Chapter 1: Introduction

The thesis entitled ‘Forest Administration in South Odisha Under the British Raj (A.D. 1858-1947): A Study’ is an attempt for revelation the importance of forest management in the context of south Odisha under the British Raj. The forests were recognised by the British as great assets of their colony having substantial potential to generate taxable as well as non-taxable revenue and hence, they felt the necessity of laying out a systematic administrative set-up over the subject. On the other hand, the forests were intrinsically considered as an integral part of the human life in the area of reference and their dependency on forests in those historical days was more prominent in comparison to that is realised in the contemporary context of 21^st century. Each of the decisions from the part of the colonial government on construction and re-construction of the administrative set-up had bearings on all the aspects of life of the people living in the area. By the impact of such colonial policies the relationship between the men and the forests underwent some fundamental changes and such vicissitude was rather explicitly realised in South Odisha. In the earlier part of the colonial era, it is apparent that the importance of forest administration could not attract due attention of the British administrators. The present study throws light on those parts of south Odisha which was under the administration of the Madras Presidency that become a part of the newly formed state of Odisha in the year 1936.