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International Journal of Humanities and Arts

Vol. 4, Issue 1, Part A (2022)

Forest ecology, riparian landscape and agriculture in European traveller accounts during the seventeenth century in India

Author(s):

Rayajuddin

Abstract:

The period from the late sixteenth to the early eighteenth century- in the light of archaeological, literary sources and newly translated material on Mughal India should be re-interrogated in the context of the issues like forest, fauna and flora, rivers, climate, plant or mineral wealth. The relationship between ecology and human beings emerged as one of the central questions in the contemporary world. Environmental historian in India has historically investigated this question. The fact, however, is that ecological history writing in India gave more focus to British India. Consequently, medieval India remained a further less explored domain so far as ecology is concerned. The proposed paper attempts to address this gap by focusing on the representation of ecological conditions of India by European travellers during the seventeenth century in India. This paper's main focus is to explore how European travellers depicted the environmental conditions such as the nature of forest cover, riparian landscape, horticultural practices, and several animals and hunting practices at one level. Also, at another level, an attempt has been made to explore how European travellers depicted the relationship between human beings and ecologically sensitive resources. In short, an attempt would be made to retrieve the ecological narratives of European travellers in Mughal India. The main objective of this paper is to conceptualise the relationship between man and nature in medieval India in the light of European travel writings.

Pages: 24-28  |  573 Views  234 Downloads

How to cite this article:
Rayajuddin. Forest ecology, riparian landscape and agriculture in European traveller accounts during the seventeenth century in India. Int. J. Humanit. Arts 2022;4(1):24-28. DOI: 10.33545/26647699.2022.v4.i1a.29
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