INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. ProQuest Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. RAILWAY EXPANSION AND ITS IMPACT ON FORESTS IN COLONIAL INDIA, 1853-1884 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Pallavi V. Das, M. A. ***** The Ohio State University 2002 Dissertation Committee: Professor Stephen F. Dale, Adviser Professor Claire Robertson Dr. Jane Hathaway Adviser History Graduate Program Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number 3039462 UMI__ ___ (R) UMI Microform 3039462 Copyright 2002 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. Ail rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT The role of the British colonial state in exploiting India’s resources and its impact on the environment is the topic of this dissertation. More specifically, I show that the colonial state in India by the 1840s played an important role in promoting resource extracting infrastructural projects such as the railways and that the latter led to deforestation. There were two major mechanisms by which the railways caused deforestation. The railways needed wooden sleepers for their lines and firewood for their operation which were primarily obtained from India’s forests. I analyze these mechanisms both at the all-India level and at the provincial level in the Punjab for the period 1853-1884, by examining a variety of historical documents. These include colonial records, correspondence, contemporary journals, newspapers and books. The deforestation led to timber scarcity for the railways in the early 1860s both at the all-India level and in the Punjab. This crisis threatened the continuous and cheap supply of timber for the railways. I analyze the role played by the state in addressing the timber crisis. In particular, I look at forest conservation measures taken by the state. I show that these measures were exploitative, i.e. they, through maintaining timber supplies for railways and other resource extraction projects, aided the efficient extraction of ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. resources, rather than ecological. Consistent with this claim is the evidence I provide that the state implemented forest conservation only when a timber scarcity threatened to stop railway construction/expansion and operation. Also, when its conservation measures failed, the state obtained sleepers and firewood from outside British India in order to ensure the continuous operation of the railways. There is an additional aspect of the timber crisis and the state’s role in addressing it. For the state to implement forest conservation and other measures, deforestation had to be observed, measured and analyzed by scientists. I examine the extent to which and how one such scientist, Dr. Hugh Cleghom was able to influence forest conservation policies. 111 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my adviser, Professor Stephen Dale, for intellectual support, encouragement, and enthusiasm which made this dissertation possible. I thank Professor Claire Robertson for her patience in correcting both my scientific and stylistic errors. I am grateful to the following for helping me with my archival research and data collection: Research Room staff of the National Archives of India, New Delhi; the staff of provincial archives in India namely the Punjab Archives, Haryana Archives and Himachal Pradesh Archives; the librarians of the Railway Museum and of the Ministry of Railways (Railway Board), New Delhi; the staff of the India Office Collection in the British Library, London; the staff of the Special Collections at the University of Edinburgh and at the University of St. Andrews and finally Mr. Graham Hardy of the Royal Botanic Gardens Library in Edinburgh. I thank Raju Das for stimulating discussions and for reading and commenting on the drafts of this dissertation. This research was supported by the Graduate Student Alumni grant of the Ohio State University. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. VITA February 4, 1967.......................... Bom - Cuttack, India. 1987................................................B. S., Osmania University, Hyderabad, India. 199 2................................................M. A.(Anthropology), University of Hyderabad, India. 1993 - 1997................................... Graduate Teaching and Research Associate, The Ohio State University. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History Minor Field: World History v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract........................................................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... v V ita...............................................................................................................................................v List of Tables.............................................................................................................................. ix List of Maps..................................................................................................................................x List of Abbreviations..................................................................................................................xi Chapters 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 The Problem and the Context .............................................................................1 1.2 The Historiographical Setting ............................................................................ 2 1.3 Conceptual Framework ......................................................................................6 1.4 Summary and Chapter Organization ............................................................... 11 1.5 Sources ............................................................................................................... 14 2. Railways and Resource Extraction in Colonial India...................................................... 16 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 16 2.2 Railway Establishment as a Major Resource Extraction Project.................17 2.3 Railway Construction and Expansion............................................................ 25 2.4 Railway Establishment and Expansion in the Punjab.................................. 33 2.5 Conclusion .........................................................................................................49 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3. Railways’ Demand for Sleepers and Deforestation.............................................................55 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 55 3.2 Railways and the need for sleepers at the all-India level ............................. 56 3.3 Railways and the need for sleepers in the Punjab......................................... 71 3.4 Conclusion ..........................................................................................................93 4. The Forests and Railway Fuel Supply..............................................................................97