Section-1

Q1. Elucidate environmental history of medieval era in India. How do you see manenvironment relationship and
interaction during this age?

Ans. Policy and Laws in Ancient India (500 BC-1638 AD)

Environmental awareness can be said to have existed even in the pre-Vedic Indian valley Civilization which flourished in
northern India about 5,000 years ago. This is evident from the archaeological evidence gathered from Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro which were the prominent cities of the civilization. Their awareness about hygiene and sanitation as evident
from their constructions of ventilated houses, orderly streets, numerous wells, bath rooms, public baths and covered
underground drains. Protection and cleaning up of environment was the essence of vedic (1500-500 BC) culture. Charak
Samhita ( medical Science book of 900 BC-600 BC) give many instructions for the use of water for maintaining its purity.
Under the Arthashastra (an ancient book on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy), various punishments were
prescribed for cutting trees, damaging forests, and for killing animals and environmental ethics of nature conservation
were not only applicable to common man but the rulers and kings were also bound by them.

Policy and Laws in Medieval India (1638-1800 AD)

To Mughal rulers, forest meant no more than woodlands where they could hunt. The history of medieval India is
dominated by Muslim Rulers where no note worthy development of environmental jurisprudence took place except during
the rule of Mughal Emperor Akbar. During Akbar’s rule except rulers others are prohibited from hunting or shikar. But no
major initiatives took place during medieval period to prevent environmental protection and conservation of natural
resources as the rulers were only interested in war, religion propagation and empire building. Barring “royal trees” which
enjoyed patronage from being cut except upon a fee, there was no restriction on cutting of other trees, hunting animals,
etc. Forests during this period shrank steadily in size.

Various literary texts caution us against environmental degradation and for ensuring effective sustainability. The
Mahabharata states that although it takes a few, to deteriorate the environment and cause pollution, it warns the society
at large that it may cause various diseases.

Chanakya’s reference to vikriti (pollution), warns people regarding the side effects of impurity in air and polluted water.
Similarly in the Quran, reference is made regarding the environment which says-“Do not make mischief on the earth”.

Christians baptize a newborn child in the water, which denotes ‘purification from original sins’. In Buddhism, Gautam
Buddha was fond of trees and stated that trees provide shade and shelter. He preached in Vanaropa Sutra in Sanyukta
Nikaya, that gardening and afforestation were acts which increased the awareness about the environment.

MAN AND ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIP IN MEDIEVAL INDIA:

Plague devastates Europe in the 1300s but leads to the beginnings of a public health system.

Water pollution tends to be less of a problem for dispersed populations than it would later become.

Tree cutting in the forests of England, France, and Germany leaves large tracts totally denuded by around 1550 in England
and the 1600s in Europe, forcing a switch to coal.

Soil conservation was not widely practiced in the Mediterranean region, but cultures in China, India and Peru understood
the long term impact of soil erosion and used terracing, crop rotation and natural fertilizer to prevent it.

Q2. Explain how Indian ecology, forests and forestry, and wildlife were adversely affected under East India Company Raj
during early modern period of Indian history.

Ans. India is a unique sub-continent with vast variations in geographic area, topography and climate. It has a great diversity
of ecosystems from the cold and high Himalayan ranges to the seacoasts, from the wet northeastern green rainforests to
the dry northwestern arid deserts. Different types of forests, wetlands, islands, estuaries, oceans, and plains endow the
country combined with a rich blend of diversified natural settings. Natural and biological resources in the country being
abundant, the kind of exploitation they had to undergo through the ages has also been awful, leading to the large-scale
degradation of the environment in multifarious ways. Since time immemorial, the efforts of the people to conserve and
utilize the natural resources in a sustainable manner have been quite exemplary. Many customary and community norms
were evolved by the society to protect the environment. With changing times and scenario, these undocumented
traditional doctrines took a back seat, paving the way to codified laws in India. Industrial development, increased
population, urbanization, pollution, deforestation, mismanagement of water resources, etc., have resulted in a distraught
state of India’s pristine environment. It now becomes imminent for us to look into the evolution of environmental
legislation in India during three epochs; environmental conservation during ancient and medieval periods; environmental
regulation during British rule; and protection and improvement of environment in independent India.

The advent of British rule significantly changed the nature of environmental governance in India. The early days of the
British rule marked large-scale plundering of natural resources from India. The forest resources were the major casualties.
However, the British regime resorted to a legalized exploitation in due course. The exploitation of forest resources in a
legitimate manner was included in the first forest law, the Indian Forest Act, 1865, passed by the Supreme Council in
England. Subsequently, it was amended in 1878. The provisions of this Act established a virtual state monopoly over the
forest in a legal sense on one hand and attempted to establish, on the other, the customary use of forest by the villagers as
not a right, but a privilege that could be withdrawn at will. The principles of ‘eminent domain’ and ‘public purpose’ were
used to validate the acquisition of forestland by the government. In 1884, a Forest Policy was formulated by the British
Government with the objectives of promoting the general wellbeing of the people and, preserving climate and physical
conditions of the country. The Indian Forest Act, 1927 was enacted to implement this Forest Policy. The 1927 Act was
passed with an objective to consolidate the existing laws relating to forests, the transit of forest produce, and the duty
leviable on timber. This Act also established reserved forests, protected forests, and village forests.

Another aspect of the British Rule is that, it marked the establishment of industries in coastal and other parts of the
country. Through this process many enactments were made by them to deal with water, air, and land pollution. The then
prevailing common law system viewed the environmental problems as public nuisance. The Shore Nuisance (Bombay and
Colaba) Act 1853, was one of the earliest laws made by the British Regime to counter water pollution caused by industries.
The Oriental Gas Company Act, 1857 contained provisions to regulate pollution caused by the Oriental Gas Company. It
recognized the compensation to the persons whose water was affected by the company’s discharges.

Section-2

Q3. Assess the role of water resources in river-valley civilizations during ancient India and how human activities
impacted them?

Ans. Like Indus valley civilization in Vedic age too rivers were important and it thrived in western Gangetic basin. Aryans
considered water as symbol of spiritual purification. There are Vedic hymns addressed to Varuna, god of water. Rig Veda
describes geography of early Vedic period, providing valuable information with respect to five major sources of water e.g.
rivers, lakes etc. It mentions names of about 30 rivers. Indus (Sindhu) is most mentioned river with its tributaries (Shutudri,
Vipasa, Purushini, Askini, Vitasa etc.). Rig Veda makes mention of water-lifting devices such as asmachakra, probably a
wheel made of stone used for drawing water from deep wells. Ghatayantra or Udghatana was another type of water-lifting
device in which a drum- shaped wheel attached to a number of ghatas (earthen pots) was used to lift water. Atharvaveda
refers to hydromodification and how to make new channels from rivers. By 5 th century BCE we have references to
mechanical devices worked by animals such as bullocks. Ashtadhyayi of Panini refers to Yugavaratra i.e. “yoke and rope by
which bullocks were driven for raising water”.

Settlements located at confluence of rivers gave boost to economy. Magadha ruler Udayin shifted capital from Rajgriha to
another strategic location Pataliputra which was located at confluence of three rivers viz. Ganga, Son and Punpun while a
fourth river Ghaghra joined Ganga near Pataliputra. Ganga and Son surrounded the capital on north and west and punpun
on south and east. Thus, the capital came to be regarded as jaldurga (water fort). Rivers also facilitated natural means of
irrigation and fertile alluvial soil of the region contributed to agricultural surplus production.

Q4. Comment on citizens’ voices and environmental movements in post-independence India

against anti-environment capitalist extraction and natural resource degradation.

Ans. Environmental movements range from the highly organized and formally institutionalized ones to the radically
informal activities.

The spatial scope of various environmental movements ranges from being local to almost global.

1.Bishnoi Movement

Year: 1700s

Place: Khejarli, Marwar region, Rajasthan state.

Leaders: Amrita Devi along with Bishnoi villages in Kherjarli and surrounding villages.

Aim: Save sacred trees from being cut down by the king’s soldiers for a new palace.
What was it all about: Amrita Devi, a female villager could not bear to witness the destruction of both her faith and the
village’s sacred trees. She hugged the trees and encouraged others to do the same. 363 Bishnoi villagers were killed in this
movement.

The Bishnoi tree martyrs were influenced by the teachings of Guru Maharaj Jambaji, who founded the Bishnoi Faith in 1485
and set forth principles forbidding harm to trees and animals. The king who came to know about these events rushed to
the village and apologized, ordering the soldiers to cease logging operations. Soon afterwards, the maharajah designated
the Bishnoi state as a protected area, forbidding harm to trees and animals. This legislation still exists today in the region.

2.Chipko Movement

Year: 1973

Place: In Chamoli district and later at Tehri-Garhwal district of Uttarakhand.

Leaders: Sundarlal Bahuguna, Gaura Devi, Sudesha Devi, Bachni Devi, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, Govind Singh Rawat, Dhoom
Singh Negi, Shamsher Singh Bisht and Ghanasyam Raturi.

Aim: The main objective was to protect the trees on the trees on the Himalayan slopes from the axes of contractors of the
forest.

What was it all about: Mr. Bahuguna enlightened the villagers by conveying the importance of trees in the environment
which checks the erosion of soil, cause rains and provides pure air. The women of Advani village of Tehri-Garhwal tied the
scared thread around trunks of trees and they hugged the trees, hence it was called the ‘Chipko Movement’ or ‘hug the
tree movement’.

The main demand of the people in these protests was that the benefits of the forests (especially the right to fodder) should
go to local people. The Chipko movement gathered momentum in 1978 when the women faced police firings and other
tortures.

The then state Chief Minister, Hemwati Nandan Bahugana set up a committee to look into the matter, which eventually
ruled in favour of the villagers. This became a turning point in the history of eco-development struggles in the region and
around the world.

Q5. Throw light on Ecofeminism with special reference to Ecofeminism in Indian context.

Ans. Eco-feminism has developed and still developing in different stages. As Chen Ling puts it in “Ecological Criticism Based
on Social Gender: The Basic Principles of Eco-feminism”, Eco-feminism is developed in three stages: “The first stage is the
beginning of the 1960s. It’s mainly demonstrated that the American women challenged large nuclear power stations, the
Chipko movement in northern India and green belt movement in Kenya. The movement at this stage is based on the
general ecological awareness in working women’s daily life, and attempts to combine the expression of women’s interests
with the pursuit of environment maintenance and protection. The second stage is taken from 1970s to 1980s. This is a
stage that the concepts and theories of ecofeminism have initially formed. The third stage is taken from the 1980s until the
present. This is a stage that ecofeminist theory has established and developed.

After observing eco-feminism’s meaning and emergence at a glance. We can indicate some basic and general
characteristics of eco-feminism. First of all, eco-feminism works on the belief that both nature and women are identical.
Eco-feminists believe that women and nature shares some qualities in common like correlativity, nurturing and
cooperation. Further, it also shows inter connection between menstruation and moon cycles, childbirth and creation etc.
The theory of eco-feminism utilizes the age-old inter connection between women and nature as a link to unite both the
feminism and the ecological movements which stresses upon ending each and every kind of oppression or exploitation of
women and nature.

Section-3

Q6. Edicts of Ashoka and animal conservation

Ans. Pillar Edict Nb.5(S. Dhammika) clearly states that animals should not be fed to one another. Female goats, ewes, sows
that are young or providing milk to young creatures are sheltered by this edict.

The king also put an embargo on sterilizing roosters and burning husks or forests sheltering animals. After all, protecting
the natural habitat of native species is one of the main goals of animal rights movements nowadays!
Ashoka’s Maurya Empire was the first Indian empire to bring unity to the nation. With the Edicts of Ashoka, all of India saw
changes in style of governance that provided protection to fauna. This made Ashoka the first ruler in the history of the
country to advocate for measures for the protection and conservation of wildlife.

Q7. Chipko Movement

Ans. The Chipko movement or chipko andolan, was a forest conservation movement in India. It began in 1973 in Chamoli
district, then a part of Uttar Pradesh (at the foothills of Himalayas) and went on to become a rallying point for many future
environmental movements all over the world. It created a precedent for starting nonviolent protest in India. However, it
was Sunderlal Bahuguna, a Gandhian activist, who gave the movement a proper direction and its success meant that the
world immediately took notice of this non-violent movement, which was to inspire in time many similar eco-groups by
helping to slow down the rapid deforestation, expose vested interests, increase social awareness and the need to save
trees, increase ecological awareness and demonstrate the viability of people power. He used the slogan “Ecology is the
permanent economy”. Above all, it stirred up the existing civil society in India, which began to address the issues of tribal
and marginalized people. And it’s true that the support for the movement came mainly from the womenfolk. The Chipko
Andolan or the Chipko movement is a movement that practiced methods of Satyagraha where both male and female
activists from Uttarakhand played vital roles, including Gaura Devi, Suraksha Devi, Sudesha Devi, Bachni Devi and Chandi
Prasad Bhatt, Virushka Devi and others.

Q8. Lakes in Indian Philosophy

Ans. Lakes in India have always been the reservoirs of water. The pure rain water was stored in the lakes, and the village
ponds. Apart from daily supply of water for household needs and cattle requirements, these water bodies served as agents
of replenishing the water table. Digging of ponds, lakes and wells was considered to be a noble act and many well off
people were engaged in the maintenance of these water bodies. Like other elements of nature, the lakes were also
significant for their direct relationship with the heavenly powers. One may recall the famous lake Rakshastal located to the
west of Mansarovar. It is at one of the islands of this ubiquitous lake that the famous king of Lanka, Ravana offered each of
his ten heads, one after the other, to lord Shiva till he granted him the powers he wished for. Unlike the Mansarovar lake
which is round in shape, Rakshastal is of a crescent shape. The former is considered to be pious while the latter is treated
as inauspicious owing to its association with the demonic king Ravana.

Q9. Prehistory and environment

Ans. Prehistoric period, also known as Prehistory, refers to the period of human evolution that lay before advent of written
records extending back to at least 2.6 million years. Prehistory has been established as a branch of archaeology proper
after landmark research done by scholars like: a) Daniel Wilson (The Archaeology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland, 1851),
b) Charles Darwin (On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, 1859), and c) Sir John Lubbock (Prehistoric
Times: As Illustrated by Ancient Remains and the Manners and Customs of Modern Savages, 1865).

The use of symbols, marks, and images appears very early among humans, but the earliest known writing systems
appeared c. 5000 years ago and it took thousands of years for writing systems to be widely adopted. In some human
cultures, writing systems were not used until the nineteenth century and, in a few, are not even used until the present. The
end of prehistory therefore came at very different dates in different places, and the term is less often used in discussing
societies where prehistory ended relatively recently.

Q10. Green Imperialism

Ans. As defined by Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Malaysia’s deputy finance minister, at the World Economic Forum on east Asia;
green imperialism is the hypocrisy of rich countries wherein they exploit the natural resources including human beings in
developing Asian and African economies, later blame them for worsening climate change and other environmental crisis.
Eco-imperialism violates the developing countries people’s most basic human rights by denying them economic
opportunities, the chance for a better livelihood. The environmental movement has repeatedly used the alleged threat of
global eco-catastrophe like, global warming, to override the wishes of people who most desperately need energy and
progress.