Colonial Exploitation and Beyond: Revisiting Indian Environmental History and Historiography

Abstract

This research paper aims to provide a historical analysis of the environmental history of India from the colonial era to the present. The fundamental themes of environmental historiography in India have been pre-colonial and colonial forest policies. The colonial historians contended that ecological degradation in India was the result of the disregard for the environment by pre-colonial authorities. Therefore, British intervention in managing natural resources was urged to prevent further environmental degradation. The claims made by colonial historians were refuted by Indian historians, who underlined that the management of the resources in British India was motivated by imperial and strategic objectives. The debate among Indian historians concerning India's ecological past is the primary focus of this paper. This research paper also analyses the historiography of Indian environmental history, with a special emphasis on colonial forest policies. Through the perspective of environmental history and historiography, this paper provides another glimpse at the intricacy of colonial exploitation in India. The papers also examine how colonial goals impacted communities, altered traditional land usage patterns, and influenced the natural environment