Colonial Forest Policy in Uttarakhand, 1890-1928

Colonial Forest Policy in Uttarakhand examines the roots of the Uttarakhand problem–the backwardness of this Himalayan region–which lie in the nature of colonial intervention in the area. Since British forest policy was the main instrument of colonial exploitation of Uttarakhand, this study looks at colonial forest legislation, the disruption it caused and the resistance to it. This book also explores some of the other ways in which colonialism touched upon the destinies of the people of the area : urbanization, diet patterns and transhumance. Several aspects of the colonial encounter in Uttarakhand remain inadequately researched. An attempt is made in this work to understand the wider implications of the forest question in Uttarakhand and relate these to the almost total deprivation which the people of this region suffered under British rule.