas, interrupted often by attempts for departure by the new managers of the Forest Department. More forest-based industries were established in Assam. Peasants continued to push their agrarian frontier against the State's will. The break came early in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Whether it was the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 or the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, the authority of State over forest and its resources came to be rea

rmed. For the

time being the peasants who had already cleared forested land for agriculture had also come to regard the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, as some form of legal boundary which needed to be abided by. It is also true that the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 had begun to work as a mechanism of bringing marginal stability to a exible boundary between the agrarian and forest frontier, which was for so long manipulated by various political parties. Political parties, now constrained by various mechanisms in place for the protection of forests, had to half-heartedly express their willingness to support peasants' claim over natural resources. In spite of their ability to achieve their limited goal of conservation and protection of forests, competition over these resources never disappeared. The ambivalence towards forest conversation, which was a fundamental continuity between the colonial and post-colonial state, again resurfaced when the Assam government pushed ahead its agenda for expansion of small tea-gardens in the early 1990s. Similar to what was done in the nineteenth century drama, patches of forests, primarily from unclassed forests, were opened out to the prospective Assamese tea-planters; o p. 342

Moreover,

cially, they came to be called as ‘small farmers’.

the colonial state's dilemma, while implementing the scienti c forestry, of whether to adopt

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

plantation programme under the Forest Department's silvicultural regime. However, they strongly argued

natural or arti cial regeneration of forest, was indeed resolved by the immediate economic logic of the State. At the end of century, the State, in spite of its claim for participatory community share in the management of forest, had further pushed, essentially through the JFM programme, the agenda for commercialization of forest resources. Various forest policies not only collectively reasserted the Forest Department's right over forested land but also rede ned peasants' right in the forests. In spite of a more rigorous implementation of a regime of forest conservation, based on rigid enforcement of forest legislation, peasants also asserted claims over the forest and other natural resources, leading to intense competition between the State and peasants. At the end of the century, these con icts, a widely occurring phenomenon in various developing countries, began to raise doubts about the State-sponsored agenda of forest conservation. Many of these movements had come forward with contesting notions of development and conservation where coexistence of man and Nature was more than possible. At the end of the twentieth century the con ict between the agrarian and forest frontier was still an unresolved dilemma. It continues to be so despite the possibilities of alternative and multiple ways of conservation which can accommodate ample political legitimacy to continue to lay claim over forested lands, often causing detrimental e ect on the forest coverage. Meanwhile, several forms of democratic movements had empowered the peasants to negotiate better with various organs of the state to assert their claim to land. The colonial intervention into the natural landscape brought in dissent and protest. The recon guration of the man–Nature relationship was responsible for varied levels of dislocation of humans from their traditional space of livelihood. Peasants while expanding the agrarian frontier, came to encounter a hostile Forest Department. Those who practised shifting cultivation faced bitter prospects. The department was in a state of confusion in its understanding of the dichotomy between forest and agriculture. This chapter discussed those issues, which still occupy a position of primacy in the intellectual discourse. Thus we see that humans came into contact with the landscape supposedly occupied by the colonial authority in search of their livelihood. It led to legal action and increase in con ict between the populace and the colonial p. 343

agencies. In the late twentieth century, the protest became more codi ed and was

occasionally expressed

in the languages of the modern non-governmental agencies, which proliferated at a large scale. The human–Nature relationship underwent tremendous change both in language and tenor. Environmental movements are now embodied with new meanings and directions. The political parties have started incorporating the issues of forestry into their programme to reach a larger section of the population.

Notes 1.

This account is based on Annual Report, 1879–80, para. 39.

2.

Annual Report, 1915–16, para. 58.

3.

E.P. Stebbing, 1923, The Forests of India, vol. II. p. 259. He noted that ʻ… there was some trouble in Kamrup, and in Goalpara all the forest villages went on strike, instigated thereto by agitatorsʼ.

4.

ʻSpeech by A.W. Botham,ʼ Assam Legislative Council Debate, vol. VII, no. 5, 1927. Botham reported that under Assam Forest Regulation, 10,635 were compounded as against 41,658 cases under the Indian Penal Code during the period 1921–6.

5.

Annual Report, 1914–15, para. 7.

6.

Annual Report, 1892–93, para. 78.

7.

Annual Report, 1946–47, para. 56.

8.

Annual Report, 1920–21, para. 36–7.

9.

By 1935 there were 201,029 acres of land kept reserved for the village grazing grounds except Goalpara.

10.

For a contemporary observation on fishing in water bodies inside the grasslands see, R.J. Shrivastava and J.T. Heinen, 2005, ʻMigration and Home Gardens in the Brahmaputra Valleyʼ, Journal of Ecological Anthropology vol. 9, pp. 20–35.

11.

This has been discussed in Chapter 6.

12.

Reservation of Chelabor Forest in Nowgong, Petition of Bhabang Gaobura, Village Headman, Proceeding of East Bengal and Assam, nos 10–29, Forest-A, July 1906 (ASA).

13.

Addition to the Dehingmukh Reserved Forest in the Lakhimpur district, ASP, nos 69–86, Revenue-A, August 1905 (ASA).

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

both livelihood practices and forest conservation in a sustainable manner. This provided the peasants with

p. 344

Annual Report, 1883–84, para. 25. This incident occurred in the Rangrengiri forests.

15.

The Assam Mihir published a sharp criticism on 23 May 1873. Quoted in Bengal Government papers, File no. 73/112 Sl nos 1–3/ 1873 (ASA).

16.

Extract from the Proceedings of the GOI, no. 184, ASP nos 27–8, Revenue and Agricultural Department, Revenue-A, September, 1886, (ASA).

17.

Statement of Villagers, ASP nos 39–81, Revenue-A, Revenue Department, December 1917 (ASA).

18.

G. Godfrey, Commissioner, Assam Valley Districts to Secretary to the Chief Commissioner, Assam, no. 195 L.R, 22 August 1895, Guwahati, ASP nos 124–62, Revenue-A, April 1896 (ASA).

19.

ASP nos 120–8, Forest-B, Revenue Department, June 1925 (ASA).

20.

Forest Enquiry Committee Report, vol. 1, para. 40.

21.

In the Central Provinces cultivators paid the owners of sheep to let their animals graze in their fields, as much as Rs 1–4 annas a night for 12 kundies a manure. Sheep were vital to the process of fertilizing farmlands. See, Rangarajan, 1996, Fencing the Forest: Conservation and Ecological Change in India's Central Provices, 1860–1914, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, p. 68.

22.

Letter from J. Buckingham, Chairman, Assam branch of ITA to Secretary to chief commissioner of Assam, no. 51, 4 March 1899 in ASP Revenue-A, nos 51–8 June 1899 (ASA).

23.

ASP nos 71–4, Revenue-A May 1892, (ASA).

24.

ASP nos 4–8. KW, Revenue-A, April 1893 (ASA). The conservator prepared statement showing cases, award, and total value of reward: 1887–8:193/1/Rs 25; 1888–9: 390/-/-; 1889–90: 285/1/20; 1890–1: 219/2/30; 1891–2: 260/5/65.

25.

B. Ribbentrop, 1989 (first print 1900), Forestry in British India, Delhi: Indus Publishing House, p. 134.

26.

Ibid.

27.

R.S. Troup, 1907, Indian Forest Utilisation, Calcutta: Government Press, p. 138.

28.

A er 1911 the authority of the post of Inspector General of Forests became less e ective and the Indian government allowed provincial chief conservator as the rallying point for forest management. See, R.K. Winters, 1975, ʻForestry Beginnings in Indiaʼ, Journal of Forest History, vol. 19, no. 2, p. 89.

29.

B.F. Bryant, 1912, A Note of Inspection on Some Forests of Assam, Calcutta: Government Press, para.16.

30.

Letter from J.O. Miller, secretary to Government of India to all local Governments and Administrations (Except Assam, Coorg, NW Frontier, Berar, and Baluchistan) 23 September 1903, in Revenue-A, nos 4–5, 1903 (ASA).

31.

In the neighbouring Darjeeling, the Bengal government also introduced a similar system since 1911. See, K. Sivaramakrishnan, Modern Forests, p. 195.

32.

Goalpara Working Plan, para. 32.

33.

For a brief overview of Nepali migration to Assam see, M. Devi, 2007, ʻEconomic History of Nepali Migration and Settlement in Assamʼ, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 42, no. 29, pp. 3005–7.

34.

A er 1914 the Assam government decided to charge Rs 8 for Goalpara and Rs 6 for the other districts despite it being increased to Rs 12 in neighbouring Jalpaiguri district. Enhancement of the Rates of Grazing Fees in the Un-classed State Forests in the Assam Valley Districts, ASP, Revenue-A, nos 10–39, September 1914 (ASA).

35.

A. Guha, 1977, Planter Raj to Swaraj: Freedom Struggles and Electoral Politics in Assam, 1826–1947, Delhi: People's Publishing House, pp. 196–7.

36.

M.C. Jacob, 1942, A Working Plan for the Forest Reserves of the Darrang District (1941–1951), part II, pp. 103–4, para. 281.

37.

Ibid., para. 281.

38.

ʻSpeech by Bishnuram Medhiʼ, 9 September 1946, Assam Legislative Assembly Proceedings. The numbers are Kamrup, 346116; Darrang, 140875; Nowgaon, 170769.

39.

A. Saikia, 2009, ʻGrazing, Forest Lands and Creating Political Space: Agrarian Conflicts in Colonial Assamʼ, paper presented in the conference Terrestrial Environments and their Histories in Modern India, Yale University, May.

40.

Letter from F.J. Monahan, Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, no. 158 Forests, 3441 dated 25th July 1904, ASP, Revenue-A, October 1904.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

p. 345

14.

See File Colonization of the Nambor Forest in the Sibsagar District, Notes Revenue-A, February 1914 nos 1–14, Assam Secretariat Proceedings (ASA). also A.M. Long, Report on the Nambor and adjacent Reserved Forests, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Sibsagar Division, 17 June 1893, no. 114, in Assam Secretariat Proceedings, Revenue-A, December 1896 (AA Collection, British Library).

42.

J.H. Stedman, 1911, Indian and Home Memories. London: T. Fisher Unwin.

43.

Letter from Major D. Herbert, Deputy Commissioner, Sibsagar to Commissioner, Assam valley districts, no. 6T, Jorhat 21 December 1904 in Assam Secretariat Proceedings, Revenue-A, February 1905, nos 95–109 (ASA).

44.

Note by B.C. Basu, in Assam Secretariat Proceedings, Revenue-A, October 1904, nos 132–57 (ASA).

45.

Complete account of this renewed e ort was covered in the communications in Assam Secretariat Proceedings, RevenueA, October 1904, nos 132–57 (ASA).

46.

Letter from Secretary to Chief Commissioner, Assam to the Conservator of Assam, no. 34 Forests 1625 R, Shillong 14 April 1903 in Assam Secretariat Proceedings, Revenue A, October 1904 nos 132–57 (ASA).

47.

Letter from Secretary, the Chief Commissioner of Assam, to the Conservator of Forests, Assam, no. 133 Forests, 3075R, Shillong 6 August 1903 in Assam Secretariat Proceedings, October, Revenue-A, 1904, nos 132–57 (ASA). The Secretary mentioned that he was conveying the chief commissioner's viewpoint.

48.

Letter from E.S. Carr, Conservator of Forests, Assam to the Secretary to Chief Commissioner of Assam, no. 51A, Shillong 24 July 1903 in Assam Secretariat Proceedings, Revenue-A, October 1904, no. 133.

49.

Basu surveyed approximately 468 square miles of forests in Nambor. He spent 42 days and tried his best to physically investigate the area. He relied on a number of people who were practising elephant hunting or other collectors of forest produce.

50.

Letter from E.S. Carr, Conservator of Forests, Assam to the Secretary to Chief Commissioner of Assam, no. 51A, Shillong 24 July 1903 in Assam Secretariat Proceedings, Revenue A, October 1904, no. 133.

51.

Letter from F.J. Monahan, Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, no. 158 Forests, 3441 dated 25 July 1904, ASP, Revenue-A, October 1904.

52.

It was apparent by the early twentieth century that the tea-planters were more interested in expanding their existing gardens and taking up land in those areas connected through good transport system. By this time they had began parleying with the colonial state about the e icient transport system from Assam.

53.

Both Jorhat Sarvajanik Sabha and Upper Assam Raiyat Association vehemently criticized the Assam administration for proposing to stop sharecropping practice in newly reclaimed land.

54.

ʻRules for the Establishment and Control of Forest Villagesʼ, Notification no. 4631 R, 6 December 1930 in The Assam Forest Manual, vol. I.

55.

Annual patta means that the department could reassert its rights over it whenever it wishes to.

56.

A.W. Blunt, Conservator to the Chief Secretary, no. 314, A, 20 March, 1917, ASP nos 48–9, Revenue-A, Revenue Department, April 1917 and also ASP nos 4–7, Forest-A, Financial Department, April 1917 Assam Secretariat Proceedings (ASA).

57.

Letter from P.R.T. Gurdon to the Second Secretary of Chief Commissioner Assam, no. 89, Revenue, Gauhati 9 January 1914 in File Colonization of the Nambor Forest in the Sibsagar District, Notes Revenue-A, February 1914, nos 1–14 (ASA).

58.

W.W. Hunter, 1879, Imperial Gazetteer of India, p. 345.

59.

For a detailed discussion on various aspects of the immigration of East Bengal peasants into Assam, see, Guha, 1977, Planters Raj to Swaraj.

60.

N. Khadria, 1992, ʻSome Aspects of the Rural Economy of Assam: A Study of the Brahmaputra Valley Districts of Assam, 1874–1914ʼ, unpublished PhD thesis, Jawaharlal Nehru University, pp. 391–4.

61.

J. F. Richards and J. Hagen, 1987, ʻA Century of Rural Expansion in Assam 1870–1970ʼ, in Itinerario, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 193–

p. 346

209 10.1017/S0165115300009451

.

62.

Report of J. Sheer Deputy Commissioner, Nowgong, 1873, quoted in Jogendranath, Bhuyan, 1990, Unavimsa Satikar Assam Samvada, Dibrugarh: Dibrugarh University, pp. 84–94.

63.

F.J. Monahan, Jute Cultivation in Assam, no. 814, 7 February 1898, Shillong: Government Press (NAI).

64.

Ibid.; ʻNote on Jute Cultivationʼ, by B.C. Basu, Assistant Director to Land Records and Agriculture, Assam.

65.

Most of these peasants came from the districts of Mymmensing and Sylhet of East Bengal. For a brief background to their

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

41.

economic and cultural condition in that area, see, S. Bose, 1993, Peasant Labour and Colonial Capital: Rural Bengal since 1770, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 10.1017/CHOL9780521266949

p. 347

66.

This estimate has been based on Statistical Abstract Relating to British India (relevant years) London, His Majesty's Stationery O ice.

67.

W.A. Cosgrave, D.C. Kamrup felt that the local settlement o icer should thoroughly go through the past history of professional grazing reserves with the help of a competent clerk. See, Revenue-A, December 1930, nos 395–464 (ASA), ʻColonization Scheme for Barpeta Subdivision in the Kamrupʼ.

68.

Ibid 10.1017/CHOL9780521266949

69.

M. Rangarajan, Fencing the Forest, p. 5.

70.

R.P Behal, 1983, ʻSome Aspects of the Growth of the Plantation Labor Force and Labor Movements in Assam Valley Districts, 1900–47ʼ, unpublished PhD Thesis, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, p. 153.

71.

Assam Land Revenue Administration Report show how grazers were prohibited from entering inside the Reserved Forests, in order to avoid damages being done to young growth of forest. See, ʻNotes on Colonization Scheme for Barpeta subdivision in the district of Kamrupʼ, in Assam Secretariat Proceedings, Revenue-A, December 1930, nos 395–465 (ASA).

72.

Saikia, ʻAgrarian Society, Economy and Peasant Unrestʼ, unpublished thesis, University of Delhi, chapter 2.

73.

Prepared from Annual Land Revenue Administration Report, 1928–35.

74.

Arupjyoti Saikia, Kawal Deep Kaur, and Gopal Kumar Sarma, ʻA Preliminary Estimate on the Crop Productions in the Brahmaputra Valley: 1890–1947ʼ, paper presented at the Annual Conference of the North East India History Association, 2009.

75.

The winter rice produced in the Brahmaputra valley excluding Lakhimpur in 1924 amounted to 1,212,600 tonnes. For the year 1931 this figure was 1,129,400 tonnes which was marginally lower. Even on the eve of 1947 the amount remained static with an amount of 1,327,600 tonnes. Prepared from Agricultural Statistics of Assam of the relevant years.

76.

118 This is in sharp contrast to what happened to similar encroachment in other parts of British India, the Central India in particular. In Central India for instance the adivasis who were categorized as encroachers by the Forest Department were people who were dependent on the forest resources in the same area previous to the enactment of various forest regulations. They were pushed back from those areas a er such enactment of Acts. For the best exposition of this aspect see, A. Baviskar, 1995, In the Belly of the River, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 149–56.

77.

G.G. Jones, 1979, ʻThe State and Economic Development in India: 1894–1947: The Case of Oilʼ, Modern Asian Studies, vol.

.

.

78.

Ibid 10.1017/S0026749X00007174

79.

Assam Gazette, 25 August 1943.

80.

Speech by Mahi Chandra Bora and Munwar Ali, 27 November 1943, ALAP.

81.

Quoted in Speech by Beliram Das, 16 November 1944, ALAP. Also, File no. 54 of 1944, Settlement Branch, Revenue Department Nagaon District Record Room (NDRR).

82.

S.P. Desai to All District Commissioners, October 1943 (NDRR).

83.

Return for the Acceleration of the Land Settlement Scheme for the Month of August 1944, speech by Munwar Ali, 14 November 1944, ALAP.

84.

For a detailed discussion of the peasant unrest of Assam during this period, see, Saikia, ʻAgrarian Society, Economy and Peasant Unrestʼ.

85.

The Communist Party of India (CPI), Congress Socialist Party (CSP), and Revolutionary Communist Party of India (RCPI).

86.

Natun Assamiya, 16 February 1951.

87.

Speech by Bisnhuram Medhi, 29 March 1949, ALAP.

88.

.

Speech by Harinarayan Baruah, 18 March 1949, ALAP.

89.

Superintendent Police of the Sibsagar to DIG police 22 December 1949, File no. A-3, 6, K, 47 (Assam Police Intelligence Record Room).

90.

File no. Revenue Tenancy 6/5, Tenancy Branch, Revenue Department (ASA).

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

13, no. 3, pp. 353–7 10.1017/S0026749X00007174

p. 348

.

In 1947, the CSP demanded that the government should conduct a census of the landless peasants in Assam. They further demanded that lands be distributed among these peasants. The resolution demanded that ʻthe landless and those adhiars who don't have enough land for cultivation had to give bribe to get landʼ. Sankar Chandra Barua, a prominent leader of the CSP attended several meetings in the district and organized the peasants. Dainik Assamiya, 5 December 1947.

92.

Pamphlet Giladhari Satyagraha, issued by Assam Socialist Party.

93.

ʻBhumihin Khetiakar Satyagrahaʼ, Sadiniya Assamiya, 10 June 1950.

94.

File no. C-6 (14)/e/50 (Assam Police Intelligence Record Room).

95.

Dainik Assamiya, 10 November 1948.

96.

Saikia, 2001, ʻAgrarian Society, Economy and Peasant Unrestʼ, p. 143.

97.

Speech by Harinarayan Baruah, 1 September 1951, ALAP. Baruah was the member of the Land Settlement Board of the Sibsagar district.

98.

Natun Assamiya, 1 May 1951.

99.

Letter from B.P. Chaliha to the Ministers of Revenue and Forests, Assam 17 April 1954, Delhi, File no. AFR, 222/54 1954 (ASA).

100. Sadiniya Assamiya, 27 January 1951. 101. Speech by Hareswar Das, 10 March 1951, ALAP. 102. Confidential Memo, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Sibsagar Division, no. B/11321/34, 6 November 1954, in File AFR 222/54 (ASA). 103. Mailk, ʻThe “Problem of Shi ing Cultivation” in the Garo Hills of North-East Indiaʼ, pp. 293–4. The etymological familiarity between taungya and Tengani is apparent. Three separate taungya villages came in 1950, 1958, and 1961 known as Tengani, Nimati Galai, and Shabishgharia, respectively. See, Brihatta Tengani Unnayan Sangram Samity (BTUSS), 2004. 104. Part of the provincial diplomatic move to control any further deterioration of Assam–Nagaland border dispute the government introduced this system. For an early account see, G.S. Ghurye, 1974, Whither India, Bombay: Popular Prakasan; pp. 134–5; B. Bhattacharyya, 1995, The Troubled Border: Some Facts about Boundary Disputes Between Assam– Nagaland, Assam–Arunachal, Guwahati: LBS; S.K. Chaube, 1999, Hill Politics in North-east India, New Delhi: Orient Longman. 105. A survey conducted by BTUSS suggested that peasants from the Sibsagar district migrated here a er several consecutive floods and river erosion. 106. They began to call their new habitat as Mukti-Majuli, the freed Majuli. 107. Proceedings of Forest Standing Committee, Assam Congress Parliamentary Party, 30 March 1963, in FA, 337/67, 1967 (ASA). 108. Letter of Additional Deputy Commissioner, Jorhat to the Divisional Forest O icer, Golaghat, 31 March 1987, no. JRS, 34/85/51. p. 349

109.

The Dvisional Forest O icer (DFO) in an o icial letter to the Conservator of Forest (Head Quarter) Assam admitted that there were number of villages that they could be defined as encroached villages inside the Nambor forest reserves even a er 1980. Letter from the DFO, Golaghat to the Conservator of Forests (CF), 21 January 2004 no. A/40/(C)-58–59. The DFO appended a list of villages which came a er and before 1980.

110. Phukan, Assom Nagaland Sima Samasya, Golaghat: Phukan Grantha Prakashan, p. 71. 111. Ibid. 112. Jehiral Hussain, ʻDoyangor Andolan: Kichu Purani Kathaʼ, Dainik Janambhumi, 29 June 2004. 113. The election returned a good number of Le MLAs into the assembly. The share of the Le parties in the election also increased considerably. 114. Statement by Chief Minister Golap Borbora, Assam Legislative Assembly Proceedings, 17 June 1978. 115. For a recent and brief account of the political situation of the state in the 1970s, see, H. Gohain, 2007, ʻChronicles of Violence and Terrorʼ, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 42, no. 12, 24 March, pp. 1012–18. 116. At the turn of the century the Forest Department claimed that they were mere encroachers into the Reserved Forests. 117. The happenings of 1979 in a place called Merapani were widely reported in both national and international newspapers.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

91.

118. ʻBorder Dispute Draws Indian Troops to Areaʼ, in The New York Times, 11 June 1985. 119. A Note on Encroachment on Nambor North Reserved Forest, by Divisional Forest O icer, Golaghat, 2003. 120. Thus, in 1990, in a letter Nagen Saikia, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) MP in the Rajyasabha wrote to the Deputy Commissioner, Golaghat asking not to evict any such peasants, Demi-o icial letter by N. Saikia dated 26 February 1990. 121. A. Saikia, 2008, ʻLand, Forest Management, and Environment: Peasant Struggles in Assam, 2002–2007ʼ, Journal of Peasant Studies, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 39–59 10.1080/03066150801983402

.

122. During this period Golaghat had comparatively low investment of Joint Forest Management (JFM) project money.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193349753 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Forests and Ecological History of Assam, 1826–2000 Arupjyoti Saikia https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.001.0001 Published: 2011

Online ISBN: 9780199081240

Print ISBN: 9780198069539

CHAPTER

8 The Political Forests  Arupjyoti Saikia Pages 350–358

Abstract This chapter discusses forest and forest conservation in South and South-East Asia within a comparative perspective. It also discusses the future of political forests wherein reforestation movements will be in constant con ict with commerce and agriculture. Compared to the history of colonial forestry, the making of the forest policy in the post-colonial period was de ned by the complexities of the political matrix and political machinery. Although forests nowadays are more politically in uenced, the Assam forests in the colonial period were not entirely free from political negotiation and machinery. It was also under the commercial and pro t-generating interests of the imperial rule and the powerful political class. Apart from discussing the history of the Assam forests, its di erence and similarities in other forests, the chapter also evaluates how the present day ecological con icts are intricately woven in the colonial era when forests, land and resource-based con icts began to take shape.

Keywords: Assam forest, forest conservation, South Asia, South-East Asia, political forests, reforestation, forest policy Subject: Colonialism and Imperialism, Environmental History, Asian History, Indian History Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online

Deforestation is no longer a purely economic issue, though it is supremely that, as it is also fast becoming a humanitarian concern mixed with long term environmental ethics. 1

—Michael Williams, Deforesting the Earth

As the previous chapters depict, the changing paradigm of forest management and also the stories of the onset of rapid deforestation leave one in no doubt that the natural landscape has been exposed to rapid changes in the last 200 years. Also, despite disagreement on the volume and extent of deforestation, no one will now deny that these changes have become more rapid in the recent past. The enormity of deforestation is at present easily perceptible and is no more con ned to remote forests away from habitats of civilization. Large-scale State-sponsored developmental projects had brought both depleted natural landscape and civilization much closer to each other. In the meanwhile, popular perception of nature came to be critically de ned by this State-sponsored bureaucratic conservation. Over the years, nature and natural endowments became synonymous with the modern forests, the latter being largely characterized by a mono-plantation aimed at their commercial exploitation. Similarly, depletion of forest coverage, both in o

cial discourse

and popular perception, is interlinked to general destruction or cutting down of the forest coverage primarily meant for commercial production. The only di erence is that the agencies of this deforestation often belonged to two separate and discrete categories. At the same time, early in the present century, as p. 351

talks of global climate change have come to occupy much

of the State and scienti c discourses less has

been done to rede ne our engagement with our natural landscape. Is this unique to Assam or, for that matter, to that of South Asia? Can we escape from the tragedy of modern forests?

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351115 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.003.0009 Published: February 2011

Looking Back The present volume is an account of the transformation of forests in Assam over the last 200 years. The arguments of the book have been spelled out in four interlinked areas. First, the book argues how the forest and forested land was transformed into national wealth through an intricate system of governance and became part of the international economy. In the meantime, the sole privilege to extract timber from the forest and to direct the future of forestry remained with the imperial Forest Department and it continued with little modi cation after Independence. At the same time the Forest Department faced di erences with the Revenue Department both in terms of their understanding of forests as well as priorities of means through which revenue should be generated. By creating and bringing an absolute right of the state, apart from alienating the traditional rights of the people, the colonial state converted the forest into a commercial commodity. Second, the question of governance was further cemented with the ideological imperative regional departures. However, what stood as a challenge to the imperial forestry programme was the regional agrarian economy, de ned by both colonial and post-colonial political exigencies. In the end it was the latter that won the struggle. This win was conditioned by both the nature of forest as well as the very nature of the imperial forestry programme. The ideological framework of the latter was closely connected with the idea of revenue generation. Compared to over-emphasis on sal or teak, like the case of the central Indian forests or pine monoculture in the western Himalayan forests, Assam never could rely on monoplantations. This allowed the department to explore as much as possible di erent varieties. The region's unique ecological setting, the savannah grassland in particular, nally became instrumental in extracting the maximum economic bene t from forests. This setting also created a space where peasant society continued to exert pressure in search of cultivable land. While the regional ecological setting allowed the department to rede ne its economic agenda, another strong component of the British rule, namely, the teap. 352

planters, also contributed immensely

in the making of forest governance. The tea-plantation sector had

already acquired forested lands, not essentially the evergreen forests in all cases. As the forest governance gained con dence and legitimacy within the imperial setting, the confrontation between the foresters and tea-planters often became apparent. Notwithstanding such a tug-of-war, the tea-planters continued to derive bene ts from the forest resources. A good example of such privileges was regular deforestation that was carried out by the Forest Department to accommodate its needs. On the other hand, the colonial state spared no moment to push ahead its agenda of agrarian expansion, a case that was so aggresively pushed in Assam. The case of agrarian expansion was further strengthened through the institution of unclassed state forests. The latter in fact became the mediator between the imperial forestry programme and agrarian practices. At the same time, the agrarian question was further aggravated by the history of tea-plantation. A long history of forest management failed to respond adequately to the emerging agrarian question. Inability to address the social dynamics resulted in systematic deforestation. The latter became a major programme through which the peasantry contested the state's monopoly of right by asserting their notions of rights inside the forestlands. The exploitation of the forest resources supported by traders and industrialists had in the meantime escalated; the bene t of which went to a handful who did not play an important role in the society's larger well being nor to the forest regeneration. This helped in crystallizing the existing contested history of forest resources into an era of ecological awareness. The more revolutionary change, however, occurred between the forestry programme and the wild animals. This transition took place in the middle of the twentieth century and gradually the preservation of wildlife became a distinct arena of forest management. The mid-century awareness towards the wildlife in Assam brought a larger network of people into its fold. The history of wildlife management is primarily determined by the nexus between the bureaucracy and the political classes. The wildlife management is still de ned by the ideology of exclusion rather than by creating a healthy habitat for the fauna. More than this, a blatant bias in favour of big animals also helped to ignore the question of ecosystem. However, despite bureaucratic unwillingness, the last quarter of the twentieth century was witness to the emergence of a popular consciousness that took pride in the fauna.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351115 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

which was at work now. The latter can be broadly outlined as continental forestry but mediated through

p. 353

Imperial Forestry: A Comparative Perspective While this account maps the trajectory of a changing forested landscape it also draws attention to the signi cant departures from the making of modern forests in British India. The agrarian pressure, created by the dual pressure of tea-plantation and peasant society, was extraordinarily acute unlike the forest management in other parts of British India. Similarly, the hard-timber based forestry programme did not get a foothold and thus allowed both hard and soft timber to operate as part of the forest economy. The ecological setting, on the other hand, allowed space for some unique in fauna. At the same time, striking similarities of the forest question in Assam with the forestry experience in South East Asia should also be 2

noted. Like Assam and other parts of colonial India, the forestry programme became entangled in bitter con icts with the peasant society in Burma, Indonesia, or Java. Not only did the South East Asian experience 3

curtail customary peasant rights in the a ected areas but the new forestry programme was equally directed the colonial state also ensured that the native Burmese traders could not compete in the teak trade and allowed favourable trade regulations to European timber rms. The foresters in Burma faced a twofold dilemma, of shifting cultivation and production forestry. The result was that ‘con ict was an integral part of British exploitation of Burma's forests’. In encountering these challenges, Bryant argues, ‘the Burmese forest management has been at each and every stage a political process in which resource access and use has 4

been bitterly contested’. Regulatory mechanisms were put in place to keep a check on the practice of shifting cultivation, as that of Assam however remained contentious. The example of, the emergence of, a political forest was not unique to Burma alone. In Java, the exclusionist policy of the Dutch colonial state 5

forced the Javanese peasants to resist the state policy to restrict wood collection and grazing. The Javanese peasant resistance turned into a millenarian movement and de ed forest regulations. The other example of contested forestry is that of Thailand, never within the ambit of formal colonial structure, where local governments allowed commercialization of forestry, often contested by localized political programmes. 6

Deforestation rapidly swept away the Thai forest coverage. That several parts of South Asian forests that p. 354

are close to the agrarian settlement have increasingly and rapidly come under the pressure from

the

agrarian community leading to intensi ed deforestation has also been reported. A good example is that of 7

the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. Similarly, as the agrarian question in the world forestry has become powerful intellectual advocacy for pushing ahead of the agrarian agenda, even at the cost of 8

deforestation, has also gained ground.

The Dilemma Continues The engagement of the Assamese intelligentsia with the question of modern forests is rather recent. In the nineteenth century, the Assamese intelligentsia trained in contemporary liberal enlightenment, engaged with the agrarian question. Anandaram Dhekial Phookan (1829–59), identi ed as an ‘advanced theorist of 9

agrarian relations’, famously hoped that forests would one day be cleared to make way for agriculture. He wrote: ‘The time when Assam will turn into garden in place of jungle; when ships will replace small boats on 10

the river; …Let, my Lord, that time come soon’.

It would be a mistaken presumption, to equate 11

Anandaram's vision for forest clearance with that of massive deforestation.

His idea of forest clearance

was aimed at clearance of grassland and undergrowth, which, in fact, took place at a rapid scale after him. Rather it was his exposure to European Enlightenment that took him closer to contemporary ideas of Nature; the latter largely being identi ed as the powerful instrumentalist notion of nature in an age of industrialization and advancement of capital. Anandaram also believed that Nature must be brought under human control; his ideas on control of the river system of Assam became more important than clearance of forests. Making a departure, early in the twentieth century, the essentiality of the forests and ecosystem had drawn the attention of the Assamese intelligentsia. The passionate call for recognizing forests and its neighbourhood as an integral part of the region and its well being was re ected in the writings of Lakhinath 12

Bezbaruah, himself a timber trader.

Bezbaruah, in his characteristic polemical style, claimed that he had

bequeathed by a deed of will a brilliantly visualized landscape of nature and its components to the Assamese. His was a lone voice and the Assamese political class reaped the bene t of a general lack of consensus and used the forestry programme to accommodate the agrarian interest. Another contemporary, Pitambor Devagoswami, brilliantly argued for the need of preservation of wild bu aloes, which he thought would greatly contribute to the prospect of agrarian development.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351115 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

towards mono-plantation; teak emerged as a leading success. Compared to the success of teak-plantations

p. 355

While Assamese intelligentsia raised gentle concern for the utilitarian appropriation and preservation of forest wealth, the Assamese political class never hid their distaste for forest preservation. It began since the early days of provincial legislative politics. Provincial politics had no misgivings of the fact that agrarian expansion took place even at the cost of forest. It was rarely that someone from the political class visualizes the need for preservation of forest. A careful 40-years survey of the state legislative assembly (1937–75) debates shows two things: for a long period the forest was seen as the future zone for agrarian expansion, and at least in the 1960s the forest rarely drew the attention of the policymakers. Was it unique? Hopefully not, as the idea of forest preservation as a powerful ideological framework of the forestry programme was yet to take o . Neither could the realities of the agrarian economy be ignored. Unlike the trajectory of agrarian expansion in the Gangetic valley or south India the agrarian expansion in 13

this region never stabilized.

A hundred years of history of tea-plantation, with the help of investment of

private capital, could successfully enclose the boundaries of a future agrarian zone in its fold. This emerged colonial state by encouraging a wave of institutionalized peasant migration and rede ning the notion of arability further reduced the space for future agrarian expansion. It was here that the notion of unclassed state forests came to play a key role. The provincial dilemma of choosing either the preservation agenda or agrarian expansion resurfaced in the early 1970s. Meanwhile, the Forest Department hardly functioned as an e ective supervisor of the forests. The failure of its authority can be gauged from the fact that by 1972 the department admitted how it could not collect its revenues as the petty traders to key timber merchants had 14

evaded paying rates to it.

In Assam, along with a larger national emphasis on protection of forests

cautiously spearheaded by Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the forestry versus agrarian debate came back to haunt the provincial politics. The Forest Department pleaded for its autonomous existence to that of the Revenue Department and contested temporarily the peasantization of forest lands. Under the 20-point agenda of the Indian government, reforestation also was given emphasis without distracting from the 15

ideological thrust of production forestry. p. 356

This temporary gain of the department came to a halt with the

election of the Janata party government in 1978 as the new government

further accelerated the process of

peasantization of forest lands. As the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, was passed the Forest Department tried to restore production forestry as against peasantization of forest lands. Emphasis was given to restoration 16

of forest to create industrial wealth.

This led to extensive proliferation of forest-based industries, the

plywood industries in particular which grew by 26 per cent between 1979 and 1982 and continued to grow 17

till 1996, after which it declined.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351115 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

as a major barrier against the needs of the peasant society. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the

Forests and Political Future The future ‘modern forests’ is not bright, as in many other instances of tropical forests. Cross-sections of 18

social needs of forest produce and forested tracts will never diminish as has already been speculated.

As

population grows there will be more demand for agricultural lands. The threat is more to the savannah forests. Examples of such tracts coming under complete peasantization are not rare. Land would be cleared for industrial development, though the scale and intensity would be unlike that in the industrial West or, for that matter any Indian industrial cities. Forests will also come under threat from limited developmental projects. The intensity and ferocity with which considerable tracts, planted under the social forestry programme, have been deforested is a good example of the growing insensitivity. The tea-plantation has come back again. The State-sponsored small tea-plantation programme will be accommodated within the forestry programme. The state will have limited scope and will again negotiate with the agrarian question. powerful political class and industrial lobbies will manipulate institutional mechanism. The best example of latter could be found in the entry of private capital into hydro power generation industry and its aggresive manipulation of the regional ecology. Recent initiatives such as the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 are yet to enact itself into any meaningful piece in 19

the region.

The Forest Department is sceptical about the Act. Mainstream political formations espousing

the case of landless peasants are yet to integrate the primary political intention of the Act into their political programmes. The picture of reforestation, never addressed from the perspective of bio-diversity and ecosystem, has already become enmeshed with politicians–bureaucracy and industrial lobbies nexus. Available statistics on the extent of reforestation are hardly reliable, as is the case in other countries. p. 357

Popular discourses on environmental degradation

will however make us believe that deforestation and

reforestation can hardly compete. Similarly the opponents of deforestation are being seen primarily as antidevelopmental, which is an incorrect understanding about them. The post-1980 conservation programme could hardly place emphasis on the need of reforestation. Rather, it again reinforced the imperial agenda of exclusion. Recent Government of India estimates of the forest coverage of the region suggest a low rate of 20

forest coverage.

The forested areas are also unevenly distributed. Against all odds, one tends to believe

that the programme of reforestation will be implemented carefully along with a cautious forest management while at the same time ensuring the livelihood of the agrarian population. Recent state initiatives like Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 is yet to enact itself into any meaningful piece in the region. In the meanwhile, the Act could bring a number of scattered landless peasant movements under one umbrella and many would see in the Act a possibility of resolving the century-old crisis of competition between forest and agrarian frontier. While the Act has emerged as a powerful tool of land reformation agenda yet the national forestry programme is hardly willing to overcome its imperial hangover. The bene t again goes to the Assamese political class. In their act what has been restaged is the ambivalence of the mid-twentieth century. The forestry programme and the political ideology behind it, hopefully, will have a meaningful engagement with the larger agrarian question.

Notes 1.

Michael Williams, 2003, Deforesting the Earth: From Prehistory to Global Crisis, Chicago: Chicago University Press, p. 500.

2.

The Burmese example is excellently described in R. Bryant, 1997, Political Ecology of Forestry in Burma 1824–1994, Oxford: Oxford University Press. The Java experience has been critical engaged with by Nancy Lee Peluso, 1992, Rich Forests, Poor People: Resource Control and Resistance in Java, California: University of California Press; P. Boomgaard and M. Stoll, 2006, Southeast Asia: An Environmental History, CA: ABC-Clio.

3.

Nancy Lee Peluso and P. Vandergeest, 2001, ʻGenealogies of the Political Forest and Customary Rights in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailandʼ, The Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 761–812 10.2307/2700109

p. 358

.

4.

Bryant, Political Ecology of Forestry in Burma, p. 194.

5.

Nancy Lee Peluso, ʻThe History of State Forest Management in Javaʼ, in M. Po enberger (ed.), 1990, Keepers of the Forest: Land Management Alternatives in Southeast Asia. Hartford CT: Kumarian Press, pp. 27–55.

6.

Tim Forsyth, ʻDeforestation in Thailand: The Battle in Politics and Scienceʼ, in Dhirendra Vajpeyi (ed.), 2001, Deforestation, Environment and Sustainable Development: A Comparative Analysis, Westport: Greenwood Press, pp. 139–

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351115 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

At the same time, it is equally doubtful whether the landless peasants will be able to reap the bene t as the

54. William Van Schendel, 2009, A History of Bangladesh, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 247–8.

8.

Marcus Colchester and L. Lohmann (eds), 1993, The Struggle for Land and the Fate of the Forests, Penang: World Rainforest Movement.

9.

Saikia, Social and Economic History of Assam, p. 81, on Anandaram's idea of agrarian development see, ibid., pp. 81–4.

10.

Anundoram Dhekeeial Phookan, 1847, ʻEnglandor Biboronʼ (ʻA Description of Englandʼ), Orunodoi, vol. II (author's translation).

11.

In another context Anandaram used the idea of jungle- habi- to identify uncivilized space.

12.

Lakhinath Bezbarua, 1988, ʻMor Jiban Sawararʼ, in J.N. Goswami (ed.), Rachanavali, vol. 2, Guwahati: Sahitya Prakash, pp. 1–31.

13.

For a longee-duree perspective on agrarian experience in these two distinct ecological setting see, D. Ludden, 1985, Peasant History in South History, Delhi: Oxford University Press.

14.

Assam Gazette, Part IX, 27 September–December 1972.

15.

ʻAssomat Kuri Dafia Achanir Ruprekhaʼ, 1982, Asoma, vol. 33, Government of Assam.

16.

Hemachandra Deva Chaudhuri, 1982, ʻBanaj Sampad Sarankhanat Raijor Bhumikaʼ, Asoma, vol. 33, Government Press of Assam.

17.

The plywood factories mostly located in eastern Assam numbering 52 in 1979 produced 24,891 square metre of plywood whereas in 1982 an approximately 31,300 square metre of plywood was produced. Economic Survey of Assam, 1979 and 1982, chapter vii, table 7.2 The decline a er 1996 is indicative from the fact that in 1997 there was a total 170,000 square metre production which sharply declined to 20,000 square metre. Statistics on Industry, NER databank, North Eastern Development Finance Corporation (NEDFI).

18.

Williams, 2006, Deforesting the Earth, p. 496 10.7208/chicago/9780226899053.001.0001

19.

Status Report on Implementation of ʻThe Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006ʼ, till September 2008, Ministry of Tribal A airs, Government of India.

20.

Accordingly an estimated 2 per cent of the total geographical area of the province is covered by dense forests and another 15 per cent is covered with moderately dense forests which contrast with a high 65 per cent non-forest area.

.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351115 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

7.

Forests and Ecological History of Assam, 1826–2000 Arupjyoti Saikia https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.001.0001 Published: 2011

Online ISBN: 9780199081240

Print ISBN: 9780198069539

END MATTER

Select Bibliography  Published: February 2011

Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online

Primary Sources

p. 360

Asia, Pacific and Africa Collection, British Library, London Immigrant Department Files Revenue and Agricultural Department Files Revenue Department: Forests, Miscellaneous Assam Police Intelligence Record Room, Guwahati Documents pertaining to Communist movement in Assam, 1947–52 Assam State Archive, Guwahati Pre-1874 Files Forest Department Proceedings Governor's Secretariat Confidential Files Revenue and Agricultural Department Proceedings Revenue Tenancy Department Proceedings 1948–52 District Record Room, Nowgong Miscellaneous Files of Revenue and Agriculture, Forest and Revenue Tenancy department National Archives of India, New Delhi Home Political Department, 1920–47 Home Public Department Ministry of States (including the fortnightly reports) Political Department, Ministry of States Revenue and Agricultural Department West Bengal State Archive, Kolkata Agricultural Forest Proceedings Bengal Revenue Proceedings Board of Revenue Proceedings Published Government Documents A Management Plan for Manas Tiger Reserve and Orang Charduar Area 1973–74 to 1978–79, Government of Assam, Shillong 1973. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Annual Administrative Reports of Assam, 1874–1947. Annual Progress Report on Forest Administration of Assam, 1874–1955. Annual Report on the Land Revenue Administration, Assam. Annual Reports, Ministry of Forests and Environment, Government of India, Delhi, 1991–2000. Annual Survey and Settlement Reports, Assam. Annual Return of Statistics relating to forest administration in British India 1871–1937, Government of India, Calcutta and Delhi: Government Press. India: State of Forest Report, 1987–2009 (relevant years), Ministry of Enviroment and Forests, forest Survey of India: Dehradun. Assam Legislative Assembly Proceedings, 1937–90. Assam Legislative Council Proceedings, 1921–45. Assam Forest Enquiry Committee Report, vol. I and II, Shillong, 1929. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Barua, F.C., 1884, Report on the Survey and Settlement of the Lakhiraj and Nisfkhiraj Holdings in the District of Kamrup, Shillong:

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Subject: Colonialism and Imperialism, Environmental History, Asian History, Indian History

Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview

WorldCat

COPAC

Brandis, D., 1879, Suggestions Regarding Forest Administration in India, Calcutta: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Bryant, B.F., 1912, A Note of Inspection on Some Forests of Assam, Calcutta: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Burns, Vinton L., 1957, Development of Forest Industries in the State of Assam, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Coventry, E.M., Working Plan of the Reserved Forests of Nowgong Division, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

———, 1944, Report of the Special O icer Appointed for the Examination of the Professional Grazing Reserves in the Assam Valley, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Dicks, A.R. and E.S. Carr, Working Plan of the Nambor Reserved Forest, 1904–19, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Dutta, S.N., Report on the Land Revenue Resettlement of Nowgong, 1926–32, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Edwards, A.R., Report on the Land Revenue Resettlement of Nowgong, 1905–1906 to 1908–1909, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Forest Research in India and Burma, 1932–1948, Government of India, Dehradun: Forest Research Institute. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Government of Assam, 1923, Assam Forest Manual, part 1, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC p. 361

Government of Assam, 1962, Techno-Economic Survey of Assam, Guwahati. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Government of Burma, 1899, Upper Burma Forest Regulation of 1887, Rangoon: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Hart, C.S., 1915, Note on A Tour of Inspection in Some of the Forests of Assam, Simla: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Hill, H.C., 1896, Note on an Inspection of Certain Forests in Assam, Simla: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC India: State of Forest Report, 1987–2009 (relevant years), Ministry of Environment and Forests, Forest Survey of India: Dehradun. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Indian Board for Wild Life, 1956, Why Preserve Wildlife?, Delhi. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Jacob, M.C., 1942, A Working Plan for the Forest Reserves of the Darrang Division, 1951–42 and 1950–51, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Laine, A.J., 1917, An Account of the land Tenure System of Goalpara, Shillong: Government Press, 1917. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Mackarness, C.G.M., 1932, Working Plan for the Eleven Forest Reserves in the Lakhimpur and Sibsagar Divisions, Shillong: Government Press.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Desai, S.P., 1928, Report on the Land Revenue Resettlement of Kamrup, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Google Scholar

Google Preview

WorldCat

COPAC

Mackenjee, S.N., 1912, Report on the Land Revenue Resettlement of Lakhimpur 1908–1912, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC McSwiney, J., 1910, Report on the Land Revenue Resettlement of Darrang, 1905–09, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Mills, A.J. Mo at, Report on the Province of Assam, Guwahati: Assam Publsihing House (reprint, 1984). Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Ministry of Environment and Forests, 1993, A Review of Project Tiger, Delhi. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Monro, A.V., 1912, Goalpara Working Plan, Part I, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Note on the Principal Timber Trees of Eastern Bengal and Assam, nd. Pawsey, C.R., Report on the Land Revenue Resettlement of Lakhimpur 1929–35. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Planning Commission, 1981, Report on Development of North-Eastern Region, National Committee on the Development of Backward Areas, Delhi: Government of India. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Report on the Forest Utilization and Economic Research in Assam, 1935–40. Reports, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun. Report of a committee appointed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to investigate and report upon the present rubber situation in British Colonies and Protectorates, 1922, Committee on Rubber Situation in British Colonies and Protectorates, London. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Report on Development of North-Eastern Region, National Committee on the Development of Backward Areas, Planning Commission, Government of India, Delhi, 1981. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Ribbentrop, B., 1889, Note on an Inspection of the Forests of Assam during January to April 1889, Simla: Government Press, Shimla. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Rodes, C.S., 1931, Assam Land Revenue Manual, 4th edition, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Schlich, W., 1872, Memorandum on Forest Operations in Assam, File no. 38/45, Bengal Government, Assam State Archives. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC p. 362

Singh, P., 1908–10, Note on the Utilisation of Khair forests in Eastern Bengal and Assam, Calcutta: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Troup, R.S., 1915, Sal Forests in the Jalpaiguri, Buxa, and Goalpara Forest Divisions, Dehradun: Forest Research Institute. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Working Plan of the Aie Valley Forest Division, Western Assam Circle Conservancy, Department of Environment and Forests, Assam. Census, Gazettes, and Gazetteers Assam Gazette, 1874–1952. Allen, B.C., 1905, Districts Gazetteers of Assam (Volumes on Kamrup, Darrang, Nowgong, Sibsagar, Lakhimpur and Cachar), Shillong. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Census of India 1901, 1911, 1921, 1931, 1941, 1951 (volumes for the province of Assam).

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Monahan, F.J., 1898, Assam Jute Cultivation, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Newspapers and Journals Dainik Assamiya Sadinia Assamiya Teendiniya Assamiya The Assam Tribune The Indian Forest Records The Indian Forest Memoirs

Secondary Sources Adas, M., 1989, Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Technology, and Ideologies of Western Dominance, Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Agarwala, J., 2003, ʻDangaria Haribilash Agarwalaʼ, in H. Gohain (ed.), Jyotiprasad Agarwala Rachanavali, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board, pp. 873–6. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Agrawal, A., and K. Sivaramakrishanan (eds), 2000, Social Nature, Resources, Representations and Rule in India, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Agnihotri, I., 1996, ʻEcology, Land Use and Colonization, The Canal Colonies of Punjabʼ, Indian Economic and Social History Review (IESHR herea er), vol. 33, pp. 37–58. 10.1177/001946469603300102 WorldCat Crossref Anderson, D., and R. Grove, (eds), 1987, Conservation in Africa: People, Policies, and Practice, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Antrobus, H., 1957, A History of the Assam Company, 1839–1953, Edinburgh: T.A. Constable. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Arnold, David, 2006, The Tropics and the Traveling Gaze: India, Landscape, and Science, 1800–1856, Delhi: Permanent Black. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 2002, ʻDisease, Resistance and India's Ecological Frontier, 1770–1947ʼ, in J. Scott and N. Bhatt (eds), Agrarian Studies, Synthetic Studies at the Cutting Edge, Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 186–205. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 2004, Science, Technology and Medicine in Colonial India, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC p. 363

Arnold, Davids, 2008, ʻPlant Capitalism and Company Science: The Indian Career of Nathaniel Wallichʼ, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 42, no. 5, pp. 898–928. 10.1017/S0026749X0700296X WorldCat Crossref Arnold, David and Ramachandra Guha (eds), 1995, Nature, Culture, and Imperialism: Essays on the Environmental History of South Asia, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Ayyappapanicker, K., 1997, Medieval Indian Literature: An Anthology, Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Bachkheti, N.D., 1984, Social Forestry in India: Problems and Prospects, Delhi: Radiant. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Bhattacharyya, B., 1995, The Troubled Border: Some Facts about Boundary Disputes Between Assam–Nagaland, Assam–Arunachal, Guwahati: LBS.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Agarwala, H., 1967, Atmajibani, Guwahati: Tarunkumar Agarwala. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Google Scholar

Google Preview

WorldCat

COPAC

Baden Powell, H., 1974 [1882], Land Systems of British India, vol. 3, reprint, Delhi: Oriental Publishers. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Baden Powell, R., 1889, Pig-Sticking or Hog Hunting: A Complete Account for Sportsmen and Others, London: Harrison and Sons. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Baker, E.B., 1887, Sport in Bengal, London: Ledger, Smith. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Baker, E.C.S., 1892, ʻThe Bulbuls of North Cacharʼ, Part I, Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 1–2. WorldCat

———, 1913, ʻExhibition of a pair of Blood-pheasants (Ithagenes cruentus kuseri) from the Mishmi Hills, with remarks and a description of the female hitherto unknown to Scienceʼ, Bulletin of the British Ornithological Union, vol. 33, no. 193, pp. 83–4. Barlow, C., 1978, The Natural Rubber Industry: Its Development, Technology and Economy in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Barman, S., 1994, Zamindari System in Assam during British Rule, Guwahati: Spectrum. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Barman, S., 1997, Asomiya Sahityar Buranji, vol. 2, Guwahati: Abilac. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Barooah, N.K., 1970, David Scott in North East India: A Study of British Paternalism, Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Barpujari, H.K., 1963, Assam in the Days of Company 1826–1856, 2nd edition, Guwahati: LBS. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 1992, The Comprehensive History of Assam, vol. 4, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 2004, The Comprehensive History of Assam, vol. 3, 2nd edn, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Bart, W.J., 1833, The Natural History: Mammalia, vol. I, Monkeys, London: Longman and Co. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Barthakur, R., and B. Sahgal, 2006, The Kaziranga Inheritance, Mumbai: Sanctuary Asia. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Barton, G.A., 2002, Empire, Forestry and the Origins of Environmentalism, New York: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511493621 Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Crossref p. 364

Barton, G.A., 2001, ʻEmpire Forestry and the Origins of Environmentalismʼ, Journal of Historical Geography, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 529– 52. 10.1006/jhge.2001.0353 WorldCat Crossref Barua, B.K., 1972, A Cultural History of Assam, Guwahati: LBS. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Barua, G., 2001 [1884], Assam Buranji, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Barua, Kanaklal, 1892, ʻAsomot Utpana Banijya Bastuʼ, Jonkai, vol. 3, no. 11–12, pp. 400–3. WorldCat

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

———, 1913, ʻDescription of a New Subspecies of Warbler (Acanthopneuste trochiloides harterti) from Khasia Hillsʼ, Bulletin of the British Ornithological Union, vol. 31, no. 184, pp. 36–7.

Barua, L.S., 1974, Shikar of Assam, Guwahati. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat

COPAC

Barua, S., 1985, A Comprehensive History of Assam, Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 1999, India Against Itself: Assam and the Politics of Nationality, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Behal, R.P., 1983, ʻSome Aspects of the Growth of the Plantation Labor Force and Labor Movements in Assam Valley Districts, 1900–47ʼ, PhD thesis, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Bengt, G.K., 2006, ʻIndigenous Nature, Forest and Community Dynamics in Meghalaya, North East Indiaʼ, in G. Cederlöf and K. Sivaramakrishnan (eds), Ecological Nationalisms: Nature, Livelihoods, and Identities in South Asia, Delhi: Permanent Black. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Bezbarua, L.N., 1988, ʻMor Jiban Sowaranʼ, in J.N. Goswami (ed.), Lakhinath Bezbarua Rachanavali, vol. 1, Guwahati: Sahitya Prakash, pp. 1–31. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Bhattacharya, P., 1981, Hatir Sange Panchas Basor, Calcutta, trans. Heramba Saikia into the Assamese (Guwahati: Jyoti Prakasan, 2007). Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Bhupa, N.N., Maharaj of Cooch Behar, 1985 [1908], Big Game Shooting in Eastern and North Eastern India, Delhi: Mittal. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Bhuyan, J., 1990, Unavimsa Satikar Assam Samvad, Dibrugarh: Dibrugarh University. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Bhuyan, J.N., 1993, Sadagar Bholanath Barua, Diphu: Assam Sahitya Sabha. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Bhuyan, S.K., 1974, Anglo Assamese Relations 1771–1826: A History of the Relations of Assam with the East India Company from 1771 to 1826, Based on Original Sources, Guwahati: LBS. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 2005, ʻHastibidyanarba Puthiʼ in J.N. Bhuyan (ed.), Suryya Kumar Bhuyanar Bibidh Prabandha, Guwahati: LBS. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Blyth, E., 1851, ʻNotice of a collection of Mammalia, Birds, and Repitles, Procured at or Near the Station of Cherra Punji in the Khasi Hills, north of Sylhetʼ, Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal, no. 6, pp. 517–19. WorldCat Boomgaard, P. and M. Stoll, 2007, Southeast Asia: An Environmental History, California: ABC-CLIO. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Booth, M., 1986, Carpet Sahib: A Life of Jim Corbett, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Borah, D. and N.R. Goswami, 1973, ʻA Comparative Study of Crop Production under Shi ing and Terrace Cultivation (A Case Study in the Garo Hills, Meghalaya)ʼ. Ad hoc Study 35, Agro-economic Research Centre for North East India, Jorhat. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC p. 365

Bose, S., 1993, Peasant Labour and Colonial Capital: Rural Bengal since 1770, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CHOL9780521266949 Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Crossref Brara, R., 2006, Shi ing Landscapes: The Making and Remaking of Village Commons in India, Delhi: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195673012.001.0001

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Beinart, W., 1989, ʻIntroduction: The Politics of Colonial Conservationʼ, Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 143– 62. 10.1080/03057078908708195 WorldCat Crossref

Google Scholar

Google Preview

WorldCat

COPAC

Crossref

Bruce, C.A., 1839, Report on the manufacture of tea: and on the extent and produce of the tea plantations in Assam, Calcutta: Bishop's College Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Bryant, R., 1997, Political Ecology of Forestry in Burma 1824–1994, London: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 1994, ʻShi ing the Cultivator: The Politics of Teak Regeneration in Colonial. Burmaʼ, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 225–50. 10.1017/S0026749X00012397 WorldCat Crossref

Buchanan-Hamilton, F., 1963, An Account of Assam 1807–14, S.K. Bhuyan (ed.), 2nd edn, Guwahati: Department of Historical and Antiquarian Studies. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Butler, J., 1855, Travels and Adventures in the Province of Assam, London: Smith Elder and Company, (reprint, Travels in Assam, Delhi, 1994). Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Cambell, T.J., 1898, ʻA Brief History of Forest Department of Assamʼ, in A.L. Home, The Assam Forest Manual, Shimla: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Carruthers, J., 1989, ʻCreating a National Park, 1910 to 1926ʼ, Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 15, no. 2, p. 216. 10.1080/03057078908708197 WorldCat Crossref Cederlof, G. and K. Sivaramakrishnan (eds), 2006, Ecological Nationalisms: Nature, Livelihoods and Identities in South Asia, Delhi: Permanent Black. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Chaube, S.K., 1999, Hill Politics in Northeast India, New Delhi: Orient Longman. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Chavda, Divyabhanusinh, 2005, The Story of Asia's Lions, Mumbai: Marg Publications. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 2006, ʻJunagadh State and Its Lions: Conservation in Princely India, 1879–1947ʼ, Conservation and Society, vol. 4, no., pp. 522–40. WorldCat Chaudhuri, H.D., 1982, ʻBanaj Sampad Sarankhanat Raijor Bhumikaʼ, Asoma, vol. 33, June–July. WorldCat Chhatre, A. and V. Saberwal, 2006, ʻDemocracy, Development and (Re-) Visions of Nature: Rural Conflict in The Western Himalayasʼ, Journal of Peasant Studies, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 678–706. 10.1080/03066150601119991 WorldCat Crossref Choudhury, A., 1993, A Naturalist in Karbi Anglong, Guwahati: Gibbon Books. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 2004, Kaziranga: Wildlife in Assam, Delhi: Rupa. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Choudhury, P.C. (ed.), 1975, Hastividyarnava, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Choudhury, P.L., 1988, Sikar-Nikar, Guwahati: Barpeta Sahitya Sabha.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

———, 1994, ʻFrom Laissez-Faire to Scientific Forestry: Forest Management in Early Colonial Burma, 1826–85ʼ, Forest and Conservation History, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 160–70. 10.2307/3983602 WorldCat Crossref

Google Scholar

Google Preview

WorldCat

COPAC

Cittadino, E., 1990, Nature as the Laboratory: Darwinian Plant Ecology in the German Empire, 1880–1900, New York: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Cleghorn, H.F., 1861, The Forests and Gardens of South India, London: W.H. Allen. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Colchester, M. and L. Lohmann (eds), 1993, The Struggle for Land and the Fate of the Forests, Penang: Zed. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC p. 366

Collingwood, R.G., 1945, The Idea of Nature, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Crosby, A.W., 1986, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900–1900, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Dargavel, and R.P. Tucker (eds) Changing Pacific Forests: Historical Perspectives on the Pacific Basin Forest Economy, Duke: Duke University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Das, B., 2005, Meleng, Guwahati: Angik Prakasan. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat

COPAC

Das, H., 1964, Asomor Banaja Sampad, Guwahati: Assam Academy. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Das, V., 1996, ʻMinor Forest Produce and Rights of Tribalsʼ, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 31, no. 50, pp. 3227–9. WorldCat Dasgupta, R., 1992, Economy, Society and Politics in Bengal: Jalpaiguri 1869–1947, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Deka, P., 2001, Charya-Geet Aru Bauddha-Tantra, Guwahati: Chandra Prakash. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Delche, J., (ed), 2008, Adventures of Jean Baptise Chevalier in Eastern India, Guwahati: LBS. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Dharmakumarsinhji, R.S., 1993, Reminiscences of Indian Wildlife, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Drabble, J., 1973, Rubber in Malaya 1876–1922, Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 1991, Malayan Rubber: The Interwar Years, Basingstoke: MacMillan Academic and Professional. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC D'Souza, R., 2003, ʻNature, Conservation and the Writing of Environmental Historyʼ, Conservation and Society, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 317–32. WorldCat Dutta, D., 2007, Sadhana: Natyapran Munin Bhuyan Rachanawali, Lakhimpur: Uttar Lakhimpur Sahitya Sabha, pp. 485–512 Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Dyson, T. (ed.), 1989, India's Historical Demography: Studies in Famine, Disease and Society, Westwood, MA: Riversdale. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Endersby, Jim, 2008, Imperial Nature: Joseph Hooker and the Practices of Victorian Science, Chicago: Chicago University Press.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Cotton, H., 1911, Indian and Home Memories, London: Fisher Unwin, p. 246. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Google Scholar

Google Preview

WorldCat

COPAC

Forsyth, T., 2001, ʻDeforestation in Thailand: The Battle in Politics and Scienceʼ in D. Vajpeyi, (ed.) Deforestation, Environment and Sustainable Development: A Comparative Analysis, Westport: Green Wood Press, pp. 139–54. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Gadgil, Madhav, 2005, Ecological Journeys: The Science and Politics of Conservation in India, Delhi: Permanent Black. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Gadgil, Madhav, and Ramachandra Guha, 2002, This Fissured Land: An Ecological History of India, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

———, 1954, ʻThe Management of India's National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries, Part IIʼ, Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 717–34. WorldCat ———, 1964, The Wildlife of India, London: Fontana. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat p. 367

COPAC

———, 1967, ʻThe Management of India's National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries, History Society, vol. 64, no. 2, pp. 339–41.

Part Vʼ, Journal of the Bombay Natural

Gohain, H., 2007, ʻChronicles of Violence and Terrorʼ, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 42, no. 12, pp. 1012–18. WorldCat Gold, A.G., and B. Gujar, 1997, ʻWild Pigs and Kings, Remembered Landscapes in Rajasthan,ʼ American Anthropologist, vol. 99, no. 1, pp. 70–84. 10.1525/aa.1997.99.1.70 WorldCat Crossref Goswami, H.C. (ed.), 1932, Ghoranidan, Guwahati: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Goswami, P., 1963, The Economic Development of Assam, Bombay: Asia Publishing House. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Goswami, P.D. (ed.), 2007, Kamalakanta Bhattacharjee Rachanwali, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Greenough, P., 2003, ʻPathogens, Pugmarks and Political “Emergency”: The 1970s South Asian Debate on Natureʼ in Paul Greenough and A.L. Tsing (eds) Nature in the Global South: Environmental Projects in South and Southeast Asia, Delhi: Orient Longman, pp. 201–30. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Greenough, Paul and Anna L. Tsing, 2003, Nature in the Global South: Environmental Projects in South and South-East Asia, Delhi: Orient Longman. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Gri ith, W., 1840, Report on the Tea Plant of Upper Assam, Calcutta, 1840. Presented to Parliament as part of the 1839 Parliamentary Papers relating to Measures for Introducing Cultivation of Tea Plant in British Possessions in India, vol. XXXIX, paper 63. ———, 2001 [1847], Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and the Neighbouring Countries, Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Grove, R., 1998, Ecology, Climate and Empire: The Legacy in Global Environmental History, 1400–1940, Delhi: Oxford University Press. ———, 1998, Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens, and the Origins of Environmentalism, 1600–1860, Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Gee, E.P., 1962, ʻThe Management of India's National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries, Part IVʼ, Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, vol. 59, no. 2, pp. 453–85. WorldCat

Google Scholar

Google Preview

WorldCat

COPAC

———, 1989, ʻScottish Missionaries, Evangelical Discourses and the Origins of Conservation Thinking in Southern Africa 1820– 1900ʼ, Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 163–87. 10.1080/03057078908708196 WorldCat Crossref ———, 1990, ʻThe Origins of Environmentalismʼ, Nature, vol. 345, no. 6370, 3 May. WorldCat ———, 1991, ʻThe Transfer of Botanical Knowledge between Asia and Europe 1498–1800ʼ, Journal of the Japan-Netherlands Institute, vol. III. WorldCat

Guha, A., 1977, Planter Raj to Swaraj: Freedom Struggle and Electoral Politics in Assam, 1826–1947, New Delhi: People's Publishing House. ———, 1993, Medieval and Early Colonial Assam: Society, Polity, Economy, Calcutta: KPB. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 1983, ʻThe Ahom Political System: An Enquiry into the State Formation Process in Medieval Assam (1228–1714)ʼ, Social Scientist, vol. 11, pp. 3–34. 10.2307/3516963 WorldCat Crossref ———, 1984, ʻThe Medieval Economy of Assamʼ, in Tapan Raychaudhuri and Irfan Habib, The Cambridge Economic History of India, vol. I, Delhi: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC p. 368

Guha, Ramachandra, 1989, The Unquiet Woods: Ecological Change and Peasant Resistance in the Himalaya, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 1994, Social Ecology, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 2004, Environmentalism: A Global History, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 1983, ʻForestry in British and Post-British India: A Historical Analysisʼ, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 18, no. 44, pp. 1882–96. WorldCat ———, 1989, ʻState Forestry and Social Conflict in British Indiaʼ, Past and Present, vol. 123, no. 1, pp. 144– 77. 10.1093/past/123.1.141 WorldCat Crossref ———, 1990, ʻAn Early Environmental Debate: The Making of the 1878 Forest Actʼ, Indian Economic and Social History Review, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 65–84. 10.1177/001946469002700103 WorldCat Crossref ——— (ed.), 2001, Nature's Spokesman: M. Krishnan and Indian Wildlife, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Guha, Ramachandra, and J. Martinez-Alier, 1998, Varieties of Environ-mentalism: Essays North and South, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Guha, S., 1999, Environment and Ethnicity in India, 1200–1991, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511523946 Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Crossref

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Grove, R., V. Damodaran, and S. Sangwan (eds), 1998, Nature and the Orient: The Environmental History of South and Southeast Asia, Delhi, Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

H.G.H.M, ʻSome Reminiscences of Sport in Assamʼ, Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, vol. 45, 1946, parts I and II, pp. 199–209, 321–4. WorldCat Handique, R., 2004, British Forest Policy in Assam, Delhi: Mittal. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Hannay, S.F., 1845, ʻObservations on the Quality of Principal Timber Trees Growing in the Vicinity of Upper Assamʼ, Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, vol. 4, pp. 116–33. WorldCat Harrison, M., 1999, Climates and Constitutions: Health, Race, Environment and British Imperialism in India 1600–1850, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Hatchett, C., 1804, ʻAnalytical Experiments and Observations on Lacʼ, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. 94, pp. 191–218. 10.1098/rstl.1804.0011 WorldCat Crossref Havinden, M.A. and D. Meredith (eds), 1993, Colonialism and Development: Britain and its Tropical Colonies, 1850–1960, London: Routledge. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Haynes, D., and G. Prakash (eds), 1991, Contesting Power: Resistance and Everyday Social Relations in South Asia, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Hobsbawm, Eric J., 1974, ʻPeasant Land Occupationʼ, Past and Present, vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 120–52. 10.1093/past/62.1.120 WorldCat Crossref Hooker, J.D., 1854, Himalayan Journals or Notes of a Naturalist in Bengal, the Sikkim and Nepal Himalayas, the Khasia Mountains, etc., volume II, chapter XXVIII–XXX. 10.5962/bhl.title.60447 Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Crossref Hughes, J.D., 2002, An Environmental History of the World: Humankind's Changing Role in the Community of Life, London: Routledge. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Hunter, W.W., 1879, A Statistical Account of Assam, vol. I, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ——— (ed.), 1907, Imperial Gazetteer of India, London: Clarendon Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Hussain, J., 2004, ʻDoyangor Andolan: Kichu Purani Kathaʼ, Dainik Janambhumi, 29 June. WorldCat p. 369

ʻIndia-Rubber in Upper Burmaʼ, Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, Royal Gardens, Kew, vol. 1888, no. 21, pp. 217–20. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Jacquot, A., 1910, Incendies en Foret, originally published in the French, translated Fischer, C.E., Forest Fires, Calcutta. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Jenkins, F., 1995 [1835], Report on the North East Frontier of India, ed. H.K. Barpujari, Guwahati: Spectrum. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Johari, R., 2007, ʻOf Paper Tiger and Invisible People: The Cultural Politics of nature in Sariskaʼ, in Ghazala Shahbuddin and Mahesh Rangarajan (eds), Making Conservation Work, Delhi: Permanent Black. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Harrison, R.P., 1992, Forests: The Shadow of Civilization, Chicago: Chicago University Press. 10.7208/chicago/9780226318059.001.0001 Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Crossref

Jones, G.G., 1979, ʻThe State and Economic Development in India: 1894–1947: The Case of Oilʼ, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 353–7. 10.1017/S0026749X00007174 WorldCat Crossref Kanjilal, U.G., 1913, Flora of Assam, Simla: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Karanth, K. Ullas, James D. Nichols, John Seidenstricker, Eric Dinerstein, James L. David Smit, Charles McDougal, A.J.T. Johnsingh, Raghunandan S. Chundawat, Valmik Thapar, 2003, ʻScience Deficiency in Conservation Practice: the Monitoring of Tiger Populations in Indiaʼ, Animal Conservation, vol. 6, p. 141. 10.1017/S1367943003003184 WorldCat Crossref

Kerr, J., 1781, ʻNatural History of the Insect Which Produces the Gum Laccaʼ, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. 71, (1781), pp. 374–82. 10.1098/rstl.1781.0048 WorldCat Crossref Khadria, N., 1992, ʻSome Aspects of the Rural Economy of Assam: A Study of the Brahmaputra Valley Districts of Assam, 1874– 1914ʼ, unpublished PhD thesis, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. Kumar, D., 1990, ʻThe Evolution of Colonial Science in India: Natural History and the East India company,ʼ in John Mackenzie (ed.), Imperialism and the Natural World, Manchester: Manchester University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Kumar, D. (ed.), 1983, The Cambridge Economic History of India c.1750–c.1970, Volume II, Delhi: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Lahiri-Choudhury, D.K., 1999, The Great Indian Elephant Book: An Anthology of Elephants in the Raj, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 2006, A Trunk Full of Tales: Seventy Years with the Indian Elephant, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Lahiri, N., 1984, ʻThe Pre-Ahom Roots of Medieval Assamʼ, Social Scientist, vol. 12, no. 6, pp. 60–9. 10.2307/3517004 WorldCat Crossref Long, A.M., 1893, Report on the Nambor and adjacent Researved Forests, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Sibsagar Division, 17 June, no. 114, in Assam Secretariat Procedings, Revenue-A, December 1896, Asia and Africa Collection, British Library. Ludden, D., 2003, ʻInvesting in Nature around Sylhet: An Excursion into Geographical Historyʼ, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 38, no. 48, 29 November–5 December, pp. 5080–8. WorldCat MacKenzie, J.M., 1988, The Empire of Nature: Hunting, Conservation, and British Imperialism, Manchester: Manchester University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC p. 370

MacKenzie, J.M. (ed.), 1990, Imperialism and the Natural World, Manchester: Manchester University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Majid, A., 1903, Monograph on Wood-Carving in Assam, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Malik, B., 2003, ʻThe “Problem” of Shi ing Cultivation in the Garo Hills of North-East India, 1860–1970ʼ, Conservation and Society, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 87–115. WorldCat Mallinson, J.J.C., 1971, ʻThe Pygmy Hog Sus Salvanius (Hodgson) in Northern Assamʼ, Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, vol. 68, no. 2, pp. 424–33. WorldCat

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Karlsson, B.G., 2000, Contested Belonging: An Indigenous People's Struggle for Forest and Identity in Sub-Himalayan Bengal, Delhi: Routledge. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Matthews, J.D., 1991, Silvicultural Systems, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC M'Cosh, J., 1975 [1837], Topography of Assam, Delhi (Calcutta: Bengal Military Orphan Press). Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC McNeill, J.R., 2001, Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth Century World, London: Norton. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC McKibben, B., 1989, The End of Nature, New York: Doubleday. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Medhi, S.B., 1978, Transport System and Economic Development in Assam, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Milburne, D.C., ʻNotes on Birds near Dhendai, Darrang (1933–45)ʼ, IOR, Mss, Eur. D 863, APA Collection, British Library. Miles, J., 1995, Guardians of the Parks: A History of the National Parks and Conservation Association, Washington D.C.: Taylor and Francis. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Milroy, A.J.W., 1934, ʻGame preservation in India: Assamʼ, Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 97–100. WorldCat ———, 1949, A Short Treatise on the Management of Elephants, Shillong. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Monson, Jamie, 1993, ʻFrom Commerce to Colonization: A History of the Rubber Trade in the Kilombero Valley of Tanzania, 1890– 1914ʼ, African Economic History, no. 21, pp. 113–30. 10.2307/3601812 WorldCat Crossref Mukherjee, D.K., 1934, Report on the Land Revenue Resettlement of Darrang, 1927–33, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Nag, Sajal, 1999, ʻBamboo, Rats and Famine: Famine Relief and Perceptions of British Paternalism in the Mizo Hillsʼ, Environment and History, vol. 5, pp. 245–52. 10.3197/096734099779568317 WorldCat Crossref Nair, Manoj V., 2007, Inside a City Forest: The Natural History of Assam State Zoo Campus, Guwahati: Assam State Zoo cum Botanical Garden. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Neog, M., 1986, Asomiya Sahityar Ruprekha, Guwahati: Bani Mandir. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Noltie, Henry, 2002, The Dapuri Drawings, Alexander Gibson and the Bombay Botanical Gardens, Bombay: Mapin. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Nongbri, N., 2003, ʻElephant Catching in Late 19th Century North-East India: Mechanisms of Control, Contestation and Local Resourcesʼ, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 38, no. 30, pp. 3189–99. WorldCat Nood, H.S., 1936, Glimpses of the Wild: An Observer's Notes and Anecdotes on the Wild Life of Assam, London: Witherly. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC p. 371

Oliver, William L.R., 1991, ʻA Review of the Status of the Sanctuaries for the Pygmy Hog: A Report on a Visit to N.W. Assam, 1990ʼ, The Dodo: Journal of The Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust, vol. 27, pp. 62–70. Olson, S., 1971, The Depletion Myth: A History of Railroad Use of Timber, Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Michell, John F., 1973 [1883], The North-East Frontier of India: A Topographical, Political and Military Report, Delhi: Vivek. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Opie, J., 1998. Nature's Nation: an Environmental History of the United States, Fort Worth: Wadsworth Publishing. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Osborn, Emily Lynn, 2004, ʻ“Rubber Fever”, Commerce and French Colonial Rule in Upper Guinée, 1890–1913ʼ, The Journal of African History, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 445–65. 10.1017/S0021853704009867 WorldCat Crossref Pearson, J.T., 1838, ʻA Letter to Dr. Helfer, On the Zoology of Tenasserim and The Neighbouring Provincesʼ, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. VIII, pp. 357–67. WorldCat Peluso, Nency Lee, 1990, ʻThe History of State Forest Management in Javaʼ, in Mark Po enberger (ed.), Keepers of the Forest: Land Management Alternatives in Southeast Asia. Connecticut: Kumarian, pp. 27–55. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

———, 1993, ʻ“Traditions” of Forest Control in Java: Implications for Social Forestry and Sustainabilityʼ. Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters, vol. 3, nos 4–6, pp. 138–57. 10.2307/2997766 WorldCat Crossref Peluso, Nancy Lee and Peter Van der Geest, 2001, ʻGenealogies of the Political Forest and Customary Rights in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailandʼ, The Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 60, no. 3, August, pp. 761–812. 10.2307/2700109 WorldCat Crossref Phookan, Anundoram Dhekeeial, 1847, ʻEnglandor Biboronʼ (A Description of England), Orunodoi, vol. II, April. WorldCat Phukan, T.R., 1983, Shikar Kahini, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Po enberger, M. (ed.), 1990, Keepers of the Forest: Land Management Alternatives in Southeast Asia, Connecticut: Kumarian Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Po enberger, M. and B. McGean (eds), 1998, Village Voices, Forest Choices: Joint Forest Management in India, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Pollock, F.T., 1879, Sports in British Burma, Assam, and the Cossyah and Jyntiah Hills, London: Chapman and Hill. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Pollock, F.T., and W.S. Thom, 1900, Wild Sports of Burma and Assam, London: Hurst and Blackwell. 10.5962/bhl.title.28425 Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Crossref Pouchepadass, J., ʻBritish Attitudes to Shi ing Cultivation in Colonial South India: A Case Study of South Canara District, 1800– 1920ʼ, unpublished MS. Prasad, A., 2004, Environmentalism and the Le : Contemporary Debates and Future Agendas in Tribal India, Delhi: Le World. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Pyne, S.J., 1994, ʻNataraja: India's Cycle of Fireʼ, Environmental History Review, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 1–20. 10.2307/3984707 WorldCat Crossref Pyne, Stephen, 1982, Fire in America: A Cultural History of Wildland and Rural Fire, Princeton: Princeton University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Radkau, Joachim, 2008, Nature and Power: A Global History of the Environment, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Rai, Prasad Ranjan, 1953, Baner Khabor, Calcutta: Signet Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

———, 1992, Rich Forests, Poor People: Resource Control and Resistance in Java, California: University of California Press. 10.1525/california/9780520073777.001.0001 Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Crossref

p. 372

Rajan, Ravi S., 2006, Modernizing Nature: Forestry and Imperial Eco-Development 1800–1950, Delhi: Orient Longman. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199277964.001.0001 Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Crossref Rangarajan, Mahesh, 1996, Fencing the Forest: Conservation and Ecological Change in India's Central Provinces, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 2001, India's Wildlife History: An Introduction, Delhi: Permanent Black. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 1998, ʻThe Raj and the Natural World, the Campaign against “Dangerous Beasts” in Colonial India, 1875–1925ʼ, Studies in History, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 167–99. 10.1177/025764309801400206 WorldCat Crossref

Rangarajan, M. and V. Saberwal, 2003, Battles Over Nature: Science and the Politics of Conservation, Delhi: Permanent Black. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Ribbentrop, B., 1900 (1989), Forestry in British India, Calcutta: Government Printer. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Robinson, W., 1975 (1841), A Descriptive Account of Assam, Delhi (Guwahati): Spectrum. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Roy, Tirthankar, 2000, The Economic History of India, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Russell, C.E.M., 1900, Bullet and Shot in Indian Forest, Plain, and Hill, London: Gurney and Jackson. 10.5962/bhl.title.27877 Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Crossref Saberwal, Vasant K., 1998, Pastoral Politics: Shepherds, Bureaucrats, and Conservation in the Western Himalaya, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 1997, ʻBureaucratic Agendas and conservation policy in Himachal Pradesh 1865–1994ʼ, IESHR, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 465–98. WorldCat Saberwal, V., and M. Rangarajan (eds), 2003, Battles Over Nature: Science and Politics of Conservation, Delhi: Permanent Black. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Saikia, Arupjyoti, 2001, ʻAgrarian Society, Economy and Peasant Unrest: A Study of Brahmaputra Valley Districts 1945–52ʼ, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Delhi. ———, 2005, Jungles, Reserves, Wildlife: A History of Forests in Assam, Guwahati: Wildlife Welfare Trust of Assam. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 2008, ʻForest Land and Peasant Struggles in Assam, 2002–2007ʼ, Journal of Peasant Studies, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 39– 60. 10.1080/03066150801983402 WorldCat Crossref ———, 2008, ʻState, Peasants and Land Reclamation: The Predicament of Forest Conservation in Assam, 1850s–1980sʼ, IESHR, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 77–114. WorldCat ———, 2009, ʻThe Kaziranga National Park: Dynamics of Social and Political Historyʼ, Conservation and Society, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 113–29. 10.4103/0972-4923.58643 WorldCat Crossref ———, 2010, ʻFrom Jungle to Forests: Aspects of Early Scientific Coservation in Assam, 1839–1947ʼ, in U. Dasgupta, ed. Science and Modern India: An Institutional History, c. 1784–1947, Delhi: Pearson, pp. 255–288.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Rangarajan, Mahesh (ed.), 2002, The Oxford Anthology of Indian Wildlife: Watching and Conserving, vol. II, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Google Scholar

Google Preview

WorldCat

COPAC

Saikia, N. ed., 2001, Jonaki, Guwahati: Assam Sahitya Sabha. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Saikia, R., 2000, Social and Economic History of Assam 1853–1921, Delhi. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Saldanha, Indra Munshi, 1996, ʻColonialism and Professionalism: A German Forester in Indiaʼ, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 31, no. 21, pp. 1265–73. WorldCat p. 373

Sanderson, G.P., 1878, Thirteen Years Among the Wild Beasts of India: Their Haunts and Habits from Personal Observations, With an account of the Modes of Capturing and Taming Elephants, London: Allen and Company.

Sarma, J., 2006, ʻBritish science, Chinese skill and Assam Tea: Making Empire's Gardenʼ, IESHR, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 429–55. WorldCat Sarma, S.N., 1989, A Social-Economic and Cultural History of Medieval Assam 1200–1800 AD, Guwahati: Pratima Devi. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Sarvanan, V., 2007, ʻEnvironmental History of Tamil Nadu State, Law and Decline of Forest and Tribals, 1950–2000ʼ, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 723–67. 10.1017/S0026749X06002514 WorldCat Crossref Schaller, S.C., 1967, The Deer and the Tiger: A study of the Wildlife in India, Chicago: Chicago University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Schendel, W.V., 2005, Nature's Government, Science, Imperial Britain, and the Improvement of the World, Delhi: Orient Longman. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Schlich, W., 1898, Manual of Forestry, vol. I and II, London: Bradbury, Agnew and Company. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Scott, J.C., 1990, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Scott, J.C., and Bhatt, N., 2002, Agrarian Studies: Synthetic Work at The Cutting Edge, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Seshadhri, B., 1969, The Twilight of India's Wildlife, London: Macmillan, pp. 37–8. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Shakespeare, L., 1929, History of the Assam Rifles, London: John Baker. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Shahabuddin, Ghazala and Mahesh Rangarajan, eds, 2007, Making Conservation Work: Securing Biodiversity in this New Century, Delhi: Permanent Black. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Sikdar, S., 1982, ʻTribalism vs. Colonialism: British Capitalistic Intervention and Transformation of Primitive Economy of Arunachal Pradesh in the Nineteenth Centuryʼ, Social Scientist, vol. 10, no. 12, December, pp. 15–31. 10.2307/3516897 WorldCat Crossref Simson, F.B., 1886, Letters on Sport in Eastern Bengal, London: R.H. Porter. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Singh, B.A., 2003, Watching India's Wildlife: The Anthology of a Lifetime, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Singh, C., 1998, Natural Premises: Ecology and Peasant Life in the Western Himalaya 1800–1950, Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Sarma, B., 1987, Tukura Bahor Kuta, Guwahati: Benudhar Sarma Smarak Nyas. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Google Scholar

Google Preview

WorldCat

COPAC

Singh, Daman, 1996, The Last Frontier People and Forest in Mizoram, Delhi: TERI. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Sivaramakrishnan, K., 1999, Modern Forests: State making and Environmental Change in Colonial Eastern India, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 1996, ʻBritish Imperium and Forested Zones of Anomaly in Bengal, 1767–1833ʼ, IESHR, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 243–82. WorldCat ———, 2003, ʻNationalism and the Writing of Environmental Historyʼ, Seminar, vol. 522, pp. 25–33. WorldCat

———, 2001, Hybrid Histories: Forests, Frontiers and Wilderness in Western India, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC p. 374

Smith, H.P., and C. Purkayastha, 1946, A Short History of the Assam Forest Service 1850–1945, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Sonowal, C.J. 2007, ʻDemographic Transition of Tribal People in Forest Villages of Assamʼ, Studies on Tribes and Tribals, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 47–58. WorldCat Spillett, J.J., 1966, ʻA Report on Wild Life Surveys in North India and Southern Nepal: The Kaziranga Wild Life Sancturyʼ, Assam, Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, vol. 63, pp. 494–533. WorldCat Stebbing, E.P., 1923, The Forests of India, Vol. II, London: The Bodley Head. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 1926, The Forests of India, Vol. III, London: John Lane: The Bodley Head. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 1909, ʻThe Nilgiri Game and Fish Associationʼ, Indian Forester, vol. 35. WorldCat Stracey, P.D., 1949, Assam's Economy and Forests, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 1953, Notes on Forest Industries for Assam, Shillong: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 1963, Wildlife in India: its Conservation and Control, New Delhi: Government Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 1991 (1963) Elephant Gold, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 1949, ʻThe Vanishing Rhinoceros and Assam's Wildlife Sanctuariesʼ, Journal of the Bombay Natural History, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 92–7. WorldCat Sukumar, Raman, 1989, The Asian Elephant: Ecology and Management, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 2003, The Living Elephants, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Skaria, A., 1998, ʻTimber Conservancy, Desiccationism and Scientific Forestry: The Dangs 1840s–1920sʼ, in Grove, Damodaran, and Sangwan (eds), Nature and the Orient, pp. 596–635. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Sundar, N., 2000, ʻUnpacking the ʻJointʼ in Joint Forest Managementʼ, Development and Change, vol. 31, No.1, pp. 255– 79. 10.1111/1467-7660.00154 WorldCat Crossref ———, 2004, ʻDevolution, Joint Forest Management and the Transformation of Social Capitalʼ, in Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya, N.G. Jayal, Bishnu Mohapatra, and Sudha Pai (eds), Interrogating Social Capital: The Indian Experiece, Delhi: Sage. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Tamuli, L.N. (compiled), 2003, Tarun Ram Phukan Rachanavali, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Thapar, Valmik, 2000, Saving Wild Tigers 1900–2000, Delhi: Permanent Black. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

———, (ed.), 2003, Battling for Survival: India's Wilderness Over Two Centuries, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Tucker, R.P., 1987, ʻThe British Empire and India's Forest Resources: The Timberlands of Assam and Kumaon, 1914–1950,ʼ in J.F. Richards and R.P. Tucker (eds), World Deforestation in the Twentieth Century, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, pp. 91–111. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC ———, 1996, ʻThe Depletion of India's Forests Under British Imperialism: Planters, Foresters and Peasants in Assam and Kerala,ʼ in Donald Worster (ed.), The Ends of the Earth, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Tucker, R.P., and J.F. Richards (eds), 1983, Global Deforestation and the Nineteenth-Century World Economy, Duke: Duke University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

p. 375

Ullas Karanth, K., James D. Nichols, John Seidenstricker, Eric Dinerstein, James L. David Smith, Charles McDougal, A.J.T. Johnsingh, Raghunandan S. Chundawat, and Valmik Thapar, 2003, ʻScience Deficiency in Conservation Practice: The Monitoring of Tiger Populations in Indiaʼ, Animal Conservation, vol. 6, pp. 141–46. 10.1017/S1367943003003184 Crossref Van Schendel, William, 2009, A History of Bangladesh, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Vasan, Sudha, 2006, Living with Diversity: Forestry Institutions in the Western Himalaya, Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Walker, B.H. and B.J. Huntley, 1982, Ecology of Tropical Savannas, New York: Soringer-Verlag. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Webb, J.L.A. Jr, 2002, Tropical Pioneers: Human Agency and Ecological Change in the Highlands of Sri Lanka, 1800–1900, Athens: Ohio University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Webber, T., 1902, The Forests of Upper India and Their Inhabitants, London: Edward Arnold. 10.5962/bhl.title.29424 Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Crossref Welch, M., 1998, The Book of Nature: Natural History in the United States, 1825–1875, Boston: Northeastern University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Westoby, J., 1991, Introduction to World Forestry, Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Wilcox, R., ʻMemoir of a Survey of Assam, and the Neighbouring Countries Executed in 1825–6–7–8ʼ, Asiatic Researches, vol. XVII, pp. 314–467. WorldCat

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

———, 2002, The Cult of Tiger, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC

Wilkins, William J., 2005 (1882) Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Puranic, Boston: Adamant Media Corporation, (Calcutta: Thaker, Spink and Company). Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Williams, Michael, 2006, Deforesting the Earth: From Prehistory to Global Crisis, Chicago: Chicago University Press. 10.7208/chicago/9780226899053.001.0001 Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Crossref

p. 376

Worster, Donald, 1996, ʻThe Two Cultures Revisited Environmental History and the Environmental Sciencesʼ, Environment and History, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 3–14. 10.3197/096734096779522446 WorldCat Crossref

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351472 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Forests and Ecological History of Assam, 1826–2000 Arupjyoti Saikia https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069539.001.0001 Published: 2011

Online ISBN: 9780199081240

Print ISBN: 9780198069539

END MATTER

Index  Published: February 2011

Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351618 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Subject: Colonialism and Imperialism, Environmental History, Asian History, Indian History

377Index Adi tribe, practices of 232 a orestation 881105–7339 See also forest regeneration Agarwala, Haribilash 172202 148 agrarian, agricultural, expansion of 594100126234254256271352355; frontier 5712153745919497–9136233–4253–7271275341–2; pressure 95–6139353; society 9497128308334; state forests and agrarian frontier 94–7 agriculture 1528455396105128139185236261272286321327341–2; expansion of 378090–199309327329334340; land 2; practices 637127240272–5; traditional practices of 231 Ali, Salim, ornithologist 275 All Assam Student Union (AASU) 338–9 Anglo-Burmese War 24 Antidesma 63 20 Arbuthnott, J.C. 270–2 Asiatic Society of Bengal 264 Assam 158; forested landscape of 1014; natural landscape of 51253 Assam Forest Regulation 1891 111 70 Assam Forest Department 271276; established markets of 113 112 Assam Forest Enquiry Committee 127–9314 Assam Forest Manual 271308–9 Assam Forest Policy (AFP) 108140 Assam Forest Regulation 7783–493–498100104125–8133147149156167176266289292; 1891 83–4126128147266289 Assam Land Revenue Regulation 125–6234309–10331 Assam Mihir 311 Assam Mineral Company 93 Assam National Park Act, 1968 293 Assam Oil Company 187 Assam Panchayat Act 103 Assam Railways and Trading (ART) Company 3092131165178242 Assam Rhinoceros Preservation Bill 277 Assam Ri es 20289 Assam River Rules 92156 Assam Saw Mill and Timber Company 210223 p. 378

Assam-Bengal Railway Company

8498178242319

Assamese, elites 262–3; folktales 253264; intelligentsia and, modern forests 191354–5; political class 354–5357; traders 151–2191308 Assam–Nagaland border dispute 337–8 Aylmer 195 16 Backet, W.Q.A. 66 80 Baker, E.C. Stuart, and Indian ornithology 265298 59 bamboo 61108155174193217219242; for soft wood industries 244; species 242

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351618 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

and Forest Department 96;

Banerjee, Robin 291304 157 Barail forests 83 Baron, C.G. 276 Bart, William Jardine 264 Barua, Bholanath 152 Barua, Kanaklal 152191 Barua, Manick Chandra 152 Barua, Prabhat Chandra 276 Barua, Prakitish Chandra 263 Barua, Pramash Chandra 129 Baruah, Fatick Chandra 123 Basu, B.C. 321; survey of 345–9 Bengal Forest Act of 1878 150 Bezbarua, Lakhinath 152354 Bhattacharya, Kamalakanta 191 Bhattacharyya, Babu Pramatha Nath 138 Bhuyan, J.N. 152 Bhuyan, Suryya Kumar 24302 121 Bivar, H.S. Major 44–546; on forest yield 44 Blunt, A.W. 102211323345 56 Blyth, Edward 264 boats building, in Assam 49; in Bengal 4665 59 Borbora, Golap 338 botanical survey of Assam 24 boundaries, de nition of 115; disputes 8688 Brandis, Dietrich 5555760–174778791120–2124147174–6179209212–13219; on forest types 61; report of 60 Brownlow, W.H. 34 Bruce, R. 2648 Bryant, Raymond L. 78–9135155157161181233316353 Buck, E.C. 133 Burma Game Association 273 Butler, Major John 261 Calcutta botanical garden 219 Campbell, T.J. 159 cane trade 170172 See also bamboo; See also timber cane-bearing tracts, exploitation of 170 Carr, E.S., Conservator of Assam 130133197 70273321345 48 cauthchouc 5054116174215; species of 217; yielding trees 175 Chaliha, Bimalaprasad 334 Champion, Harry, silviculturist 211 Charduar plantation 218 Chaudhuri, Mudabbir Hussain 127 Chaudhury, Mohendra Mohan 293 Chaudhury, Nagendra Nath 129 Chaudhury, Prasannalal 262 Chevalier, Jean-Baptise 30 Chowdhury, Govind Ram 195 13 coal as revenue 37 See also forest resources

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351618 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Bengal Forest Act of 1865 5269758389

codi cation, and valuation survey 147–9 Colart, Henry Neville 265 colonial forestry, history of 1554; policy of 580146 colonization scheme 9698329 commercialization 48104107–8138–9164167190206329342353; p. 379

of forest resources

165185;

of hardwoods 185 community forestry 105–7 See also social forestry Congress Socialist Party (CSP) 332–3335338 conservation 7–813–1434–539–404353697173–779–8187–999–101103–5120130–2268–9306339–42; and community rights 7890104–8; of forest 3–711–1228–934–538–41747782–39598–9119120131136139190212, –232–4235– –in Assam 224 ideology in 134–8; in Kaziranga 269–78; meaning of 69; programme 7–811137174114139275291306357; science of 264–6 ‘conserved’ forests 36–4470–83341 Cooper, T.T. 261 Coopland, D.P. 174199 107 corruption, and forest o

cers 128136314

Cotton, Henry 100156178234319–20 creepers 224346209229–30; as obstacle 229 See also pests crimes.  See forest crimes cultivation 309–10314318–19321–2325–9331335337342; East Bengal peasants for 327; of jute 273326; of paddy 238; types of 54 D'Aroy, survey of 148 Dalton Hooker, Joseph 2532–3264 Darrang Game Association 268 Das, A.M. 145 89 Das, Ramnath 301 111 Daukes, F.C. 195 21 Davidson, A. Capton 264 deforestation 13–68297–9139141234315318–22330334–5337339–40350352–4357 ( See also forest exploitations conservation and 340–43; Cottons proposal for 320; history of 99; of Nambor 319 deforested land 318 dense forests 20–236150253265326 See also evergreen forests de-reservation 81–296139334; process of 80 Desai, S.P. 331 Dillon-Ripley, American ornithologist 275–6 district forests 9193131–3164232 Doiyang Reserved Forest 322338 Doyang-Tengani struggle 339 Dudkhuri forest in Kamrup 88 Eardley-Wilmot, S. 227

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351618 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

6306309325328336338340–2;

East India Company 5102023–527–830–13748516165 55205258340; report on forest resources 25; traders of 48 East Pakistan 191 eco-system 3292294 ecology, in Kaziranga 275 elephant, in Assam 281285; capturing 264274279–80286288–9302 126 capture and Department of Kheda 282; disapproval of killing of 281; employment of 282; exported 259; hunting 122262–3278–89; import of 280; keeping 278; as liability 281; mahals 282287–8; management 274278284; ownership of 280; and preservation of 278–89; as royal beast 280; trade 258268278–9281288; as sources of revenue 37; transportation of 278; types of 286288; p. 380

visit to villages

295 8 See also tigers

Elephant Preservation Act 281 Elliot, Charles 176 empire forestry 79137–8178; and Indian forestry 138–41 environmental, issues 141 ( See also eco-system movement 140 estates, private 7586–7123126 European plant capitalism 28 evergreen forests 60–1220–2229260352; natural regeneration of 211; regeneration of 237 See also regeneration of forest eviction 310337–9, ( See also encroachment, of forest forest rules for 310; of peasant and Bhaskar Nandi 338 exclusionist policy: of conservation of forest 4; of conservation programme 8; from imperial forestry programme 294; and Javanese peasants 353; for protecting fauna 274 exotic, plants 216222; trees 147215 experimental plantations 116–17214–15237245 ( See also regeneration of forest, arti cial of bamboo plantation 219; of eucalyptus 216; of teak plantation 213 extinction, of rhino 270–3; of tiger 293; –of wild life 257270–3293 extraction and trade 166 fauna 261263–6268–71274–5277–8289–92294;

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351618 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

hunting regulations for 285;

imperial concern for 273; preservation of 269278289292294 re protection 220–1224–8 See also forest res rewatchers 225–6 See also forest re rewood 37–87181108 8120311–13 See also tree, felling of Fisher, C.P. 159 Fisher, W.R. 148 shing rights 310 ora and fauna 1026–739129244246275291; protection of 275 forest(s) 2–37–889–94206–11; administration 12214154–557729193105116118120–2135–6147153–4323–4; in Assam 21–226283243–44955–760–1717881114–16118120–1146152159175206; in Cachar 4973167173; classes of 69; commercialization method of 165; crimes 307–8313–14; cultivation, for 322; encroachment, of forest 127; –public protests against 312; of Darrang 171; destruction of 34384850, –97236 (see also mauzadary system) development of 209; distribution of 59; of eastern Assam 46150164166236–8335; ecology, local practices and beliefs and 311; economy 2361274353; exploitation 150157–62165181; in Goalpara 72148185; governance 14114125127138352; –guards 226229272275; –of Kamrup 158171222229; and industries, relationship of 245; in Lakhimpur 4553, –91–295; landscape 370223246; legislation 342; Mann's account of 54; –mixed deciduous 6177; mixed plain 56–771178321; modern 49350–1353–4356; in Nambor 3638–4043–47174117318, –319; natural 175208; and non-market forces 3; of Nowgong 46; and political future 356–7; preservation of 42; private 126129150; protection of 6223–31341355; p. 381

regeneration of

160;

research 241244–5; reservation of 77311; revenue 7539197103119134162166–717288190209317; rights 312314, –358; Schlich classi cation of 56; –settlement 6988309; in Sibsagar 3446;

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351618 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

boundaries 7375318340–1;

topography of 21170; unclassed state 2277–880–28493–7105125128160164–5168236292307–10314–16319329; utilization of 135137186; villages 100–3240322–4325334; wealth of 3739–404560–1123134139189229236317355; of western Assam 2973125158237; Forest Act 1865 7589124 Forest Act 1878 124126130266307315 Forest Act 1891 129; 1891 Regulation 307315 Forest Act of 1879 266 Forest Acts and Regulation 89123 Forest Conservation Act, 1980 139339341356 Forest Enquiry Committee 103127–9136244314 forest res 205218222–9; –arti cial res 233 See also  rewatchers forest lands 1–21113384345–65369–70748187–9198–9103121–5127–8133185308–9318322329–32335– 40355–6; for cultivation 92; distribution of 99; management plan 158; occupation of 121331–2; use pattern of use 158; re-classi cation of 128 forest management 246913556070100102120–1128–9136212306–7352–3; aspect of 206; aspects of 212; bureaucratization in 137; Burmese 353; Congress role in 127; customary knowledge of 205; meaning of 134 forest produce 512143684–5119125–6130–3139–40146–9156161–2166–8171–2191312; 309328 ( See also forest resources royalties on 312; and wood trade 162–6 Forest Regulation, 1891 83–4125–6128147266289309 Forest Research Institute (FRI) 136185192210241246 forest reserves 52697178–98386–792117131–2225227233311315334338341; –of Assam 52; –in–Naga hills. 109 15 forest resources 2–38–1012–1425–628–939–4050–2556069–72120–1124157–9192311–12314342; in Assam 31425–62939–4051–255576096147; exploitation of 181; management of 3158; traders and 352 forested tracts, Assamese peasants in 335; –management of– 205317 forested, land 210145399108128273310318341–2351–31 landscape of Assam 10; territory 70139;  See also forest lands foresters 1051–289–90116129–31136–8158160–2205–6208210–13223–33239–40289–91314–15352–3; in Assam 236; in Bengal 236; in Burma 353; powers of 130

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351618 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Forest Department, and timber permits 163

forestry, in Assam 9–10106; and contested rights 308–10; history of colonial 54; –programme 13–581013–15309399105–7136–41190–4240274291306308351–7; as viable economy 185–91 p. 382

Forsyth, James

261

Reservation of 311 Frith, R.W.G. 264 fuelwood, reservoir of 241 Fuller, Bampfylde 98270320–1 game animals 261 See also sport and hunting game association in Assam 267–8 game reserves 254261266269272–5313–14; A. Playfair and 272 game sanctuaries 274–6290; as, wild life sanctuary 276 Gandhi, Indira 293; 20-point agenda of 355; and saving–tiger 304 169 Gee, E.P. 261266276–7289; assessing bio-diversity 277; preservation of wildlife 276 Geological Survey of India (GSI) 31 Ghiladhari Satyagraha 333 Gir National Park 270 Goalpara, forests of 73149156159–60210219227; surveyors in forest of 149; working plan of 156159 Golaghat forest division 75117 Golaghat Hitasadhini Sabha 130312 Goswami, Satradhikar of Garmur 276 Goswami, Parbatiya 123 Goswami, Pitambaor Dev 269 governance of forests, and legal framework 123–7; of forest department 129–34 government forests 36120125158173233315–16 See also district forests Government of India Act, 1935 136 Graham, Major 213227 grazing 170211275307309–11313–17323–4327–8331–4; and agrarian economy 314–18; controlled 316370; grounds 307310–11313316328334; –customary 315; professional 316; prohibition of 277; reserve 300 99 rights 8895102313; tax 316–17 Gri

th, William 24259

‘Grow More Food’ campaign 127 Gurdon, P.R.T. 273300 94325 Hannay, P.J. 2639 Hannay, S.F. Captain 2663 21 Hart, C.S. 79103309; on railway sleepers 178 Hart, George, Inspector General of Forest 309

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351618 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

in Kaziranga 273;

Hatchett, Charles 24 hati-dhani 268278302 122 Haughton, J.C. Colonel 123 Henderson, T. 98 hills-north Cachar, forests of 85–6265 Hooker, Joseph Dalton 25264 Hopkinson, Henry 445170115212–13, –247 1617281311 Hunter, W.W. 174255 hunting 253256–60262–4266–8273–4278–83285–9292–3226256261263–5270272–4285–7290294; and Assamese elites 262; camps 263; commercial 293; expedition 296–7 40 by Gauripur zamindars 263; Kaziranga 274; by Phukan 262; by peasant communities 263; practices 256262–3266287; prohibition of 273; regulation of shooting and 273; rights 274282; in western Assam 263 hunting sport sports Hussain, Jehirul 338 immigration from Surma valley, bene ciaries of 98 Imperial Forest Department 24115176135146–7159224351 p. 383

Imperial Forest Service

136;

Assamese into 135 imperial forest survey 159226 imperial forestry 3–49–1013–1557–61137–8235–6240–6293–4351–4; and institutional customers 177–84; political economy of 160; programme of 3–413–15134158240291294351–2 imperial policies and rules10 119–23125140187205; science and 205 India rubber 2949515791120125–6172175–7212–13 India's forest policy 5105 Indian Act of 1878 125 Indian Board for Wildlife 276277290 Indian Famine Commission 316 Indian Forest Act of 1878. 758386121125233266; Indian Forest Act of 1927 105128307 See also Bengal Forest Act 1865 Indian Forest College, Dehradun 136 Indian Forest Service 136 Indian forestry programme 58107137139224240340 Indian industries 79187; and forest resources 79 Indian National Forest Policy (1952) 8 Indian Tea Association 87132315 indigenous forest management 212 See also joint forest management (JFM) Inglis, Charles McFarlane 265 Jacob, M.C. 177191203 178 Jacob, W.R. 160 Javanese peasant resistance 353 Jenkins, Francis Capton 263438–4148–9254259 jhum cultivation, prohibition of 7784–5219231–2237310323–4

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351618 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

as game 274;

jhum-ed land 219 joint forest management (JFM) 107–8340342; schemes 113 123 Jokai Tea Company 149 Kachugaon reserve, Goalpara 88 Kashikata Komarbari Elephant Catching Company 303 Kaziranga Game Sanctuary 290293 Kaziranga National Park 293–4 Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary 275293 Kaziranga 261266269271–7290292–3; ora in 272; –rhino in 271292; as site for wildlife habitat 276 khiraj 123130312 killing of animal 270281; for game 270; restriction on 271 See also snakes, killing of Kulsi plantation 214219222 Labour dilemma 99–104 Laine, A.J. 129 Lakhimpur forests 93114 land reclamation 11325329–33334336339 land: cultural right over 13; deforested 98318; distribute 98332334–6; occupied 230330332339; reclaimed 29319–20327329334336–7; tea-garden 332–4337 landless peasants 819698127136318320329–34336–7356; reclaiming land 332 landlords, exploitation by 102; privileged 122–3 Langting-mahur 83–4; forests in 83 Leeds, H. 52213 Lloyd, E.P. Captain 47 M.C. Baruah and Company 152 M'Cosh, John 25258–9263271279 p. 384

Maclagan, E.D.

194 7

Maconochie, E. 200 122 major forest produce (MFP) 14146162 Makum Coal Company 93 Makum Tea Company 265 Manas Game Sanctuary 289 Manas Wildlife Sanctuary 294 Mann, Gustav 3551–660–17072–477849092114–17134147156176195 20213231–2; and Assam-Bengal Railway 84; and knowledge of Assam forest 60; proposal of 72; report of 35; survey of 115 map 3151148 markets, supply, and traders 149–57 Marwari traders 152176194216307 mauzadars 3436919395104–5131–2164308322 mauzadary system 34

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351618 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Kheda Department 282286288

McClelland 259 McKee, J. 133144 69176200 119 Medhi, Bishnu Ram on extinction of rhino 277 mercantile to free trade: and fate of rubber 172–7 merchant capitalism and forest produces 23–31150 Michell, J.F. 61 Mikir Hill Reserved Forest 71117 Mikir peasants 220 Mikir shikars 274 Milburne, Dorothea Craigie 265 Mill, A.J.M. 28 Milroy, A.J.W. Conservator 220266274282287–9; on elephant in Assam 266274282287–9; mineral resources 9–1130–13993131 minor forest produce 14119139146162166–8171–2189279316; and rede ning forest economy 166–72; K. Sivaramakrishnan on 172 Miripeasants 237 mixed plain forest 56–771 modern forests 49350–1353–4356 Monahan, F.J. 112 92 mono-plantations 350–1353 Montague- Chelmsford reforms 136 Muslim League 331 Naduar reserve 117 Nambor forests 36–4043–47174117318; conservation of 43; demarcate for Company 38; experiment of 242; mineral resources in 39; reservation of 39–4143 Nambor Reserved Forests 4042–498218321 Narayan, NripendraMaharaj 263 Nathaniel, Wallich 24 National Forest Policy 8138–40; 1952 138 natural landscape 253 natural regeneration 3881206208–9211220–3229237330 ( See regeneration of forest of simul 221 natural reproduction 209220–1; of timbers 222 natural resources 469–1330–13655164206340–2 natural rubber 175216; import of 175 See also India rubber Nehru, Jawaharlal 277292 Nepali graziers 170175237307316–17 See also grazing new landscape 1469–70206340 Nichols Roy, J.J. 127 Nilgiri Game Association 268 nisfkhirajdars 86122–3130 non-Garo traders 125 non-timber related products, production of 106 Nood, H.S. 265 p. 385

North East Forest Policy Committee North Eastern Frontier tracts 118 North East Saw Mills Company 36

140

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351618 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

and hoe cultivation 221

Open Forests 69, –72–389–90119; in Eastern Duars 117 opium cultivation 37–8 participatory community 107342 peasant community/society 1–211100170219231255263–4309–10314327329340351353355; contested conservation 311–14; migration 96355; rights of 108342; peasantization 97309316319325335338356; of forests 318–31; of forest lands 185355–6 Pemberton, Robert Boileau 20; survey of 24 campaign against 231 Phookan, Anandaram Dhekial 123354 Phukan, Tarunram 262; memoir on hunting by 262 pigs, fencing against 229 pine monoculture 351 plantations 52572–38187106–8116–18128165–6177208–9212–20222–3229236–7212–23245; of ceara rubber 222; of Darjeeling 222; diversi cation of 215; economic 191; experiments 116; forest 205208335; in Kulsi 214; programme 206212218–19223340356; regeneration of 208; Ribbentrop on 218; of sal 220; scheme 54212215219 Playfair, A. 272 plywood 181–4186193–4245356; factories of 182; production of 181 poaching 257268–9274–5289 See also hunting Pobha Reserved Forests 210 political ecology 8–9 political economy, and elephant 263 political forests 353 Pollok, F.W.T. Colonel 260269297 41 Powell, B.H. Baden 124 preservation, of forest 90246355; and reservation, Mann report on 54 production forestry 104–5138141191–4316–17353355–6 Project Tiger 293–4 See also tiger protected forest 6984–590–5119125129134227; in Indian Forest Act 110 4849; in Sadiya 94 Provincial Forest Department 1070114123137 Provincial Forest Service 136 provincial industrialization 190 Public Works Department(PWD) 3237–404246153163–4 Purbat-Juar range 52150 Quinton, James Wallace 176

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351618 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

pest 217223230261;

RaiBahadur 173321 railway sleepers 51138153165178–9181 raiyats 130 Rangarajan, Mahesh 290 regeneration of forests 314323864 4081108138160172183189206208–12216218220–4227–9236–7240315– 17352355–7; arti cial 342 regional forestry 70–8383–9114–19 Regulation of 1891 7793–498100104–5125–6129167176292 Reid, D. Lieutenant Colonel 38–4244 reserved forest in Assam 125769–8889–9094–597–9101–3125–7130–1133139148159–61237266–7272– 3310314–15328–30; p. 386

—creation of

310315;

Garumari 72; in Goalpara 185; Jhanji 74 revenue earnings 5798147162223 Revolutionary Communist Party of India, (RCPI) 332 Rewards for killing carnivores 256 rhino 1254258263261263266269–74276–7289–90292–4; asylum for 272; ban killing of 272; domestication of 271; extinction of 273; Fuller on 272; horn, exported from Assam 259; in Kaziranga, protection of 271; population of 270276; trade 199 87 protected areas for 272; –shooting prohibition of 267 Ribbentrop, Berthold 6176–7121124–5176209217–18315–16 rightholders, private 197 66 river networks 50 Roberts, F. Colonel 22 Robinson, William 26–8253259 Rogers, Major B. 295 14 Rowlatt, Captain 33 Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal 264 Royal Commission on Agriculture, 1927 105128185 royalty 93119121123130–1150163167–8170–1180–1185190235292312; of forest produces 165 rubber plantations 86120175177216–18; scienti c experiments in 217; in scienti c management 216 rubber trade 126170172–5176–7191201 130216307; –cross-border 200 121 by–Marwari traders 198–9 93 rubber, export 200 126 in Cachar 51; natural 175; producing colonies 198 91 rubber-tappers 199 106 by woman 177 sal forests 5256607173–4117121123138159–60178220–1225227–8; destructive elements of 230;

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351618 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

declaration of 7683;

of Goalpara 160221; of Kusli 55; moist 227–8; regeneration of 221–2 Salona Tea Company 98 Sanderson, G.P. 279–80284–7 Sankardev, Assamese vaishnavite reformer 23 SarcopyramisSonerilae 24 Sarma, Baboo HariCharan 173 savannah, forests 56–7356; grassland 961351 sawmills 35–63982179–84210244–5; industry 181–2238 See also plywood, industry; See also timber trade Schlich, William 54–860116–17147174208212–13; and ideas of Assam forests 54–7; scheme of 56 science, application of 205 scienti c forestry 60108156–7206240317342 Sconce, Herbert Lieutenant 46–7 Second World War 161166179183189–90244290 seedlings, protection of 240 Shakespear, L.W. 20 Shaw Finlayson Company 93 shifting cultivation 39111338747783–590–2125–6231–6239–40309–10335353; and P. D. Stracey 9838592125132138231235239309353 Shillong plantation 215–16 Sibsagar, forests in 91 p. 387

Sidli Duar forests

90148

silkworms 91212; rearing 185 silviculture 815135137205208–11237241; practice of 160206–11; science of 209; –strip-and-group system for 210–1 simul plantation 236–7; of simul 237 sissu plantation in Kulsi 218 snakes 258325; killing of 295 12 social forestry 105–7356 soil conservation 138246 soom forest 5660 South Asian, environmental history 4; forests of 147354 species 7–82426–7158–60163–5192–3; 213–14219–22238–40244–6263–56270–1; preservation of 294; of trees 32–456106147 Spillet, Juan 277 sport and hunting 257–64267296 28 State Wildlife Board 276 State-sponsored, bureaucratic conservation 350; developmental projects 350 Stebbing, E.P. 157–8174230239241 Stracey, P.D. 2081193204 186235245266289334 Straw Products Company 192 survey, under Bengal forest department 51–4;

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351618 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 356357

–for forests in Assam 44 taungya system 239; –and forest regeneration 236–40 taxation 170176; on rubber yield 176 tea industry 3857798798–9121–2177180–1336–7 tea-box industry 3879165179–81196 46214236282 in eastern Assam 181; supply of wood for 179 tea-gardens.  See –tea-plantations teak plantation 51114232630355065 6082–395–6116122148–9164–5209213–15217–18238241–2289– 90332–6328352–3355–6; in Burma 213; utility of 208; William Schlich and 213 tea-planters 911363841478286–79098121132149318340–1351–2; rights of wild elephant 280 Temple, Richard 256 Thronton, J. 43 tiger 1254–8261263–4290292–4; concern for 293; extermination of 258; human habitat and 258; hunting 264293; killing of cattle 255; prize for killing 256; savage tiger, ’ 261; scheme to exterminate 256; as victims 263 timber 274446527196178; from Burma 178; contractors 3234161; extraction of 180; departmental depots of 151; and fuel, annual outturnof 204 194 marketable 44100241; –rules 144 70 standing 9193119122149; supply of 53893120147151187; system of working 47; transportation 164214; – treatment 241245 timber markets 45505775138157166187191; of Calcutta 50; of east Bengal 166 timber merchants.  See timber traders timber traders 323445–8150–2155–6158163165185354–5; – in Calcutta 32 Tourism, Department of 277 trade, 10 23–448–51126147163168171191; enquiries 200 121 in forest produces 61245; in hard woods 164; 176; pro t of 172; rights of 173; in rubber 173

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351618 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

experimental 55213;

p. 388

in timber

5142931–647–851557092125150–2155158162–7172194;

traders, private 150170–1173; royalty by 163 traditional forest dwellers 356–7 See also tribes trees 147; felling of 47130163209307309; identi cation of 86; reserved 6988–991119131318 tribal communities 5378101216 tribes 2474128174–5217262268279318356–7 Troup, R.S. 247 10 unreserved forests 167 Upper Assam Tea Company 3553 forest of 3446 Upper Burma Forest Regulation, 1887 125 village forest 778897102104–5125–6323 Vinton Burns, L. 192 Wallich, Nathaniel and botanical survey of Assam 24 Ward, Francis Kingdon's, discovery of new species 246 Ward, William 149176185234319 wasteland 33367190–1129132149230234309326–9332;– grants 7190234 weeds 218229–30238; removal of 230 See also creepers western Assam forest 46159 wet-rice cultivation 3754 Whistler, Hugh 298 58 Wilcox, Lieutenant 30–1 wild animals 27–81542122129136223229253–60264266–9273275–7291–2294301 106310325 damage by 255; distribution of 29; extermination of 257; in Kaziranga 292; Licences to shoot 267 Wild Bird and Game Protection Act, 1887 267 wildlife 7–8 in Assam 253260276278290–1; Captain Jenkins on 254; conservation 253255257259261263265267–9271273275277279281289291; crime and privileged hunting 266–9; habitats 269276–8291293; history of 253; in India 273; internationalism 291–4; lovers 254264291; management of 9253274289291294352; peasants’ understanding of 254; preservation of 7254276–7352; protection of 253–4268276–7289–92; sanctuaries 257275277; trade in 259 Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 139292 wood trade and political economy 162–6 woodcutters 2932–3465072150226 working plans 1435114140146148–9156–62165–6185211294317; and, Forest Department 161;

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351618 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023

Upper Assam 243034–537–840–2464853114159163328–9;

violation of 161 World Wars, and Assam forests 189 Young, H.G. 84–6 zamindars 4772–37586–7100121123129150263280282286293327; in Goalpara 87100121 p. 389 p. 390

Zoological Garden in Calcutta

270

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/25772/chapter/193351618 by University of Western Ontario user on 08 May 2023