Conservation or Implicit Destruction

Deforestation in the Princely State of Dir on the North-West Frontier and the Imperial Strategy of British India

Abstract

The Czarist Empire during the nineteenth century emerged on the scene as a Eurasian colonial power challenging British supremacy, especially in Central Asia. The trans-continental Russian expansion and the ensuing influence were on the march as a result of the increase in the territory controlled by Imperial Russia. Inevitably, the Russian advances in the Caucasus and Central Asia were increasingly perceived by the British as a strategic threat to the interests of the British Indian Empire. These geo-political and geo-strategic developments enhanced the importance of Afghanistan in the British perception as a first line of defense against the advancing Russians and the threat of presumed invasion of British India. Moreover, a mix of these developments also had an impact on the British strategic perception that now viewed the defense of the North-West Frontier as a vital interest for the security of British India. The strategic imperative was to deter the Czarist Empire from having any direct contact with the conquered subjects, especially the North Indian Muslims. An operational expression of this policy gradually unfolded when the Princely State of Dir was loosely incorporated, but quite not settled, into the formal framework of the imperial structure of British India. The elements of this bilateral arrangement included the supply of arms and ammunition, subsidies and formal agreements regarding governance of the state. These agreements created enough time and space for the British to pursue colonial interests in the Great Game, in rivalry with the rapidly-expanding Czarist Empire. British strategic pursuits in the north-west of British India finally emerged as a strategy that historians refer to as the three-fold Frontier Policy. The greater context of the interaction between British India and the Princely State of Dir was the Frontier Policy. Despite the academic awareness of it, there is a lack of comprehensive and coherent research on the subject. This paper is an attempt to bring to the fore an important aspect of the agreements reached and executed between the British Indian government and the Nawab of the Princely State of Dir with regard to the rich forest resources located within the geographic limits of the state. It argues that the British government initially intended to have greater control over the forests under the pretext of preventing deforestation. However, in reality the British turned a blind eye to the threat and practice of widespread deforestation in order to secure a stable frontier for its strategic and commercial interests. No research-based inductive work exists on the theme, and a systematic study analyzing the agreement and its impact is not available. This study is an effort to fill the gap in this area of research. The paper has an additional academic value since the deforestation in the Princely State of Dir has been explored from the point of view of the British imperial strategy in the north-west of British India, which is very much relevant even today. It is all about establishing linkages and connections.