Human settlement and colonization in the Sundarbans, 1200?1750

Eaton, Richard M.

doi:10.1007/bf01530432

Cited by 48 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Eaton (1991) describes in detail the history of human colonisation of the Sundarban from 1200 to 1750 A.D. and Richard and Flint (1991) provide details of the transformation of the Sundarban thereafter under British rule, whereas Presler (1991) discusses the management of the Sundarban until 1952. It is estimated that the Sundarban originally covered more than 40,000 km 2 in coastal Bengal.…”

Section: Threats To Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodiversity and its conservation in the Sundarban Mangrove Ecosystem

2006

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The Sundarban, covering about one million ha in the delta of the rivers Ganga, Brahmaputra and Meghna is shared between Bangladesh (~60 %) and India (~40 %), and is the world's largest coastal wetland. The area experiences a subtropical monsoonal climate with an annual rainfall of 1,600-1,800 mm and severe cyclonic storms. Enormous amounts of sediments carried by the rivers contribute to its expansion and dynamics. Salinity gradients change over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. The biodiversity includes about 350 species of vascular plants, 250 fi shes and 300 birds, besides numerous species of phytoplankton, fungi, bacteria, zooplankton, benthic invertebrates, molluscs, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. Species composition and community structure vary east to west, and along the hydrological and salinity gradients. Sundarban is the habitat of many rare and endangered animals (Batagur baska, Pelochelys bibroni, Chelonia mydas), especially the Royal Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris). Javan rhino, wild buffalo, hog deer, and barking deer are now extinct from the area. Large areas of the Sundarban mangroves have been converted into paddy fi elds over the past two centuries, and more recently into shrimp farms. The Sundarban has been extensively exploited for timber, fi sh, prawns and fodder. The regulation of river fl ows by a series of dams, barrages and embankments for diverting water upstream for various human needs and for fl ood control has caused large reduction in freshwater infl ow and seriously affected the biodiversity because of an increase in salinity and changes in sedimentation. Heritiera fomes (locally called Sundari, from which Sundarban derives its name), Nypa fruticans and Phoenix paludosa are declining rapidly. During the past three decades, large parts of the remaining Sundarban have been protected for wildlife, particularly tiger, through the creation of several sanctuaries and a biosphere reserve. Parts of the Sundarban in both India and Bangladesh have been declared World Heritage sites. However, its biodiversity continues to be threatened by a growing human population that not only places pressure on its biological resources, but also impacts on the freshwater infl ows from upstream areas. Oil exploration in coastal areas is also emerging as a new threat. Further threats arise from global climate change, especially sea level rise. The future of the Sundarban will depend upon the management of freshwater resources as much as on the conservation of its biological resources.

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Section: Threats To Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodiversity and its conservation in the Sundarban Mangrove Ecosystem

2006

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“…None the less, colonial and post-colonial deforestation in the Himalayas is presented as typifying the historical processes and patterns through which deforestation occurred elsewhere in India. Changes in resource stocks in other areas, which likely occurred in the pre-colonial era as a product of other social and economic forces, are refigured or historically foreshortened as colonial-era changes, after the pattern which is seen to have applied in the Himalayas [Eaton, 1990;Richards and Flint, 1990;Guha, 1995].…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

The ‘new traditionalist’ discourse of Indian environmentalism

Sinha

Gururani

Greenberg

1997

Journal of Peasant Studies

113

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In this article we identify 'new traditionalism' as the discourse that dominates the historiography of the Indian environment. We challenge the new traditionalist equation of 'forests' and 'nature', their assertion that 'traditional' agriculture was ecologically balanced, and was practised by self-contained communities, and their claims that women, forest dwellers and peasants were primarily the keepers of a special conservationist ethic. We next examine the new traditionalist claim that colonialism, modernity and development were exclusively responsible for the degradation of nature in India. Finally, we examine the new traditionalist interpretations of popular politics around environmental issues, specifically the Chipko movement. We make explicit the assumptions and political implications of new traditionalism and provide an alternative reading of Indian environmental history and politics.

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“…Management plans during the British period categorised the SMF as 'production forest' and Pakistan Forest Policies emphasised commercial use (Iftekhar and Islam, 2004). Since the Mughal period, there has been a tendency by state property rights regimes to emphasise and facilitate overharvesting and to consolidate state hegemony over the forest (Eaton, 1990). This resulted in the depletion of the SMF.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Rather, there was state recognition of forest clearance to produce substantial revenue by allowing agriculture (Biswas and Choudhury, 2007;Chowdhury et al, 2009;Iftekhar and Islam, 2004). As there was no strict management policy, the local people basically treated the SMF as a public good with both state and open access regimes for harvesting and conversion for agriculture (Eaton, 1990).…”

Section: Mughal Period (1526-1765)mentioning

confidence: 99%