"Environmental Crisis and Social Dismemberment in Northwest India during the pre-colonial period" lecture by Prof. G.S.L. Devra at Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg > 3pm on 4th November 2011
Time : 3:00 pm
Entry : Free (Seating on First-Come First-Served basis)
Event Details : The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library cordially invites you to The Public Lecture on ‘Environmental Crisis and Social Dismemberment in Northwest India during the pre-colonial period’.
The interlocked regions of northwest India underwent many environmental changes in the medieval period. This was an area bounded by the river Helmand (Afghanistan) in the west and Sutluj- Ghaggar (Punjab and Rajasthan) of the Indus river system in the east. In turn, such variations, affected the climatic conditions of the entire western and northern parts of India.
Scientists believe that hydrological and tectonic shifts led to repeated changes in the paths of some tributaries of Indus and Helmand rivers. Some river courses dried up forever. Aridity increased in many areas, desertification intensified and the areas of desert became more extensive. The process of human settlement in the fertile and arid areas accentuated the divisions between agriculturist and pastoralists at the regional level.
This is the time when the armies of Arabs, Turks and Mongols from Khurasan and Central Asia led their armies over the plains of the sub-continent. There were short intervals between such attacks but they continued over a long period.
Besides, the clashes among settled societies for land became severe even in the semi arid areas. Such violent events triggered the mass movement of the people on both sides of the Indus. There are examples that people who settled in new places amalgamated them with other powerful groups of the regions. Environmental and political reversals led to many people being accommodated at the lower scale of the social order. The records of Jaisalmer and Jodhpur states of Rajasthan show a clear trend during the early medieval period. Several families including the ruling ones, disintegrated on caste lines. However, the question of dissolution of old identities and the re-configuration of people on caste and religious lines requires a thorough and multidimensional investigation. The role of degrading climatic conditions causing tensions at the socio-economic levels cannot be over stated. The deterioration in the environmental conditions did not slow down during this phase of social reconfiguration. Rather with increasing stratification, the lower social orders were forced to become solely dependent on exploitation of natural resources. Many jungles were sharply reduced in acreage or even cleared altogether. The eastern part of the Indus basin, especially south Punjab, north Rajasthan and Sind were subject to rapid desertification. Southern Helmand in Sistan district underwent similar changes. Therefore, people clustered more in fertile areas of Sind and Punjab. There was a sense of political and economic crisis in the entire region. Several popular religious and social movements raised the environmental issues. But the monarchical order and prevalent tax system did not address these issues.
The process of state formation in such settings is a matter for serious historical investigation. States with a distinct class or caste character emerged in the place of loose confederacies of tribes or clans. This was even true of semi-arid areas, deserts and mountains. The emergence of such state formations as viable political or economic entities in a time of ecological flux may require rethinking many of our basic premises about ecology, state and society in India prior to the colonial era.
Speaker : Prof. G.S.L. Devra, Former Vice-Chancellor, Kota Open University, Kota, Rajasthan
Related Events : Talks | Environment
Entry : Free (Seating on First-Come First-Served basis)
Place : Seminar Room, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library ( NMML ), Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg, New Delhi
Venue Info : Events | About | Map | Nearest Metro Station - 'Race Course'
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The interlocked regions of northwest India underwent many environmental changes in the medieval period. This was an area bounded by the river Helmand (Afghanistan) in the west and Sutluj- Ghaggar (Punjab and Rajasthan) of the Indus river system in the east. In turn, such variations, affected the climatic conditions of the entire western and northern parts of India.
Scientists believe that hydrological and tectonic shifts led to repeated changes in the paths of some tributaries of Indus and Helmand rivers. Some river courses dried up forever. Aridity increased in many areas, desertification intensified and the areas of desert became more extensive. The process of human settlement in the fertile and arid areas accentuated the divisions between agriculturist and pastoralists at the regional level.
This is the time when the armies of Arabs, Turks and Mongols from Khurasan and Central Asia led their armies over the plains of the sub-continent. There were short intervals between such attacks but they continued over a long period.
Besides, the clashes among settled societies for land became severe even in the semi arid areas. Such violent events triggered the mass movement of the people on both sides of the Indus. There are examples that people who settled in new places amalgamated them with other powerful groups of the regions. Environmental and political reversals led to many people being accommodated at the lower scale of the social order. The records of Jaisalmer and Jodhpur states of Rajasthan show a clear trend during the early medieval period. Several families including the ruling ones, disintegrated on caste lines. However, the question of dissolution of old identities and the re-configuration of people on caste and religious lines requires a thorough and multidimensional investigation. The role of degrading climatic conditions causing tensions at the socio-economic levels cannot be over stated. The deterioration in the environmental conditions did not slow down during this phase of social reconfiguration. Rather with increasing stratification, the lower social orders were forced to become solely dependent on exploitation of natural resources. Many jungles were sharply reduced in acreage or even cleared altogether. The eastern part of the Indus basin, especially south Punjab, north Rajasthan and Sind were subject to rapid desertification. Southern Helmand in Sistan district underwent similar changes. Therefore, people clustered more in fertile areas of Sind and Punjab. There was a sense of political and economic crisis in the entire region. Several popular religious and social movements raised the environmental issues. But the monarchical order and prevalent tax system did not address these issues.
The process of state formation in such settings is a matter for serious historical investigation. States with a distinct class or caste character emerged in the place of loose confederacies of tribes or clans. This was even true of semi-arid areas, deserts and mountains. The emergence of such state formations as viable political or economic entities in a time of ecological flux may require rethinking many of our basic premises about ecology, state and society in India prior to the colonial era.
Speaker : Prof. G.S.L. Devra, Former Vice-Chancellor, Kota Open University, Kota, Rajasthan
Related Events : Talks | Environment
"Environmental Crisis and Social Dismemberment in Northwest India during the pre-colonial period" lecture by Prof. G.S.L. Devra at Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg > 3pm on 4th November 2011
!["Environmental Crisis and Social Dismemberment in Northwest India during the pre-colonial period" lecture by Prof. G.S.L. Devra at Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg > 3pm on 4th November 2011]()
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Friday, November 04, 2011
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