Through the long history of India that preceded the arrival of the
Mohammedans in the 10th to 12th centuries, it appears that the forest
area was only slowly encroached upon by the Hindoo civilization. Even
when the invaders, nomads by habit, drove many of the native race into
the jungle to eke out a precarious existence, owing to the remarkable
recuperative powers of a tropical nature the impression made was not
permanent. Although much forest growth was then destroyed, cleared or
mutilated, changes took place only slowly.
It has been claimed, that in consequence of the destruction, which was
incident to the nomadic life of the Mohammedans and the shifting
agriculture of the aborigines, climatic changes were produced, but the
proof for this assertion has remained questionable.
When in the 18th century the British entered India in rivalry with the
French and other European nations, it was, of course, only for purposes
of exploitation, and for a long time after the British had attained the
ascendancy and had subjected most of the territory now ruled by them,
not much concern was had about the forests; they furnished but small
values, excepting in one particular, namely supplies of Teak for naval
purposes. In the beginning of the 19th century the Government became
concerned regarding these supplies, which under the rough exploitation
threatened to become exhausted.
The first step towards securing some conservative management dates back
to 1806, when Captain Watson was sent to India as Conservator of
Forests, to look after the interests of the East India Company in this
direction. His inability to compromise with those who had secured timber
privileges led to his removal and an abandonment of the office, in 1823.
Ineffective, sporadic efforts at administration by the provincial
governments then followed.
In 1839-40, the government of the Bombay Presidency stopped the cutting
of Teak trees on government property. In 1834, M. Connolly, Collector of
Malabar in the Madras Presidency, began to plant Teak on a large scale
at Nilambur. In 1847, Dr. Gibson was appointed Conservator of Forests in
Bombay; from 1848 to 1856, Lieutenant (now General, C. S. I.) James
Michael conducted the government timber operations in the Anamalai Teak
forests (Madras), and made the first recorded attempts to protect Indian
forests from injury by annual jungle fires.
In 1856, Dr. Hugh Cleghorn was appointed Conservator of Forests in
Madras. He checked the destructive practices of temporary cultivation in
the government forests of that Presidency, a measure, which at first was
strongly opposed by the people, but his well-known desire to promote
native interests inspired the rulers of the country with confidence, and
finally his measures were successful.
Various attempts at some kind of regulation of the exploitation by
lumbermen were also made by the general government, after various
examinations and reports, and, in 1847, even a small and ineffective
forest department was organized.
The annexation of the Province of Pegu in lower Burma, in 1852,
introduced a new complication, and proved the turning point in forestry
matters. In this province, the right to cut Teak had been reserved by
the native princes, and hence became a right of the crown, but private
lumbermen began to cut this timber, and, after an investigation and
report, it was decided to take definite steps to regulate the use of
these valuable Teak forests at least.
Lord Dalhousie, the then Governor-General, upon the basis of the report
of the superintendent of forests at Pegu, Dr. McClelland, in 1855 laid
down in statesmanlike manner an outline of a permanent forest policy for
the government, and introduced the first professional adviser.
In 1856, a German forester from Hesse, Dietrich Brandis (afterward Sir)
was installed as superintendent of forests for Pegu with wide powers
under contract for 10 years, at a liberal salary, and pension after
retirement. The only possible check that could at first be applied was
to force the lumbermen to make contracts, limit the diameter to which
the exploitation was to be allowed, and mark the trees to be felled.
This was done, naturally not without a large amount of friction.
The result of this experiment in forest conservancy, as the English are
pleased to call it, was so satisfactory, that, in 1862, it was decided
to organize a forest department for all India; Brandis was entrusted
with the organization, and, in 1864, he was appointed head of the new
department under the Secretary of Public Works with the title of
Inspector-General, acting as adviser of the various provincial
governments.
The forests of India during the next 20 years during which Brandis held
office, were, province by province, brought under the regime of the
Imperial Forest Department, although the provincial governments retain
full and independent administrative power.
The first problem was to settle ownership conditions, which was done in
the manner described before, by the act of 1865, and by later acts.
The discontent which was created by this act came very near wrecking the
whole enterprise, and much difference of opinion between the local and
general governments existed, the government of Madras going so far as to
declare the impossibility of establishing State property in view of the
acknowledged rights of the villagers over waste lands. The general
policy, however, finally prevailed, and an increasingly harmonious
cooperation of the provincial governments has allowed the development of
an efficient forest service.
Various provincial legislation was considered, passed and repealed,
until, in 1878, the Indian Forest Act VII settled the policy at least
for the majority of the provinces, Madras and Burma and some minor
districts still declining to extend its provisions to their forests. The
Burma government enacted, however, similar legislation in 1881, and the
Madras government in 1882, and, much later, the other outstanding
governments followed (1886 to 1891), so that, while the detail of
application varies not inconsiderably, the general policy regarding
forest property of the State is the same throughout the empire. Whatever
of uniformity exists had to be secured mainly by persuasive means.
The forest acts, as stated on a previous page, contain certain
provisions regarding formation of village forests and control of private
forest property, but no interference with private forest property has
been attempted, although in some parts this is more important and larger
than the State holdings. Most of the owners merely exploit their
property, but some of the larger, more enlightened native princes have
established forest administrations, imitating the example of the
Imperial government. Those of Mysore and Kashmir and Hyderabad have
placed this administration under an imperial forest officer, furloughed
for this purpose, and derive handsome revenues; the Kashmir forests of
about 2500 square miles yielding round $180,000; those of Mysore, near
2000 square miles, over $330,000, this largely derived from sales of
sandal wood; those of the Nizam of Hyderabad, with 5200 square miles in
reserves and 4400 in protected forests, deriving a revenue of $75,000,
seven times what it was ten years before.