Re: [Assam] New Book on Assam Forest History -The Hindu
C'da, > But Prabhakara's own prolixity of the review is patience-taxing and > patronizing. Could be, could be. Dr. MSP used to live across from us during those Jalukbari days. At that time, even as youngsters, I remember him to have been more of a jean-clad cynic than patronizing. The jeans threw us off - since the rest of the faculty were either suited to the hilt or some like some from the Sanskrit or Assamese depts wore the traditional dhuti-panjabi. Most were uppity, but some like Dr. Maheswar Neog for instance, could be seen around campus, with clean, white dhuti-panjabi, and always a nod and a smile for the campus youngsters. Incidently, in the early 70s, Dr. MSP discovered a mid-sized boat and other relics in his front yard, from the Ahom times (I think), perhaps earlier. Archeologists dug up the rest, put a shed over it, and it was promptly forgotten. I am sure nature must have reclaimed the find by now. --Ram On 7/26/05, Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Interesting. > > But Prabhakara's own prolixity of the review is patience-taxing and > patronizing. > > > > > > > > > > > > > At 8:19 AM -0500 7/26/05, Ram Sarangapani wrote: > >For those interested, here is a new book titled 'Jungles, Reserves, > >Wildlife, A History of Forests in Assam' by Prof ArupJyoti Saikia, > >Cotton College. > > > >Follow the link to see some good photos and a write-up by Dr. MS Prabhakara. > > > > > >http://www.flonnet.com/fl2214/stories/20050715000207200.htm > > > > Vol:22 Iss:14 URL: > >http://www.flonnet.com/fl2214/stories/20050715000207200.htm > > > > > >>From wood to jungle to forest > > > >M.S. PRABHAKARA > > > >Jungles, Reserves, Wildlife: A History of Forests in Assam by > >Arupjyoti Saikia; Wild Areas Development and Welfare Trust, Guwahati, > >2005; pages 372, Rs.595. > > > >THE story that the author, who teaches history at the Cotton College > >in Guwahati, tells is not new. It is nevertheless worth telling again. > >This is because facts well known are not necessarily remembered, and > >the lessons from such facts are not necessarily learnt. So, while at > >times the narration might seem over-comprehensive to the point of the > >wood being lost for the trees, to use a metaphor apposite to the theme > >of the book, and the minutiae of its details may sometimes seem > >irrelevant and even incomprehensible insofar as the general reader is > >concerned, the story does hold one's attention. > > > >Put simply, the story is about how the "jungle" of pre-colonial times > >got transformed, one would even say transmogrified, via the mediation > >of colonial intervention, into the "forest" of modern days, with > >everything that the two terms imply. There is, undoubtedly, an element > >of wistful make-believe in this portrayal of the ancient "wood", the > >archetype of all untamed vegetation that existed in harmony with its > >environment at the very beginning of plant and animal life on the > >earth, before jungles and forests, into the "pristine jungle" of > >romance and myth, raw and pure and possessing an elemental beauty and > >mystery and magic, all the qualities seen and ascribed by human beings > >who even in the earliest times were both awed by its mystery and drawn > >by its productive resources, to the "wild jungle" of pre-colonial > >India and in course of time to the more ordered and managed and > >profitable "forest". > > > >The other, more solemn-sounding, objectives that the author sets for > >himself are to tell of the "making of the modern forests of Assam" and > >"to frame out the problematic environmental history of the region". > >Fortunately, little is heard of such "problematique" postmodernist > >jargon after the opening pages. > > > >This "innocence", if one may call it so, of the "jungle" of > >pre-colonial times is contrasted with the "organisation" of everything > >that followed colonial conquest and the incursion of new varieties of > >control inherent in the civil and military administration that > >followed that conquest: the surveys, the enactment of laws, > >regulations and rules; the commercial exploitation of the forest's > >wealth for the market whose aim was to preserve the forest to the > >extent of and in order to get the optimum out of the forests, the > >classic "enlightened-self-interest-for-the-common-and-greater-good" > >approach, the adverse impact that these policies had on the original > >inhabitants of the forests, human and animal, whose exploitation of > >their environment was for their own sustenance, not for accumulation > >of surplus for the market and the creation of wealth for personal > >enrichment. > > > >The book deals with all these subjects, and more. Organised under six > >chapters (not seven, as the author erroneously says on page 11) > >excluding the "Introduction" and "After Words" (sic) the story cove
Re: [Assam] New Book on Assam Forest History -The Hindu
Interesting. But Prabhakara's own prolixity of the review is patience-taxing and patronizing. At 8:19 AM -0500 7/26/05, Ram Sarangapani wrote: For those interested, here is a new book titled 'Jungles, Reserves, Wildlife, A History of Forests in Assam' by Prof ArupJyoti Saikia, Cotton College. Follow the link to see some good photos and a write-up by Dr. MS Prabhakara. http://www.flonnet.com/fl2214/stories/20050715000207200.htm Vol:22 Iss:14 URL: http://www.flonnet.com/fl2214/stories/20050715000207200.htm From wood to jungle to forest M.S. PRABHAKARA Jungles, Reserves, Wildlife: A History of Forests in Assam by Arupjyoti Saikia; Wild Areas Development and Welfare Trust, Guwahati, 2005; pages 372, Rs.595. THE story that the author, who teaches history at the Cotton College in Guwahati, tells is not new. It is nevertheless worth telling again. This is because facts well known are not necessarily remembered, and the lessons from such facts are not necessarily learnt. So, while at times the narration might seem over-comprehensive to the point of the wood being lost for the trees, to use a metaphor apposite to the theme of the book, and the minutiae of its details may sometimes seem irrelevant and even incomprehensible insofar as the general reader is concerned, the story does hold one's attention. Put simply, the story is about how the "jungle" of pre-colonial times got transformed, one would even say transmogrified, via the mediation of colonial intervention, into the "forest" of modern days, with everything that the two terms imply. There is, undoubtedly, an element of wistful make-believe in this portrayal of the ancient "wood", the archetype of all untamed vegetation that existed in harmony with its environment at the very beginning of plant and animal life on the earth, before jungles and forests, into the "pristine jungle" of romance and myth, raw and pure and possessing an elemental beauty and mystery and magic, all the qualities seen and ascribed by human beings who even in the earliest times were both awed by its mystery and drawn by its productive resources, to the "wild jungle" of pre-colonial India and in course of time to the more ordered and managed and profitable "forest". The other, more solemn-sounding, objectives that the author sets for himself are to tell of the "making of the modern forests of Assam" and "to frame out the problematic environmental history of the region". Fortunately, little is heard of such "problematique" postmodernist jargon after the opening pages. This "innocence", if one may call it so, of the "jungle" of pre-colonial times is contrasted with the "organisation" of everything that followed colonial conquest and the incursion of new varieties of control inherent in the civil and military administration that followed that conquest: the surveys, the enactment of laws, regulations and rules; the commercial exploitation of the forest's wealth for the market whose aim was to preserve the forest to the extent of and in order to get the optimum out of the forests, the classic "enlightened-self-interest-for-the-common-and-greater-good" approach, the adverse impact that these policies had on the original inhabitants of the forests, human and animal, whose exploitation of their environment was for their own sustenance, not for accumulation of surplus for the market and the creation of wealth for personal enrichment. The book deals with all these subjects, and more. Organised under six chapters (not seven, as the author erroneously says on page 11) excluding the "Introduction" and "After Words" (sic) the story covers the period between 1874, when the territory of Assam came under direct colonial rule after being placed under a Chief Commissioner, and 1947. Technically, however, the cut-off point of the narration is 1950, the year of the great earthquake that had, in the author's words, "a tremendous impact on the forest resources of Assam in maters of loss of forest coverage and depletion of forest landscape". The lack of conceptual precision made worse by prolixity of the passage cited is typical of much of the author's "theoretical formulations" - which, again fortunately, taper off after a while, though examples of such prolixity and repetition abound. Here is an example from the very opening pages where the author speaks of the ownership of the forest and the exploitation of its resources, especially timber and elephant: RITU RAJ KONWAR Inside the Manas National Park in Assam. Through a process that involved colonial intervention and subsequently administrative action, the ancient "wood" transformed itself into "jungle" and then "forest", a term that indicates orderly management and profit. "Quite often the Ahom kingdom is known to have paid tributes to the Mughal emperor in the form of large number of elephants
[Assam] New Book on Assam Forest History -The Hindu
For those interested, here is a new book titled 'Jungles, Reserves, Wildlife, A History of Forests in Assam' by Prof ArupJyoti Saikia, Cotton College. Follow the link to see some good photos and a write-up by Dr. MS Prabhakara. http://www.flonnet.com/fl2214/stories/20050715000207200.htm Vol:22 Iss:14 URL: http://www.flonnet.com/fl2214/stories/20050715000207200.htm >From wood to jungle to forest M.S. PRABHAKARA Jungles, Reserves, Wildlife: A History of Forests in Assam by Arupjyoti Saikia; Wild Areas Development and Welfare Trust, Guwahati, 2005; pages 372, Rs.595. THE story that the author, who teaches history at the Cotton College in Guwahati, tells is not new. It is nevertheless worth telling again. This is because facts well known are not necessarily remembered, and the lessons from such facts are not necessarily learnt. So, while at times the narration might seem over-comprehensive to the point of the wood being lost for the trees, to use a metaphor apposite to the theme of the book, and the minutiae of its details may sometimes seem irrelevant and even incomprehensible insofar as the general reader is concerned, the story does hold one's attention. Put simply, the story is about how the "jungle" of pre-colonial times got transformed, one would even say transmogrified, via the mediation of colonial intervention, into the "forest" of modern days, with everything that the two terms imply. There is, undoubtedly, an element of wistful make-believe in this portrayal of the ancient "wood", the archetype of all untamed vegetation that existed in harmony with its environment at the very beginning of plant and animal life on the earth, before jungles and forests, into the "pristine jungle" of romance and myth, raw and pure and possessing an elemental beauty and mystery and magic, all the qualities seen and ascribed by human beings who even in the earliest times were both awed by its mystery and drawn by its productive resources, to the "wild jungle" of pre-colonial India and in course of time to the more ordered and managed and profitable "forest". The other, more solemn-sounding, objectives that the author sets for himself are to tell of the "making of the modern forests of Assam" and "to frame out the problematic environmental history of the region". Fortunately, little is heard of such "problematique" postmodernist jargon after the opening pages. This "innocence", if one may call it so, of the "jungle" of pre-colonial times is contrasted with the "organisation" of everything that followed colonial conquest and the incursion of new varieties of control inherent in the civil and military administration that followed that conquest: the surveys, the enactment of laws, regulations and rules; the commercial exploitation of the forest's wealth for the market whose aim was to preserve the forest to the extent of and in order to get the optimum out of the forests, the classic "enlightened-self-interest-for-the-common-and-greater-good" approach, the adverse impact that these policies had on the original inhabitants of the forests, human and animal, whose exploitation of their environment was for their own sustenance, not for accumulation of surplus for the market and the creation of wealth for personal enrichment. The book deals with all these subjects, and more. Organised under six chapters (not seven, as the author erroneously says on page 11) excluding the "Introduction" and "After Words" (sic) the story covers the period between 1874, when the territory of Assam came under direct colonial rule after being placed under a Chief Commissioner, and 1947. Technically, however, the cut-off point of the narration is 1950, the year of the great earthquake that had, in the author's words, "a tremendous impact on the forest resources of Assam in maters of loss of forest coverage and depletion of forest landscape". The lack of conceptual precision made worse by prolixity of the passage cited is typical of much of the author's "theoretical formulations" - which, again fortunately, taper off after a while, though examples of such prolixity and repetition abound. Here is an example from the very opening pages where the author speaks of the ownership of the forest and the exploitation of its resources, especially timber and elephant: RITU RAJ KONWAR Inside the Manas National Park in Assam. Through a process that involved colonial intervention and subsequently administrative action, the ancient "wood" transformed itself into "jungle" and then "forest", a term that indicates orderly management and profit. "Quite often the Ahom kingdom is known to have paid tributes to the Mughal emperor in the form of large number of elephants as war indemnity" (page 9). "The elephant often turned out to be the saviour of royal prestige as it was often given as a gift in the case of defeat of Ahoms"
