Manuscript Number : GISRRJ24768

British Policy Towards Kumaon and Garhwal Forest Area: A Historical Analysis

Authors(1) :-Rita Singh Rana

The British colonial administration in the Kumaon and Garhwal regions between 1815 and 1947 significantly impacted local communities, governance structures, and forest management. This paper examines British policies concerning forest resources, land settlements, and socio-political transformations in Uttarakhand. The colonial administration systematically altered traditional forest rights, introduced scientific exploitation of natural resources, and restructured governance to serve British economic and strategic interests. The study also explores the long-term socio-economic consequences of these policies, including migration, economic dependency, and the emergence of nationalist resistance.

Authors and Affiliations

Rita Singh Rana
Research scholar, Department of Medieval and Modern History, University of Allahabad, Prayagraj, India

British colonial administration, Kumaon and Garhwal, Forest policies, Land settlement, Resource exploitation, Traditional forest rights, Economic dependency.

  1. B.D. Sanwal, Nepal and the East India Company: 115-156; Chaudhary, Indo-Nepalese Relation: 151, Dabral, Uttrakhand ka itihas, vol 7: 65; Extract from a letter from Hearsay to John Adams dated 24 August 1814 in Pre-Mutiny Records, Office of the Commissioner of Kumaun, Miscellaneous letter Received, series 1, 1814, vol 1, page 27 (UPSA, Lucknow): They (Gorkhas) are not aware of the the country they now hold in Garhwal are rich copper mines, iron in great abundance, Tari, Hemp and marts and yards of fir innumerable, sufficient to supply all the navy of England..If the country was given back to the former Rajah, a great flow of commerce would take place, highly beneficial to Great Britain and British commodities would by the Rootwal passes of Neetee, Mana, Juaar and Tacklakot find their way into Tartary even China.
  2. The hill Rajas, when they had successfully conquered and displaced, were mere ignorant selfish tyrants on bad terms with their own relations. Thus while there was amongst them no principle of combination for mutual defence against a common enemy, not one of the petty principalities was sufficiently strong or united within itself to be capable of substantial resistance.’, Prinsep, H.T., History of the Political Transections in India During the Administration of the Marquess of Hastings 1813-23, I: 55, Irish University Press, Shannon, Ireland, 1972 (1825).
  3.  J.N.L. Baker, History of Geographical Discoveries and Exploration; Percy Sykes, A History of Exploration: map page 102; Nathalie E. Hinger, A History of Discovery and Exploration: Africa and Asia: Mapping Two Continents: 73-75; Maclagan, Jesuits and the Great Mogul: 344; Kenneth Mason, Abode of Snow: 57; Wessels, Early Jesuit Travellers: 101; De Filippi, Account of Tibet: 365, ft 4; Pahad 11.
  4. Dhirendra Datt Dangwal, Himalayan Degradation: 15-17
  5. See: Pande, Girija, Geijerstam, Jan af. (Eds.), 2002, Tradition and Innovation in the History of Iron Making, Nainital; Geijerstam, Jan af., 2004, Landscapes of Technology Transfer: Swedish Iron Makers in India (1860-1864), Jernkontores Bergshistoriska, Skriftserie (Sweden)
  6. James C. Scott's statement about Southeast Asia also applies to Uttarakhand: “There is no doubt that the average burden of colonial rule on farmers' incomes was no less than that of any previous government. The colonial taxation system not only attacked the means of subsistence but was also implemented in a repressive manner.”(James C. Scott, 1976, The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in SouthEast Asia, Yale University Press: 92).
  7. Shekhar Pathak, Coolie Begar System in Uttarakhand, 13
  8. Upadhyay, History of Nepal : 114
  9. Mahesh C. Regmi, 1999, Imperial Gorkha
  10. Dabral: History of Uttarakhand, vol Five: 37
  11. Moorcroft and Trebeck, Travels in Hindustan, Part I; Dabral, Part 6
  12.  S.A.A. Rizvi, 1960, Freedom Struggle in U.P., Volume V: 176-80, 190-209, 269-276; Shekhar Pathak, Sarfaroshi desire of, 11-13; Tolia, Kumaon and rebellion, mountains 10, 281-294.

Publication Details

Published in : Volume 7 | Issue 6 | November-December 2024
Date of Publication : 2024-12-20
License:  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Page(s) : 48-51
Manuscript Number : GISRRJ24768
Publisher : Technoscience Academy

ISSN : 2582-0095

Cite This Article :

Rita Singh Rana , "British Policy Towards Kumaon and Garhwal Forest Area: A Historical Analysis", Gyanshauryam, International Scientific Refereed Research Journal (GISRRJ), ISSN : 2582-0095, Volume 7, Issue 6, pp.48-51, November-December.2024
URL : https://gisrrj.com/GISRRJ24768

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