evspptbrits - Copy

Impact of british
rule on the indian
environment
presented by
Gul Chandna
chaitali verma
moodike meghana
smriti

The beginning of
the decline
The impact that the Britishers have had on
us has been tremendous. Some of the
dimensions we’d like to go over briefly are:
1. Social Changes
2. Cultural Changes
3. Economic Changes
4. Political Changes
2

Case
studies
3

1.
Animal hunting
“the gentlemanly pursuits”

"Hunting of The 'Cunning', 'Silent',
'Savage' Enemy"
5

✣ Origins
India’s tigers have been in the crosshairs for centuries, with elite safaris dating back
to the early 16th century. They rose out of Mughal Emperor Jalal-ud-Din
Muhammad Akbar’s passion for big game: He began a tradition of royal hunting,
or shikar, that was carried on by Mughal rulers until the dynasty fell in 1857.
Paintings from the period depict Mongol, Rajput, Turk and Afghan nobility hunting
from elephant or horseback. These outings were considered exotic, heroic sport—
and tigers were the ultimate trophies.
Unlike hunting in the 20th century, during the reins of Moguls and Maharajahs,
tiger hunting was on a low key and their activities never impacted the tiger
population. Shikar did not do much damage to the wildlife because swords and
arrows were the only weapons used to kill the animals. It is true that Moguls and
other royal families did indulge in ''Shikar'' on a limited basis and saw to it their
population did not dwindle.
6

'Huntertainment'
7

With the advent of use of gun powder for canons and subsequent arrival of Europeans in
particular British, there had been a gradual spurt in Shikar activities in many jungles of Bengal
and adjacent states.
When their company work reached a comfortable level, in between their work and land
expansion activities, the employees of British East India company and their
representatives needed a recreation and they found tremendous opportunity in hunting in the
thick jungles of India.
As part of their land expansion work, etc they faced serious threats from wild animals especially
lions, tigers, leopard, etc because their work frequently took them through
wooded areas infested with wild beasts. Better technical advances in ballistic weapons like guns,
rifles, etc came handy for them to confront the wild beasts. This gradually led to the slow decline
of big cats in their habitats.
8

Some Indian rulers went one step ahead, besides throwing
fancy partieswith booze and ball room dances with
ballerina, they frequently conducted a joint hunting
expedition in the woods to take shots at the big cats. It used
to be a weekly or fortnightly extravaganza with the Kings
and lords, generals, British Bobs and their Memsahibs in
large parties carried by several trained elephants - as many
as 20 to 40 with all theirparaphernalia including specially
trained and sturdy men and jungle guides.
Their servants often drugged and baited tigers before they
arrived so the hunters were in little danger. They legitimized
the slaughter by vilifying the cats, casting them as terrible,
bloodthirsty beasts with an unquenchable desire for human
flesh.
9

Hunting Narrative of Colonial
India: Case Studies
10

WILLIAM RICE
(1825-1903) Among the earliest British army officers who took pleasure and pride in their hunting skills were
William Rice and Henry Shakespear. William Rice was a selfproclaimed hunter of big game who shot numerous
tigers on foot in Rajputana (Rajasthan) and the Deccan region. Born on 29th January, 1825, he was an officer in
the 25th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry and rose to become a Major-General. His book Tiger Shooting in
India, published in 1857 is an account of his tiger hunts and the incredible number of trophies he bagged from
1850 to 1856. Most of these hunts would take place when he took a yearly leave of one month to go hunting.
11

HENRY SHAKESPEAR
(1814-1884) Henry Shakespear was born in 1814 and was a Major in the Bengal Army. He arrived in India in
1834. He was posted in the Deccan region with headquarters at Nagpore. He was an accomplished sportsman; a
hunter of small game till then. He wrote his book, The Wild Sports of India in 1857 about hunting in India for
around twenty five years. Starting from the 1840s his shikar adventures took him from the Deccan region to
extreme south in the Neilgherry hills. His bags were manifold and consisted of tigers, leopards, elephants, bisons,
bears and other creatures. He also enjoyed the sport of hoghunting with spears.
12

2.
Construction of the railway
“bumbai se thane”

14

SIDE EFFECTS OF RAILWAY
CONSTRUCTION
✣ 1. Widespread deforestation
✣ 2. Destruction of agriculture land
✣ 3. Ruining of historical sites
✣ 4. Depletion of raw material etc..
✣ 5. Drain of wealth due to spread of trade.
15

Bengal Nagpur railway construction
16

HISTORIAN’s APROACH TO ECOLOGICAL
EFFECT ON INDIA
Historians studying the forest history of colonial India can be broadly divided into two groups based
on whether they see the colonial period as a forest destructive period or not.
✣ 1.The first group of forest historians glorifies the colonial phase as bringing deforestation
under control, by contrast with the pre-colonial period which they see as a forest destructive
period.
✣ 2.The second group of forest historians led by Ramachandra Guha argues that the colonial
period was a watershed in the ecological history of India as unprecedented and large-scale
deforestation took place. Guhaand Gadgil (1989) argue that unlike the colonial period, in the
pre-colonial phase there was ecological equilibrium due to the customary practices of the
local forest communities.
17

SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIATION
Not all regions in colonial India experienced the ecological impact of colonial rule to the
same extent. There
were some regions that saw drastic and irreversible ecological changes more than others
during early colonial
rule. This was especially so in ecologically fragile areas such as the Himalayas and
northern plains because
most of the raw materials for feeding british inustries came from here.
In the second half of the 19th century when the Indian economy was tied and subordinated
to the British
industrial capitalist economy. The ecological problems worsened and became irreversible
especially during this
period due to the introduction of certain technologies (e.g. dams and railways). Thus, the
ecological impact of
British colonial rule on India varied not only spatially but also temporally.
18

The pre-colonial phase in India’s environmental history was not a period
of ecological equilibrium; however,
the colonial phase was marked by ecological changes that were
unprecedented and irreversible. This was
especially in the forest arena in the second half of the 19th century. The
forests had to bear the onslaught of,
among other things, the introduction and development of technology such
as the railways, by the colonial state.
19

3.
Indigo Plantation
“the reason for my blues”

21

Revival of indigo
✣ Symbol of british exploitation
✣ Champaran movement in bihar
✣ Tinkathia system
✣ Nildarpan system- D N Mitra;
Neel Sahibs
✣ Role of Arun Kumar Prabhat
✣ Indigo in Chennai
✣ Process
✣ Synthetic dyes
22

✣ "In some areas of China, you
can tell which colors are
fashionable in New York and
Paris by the color of the
rivers,"
23

4.
Eucalyptus
“not my soil”

Eucalyptus is an exotic plant
25

overview
✣ Geographical origins of Eucalyptus
✣ Genus and family of Eucalyptus.
✣ Characteristic features of Eucalyptus
26

✣ Historical background to
eucalyptus
✣ Plantations raised in some
of the important states
27

EUCALYPTUS IN INDIA -
R.M.PALANNA
✣ Economic aspects of Eucalyptus
plantations.
✣ Social aspects of Eucalyptus
plantations.
✣ Ecological effects of Eucalyptus
28

previous legal action 2014 and 2011
29

Thanks!
Any questions?
30