Progressive Nature: TF Bourdillon and Ideals of Scientific Forestry in Princely Travancore, 1870-1910

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=MAN & SOCIETY

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Newman College, Thodupuzha, Kerala

Progressive Nature:TF Bourdilon and rdears of scientific Forestry in princery

Travancore, 1g70-1910

Amruth MrAbstract

TF Bourdillon, a coffbe planter turned forester was appointed as Assistantconservator oJ Forest in Thiruvito*iu, princery state in rgghs. subse_quently, he became Conservator and heti hrs offr* for nearry a decadehalf until 190g. This period saw moclernization oy tnn yornrt clepartment inThiruvitamkur. The report prepared by Bourdilton in early Ig90 titlerl ,,AReport on the Forests of riavinco.r-e,' is a revearing account oJ the idea oJnature, human nLture besicres the irrears and progra'.**r, oJ.recasting thesenatures in tune with the ongoing ana ,xpordirg" dirrourre oJ.progress, im_provement and civilising' This papet while criicalty anarysing the implicitideals and strategies of vatoiising lrc porrr'rl,"Xro*t"dge to create amodern.forest administration ancr a"-,govrrn*rnryorest estate,arso attemptsto track the wider imprications and known poroitrt, oJ anarogues projectsin the social and administrative arena in princery Thiruvitamkur. consicl-ering the rore of modern forrns of knowredg" in ir-rorting the nature ancr,perpetuating the idea of a mutabre human nature is consequent to emer-gence of discourse oJ moclern and progressive.

Intnoduction

In this paper I shall describe the efforts male in princely state of riavancore during thesecond half for 19 century and early decades of 20,h centr.v uv TF Bourdillon to create anormalised-government-'forest estaie'. These efforts wer" ,iude with the conceptual aid ofcontinental Forestry' I will demonstrate how nature/forests began to be viewed as a resourceand how it was urilised. Further, I would dir."*il;;;;;;; *", i".^*d in a new and f.uturisriclanguage - a developmentalist discourse - attempting to govern nature to enhance production andptoductivity' This would amount to depicting th" roltiorr"ur", orgou.*-ent enframed in the dis-c'urses of improvement andprogress under colonial conditiois. Here, ideas of ,improvement,and 'progress' are treated as developmental reasons, involving aparticular notion of linear time.

New Man & SocietyJuly-December 2012

Progressive Nature: TF Bourdillon and lcleals of Scientffic Forestry in princely... 2

Iproceed by examining key episodes in the introduction of Continental Forestry idealsunder the Colonial Conditions. Thrust is on demonstrating how forestry aimed to conserve for-ests for fufure production and consumption. This can be problematised by examining the visionsof this genre of foreshy as articulated in the official writings. These writings on foresls be consid-ered as discursive representations enabling certain seiof forestry practices, constituted byEurocentric knowledges that are implicit in the institutionalisation and reinvention of state.2 It ispossible to demonstrate how certain forms of knowledge, representations and practices werevalorised' Further, we would also examine how they achievediegitimate currency and the statusof normal and natural, while the contrasting ones are subsumed./marginalised by rendering theminferior and primitive.

In 1 884, a Joint Committee on Administration of Tiavancore Forests consisting of seniorofficers of forest, revenue and other departments, was constituted to look into the matters offorest adminisfration and report on its defects. In the joint Report, the Committee expressed theirconviction that there existed an urgent need for a revision of the system of administration offorests in the State- Assistant Conselvator, T.F. Bourdillon, was assigned the duty of preparing adetailed report on the modalities of effecting these changes. The Committee also made proposalsfor reserving forests and for making an enactment similar to that of Madras ForestAct. Subse-quently, a draft regulation was prepared. Tiavancore promulgated the flrst Forest Regulation in1 888 for 'want of a comprehensive legislativ"

"nu.t-.nt for the proper protection, of forests.3

Bourdillon's Report on the forests of rravancore was submitted inlgg2and was pub-lished in 1893' The proposals in the Report, the Forest Regulation, and Bourdillon on the lead asConservator, heralded an era of reforms in utilisation of forests in Tiavancore. The Report was adefinite statement ontherole of forests in the State's economy as perceived andinfluencedbytheemerging School of Tiopical Foresfiy. This School was devellping in hrne with the rationalities ofColonial Governance and was informed by the notion that forest is a production space capableof catering imperial interests. Bourdillon's Report is replete with terminologies, conceptu alcat-egories and rhetorical strategies which are unmistakable signatures of Colonial discourse on'progress' and'improvement'.

Following a detailed review of the existing system of management and description of theforest tracts, Bourdillon made elaborate proposals for the future course of management of for-ests in the State. Constitution of a state forest territory - the Forest Estate - by means of reserva-tion of forests, and improvement of forests by regeneration and establishment of plantations,apart from achieving an informed administration, were the key proposals made bybourdillon.Travancore Forest Regulation and its consecutive amendments were mainly for providing legalbacking for the envisaged plan of large-scale forest annexation by the state. The rationale ofReservation was in resonance with the established norms of 'sustained yield forestry'. Accordingto Bourdillon, objective of Reservation was:

New Man & Society July-December 2012

Anrurh M

' ' 'not merely to prevent the destruction of the forests by hill-cultivators, though thisis very necessary. The forests can never improve so l,ong as the timber in them isfelled at random and without any system, weather by Government or by holders ofpermits, and the objects of working plans is to arrange that timber should be felledover a certain area each year or couple of years, while the rest of the forests is leftundisturbed till the time comes round for the trees in each portion of it to be cutdown (Bourdillon 1 893: 1 6g).

Reselation formed the flrst step in the alterations in forest governance. These alterationsmeant adoption of a series of measures such as demarcation of boundaries, implementation ofworking plans, controlled extraction of timber and control of hill-cultivation etc.

Modalities of Governance for ,fmprovement'

Bourdillon's convictions were mediated by the ideas prevailed in the tropical forestry andhe trusted in the ability of the science of forestry to recast forests. He maintained that ....forestshave their uses and cannot be dispensed with'.a His identification of uses of forests included, itsfunction in climatic regulation and economy of the country. These rationales of treating nature aspotential and present resources' when harnessed scientifically, prompted hirn to make calcula-tions as to how much forest is necessary for meeting the needs of an advancing civilisation. Whiledeciding the extent of forests to be reserved, he observed that it was necessary to consider theneeds of the population:

If they are backward in the scale of civilisation, all that they need may be enough fuelto cook their food, and sufficient wood to make their bows and arrows unJrp.u.handles. on the other hand, they may require, as in Ameri ca, arargequantity oftimber per head per annum.. . .[w]e have to consider . . .the possiut" n""a, or uconstantly increasing population, accumulating wealth, and advancing in civilisation.(Bourdillon 1893:202)

Having decided on the total extent to be reserved as 3885 sq. km. for meeting the presentand future needs of the country, Bourdillon declared that' .. .no money should be spend on thearea excluded' Not only would we object to the clearing of this land, but we would in every wayapprove of it, as this would tend to make the country more healthy and accessible.,s These ideasof utilitarian instrumentality and improvement of iorests through rationalised procedures haveinform'ed all his subsequent recommendations for the future orlanisation of the Forest Depart-ment and its activities in the State.

Creation of a Legible Forest TerritoryIntention to reserve forest tracts in the State, in the wake of allotting forestlands for com-

mercial cultivation, was expressed as early as l874]na government notification.6 HoweveiNew Man & Societt

July-December 2012

Progressive Nature: TF Bourditlon ancl Icleals of scientific Forestry in princely... 4

reservation of forests as part of improvement' was for creating a depopulated govemment .For-estEstate'' This estate was to be carefully demarcated into blocks, and the trees in it enumeratedfor the available standing timber forphased extraction. Bourdillon observed that, ,It is not suffl-cient to exclude the hillmen and those who live by shifting cultivation. . ..but we want some thingmore than this ' ' ' that all portions of the forests shoutd be equally worked. . . the forest must bedivided into blocks each of which must be made to yield its produce in turn while the othersclosed to all work''7 The extraction was to be followei by adopting measures for regeneration ofvaluable timber species. operations in the reserved forlsts t ao to be supplemented by raisingmonocrop plantations of valuable species on more productive lands in the lower altitudes. Thiswas a regular progralnme with fixed annual targets for plantation extension. The whole process

was to be carried out under strict supervision of a cadie of able and trained forest stafl. Suchsupervision and surveillance necessitated a radical reorganisation of the Departmental structure.This involved the creation of a trained cadre, developlent of new communication networks,camping facilities, tury"y, mapping andplanning the timberextraction and setting up of a systemof timber marketing' These measures were to achieve a concentration of activiti", oitt "

orprrt-ment and increase the surveillance with optimal number of staff. Let us examine in detail howthese broad recommendations were transiated on ground and what were the impacts on thepeasants and tribals. To Bourdillon forest was reducible to trees on which axe can be applied togain timber' That is how, the forest began to be imagined as waiting for Man,s use in the presentand future' Forestreduced as timber was seen through the lenses of both the use and exchange

Bourdillon's strategies for effecting 'improvement'of forests can be understood as fallingunder two categories of forestry activities; raising plantations of timber species and controlledfelling of natural forests. To him both these activities were to be preceded by creation of a welldemarcated Forest Estate through declaration of reserved forests.8 Reserve Forests were thus toserve two different functions; economic and protective. 'protection forests, were those whichare on the steeper slopes or on the headwaters of the streams where the forest growth is neces-sary for ensuring stability of slope and regulation of flow of water. Economic function included,mainly, supplying timberformeeting internal as well as extemal demands, thus earningrevenue tothe State exchequer. Apart from timber, there was need for meeting the demand for fuel wood,so recommendations for beginning fuel wood plantations were also made.

Deciding on the modalities of improving the production of timber from mixed forest was amajor challenge' After reviewing the advantages and disadvantages of 'French natural system, offorestry and 'system of phased clear-felling' of forest blocks, a-rationalised system of selectivefelling or Jardinage was recommend for the forests of Travancore. The system of Jardinage wasaimed at producing a regularised forest enriched with the stock of valuable timber species, byselectively removing the mature ones in aphasedmanneracross the blocks identifled and demar-


Amruth M

cated in advance. The process was based on the sustained yield principle by 'restricting theannual fellings to what the forests can yield without deterioration' and afso Uy 'distributing thefellings equally over forests'. The planning of the forestry operations for the ,sustained yield,necessitated, preparation of Working Plans on the basis of a careful enumeration of the standingtimber, estimation of growth rates based on actual ground survey and extrapolation using allom-ekicfunctions.e

Working Plan thus becanne the new management diagram for implementing concepts of'maximum sustained yield', which reached in India through G"r-un foresters.l0 The treatise ofDArcy on the form and formalities of preparing Wort<ing elans published in 1g9g provided astandardized model for it.1 I Working Plans were considered as professional and objective judg-ments of the 'scientifically' trained foresters. They were considered as inviolable prescriptions forforest governance.l2

Even during the heydays of SustainedYeldForestry the ForestDepartmentofTravancoredid not have complete control over the forested tracts within the State territory. A large areacomprising Cardamom Hill reserve and the Kannan Devan Concession lands were under thedirect supervision of the Cardamom Superintendent until its final dissolution in 1 9 10. r3 By theturn of the 20th century, a number of Working Schemes on rotation of six years were alreadybeing used as guidelines for localized felling in compact areas. The official historian noted thatthese schemes '. . .did not visualize a regulated system or take into account the demands ofscientific sylviculture.' Ia

Marking a Forest TerritorySurvey and demarcation of the forest tracts were integral to the planned forest manage-

ment or normalisation of forests; besides they were prerequisite for creation of Forest Estate andWorking Plans.rs While penning the plan of action for Travancore forests, Bourdillon foresawthat a 'considerable amount of work in the way of surveying will have to be done., Survey anddemarcation of precise boundaries were not customary in the initial phase. Towards the 20,hcentury when the sulvey and settlement work had sufficiently progressed and institutionalised, itbecame customary to conduct survey before the land is allocated or put to use. Later,it wasnecessary to attach a copy of the surveyed plot while applying for such lands.l6

In the mid 1880s, when the reservation of the forests and improvement of forest adminis-tration were being contemplated, it was felt that '[p]reliminary to carrying out the schemes offorest conservancy ...it was found necessary in the first place to acquire a full and accurateknowledge of their extent, condition, resources and value and to mark off the reserves., 17 Surveywas aninsftumentto enhance thelegibiliq' of tenainin whichthe statewas intendingtoindulge.ASurvey Department of the State was formed for this purpose in 1883.1s Demarcation of bound-aries of reserve forests and concession lands became a major preoccupation of the Forest De-New Man & Society July-December 2012

Progressive Nature: TF Bourdillon and ldeals of Scientffic Forestry in princely...

partment by the early decades of 20th century. Maps and sketches were made annually and theprogress of the work was promptly reported to the paramount power. le By 1920s, the SurveyDepartment of Tiavancore was working in collaboration with a team of experts from Survey ofIndia. Owing to these activities there accumulated a considerable amount of numerical and geo-metrical data for the use of the forester. In shoft, statistics as a state craft penetrated into forest-lands forgovernance.

Apart from mapping and surveying it was also important to demarcate boundaries of theblocks of forests recognisable on the ground.2O The plan was to 'cut up into blocks fthe reservedforestsl the area of which must be accurately ascertained . . .and these blocks must again be cutup into compafiments for more detailed working' .2r Then the utility of such map was expectedto be much more than simple display of the geographical features of the forested territory. It alsoenabled planning for future developmental activities. Valuation survey involving enumeration, classingand measurement of the standing timber and their spatial distribution was to follow the geo-graphical survey, so that this information could be incorporated into maps to aid planning ofphased extraction of timber. In a way, as James Scott observed, this enabled the forester to readthe regularised forests in the area he is commanding, by sitting in an office remotely placed fromhis territory.22

The actual process of estimating the timber yield and distributing the exfraction across thespace and time in the mixed stands of forests were becoming increasingly complex, as thesylvicultural standards for most tropical trees were not yet known. By lg\2,preparation ofpreliminary workingplans was initiatedin all the Divisions excepting the SouthernDivision.23Insome cases, initial plans were later found not practicable on ground. Therefore, these workingplans had to be reworked. For instance, 'the working plan scheme which was in operation fromI076 to 1081 fyear 1901 to 1906], each reserve was divided into 6 blocks. The blocks werefound to be too large to work with in a year. A scheme was drawn up and a new rotation to runon for 20 years was stafted . . . subject to revision at the end of five years.'2a The enumerationwork was also taking up time of survey staff and it was reported that they were mostly engagedin the valuation sulvey at the Cheduruney Valley and therefore no other major surveys could betaken up. In the valley, about 130 sq. km. of forestlands 'were explored and the distribution ofspecies and the composition and density of the forests were examined and recorded.'25 TheValley was one of the first forest tracts to be enumerated, surveyed, yield calculated and pre-dicted as per the established protocols of continental forestry. Therefore, the results of the fellingfrom the Cheduruney Valley were anxiously awaited to judge if these protocols had universalapplicability to the forests in the State. As a result the working plans prepared for the other tractswere temporarily suspended while waiting for the results of Cheduruny Felling Series.26 How-ever, no credulous results came forth due to a number of hindrances such as scarcity of labour,difficulty to access the depot from coupe and inefficiency of the felling contractor.


Amruth M

The flrst two decades of the 20h century witnessed regular demarcation of forest bound-aries, enumeration of timber trees and enthusiastic pursuits of preparing working plans for moreand more forest blocks. Plans for harvesting special resources such as sandalwood were also

under preparation during this period. It was reported that, in 1910, Conservator's office pre-pared 311 maps. Such information was frequently made in the Reports ofAdministration to showthe progress of the work. Despite all these, even atthe end of 1910, the planned forestry was yetto be born in the State. The Report by the Conservator testifies this:

With the exception of the Shendumi Working Circle, all other reserves of the North-ern, Kottayam, Central and Quilon Divisions were worked more or less under theprovisions of the oldpreliminaryWorking Plans, with such deviations andmodifica-tions as were necessitated by the very defective and imperfect nature of those plans.

No working plan of evenpreliminary naturehas yetbeen drawn up in respect of theReseles in the Southern and the High Range Divisions. (RAT 1 909- 1 0: paragraph28)

A score of factors such as accumulation of large quantity of timberin the depots, delays indeveloping timber transportation and storage facilities etc. were also hindering normalisation ofthe forests. In an effort to conceal the growing apprehensions pertaining to the practicability ofthe "working plan system", govemment asserted that 'the Working Plan system is very importantand it will be prominently kept in view.' 27

There was a perceptible tension and widening gap between the idealistic forest manage-ment expectations and what was practical on the field. Some of the areas of tension were: plan-ning and implementation of working plans, settlement and notification of reserves, timber exffac-tion and timber marketing. The Sirkar expected the Department to hasten up planning and devel-opment, though the ground realities were proving to be different. By 1916, after nearly twodecades of efforts, despite the enthusiasm shown by the Department and the state, the totalarcaof forests with completed working plan was less than 11 per cent of the target. Moreover, thetargets of felling provided in the working plans were proving to be unrealistic and the changes

made were upsetting the original expectations. A forest conference held in 19 1 7 consideredthese factors and decided to give-up preparation ofadditional plans on elaborate and detailedscale 'in view of the incompleteness andunreliability of the data available.' Itwas also decidedthat preparation of simple preliminary working schemes by the Divisional Forest Officers incharge of the respective Forest Divisions were sufficient to meet immediate requirements.28 Inthe next year it was further decided that:

In regard to the sanctioned working plans. . . a Committee consisting of the Conser-vator of Forests, the officer who prepared the plan, and the Divisional Forest Of-ficer, should jointly go over the area covered by each of the sanctioned working


Progressive Nature: TF Bourdilton and lcrears of scientffic Forestry in princery... g

plans and Submit to the Darbar their notes of inspection and recommendations fbrany revision that may be necessary in their working during the next five years. (RAI1917-1 8: t 8)

Even during this period of high forestry ideals, timber extraction was organised eitherthrough contract agency or by sale of marked irees standing in the coupes for lump sum moneyoffers' It was confrary to the idea of direct working by the Deiartrnent as envisioned by Bourdillon.In less than a quarter century, most of the ideals oith. forestry were proved impractical.2e

By 1920s, the rules for the preparation of working plans were also considerably altered. Itis evident from the statement given below:

In the year 7917 ...Conservator of Forests, brought to the notice of Governmentthat, in the light of the experience gained in actual iryorking, several deviations werefound necessary from the prescriptions of the sanctioned working plans and that, asthe preparation of elaborate working plans was costly, it would suffice for the futuretoprepare simplepreliminary working schemes fortheremaining areas by the offic-ers in charge of the respective Divisions. (RAT lg2T_23 :26)This proposal was agreed by Government. when the Conservator was asked to submit aset of draft rules to govern the preparation of such schemes, he reported that no hard and fast

rules were necessary and maintained that:

' ' 'the details reqlired for the compilation of a simple working scheme would de-pend upon the demands to be made on the foresis, the nature and value of theproduce to be removed there from and other factors which could not be fixed orregulated; and that it was enough if the headings given in the Code for preparationof working plans were selected and adopted at the discretion of the orn."rrl --ing the simple schemes according to the requirements in each case (RAT 1922-23:26)

This was accepted and order was brought out stating that there was no necessity forpreparing working plans for forest areas "which were not ikely to be taken up for workingimmediately for such reasons as inaccessibility, non-existence of timbers likely to pay, heavytransport charge etc.; and that such schemes be prepared only for areas the *orting of whichwas either profitable or necessary for other reasons.,, 30

The shortfalls in timber exfraction caused by the absence of working plans were brought tothe attention of the conservator by the chief Secretary in aletter in 1929.

It was felt that the functions of the Deparlment in formulating working plans requiredlooking into since no scheme to develop a forest can be satisfactorily undertakenuntil it is known what forests contains and until working plan fbr extraction of timber


Amruth M

has been drawn up. With this object in view, Government called for a report show-ing the areas for which no working plans are immediately required and those forwhich working schemes have to be drawn up urgently. Government regret that nonew working plans schemes were taken up and completed during the year. Thisimportant work shouid be received the early attention of the Conservator. (FAR1928:r)31

Adding to this failure in working plan system was the diversion of land in reseled forestsfor non-forestry purposes. Especially for food crop cultivation foilowing the scarcity of foodgrains in Travancore. Even forests covered under the working plans were "disafforested" in1938.32 By this time the working schemes or plans were available to nearly 47 percentof thereserve areas as against 33 percent in the Madras presidency.33 These figures need not be in-dicative ofhigh-level of success achieved by Travancore, as we have seen that the facts arecontrary to it. By I920s, a definite shift in the policy, regarding reseruation, tookplace. Govern-ment had announced that '[t]he policy of the department has been to refrain from fuither reserva-tion of extensive areas . . . It is also the declared policy of the Govemment to disafforest as mucharea as possible as is suitable forpaddy cultivation.'3a

Towards 1940s, the ideals of SustainedYield Forestry suffered more due to unanticipatedhuge demands for all kinds of timbers arising from the needs of the Second World War. Apartfrom this, increased demand of the wood-based industries which were supplying produce for theWarresultedin the violation of forestry stipulations.35 The following figures oftimbersuppliedbyForest Department will illustrate this point: By the last phase of the War, in 1943-44 alone, thetimber supplied was to the tune of 156,000 cft. ofjungle wood of superior quantity, 29,000 cft.of teak and 73,000 cft. of rosewood logs and scantlings. This is besides the bulk timber of 469teak poles and 645 cft. of jungle wood piles supplied in the same year.36 Along with this, thedemandforcultivable land and the inordinate demand fortimber, had severely upsetthe ideals ofthe sustained yield forestry in Travancore.

The Rationale of Continental ForestryForesters and the Department was part of larger network of the practicing forestry expefts

through participations in the experiments, and by sharing their experience through the journalssuch as Indian forester.3T The tropical forestry had its origin mostly in Indian subcontinent and itwas nothing more than a tropical variant of the continental forestry originated and developed in18ft and 19ft century German and French Forestry. The current discussion of the forestry idealsthat the foresters in Travancore Forest Department attempted to put in to practice cannot becomplete without comparing it with the ideals of the continental forestry.

The continental forestry was developed during the 18ft century in the war affected Ger-many. It was constituted as a cameral science which helped to remould and insert the forests in to


Progressive Nature: TF Bourdillon and Ideals of Scientific Forestry in Princely..' 10

the science of state finance. The cameralist reason of state as emerged in the late 18 century

Germany involved strict control of the state finances. This was necessitated out of the wartorn

state finances and disadvantage of the Germany in the emerging colonial economy in Europe'

Notion of an impending tirnber and wood fuel crisis initially prompted economising of the wood

consumption. However, soon, ways of augmenting timber and fuel wood productivity were in-

vented. These sffategic inventions involved estabiishmentof forestry schools and systematic training

of foresters. The core of the German forestry thus emerged in I 8 century and modified by turn of

the 19 cenhry was 'describing the living forest quantitatively before subjecting it to the economic

reason'.38 The initial method of cameralistic forestry was areal method involving fixing of the

annual cutting schedules. This method involved simple calculations and estimation of area of

forest that be felled each year to avail equal quantity of timber annually. This area-based system

was abandoned in favour of wood volume based systemby 1760s. This system was educated

with mathematical insights and geometrical tools such as cadastral suryey. To satisfy the volumi-

nous works involved in the measurements a division of labour was evolved, in which a team lead

by forestgeometer would measure and demarcate the forest blocks based on the calculations,

analysis and planning by the forester. Indlrect methods were developed with the aid of integral

calculus for estimation of wood volume of the standing trees without felling them. Sampling was

one of the key operational principles in these methods. Some of them required only measurement

of a few variables as girth, diameter and height of the tree and, shape of the bole. Based on

elaborate methods of controlled field measurements, some of these methods were perfected to

createspecies specific ready reckoners of yield volume tables.

These tables and the methods were not innocent of ideologies. Infact they provided the

frame work of actions and schooled the expectations and management practices. These tables

also provided a grid for conceptualising and visualising the forests. As per this framework the

three crucial steps in forest management were; flrst, the geomeffic survey, second calculations of

wood mass and the third 'linking the forest balance sheet to the monetary budget by treating the

standing forest as capital, its yield as interest and then completing a chain of conversions from

wood to units of currency.'3e This system made use of the idea of normalbaum and deviation of

the trees from this. These tables which are rationalised across space were indifferent to regional

variations. By the end of 18 century, the German forestry had developed in to a "systematic

science of determining, predicting and conffolling of woodmass'.4Apartfromthis, the German

forestry and its French variant had developed into an elaborate system of calculations. This was

taught in the foresffy schools, principally the one at Nancy, France. The key organising principles

of this continental forestry were; one, Minimum diversity and maximum homogeneity, second,

balance sheet i.e. budgeting the wood value against the cost to be incurred in obtaining it, thirdly

the sustained yield. The sustained yield principle offered a long-term frame of utilising the re-

sources incessantly. In a way, principle conesponded with obtaining maximum yield continuously

on longer period from fixed land area. Sustained yield introduced the concept of time in forestry.


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And this sense of time, the temporality, was not free of any of the attendant notions of control,

power and govemment. The cameralist tradition had an inherent allegiance to the state control.

And to be more precise, the science of this genre of forestry required autocratic control of the

forests by the state and creation of an exclusive state owned forest estate for its practice. This

formed the basis of the annulment of traditional rights of the people and reservation of forests.

Local systems of forest utilisation involving simple coppice systems were discredited and banned

along with other traditional forest uses by this 'scientific forestry'.

The appointment of Dietrich Brandis, a German botanist as the Inspector General of the

forests in British India gave birth to the practice of continental forestry in the tropics. Brandis and

his successor William Schlich, followed by those educated in the forestry schools at Nancy,

Cooper Hill and in Germany, along with the network of colonial scientific institutions, provided

the foundation for the Tropical forestry in India.al Princely states like Travancore were drawn to

this network and system of working only a few decades latter. However, ffacing the footsteps offoresters and disceming the logic inherent in his practices, we may rightly conclude, for varying

reasons, that these foresters have actively perpetuated and practiced the ideals of continental,

cameral, forestry in the State. Bourdillon's Report on the Forests of Travancore was a master

plan forrevamping the forest adminisffation in existence there. In the Introduction to the chapter,

that proposed strategies for the management of the Tiavancore forests, Bourdillon quoted exten-

sively from the lecture of the Dr. William Schlich, who was then Professor of Forestry atthe

Cooper's Hill.42 Part of Schlich's classic treatise on the forestry, the multi volume Manuai ofForestry, had already published by then.a3 The report of Bourdillon, as said elsewhere, put forth

a programme for improvement of forests by systematic deployment of insights of the continental

forestry. The programme belonged to the lineage of continental forestry. Many of his proposals

were translated in to policies during his tenure itself. However, as our analysis above has shown,

most of these forestry ideals failed to achieve material manifestation.

Ideals of Continental Forestry in Travancore

With the coming of Colonial science of forestry, forests of Travancore were envisioned as

an exhaustible resource which needed improvement by adopting specific and scientifically in-

formed measures. Extraction of timber was the overarching concem. Continuous or sustained

production of it formed the measure of 'success' of forest conservation. In the colonial dis-

courses ofprogress, theimprovementof forestmeantemploying definitemeasures formaximising

the outflow of timber resources for the present as well as in the future. The rationale and modali-

ties of achieving this end required institutionalisation of practices in compliance with Maximum

Sustained Yield Principle championed by the discipline of continental forestry. Means ofinstitutionalisation of this principle required enunciation of legislations and policies, and cieation

of legible Forest Estate.

11

New Man & Society .Iulv-December 2012

Progressive Nature: TF Bourdillon and Ideals of Scientific Forestry in princely... 12

Reservation of forestfortheuse of govemmentwas thefrst step in the normalisation of theforest. This was followed by envisioning forests through the geometrical lens. That is, makingforests amenable for measurement and calculation through survey and demarcation of the re-served forests. Preparation of working plans by estimation of timber value, annual increment oftimber volume and phasing of timber extraction in the well demarcated forest space formed thesubsequent strategy for making forest legible. As is evident from the foregoing description thedesire for creation of the legible forest estate was never achieved fully, as in the case of woodland Bengal.a But, this did not lead to abandoning of the ordering process in the forests. Whatwe have seen is the mosaics of variations, deviations, exceptions and innovations that such chal-lenges given shape while practicing the place making.

Ttaining of hands and eyes of potential foresters, establishment of training institutions, de-velopment of infrastructure and codification of rules were crucial aspects of institutionalisation offoresf,y practices. Besides this, new technologies of cultivation and production were introduced;manufacturing and wood processing units were started. In this scheme forests came to be viewedonly in terms of its use and exchange values. Forests of Tiavancore were, thus, reconfigured to fitinto the desires of colonial economy. This implied a new arrangement of forest and a new dia-gram ofoperation on nature.

The creation of a legible, regular and exclusive normalised forest for timber productionoverlooked the local needs and particularities. Some of these local factors gradually assumedconsiderable proportion and challenged forestry ideals. In case of Travantore, it was the re-quirement of cultivable land for food grain production that upset the inviolable prescriptions ofthe forester. Succumbing to these pressures, the reserve forests were "disafforested" and openedup for cultivation. Though forests were exploited for timber even before the colonial period, therewas no disaforestation; it was only unorganised mode of 'collection' in distinction to 'scientificexploitation'. Though the forestry ideals were imported from France and Germany they weremediated through the British Imperial processes. The forestry as it was practiced in the latecolonial phase had local and European elements suffused in it.

What differentiated the practices in the forestry discourse is the acknowledgement that thenature/forest is improvable by employing specific technologies. The discipline of the foresffy wasthe only valid form of knowledge. Overtime, colonial forestry restricted and dissuadeddisaforestation for growing food, although disaforestation continued forraising plantation crops.When we think retrospectively, the arrangements of forestry expected much more than what waspossible at the ground level. This could be because of the incompatibility between 'what can be'and 'what is'. It can be proposed that such a situation took place because of the knowledgedeveloped forthe improvementof non-tropicalforests couldnotcaphrre the complexityinvolvedin the tropical forest. Both colonialists and the 'modernised natives' strived for successful imple-mentation of such forest normalising knowledge. Therefore, it can be argued that the unantici-

New Man & Socien July-December 2012

Amruth M

pated negative outcomes were not so much because of the shortcomings of the agents involvedin the process but it was more of a structural phenomenon. Similar observations were made bythe historians of similar colonial projects in British India. For instance, the trigonomefrical survey

organised with the initiative of the East India Company on the Indian subcontinent ended up as a

flawed ideal.as It is true that quite often forestry discourse attempted to conceal the failures rather

than reveal them. But, this does not mean that colonial foreshy was a total failure though some ofthe most celebrated ideals of the continental forestry were proved impractical in Travancore.Like the flawed ideal of the trigonometrical survey, the colonial forestry created a myth of the

forests as a knowable and legible and amenable to the particular modes of manipulative interven-

tions preached by its proponents. This implies that history of colonialism has to discern bothsuccess stories which were made conspicuous in discourse and the failures and unsuccessful

efforts concealed in it.

Botanical Knowledge and Improved LegibilityBourdillon's attempts to 'create order'in the forests with aid of the emerging science of

tropical forestry were complemented with standardisation of timber extraction, timber measure-

ment, codification of rules forthe conductof the ForestDepartment and training of manpower.6These efforts were also accompanied by establishing the botanical identity of the trees and plants,

especially of plants bearing timber and minor forest produce. In fact, Botanical explorations inthe Indian subcontinent, especially in the Western Coasts, dates back to 15 century with the

initiatives of Dutch and Portuguese. With the emergence of British rule and tropical forestryinstitutions such as Botanical Gardens, of which the garden at Kew was the hub, and the Forest

Research Institutes, the botanical documentation culminated in production of a number of trea-

tises on the subject. In Travancore, the early botanical explorations were conducted by Europe-ans residing the State especially missionaries, planters and travelling surgeon naturalists.aTAs

early as in 1862 a book of Botanical Work by Colonel Drury was printed at the TravancoreGovemment Press. AMalayalam Tianslation of Dr. Waring's "Bazar Medicines" was also printed

in the same year.aS

Bourdillon's treatise titled the 'Forest Trees of Travancore' was published in 1908.4e Priorto this, Bourdillon had attempted to provide binomials of the plants in his Report and he alsoissued a check list of plants with corresponding vernacular and botanical names for the use offoresters. The systematic names of the Travancore timber trees in the Bourdillon's Report were

taken partially from the Flora Indica of Hooker and the Flora Sylvatica of Col. Beddome. Thegreat variety of plants and rees in the Tiavancore forests bewildered European foresters. Bourdilloncommentedthat:

. ..in spite of only moderate fertility of the soil, the ffees afiain greatheight, while the

floracontains anunusual number of species.Instead of finding 4 or 5 chief trees and

13


Progressive Nature: TF Bourdilton and ldeals of Scientific Forestry in princely... 14

6 or 8 less abundant ones, as would be the case in a European forest, our forestsoften contain over a hundred different species varying in every conceivable manner.Such a variety is one way an advantage, because a gieater amount of timber can begrown on a given area, if the species are different, than if all the species are thesalne, but it is a disadvantage in this way that, in all probability only a small propor-tion of the timber is known, or used by the neighbouring population, leaving a greatmany valueless species occupying land to the exclusion ortfr"t u"tters. (Boirroilton1893:11)

Bourdillon delved in detail about the medicinal properties of the some of these plants andhave evidentlyrealisedtheimportance ofknowleoge ofthehillmen ontheusefulproperties ofthetrees and plants. Bourdillon very often quoted the use of herbal medicines of hillmen as a sup-porting proof of the medicinal properties of plants referred by him. Indigenous knowledge andpractices were considered seriously and their potential usefulness in the modern knowledge wasmooted' For instance, the Conservator was making efforts to attract the attention of the chem-ists in Bombay on the medicinally important plant species in Travancore.5' Reference to suchlocal forms of use and practices were not confined to the medicinal plants alone, but he alsomentioned many other produces, which were used as fish poison, fibie, building material etc.Moreover, the habitat requirements and the biology of the iesources were noted and presentedin the Report'5lAs far as trees are concerned, a lisi of 400 species

"r,...r *"r p.""Jo"d by theauthorin the appendix with their scientific names.

Introduction of the normalized /scientific names was felt necessary fbr enabling efficientutilisation of forest resources' especially in the case of timber, and for evolving a system ofobjective practices and institutional communications. In other words, establishment of systematicanduniformnames was aprerequisite formaking the foresrs rno." t.giut". il;;#cation ofplants by local names as used by the hill-men and the other 'natives' were not compatible with theobjects and functions of forestry science. Bourdillon's efforts of botanical identification andstandardisation of standardization of names culminated in production of a treatise on ,The

ForestTiees of Travancore'in the year 1908.52 His attempt was complicated by the diversity of ver-nacular names referring to the same species at different parts oithe State.53 In some cases samename referred to two different species at different areas. Bourdillon wrote about these complica-tions in his Report in detail:

I have been at some pains to collect the native names of the different species oftrees, and this I have found a work of no small difficulty. All except th. *ry .o*_monest trees have each at least one Tamil, and one Malayalam Name, and many ofthe Hill tribes, Kanies, Mannans, Uraris, and others, know them by names p".ii*to themselves' Then agun a certain word will be used in Malayalam for a particular


Amruth M

tree, and the same word will be employed in Tamil to denote quiet another species,

thus pu-maruthu is a name given to Terminalia paniculata by the Malayalies ; and toLagerstroemia flos reginae by the Thmils, though they have but little resemblance toeach other. Of the less common trees a large number have no special names, and itis not therefore easy to make a man understand what tree is meant without going into an elaborate description of it. (Bourdillon 1893:124)

He argued for fuithering botanical literacy to achieve better legibility and efficiency. 'Theimportance of having one name and one only, . . . for each tree must be obvious to anyone whoconsiders the subject, for the time lost in discussing its appearance for the proper identification ofany parlicular species is very great.'sa Botanical nomenclature and establishing the botanicalidentity was to complement statistproject of improvementwith efficiency andthe needforinffo-ducing a lingua franca of the market. His suggestion was to make a selection of the most widelyknown names of trees and adopt them throughout the State. He also suggested that: 'It is the dutyof those who have anything to do with the forests to endeavour to make the names eventuallyselected more widely known, to the exclusion of those which are local and little used, that ourwork may be simplified.'ss The arguments made by Bourdillon favouring the use of botanicatr

names were done in the wake of some criticism against it as evidenced in the quote below:

The use of Botanical names is by many persons considered unnecessary and pe-dantic, but an accurate identification of our trees is a matter of greatest importance,and this can only be obtained through the aid of scientific names. A Forest officerwho is ignorant of the Botanical names oi at all events, the most important trees inhis district will always be debarred from making use of the experience of others.There are thousands of able men who have made, and are making observations ontrees and plants in all parts of India and the world, and in the absence of a commonlanguage, all the plants, trees &c. that have been described are known, each by itsown scientific narne, and unless a man is conversant with this nomenclature (cum-

bersome though it often is) he is as much shut off from taking advantage of theresults of these observations as if he were ignorant of the art of reading. (Bourdillon1893:725)

Here the scientific botanical identification is valorised by stating the importance of thebotanical enterprise. Botany was to enable forester to participate in the knowledge networksmore effectively. In 1891-92 a grant of 1000 Rs. was made for Bourdillon to enable him to set

up a herbarium of dried specimens of flowers and fruits.56 To identify species, both the botanicalinstitutions abroad as well as in India were consulted and a systematic collection of the botanicalspecimens with a fulltime selice of a curator of herbarium were made.

15


Progressive Nature: TF Bourctillon and ldeals of Scientffic Forestry in princely... 16

tForest Trees of TravancoretBourdillon's book 'The Forest Ttees of Travancore' was the result of efforts stretching for

more than two decades. Travancore govemment provided liberal financial assistance fbr collec-tion of the botanical specimens, preparation of herbarium, wood samples and finally for publica-tion of the book' Some of the collections from the herbarium had to be sent to the centres ofbotanical research in India and abroad for identification. Specimens were sent to M.A.Lawson,Government Botanist at Oottacamund, Col. Prain F.R.S., Calcutta Herbarium and Dr.Staff atthe Kew BotanicalGardens. SirD.Bandis and J.S.Gamble also wentthrough these specimens.5TWhile on furlough in 1901, Bourdillon visited Kew herbariums and spenJnearly three monthsthere comparing his collection of specimens with the type-specimens available there.

Bourdillon also made a collection of wood sample from trees and conducted experimentsfor determining the wood-strength as per the protocols prevailed. He published some of hisfindings in the journal 'Indian Forester' . In one such article he demonstrateo, *itft tfr" ,"pport oiexperimental proof, that the majority of the woods acquired strength during the seasoning anddrying. It was the contrary to the popular belief at that iime.58

A dichotomous key was providedin thebookforfacilitating botanicalidentification of thetrees'se The project of botanical literacy as envisaged by Bourdillon, like his contemporaries,was aimedforeconomising the description of fees familiarto the local ixrnen, timberconffactorand the timber trader at home and abroad.60 Botanical names came as a convention which couldfunction as a universal language. Having achieved the objective of assigning the trees with uniquebotanical niune' next task was to standardise the vernacular names of the trees.

Wemusthave somemeans of explaining what species is meantwithoutdescribingitin detail, and as it is not to be expected that a Forest Guard and much less anignorant hill-man will ever leam the scientific names of the frees met with we must fallback on their vernacular names. Every tree should have one name orperhaps two(Tamil and Malayalam) and no more, and it should be the business of alf the superiorofficers to select the best name or names of each tree, and to make their subordi-nates use them and no others. The same name should not be used for more than onetree any more than one tree should have several names. (Bourdillon 190g: vii)The foresters were also expected learn not only the botanical identity of the trees but also

to leam more about their habitat and requirements for better growth.

' ' 'therefore the duty of every officer [is] to endeavour to learn what he can aboutthe Flora of his neighbourhood, which species thrive best there, and under whatconditions of aspect, soil and elevation their growth is more satisfactory which as-sociates are most favourable to them and which retard their growttr. . . inourdillon1908: ix)


Amruth M

Unmistakably, these knowledges were to augment the development of commercial for-estry in the context of the tropical sylviculture. Increased production was the immediate concem

of both. Bourdillon quoted Dietrich Brandis, the German Botanist turned forester who became

the first Inspector General of Forests and father of tropical forestry.

The study of the sylvicultural requirements of the different species is the foundationof a successful system of treatment, leading up to the greatest annual production oftimber and other forest produce per acre. Foresters of India should always bear inmind that botany is not forestry, but that knowledge of species is indispensable.(Bourdillon 1908: ix)

Carrying forward the project of Bourdiilon on botanical literacy, another compilation at-

tempted by a forest officer was published in I9l3-I4. This was a list of trees, shrubs and climb-ers withvemacularandconespondingbotanicalbinomials compiledby RamaRao underthe title"The Flowering Plants of Travancore".

Apparently, the herbarium established by Bourdillon was limited to the trees. Therefore, apostof Curatorwas created rnI9l3-l4forpreparing aherbariumof allkinds ofplants.Acoupleof years back, 'Enhanced powers were granted to the Conservator of forests and the divisionalforest officers for incurring expenditure under collection of specimens for herbarium. ' 6 I The Cu-rator was also to take care of forest museum. It had a collection of samples of forest products,

such as gums, resins, fibres, roots, fruits, wood etc.62 These were also at display in variousexhibitions heldinthe State.63 Botanicalidentiflcations incollaboration withinstitutions atEurope

continued during the second decades of the 20 century. We learn that in 1915-16'[o]ne of the

specimens collected and send to England was found to be quite distinct from all known species

of that genus and was named "Leea Vencobarowii" after its collector, Mr. Vencoba Row, the

Curator of the Conservator 's office. ' s Curator's work very often took him to interior forests

and the collection in the herbarium constantly increased. By the end of I94l-42, there wereroughly 1850 species in the herbarium of the Forest Department.65

Conclusion

The reporl on the forest of Travancore by Bourdillon is a revealing account of the idea ofnature, human nature castes on the ideals and programmes of continental forestry for recasting

these natures in tune with the ongoing and expanding discourse of progress, improvement andcivilising. The implicit ideals and strategies of valorising the Forestry Knowledge to create a

modem forest administration and a 'government forest estate' had wider implications and knownparallels of analogues projects in the social and administrative arena in princely Thiruvitamkur.Considering therole of modem forms of knowledge inre-casting the nature andperpetuating the

idea of a mutable human nature is consequent to emergence of discourse of modern and progres-

sive.

l7


Progressive Nature: TF Bourdillon and ldeals of Scientific Foresfiy in Princely... 18

References

Anote on referencing: As the paper draws information from varied sources the referencing is

done so as to make minimum intemrptions to the flow of the main text. This was achieved by

providing short referencing in the foot notes providing the author name, year and page(s) re-

ferred. Corresponding full reference is provided in an alphabetised full reference list. It is impor-

tant to note that all the references with abbreviated titles listed, year referred is the proceedings ofthe year to which the report refers, not their actual dates of publication.

RAT - ReportontheAdministrationofTravancorefrom 1862to1941

TA - Travancore/TrevandrumAlmanac

TLRM - TravancoreLandRevenueManuals-inVVols.

Baden-Powell, B. (1893). Forest Law: A Course of Lectures on the Principles of Civil and

Criminal and on the Law of the Forest. London: Bradbury, Agnew, & Co.

Bourdillon.T.F. (1S93) . Report onthe Forests of Travancore. Trivandrum: Travancore Gov-

ernmentPress.

Bourdillon.T.F. (1908) . The Forest Trees of Travancore. Trivandrum'

Damodaran ,A. (Iggz).Local Self-Governments and Geometry of Biodiversity Conservation:

Roots of Incompatibility. E c on omi c and P olit i c al We e kly, 419 - 424 .

D'Arcy, W. E. (1898). Preparation of Forest Working Plans in India. Calcutta: Government

ol India Press.

Edney, M. H. (1991). Mapping an Empire: The Geographical Construction of British India,

I165-1843. Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press.

Grove, Richard (1998). The East India Company, the Raj and the El Nino: The Critical Role

Playedby Colonial Scientists inEstablishing theMechanisms of Global ClimateTeleconnections

1110-1930.In Richard. H. Groove, Damodaran, Vinita & Sangwan, Satpal (Eds.), Nature and

the O rient : Environmental History of S outh and S outh East Asia (pp. 30I -323). New Delhi:

Oxford University Press.

Rajan, R. (1998).ImperialEnvironmentalismorEnvironmentallmperialism?EuropeanForesffy,

Colonial Foresters and theAgendas of Forest Management in British India 1800-1900. In R.

Grove (Ed.), Nature and the Orient. London: Oxford University Press.

Sangwan, S. (1999). Making of apopulardebate: ThelndianForesterandthe emerging agenda

of stateforestryinlndia, I875-lg04.IndianEconomicSocialHistorTReview,36,lST-231.

Scott, J. C. (1998). Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve Human Condi-

tion Have Failed. New Haven: Yale University Press.


Amruth M

Sivaramakrishnan, K. ( 1995). Colonialism and Forestry in India: Imagining the Fast in Fresent

Politics" Compnrative Studies in Society and l{istory,37 ,3-40.

Story, F. (1931). The Empire Foresttry Handbook 1931. London: The Empire ForestryAsso-ciation.

Weil, B. (2006). Conservation, Exploitation, and Cultural Change in the Indian Forest Service,1875-1927 . Environmental Histor1t,ll,57 pars. http://www.historycooperative.org/joumalslel/11.2iweil.hhd

FootnotesI Dr. Amruth M, Scientist, Dept. of Sociology, Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, Kerala.

2 A similar approach to study state making is followed by Sivaramakrishnan (1999)

I RAI (1890-91:113)

a Bourdillon(1893:197)

5 Bourdillon (.1893 212), this was not an exceptional idea but an educated opinion that could pcssibly be uttered bya statesmen under the Colonial Conditions. For instance, while commenting on the timber scarcity due to deciine inoak forests, Dr. Thomas Preston stated that reduction ofoak trees was not "to be regretted for it is a certain proof,of,national improvement' (Sangwan 1999: 189).

6 See Notice dated 15 November 1874 appeared in the Travancore Almanac (TA 1876:168).

7 Bourdillon (1893: 205)

8 Baden-Powel I (1893: 1-16)

e The format of a Working Plan necessarily included an estimate of the number of trees that are expeeted to enter theexploitable girth class in each felling cycle. In a more sophisticated form, it included the volume oftinaber extractable

. calcuiated on the basis of growth increments and limits of extractions based on the Sustained Yield Principne. Thef'elling cycles were also prescribed by deciding on the long-term rotational yield besides rnaking shorr-term prescrip-tions lbr treatment of the forest stands. The Sustained Yield Principle is seen as a rational, combining the maximiza-tion of the conflicting objectives of forest management such as timber and non-timber services; i.e. rnaximization ofthe yield while maintaining the permanent usefulness of the forests.

10 Sivaramakrishnan(1995: 17)Bourdillon'susageoftheconceptsnodoubtisinthesamesense.Hervasref'erringtotheAticies appeared in the Indian Forester, ajournal which was the bandwagon of Sustained Yield Forestry.,Atrthoughthe preparation of working pian was attempted as early as 1837 in Travancore, by the then Conservator U V Munro(Chundamannil 1993:21), in the absence of surveys and enumeration of timber stock, it was not in compliance withthe sustained yield concept. A more precise attempt to plan timber working took place much later. But legacy ofpreparation of working plans existed as early as 1 860s in other parts of British-India, (Chundamannil, 1993: 22)" See

Sangwan (1999 :189-191) and Saldanha (1996: 195-219) for the import ofthe German legacy in forest managementin India.

I' D'Arcy (1898)

12 However the World Wars saw indiscriminate felling by violating these plescriptions due to escalated tirnber demands.

'r Govemment Order No.176lL.R., dated 15-1-1910. see TAR (1909-10: 9). TLRM Vol. II. (1915:584-85)

ra Pillai (1940:260)

I s The first ever survey of the Travancore was commissioned in the early decades of 19th century by Ward and Conner.

I9


Progressive Nature: TF Bourdiilon and ldeals of Scientffic Forestry in princely... 20

The survey included enumeration ofpopulation, social groups and collation ofthe information on production processapart from determining. the geographical layout of the state. The memoir of the survey published in two volumesbecame widely quoted documents relating to the various aspects of govemment. survey and demarcation of the landbased and taxable private properties and the state property were started in the wake of the elaborate revenuesettlements from mid 19th century. Along with this, efforts to demarcate the boundaries of the Travancore, with theadjoining territories (Madras presidency and cochin Prin;ely State), also were initiated in 1g70s (RAr l g75-76:gg).r 6 IL{T (1878-79:48)'

!y. t"*-*ending and implementing these programmatic steps Bourdillon was enunciating thethree key concepts of the German cameralistic science of Forestry"such as the principles of ,Minimum Diversity,,'Balance Sheet' and'sustained yietd' (scou 199g: 15 and Rajan isgs, lzz_zzz).1i RAT(1885-86: 80)' According to James Scott (Scott 1998:25-33)this is a measure for increasing the ,legibility,of

r 8 Minor triangulation of Travancore as part of the revenue survey began in the year 1gg3, when the revenue survey wasorganised in State' A survey Department was organized even eartl"i nxpertise for the survey was obtained by trainingsuryeyors, demarcators and classifiers besides appointing experienced hands from cadres of British Indian service. Itwas said that 'Demarcating of properties by me'ans or ston"s was novelty to people. They did not like it also on theaccount of expense it entailed up on them and showed great lukewarmness in doing their part of the work., (RAT1883-84:47)re see detailed reports on the progress of survey and demarcation that regularly appeared in the Reports on theAdministration of Travancore for various years.20 Damodaran (1992: 419-424)2r Bourdillon (1893: 210) and the Travancore Forest Manual (TFM 1917: 1g3-194) provides elaborate stipulations forsurvey and demarcation of the reserved forests.22 See Scott (1998:15)

23 RAI (1902-03:20)

24 IL{I (1906-07:19)

25 RAI (1905-06:22)

26 IL{T (1908-09: 21)

27 IL{T (1909-10: 15)

28 IL{T (1916-17:17)

2e Please see the Appendix - I .Ideals of Continental Forestry,.30 IiAT (1922-23: 26)31 chief secretary to Government in an order dated 14th November, 1929, asresponse to the Reports on the Adminis-tration of Forests of Travancore and settlement Officer,s prog."r, ."p;;.32 IL{I (1937-38:59)

33 RAT (1925-26:42-43)

34 IL{T (1925-26: 41-42) and Proceedings of the Government of His Highness the Maharaja of rravancore. viz s.R.3142'Dewan' Dated l-7-1097 (1922) inTFNl (1917:1-7) also see the ievant section on the extension of agricultureinto forests in this Chapter.35 See lhe Report on the Administration ofrravancore duingthe war period for details of the produces supplied by thewood based industries in the Travancore. For instance, in 1941,The Tiavancore wood woiks had to extend factorypremises considerably and install new machineries to cope with these increased demands (RAT 1g40-41: 114).


Amruth M

RAT (1943-44:11), further, huge escalation in timber revenue also suggests unusually heavy extraction oftirnberduring the period. For instance the receipts due to timber of all kinds in 1943-44 was Rs. 46.15 lakhs as against theRs. 27.58 lakhs in 1942-43 (RAI 1943-44: 54). Similar escalation in receipts can also be seen in the sale of the 'ascu'

treated wood (RAI 1943-44: 55).

Weil (2006) and Sangwan (1999)

Rajan (1998:328)

Rajan (1998: 331)

Rajan (i998: 331)

William Schlich was a German forester who was recruited in 1864 by Brandis to help him organize forestry in India(S angwan 1999 : l8'7 -237 ).

Bourdillon ( I 893: 1 97- 198)

According to Rajan (1998:347 -349), Schlich's treatise is an exemplar of the continental traditions of forestry.

Sivaramakrishnan (1999: 80)

Edney (1997)

Travancore forest Act was passed in 1888 and by 1891-92 'Tables for measurement of timber which were prepared

by T.F. Bourdillon was printed in both English and vemacular and was circulated among the subordinates to simplifythe work ofcalculation and to ensure uniformity and accuracy'(RAT 1891-92: 128).

Grove (1998: 308).

RAT (1862-63: 48), the book by Col. Drury mentioned above could be the Useful Plants of India. The early workson the plants in India were published prior to 1880s were, Dr. Balfour's Timber Trees, Col. Drury's Useful Plants ofIndia and Col. Beddome's Flora Sylvatica of Madras. More comprehensive botanical freatise on the plants of Indiasuch as Flora of British India by Sir Joseph Hooker, List of the Trees, Shrubs and Woody Climbers of the BombayPresidency by W.A. Talbot, Forest Trees of Mysore and Coorg by J.Cameron, Manual of Indian Timbers byJ.S.Gamble, The Forest Flora of the School Circle, North Westem Province by Rai Sahib Upendranath Kanjilal and

Indian Trees by D. Brandis. Bourdiilon had referred all these publications and included some of their observations inhis book (Bourdillon 1908: i).

Bourdillon (1908)

Bourdillon (1893: 156)

Bourdillon (1893: 156-57)

Bourdillon (1908)

Travancore had many linguistic dialects- Tamil speaking portions constituted by Nanchil Nadu and Chenkottai,Thirunelveli region besides having Malayalam speaking areas and in the tribal belts each Tribal population had itsown dialect which vary highly with reference to Malayalam and other dialects.

Bourdillon (1893:124)

Bourdillon (1893:124)

RAT (1891'92:128)

Bourdillon (1908:iv)

Bourdillon (1908:iv)

He has included all trees that attain 20 feet height occurring in the forests ofTravancore (Bourdillon 1908: i).

2I

l6

31

38

40

4l

42

,t3

44

45

16

49

50

5l

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

New Man & Socien July-December 2012

Progressive Nature: TF tsourdillon and ldeals af Scientffic Forestry in Princely... 22

60 See The Empire Forestry llandbook 1931 (Story 1931 : Preface) brought out by the Empire Forestry Association forrole placed by the Timber Names Committee and efforts of standardization of the names.

6r RAT (l9ll-12: 17t

62 IiAT (1914-15: 19)

63 It is mentioned that 'A1l the exhibits in the Forest Herbarium were exhibited at the Muvattupuzha and OmallurExhibitions (RAT 1916-17: 20).

64 RATrl9l5-16: l8)65 RNf (1941-42:57)


Progressive Nature: TF Bourdillon and Ideals of Scientific Forestry in Princely Travancore, 1870-1910

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