ASIA 253 - The Jungle in Indian History

1 unit(s)

(Same as HIST 253) When pre-modern Indians used the Sanskrit word for jungle (jangala), they didn’t imagine trees or tigers; they pictured open savannah and antelope. When modern Indians speak of the jungle, they think of forests and wilderness. Why did the jungle change its identity and how does its transformation relate to developments in South Asian environments, politics, culture, and society? In this topical introduction to environmental history and its methodologies, we study classical Indian legal and religious texts alongside Mughal memoirs, natural histories, nineteenth century works of fiction, and early twentieth century hunting diaries; we mine colonial era gazetteers and forest reports for statistical data; and we consult the scholarship of historians, anthropologists, paleoclimatologists, and conservation biologists. Ms. Hughes.

Not offered in 2015/16.

Two 75-minute periods.