Colonialism and Wildlife

This book delves into the history of the commercialization of wildlife in India. It examines the colonial strategies that were employed in the commodification of wildlife resources specifically for lucrative domestic and international trade during the early nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. It looks at how and why the colonial administration paid special emphasis on hunting and game sports which largely contributed to commodity capitalism in the form of taxidermy and wildlife exports. The author also critically analyses the wildlife laws and regulations promulgated by the colonial administration, such as the elephant protection act, birds and fisheries act, the forest acts, and studies how they have systematically brought wildlife under state control with a commercial motive.

An important contribution to the environmental history of India, this book is an essential interdisciplinary resource for scholars and researchers of history, colonialism, wildlife studies, economic history, ecological studies, environmental history, Indian history, South Asian studies, and development studies.

Velayutham Saravanan is Professor, Centre for Jawaharlal Nehru Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia (Central University), New Delhi, India. Earlier, he had a short stint at Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi, as Director of School of Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies (SOITS). He was also associated with the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad and Giri Institute of Development Studies (GIDS), Lucknow. He is the author of Colonialism, Environment and Tribals in South India, 1792-1947 (2017); Environmental History and Tribals in Modern India (2018), Water and Environmental History of Modern India (2020), Environmental History of Modern India: Land, Population, Technology and Development (2022), Political Economy of Development and Environment in Modern India (2023) and Political Economy of Modern South India (Forthcoming). He was also the Editor of History and Sociology of South Asia, and had published several articles and presented papers at both national and international academic fora.