how british become and influencing forest in india truth diwani
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Answer:
The influences and interests that shaped colonial forest policy have become
the subject of increasing historical interest. In terms of colonial intrusion in
land management, the Indian Forest Department came to own a fifth of
the land area of the subcontinent, making it one of the largest forestry
enterprises in the world. Foresters were often the new face of an alien
power, whose control over the countryside extended far beyond the cultivated lands into the hills and jungles. Thus, the story of the origins of
forestry can help understand the changing attitudes of the British towards
the woods and the people who used them. We need to consider too the
extent to which the colonial era was a major ecological watershed. Further,
the influence of particular interests or specific ideological preferences on
policy choices requires rigorous analysis.
The central premise of imperial forester historians was that the imperial
phase was a watershed. Ribbentrop argued that scientific forestry under
imperial aegis marked the end of a 'war on the forests'.' Stebbing contended
that rapacious private interests had been brought under scientific supervision and control.? For the imperial forester historians, a peace with nature
was a logical corollary to a peace among the subjects of the empire. Pax
Sylvana was coterminous with Pax Britannica.
It is only recently that such notions have 1 un to be revised and
qualified, Guha has argued that the practice. Top colonial forestry were
largely an outgrowth of the revenue and strategic needs of the empire