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In the 1760s, Benjamin Rush, a native of Philadelphia, recounted a visit to Parliament. Upon seeing
the King‘s throne in the House of Lords, Rush said he ―felt as if he walked on sacred ground‖ with
―emotions that I cannot describe.‖1 Throughout the eighteenth century, colonists had developed
significant emotional ties with both the British monarchy and the British constitution. British subjects
enjoyed a degree of liberty unknown in the unlimited monarchies of France and Spain. The British
North American colonists had just helped to win a world war and most, like Rush, had never been
more proud to be British. And yet, in a little over a decade, those same colonists would declare their
independence and break away from the British Empire. Seen from 1763, nothing would have seemed
as improbable as the American Revolution.
The Revolution built institutions and codified the language and ideas that still define Americans‘
image of themselves. Moreover, revolutionaries justified their new nation with radical new ideals that
changed the course of history and sparked a global ―age of revolution.‖ But the Revolution was as
paradoxical as it was unpredictable. A revolution fought in the name of liberty allowed slavery to
persist. Resistance to centralized authority tied disparate colonies ever closer together under new
governments. The revolution created politicians eager to foster republican selflessness and protect the
public good but also encouraged individual self-interest and personal gain. The ―founding fathers‖
instigated and fought a revolution to secure independence from Britain, but they did not fight that
revolution to create a ―democracy.‖ To successfully rebel against Britain, however, required more than
a few dozen ―founding fathers.‖ Common colonists joined the fight, unleashing popular forces that
shaped the Revolution itself, often in ways not welcomed by elite leaders. But once unleashed, these
popular forces continued to shape the new nation and indeed the rest of American history.
II. The Origins of the American Revolution
The American Revolution had both long-term origins and short-term causes. In this section, we will
look broadly at some of the long-term political, intellectual, cultural, and economic developments in
the eighteenth century that set the context for the crisis of the 1760s and 1770s.
Between the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the middle of the eighteenth century, Britain had largely
failed to define the colonies‘ relationship to the empire and institute a coherent program of imperial
reform. Two factors contributed to these failures. First, Britain was at war from the War of the
Spanish Succession at the start of the century through the Seven Years‘ War in 1763. Constant war
was politically consuming and economically expensive. Second, competing visions of empire divided
British officials. Old Whigs and their Tory supporters envisioned an authoritarian empire, based on
conquering territory and extracting resources. They sought to eliminate Britain‘s growing national debt
by raising taxes and cutting spending on the colonies. The radical (or Patriot) Whigs‘ based their
imperial vision on trade and manufacturing instead of land and resources. They argued that economic
growth, not raising taxes, would solve the national debt. Instead of an authoritarian empire, ―patriot
Whigs‖ argued that the colonies should have equal status with the mother country. There were
occasional attempts to reform the administration of the colonies, but debate between the two sides
prevented coherent reform.2
Amidst the uncertainty, colonists developed their own notions of their place in the empire. They saw
themselves as British subjects ―entitled to all the natural, essential, inherent, and inseparable rights
of our fellow subjects in Great-Britain.‖ The eighteenth century brought significant economic and
demographic growth in the colonies. This success, they believed, resulted partly from Britain‘s handsoff approach to the colonies. By mid-century, colonists believed that they held a special place in the
empire, which justified Britain‘s hands-off policy. In 1764, James Otis Jr. wrote, ―The colonists are
entitled to as ample rights, liberties, and privileges as the subjects of the mother country are, and in
some respects to more.‖3
In this same period, the colonies developed their own local political institutions. Samuel Adams, in the
Boston Gazette, described the colonies as each being a ―separate body politic‖ from Britain. Almost
immediately upon each colony‘s settlement, they created a colonial assembly. These assemblies
assumed many of the same duties as the Commons exercised in Britain, including taxing residents,
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Armies cannot stop an idea whose time has come. It applies on the American Revolution.
It is often said, "was a natural and even expected event in the history of a colonial people
who had come of age.
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managing the spending of the colonies‘ revenue, and granting salaries to royal officials. In the early
1700s, elite colonial leaders lobbied unsuccessfully to get the Ministry to define their assemblies‘ legal
prerogratives, but the Ministry was too occupied with European wars. In the first half of the
eighteenth century, royal governors tasked by the Board of Trade attempted to limit the power of the
assemblies, but the assemblies‘ power only grew. Many colonists came to see their assemblies as
having the same jurisdiction over them that Parliament exercised over those in England. They
interpreted British inaction as justifying their tradition of local governance. The British Ministry and
Parliament, however, disagreed.4
Colonial political culture in the colonies also developed differently than that of the mother country. In
both Britain and the colonies, land was the key to political participation, but because land was more
easily obtained in the colonies, a higher proportion of male colonists participated in politics. Colonial
political culture drew inspiration from the ―country‖ party in Britain. These ideas—generally referred
to as the ideology of republicanism—stressed the corrupting nature of power on the individual, the
need for those involved in self-governing to be virtuous (i.e., putting the ―public good‖ over their own
self-interest) and to be ever vigilant against the rise of conspiracies, centralized control, and tyranny.
Only a small fringe in Britain held these ideas, but in the colonies, they were widely accepted.5
In the 1740s, two seemingly conflicting bodies of thought—the Enlightenment and the Great
Awakening—began to combine in the colonies and challenge older ideas about authority. Perhaps no
single philosopher had a greater impact on colonial thinking than John Locke. In his Essay
Concerning Human Understanding, Locke argued that the mind was originally a tabula rasa (or blank
slate) and that individuals were formed primarily by their environment. The aristocracy then were
wealthy or successful because they had greater access to wealth, education, and patronage and not
because they were innately superior. Locke followed this essay with Some Thoughts Concerning
Education, which introduced radical new ideas about the importance of education. Education would
produce rational human beings capable of thinking for themselves and questioning authority rather
than tacitly accepting tradition. These ideas slowly came to have far-reaching effects in the colonies
and, later, the new nation.
At the same time as Locke‘s ideas about knowledge and education spread in North America, the
colonies also experienced an unprecedented wave of evangelical Protestant revivalism. In 1739-40, the
Rev. George Whitefield, an enigmatic, itinerant preacher, traveled the colonies preaching Calvinist
sermons to huge crowds. Unlike the rationalism of Locke, his sermons were designed to appeal to his
listeners‘ emotions. Whitefield told his listeners that salvation could only be found by taking personal
responsibility for one‘s own unmediated relationship with God, a process which came to be known as
a ―conversion‖ experience. He also argued that the current Church hierarchies populated by
―unconverted‖ ministers only stood as a barrier between the individual and God. In his wake, new
traveling preachers picked up his message and many congregations split. Both Locke and Whitefield
had empowered individuals to question authority and to take their lives into their own hands.
In other ways, eighteenth-century colonists were becoming more culturally similar to Britons, a
process often referred to as ―Anglicization.‖ As the colonial economies grew, they quickly became an
important market destination for British manufacturing exports. Colonists with disposable income
and access to British markets attempted to mimic British culture. By the middle of the eighteenth
century, middling-class colonists could also afford items previously thought of as luxuries like British
fashions, dining wares, and more. The desire to purchase British goods meshed with the desire to
enjoy British liberties.6 These political, intellectual, cultural, and economic developments built
tensions that rose to the surface when, after the Seven Years‘ War, Britain finally began to implement
a program of imperial reform that conflicted with colonists‘ understanding of the empire and their
place in it.
III. The Causes of the American Revolution
Most immediately, the American Revolution resulted directly from attempts to reform the British
Empire after the Seven Years‘ War. The Seven Years‘ War culminated nearly a half-century of war
between Europe‘s imperial powers. It was truly a world war, fought between multiple empires on
multiple continents. At its conclusion, the British Empire had never been larger. Britain now
controlled the North American continent east of the Mississippi River, including French Canada. It
had also consolidated its control over India. But, for the ministry, the jubilation was short-lived. The
realities and responsibilities of the post-war empire were daunting. War (let alone victory) on such a
scale was costly. Britain doubled the national debt to 13.5 times its annual revenue. In addition to the
costs incurred in securing victory, Britain was also looking at significant new costs required to secure
2
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and defend its far-flung empire, especially the western frontiers of the North American colonies. These
factors led Britain in the 1760s to attempt to consolidate control over its North American colonies,
which, in turn, led to resistance.
King George III took the crown in 1760 and brought Tories into his Ministry after three decades of
Whig rule. They represented an authoritarian vision of empire where colonies would be subordinate.
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was Britain‘s first major postwar imperial action concerning North
America. The King forbade settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains in an attempt to limit costly
wars with Native Americans. Colonists, however, protested and demanded access to the territory for
which they had fought alongside the British.
In 1764, Parliament passed two more reforms. The Sugar Act sought to combat widespread smuggling
of molasses in New England by cutting the duty in half but increasing enforcement. Also, smugglers
would be tried by vice-admiralty courts and not juries. Parliament also passed the Currency Act,
which restricted colonies from producing paper money. Hard money, like gold and silver coins, was
scarce in the colonies. The lack of currency impeded the colonies‘ increasingly sophisticated
transatlantic economies, but it was especially damaging in 1764 because a postwar recession had
already begun. Between the restrictions of the Proclamation of 1763, the Currency Act, and the Sugar
Act‘s canceling of trials-by-jury for smugglers, some colonists began to fear a pattern of increased
taxation and restricted liberties.
In March 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act. The act required many documents be printed on
paper that had been stamped to show the duty had been paid, including newspapers, pamphlets,
diplomas, legal documents, and even playing cards. The Sugar Act of 1764 was an attempt to get
merchants to pay an already-existing duty, but the Stamp Act created a new, direct (or ―internal‖) tax.
Parliament had never before directly taxed the colonists. Instead, colonies contributed to the empire
through the payment of indirect, ―external‖ taxes, such as customs duties. In 1765, Daniel Dulany of
Maryland wrote, ―A right to impose an internal tax on the colonies, without their consent for the single
purpose of revenue, is denied, a right to regulate their trade without their consent is, admitted.‖7 Also,
unlike the Sugar Act, which primarily affected merchants, the Stamp Act directly affected numerous
groups throughout colonial society, including printers, lawyers, college graduates, and even sailors
who played cards. This led, in part, to broader, more popular resistance.
Resistance to the Stamp Act took three forms, distinguished largely by class: legislative resistance by
elites, economic resistance by merchants, and popular protest by common colonists. Colonial elites
responded with legislative resistance initially by passing resolutions in their assemblies. The most
famous of the anti-Stamp Act resolutions were the ―Virginia Resolves,‖ passed by the House of
Burgesses on May 30, 1765, which declared that the colonists were entitled to ―all the liberties,
privileges, franchises, and immunities . . . possessed by the people of Great Britain.‖ When the
resolves were printed throughout the colonies, however, they often included a few extra, far more
radical resolves not passed by the Virginia House of Burgesses, the last of which asserted that only
―the general assembly of this colony have any right or power to impose or lay any taxation‖ and that
anyone who argued differently ―shall be deemed an enemy to this his majesty‘s colony.‖8 The spread of
these extra resolves throughout the colonies helped radicalize the subsequent responses of other
colonial assemblies and eventually led to the calling of the Stamp Act Congress in New York City in
October 1765. Nine colonies sent delegates, including Benjamin Franklin, John Dickinson, Thomas
Hutchinson, Philip Livingston, and James Otis.9
Men and women politicized the domestic sphere by buying and displaying items that conspicuously
revealed their position for or against Parliamentary actions. This witty teapot, which celebrates the
end of taxation on goods like tea itself, makes clear the owner‘s perspective on the egregious taxation.
―Teapot, Stamp Act Repeal'd,‖ 1786, in Peabody
Men and women politicized the domestic sphere by buying and displaying items that conspicuously
revealed their position for or against Parliamentary actions. This witty teapot, which celebrates the
end of taxation on goods like tea itself, makes clear the owner‘s perspective on the egregious taxation.
―Teapot, Stamp Act Repeal‘d,‖ 1786, in Peabody Essex Museum.Salem State University.
The Stamp Act Congress issued a ―Declaration of Rights and Grievances,‖ which, like the Virginia
Resolves, declared allegiance to the King and ―all due subordination‖ to Parliament, but also
reasserted the idea that colonists were entitled to the same rights as native Britons. Those rights
included trial by jury, which had been abridged by the Sugar Act, and the right to only be taxed by
their own elected representatives. As Daniel Dulany wrote in 1765, ―It is an essential principle of the
English constitution, that the subject shall not be taxed without his consent.‖10 Benjamin Franklin
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called it the ―prime Maxim of all free Government.‖ Because the colonies did not elect members to
Parliament, they believed that they were not represented and could not be taxed by that body. In
response, Parliament and the Ministry argued that the colonists were ―virtually represented,‖ just like
the residents of those boroughs or counties in England that did not elect members to Parliament.
However, the colonists rejected the notion of virtual representation, with one pamphleteer calling it a
―monstrous idea.‖11
The second type of resistance to the Stamp Act was economic. While the Stamp Act Congress
deliberated, merchants in major port cities were preparing non-importation agreements, hoping that
their refusal to import British goods would lead British merchants to lobby for the repeal of the Stamp
Act. In New York City, ―upwards of two hundred principal merchants‖ agreed not to import, sell, or
buy ―any goods, wares, or merchandises‖ from Great Britain. In Philadelphia, merchants gathered at
―a general meeting‖ to agree that ―they would not Import any Goods from Great-Britain until the
Stamp-Act was Repealed.‖13 The plan worked. By January 1766, London merchants sent a letter to
Parliament arguing that they had been ―reduced to the necessity of pending ruin‖ by the Stamp Act
and the subsequent boycotts.14
The third, and perhaps, most crucial type of resistance was popular protest. Violent riots broke out in
Boston, during which crowds burned the appointed stamp distributor for Massachusetts, Andrew
Oliver, in effigy and pulled a building he owned ―down to the Ground in five minutes.‖15 Oliver
resigned the position the next day. The following week, a crowd also set upon the home of his brotherin-law, Lt. Gov. Thomas Hutchinson, who had publicly argued for submission to the stamp tax. Before
the evening was over, much of Hutchinson‘s home and belongings had been destroyed.16
Popular violence and intimidation spread quickly throughout the colonies. In New York City, posted
notices read:
By November 16, all of the original twelve stamp distributors had resigned, and by 1766, groups who
called themselves the ―Sons of Liberty‖ were formed in most of the colonies to direct and organize
further popular resistance. These tactics had the dual effect of sending a message to Parliament and
discouraging colonists from accepting appointments as stamp collectors. With no one to distribute the
stamps, the Act became unenforceable.
Violent protest by groups like the Sons of Liberty created quite a stir both in the colonies and in
England itself. While extreme acts like the tarring and feathering of Boston‘s Commissioner of
Customs in 1774 propagated more protest against symbols of Parliament‘s tyranny throughout the
colonies, violent demonstrations were regarded as acts of terrorism by British officials. This print of
the 1774 event was from the British perspective, picturing the Sons as brutal instigators with almost
demonic smiles on their faces as they enacted this excruciating punishment on the Custom
Commissioner. Philip Dawe (attributed), ―The Bostonians Paying the Excise-man, or Tarring and
Feathering,‖
Violent protest by groups like the Sons of Liberty created quite a stir both in the colonies and in
England itself. While extreme acts like the tarring and feathering of Boston‘s Commissioner of
Customs in 1774 propagated more protest against symbols of Parliament‘s tyranny throughout the
colonies, violent demonstrations were regarded as acts of terrorism by British officials. This print of
the 1774 event was from the British perspective, picturing the Sons as brutal instigators with almost
demonic smiles on their faces as they enacted this excruciating punishment on the Custom
Commissioner. Philip Dawe (attributed), ―The Bostonians Paying the Excise-man, or Tarring and
Feathering,‖ Wikimedia.
Pressure on Parliament grew until, in February of 1766, they repealed the Stamp Act.18 But to save
face and to try to avoid this kind of problem in the future, Parliament also passed the Declaratory Act,
asserting that Parliament had the ―full power and authority to make laws . . . to bind the colonies and
people of America . . . in all cases whatsoever.‖ However, colonists were too busy celebrating the repeal
of the Stamp Act to take much notice of the Declaratory Act. In New York City, the inhabitants raised
a huge lead statue of King George III in honor of the Stamp Act‘s repeal. It could be argued that there
was no moment at which colonists felt more proud to be members of the free British Empire than
1766. But Britain still needed revenue from the colonies.19
The colonies had resisted the implementation of direct taxes, but the Declaratory Act reserved
Parliament‘s right to impose them. And, in the colonists‘ dispatches to Parliament and in numerous
pamphlets, they had explicitly acknowledged the right of Parliament to regulate colonial trade. So
Britain‘s next attempt to draw revenues from the colonies, the Townshend Acts, were passed in June
1767, creating new customs duties on common items, like lead, glass, paint, and tea, instead of direct
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taxes. The Acts also created and strengthened formal mechanisms to enforce compliance, including a
new American Board of Customs Commissioners and more vice-admiralty courts to try smugglers.
Revenues from customs seizures would be used to pay customs officers and other royal officials,
including the governors, thereby incentivizing them to convict offenders. These acts increased the
presence of the British government in the colonies and circumscribed the authority of the colonial
assemblies, since paying the governor‘s salary had long given the assemblies significant power over
them. Unsurprisingly, colonists, once again, resisted.
Even though these were duties, many colonial resistance authors still referred to them as ―taxes,‖
because they were designed primarily to extract revenues from the colonies not to regulate trade. John
Dickinson, in his ―Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer,‖ wrote, ―That we may legally be bound to pay
any general duties on these commodities, relative to the regulation of trade, is granted; but we being
obliged by her laws to take them from Great Britain, any special duties imposed on their exportation
to us only, with intention to raise a revenue from us only, are as much taxes upon us, as those
imposed by the Stamp Act.‖ Hence, many authors asked: once the colonists assented to a tax in any
form, what would stop the British from imposing ever more and greater taxes on the colonists?20
New forms of resistance emerged in which elite, middling, and working class colonists participated
together. Merchants re-instituted non-importation agreements, and common colonists agreed not to
consume these same products. Lists were circulated with signatories promising not to buy any British
goods. These lists were often published in newspapers, bestowing recognition on those who had signed
and led to pressure on those who had not.
Women, too, became involved to an unprecedented degree in resistance to the Townshend Acts. They
circulated subscription lists and gathered signatures. The first political commentaries in newspapers
written by women appeared.21 Also, without new imports of British clothes, colonists took to wearing
simple, homespun clothing. Spinning clubs were formed, in which local women would gather at one
their homes and spin cloth for homespun clothing for their families and even for the community.22
Homespun clothing quickly became a marker of one‘s virtue and patriotism, and women were an
important part of this cultural shift. At the same time, British goods and luxuries previously desired
now became symbols of tyranny. Non-importation, and especially, non-consumption agreements
changed colonists‘ cultural relationship with the mother country. Committees of Inspection that
monitored merchants and residents to make sure that no one broke the agreements. Offenders could
expect to be shamed by having their names and offenses published in the newspaper and in
broadsides.
Non-importation and non-consumption helped forge colonial unity. Colonies formed Committees of
Correspondence to keep each other informed of the resistance efforts throughout the colonies.
Newspapers reprinted exploits of resistance, giving colonists a sense that they were part of a broader
political community. The best example of this new ―continental conversation‖ came in the wake of the
―Boston Massacre.‖ Britain sent regiments to Boston in 1768 to help enforce the new acts and quell
the resistance. On the evening of March 5, 1770, a crowd gathered outside the Custom House and
began hurling insults, snowballs, and perhaps more at the young sentry. When a small number of
soldiers came to the sentry‘s aid, the crowd grew increasingly hostile until the soldiers fired. After the
smoke cleared, five Bostonians were dead, including one of the ringleaders, Crispus Attucks, a former
slave turned free dockworker. The soldiers were tried in Boston and won acquittal, thanks, in part, to
their defense attorney, John Adams. News of the ―Boston Massacre‖ spread quickly through the new
resistance communication networks, aided by a famous engraving initially circulated by Paul Revere,
which depicted bloodthirsty British soldiers with grins on their faces firing into a peaceful crowd. The
engraving was quickly circulated and reprinted throughout the colonies, generating sympathy for
Boston and anger with Britain.
This iconic image of the Boston Massacre by Paul Revere sparked fury in both Americans and the
British by portraying the redcoats as brutal slaughterers and the onlookers as helpless victims. The
events of March 5, 1770 did not actually play out as Revere pictured them, yet his intention was not
simply to recount the affair. Revere created an effective propaganda piece that lent credence to those
demanding that the British authoritarian rule be stopped. Paul Revere (engraver), ―The bloody
massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt.,‖ 1770.
Library of Congress.
This iconic image of the Boston Massacre by Paul Revere sparked fury in both Americans and the
British by portraying the redcoats as brutal slaughterers and the onlookers as helpless victims. The
events of March 5, 1770 did not actually play out as Revere pictured them, yet his intention was not
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simply to recount the affair. Revere created an effective propaganda piece that lent credence to those
demanding that the British authoritarian rule be stopped. Paul Revere (engraver), ―The bloody
massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt.,‖ 1770.
Library of Congress.
Resistance again led to repeal. In March of 1770, Parliament repealed all of the new duties except the
one on tea, which, like the Declaratory Act, was left, in part, to save face and assert that Parliament
still retained the right to tax the colonies. The character of colonial resistance had changed between
1765 and 1770. During the Stamp Act resistance, elites wrote resolves and held congresses while
violent, popular mobs burned effigies and tore down houses, with minimal coordination between
colonies. But methods of resistance against the Townshend Acts became more inclusive and more
coordinated. Colonists previously excluded from meaningful political participation now gathered
signatures, and colonists of all ranks participated in the resistance by not buying British goods, and
monitoring and enforcing the boycotts.
Britain‘s failed attempts at imperial reform in the 1760s created an increasingly vigilant and resistant
colonial population and, most importantly, an enlarged political sphere––both on the colonial and
continental levels––far beyond anything anyone could have imagined a few years earlier. A new sense
of shared grievances began to join the colonists in a shared American political identity.
The Consequences of the American Revolution
Like the earlier distinction between ―origins‖ and ―causes,‖ the Revolution also had short- and longterm consequences. Perhaps the most important immediate consequence of declaring independence
was the creation of state constitutions in 1776 and 1777. The Revolution also unleashed powerful
political, social, and economic forces that would transform the new nation‘s politics and society,
including increased participation in politics and governance, the legal institutionalization of religious
toleration, and the growth and diffusion of the population, particularly westward expansion. The
Revolution also had significant short-term effects on the lives of women in the new United States of
America. In the long-term, the Revolution would also have significant effects on the lives of slaves and
free blacks as well as the institution of slavery itself. It also affected Native Americans by opening up
western settlement and creating governments hostile to their territorial claims. Even more broadly, the
Revolution ended the mercantilist economy, opening new opportunities in trade and manufacturing.
The new states drafted written constitutions, which, at the time, was an important innovation from
the traditionally unwritten British Constitution. These new state constitutions were based on the idea
of ―popular sovereignty,‖ i.e., that the power and authority of the government derived from the
people.41 Most created weak governors and strong legislatures with more regular elections and
moderately increased the size of the electorate. A number of states followed the example of Virginia
and included a declaration or ―bill‖ of rights in their constitution designed to protect the rights of
individuals and circumscribe the prerogative of the government. Pennsylvania‘s first state constitution
was the most radical and democratic. They created a unicameral legislature and an Executive Council
but no genuine executive. All free men could vote, including those who did not own property.
Massachusetts‘ constitution, passed in 1780, was less democratic in structure but underwent a more
popular process of ratification. In the fall of 1779, each town sent delegates––312 in all––to a
constitutional convention in Cambridge. Town meetings debated the constitution draft and offered
suggestions. Anticipating the later federal constitution, Massachusetts established a three-branch
government based on checks and balances between the branches. 1776 was the year of independence,
but it was also the beginning of an unprecedented period of constitution-making and state-building.
The Continental Congress ratified the Articles of Confederation in 1781. The Articles allowed each
state one vote in the Continental Congress. But the Articles are perhaps most notable for what they
did not allow. Congress was given no power to levy or collect taxes, regulate foreign or interstate
commerce, or establish a federal judiciary. These shortcomings rendered the post-war Congress rather
impotent.
Political and social life changed drastically after independence. Political participation grew as more
people gained the right to vote, leading to a greater importance being placed on representation within
government.42 In addition, more common citizens (or ―new men‖) played increasingly important roles
in local and state governance. Hierarchy within the states underwent significant changes. Society
became less deferential and more egalitarian, less aristocratic and more meritocratic.
The Revolution‘s most important long-term economic consequence was the end of mercantilism. The
British Empire had imposed various restrictions on the colonial economies including limiting trade,
settlement, and manufacturing. The Revolution opened new markets and new trade relationships. The
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Americans‘ victory also opened the western territories for invasion and settlement, which created new
domestic markets. Americans began to create their own manufactures, no longer content to rely on
those in Britain.
Despite these important changes, the American Revolution had its limits. Following their
unprecedented expansion into political affairs during the imperial resistance, women also served the
patriot cause during the war. However, the Revolution did not result in civic equality for women.
Instead, during the immediate post-war period, women became incorporated into the polity to some
degree as ―republican mothers.‖ These new republican societies required virtuous citizens and it
became mothers‘ responsibility to raise and educate future citizens. This opened opportunity for
women regarding education, but they still remained largely on the peripheries of the new American
polity.
While in the 13 colonies boycotting women were seen as patriots, they were mocked in British prints
like this one as immoral harlots sticking their noses in the business of men. Philip Dawe, ―A Society of
Patriotic Ladies at Edenton in North Carolina, March 1775.
While in the 13 colonies boycotting women were seen as patriots, they were mocked in British prints
like this one as immoral harlots sticking their noses in the business of men. Philip Dawe, ―A Society of
Patriotic Ladies at Edenton in North Carolina, March 1775. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Approximately 60,000 loyalists ended up leaving America because of Revolution. Loyalists came from
all ranks of American society, and many lived the rest of their lives in exile from their homeland. A
clause in the Treaty of Paris was supposed to protect their property and require the Americans to
compensate Loyalists who had lost property during the war because of their allegiance. The
Americans, however, reneged on this promise and, throughout the 1780s, the states continued seizing
property held by Loyalists. Some colonists went to England, where they were strangers and outsiders
in what they had thought of as their mother country. Many more, however, settled on the peripheries
of the British Empire throughout the world, especially Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Quebec. The
Loyalists had come out on the losing side of a Revolution, and many lost everything they had and were
forced to carve out new lives from scratch far from the homes they had known for their entire lives.43
In 1783, thousands of Loyalist former slaves fled with the British army. They hoped that the British
government would uphold the promise of freedom and help them establish new homes elsewhere in
the Empire. The Treaty of Paris, which ended the war, demanded that British troops leave runaway
slaves behind, but the British military commanders upheld earlier promises and evacuated thousands
of freedmen, transporting them to Canada, the Caribbean, or Great Britain. They would eventually
play a role in settling Nova Scotia, and through the subsequent efforts of David George, a black
loyalist and Baptist preacher, some settled in Sierra Leone, in Africa. Black loyalists, however,
continued to face social and economic marginalization, including restrictions on land ownership
within the British Empire.44
Joseph Brandt as painted by George Romney, British court painter. Brandt was a Mohawk leader who
led Mohawk and British forces in western New York. This portrait was made while Brant was visiting
England. via Wikimedia.
Joseph Brandt as painted by George Romney. Brandt was a Mohawk leader who led Mohawk and
British forces in western New York. Via Wikimedia.
The fight for liberty led some Americans to manumit their slaves, and most of the new northern states
soon passed gradual emancipation laws. Some manumission also occurred in the Upper South, but in
the Lower South, some masters revoked their offers of freedom for service, and other freedmen were
forced back into bondage. The Revolution‘s rhetoric of equality created a ―revolutionary generation‖ of
slaves and free blacks that would eventually encourage the antislavery movement. Slave revolts began
to incorporate claims for freedom based on revolutionary ideals. In the long-term, the Revolution failed
to reconcile slavery with these new egalitarian republican societies, a tension that eventually boiled
over in the 1830s and 1840s and effectively tore the nation in two in the 1850s and 1860s.45
Native Americans, too, participated in and were affected by the Revolution. Many Native American
tribes and confederacies, such as the Shawnee, Creek, Cherokee, and Iroquois, had sided with the
British. They had hoped for a British victory that would continue to restrain the land-hungry colonial
settlers from moving west beyond the Appalachian Mountains. Unfortunately, the Americans‘ victory
and Native Americans‘ support for the British created a pretense for justifying the rapid, and often
brutal expansion into the western territories. Native American tribes would continue to be displaced
and pushed further west throughout the nineteenth century. Ultimately, American independence
marked the beginning of the end of what had remained of Native American independence.
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VII. Conclusion
The American Revolution freed colonists from British rule and offered the first blow in what historians
have called ―the age of democratic revolutions.‖ The American Revolution was a global event.46
Revolutions followed in France, then Haiti, and then South America. The American Revolution
meanwhile wrought significant changes to the British Empire. Many British historians even use the
Revolution as a dividing point between a ―first British Empire‖ and a ―second British Empire.‖ At
home, however, the Revolution created a new nation-state, the United States of America. By
September of 1783, independence had been won. What that independence would look like, however,
was still very much up for grabs. In the 1780s, Americans would shape and then re-shape that
nation-state, first with the Articles of Confederation, ratified in 1781, and then with the Constitution
in 1787 and 1788.
Historians have long argued over the causes and character of the American Revolution. Was the
Revolution caused by British imperial policy or by internal tensions within the colonies? Were
colonists primarily motivated by constitutional principles, ideals of equality, or economic self-interest?
Was the Revolution radical or conservative? But such questions are hardly limited to historians. From
Abraham Lincoln quoting the Declaration of Independence in his ―Gettysburg Address‖ to modern-day
―Tea Party‖ members wearing knee breeches, the Revolution has remained at the center of American
political culture. Indeed, how one understands the Revolution often dictates how one defines what it
means to be ―American.‖
The Revolution was not won by a few ―founding fathers.‖ Men and women of all ranks contributed to
the colonies‘ most improbable victory, from the commoners protesting against the Stamp Act to the
women who helped organize the boycotts to the Townhend duties; from the men, black and white, who
fought in the army and the women who contributed to its support. The Revolution, however, did not
aim to end all social and civic inequalities in the new nation, and, in the case of Native Americans,
created a new degree of inequality. But, over time, the Revolution‘s rhetoric of equality, as
encapsulated in the Declaration of Independence, helped highlight some of those inequalities and
became a shared aspiration for future social and political movements, including, among others, the
abolitionist and women‘s rights movements of the nineteenth century, the suffragist and civil rights
movements of the twentieth century, and the gay rights movement of the twenty-first century.
To know more refer below links –
http://www.americanyawp.com/text/05-the-americanrevolution/#VI_The_Consequences_of_the_American_Revolution
https://libcom.org/history/peoples-history-american-revolution
https://selfstudyhistory.com/2015/10/21/american-revolution-part-2/
http://www.stratford.org/uploaded/faculty/jjordan/Viewpoint_Essays/(Microsoft_Word__Did_the_American_Revolution_have_a_revolutionary_impac.pdf
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Mauryan dynasty encompassed most of the Indian subcontinent. It got enriched by the
Indian diversity and also made a remarkable contribution to the art and architecture to
the existing traditions. Discuss its main highlights.
Mauryanempire
Ancient India, a state centred at Pataliputra (later Patna) near the junction of the Son andGanges
(Ganga) rivers. It lasted from about 321 to 185 bce.
In the wake of the death of Alexander the Great in 323bce, Chandragupta (or Chandragupta Maurya),
founder of the Mauryan dynasty, carved out the majority of an empire that encompassed most of the
Indian subcontinent, except for the Tamil-speaking south. The Mauryanempire was an efficient and
highly organized autocracy with a standing army and civil service. That bureaucracy and its operation
were the model for theArtha-shastra (―The Science of Material Gain‖), a work of political economy
similar in tone and scope to Niccolò Machiavelli‘s The Prince.
Much is known of the reign of the Buddhist Mauryan emperor Ashoka (reigned c. 265–238 bce or
c.273–232 bce) from the edicts inscribed on exquisitely executed stone pillars that he had erected
throughout his realm. Those edicts constitute some of the oldest deciphered original texts of India.
Ashoka campaigned little to expand the realm; rather, his conquest consisted of sending many
Buddhist emissaries throughout Asia and commissioning some of the finest works of ancient Indian
art.
After Ashoka‘s death the empire shrank because of invasions, defections by southern princes, and
quarrels over ascension. The last ruler, Brihadratha, was killed in 185 bce by his Brahman
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Mauryan Stupas, Mauryan Pillars, Mauryan Caves, Mauryan palaces, Mauryan Art Contribute for
Indian art and architecture ,Mauryan art
Mauryan Art Contribute for Indian art and architecture
In the Mauryan period, stone culture dramatically emerged as the principal medium of the Indian
artists. Some evidence is put forward by John Irwin that Ashokan columns may be the culmination of
the ancient pre-Buddhist religious tradition in India of a cult of one cosmic pillar of axis mundi. With
the Mauryan Empire, came a change in the art forms as well.
Earlier, wood was the chief material for most of the art forms, but it was changed to stone during the
Maurya Empire. Even the present day National Emblem of India, the Lion Capital of Ashoka at
Sarnath belongs to the Maurya Empire.
Stupas:
It Stupas as are Buddhist religious monuments
and were
originally only a simple mound of mud or clay to cover the
supposed relics of the Buddha basically funeral mounds- which
were low and circular mounds ringed by the boulders.
Stupa construction was a Buddhist art, however even the Jainas
also seemed to have built Stupas. After the passing away of the
Buddha, his remains were cremated and the ashes divided and
buried under eight Stupas with two further Stupas encasing the
urn and the embers.
A railing surrounded this (called as Vedika). These railings were
constructed of stone but resembled the look of the wooden railings
of the past in design. The Buddha‘s relics were placed in a casket
chamber in the center of the dome.
At the base of dome, is a high circular terrace probably meant for parikrama or circumambulation
and an encircling the Balustrade. At the ground level is a stone-paved procession path and another
stone balustrade and two flights of steps leading to the circular terrace.
Access to the same is through four exquisitely carved gateways or Toranas in the North, South, East
or West. The diameter of the stupa is 36.60 m and its height is 16.46 m.
It is built of large burnt bricks and mud mortar. It is presumed that the elaborately carved Toranas
were built by the ivory or metal workers in the 1st century BC during the reign of King Satankarni of
the Satavahana dynasty.
9
commander in chief, Pushyamitra, who then founded the Shunga dynasty, which ruled in central
India for about a century.
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The last addition to the Stupa was made during the early AD 4th century in the Gupta period when
four images of Buddha sitting in the dhyana Mudra or meditation were installed at the four entrances.
Pillars
The Pillars built by Ashoka furnish the finest remains of the Mauryan art. The pillars with Ashoka
edicts inscribed on them were placed either in sacred enclosures or in the vicinity of towns. The Pillars
were made of two types of stone: The spotted Red and white
sandstone from the region of Mathura and the Buff colored
fine grained hard sandstone usually with small back spots
quarried in Chunar near Banaras.
The Stone was transported from Mathura and Chunar t the
various sites where the pillars have been found and here the
Stone was cut and carried by craftsmen. Each pillar had
three parts: The Prop under the Foundation, the Shaft or the
Column and the Capital.
The Prop is buried in the ground. The Shaft made of a single
piece of sand stone supports the capital made of another
single piece of sandstone. The thin-round and slightly
tapering shaft is highly polished and very Graceful in its proportions. The Capital, which is the third
part of the Pillar, consists of some finally executed animal figures such as the lion or the elephant.
Caves
The architectural remains of the cave architecture ascribed to the Mauryan period are few. The
Chaitya halls and the Stupa do not exist in their original form expect the excavated chaitya-halls,
bearing inscription of Ashoka and Dasaratha, in the Barabar caves.
The monolithic rail at Sarnath in grey and polished Chunar sandstone has been erected under the
patronage of the Emperor Ashoka himself. Its architectural form is similar to the rails of. The Bharhut
stupa and must have been literally transferred into stone from contemporary wooden originals.
The plinth or the alambana, the horizontal bars and the coping have all been just carved out of what
must have been a hug slab of stone. The alter or the bodhimanda suited at Bodhgaya is traditionally
associated with Ashoka. The Bharhut altar consists of four pilasters. It is argued that one of the caves
in the Barabar hills called the SudamaCave, was dedicated by Ashoka to the Ajivika monks of the
Ajivika sect.
It has rightly been said that Ashoka inaugurated a style of architecture which spread in different parts
of the country and itself at its best in the magnificent masterpiece of Karla, Ajanta, Ellora and
Elephanta.
Palaces:
The ravage of the fabulous city of Pataliputra near modern Patna is extremely important for an
understanding of the whole character of the Mauryan civilization which Ashoka inherited and
perpetuated. The Palace walls, the splendid towers and pavilions, were all constructed of brick or
backed clay that have long since crumbled to dust or been swept away by periodic deluge of the
swollen waters of the Ganga.
Beyond the evidence of the Authentic excavations at Pataliputra, an idea of the appearance of the city
can be perceived in the elevation of towns that form the backgrounds for the Buddhist subjects in the
reliefs of the early Andhra Period at Sanchi. The excavations of Pataliputra revealed that there is a
presence of moat which is surrounded by a palisade or railing of the type developed in the Vedic
period to the uses of urban fortification it is assumed that all the super structures were built of wood.
The remains exposed in the actual palace area like a Great audience Hall was preceded by a number
of huge platforms built of solid wood in log-cabin fashion. They formed a kind of artificial eminence,
like the palace platforms of Ancient Mesopotamia and Iran. Undoubtedly, these wooden structures
were projected as foundations for the support of some kind of pavilions in front of the palace itself.
In Addition to a ground plan of the Palace area, a single illustration of the remains of Patliputra is
reproduced to demonstrate the extraordinary craftsmanship and durability of the city‘s belt of
fortifications. Pataliputra with its towers and gateways, rivaling the ancient capital of Iran, does give
some slight suggestion, by its vast extent and the enormous strength of construction, of the great city
of the Maurya Empire.
The art and architecture of the Mauryan Empire constitutes the culminating point of the progress of
Indian art. The period was marked by mature use of stone and production of masterpieces.
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Classification: The Mauryan period art and architecture, except that of the relics of the palace of
Chandragupta Maurya at Pataliputra, is mainly Asokan. It can be classified into Stupas, Pillars,
Caves, Palaces and Pottery.
Mauryan Stupas: The Stupas were solid domes constructed of brick or stone, varying in sizes.
SamratAshoka built numerous stupas scattered over the country. But most of the stupas have not
survived the ravages of time. The Ashokan stupas were constructed to celebrate the achievements of
Gautama Buddha.
The Sanchi Stupa as a hemispherical dome, truncated near the top, surrounded at the base by lofty
terrace to serve as gate for procession.
The special point of stupa architecture was the dome. Inside the stupa, in the central hall was
preserved some relics of Buddha in a casket. The inner wall of the stupas was built either by
terracotta bricks or by sun-burnt bricks. The top of the dome was decorated by a wooden or stone
umbrella denoting universal supremacy of Dharma. There was a parikrama encircling the stupa.
One of the most notable and vast stupa was built at in Ceylon. The Amaravati Stupa was built in the
Lower Krishna Valley in 200 A.D. Besides there were Nagarjunakonda, Ghantasala stupas built in
later ages in South India.
Mauryan Pillars: The most striking monuments of Mauryan art are the celebrated Pillars of Dharma.
These pillars were free standing columns and were not used as supports to any structure. They had
two main parts, the shaft and the capital. The shaft is monolith column made of one piece of stone
with exquisite polish. The art of polishing was so marvelous that many people felt that it was made of
metal.
Some of the Pillars mark the stages of Asoka‘s pilgrimage to various centers of Buddhism.
The Sarnath: The Sarnath column has the most magnificent capitol. It is a product of a developed
type of art of which the world knew in the Third Century B.C. It has been fittingly adopted as the
emblem of the Modem Indian Republic. It is seven feet in height. The lowest part of the capitol is
curved as an inverted lotus and bell shaped. Above it are four animals, an elephant, a horse, a bull, a
lion representing the east, south, west and north in Vedic symbol. The four animals engraved on the
abacus have been variously interpreted.
Mauryan Caves Architecture: The pillars are not the only artistic achievements to Ashoka‘s reign.
The rock cut caves of Ashoka and that of his grandson DasarathaMaurya constructed for the
residence of monks are, wonderful specimens of art. The caves at Barabar hill in the north of Gaya
and the Nagarjuni hill caves, the Sudama caves, etc. are the extant remains of cave architecture of the
Mauryan era. The Barabar hill cave was donated by Asoka to Ajivika monks and the three separate
caves at Nagarjuni hills were by Dasharatha to them. The Gopi cave was excavated in the reign of
Dasaratha in a tunnel like fashion. The caves are chaste in style and their interior is polished like
mirror. The pillars inside these caves appear to be superfluous. They perhaps are legacies of wooden
architecture that preceded the stone or lithic architecture.
Mauryan Palaces and Residential buildings: The gilded pillars of the Mauryan palace were adorned
with golden vines and silver birds. The workman-ship of the imperial palace was of very high
standard. Fa-Hien remarked that ―no human hands of this world could accomplish this.‖
Probably there were similar palaces in other cities. All towns were surrounded by the high walls with
battlements and ditches with water, bearing lotuses and other plants and the whole was surrounded
by railings.
Mauryan Pottery: The Mauryan pottery consisted of many types of wares. The black polished type
found in North India is important. It has a burnished and glazed surface.
The centre of North Indian pottery manufacture is presumed to be Kosambi and Pataliputra.
To know more refer below links
http://www.wiley.com/legacy/Australia/PageProofs/c08AncientIndia_web.pdf
https://www.britannica.com/place/Mauryan-Empire
http://www.hamarahindustan.in/2015/08/mauryan-art-contribute-for-indian-art-andarchitecture.html
http://www.historydiscussion.net/history/mauryan-artefacts-pillars-rock-cut-architecture-stupasand-other-details/1361
http://www.importantindia.com/7287/mauryan-art-and-architecture/
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The role of Subsidiary Alliance on the expansion of British territories of India.
What are the essential principles of the Subsidiary Alliance system
The Subsidiary Alliance system was used by Wellesley to bring Indian states within the orbit of British
political power.
The system served the dual purpose of asserting British supremacy in India and at the same time of
saving India from menace of Napoleon. The system played a very important part in the extension of
Company's dominions. A typical subsidiary treaty was negotiated on the following terms and
conditions.
(a) The Indian State was to surrender its external relations to the care of the company and was to
make no wars. It was to conduct negotiations with other states through the company.
(b) A bigger state was to maintain an army within its territory commanded by the British officers for
the preservation of public peace and the ruler was to cede territory in full sovereignty for the
upkeep of the force. A smaller state was required to pay tribute in cash to the company.
(c) The state was to accept a British Resident at its capital.
(d) The state was not to employ Europeans in its service without the consult of the company.
(e) The company was not to interfere in the internal affairs of the state, and
(f) The company was to protect the state concerned against foreign enemies of every sort or kind.
Wellesley did not invent the Subsidiary system.
The system was perhaps first used by Dupleix who had lent European troops to the Indian princes at
the expense of the latter. Ever since the governorship of Chine, the system had been applied with more
or less insight by almost every Governor and Governor- general of India. Wellesley's special
contribution was that he greatly developed and elaborated the system and applied it in case of every
Indian state.
The earliest subsidiary Treaty negotiated by the Company was with the Nawab of Oudh in 1765 in
which the company undertook to defend the frontiers of Oudh on condition of the Nawab defraying the
expenses of such defense. A British Resident was stationed at Lucknow. The first time the company
insisted that the subsidiary state should have no foreign relations was in the treaty with Nawab of
Carnatic concluded by Cornwallis in 1787.
Later, Sir John Shore in the treaty with the Nawab of Oudh, 1798 insisted that the Nawab was not to
hold communications with or admit into his service other European nationals. The demand for
surrender of territory in commutation of cash money was the next logical step.
As the monetary demands of the company were very high which the state found unable to pay,
Wellesley made it a general rule to negotiate for surrender of territory in full sovereignty for the upkeep
of the subsidiary force.
The subsidiary system was the Trojan horse tactics in empire building. It disarmed the Indian state
and threw British protectorate over them. The Governor General was present by proxy in every Indian
state that accepted the subsidiary Alliance. Thus, it deprived the Indian princes of means of
prosecuting any measure or of forming any confederacy against the British.
It enabled the Company to maintain a large standing army at the expense of Indian princes. The
company got its armies stationed at Hyderabad, Poona, Gwalior, and paid by foreign subsidies. The
army was constantly maintained in a state of perfect equipment and was prepared for active services
in any direction at the shortest notice.
This force could have been directed against any of the principal states of India without the hazard of
disturbing the tranquility of the company's possessions and without requiring any considerable
increase to the permanent military expenses of the Government of India.
The stationing of the company's troops in the capitals of the Indian princes gave English the control of
strategic and key positions in India without arousing the jealousy of other European nations.
By this system the company threw forward her military considerably in advance of its political frontier
and thus kept the evils of war at the distance from the sources of her wealth and power. In case of
actual war the war theatre was always away from the Company's territories, and this saved her
territories from the devastations that usually accompany wars.
The system moreover helped the company to effectively counteract any possible French moves in
India. The Company required the subsidiary ally to discuss all Frenchman from his service.
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The subsidiary alliance system was the Trojan Horse Tactic of empire building. It disarmed
the Indian states and built British protectorates over them. Comment on the role of
Subsidiary Alliance on the expansion of British territories of India.
Page
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The company became the arbiter in interstate disputes. All avenues of direct contact between Indian
States and foreign powers were closed. The officers commanding the subsidiary force were very well
paid.
The British Residents had considerable influence in affairs of Indian states. This placed great
patronage into hands of Company's authorities in India.
The Company .acquired territories in full sovereignty from Indian states and expanded her dominions
in India. By the treaty or 1800, Nizam surrendered all the territories gained from Mysore in 1792 and
1799. In 1801, the Nawab of Oudh was made to surrender half of the dominions comprising
Rohilkhand and Lower Doab.
Thus, the treaty provisions directly and indirectly facilitated to the growth of the company's political
power. In later stages of its evolution the Treaty was used by the Governor-generals like Dalhousie for
outright overexertion of territories as in the case of Awadh.
Dalhousie also used it to acquire Berar from Nizam of Hyderabad thus further strengthening political
and economic clout of company. Even in post 1857 decades, the subsidiary system was used as tool to
form a confederacy of Indian states over which the British monarch had a supreme role.
It may be concluded that the subsidiary Alliance was an optimistic tool for the company for its
expansionist policy on one side and a counteracting measure against France on the offer. In both
these aims, the Treaty proved to be a marvelous success and put the company as the paramount
political power in India.
Subsidiary Alliance System by Wellesley
To achieve his political aims Wellesley relied on three methods: the system of "subsidiary Alliance",
outright war and the assumption of the territories of previously subordinated rulers. The Subsidiary
Alliance system was used by Wellesley to bring Indian states within the orbit of British power.
The system served the double purpose of asserting British supremacy in India and at the same time of
saving India from the menace of Napoleon. The system played a very important part in the expansion
of the company's dominions and many new territories were added to the company's possession.
Wellesley did not invent the subsidiary system. The system existed long before him and was of an
evolutionary growth. Duplex, the French general, was perhaps the first who had lent European troops
to Indian princess at the expense of the latter.
Ever since the Governor generalship of Clive the system had been applied with more or less insight by
almost every Governor and Governor-General of India. The special contribution of Wellesley was that
he greatly developed and elaborates system and applied it to sub-ordinate the Indian states to the
paramount authority of the company.
Under his Subsidiary Alliance system, the ruler of the allying Indian State was compelled to accept the
permanent stationing of a British force within his territory and to pay a subsidy for its maintenance.
All this was done allegedly for his protection but was, in fact, a form through which the Indian ruler
paid tribute to the company. Sometimes the ruler added the part of his territory instead of paying
annual subsidy.
The "Subsidiary Treaty" usually also provided that the Indian ruler would agree to the posting at his
court of a British resident, that he would not employ any European in his service without the approval
of the British and that he would not negotiate with any other Indian ruler without the knowledge and
consent of the British Government. In return, the British undertook to defend the ruler from his
enemies. They also promised non-interference in the internal affairs of the allied states, but this was a
promise they seldom kept.
In reality, by signing a Subsidiary Alliance, an Indian state virtually signed away its independence. It
lost the right of self defenses, of maintaining diplomatic relations, of employing foreign experts, and of
setting its disputes with its neighbors. In fact the Indian ruler lost all vestiges of sovereignty in
external matters and became increasingly subservient to the British Resident who interfered in the
day-to-day administration of the state. In addition, the system tended to bring about the internal
decay of the protected state.
The cost of the subsidy force provided by the British was very high and, in fact, much beyond the
paying capacity of the state. The payment of arbitrarily-fixed and artificially-bloated subsidy invariably
disrupted the economy of the state and improvised its people.
The system of Subsidiary Alliances also led to the disbandment of the armies of the protected states.
Lakhs of soldiers and officers were deprived of their livelihood, which led misery and degradation in
the country. Moreover, the rulers of the protected state tended to neglect the interests of their people
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and to oppress them as they no longer feared them. They had no incentive to be good rulers as they
were fully protected by the British from domestic and foreign enemies.
The Subsidiary Alliance system was, on the other hand, extremely advantageous to the British. It was
the Trojan-horse-tactics in Empire building. It disarmed the Indian states and threw British
protectorate over them. The Governor-General was present by proxy in every Indian state that
accepted the Subsidiary Alliance. Thus, it deprived the Indian princes of forming any confederacy
against the British. It enabled the company to maintain a large army at the cost of Indian states.
This enabled them to fight wars far away from their own territories since any war would occur in the
territories either of the British ally or of the British enemy. They controlled the defense and foreign
relations of the protected ally and had a powerful force stationed at the heart of his lands, and could,
therefore, at the time of their choosing, overthrow him and annex his territory by declaring him to
Bengal "inefficient".
The Subsidiary system helped the company to effectively counteract any possible French move in
India. As far as the English were concerned, the system of Subsidiary Alliance was "a system of
flattening allies as we fatten oxen, till they were worthy of being devoured".
Among the states that accept the Subsidiary Alliance were the Nizam of Hyderabad (September 1798
and October 1800), the ruler of Mysore (1799), the Raja of Tanjore (October 1799), the Nawab of Oudh
(November 1801), the Peshwa (December 1801), the Bhonsle Raja of Berar (December 1803), the
Sindhia (February 1804) and the Rajput states of Jodhpur, Jaipur, Macheri, Bundi and the ruler of
Bharatpur.
By the treaty of October 12, 1800, the Nizam of Hyderabad surrendered to the company all the
territories acquired by him from Mysore in 1792. The Nawab of Oudh after signing subsidiary treaty
on 1801 surrendered to the British nearly half of his kingdom, consisting of Rohilakhand and the
territory lying between Ganga and Jamuna.
War with Mysore:
Wellesley dealt with Mysore more sternly. Tipu of Mysore would never agree to Subsidiary Treaty.
On the contrary, he never reconciled himself to the loss of half of his territory in 1792. He worked
incessantly to strengthen his forces for the inevitable struggle with the British. He entered into
negotiations for an alliance with Revolutionary France. He sent missions to Afghanistan, Arabia and
Turkey to forge an anti-British alliance.
The war between Tipu and British which broke out in 1799 was the Fourth Anglo Mysore war. It was
of very short duration, but quite decisive and fierce. Tipu was defeated at Sedaseer, Melvelly and
finally at his capital city of Seringapatam on 4 May 1799 and met a hero's end. Thus fell a leading
Indian power and one of the most powerful foes of the English.
Nearly half of Tipu's dominions were divided between the English and their ally, the Nizam. The
reduced kingdom of Mysore was restored to a descendant of the old Hindu reigning dynasty. A special
treaty of Subsidiary Alliance was imposed on the new Raja by which the Governor-General was
authorized to take over the administration of the state in case of necessity.
In 1801 Lord Wellesley forced a new treaty upon the puppet Nawab of Carnatic compelling him to add
his kingdom to the company in return for a pension. Similarly, the territories of the rulers of Tanjore
and Surat were taken over and their rulers pensioned off.
War with Marathas:
The Marathas were the only power left outside the sphere of the British control. Wellesley turned his
attention towards them and began aggressive interference in their internal affairs. The Maratha
Empire at this time consisted of a confederacy of five big chiefs, namely, the Peshwa at Poona, the
Gaekward at Baroda, the Sindhia at Gwalior, the Holkar at Indore and the Bhonsle at Nagpur, the
Peshwa being the nominal head of the confederacy. But all of them were engaged in bitter fratricidal
strife, blind to the real danger from the rapidly advancing foreigner.
Wellesley had repeatedly offered a Subsidiary Alliance to the Peshwa and Sindhia. But, the far-sighted
Nana Fadnavis, the chief minister of the Peshwa and refused to fall into the trap and preserved in
some form of solidarity of the Maratha confederacy.
His death on 13 March 1800 marked the end of all wisdom and moderation in the Maratha
Government. Both Daulat Rao Sindhia and Jaswant Rao Holkar entered into a fierce struggle with
each other for supremacy over Poona. However, when on 23 October 1802, Holkar defeated the
combined armies of the Peshwa and Sindhia; the cowardly PeshwaBaji Rao II rushed into the arms of
the English and on fateful day of 31 December 1802 signed the Subsidiary Treaty at Bassein. Thus, he
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sacrificed his independence as the price of protection. A British force under Arthur Wellesley
conducted the Peshwa to the capital and restored him to his former position on 13 May 1803.
The treaty of Bassein was an important landmark in the history of British Supremacy in India. It was
without question a step which changed the footing on which the British stood in Western India. It
brought the company into definite relations with the formal head of the Maratha Confederacy and
henceforth it had either to control the greatest Indian power or was committed to hostilities with it.
The Treaty of Bassein was, as Arthur Wellesley aptly remarked, "a treaty with a cipher". It wounded
the feelings of the other Maratha leader who saw it an absolute surrender of national independence.
By sinking their mutual jealousies for the time being they tried to present a united front to the British.
The Peshwa, repentant of his action, sent them secret messages of encouragement. Daulat Rao
Sindhia and RaghujiBhonsole II of Berar at once combined and tried to win over Jaswant Rao Holkar
to their side. But even at this moment of grave national peril they would not unite against their
common enemy. When Sindhia and Bhonsole fought the British, Holkar stood on the sidelines and
Gaekward gave help to the British. When Holkar took up arms, Bhonsle and Sindhia nursed their
wounds.
Hostilities commenced early in the month of August 1803. In the south, the British armies, led by
Arthur Wellesley defeated the combined armies of Sindhia and Bhonsle at Assaye in September 1803.
The Bhonsle Raja's forces were completely defeated at Argaon in November 1803. In the north, Lord
Lake routed Sindhia's army at Leswari in November and occupied Aligarh, Delhi and Agra. The British
gained further successes in Gujarat, Bundelkhand and Orissa. Thus, in the course of five months,
Sindhia and Bhonsle had to own severe defeats.
The Maratha allies had to sue for peace. Both Sindhia and Bhonsle concluded two separate treaties
with the English. By the Treaty of Deogaon, concluded on 17 December 1803, the Bhonsele Raja ceded
to the English the province of Cuttack, including Balasore and the whole of his territory west of the
river Warda. Sindhia concluded the Treaty of Surji-Arjangaon on 30 December 1803 by which he gave
to the victor all his territories between the Ganga and the Jamuna. Both of them admitted British
Residents to their courts and promised not to employ any European without British approval. The
Pehswa became a designated puppet in their hand. Thus, as a result of the second Anglo-Maratha
war, the English secured important advantages in various ways.
Wellesley then turned his attention to Holkar, but Jaswant Rao Holkar proved more than a match for
the British and brought British armies to a standstill position. Holkar' this ally, the Raja of Bharatpur
inflicted heavy losses on Lake who unsuccessfully attempted to storm his fort early in 1805.
The authorities in England for some time past had been dissatisfied with the aggressive policy of
Wellesley. His conquests, though brilliant and of far-reaching consequences, were becoming too large
for profitable management and raised the company's debts. Wellesley was, recalled from India in 1805
and the company made peace with Holkar in January 1806 by the treaty of Raighat, giving back to
Holkar the greater part of his territories. The expansionist policy had been checked near the end. All
the same, it had resulted in the East India Company becoming paramount power in India.
Tools of Expansion of the British in India: War and Diplomacy
Of all the European East India companies which came to India as traders in different periods of the
15th and 16th centuries, only the British and the French East India companies remained as dominant
ones by the beginning of the 18th century.
In the first decade of the 18th century, the fortunes of the then mighty Mughal Empire began to
decline and there emerged a number of successor states or regional powers or country powers in
different parts of India.
The two European trading companies after realizing the weakness of the then country powers decided
to make sincere efforts to become a strong political power and to expand and consolidate their sway in
India. It is the trade interest that made the two European companies chart out this process of
territorial expansion.The European trading companies established their factories on the western,
eastern and southern coastal areas and in this process they extended their influence into the
mainland territories of the Indian subcontinent.
The expansion and consolidation of the British influence was achieved in a span of one hundred years,
i.e., 1757 to 1857 by using the tools of war and diplomacy. RabindraNath Tagore, very aptly in a
poetic way described this as ―darkness settled on the face of the land then the weighing scales in the
merchant‘s hand changed into the imperial sceptre‖.
The two important policies of diplomatic nature are:
(a) The subsidiary alliance of Wellesley, and
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(b) The Doctrine of Lapse of Dalhousie.
a. The Subsidiary Alliance of Wellesley:
Besides the tool of war, the British East India Company, like a hungry wolf was anxiously waiting to
use any means to expand its territorial holdings in India. Of such means Subsidiary Alliance is one. It
is Wellesley, the Governor General of Bengal, who vigorously implemented this policy for the
advantage of the company. Though, Wellesley is associated with Subsidiary Alliance, the author and
originator was not Wellesley but Dupleix, the French Governor. Dupleix devised it and implemented it
and later the same was followed by the British from Clive to Wellesley.
Alfred Lyall notices four stages in the evolution of this system. In the first stage, the British East India
Company supplied weapons and armies to the native ruler, as we notice the supply of arms and
armies to the Nawab of Avadh against Rohillas during the tenure of Warren Hastings. In the second
stage, the British with the help of the native ruler took the field. In the third stage, the British took
money from the native ruler for the maintenance of the army separately for the defence of such state,
e.g., Oudh in 1797.
In the fourth stage, the British agreed to maintain a permanent and fixed subsidiary force within the
territory of its ally in return for a payment of a sum or ceding certain territory permanently to the
British. Further, Wellesley by this Subsidiary Alliance system made it mandatory for the ally to keep a
British Resident in the court of the native ruler, not to employ any other European nationals in this
service, not to maintain relations with any other native ruler without the prior approval of the British.
The British agreed to protect the territory of such allies from foreign aggression and not to intervene in
the internal affairs of such native ally who entered into this alliance.
A critical review of this policy clearly reveals that this is advantageous to the British and
disadvantageous to the native ruler. The policy was designed in such a way that it served the main
interest of the British East India Company in expanding its hold in new territories of its allies without
spending money from its coffers and to make these allies its dependencies.
The Doctrine of Lapse:
Dalhousie, the last of the Governors General of the time of the Company was associated with this
policy of the Doctrine of Lapse. By using this policy as a means, Dalhousie annexed the native states
like Satara, Nagpur, Jhansi, Jaitpur and Sambhalpur. By denying the right of adoption to a Hindu
native state as legitimate one, the British Governor General Dalhousie annexed the above native states
to the British Empire in India.
His policy resulted in a political upheaval which threatened to destroy the solid foundations of the
Company‘s rule in India in 1857, because his annexationist policy based on the Doctrine of Lapse has
no legal, moral or expediency justification. The British East India Company expanded its control over a
vast territory and also extended its influence beyond India in Sri Lanka in the south, Mauritius in the
south-west Afghanistan in the north-west, Nepal in the north to Andamans and Nicobar, Burma,
Malaya, and Philippines in the south-east.
It can be said without any hesitation that it was mainly at the cost of India that England became the
dominant power in the whole of South Asia and Asian lands on the Indian ocean by using the Indian
sepoys like cannon fodder and draining the Indian treasury through unnecessary wars and diplomacy.
To know more refer below links –
http://www.preservearticles.com/2011090412897/what-were-the-expansion-under-lord-wellesley1798-1805.html
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/india/british-east-india-company.htm
http://www.textbooksonline.tn.nic.in/Books/12/Std12-Hist-EM.pdf
http://www.importantindia.com/12767/subsidiary-alliance/
http://www.preservearticles.com/2011090412897/what-were-the-expansion-under-lord-wellesley1798-1805.html
The history of Urdu language in Indian subcontinent begins with the advent of the Muslims. Urdu is a
Turkish word which means ‗foreign‘, ‗horde‘, and ‗camp‘. The association of all these terms with Urdu
is a pointer to the fact that this language originated in the military camps and that it amalgamated
words from indigenous and foreign languages which were spoken in these military establishments.
Urdu was, thus, formulated by the interaction of Indian and foreign armies, merchants and
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Comment on the role of Rekhta in the development of Urdu and other regional languages
of India.
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immigrants to India. Gradually, however, the representative culture of various ethnic and social
groups of the Muslim armies, immigrants, Sufis, traders, travellers, and settlers came into close
contact with the local communities. Their interaction began the process of the development of a
common language with various shades and styles, but at the same time with an identifiable essential
character. Through the socio-cultural synthesis over the centuries, the primary nebulous shape of this
tongue (Urdu zaban) was developed into a common medium of communication known at various
stages and different regions as Hindavi, Dakhani, Rekhta, and Urdu-i mu‘alla. It developed as a
regular language and assumed independent form, and the status of a distinct literary language
through various phases of development.
Urdu: a Language representative of linguistic Synthesis
Urdu showed a unique capacity of owning and absorbing the words and expressions of other
languages and it was greatly enriched by the vocabulary and expressions of the cross-section of local
tongues and dialects. Besides vocabulary, Urdu language utilized the other indigenous elements the
expressions, historical events, myths and symbols as well as the poetic metres and verse-forms of
various Indian languages profusely. All these elements were woven into a unified medium of
expression giving the language its Hindavi or Indian foundation.
The process of this linguistic synthesis was a phenomenon not confined to one region only, it
happened in all parts of the subcontinent: from Sindh and Punjab, the Indo-Gangetic plains in north
India, Deccan in the south, and Gujrat in the west.
As has been pointed out earlier, being the dialect of the camp Urdu acquired the characteristic traits
of almost all Indo-Aryan languages which were used as country-wide level. This is one reason why the
origin of this language has variously been attributed to Sindh, Punjab, Delhi and U.P. on one hand,
and Deccan and Gujrat on the other. Linguistically, the scholars trace its origin to different languages
and dialects. One of the foremost Urdu critics, Muhammad Husain Azad relates it to BrajBhasha,
while others see its roots in Harayanavi, Rajasthani, Awadhi, and Ardh-Magadhi. It is now an
established fact that Urdu belongs to the group of western Hindi, consisting of such dialects as
ShaurseniApbhramsh, BrajBhasha, and Awadhi. However, it drew upon many elements of Arabic as
well as Persian. This prompts us to suggest that the common language known from its beginning as
Hindavi, Hindi, Gujri, and Dakhanietc, and which later came to be known as Rekhta, Urdu, or
Hindustani has been a common denomination of all the tongues spoken in the subcontinent. This
has, over the centuries of its development, become a specific linguistic entity called Urdu.
Urdu spread from one corner of the land to the other, absorbing in the process various regional
characteristics and styles, and eventually established its own identity through a script of its own. The
script of Urdu has its origin in Arabic and Persian scripts, adapted itself to its needs. This trait may be
seen in the fashioning of those letters which are used for denoting the compound words and sounds
borrowed from Indian languages, such as tha, dha, chha, and so on.
Association of Urdu with various Cultural Centres
Urdu was nurtured at various cultural centres. In north India it started taking the shape of a separate
dialect spoken in the Delhi region, and was known as Desi. It is clearly discernible during the
thirteenth century, from the time of Amir Khusrau.
Amir Khusrau, the doyen of Persian literature and an expert musician, made it the language of his
songs. He composed qaul, tarana, sohla, and other allied musical forms, which have association with
sama‘ (music which leads to spiritual ecstacy) prevalent in the dargahs of the Chishti Sufi saints, in
desi that had the sprinkling of Persian also. These musical forms were popularized by a class of
musicians who were known as qawwals.[1] He also wrote riddles (pahelis) in the dialect which was
spoken in and around Delhi.
During the fourteenth century when Muhammad Tughlaq made Daultabad his capital (1328–29), it
also emerged as a centre of Islamic culture. Urdu language was also nurtured here which was greatly
influenced by the spoken dialects of the region. This form of Urdu is still spoken in many settlements
which were founded in the vicinity of Deogiri that was renamed as Daultabad by Sultan Muhammad
Tughlaq and known as Aurangabadi.
During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Gujarat had became the centre, and finally after Akbar‘s
conquest of Gujarat in the year 1572 the centre of this language moved to Deccan where it already
taken roots during the Bahmani rule. Amongst the Deccani states, the AdilShahis of Bijapur (1490 –
1686), QutubShahis of Golkunda (1512 –1687), and the NizamShahis (1496 –1636) were great patron
of art and culture. Their Sultans were fine scholars and their courts attracted literary talent from far
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and wide. It is here that Dakhani Urdu flowered. Though it was directly influenced by Persian, it
retained its indigenous colour, in close contact with its cultural surroundings.
Following the Mughal conquest of Deccan, these cultural centres declined, However, the socio-cultural
synthesis which took place here as a result of this conquest amalgamated the best traditions and
features, linguistic as well as literary, of the north and south and consequently a new standard of the
language and literature came into being which was given the nomenclature of Rekhta. The foremost
Rekhta poet in the Deccan was Vali Dakhani (b. 1667 AD).
During the early eighteenth century the centre of this language shifted again to Delhi. It made its own
contribution to the growth and development of the Dakhani tradition of literature and further enriched
it. Mir‘s observation about the popularity of Rekhta verse is significant. He says: ‗It is a kind of verse
in the manner of Persian verse, but in the language of the imperial camp [Urdu-i mu‘alla] of the kings
of Hindustan, and which was becoming popular at this time.‘
The Emergence of Delhi School of Urdu poetry
In the opinion of some scholars the development of Urdu poetry in north India with Delhi as its centre
is associated with Vali Dakkani. A renowned Urdu critic Maulana Husain Azad opines: ‗He was the
first to put Urdu on a literary map‘.[2] Vali arrived in Delhi in the year 1700 AD and during his long
stay here he came in touch with some of the literary and spiritual celebrities especially Shah Sadullah
Khan Gulshan. According to a contemporary author QudrutullahQadiri ‗Qasim‘, he gave up Dakkani
in favour of Urdu-i-mu‘alla, the spoken language of Delhi and its suburbs under the influence of Shah
Gulshan. This opinion is shared by Mir Dard, a noted literary figure of Delhi, who adds that Shah
Gulshan advised him to embody Persian themes and sentiments in his Rekhta. Vali following his
advice discarded Dekkani in favour of Urdu, and imbibed the features of Persian poetry in his ghazals
in preference of the themes popular in earlier poetry.[3] According to Azad‘s version the impact of this
visit and the subsequent arrival of his divan in 1727 AD proved to be tremendous. He considers it an
epoch making event which paved the way of the beginning of the literary activities in Urdu in the
north. He remarks that Vali is not only the trend setter in Urdu ghazal in Deccan, his impact was felt
in north also. His poems were recited in the streets and musical assemblies and that his impact was
felt on the masses and the classes. It broke the hesitation of the poets for the composition of poetry in
Urdu which had remarkable potential for literary compositions. This view is corroborated by a modern
critic, Muhammad Sadiq, who says that the arrival of Vali and his divan (collection of poems) led to a
literary revolution in north India, but its effects were not felt immediately. Persian lost its hold in a
gradual manner.[4]
This view is, however, not supported by the scrutiny of literary trends in the Deccan. It is to be noted
that earlier Urdu poetry, which flourished in the form of Dakhani and Aurangabadi, itself was modeled
on Persian poetical standards. Secondly the difference between Urdu and Aurangabadi was nominal
as this region was consistently under the cultural and linguistic influence of north since the reign of
Muhammad Tughlaq. Aurangabad remained for several years the seat of military operation of
Auranzeb in the Deccan. It further enhanced the influence of north on the culture of this region.
Aurangabadi, called Hindi during the seventeenth century, was virtually identical with Urdu, while
Dakhani was regarded distinct from Aurangabadi. Then, there are evidences to show that Shah
Gulshan spent 22 years in the Deccan and Vali met him there.
Thus the above opinion regarding Rekhta i.e. Urdu and the influence of Vali Dakhani on north Indian
Urdu poets should be accepted little cautiously in view of the fact that initially the Urdu was the
language of the imperial camp, and Delhi always had a vast military establishment. From the
fourteenth century it was also the popular song language of the ‗Delhi singers‘ who were commonly
known as qawwals. The Sufi khanqahs (hospices) were always a centre of cultural sharing which must
have contributed immensely to the development of a common language in the urban centres,
especially Delhi which was the cultural node of Medieval north India.
The most important issue in this regard is the fact that the growth of fine arts and literature during
the medieval period was intimately connected with patronage, and there was considerable change in
the patronage pattern during the eighteenth century. The Mughal ruler was stripped of his riches due
to the sack of Delhi by Nadir Shah in A D 1739. The Mughal court had become a stage for the
intrigues of various factions of nobles who were busy protecting their interests. There were new
claimants for power and resources. In the changed social and political conditions, the court and the
established nobility were impoverished and new patrons became important. The poets were obliged to
seek patronage from them and composed poetry in the language which was spoken in the imperial
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camps and in and around Delhi. Undoubtedly it had the influence of Dakhni and Aurangabadi, but it
was more due to Mughal association with Deccan and not solely because of Vali‘s influence.
The popularity of Urdu as a literary language arose to such an extent that it undermined the status of
BrajBhasha and Persian as a medium of poetry. Persian, however, continued to be used for scholarly
and other serious compositions in prose wherein elitism and sophistication was maintained. Even the
biographical accounts (tazkiras) of poets were written by the accomplished poets in Persian.
The Early Promoters of Urdu Poetry in Delhi
Amongst the early promoters of Urdu poetry in north India the name of Sirajuddin Ali Khan Arzu
(popularly known as Khan-i Arzu) is worth mentioning. He was a great Persian scholar of the early
eighteenth century.[5] Although he himself did not compile any divan in Urdu, but he encouraged his
numerous pupils like Abru, mazmun, Yakrang, and Tek Chand Bahar etc. to shift from Persian to
Urdu.[6] Even Sauda, the renowned Urdu poet, shifted from Persian to Urdu at his advice. The
comment of QudratulahQadiri ‗Qasim‘ is worth mentioning here. He says: ‗just as the theologians are
the lineal descendents of Abu Hanifa, similarly it would be quite appropriate to consider all Hindi (i.e.
Urdu) poets as his descendents.‘[7] Shah Sa‗dullah Khan Gulshan (popularly known as Shah
Gulshan) was another promoter of Urdu. As has been mentioned earlier, according to one tradition it
was him who persuaded Vali Dakhni to shift from Dakkani to Urdu. He had great following in Delhi.
Khwaja Mir Dard was his grandson and pupil.
The early Urdu poets excessively indulged themselves in Ihamgoi, which means exciting suspicion by
manipulating the words.[8] In the opinion of Muhammad Husai Azad this trait was borrowed from
BrajBhasha which was till now one of the major literary and song languages.[9] However, from a
biographical account of the poets (tazkira) it becomes clear that it was a marked feature of
contemporary Persian poetry and probably from here it was borrowed in Urdu poetry. The poets of the
early phase were fascinated by Iham to the extent that they sacrificed the beauty of expression for the
sake of it.
The Early Urdu Poets of Delhi
The prominent Urdu poets of the early phase were Shah Mubarak Arzu (1692-1747),[10]
SharfuddinMazmun (c.1689¬-1745), Saiyyid Muhammad Shakir Nazi (d. 1754), and Shaikh
ZahuruddinHatim (1699-1781). Hatim was the leading poet of the reign of Muhammad Shah (17181739). They were all Khan-i Arzoo‘s pupils.
In spite of the fact that Urdu poetry from the very beginning was modelled on Persian forms and
sentiments, the language of the early Urdu poets showed a preference for the adoption of words from
dialects current in the vicinity of Delhi. The early Urdu poets, thus, wrote in the idiom of the day and
did not conform to the prescribed usage, spelling or pronunciation of Persian and Arabic words.[11]
The early eighteenth century was a period of transition. While the fortunes of the aristocracy and the
established nobility was on decline due to a variety of reasons, especially the sack of Delhi by Nadir
Shah, and the rise of diverse groups as claimants in the resources of the Mughal Empire which
virtually led to its decline. There was, however, a boom in the trading activities at Delhi and the
surrounding area. It led to the emergence of a new and effluent section in society which aped the way
of the nobility. The description of a contemporary author DargahQuli Khan reveals the prosperity of
these people. They are described as razil (upstart) by these poets who appear to be deeply moved with
these developments. A few lines from Hatim‘s poem are worth mentioning here:
Those who once rode elephants now go barefooted.
(While) those who yearned for parched grain once are today owners of prosperity, palaces, and
elephants as mark of rank. The Jackals have usurped the place of lions.[12]
Muhammad Husain Azad refers to one of the mukhammas (a five line verse) of Shakir Nazi where he
describes the indolence and debauchery of the nobility, the decline of the great, and the rise of the
upstarts.[13]
The Later phase of Delhi School of Urdu Poetry
Mirza Mazhar Jan-i Janan (1700-81), Mir Taqi Mir (1720-1810), Mirza Muhammad Rafi Sauda
(1713-1780) and Mir Dard (1719-1785) ware the poets of the later phase of Delhi school of Urdu
poetry during the eighteenth century. This phase is characteristic of the censuring of the vogue for
Ihamgoi and the initiation of the task of enriching and purifying Urdu. Ghazal received impetus during
this phase.
Mirza Mazhar Jan-i Janan is accorded a very high place by the contemporary tazkira (biographical
accounts of poets) writers. DargahQuli Khan, the author of Muraqqa-i -Dehli, praises his Persian
poetry so much that according to him, ‗it is worth writing on the petals and his thoughts deserved to
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be engraved on the pupils of a bulbul‘s eyes‘.[14] He was a renowned Persian poet and considered to
be the foremost amongst those who made departure from the practice of Iham, and also to give
currency to Urdu- i -mu‗alla, which afterwards became the favourite of all. He is also regarded the first
poet who wrote verses in Urdu modeled on Persian.[15]
Mirza Muhammad Rafi Sauda was a versatile writer and introduced many verse forms in Urdu such
as qasida (an ode). He was the first to use satire in Urdu. In writing satire and qasida, he even excelled
the great masters of these forms in Persian. Before him ghazal and masnavi were the main literary
genres. Sauda‘s poetry was important in one more way. Urdu poetry hardly reflects its age. By using
the lash of satire Sauda made significant observations on his age. In his qasida-i-ShaihrAshob and
mukhammas i ShahirAshob he makes important observations on the decadence of the contemporary
society. His qasida-i-ShaihrAshob portrays the picture of the decline and degeneration of the leading
professions in Delhi – of the poets and the physicians. They were obliged to debase their talents as
they were to depend themselves on a degenerate nobility.
Like Sauda, Mir Taqi Mir was another poet who contributed a lot in the purification of Urdu, and
awarding it a literary status. Mir is a realistic poet and he has also written a Shahir-i Ashob which
sheds light on the deplorable contemporary scene in Delhi after the invasion of Nadir Shah and his
sack of Delhi. Some of his ghazals have also given a poignant description of the desolation of Delhi.
His masnavis deal with various subjects such as hunting expeditions, marriage ceremonies etc.
Khwaja Mir Dard was the pupil of Khan-i Arzoo and a famous ghazal writer. His residence was the
venue of the literary gatherings where all these poets exchanged views on poetry and various other
intellectual matters. Thus, he was also an important figure in the purification movement of Urdu. He
was well versed in music and composed a number of khayals, thumris, and dhrupads.[16]
The Dominance of Persian Influence on Urdu Poetry
One should note here that these poets regarded the language of the early Urdu poets as vulgar or
obsolete. In their effort of weeding out the rough and unmusical words they eliminated a large number
of Hindi words and imparted Urdu a Persian veneer. Shah Hatim takes notice of the growing influence
of Persian usage and diction and disuse of words of purely Hindi origin in the literary circle.
The indigenous elements faded out in Urdu during this phase of the development of Urdu poetry and
Persian influence began to dominate. Urdu poetry, especially ghazal, showed adherence for the
adoption of Persian poetical standards to the extent that it appeared a mere continuation of Persian
literary ideals in a new garb. They simply transplanted Persian themes, forms, metrical system,
imagery and figures of speech. Also it showed an abstinence from the rich literary traditions of
BrajBhasha and Awadhi. Their endeavour created a wide gulf between literary language and the
popular speech and also eliminated the indigenous colour or trait of Urdu. The spontaneity of Urdu
language, which could have given way to the creation of a common language, was also suppressed
considerably.
Urdu poetry bloomed in Delhi during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The institution of
mushaira (literary gathering) greatly facilitated the growth of Urdu poetry. These were held in the
residences of the poets, in the fairs, and in the qahva-khanas. Ghalib, Dagh, and Momin were the
product of Delhi school. They have taken Urdu ghazal to unprecedented heights in respect of
expression as well as the grandeur of language.
To know more refer below links
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urduhindilinks/workshop2012/
bangha_rekhta.pdf
https://rekhta.org/
http://www.dawn.com/news/1172252
http://sol.du.ac.in/mod/book/view.php?id=477&chapterid=333
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urduhindilinks/tarachand/02medieval.html
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00litlinks/naim/ambiguities/10urdupremod.html
Rock-cut monuments in India
•
Aihole has one Jaina temple.
•
Badami Cave Temples.
•
Bagh Caves.
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Both Buddhism and Jainism can be associated with rock cut site architecture. Elucidate
the major rock cut sites and compare their features.
Page
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•
•
•
•
•
Ellora Caves has twelve Buddhist, 17 Hindu and five Jain temples.
Kanheri Caves.
Lenyadri Caves.
Mahabalipuram.
PanchaRathas.
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Similar to the Barabar Caves, the Ajanta Caves are situated close to main trade routes. A great deal of
decorative sculpture—intricately carved columns and reliefs, including cornices and pilaster—are
found here. A notable trait of rock-cut architecture is the crafting of rock to imitate timbered and
carved wood. The Ajanta Caves are home to
some very early and well-preserved wall
paintings that decorate the walls and
ceilings and date from the 2nd century BCE.
Executed using tempera technique on
smooth surfaces and prepared by the
application of plaster, the themes of the
paintings are Buddhist and gracefully
illustrate the major events of Buddha's life,
the Jataka tales, and the various divinities of
the Buddhist pantheon.
Ajanta Cave
A great deal of decorative sculpture—
intricately carved columns and reliefs,
including cornices and pilaster—are found in
the Ajanta Caves.
The Ellora Caves
The Ellora caves were built between the 5th and 10th centuries. These caves are made up of twelve
Buddhist, seventeen Hindu, and five Jain rock-cut temples, excavated out of the Charanandri hills.
21
Overview: Rock-Cut Architecture
Rock-cut architecture is the practice of creating a structure by carving it out of solid natural rock. In
India, the term ‗cave' is often applied in reference to rock-cut architecture; however, it must be
distinguished from a naturally-occurring cave, as rock-cut architecture is a highly engineered and
elaborately decorated structure. There are more than 1,500 rock-cut temples in India, most of which
are religious in nature, adorned with decorative paintings and exquisite stone carvings reflecting a
very high level of craftsmanship.
Buddhist rock-cut temples and monasteries were often located near trade routes and these spaces
became stopovers and lodging houses for traders. As their endowments grew, rock-cut temple interiors
become more and more elaborate and decorated. While many temples, monasteries, and stupas have
been destroyed, cave temples are better preserved due to their hidden locations and the fact that they
are constructed from stone, a far more durable material than wood, clay, or metal.
India's Rock-Cut Architecture
The Barabar Caves
In India, caves have long been regarded as sacred spaces and were enlarged or entirely man-made for
use as temples and monasteries by Buddhist monks and ascetics. The Barabar Caves in Bihar, built
in the 3rd century BCE during the Mauryan period, are the oldest examples of Buddhist rock-cut
architecture. Credited to Emperor Ashoka, these caves mostly consist of two rooms carved entirely out
of granite. The first room, a large rectangular hall, was meant to be a space for worshipers to
congregate in, while the second room was a small, domed chamber for worship. This second chamber
is thought to have contained small, stupa-like structures, though is empty now.
The Ajanta Caves
The Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra are a group of 30 rock-cut Buddhist temples that spanned 6
centuries, beginning in the 1st century BCE. They are carved into the vertical side of a gorge located in
the hills of the Sahyadrimountains. The Ajanta caves are considered masterpieces of Buddhist
architecture and contain living and sleeping quarters, kitchens, monastic spaces, shrines, and stupas.
Made of brick or excavated from stone, the residences of monks are called viharas, while the cave
shrines used for worship are called chaitya grihas.
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The proximity of the temples belonging to different religions demonstrates the religious harmony
indicative of the time. Similar to the Barabar and Ajanta caves, the Ellora caves contain many
frescoes, reliefs, and shrines, including carvings of the Buddha, bodhisattvas, and saints. In many
cases the stone is intricately carved to look like
wood.
Ellora Cave
Similar to the Barabar and Ajanta caves, the
Ellora caves contain many frescoes, reliefs, and
shrines, including carvings of the Buddha,
bodhisattvas, and saints.
Source:
Boundless.
―Buddhist
Rock-Cut
Architecture.‖
Boundless
Art
History.
Boundless, 15 Aug. 2016. Retrieved 06 Nov.
2016 from https://www.boundless.com/arthistory/textbooks/boundless-art-historytextbook/art-of-south-and-southeast-asiabefore-1200-ce-12/buddhist-art-84/buddhistrock-cut-architecture-422-5847/
Below
is
the
two
storey
temple
at
Bhuraneshwar, the capital of Orissa, and below it, are some of the twenty-nine cave-temples of Ajanta,
carved into a vertical cliff-face. The three-headed figure of Siraabove, is one of the ranking
masterpieces of Indian sculpture, and the glory of the Elephanta caves, near Bombay.
In 1819, a young British officer, when on a shooting party in the hilly country of the Western Ghats
north of Aurungabad, came to the rim of a deep ravine; looking down, he saw a row of openings with
carved façades all along the curve of the vertical cliff across the gorge; he descended and found that
the black openings were the entrances to a series of twenty-nine temples excavated in the solid rock,
all richly carved, and some covered with splendid paintings. He had rediscovered the Ajanta cavetemples, built or rather excavated by Buddhists between the end of the third century B.C. and the
early part of the seventh century A.D., and long faded from public memory. The story has often been
told; but it bears re-telling, partly because the discovery was so dramatic and also so important, and
partly because it is a reminder of the fact that it was the British who rediscovered India‘s huge
forgotten past.
There is rock-cut architecture in other parts of the world - the fantastic tombs and façades of Petra
and some of the great tomb-temples of Upper Egypt leap to mind, and along the Seine there are chalkcut cave-dwellings and the cave-church near Les Andelys. But nowhere else than in India is there
such a wealth or variety of rock-cut temples, spread over so long a period of time. For long, indeed,
India preferred solid rock to hewn stone as the material to confer permanence on religious buildings,
whether to provide enduring embodiments of belief or house-room to a continuing succession of
dedicated believers. In all countries, woody material has preceded stone in architecture. But whereas
in ancient Egypt, for instance, the vegetable
prototype was transposed directly into a
stone construction, in India, it seems, it was
first translated into a rock-cut religious
edifice, not a building in the strict sense, but
a carving. Only later were free-standing stone
temples attempted. And, as in many other
countries, stone was not used for dwellings,
even for palaces, until long after it was
employed for temples and shrines.
‗Nowhere else than in India is there such a
wealth or variety of rock-cut temples‘
This
last
statement
needs
a
little
qualification, for stone seems to have been
used for fortifications and ramparts at least
by the sixth century B.C., and there were
megalithic constructions in Vedic times. Furthermore, the free-standing railings round the stupas or
holy mounds of earth that represent enlarged tumuli, were translated directly from wood to stone
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before the second century B.C., and of course Asoka‘s pillars of the third century were free-standing.
But the first stone chambered edifices seem to have been rock-cut, not built.
They are of two distinct kinds - caves and monoliths, the former excavated, the latter carved out of the
living rock as a sculptor carves a statue out of a block
of marble. At their highest peak, both types may
become large many-roomed constructions, sometimes
two-storeyed, or in the case of the monoliths, even
with several storeys. Both caves and monoliths may
be embellished with splendid sculpture, it too of
course executed in the rock-mass.
The two monolithic sites I visited - the Seven Pagodas
of Mahabalipuram on the coast south of Madras and
the Kailasha Temple at Ellora - are both remarkable,
though in very different ways. At Mahabalipuram
(sometimes spelt Mamallapuram) an entire section of
a low granulitic ridge has been cut away to leave five
monolithic temples or Raths, with attendant
sculptures, while close by the face of the ridge has
been converted into a huge sculptured panel, as
impressive in its way as Michelangelo‘s Last
Judgment in the Sistine Chapel.
The entire complex was carried out in the seventh century by the rulers of the Pallava dynasty. The
Raths can be described as architectural sculptures - miniature rock-cut representations of
contemporary structural buildings. Very interestingly, they are of three distinct styles, 5 and 6. The
smallest and doubtless the most primitive is a simple cell, only 11 ft. square, surmounted by a roof
imitated from thatch, such as can still be seen in some modern Indian huts.
Two other Raths represent temples of the so-called Vesara type. These are modifications of the early
Buddhist form of shrine known as a chaitya- hall, which we shall see more characteristically at Ajanta
and Ellora. These are rectangular, with a barrel roof imitating wood construction, a carved façade, and
an apsidal inner end.
‘The multitudinous figures of men and animals
are all life-size’
Two others represent Hindu adaptations of
Viharas or Buddhist monasteries. They are
square buildings, the larger 35 ft. high, with open
verandahs below, and then a series of three
recessed
terraces,
lined
with
small-scale
representations of the monks‘ cells (and, in one
Rath, of the monks themselves looking out). The
whole is surmounted by a bulbous stupika, which
is a miniature representation of a Buddhist stupa
(tape) or burial mound: smaller stupikas appear
at the corners of the terraces. The ascending
terraces symbolize different aspects of divinity: (in
original Buddhist constructions, as in the
stupendous Javanese sanctuary of Borobodur,
they symbolize the spiritual ascent towards Nirvana).
In Indian sacred art, as in Gothic, sculpture plays an essential role. Usually the sculpture is an
integral part of the architecture. Thus the Raths have some fine figures carved out of their substance,
8. The style somewhat resembles that which we shall see at Ellora, but the figures are here more
slender, less mobile, and colder in feeling. Sometimes, however, we get free-standing sculpture. Here,
alongside the Raths, portions of the rock-ridge have been carved into the likeness of the animal
‗vehicles‘ of three divinities - Indra‘s elephant, Durga‘s lion, and Siva‘s Nandi bull, all of them of a
massive grandeur: the elephant in particular shows a striking simplification of form.
But the most remarkable work of pure sculpture at Mahabalipuram, and perhaps in the whole of
India, is the gigantic composition, carved on the face of the rock-ridge, known as the Descent of the
Ganges. It represents the descent of the sacred river from its Himalayan source, through a multitude
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of living creatures-animals, holy men and supernatural beings - all rendering praise or obeisance to
Siva. Down the central cleft originally flowed a stream of water representing the river, supplied from a
basin above and behind the rock. The multitudinous figures of men an animals, including the
magnificent elephants, are all life-size.
The stylistic conception is characteristically Indian: the animals and the men (including the wonderful
sage in penitential meditation) are robustly
naturalistic,
while
the
supernatural
inhabitants of water and air, the nagas and
devas, partake of some supernatural essence.
The realism, in fact, is so comprehensive that it
can include both the material and the spiritual
aspects of reality. Apparently the work was
never finished, for at its base there are
indications of blocking-out for a further array
of figures. On the hill behind, close to the
modern lighthouse, is another unfinished
work, a Rath left unachieved when the
Mamalla dynasty came to its end. It shows how
(as apparently in all rock-cut constructions)
the work was begun at the highest point .
‗It is not clear wheter this is an adaption to the
natural rock overhang, or whether the
excavation was never fully finished‘
Not far away are some rock-cut cave-temples, I
think of later date. Actually they are not caves
in the ordinary sense of the word, but
excavated verandahs, long and shallow, with segments of rock left along their outer edge and carved
into supporting pillars. The inner walls have some fine sculptured panels. One represents Vishnu in
his boar-headed avatar or incarnation carrying his goddess-wife in his arms. Another, in a different
shrine, shows Vishnu asleep – a wonderful portrayal of repose. In the eighth century, a later dynasty
erected a superb temple of slender vihara type on the seashore nearby, but as this is a built
construction, it does not come into our present story. However, close below it is a hermit‘s cell
excavated in a rock actually washed by the waves.
Such rock-cut cells are not uncommon. There are several in the hills behind Bhuraneshwar, the
capital of Orissa, inluding one with its overhanging entrance fantastically carved into the likeness of
the head of a gigantic and ferocious animal - whether a serpent or a stylized tiger it is hard to say. The
carved caves on this site total 63.
Besides cells they include some
large
templesof
the
shallow
‘verandah‘ type, with sculputured
panels on their walls. One is twostoreyed, with a fenestrated
ground floor, and a fisrt in the
shape of a balcony, supported by
square pillars. These are of
varying height, but it is not clear
wheter this is an adaption to the
natural rock overhang, or whether
the excavation was never fully
finished.
Leaving the east coast, we now go
to Western India. The Elephanta
caves on an island close to
Bombay are the most widely
known of all Indian cave-temples, but this is because they are so easily accessible from the great city.
To me at least they do not compare in strangeness with Mahabulipuram or in grandeur and beauty
with Ajanta and Ellora, though they do contain some splendid sculpture, including one supreme work
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of art, in the shape of the gigantic figure of the Siva Trinity, with one of the three heads, august and
serene, representing Siva as supreme power, the second angry and destructive, and the third a
strange embodiment of youthful but pouting masculine beauty.
‗The verandah has enormous projecting eaves imitating timber construction, a remarkable piece of
rock-carving!‘
From Bombay, first by train through the romantic gorges of the scarp of the Western Ghats, and then
by car over the dissected plateau, we reach Ajanta. No fewer than twenty-nine sacred caves were
excavated in the trap-rock of the gorge, during a period of eight or nine hundred years before the
decline and supersession of Buddhism in India. These may be treated together with the twelve
Buddhist caves at Ellora, which date from the closing period of Indian Buddhism, from 350 to nearly
700 A.D. These Buddhist caves are of two types-the more numerous viharas or monasteries for
Buddhist monks, and the chaityas or sacred halls for assembled worship or meditation. The viharas
are generally square in plan, with cells round a central space. ln the more elaborate ones, the flat roof
is supported by rows of pillars, and there is a sanctuary or chapel at the inner end. They are usually
entered through a verandah supported by pillars. One, at Ellora, seems to have been designed as a
refectory or a place of secular assembly.
The chaityas, on the other hand, are long rectangular halls, with an apsidal end and aupcurved
vaulted roof, copied from timber construction. There is a prominent shrine of dagoba type (i.e., a
miniature modified stupa) in the apse, and the central space is surrounded by a continuous aisle,
access to which is had between a row of high pillars. The exterior generally presents a richly-carved
façade. This often included a window with horseshoe opening and double ogee moulding – a
characteristic but not very attractive feature of this period of Indian architecture.
The carved pillars of the later viharas are of a wonderful variety and richness. Sometimes, fluted
circular columns emerge from a square rock-base: the capitals of some are double cushions or‘
turbans,‘ of others single cushions surmounted by a laterally spreading member supporting the roof;
still others are rectangular in section, with slightly tapering sides and carvings reminiscent of
Renaissance design on their face, and
surmounted by a carved horizontal
slab.
The verandahs of the viharas are
sometimes simple, but the later ones
frequently elaborate, with abundance
of carving. In some cases they are
two-storeyed, with a balcony above
the verandah. At Ellora, where the
cave-temples are cut into a rock-slope
instead of into a vertical cliff-face as
at Ajanta, the verandah forms the
back wall of a spacious open court. In
one such case, the verandah has
enormous projecting eaves imitating
timber construction, a remarkable
piece of rock-carving!
Ajanta is above all famed for its
paintings - the greatest treasure of early Indian pictorial art. They have been described and
reproduced in a number of publications, so I shall not attempt to discuss them here qua paintings.
However, painting was also employed at Ajanta as decoration for architecture. In particular, the roofs
of some caves are carved to imitate coffering, and the square coffers are occupied by painted designs of
– to me at least - surprising type. Some are in black and white, with rich floral patterns, while in
others animals or female figures emerge from the flowery background.
‗The whole was one single piece of sculpture-surely the largest and most elaborate the world has ever
seen‘
Finally we come to the sacred site of Ellora, which was doubtless developed in imitation or emulation
of Ajanta. I shall not try to describe in detail the sixteen Hindu (Brahman) and the five Jain cavetemples which were excavated at the same time as or later than the twelve late Buddhist ones. In
general they have the same general plan as their prototypes, though all of course have Hindu instead
of Buddhist iconography as the basis for their sculptures and paintings, and some have little rock-cut
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chapels in their fore-courts. I shall concentrate on the stupendous monolith of the Kailasha temple.
This, dating from the second half of the eighth century, is one of the most extraordinary man-made
structures that I have been privileged to see; and certainly the most impressive monument of ancient
Hinduism. It is dedicated to Siva, and is intended as an architectural representation of the god‘s
home, the sacred Mount Kailasha. The representation is not merely a symbolic one: the profile
elevation of the building is stated to resemble that of the actual mountain in the Himalayas. According
to Rowland, it and other architectural representations of sacred Hintalayanmountains were originally
painted white to symbolize the snowcapped summits.
The great temple, as large as the Parthenon in ground-plan but one-and-a-half times as high, has
been hewn out of the side of a mountain ridge. Three enormous trenches were cut down from the
sloping upper surface of the ridge, producing a huge quarry with three vertical walls, but open to the
lower ground on the fourth side, and with the hundred-foot-high monolithic mass in its centre. To
obviate the impression of the temple being sunk in a dark pit, the lower 25 ft. of the central monolith
was left as a podium on which the temple proper is elevated. The podium is carved in full relief with
figures of animals: the frieze of the fore-parts of elephants emerging from the rock on the innermost
face of the podium and seeming to support the great mass above on their backs is especially
impressive.
The temple is flanked by two enormous free-standing columns, elaborately carved, and on one side by
a life-sized elephant on the quarry floor. Further, it is connected by stone bridges with subsidiary halls
and verandahs cut in the side walls, so that the quarry constitutes a courtyard for the shrine. The
temple itself is very elaborate. It is roughly cruciform in shape, with an asymmetrical pair of pillared ‗
porches ‘ or mandapas, corresponding to the transepts of a Christian church, forming the short arms
of the cross. Along its main axis, there is a series of mandapas with an ambulatory outside them,
leading to the dark and massive-walled cella, the holy of holies where a huge lingam of Siva is still
worshipped, and round which five lesser shrines are placed. Over this holiest area, at the innermost
end of the mass, rises the spire with its four recessed terraces and its crowning stupika, a much
enlarged version of the spires of the
vihara Raths at Mahabalipuram.
Never shall I forget the view of this from
above. I had climbed up the stony flank
of the ridge in the oven-like heat of an
Indian April mid-day. From the lip of the
quarry I looked down on the great
pyramidal spire, standing out boldly in
bright sunshine against the blackshadowed wall of the quarry. On the
topmost terrace was a white speck,
which my field-glasses revealed as an
Egyptian Vulture (Neophron) on its nest.
‘The whole is like a superb stagesetting of a cosmic drama’
The next section of the roof had at its
centre a circular drum, surmounted by
four
stone
animals
(all,
be
it
remembered, carved out of the single mass), and bordered with little stone templicules. Beyond this
again was a rectangular structure of very satisfying proportions, topped by carved cornices, and with
beautifully spaced figures flanking its plain entrance doorway on its longer side.
Wandering through the halls and shrines, up and down flights of stone steps, and round the
ambulatories, my admiration of the grandiose design of the building and of the lovely detail of its
figure sculptures was interrupted by constant shocks of surprise and wonder that the whole was one
single piece of sculpture-surely the largest and most elaborate the world has ever seen. The figure
sculpture is noteworthy in itself. The flying figures on the walls, though wingless, convey the sense of
airborne flight more convincingly than any winged angel; and the Atlas dwarf supporting one corner of
a cornice is a delightful grotesquerie. The finest of all the sculptures, ‗The shaking of Kailasha,‘ I was
unfortunately unable to photograph. It is embedded so deeply in its stone frame (symbolizing in a
moving way the idea of daimonic forces in the interior core of things) that it is illuminated only at
certain times of day, which were not those of our visit.
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It represents an incident in the Ramayana. The giant demon Ravana, having penetrated the bowels of
Mount Kailasha, is attempting to uproot it so as to use its store of sacred energy as a weapon against
his enemy Rama. Multi-headed and multi-armed, in the cave of a deeply-cut recess, he is exerting all
his force to break the rock-mass asunder. But Siva, high in air on the summit of the much-stylized
peak, shows the effortless superiority of his power; relaxed and serene, he frustrates the demon‘s
violence by a light pressure of one foot on the surface of the mountain. His goddess-wife Parvati
shrinks against him as she feels the trembling of the solid rock beneath, while her maidservant runs
towards her in fear. The whole is like a superb stage-setting of a cosmic drama. This theatrical (but
not theatrical) style of sculpture, which was continued in the sculptures at Elephanta, is so far as I
know a purely Hindu invention.
Reluctantly leaving Ellora, we drove to Aurungabad, to find there a reminder of the amazing variety of
Indian architecture - one of the southernmost specimens of Moghul building, a domed tomb very like
the Taj Mahal on a reduced scale
To know more refer below links –
http://www.tifr.res.in/~archaeo/FOP/FOP%20pdf%20of%20ppt/Shrikant%20Jadhav%20Ancient%20
Caves.pdf
http://www.touropia.com/rock-cut-tombs-and-temples/
https://www.boundless.com/art-history/textbooks/boundless-art-history-textbook/art-of-south-andsoutheast-asia-before-1200-ce-12/buddhist-art-84/buddhist-rock-cut-architecture-422-5847/
https://www.architectural-review.com/archive/the-rock-cut-temples-in-india-preceded-stonebuilding/10004233.article
http://www.casa.arizona.edu/MPP/surv_man/rockcut_desc.html
http://www.historydiscussion.net/history/cave-and-rock-cut-architecture-found-in-india/1369
The transformation of Sanskrit into a language of literary and political expression and the
development of vernacular speech into literary language were two great moments of transformation of
culture and power in Pre Modern India.
Indian Knowledge Systems on the Eve of Colonialis
With the consolidation and spread of British rule in the mid-eighteenth century, however, this
intellectual dynamism began to dissipate. By 1800, indigenous intellectual formations across a broad
spectrum of disciplines were on the point of vanishing altogether as a creative force in Indian life, to be
supplanted by other knowledge systems based on unfamiliar, sometimes radically different principles
of epistemology, sociality, and polity. In these two phases of vitality and exhaustion lie the central
unanswered questions of Indian intellectual history on the eve of colonialism: What exactly was the
nature of these Indian knowledge systems, what accounts for their seventeenth-century efflorescence,
and what explains their astonishing decline as legitimate options for making sense of the world when
confronted with the very different truth regime of European modernity? In actuality, these questions
are not only unanswered but unasked, even unacknowledged. Students of European thought of the
same period will be surprised to learn that a moment of intellectual renewal in many ways comparable
to what happened in their own area should have occurred half a world away—and yet more surprised
to find how little about it is known even to scholars in the field. There are many reasons why Indian
intellectual history on the colonial threshold should be so underdeveloped—why seventeenth-century
Benares and London should occupy such polar locations in the scale of our knowledge—and these are
worth reviewing as a prologue to the reconstruction I offer here. We need first, however, to understand
what is comprised under the umbrella term ―Indian knowledge systems.‖ There were, broadly
speaking, three relatively distinct scholarly communities in early modern South Asia, which can
perhaps best be distinguished by their languages of discourse. Although not necessarily a sign of
religious affiliation, the choice of language did carry other, significant implications for social and
political belonging and scholarly circulation, and I will return to comment on them later in this essay.
The cosmopolitan intellectuals who continued to write in Sanskrit, a language of scholarship whose
history and social character closely parallels that of Latin both in contemporaneous Europe and for
centuries before, occupied almost the entire domain of the major disciplines in the human sciences
(including language philosophy, hermeneutics, epistemology, cosmology, moral and political
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The transformation of Sanskrit into a language of literary and political expression and the
development of vernacular speech into literary language were two great moments of
transformation of culture and power in Pre Modern India. Explain.
Page
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philosophy, aesthetics and rhetoric) as well as in the natural sciences (astronomy, for example, or
mathematics). Vernacular intellectuals, who wrote in some two dozen regional languages that, again in
striking parallel to Europe, had been constituted as literary idioms across the subcontinent during the
first half of the second millennium, for the most part restricted their attention to theology and
hagiography, the more practical arts such as medicine, and belles lettres and religious poetry. (These
include Gujarati and Marathi in the west of the subcontinent, various forms of what we now call Hindi
in the north-central regions, Bengali, Oriya, and Assamese in the east, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu,
and Tamil in the south.) Intellectuals who used Persian (or, for Islamic theology, Arabic) inhabited a
knowledge sphere by and large separate from the first two groups. Although interactions between
Sanskrit and Persianate thinkers undoubtedly occurred more frequently than has yet been
demonstrated (and precious few have been demonstrated outside such fields as mathematics and
astronomy, though see further on this in part 3 below), it was highly unusual for a scholar to have a
foot securely in both worlds. Translation from Sanskrit into Persian, for example, was common but
cumbersome because of the paucity of accomplished bilinguals, whereas Persian to Sanskrit
translation occurred far more rarely. 1 In fact, the same tendency toward specialization (if that is the
correct description for what we confront here) largely holds true for vernacular writers, who for
complex reasons typically chose not to contribute to the world of Sanskrit learning, however much
they may have been shaped by it. At all events, the precise nature of the division of intellectual labor
and associated forms of sociality among Sanskrit, vernacular, and Persianate intellectuals is almost
entirely unclear to us at present. In fact, our ignorance of the Sanskrit knowledge systems themselves
is hardly less complete, and this despite the dominance they exercised over scholarly life in
seventeenth-century South Asia, and the intensification of intellectual production that, as just noted,
marked the epoch. And it should go without saying that, absent a sound understanding of how
Sanskrit knowledge functioned—its presuppositions, methods, objects of analysis, networks of
exchange, and the rest—any account of the victory of colonialism as a form of knowledge will be
seriously flawed.
Many factors account for this state of our ignorance, and they range across the entire politicointellectual spectrum. 2 At one end is an old and still dominant axiology foundational to Europe‘s
interest in Indian knowledge that assigned ultimate value to the ultimately archaic (India after all
represented for many the cradle of Western civilization).
In such a value system, periods as late as the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries can offer nothing
but fall and decline. At the other end of the spectrum lies the epistemological consequences of the
victory of colonialism itself, which not only marked the actual end of the Indian knowledge systems
and the slow but steady erosion of scholarly competence in them, but produced a counter-critique in
postcolonial (more exactly, postorientalist) thought.
This latter moment has entailed extravagant, even absurd claims about the epistemic break
purportedly marked by colonialism and orientalism (colonialism‘s specific form of knowledge of Indian
history and society), and the impossibility of attaining any secure precolonial knowledge whatever—
claims that derive their strength from our very ignorance and serve only to reinforce it.
There are more local obstacles to an intellectual history of India in the early modern period, however,
and first among these is the complexity of the discourses themselves. In idiom and subject matter
these represent some of the most sophisticated and refined known to human history. This is not made
easier by the fact that the seventeenth-century intellectuals were the legatees of two millennia of
brilliant thought, whose most important representatives, from the very earliest onward, remained
partners in dialogue. Understanding anything later, therefore, always presupposes understanding
everything earlier. An impediment of an altogether different order concerns our access to the larger
social world within which these discourses were produced.
We have only the vaguest notions about the material conditions of life of seventeenth-century Sanskrit
intellectuals, about their sources of patronage and relations with courtly power, about their networks
of intellectual exchange and circulation (more particularly, as already mentioned, the relationship
between them and other forms of intellectual production, whether Persianate or vernacular), about
their modes of association or the institutional structures in which they worked. For most of the key
thinkers in question, we are confronted by an absence of contextuality that is almost absolute. In
many cases not a shred of documentary evidence is available to help us give life to their writings; there
seems not to exist, for example, a single personal (and only the rarest official) document for any of the
dozens of major intellectuals working in Benares during the seventeenth century. In some ways the
most troublesome problem is the higher-order question of history itself. Whether culture or polity or
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society in South Asia can be said to have a history before European colonialism and modernity blasted
life in the subcontinent out of its putative continuum has been a central if sometimes tacit concern of
both orientalist and postorientalist scholarship. Almost as contentious as the question of what we
mean by the term history itself are the ideological commitments that press upon our analyses. The
revelation of change as such in India‘s past, deriving from the impulse to provide a counterpoint to the
imperialist and vulgar Marxist belief that colonialism offered emancipation from archaic quiescence,
has come to be regarded in postorientalist historiography as something of an absolute good—and
stasis as something akin to mortal sin. A third complication has to do with our modernized notion of
time and our inability to conceive of what we might call multiple temporalities: the possibility that in
some worlds, culture (or polity or society) might be unevenly historical. 4 As I argue in what follows,
whatever other innovations may have been occurring in the domain of early modern polity and
economy broadly construed—in terms, for example, of the expansion of Mughal rule or India‘s
incorporation into the nascent capitalist world-system—in the self-understanding of polity a steady
state of perfected governmentality, of very old stamp, was everywhere sought by Sanskrit intellectuals,
and that accordingly in this domain ―stasis‖ represented not failure but an achieved goal. It is hardly
surprising, therefore, that the intellectual history of this period remains unwritten. We have no
systematic accounts of the principal thematics of late-precolonial Sanskrit intellectual disciplines—the
main contributions of the major thinkers, the dominant modes of argument, the principal criteria of
judgment—or of the conversations and controversies across disciplines.
Far from having any good hypotheses to account for the explosion of scholarly production in the
seventeenth century, scholarship seems hardly aware that it occurred. And this despite the fact that
the intensity and innovation we witness then are paralleled perhaps only by late-first-millennium
Kashmir, or the moment when the major knowledge systems themselves were consolidated in the
wake of the epistemological and ontological critique of the Buddhists in the late first millennium
before the common era. Given such complexities, and the limits of this essay, I want to offer only a
provisional and schematic outline of what might constitute a future history of South Asian
intellectuals and their discursive practices on the threshold of the colonial transformation. I organize
my reflections here around three linked thematics, two rather narrow, one broader: (1) the structure of
what I take to be a new historicality by which intellectuals in the seventeenth century began to
organize their discourses; (2) the substance that was structured by this historicality, in other words,
what is novel in the new intellectuality; (3) a comparison with seventeenth-century European
knowledge systems. The comparative project, which cannot be developed here in any detail, is at once
both fundamental and problematic. It is problematic in part because European knowledge claims for
itself the infrangible aegis of science—social science, political science, and the like—and such a claim
entails that all other modes of thought are mere forerunners (myth, magic, religion, pensée sauvage).
At the same time comparison is essential because we cannot adequately grasp the fate of Sanskrit
knowledge systems without understanding the character of the European counterparts and the
conditions enabling their growth. Having run more or less in parallel to those of India for a millennium
or more, the European forms began to diverge dramatically in the seventeenth century. Hereby a very
different, uncompromising modernity was produced that, disseminated by colonialism, would
eventually contest and undo the Sanskrit intellectual formation. Obviously the very possibility of
framing the end of Indian knowledge systems as a historical problem derives from the fact that
European modernity in some way ended them. The account offered here is neither a lament for the
absence of an Indian Enlightenment—granting for the moment, much evidence to the contrary
notwithstanding, that there was in fact a European Enlightenment—nor the revelation of one that has
hitherto remained hidden. It is rather an attempt to understand at once the remarkable strength of
seventeenth-century Sanskrit knowledges as forms of systematic thought, and their remarkable
impotence in the face of their European counterpart.
1. The New Historicality of the Seventeenth Century Among the transformations that can serve as a
point of entry into the wider intellectual history of South Asia in the early modern period (and one
that, as we shall see, has striking parallels with contemporaneous Europe), the most notable is the
growing presence in scholarly writing of what I think we are right to call historicist thinking. While not
wholly unexampled in earlier Sanskrit thought, the new historicality was unprecedented in respect to
its prevalence, which increased throughout the seventeenth century, and its larger discursive effects
and implications. In all the core disciplines, foremost among them the traditional trivium of
knowledges of ―words, sentences, and reasons‖ (grammar, hermeneutics, and epistemology), along
with literary theory and rhetoric, Sanskrit intellectuals began to identify themselves or their opponents
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as navya scholars. The term (it is cognate with English ―new‖) appears to signify not just a different
relationship with the past but a different way of thinking tout court. Sometimes navya referred
specifically to the innovations, both in the substance and style of philosophical analysis, associated
with the school of ―New Logic‖ (navya nyaya) that originated in the early fourteenth century in
northeast India (Mithila) and spread across the subcontinent with extraordinary rapidity and appeal.
But very often in the seventeenth century the term had no reference at all to the New Logic in this
narrow sense. When, for example, the Benares polymath Kamalakara in perhaps the 1630s identified
as navya an argument against the long-dominant view that vernacular language expresses meaning
only through the mediation of ―correct‖ language, what he characterized as new, as we will see, was an
idea that was new as such, and one that in fact stood in opposition to what had long been accepted by
navya nyaya. Moreover, many seventeenth-century thinkers, regardless of the label they may have
adopted, began to produce what, historically viewed, were objectively innovative kinds of scholarship,
and in such a way to suggest that a new conception of the development of knowledge itself had come
into being. In fact, I believe we are able to perceive a sharp line being drawn whereby present
knowledge was systematically (and not, as earlier, episodically) separated from its past forms for the
first time in Indian history. To appreciate the innovations in conceptions and discursive protocols, as
these pertain to historicality, that we find in the writings of seventeenth-century intellectuals, we need
some basic sense of the mentalité they inherited. The first thing to remember is that for much of its
existence and across most of its communities of practitioners, systematic thought in South Asia
completely and utterly erased all evidence of its temporal being: it presented itself as something that
took place entirely outside of time. In this Sanskrit thought differed little from the theory and practice
of European philosophy (modern no less than scholastic), which in its very core projects itself as
discourse that transcends historicity as a relevant condition of its possibility. 5 In India this kind of
transcendence was achieved most notably by the elimination of all historical referentiality. The names
and times and places of participants in intellectual discourse across fields were largely excluded even
where such exclusion made it appreciably more difficult to follow the dialogue between disputants that
forms the basic structure of most Sanskrit philosophical exposition. This may seem like a simple case
of the common ―forms of censorship specific to the field of philosophical production‖ that we can find
elsewhere. 6 In India, however, this mode of discourse also implied that all intellectual generations,
disembedded from any spatiotemporal framework, were thought of as coexistent: The past was a very
present conversation partner. It was also viewed as a superior partner, the master who made the
primary statements in a discussion upon which later participants could only comment. In the face of
the grandeur of the past, intellectuals typically assumed an attitude of inferiority. Moreover, given that
the universe was viewed as systemically entropic, intellectual effort could be nothing but a quest to
recover what had once been known more perfectly, but now was lost. 7 These elementary tendencies of
South Asian thought appear to have been dramatically and fundamentally reversed in the early
modern period, beginning in the fourteenth century but gaining far greater currency by the
seventeenth. Now it was the very history of the development of thought-systems itself, the
periodization of viewpoints, that not only became a principal method of organizing the presentation of
a knowledge system but at times seemed to constitute its very purpose. Concomitantly, ―new‖ ceased
to connote ―worse,‖ and instead effectively served to identify the furthest point of advancement in a
science. This can be briefly illustrated by reference to a work exemplary of the procedure, the Nyaya
Kaustubha. This is a vast treatise on logic written by Mahadeva Punatambekar (fl. 1675), who came
from the southwestern region of Maharashtra but like many of his intellectual compatriots was
resident in the eastern center, Benares. Mahadeva dealt in his work with matters that had long been
standard in textbooks on epistemology and metaphysics, but the new intellectual method pervaded his
work, and in fact was coded already in the title, since the kaustubha had become something of a new
scholarly genre in our period. 8 The word signified the gem made manifest at the primeval churning of
the milk ocean and worn on the breast of the god Vishnu, and figuratively pointed to the precious
knowledge that was now believed to be discovered as much as recovered. In it the attempt was made
to organize the totality of knowledge in a given discipline by determining the most significant positions
that had been taken in the past, and by sorting these chronologically and indicating where
advancements had been made, to produce a new synthesis. The mode of exposition in Mahadeva‘s
treatise was thus dominantly historicist. He set forth problems by differentiating the views of scholars,
making very fine distinctions between schools, whom he often named and always positioned in time.
They were categorized—and such categories appeared consistently throughout his work—as ―ancients‖
(pracina), ―followers of the ancients‖ (pracinanuyayin), ―moderns‖ (navina), ―most up-to-date scholars‖
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(atinavina), and ―contemporaries‖ (adhunika). Nothing of this sort, or at least to this degree, had ever
been seen before. Mahadeva further linked these categories to particular disciplines, such as
―followers of the hermeneutical science‖ and to specific individuals: ―Raghunatha‖ (the great midsixteenth-century new logician), for example, ―the followers of Raghunatha,‖ ―the recent followers of
Raghunatha,‖ and so on. Such designations were applied to hermeneutists, grammarians, and literary
theorists as well as to logicians and cosmologists (Vaishesika), demonstrating how vast, indeed
culture-wide, was the temporal revaluation of forms of knowledge that was underway in the eyes of
Mahadeva. Other scholars of the period reproduced many of these and added still more categories,
including further grades of contemporaneity such as ―very new‖ and ―brand new‖ (navyatara,
abhinava), as in the grammarian Kaunda Bhatta (fl. 1650, working mostly in Maharasthra, his
birthplace, but also Benares, it appears), and the hermeneutist Gaga Bhatta (ca. 1600-85, Benares),
or further grades of antiquity such as ―the oldest‖ (ciratana), and jirna, a term sometimes positively
valorized (―the elders‖), as in Kamalakara Bhatta, sometimes negatively (―antiquated‖) as, it seems, in
Kamalakara‘s nephew, Gaga. A significant binary without obvious antecedent also came into use,
which counterposed to ―traditionalists‖ (sampradayika) or the ―ancients‖ (prancah) either
―independents‖ (svatantra), as in Kaunda Bhatta, or ―moderns‖ (navina), as in the logician,
hermeneutist, and grammarian Annam Bhatta (fl. 1560, Andhra/Benares). It is clear, too, that while
for some scholars (as shown by Kamalakara‘s remarks cited below) the title ―new‖ intellectual could be
a term of reproach, for others it was a proud self-description, as in the case of the literary theorist
Siddhicandra (1587-1666, Delhi), who used this term to describe his own position in his Critique of
the ―Treatise on Literature,‖ a systematic attack on an eleventhcentury classic. One should not infer
from this evidence and my arguments based on it that prior to this period chronological thinking as
such was never attested, that earlier knowledge was never described as earlier in scholarly discourse.
Such is certainly not the case. I am also not suggesting that the categories discussed above are always
and everywhere to be understood as exact conceptual equivalents of the English translations I provide
(no more than moderni in Carolingian Europe has the same meaning it has eight centuries later). The
―independent,‖ for example, who breaks with the ―traditionalists‖ in Kaunda Bhatta‘s work on
language philosophy, corroborates his position by citing ―the blessed Patanjali,‖ that is, an authority
from fifteen centuries earlier. Clearly in this case independence can signify not so much overthrowing
tradition as renewing it by returning to foundational texts. What I do wish to suggest is that in the
seventeenth century, for the first time, knowledge was believed to be better not just because it might
objectively be better—endowed with greater coherence, economy, explanatory power—but also in part
because it was new. Moreover, historicist periodization for the first time became the very modality of
understanding how knowledge is to be organized, and more important, how new knowledge can
actually be produced. This found expression also in what I believe to be an increase in the production
of independent treatises and of works that directly comment on ancient foundational (sutra) texts
while summarizing the entire earlier history of interpretation, and in the concomitant decrease in ever
more deeply nested commentaries on commentaries on canonical works that had been a hallmark of
the earlier schoolmen. Why it was exactly at this point that the new periodicity entered Sanskrit
discourse remains unclear. One might be inclined to look for inspiration first to forms of cultural
production newly made available in the immediate surroundings of the Sanskrit intellectuals, such as
Islamicate or Persianate historiographical practices with their unfamiliar temporal sensibilities. But
there is no evidence that this was so, and, in the specific case of such an intellectual historiography,
nothing quite comparable was offered in these adjacent traditions, so far I can tell. What we may be
observing here instead are innovations in Sanskrit discourse generated from within the intellectual
tradition itself but under dramatically changing conditions of society and polity, which I briefly
address below, that rendered change itself a new object of consciousness.
The Language of the Gods in the World of Men
culture, power, (pre)modernity There should be nothing problematic about using the term ―culture‖ to
refer specifically to one of its subsets, language, and especially language in relation to literature.
Sometimes the collocation ―literary culture‖ is used here to describe a set of dynamic practices by
which languages are produced as distinct entities and literatures created within a context of social
and political life that helps to shape these practices even while being shaped by them. In premodern
India it was in the activities of literary culture and the representations of literature, as much as
anywhere else, that power and culture came to be constituted as intelligible facts of life. What should
be problematic, however, at least from the vantage point of contemporary theory, is claiming to know
and define ―literary.‖ There are good reasons for arguing—and many have argued this for the past two
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decades or more—that anything can be literature; that the term needs to be understood pragmatically
rather than ontologically, as pointing to ways certain texts are used rather than defining what those
texts inherently and essentially are. Yet from the vantage point of premodern South Asia, most
certainly not everything could be k1vya, the text genre for which the closest English translation is
poetry and literary prose; and with respect to the history of k1vya, contemporary arguments about the
nonessentialized nature of literature show themselves to be unhistorical essentializations.1 This raises
a point of method basic to this study, which might best be explained by the distinction Indian
philosophers draw between p1ram1rthika sat and vy1vah1rika (or, saÅ- vóti) sat, or what the
eighteenth-century Italian thinker Vico called verum andcertum. The prior term points toward the
absolute truth of philosophical reason, the second, toward the certitudes people have at different
stages of their history that provide the grounds for their beliefs and actions.2 It is these workaday
truths, these certitudes, that are granted primacy in this book, in the conviction that we cannot
understand the past until we grasp how those who made it understood what they were making, and
why. By the standards of vy1vah1rika sat, literature in the world of premodern South Asia was
radically differentiated from nonliterature for all participants in literary culture, writers, critics, and
audiences alike. What substantively constitutes k1vya and how literariness comes into being were
naturally matters of ongoing debate, and various elements were proposed as the essence of k1vya. But
the fact that k1vya has an essence—a ―self‖ or ―soul,‖ as it was phrased—something marking it as
different from every other language use, was never doubted by anyone. At the heart of the premodern
Indian conception is a distinction not unknown to modern literary theory, though variously
formulated: between expression and content, performance and constatation, imagination and
information. In Heidegger‘s philosophical aesthetics, a text‘s ―workly‖ dimension—the aesthetic
object‘s ability to reveal ―a particular being, disclosing what and how it is‖—may thus be differentiated
from its documentary dimension. The same distinction underlies the different strategies
phenomenologists identify for generating possible meanings in different kinds of texts: workly and
documentary texts may be distinguished by the ―degree to which one expands on [their] schematic
structure to derive an expanded interpretation,‖ or by the ―kind and level of self-consciousness with
which one checks one‘s reading against textual form and standards of interpretation.‖3 Precisely these
demarcations were made both theoretically and practically in premodern South Asia. At the highwater mark of Sanskrit literary theory in the eleventh century, the principal dichotomy in discourse
was between k1vya and é1stra, or literature and science; a comparable distinction was operationalized
in inscriptions by the use of one language for the expressive and imaginative, and another for the
contentual and informational. In general, then, there is broad enough agreement on the differentia
specifica of literature and nonliterature to make modern Western distinctions largely unobjectionable
for describing the history of South Asian literary cultures. Literature was distinguished not only by its
content but also by its form. One thing that could not be k1vya was the purely oral. Although the fact
israrely appreciated, not only is k1vya defined practically if not explicitly by writing for us modern
readers who cannot know an unwritten literary past, but it was so for the premodern actors
themselves. The invention of literacy and the growth of manuscript culture occurred in India a little
before the beginning of the Common Era; from that point on, writing, the symbolic elevation of what is
written, and the internal transformations the literary text undergoes by the very fact of being written
down would become increasingly prominent features of literary culture. No convenient term exists in
English for the breakthrough to writing; I will call it ―literization‖ (by analogy with the German
Verschriftlichung). The written differs from the oral in a variety of ways. For one thing, even in
cultures like those of premodern South Asia that hypervalue orality—an attitude possible only given
the presence of literacy, by the way—writing claims an authority the oral cannot. The authorization to
write, above all to write literature, is no natural entitlement, like the ability to speak, but is typically
related to social and political and even epistemological privileges (chapters 8.2, 11.1). For another,
writing enables textual features far in excess of the oral; for literature it renders the discourse itself a
subject for discourse for the first time, language itself an object of aestheticized awareness, the text
itself an artifact to be decoded and a pretext for deciphering.4 In addition, writing makes possible the
production of a history of a sort the oral is incapable of producing. These and other features mark the
written as a distinct mode of cultural production and communication. It is a core component in the
process of vernacularization explained in part 2; without appreciating the role of writing,
vernacularization cannot even be perceived as a historical phenomenon. Nietzsche was certainly right
to locate in the origin of such objektive Schriftsprache (objective written language) a ―prejudice of
reason‖ in favor of ―unity, identity, permanence, substance‖; indeed, this is something fully borne out
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by the history of vernacular languages in South Asia. But he was wrong to judge as an error literary
history‘s concern with written texts in preference to spoken linguistic art.5 The first development
made the second inevitable. Written literature in premodern South Asia, as in western Europe,
undoubtedly preserved features realized only in oral performance, and listening to rather than reading
literature long remained the principal mode of experiencing it. Yet with the introduction of writing, a
new boundary was drawn between the purely oral and k1vya. Writing was never essential to
literature—until literature became literature.
It is not I, then, who denies what several generations of scholars have argued—that something
reasonable people would call literature can be produced in ignorance of writing, or at least without its
use; that nonliterature can become literature if we choose to take it as such; or indeed, since the
latently imaginative can always be detected in the overtly informational and vice versa, that the very
binaries just mentioned are inadequate and literature as such must remain indefinable.6 It is the
theorists and practitioners of the dominant forms of verbal art in premodern South Asia who denied
these claims.
The theorists explicitly rejected the idea that language has any aesthetic dimension outside the realm
of k1vya—even the hymns of the Veda were never thought of as k1vya before modernity—and they
derived from actual practices a relatively stable paradigm of literary properties that in addition to
lexical, metrical, and thematic features included writing as a fundamental component. The reality and
effectiveness of this literary paradigm was demonstrated repeatedly in the history of Indian literary
cultures. Indeed, it was by achieving conformity with it—a process that is often referred to here as
―literarization‖ (to be distinguished from it close cousin, literization)—that new literatures first arose in
the vernacular epoch.
It will become clear that this definition of the literary in South Asia was not a fact of nature but an act
in a field of power, no less so than any other cultural definition. As such, it would be repudiated often,
sometimes so broadly as to constitute a second vernacular revolution (see chapter 10.4). Only
previous acquiescence in the dominant definition of what may count as literature made contestation
such as this possible, and perhaps necessary, in the first place. We understand less of the history of
culture in South Asia the less we understand of these dominant conceptions, including the
essentialization of literature and the primacy granted to writing in the constitution of literature. And it
is hardly stating the obvious to say that both conceptions could only come to be displaced in modern
scholarship because they had first been put in place by traditions like those of premodern India. Thus
a sharp distinction between literature and nonliterature was both discursively and practically
constructed by those who made, heard, and read texts in premodern South Asia, and it is with that
construction—out of a methodological commitment to vy1vah1rika sat, to taking seriously what they
took seriously—that a history of their culture and power must begin.8 Few questions in premodern
South Asian history are more unyielding to coherent and convincing answers than the nature of
political power and the character of polity.
The vernacular in theory and practice
The problem of the vernacular claims some attention in the first part of this book, for without this
contrastive category, and the contrastive reality of both political and cultural self-understanding
toward which it points, the cosmopolitan has no conceptual purchase. Like ―cosmopolitan,‖
―vernacular‖ is not something that goes without saying, and not only because of its own scalar
ambiguities (how small qualifies as vernacular?). A range of conceptual and historical problems have
combined to effectively conceal the veryprocess of people knowledgeably becoming vernacular—what is
here termed ―vernacularization‖—leaving it largely unhistoricized and even unconceptualized in
scholarship. And until these problems are clarified and some reasonable working hypotheses framed,
vernacularization itself cannot even be perceived, to say nothing of its political and cultural
ramifications. The problems here are in fact not all that different from those presented by
cosmopolitanism, though they are perhaps denser. Besides considering the pertinent relational
boundaries, we need to be clear about what the process of vernacularization entails, in particular what
role to assign to writing and to the creation of expressive texts. Only when we gain some clarity about
the intelligibility and reality of the object of analysis, and how this object exists in time, can we begin
to ask why it has the particular history it does. These issues are addressed in chapter 8. Simply to
define the vernacular over against the cosmopolitan and leave it at that—even to make unqualified use
of any of the kindred terms or phrases adopted here, like ―regional‖ and ―transregional‖—elides some
important aspects of their relativity. An obvious one is the potential of a local language to become
translocal, and the consequences this can have for codes that are yet more local, so to say. The
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extreme case is offered by the cosmopolitan languages themselves. All of them began their careers as
vernaculars: Latin in the third century b.c.e. was firmly rooted in Latium (central Italy) before setting
out on its world conquest in lockstep with the advance of Roman arms. Sanskrit is the great anomaly
here, since long before the onset of the cosmopolitan era it had become transregional—though not yet
cosmopolitan—through the spread of Vedic culture.22 An expansion of the vernaculars in the postcosmopolitan era occurred, too, but of an altogether different order of magnitude. Take the language
now called Old Kannada. This developed from the prestige dialect of an area in northwest Karnataka
into a unified medium for literary and political communication over a limited zone of southern India
late in the first millennium. The intellectuals who cultivated the language clearly understood these
spatial limitations and harbored no illusions about or aspirations toward its universalization. They
defined a literary culture, and along with it a political order, in conscious opposition to some larger
world, in relationship to which they chose to speak more locally. And they were fully aware they were
doing so. And yet Kannada in fact became transregional—sometimes domineeringly transregional—for
writers in still smaller zones marked by other idioms, such as Tulunadu and the southern Konkan on
the west coast; as a result neither Tulu nor Konkani was committed to writing, let alone elaborated
forliterature, until the colonial era. A precisely similar dynamic manifested itself in the history of
vernacularization in western Europe. The vernacular that came to be called French first acknowledged
spatial limits as compared with the limitless Latin, and later evinced an expansiveness into narrower
spaces—or what were thereby transformed into narrower spaces—such as Brittany or Provence.
To know more refer below links
http://dsal.uchicago.edu/sanskrit/papers/Indian_Knowledge_Systems.pdf
http://www.brynmawr.edu/bmrcl/BMRCLFall2012/TheLanguageoftheGods.htm
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/mesaas/faculty/directory/pollock_pub/Introduction,%20Language%20
of%20the%20Gods.pdf
7.
"Terracotta art came to its own with the advent of city life and its aesthetic quality and
skill was associated with urban milieu". In reference to the above statement, comment on
the significance of terracotta.
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In a number of states in India, the terracotta figures have a lot
of prominence. For instance the impressive Ayanaar horse from
Tamil Nadu represents the largest terracotta sculpture ever
made and is constructed from coiling and beating, the same
techniques used for making vessels. Although votive terracotta
is made by members of the Hindu potter caste, the customer is
often a member of the Tribal community. The relief plaques
depicting images of Tribal deities are made in Rajasthan and
the varied styles of horses and tigers recorded in Gujarat are
also made for Tribal clientele. Madhya Pradesh is represented by the highly embellished elephants
offered in forest shrines and also by women's wall decoration. This involves using clay pigments and
decorating techniques similar to pottery creation and modelling processes. In West Bengal the snake
goddess Manasa is worshipped through a terracotta tree shrine constructed from multiple thrown and
modelled parts. Another major form of West Bengal terracotta finds its artistic channel in the horses.
They are famous almost all over the country for their handsome looks.
In Gujarat and Rajasthan terracotta panels and storage jars painted in white are famous. In Orissa
and Madhya Pradesh the roof tops with profuse terracotta works are also a part of the terracotta work.
Besides, the terracotta pottery of Madhya Pradesh is well known for their artistic excellence.
34
Terracotta Art in India has been flourishing since the times of Indus Valley Civilisation. Terracotta Art
in India is another form of clay art of the country generally brownish orange in colour. Various
excavations at Mohenjodaro and Harappa have unearthed several terracotta items in the form of
various figures and figurines. Terracotta figures also have a ritualistic aspect associated with it. This
becomes evident from the fact that many terracotta figures of deities are used in a number of
auspicious occasions.
In fact terracotta art in India is considered mystical because it
incorporates within the five vital elements like air, fire, earth,
water and ether.
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Terracotta Jewellery also is an important component of terracotta art in India. In the present age,
terracotta jewellery has gained a lot of prominence even among the urban population of the country. It
can be said that India has been the home land of terracotta and today because of the versatility of the
art it has cut across all kinds of barriers it has become a part of almost of every Indian household in
various forms.
History
Terracotta was first used in Prehistoric art, as exemplified by
the remarkable Venus of DolniVestonice (26,000-24,000 BCE),
found buried in a layer of ash at a paleolithic encampment in
Moravia. Paleolithic terracotta figures were fired in primitive
kilns, created underneath open fires. Famous terracotta
figurines from the era of Neolithic art include: The Enthroned
Goddess Figurine (c.6,000 BCE) from Catalhuyuk, Anatolia,
and The Thinker of Cernavoda (5000 BCE) from the lower
Danube region in Romania. Bronze and Iron Age artists
continued the terracotta tradition, see, for instance, the female
fertility cult figures unearthed at Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan
(3000-1500 BCE), and The Burney Relief (c.1950 BCE) from
Ancient Mesopotamia. In China, potters and sculptors have
proved equally skilful with clay. In fact, Chinese art is
responsible for the biggest collection of terracotta sculpture
ever found - The Terracotta Army (246-208 BCE). (See below.) For an outline of the principles which
underpin Oriental sculpture, see: Traditional Chinese Art. For more about the evolution of sculpture
in China, please see: Chinese Art Timeline (c.18,000 BCE - present).
Early Egyptian, Minoan, Mycenean, Greek and Etruscan cultures, from around the Mediterranean, all
employed terracotta for figurative works - such as the Tanagra Figurines from Boeotia in central
Greece - and for various types of decorative art and architectural ornamentation. It was widely used by
sculptors during the era of Hellenistic art (323-30 BCE), in particular. It was also used in Early
Christian art, for tomb reliefs (from c.200 CE).
Terracotta was also popular in sub-Saharan African sculpture: it was first developed by the
mysterious Nok culture of Nigeria, about 1000 BCE, and by the Igbo culture of eastern Nigeria. It was
also a feature of Pre-Columbian art, beginning with the Olmec culture (1000-500 BCE).
Following the collapse of the Roman Empire (c.450), the use of terracotta declined dramatically. It
wasn't until the Early Renaissance that it was properly revived as an artistic medium. Donatello and
Lorenzo Ghiberti were among the first Renaissance sculptors to rediscover the potential of terracotta
for making images of Christian art (notably that of the Virgin and Child): a discovery which came
about through their close knowledge of bronze sculpture - the use of clay being central to the
production of bronze statues. Before long, clay was being molded to replicate devotional images, and
other figures, which were then fired, painted and gilded, thus creating a low-cost alternative to more
expensive materials, like marble and bronze. Other artists, including the Della Robbia family,
popularized the use of glazed terracotta for relief sculpture and church altarpiece art. See, for
instance, the pulpit reliefs for Santa Croce in Florence (1481), by the Florentine artist Benedetto da
Maiano. For more details of the Della Robbias, see works by Luca dellaRobbia, as well as his nephew
Andrea dellaRobbia. Terracotta was also used in Renaissance portrait art, as exemplified by the
wonderful Bust of Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici (later Pope Leo X) (c.1512, Victoria and Albert
Museum) by Antonio de' Benintendi. Terracotta models were also used by most sculptors when
submitting designs, or when creating studies for larger sculptures or for paintings.
In short, Renaissance sculpture re-established terracotta as a major medium of artistic expression
and creativity. During the era of Baroque sculpture, the tradition was further developed by Bernini
(1598-80) and Alessandro Algardi(1598-1654), notably in the area of relief sculpture and portrait
busts. During the 18th century, terracotta was explored for its decorative qualities, while the great
Antonio Canova (1757-1822) continued to use it for models, until he replaced it with plaster in the
early 19th century.
Use of Terracotta in Architecture
During the 1860s in England and the 1870s in America, architects began using unglazed terracotta to
decorate the exterior surfaces of buildings. It was used, for instance, on a number of buildings in
Birmingham; on the elaborate terracotta facade of the Natural History Museum, in London; the
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36
Victoria and Albert Museum (1859–71); and the Royal Albert Hall (1867–71). Earlier, in 1842-45, St
Stephen and All Martyrs' Church, at Lever Bridge in Bolton had been built almost entirely from
terracotta. Curiously, terracotta received approval as a building material from the Arts and Crafts
movement, since it was deemed to be a handmade material, designed by craftsmen.
In America, the Chicago School of architecture was an early convert to terracotta. The architect Louis
Sullivan (1856-1924), for instance, was noted for his elaborate glazed terracotta decorations, that
would have been extremely difficult to produce in any other medium. Fired clay was also used by
Chicago designers Daniel Hudson Burnham (1846-1912) and John Root (1850-91) in the curtain walls
of their Reliance Building (1895), and by William Le Baron Jenney who pioneered its use in
skyscrapers as a way of reducing the risk of fire.
Terracotta Art in IndiaTerracotta Art in India has been flourishing since the times of Indus Valley
Civilisation. Terracotta Art in India is another form of clay art of the country generally brownish
orange in colour. Various excavations at Mohenjodaro and Harappa have unearthed several terracotta
items in the form of various figures and figurines. Terracotta figures also have a ritualistic aspect
associated with it. This becomes evident from the fact that many terracotta figures of deities are used
in a number of auspicious occasions.
In fact terracotta art in India is considered mystical because it incorporates within the five vital
elements like air, fire, earth, water and ether.
In a number of states in India, the terracotta figures have a lot of prominence. For instance the
impressive Ayanaar horse from Tamil Nadu represents the largest terracotta sculpture ever made and
is constructed from coiling and beating, the same techniques used for making vessels. Although votive
terracotta is made by members of the Hindu potter caste, the customer is often a member of the Tribal
community. The relief plaques depicting images of Tribal deities are made in Rajasthan and the varied
styles of horses and tigers recorded in Gujarat are also made for Tribal clientele. Madhya Pradesh is
represented by the highly embellished elephants offered in forest shrines and also by women's wall
decoration. Terracotta Art in IndiaThis involves using clay pigments and decorating techniques
similar to pottery creation and modelling processes. In West Bengal the snake goddess Manasa is
worshipped through a terracotta tree shrine constructed from multiple thrown and modelled parts.
Another major form of West Bengal terracotta finds its artistic channel in the horses. They are famous
almost all over the country for their handsome looks.
In Gujarat and Rajasthan terracotta panels and storage jars painted in white are famous. In Orissa
and Madhya Pradesh the roof tops with profuse terracotta works are also a part of the terracotta work.
Besides, the terracotta pottery of Madhya Pradesh is well known for their artistic excellence.
Terracotta Jewellery also is an important component of terracotta art in India. In the present age,
terracotta jewellery has gained a lot of prominence even among the urban population of the country. It
can be said that India has been the home land of terracotta and today because of the versatility of the
art it has cut across all kinds of barriers it has become a part of almost of every Indian household in
various forms.
To know more refer below links
http://www.indianetzone.com/49/terracotta_art_india.htm
http://colordearth.com/terracotta-through-the-ages/
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/94675/8/08_chapter%201.pdf
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/sculpture/terracotta.htm
https://www.learner.org/courses/globalart/work/105/index.html
http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-is-terracotta
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The Mathura school was contemporaneous with Kushan and Gandhara.However it was indigenous
art, though it shows tracesand influence of Gandhara art. Give your opinion on its evolution
MATHURA SCHOOL OF ARTS, GANDHARA SCHOOL OF ARTS, AMARAVATI SCHOOL OF ARTS
Mathura School of art
At Sanchi, Barhut or Gaya, Buddha was never depicted in a human form but was represented only as
a symbol of either two footprints or wheel.
Artisans from Mathura initially continued the Mauryan sculptural forms of the Yaksha and Yakshi,
until a human image of Buddha appeared, which was independent of other schools of art, but later
influenced by the Gandhara School.
The representations of the Buddha in Mathura, in central northern India, are generally dated slightly
later than those of Gandhara.
Period and Center of Production
Mathura School of art is purely indigenous style. Mathura art developed during post Mauryapeiod
(mainly during Shunga period) and reached its peak during the Gupta period (AD 325 to 600).
The traditional centre, Mathura, remained the main art production site whereas Sarnath and Kosambi
also emerged as important centres of art production. Spotted red sandstone has been used in this
school.
Type of Sculpture:
The Mathura School of Art, noted for its vitality and assimilative character, was a result of the
religious zeal of Brahmanism, Jainism and Buddhism. Images of Vaishnava and Shaiva faiths are also
found at Mathura but Buddhist images are found in large numbers. The images of Vishnu and Shiva
are represented by their weapons. Images of the Buddha, Yakshas, Yakshinis, Shaivite and
Vaishnavite deities and portrait statues are profusely sculpted.
Theme may vary from Buddhist to Brahmanical to sometimes secular. Several Brahmanical Deities
were first crystallized by this school.
In these sculptures, Buddha was depicted as Human and the main theme was Buddha and
Bodhisattavas. Both sitting and standing posture of Buddha‘s statues were carved out in the Mathura
school. Buddha image at Mathura is modelled on the lines of earlier Yaksha images whereas in
Gandhara it has Hellenistic features.
A Bodhisattva, 2nd century, Mathura
The Jina Image and Indigenous style of Buddhas image was a remarkable features of Mathura art. The
Sarvatobhadrika image of 4 jainJinas standing back to back belongs to the Mathura school.
File:Sarvatobhadra Jain - Circa 6-7th Century CE - ACCN 00-B-65 - Government Museum - Mathura
2013-02-23 5447.JPG
Jain sarvatobhadra
The Standing Buddhas of the Sravasthi ,Sarnath and Kausambhi belong to the Mathura School.
Standing Buddha, Sarnath
The sitting Buddha of Mathura School is in padmasana and soles of the feet have been decorated with
Tri ratna and Dharmachakra signs.
Buddha attended by 2 Bodhisattvas. Mathura, 2nd century CE
The presences of the two attendants by the side of Buddha who hold Chanwars is a feature of the
Mathura school and this figure has been later inspired the images of Indian Deities.
The art of Mathura features frequent sexual imagery. Female images with bare breasts, nude below
the waist, displaying labia and female genitalia are common.
The Buddha, Kushana period, 2nd century A.D., Katra mound, Mathura region (Government
Museum, Mathura).
The Buddha, Kushana period, 2nd century A.D., Katra mound, Mathura region
Sculpture Features and Its Evolution
More stress is given to the inner beauty and facial emotions rather than bodily gesture.
There is boldness in carving the large images. The first Mathura image makers never intended to
sculpt an anatomically correct human Buddha. Their images were a composite of 32 major and 80
minor laksana, or marks. Later, the Human Buddha images evolved associated with humanly beauty
and heroic ideals.
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37
The Mathura school was contemporaneous with Kushan and Gandhara. However it was
indigenous art, though it shows traces and influence of Gandhara art. Give your opinion on
its evolution
Page
9.
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The early images of the Buddha and the Bodhisattva are happy, fleshy figures with little spirituality
about them. The block like compactness and smooth close-fitting robe, almost entirely devoid of folds,
are replicated in the earliest standing Buddha image that belongs to the Mathura school.
The volume of the images is projected out of the picture plane, the faces are round and smiling,
heaviness in the sculptural volume is reduced to relaxed flesh. The garments of the body are clearly
visible and they cover the left shoulder.
However, in the second century AD, images got sensual with increased rotundness and became
flashier.
The extreme fleshiness was reduced by the third century AD and the surface features also got refined.
The trend continued in the fourth century AD but later, the massiveness and fleshiness was reduced
further and the flesh became more tightened. The halo around the head of Buddha was profusely
decorated.
Gandhara School of Art / Greco-Buddhist art
Greco-Buddhist art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between
the Classical Greek culture and Buddhism, which developed over a period of close to thousand years
in Central Asia, between the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC, and the Islamic
conquests of the 7th century AD.
Origin Place and Period of Development
The origins of Greco-Buddhist art are to be found in the Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian kingdom (250 BC130 BC), located in today‘s Afghanistan, from which Hellenistic culture radiated into the Indian
subcontinent with the establishment of the Indo-Greek kingdom (180 BC-10 BC).
Under the Indo-Greeks and the Kushans, the interaction of Greek and Buddhist culture flourished in
the area of Gandhara, in today‘s northern Pakistan, before spreading further into India, influencing
the art of Mathura, and then the Hindu art of the Gupta empire, which was to extend to the rest of
South-East Asia.
The influence of Greco-Buddhist art also spread northward towards Central Asia, strongly affecting
the art of the Tarim Basin, and ultimately the arts of China, Korea, and Japan.
Salient Features
Gandhara style of art that developed in sculpture was a fusion of Greco-Roman and Indian styles.
Gandharaschool was heavily influenced by Greek methodologies, the figures were more spiritual and
sculpted mainly in grey, and great detail was paid to exact depiction of body parts.
It is also known as Graeco-Buddhist School of art.
The Gandharan Buddha image was inspired by Hellenistic realism, tempered by Persian, Scythian,
and Parthian models.
Theme is mainly Buddhist, depicting various stories from the life of Buddha.Sculptors constructed
Buddhist images with anatomical accuracy, spatial depth, and foreshortening.
The images of Buddha resembled Greek God Apollo. Buddha‘s curls were altered into wavy hair. The
Buddha of Gandhar art is sometimes very thin, which is opposite in Mathura art.
More stress is given to the bodily features and external beauty.
Gandhara Style, Afghanistan,4th-5th C.
It looks like the Mathura, Gandhara arts cross-fertilized in due course of time, and the bulky Mathura
Buddha gradually gave way to the slender elegance of the Gandharan image. The result of this
synthesis ennobled, refined, and purified the Buddha image that appeared in the Gupta period. This
Gupta style became the model for Southeast Asian Buddha images.
Some Greco-Buddhist friezes represent groups of donors or devotees, giving interesting insights into
the cultural identity of those who participated in the Buddhist cult.
Material Used
Grey sandstone is used in Gandhara School of Art. The Bamyan Buddha of Afghanistan were the
example of the Gandhara School.
The other materials used were Mud, Lime, Stucco. However, Marble was not used in Gandhara art.
Terracotta was used rarely.
Stucco provided the artist with a medium of great plasticity, enabling a high degree of expressiveness
to be given to the sculpture.
The Various Mudras of Buddha in Gandhara Art
In all the Buddha depicted in the Gandhara Art is shown making four types of hand gestures and this
is a remarkable feature in this art. The gestures are as follows:
Abhayamudra : Don‘t fear
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Dhyanamudra : meditation
Buddhist rock carvings in Pakistan's Swat Valley dating to the Gandhara civilization are at risk from
the elements & local vandals Buddha in Dhyanamudra, Swat Valley, Pakistan(Buddha when
meditating under the pipal tree before his Enlightenment) Dharmachakramudra: a preaching mudra
Seated in dhyanasana with his arms crossed before his chest in the gesture of teaching,
Dharmachakra Mudra. This mudra symbolizes one of the most important moments in the life of
Buddha, the occasion when he preached to his companions the first sermon after his Enlightenment
in the Deer Park at Sarnath.
Bhumisparshamudra: Touching the earth
―The Enlightenment : After meditating for forty days beneath a pipal tree, the Buddha approached the
moment of omniscience. Evil demons have failed to distract him, and he calmly touches the earth to
witness his attainment of enlightenment.
Under Kushana In India, first time the Gandhara art flourished during the Kushana rule in India.
Particularly Kanishka, the greatest of the Kushanas was a great patron of art and architecture. It was
during his reign that Gandhara School of art flourished.
The Kushans, at the centre of the Silk Road enthusiastically gathered works of art from all the
quarters of the ancient world, as suggested by the hoards found in their northern capital in the
archeological site of Begram, Afghanistan.TheKushans sponsored Buddhism together with other
Iranian and Hindu faiths.
Particularly under the Kushans, there are also numerous representations of richly adorned
Bodhisattvas, all in a very realistic Greco-Buddhist style. The Bodhisattvas, characteristic of the
Mahayana form of Buddhism, are represented under the traits of Kushan princes.
Their coins, however, suggest a lack of artistic sophistication: the representations of their kings, such
as Kanishka, tend to be crude (lack of proportion, rough drawing), and the image of the Buddha is an
assemblage of a Hellenistic Buddha statue with feet grossly represented and spread apart in the same
fashion as the Kushan king.
Emperor Kanishka, Kushana period, 1st century A.D. (Government Museum, Mathura).
Kanishka, 1st century A.D. Mathura Region
This tends to indicate that the Hellenistic Greco-Buddhist statues were used as models, and a
subsequent corruption by Kushan artists.
File:BuddhistTriad.JPG
An early Mahayana Buddhist triad.From left to right, a Kushan devotee, the Bodhisattva Maitreya, the
Buddha, the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, and a Buddhist monk.2nd-3rd century AD, Gandhara.
File:KanishkaCasket.JPG
The ―Kanishka casket,‖(made in gilded copper) with the Buddha surrounded by Brahma and Indra,
and Kanishka on the lower part, AD 127.
File:Kushans&Maitreya.JPG
Maitreya, with Kushan devotees, left and right. 2nd century Gandhara
File:Kushans&WorshippingOfTheBowl.JPG
Kushans worshipping the Buddha‘s bowl. 2nd century Gandhara.
Influence of Gandhara Arts on other Indian Arts
Influence on Mathura Art
Many Mathura sculptures incorporate many Hellenistic elements, such as the general idealistic
realism, and key design elements such as the curly hair, and folded garment.
Specific Mathuran adaptations tend to reflect warmer climatic conditions, as they consist in a higher
fluidity of the clothing, which progressively tend to cover only one shoulder instead of both. Also, facial
types also tend to become more Indianized.
The mixed character of the Mathura School in which we find on the one hand, a direct continuation of
the old Indian art of Bharut and Sanchi and on the other hand, the classical influence derived from
Gandhara.
Influence on Amaravati Art
The influence of Greek art can be felt beyond Mathura, as far as Amaravati on the East coast of India,
as shown by the usage of Greek scrolls in combination with Indian deities. Other motifs such as Greek
chariots pulled by four horses can also be found in the same area.
Greek scroll supported by Indian Yaksas, Amaravati, 3rd century AD
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Influence on Gupta Art
The art of Mathura acquired progressively more Indian elements and reached a very high
sophistication during the Gupta Empire, between the 4th and the 6th century AD. The art of the
Gupta is considered as the pinnacle of Indian Buddhist art.
Hellenistic elements are still clearly visible in the purity of the statuary and the folds of the clothing,
but are improved upon with a very delicate rendering of the draping.
Buddha of the Gupta period, 5th century, Mathura.
Artistic details tend to be less realistic, as seen in the symbolic shell-like curls used to render the
hairstyle of the Buddha.
Head of a Buddha, Gupta period, 6th century.
Main Differences Between Mathura School of Arts and Gandhara School of Arts
(1) Origin
Mathura School: No foreign Influence, however, later it cross fertilized with the Gandhara School. Its
development took place indigenously.
Gandhara School: Strong Greek influence. Was based on Greco-Roman norms encapsulating foreign
techniques and an alien spirit. It is also known as Graeco-Buddhist School of art. Initially inspired by
Yaksha Images Assimilating various traits of Acamenian, Parthian and Bactrian traditions into the
local tradition is a hallmark of the Gandhara style. Initially inspired by Hellenistic features.
(2) Material Used
Mathura School: Spotted Red Sandstone
Gandhara School: Blue-grey Mica schist / Grey Sandstone
(3) Image Features
Mathura School: Early period: Light volume having fleshy body. Later Period: Flashiness reduced.
Buddha carved out in various Mudras. Not much attention to detailed sculpting. Buddha is stout.
Gandhara School: Finer details and realistic images. Buddha carved out in various Mudras. Curly
hair, anatomical accuracy, spatial depth, and foreshortening. Buddha is sometimes thin.
(4) Halo
Mathura School: The halo around the head of Buddha was profusely decorated. Images are less
expressive.
Buddha with decorated Halo
Gandhara School: Not decorated, generally.The images are very expressive.
Amaravati School of Art
In Amaravati, situated in the eastern Deccan, Andhra Pradesh, a different type of art form evolved and
flourished for nearly six centuries commencing from 200-100 BC. Patronized first by the Satavahanas
and later by the Ikshvakus and also by other groups
The Amaravati school of art occupies a pre-eminent position in the history of Indian Art. With its
beginning in 3rd century BC the Amaravati unfolds its chapters through the galaxy of sculptural
wealth that designed the Mahachaityas.
The lotus and the purnakumbha motifs are typical of Amaravati Art expressing auspiciousness and
abundance.
White Marble was used in this art and the themes were Buddha‘s life and Jatakas tales. The curly
hairs of Buddha is a feature that is influenced by the Greeks.
In this school, the Kings, Princes, Palaces etc. have got prominence.
Among the events of Buddha‘s life, the most popular to be depicted, are his descent from heaven in
the form of a white elephant, queen Maya‘s conception, the casting of his horoscope after his birth, the
great renunciation, the transportation of Gautam‘s head-dress to heaven, the scene of temptation, the
Naga- Muchalinda protecting the Buddha from rain with broadhood, the first sermon, and the
mahaparinirvana represented by the stupa.
Amaravati drum slab (Birth scenes) (1880.7-9.44; Knox 61)
A drum slab carved in limestone with the four events related to the Buddha‘s birth: Mayadevi‘s Dream
(top right); the Interpretation of the Dream attended by the dikpala-s (top left); the Birth of the Buddha
attended again by the dikpala-s (bottom right); the Presentation of the Buddha to the caitya of the
Sakyas (bottom left).
Depicts a scene from the Buddha‘s life when he was prince Siddhartha, before his renunciation of his
princely status and his subsequent quest for enlightenment. He is surrounded by palace women
Main Differences Between Mathura School of Arts and Gandhara School of Arts
(1) Origin
40
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•
Mathura School: No foreign Influence, however, later it cross fertilized with the Gandhara School.
Its development took place indigenously.
•
Gandhara School: Strong Greek influence. Was based on Greco-Roman norms encapsulating
foreign techniques and an alien spirit. It is also known as Graeco-Buddhist School of art. Initially
inspired by Yaksha Images Assimilating various traits of Acamenian, Parthian and Bactrian traditions
into the local tradition is a hallmark of the Gandhara style. Initially inspired by Hellenistic features.
(2) Material Used
•
Mathura School: Spotted Red Sandstone
•
Gandhara School: Blue-grey Mica schist / Grey Sandstone
(3) Image Features
•
Mathura School: Early period: Light volume having fleshy body. Later Period:Flashiness reduced.
Buddha carved out in various Mudras. Not much attention to detailed sculpting. Buddha is stout.
•
Gandhara School: Finer details and realistic images. Buddha carved out in various Mudras.
Curly hair, anatomical accuracy, spatial depth, and foreshortening. Buddha is sometimes thin.
(4) Halo
•
Mathura School: The halo around the head of Buddha was profusely decorated. Images are less
expressive.
Buddha with decorated Halo
•
Gandhara School: Not decorated, generally.The images are very expressive.
Amaravati School of Art
•
In Amaravati, situated in the eastern Deccan, Andhra Pradesh, a different type of art form
evolved and flourished for nearly six centuries commencing from 200-100 BC. Patronized first by the
Satavahanas and later by the Ikshvakus and also by other groups
•
The Amaravati school of art occupies a pre-eminent position in the history of Indian Art. With its
beginning in 3rd century BC the Amaravati unfolds its chapters through the galaxy of sculptural
wealth that designed the Mahachaityas.
•
The lotus and the purnakumbha motifs are typical of Amaravati Art expressing auspiciousness
and abundance.
•
White Marble was used in this art and the themes were Buddha‘s life and Jatakas tales. The
curly hairs of Buddha is a feature that is influenced by the Greeks.
•
In this school, the Kings, Princes, Palaces etc. have got prominence.
•
Among the events of Buddha‘s life, the most popular to be depicted, are his descent from heaven
in the form of a white elephant, queen Maya‘s conception, the casting of his horoscope after his birth,
the great renunciation, the transportation of Gautam‘s head-dress to heaven, the scene of temptation,
the Naga- Muchalinda protecting the Buddha from rain with broadhood, the first sermon, and the
mahaparinirvana represented by the stupa. A drum slab carved in limestone with the four events
related to the Buddha‘s birth: Mayadevi‘s Dream (top right); the Interpretation of the Dream attended
by the dikpala-s (top left); the Birth of the Buddha attended again by the dikpala-s (bottom right); the
Presentation of the Buddha to the caitya of the Sakyas (bottom left).
Depicts a scene from the Buddha‘s life when he was prince Siddhartha, before his renunciation of his
princely status and his subsequent quest for enlightenment. He is surrounded by palace women
To know more refer below link
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mathura-art
https://selfstudyhistory.com/2015/03/10/mathura-school-of-arts-gandhara-school-of-arts-andamaravati-school-of-arts/
https://www.britannica.com/art/Gandhara-art
http://ddceutkal.ac.in/Syllabus/MA_history/paper-8.pdf
The 19th century saw the emergence of organised women's movements, which, by the 1920s had
strengthened the bonds between women, enlarged their opportunities and forced the issue of their
rights. Women on both side of the Atlantic were affected by these developments. In this presentation I
choose to concentrate on the British and the American women suffragist struggle of that period. My
outline will be threefol : as a starting point I shall examine the women's question and women suffrage
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Women movements have contributed to upliftment of status and accomplishments of
rights of women. Critically analyse
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in England, then I will devote my second part to the study of the women suffrage in the United States.
I will finally turn to the key elements of the struggle in women's movement. The women question and
the women's movement for suffrage in England Many of the historical changes that characterised the
Victorian period motivated discussions about the nature and the role of women. This was what
Victoria called ―The Woman Question‖. This question encompasses group debates about the
physiological nature, the political capacity, the moral character and the place of woman in society. The
question of the place of women in society and in politics arose most acutely in times of wars through
the Revolution of 1848 to the dislocation of industrial change. And the raise for Empire towards the
end of the 19th century. Yet the woman question was also debated at the level of everyday life.
Because women contested the limitations placed on their education, their property rights and their
status in marriage and family. The ideas of the suffrage movement in Britain descended directly from
Enlightenment political philosophy and nineteenth-century liberal theory, notably through Mary
Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Woman and John Stuart Mill's The Subjection of Women.
They shared a fundamental theoretical premise: ―the human attributes of men and women and the
consequent social injustice involved in their unequal treatment‖ (page 9, Sandra Holton, Feminism
and Democracy: Women's Suffrage and Reform Politics in Britain 1900-1918)
The status of women has remained low since time immemorial. There is no record history to explain
the answer to how and why women got to receive secondary position in the society. Indian women are
inheritors of a very complex pattern of social models and cultural ideals. Some of the most
acrimonious and emotionally charged debates of the nineteenth century round precisely those issues
which signified women's oppression and their poor position. Inevitably, the perceived indicators of
women's low status like purdah, sati, female infanticide, child marriage and enforced widowhood, formed essential items in the agenda of attack of almost all the major reformers of the ninetieth
century India, whether they belong to the Brahmosamaj of Bengal and eastern India indifferent to the
fact that, the Arya samaj of north India or the Prathanasamaj of Maharashtra and western India. The
problem of women received the attention of social reformers right from the beginning of the nineteenth
century. In the modern times, some individuals, organized associations and journals and significantly
played remarkable role in bestirring the Indian society to focus it's attention on this problem and
make efforts in the direction of the general emancipation of Indian women's. The aim of this chapter
is to examine the status of women in society prior to the beginning of the women's movement in India
and chronicle briefly their participation and role during women‘s movement from 1880-2000. It also
focuses on revealing the status of women in pre-colonial Indian society and pin points the fact that
there was no change observed in women‘s lives and injustice done to them within the patriarchal
society continued even during the British reign. The women's movement in India is a rich and vibrant
movement which has taken different forms in the different parts of the country. It is important to well
recognize the fact that for a country like India‘s, change in male-female relations and the kinds of
issues the women's movement is focusing on, will not come easy. For every step the movement takes
forward, there will be a possible backlash, a possible regression. And it is this regression that makes
space for the exception to occur, this factor that makes women who can aspire to, and attain, the
highest political office in the country, and for women to continue to have to confront patriarchy within
the home, in the workplace, throughout their lives.
Individual Contribution For The Resurrection of Women Issues in India
Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi whose heroism and superb leadership laid an outstanding example for all
future generations of women freedom fighters.Married to Gangadhar Rao Head of the state of Jhansi.
She was not allowed to adopt a successor after his death by the British, and Jhansi was annexed via
British policy of doctrine of lapse. With the outbreak of the Revolt she became determined to fight
back. She used to go into the battlefield dressed as a man. Holding the reins of her horse in mouth
she used the sword with both hands. Under her leadership the Rani's troops showed undaunted
courage and returned shot for every shot. Considered by the British as the best and bravest military
leader of rebels this sparkling epitome of courage died a hero's death in the battlefield. Since then
whenever women are being talked about the first name that comes to mind is that of the famous Rani
Laxmibai of Jhansi. A figure dressed in men‘s clothes, led her soldiers to war against the British
troops. Even her enemies admired her courage. She fought valiantly and although in a beaten state
she refused to surrender and fell on the ground as a warrior should, fight the enemy to the last. Her
remarkable courage always inspired many men and women in India to rise against the alien rule
during the later years.
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Begum Hazrat Mahal, the Begaum of Oudh. She took active part in the defence of state of Lucknow
against the British. Although, she was queen and used to live a life of luxury, she appeared on the
battle-field herself to encourage her troops. BegamHazrat Mahal held out against the British with all
her strength as long as she could. Ultimately she had to give up and take refuge in Nepal. In the early
nineteenth century, women occupied a very low status in Indian society. Customs such as sati, child
marriage and polygamy were widely prevalent. The first man to speak out publicly against the
injustices perpetrated on women in the mane of tradition and religion was Raja Ram Mohan Roy who,
in 1818, wrote a tractcondemning sati. He also attacked polygamy and spoke in favour of the property
rights for women. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar took up the cause of widows which led to the passing of
the widow remarriage act of 1956.Behramji Malabari (1853-1912), a Parsi reformer from Bombay;
launched An All- India Campaign to raise the age of consent for marriage from 10 years to 12 years.
In later years, the age of consent of marriage act as proposed by Malabari was passed in 1891.
Swarnakumaridevi, sister of Peot Rabindranath Tagore, an author in her own right and a novelist of
distinction, organized the Shakti Samiti in 1882. PanditaRamabaiSaraswati, that remarkable woman
from Poona, founded the Arya Samaj and went on to set up a series of woman‘s association in various
towns of Bombay presidency. She also started the Sharda Sadan to provide employment and
education to women, particularly young widows. RamabaiRanade established the SevaSadan. The year
1908 saw the beginning of a Gujarati Stree Mandal in Ahmedabad and a MahilaSewaSamaj was
founded in Mysore in 1913 and in Poona in 1916. women‗s organization were started in madras also.
Initially, these associations were confined to a locality or a city. The credit for starting the first AllIndia women‘s organization, the Bharat StriMahamandal (1901) must go to SarladeviChaudrani, the
brilliant daughter of Swarnakumaridevi. But later on it was propagated only in 1917, within the
Madras city by Annie Beasant, Dorothy Jinarajadasa and Margaret cousins, together with a group of
Indian women .Being Conscious of their political rights and also influenced by western democratic
values, all of these women worked actively to generate political consciousness among contemporary
women during the early decades.
In a few reform efforts, issues of caste and class were also combined as well, for example Satyashodak
Mandal was set up by JotibhaSavithribaiPhule. It was meant to promote alliance between sudras and
women of the upper class. They built school for lower class girls. This led to a questioning of uppercaste values based on the wisdom of the Vedas, as well as, the callous treatment of women,
irrespective of caste. The late nineteenth-century writings of women such as Muktabai and
TarabaiShinde are instances of some early feminists perspectives, appearing at the time of first
attempts at reforming women‘s education, especially among the lower caste.( Rosalind O‘hanion:1994;
Susie Tharu and K. lalitha:1993) Reform movements in different regions such as the BrahmoSmaj, the
ParthananSamaj, the theosophical society supported female education and also marked a turning
point for its growing acceptance and development . Major development took place in north india when
member of Arya Samaj opened the Arya KanyaPathshala and the KanyaMahavidyalaya in Jullunder.
In Bengal, the BramhoSamaj supported female education and progressive organization for women. In
the madras the theosophical society was critical of child marriage , child widowhood, and sati, as it
sough to regain the greatness of the Indian past where Hindu women were said to have been highly
educated and had considerable freedom. The other remarkable woman elected for the president ship of
Indian National Congress was Sarojini Naidu. She became its president. Dramatic meeting with
another respected leader of time, Gokhle, in 1906 was to change her life forever. His response to her
fiery speech brought into her life the impact of a visionary who saw in her oratory and brilliance a
leader of the future. The period from 1917 to 1919 was the most dynamic phase of Sarojini's career.
During this time, she campaigned for the Montagu Chelmsford Reforms, the Khilafat issue, the
draconian Rowlett Act and the Satyagraha. When Gandhi launched the Civil Disobedience Movement,
she proved a faithful lieutenant. With great courage she quelled the rioters, sold proscribed literature,
and addressed frenzied meetings on the carnage at JallianwalaBagh in Amritsar.In 1930 when
Mahatma Gandhi chose her to lead the Salt Satyagraha the stories of her courage became legion.
After Gandhi's arrest Sarojini took the responsibility and occupied the streets with 2000 volunteers to
raid the Dahrsana Salt Works, the group was chased by police carrying rifle and lathis with steel
tipped clubs. The volunteers wildly cheered when she shook off the arm of the British police officer
who came to arrest her and marched proudly to the barbed wire stockade where she was interned
before being imprisoned. Freedom struggle was in full force and she came under the influence of
GopalakrishnaGokhale and Gandhi. Gokhale advised her to spare all her energy and talents for
nation's cause. She gave up writing poetry and fully devoted herself to emancipation of women,
43
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education, Hindu-Muslim unity etc. She became a follower of Gandhiji and accompanied him to
England. Whenever in England, she openly criticized British rule in India which caught the attention
of scholars and intellectuals.
Vallabhbhai Patel, a veteran of the Khedha Satyagraha, the Nagpur Flag Satyagraha, and the Borsad
Punitive Tax Satyagraha, he had emerged as a leader of Gujarat who was second being to Gandhiji.
His capacities as an organizer, speaker, indefatigable campaigner, inspirer of ordinary men and
women were already known, but it was the women of Bardoli who gave him the title of Sardar. The
main Satyagraha mobilization was done through extensive propaganda via meetings, speeches,
pamphlets, and door to door persuasion. Special emphasis was placed on the mobilization fo women
and many women activists like Mithuben Petit, a Parsi lady for, Bombay, Bhaktiba, the wife of Darbar
Gopaldas, Maniben Patel, the Sardar‘s daughter, Shardaben Shah and Sharda Mehta were recruited
for the purpose. As a result, women often outnumbered men at the meeting and stood firm in their
resolution not to submit to the Government threats Chandra Bipan 1989:207). Gandhiji called for a
vigorous boycott of foreign cloth and liquor shops, and had especially asked the women to play a
leading role in this movement. ―To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man‘s injustice to
woman‖, he had said; and the women of India certainly demonstrated in 1930 that they were second
to none in strength and tenacity of purpose. Women who had never stepped unescorted out of their
homes, women who had stayed in purdah, young mothers and widows and unmarried girls, became a
familiar sight as they stood from morning to night outside liquor shops and opium dens and stores
selling foreign cloth, quietly but firmly persuading the customers and shopkeepers to change their
ways. Along with the women, students and youth played the most prominent part in the boycott of
foreign cloth and liquor. Chandra Bipan 1989:276). Annie Besant, already sixty-six in 1914, had
begun her political career in England as a proponent of Free Thought, Radicalism, Fabianism and
Theosophy, and had come to India in 1893 to work for the Theosophical Society. Since 1907, she had
been spreading the message of Theosophy from her headquarters in Adyar, a suburb of Madras, and
had gained a large number of followers among the educated members of many communities that had
experienced no cultural revival of their own. In 1914, she decided to enlarge the sphere of her
activities to include the building of a movement for Home Rule on the lines of the Irish Home Rule
League. For this, she realized it was necessary to get both the sanction of the Congress, as well as the
active cooperation of the Extremists. She devoted her energies, therefore, to persuade the Moderate
leaders to open the doors of the Congress to Tilak and his fellow-Extremists. But the annual Congress
session in December 1914 proved to be disappointing Pherozeshah Mehta and his Bombay Moderate
group succeeded, by winning over Gokhale and the Bengal Moderates, in keeping out the Extremists.
Tilak and Besant thereupon decided to revive political activity on their own, while still maintaining
their pressure on the Congress to re-admit the Extremist group. In early 1915, Annie Besant launched
a campaign through her two papers, New India and Commonweal, and organized public meetings and
conference to demand that India be granted self-government on the lines of the White colonies after
the War. From April 1915, her tone became more peremptory and her stance more aggressive.
(Chandra Bipan: 1989:160)
Many women of the Nehru family too had joined the Civil Disobedience Movement. Kamala Nehru,
Jawaharlal Nehru's wife gave full support to her husband in his desire to work actively for the freedom
struggle. In the Nehru hometown of Allahabad she organized processions, addressed meetings and led
picketing of liquor and foreign cloth shops. She played a prominent part in organizing the No Tax
Campaign in United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh).
The AIWC played an active role in initiating and campaigning for social legislation that would improve
the position of women. It helped in getting the following acts passed: the sarda act 1929; the special
marriage act , 1954; the Hindu marriage and divorce act, 1955; the Hindu minority and guardianship
act, 1956; the Hindu adoption and maintenance act, 1956; the suppression of immoral traffic in
women act, 1956.
The AIWC founded a number of pioneering institutions, many of which now function as autonomous
apex bodies in their respective fields. These include: the lady Irwin college for home science, new
Delhi, which is now an institution offering graduate and post- graduate courses in a varsity of
subjects; the Family planning centers, now the family planning association of India; save the children
committee, now the Indian council of child welfare; the cancer research institute, madras; the Amrit
Kaur Bal Vihar for mentally retarded children‘s society. Kamaladevichattopadhyaya, one of the
founders of the AIWC, a valiant freedom fighter dedicated to constructive work, an eminent writer and
one of the most dynamic women of India, contested the election to the madras legislative assembly as
44
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an independent candidate but was defeated by a margin of 50 votes. Dr.Muthulakshmi Reddy, the
first women medical graduate of madras and one of the founding members of the AIWC, was, however,
nominated to the legislature by the government. The First All India Women‘s Conference on
Educational Reform was held at Poona from 5th to 8th January, 1927. It was a historic event. It
brought together women from different parts of India and from all castes and communities. The main
concern of all the women who assembled there was women‘s education. Women‘s education had been
pioneered by RamabaiSaraswati, MahadevGovind and RamabaiRanade, JyotibaPhule and
MaharshiKarve, all of them well- known social reformers of the late ninethenth and early twentieth
centuries.
The AIWC is a premier women‘s organization that has attacked the most talented and capable Indian
women‘s of the century, among them: Sarojini Naidu, Vijaya Lakshmi PanditRajkumariAmrit Kaur,
Rameshwari Nehru, Dhanvanthi Rama Rau, KamaladeviChattopadhyaya, Muthulakshmi Reddy,
Charulata Mukherjee, VidyagauriNeelkanth, Hansa Mehta, and many others. It is equipped to play a
crucial role to help women attain economic self- sufficiency and fight gender inequalities.(Aparna
Basu& Bharti Ray:1990).
The AIWC has a three- dimensional significance. Firstly, it symbolizes that women were entirely
responsible for their own regeneration.
In the nineteenth century, the movement for women‘s education and upliftment was initiated and led
by men. In the twentieth century, as women became more educated, they came to form their own
associations and occupy leadership position. The AIWC has been the premier and pioneer organization
in this arena. It has been a path-breaker. Secondly, the AIWC was formed at the instance of western
and western-educated women. In its early phase, it looked towards western role-models. The
deliberations of the organization indicate that by now the western stereotype had been totally rejected.
The leadership is fully Indian, the members are drawn from the Indian middle class, the approach to
problem has an indigenous bias, and the models for ideals women hood are drawn from great women
of ancient India. Thirdly, the organization has provided with opportunities to come out into the world
outside the parameters of the home, in order to contribute something to society at large. Most of the
women members are housewives and have exhibited initiative and will in carrying out their
organizational activities. For providing the lead in such a crucial areas of life, the AIWC must be given
a place of pride in Indian history (Aparna Basu, Bharti Ray :1990)
Women’s Mobilization, Colonialism and National Movements
In the early nineteenth century, the women question was raised primarily by elite upper caste Hindu
men. The women question included issues like women‘s education, widow remarriage and campaigns
against sati. In the 1920s Indian women entered into a new era- with what is defined as feminism
leading to the creation of localized women‘s associations that worked on issues of women‘s education,
livehood strategies for working class women, as well as national level women‘s associations such as
the all India women‘s conference. The latter were closely allied to the Indian national congress, and
worked within the nationalist and anti-colonial movements, and under the Gandhi‘s leadership, mass
mobilization of women became an integral part of nationalism. Women therefore played an important
role in various nationalists and anti- colonial struggles including the civil disobedience movements in
the 1930s (Sarkar1985)
Begum Rokeya (1880-1932) came from a conservative home, the daughter of a Muslim zamindar from
rangpur district in north Bengal in what is now Bangladesh. Her father was not in favor of educating
his daughter and she was married early to Syed Sakhawathossain, a widower from Bihar. Her
husband, though much older than her, was an educated liberal .(Bharati Ray 2003) He encouraged
his young wife‘s literary pursuit – and she in turn named the school that she founded with his money
after his death , the sakhawat memorial school. The institution- that continues to this day – was the
result of the tireless energy and commitment of an amazing woman. In the most cases, however, the
education of muslim girls, as also those from other religious communities, owed much to male
initiatives. Sayyidkaramathussain founded the karamathussain girls college in luck now in 1912 and
advocated a separateCurriculam for women befitting their separate sphere of activity. The Muslim girls
college in Aligarh was set up by sheikh Abdullah and his wife wahidjahanwith the purpose of
contributing to cultural continuity and perpetuating the norms of parda and familial roles, rather than
doing away with them.
As early as 1879, college classes were added to the Bethune school in Calcutta – with kadambinibasu
as th only student in the years to come, higher education was encouraged by missionaries (Isabella
thoburn, lucknow and kinnaird college, Lahore were started in 1886 and 1913 respectively) and
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reformers like D.K.Karve and sister subbalakshmi. In the 1920s, it was the commitment of women like
sister subbalakshmi towards upliftment of young widows that prepared the ground for succeeding
generations. Women‘s productive roles therefore remained invisible, both within the household and at
the work place. They always performed underpaid, unskilled ,and undervalued tasks and were
regarded by all –the state, employers, trade unionist, and their own families- as supplementary
workers. The Women‘s Indian Association (WIA) was the first organization to take up issues relating to
women workers in the 1930s in a limited way women‘s organizations agitated for protective legislation
for workers in some sectors. KadambiniGanguly , one of the first woman doctor of the British Indian
empire, was deemed a whore by Bangabasi , a conservative journal. Her counter part in Maharashtra
,Anandibai Joshi, graduated from the women‘s medical college in Philadelphia in 1886, became the
first Indian student to study medicine abroad .Earlier, Kadambini and other eminent Brahmos
committed to women emancipation had launched a counter offensive in the columns of the Brahmo
publication, the Indian messenger. Medicine was the earliest profession open to women, in part
dictated by the demands of parda society for female doctors to attend pregnant women. a large
number of Christian women became the earliest Doctors. Hilda lazarus, who was born in 1890 was
among the most Successful Indian Christian doctors. She wore home spun-khadi saris, learned a
number of languages, and identified deeply with the nationalist cause. Three important national
women‘s organizations were set up in the 1920s:The Women‘s Indian Association (WIA, 1917), The
National Council of Indian Women (NCWI, 1925), and The All-India Women‘s Conference (AIWC, 1927).
The President of the AIWC included kamala Devi Chattopadhyay, MuthulakshmiRddey, Sarojini
Naidu, Margaret Cousins, and Drameshwari Nehru. In the Mean time, the growing women‘s movement
played an important role in legislation against child marriage in 1929 when, an important the sharda
act (the child marriage restraint act ) was passed with the support of the some prominent nationalist
leaders. In the 1930s, a campaign for the removal of women‘s legal disabilities in marriage and
inheritance, primarily in Hindu law, began in real earnest and a few of the important laws passed in
the 1930s included the Hindu women‘s rights to property act (1937), the Muslim personal law (Shari
at) application act (1937), and the dissolution of Muslims marriage act (1939) (Nair janaki: 1996; 181211). In addition, the campaign for women‘s enfranchisement was consistent and long, with some
success and many retreats
Gandhi And Indian Women
Gandhi ji always wanted women to be a part of the national movement (sita ram singh: 134-206).he
believe that if women did not join the movement, India‘s march to Swaraj would be delayed.(L.S.S.
O‘Malley:93) before Gandhi entered the Indian political scene , very few women took part in social
welfare and revolutionary movements. (Susma Sharma: 1975:38-40) India had a very few women like
Mata Tapaswini, Madame Cama, Sarla Debi as prominent terrorist even before 1857. (The illustrated
weekly of India: 1973:21). Revolutionary activities increased later. Two students of government High
School, Shanty Ghosh and Smriti Chaudhuri, had killed the district Magistrate of Tipperah (Tripura).
Bina Das tried to kill the governor of Bengal, and later many women revolutionaries fought for the
freedom. For instance PrittiLataWaddekar was an important member of militant organization (Kiran
Devendra: 1985:25).Banalata Das Gupta was detained without trial for possessing unlicensed arms in
her hostel. She died July 1, 1936 in Calcutta as she refused to give an undertaking that she would
keep away from politics. Gandhi inspired women with confidence.
The political awakening of Indian women may largely be attributed to the movement Gandhi initiated
(Vijay Agnew:35), and the general improvement in the status of women in India‘s owes a great deal to
the infinite interest that Gandhi took from the very beginning. A band of emancipated women
emerged under the influence of Gandhi. The women‘s movement in India was an integral part of the
nationalist politics of Gandhi.
Kamala Devi Chattopadhya sold banned literature during Satyagraha, organized cultural shows for
the freedom struggle, joined the Seva Dal and pledged to work until Swaraj was won. She became as
an Prominent social worker and edited the Indian social reformer. Kamala devi worked for the
formation of the all India women‘s conference in 1927 and became its general secretary. It was her
idea to make women‘s struggle a part of the freedom struggle. In reading about her life we come across
expression of her respect for Gandhi. She was arrested in the civil disobedience movement and
confined in Yeravada Jail, Nasik. She admitted that her staying in jail made her better understand
Gandhi (Kiran Devendra: 1985:27) In the 1920s in the non-cooperation movement, women like
Renuka Ray gave away her jewelry. Sarrojini Naidu was an extraordinary woman to whom Gandhi
said in 1922, when he was sentenced to six years‘ imprisonment: ―I entrust the destiny of India to
46
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your hands.‖ Her contribution to the renaissance of Indian womanhood cannot be underestimated.
RajkumariAmrit Kaur, MridulaSarabai, SuchetaKripalani, Padmaja Naidu , DurgabaiDeshmuki,
ArunaAsaf Ali, worked with men during the various times of test. Mrs. Suchetakriplani went
underground along with Jaya Prakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia and was active in organizing
the Anti- British Resistance. She was arrested in Patna in 1944 and kept in solitary confinement for
more than a year. The daring acts of Mrs. ArunaAsaf Ali to keep the movement going are incredible.
The movement could have collapsed had women not worked underground while the male leaders were
in prision. Kasturba Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's wife joined her husband while he was in South Africa
and worked with him for many years there. She was a leader of Women's Satyagraha for which she
was imprisoned. She helped her husband in the cause of Indigo workers in Champaran, Bihar and the
No Tax Campaign in Kaira, Gujarat. She was arrested twice for picketing liquor and foreign cloth
shops, and in 1939 for participating in the Rajkot Satyagraha.
Contribution of foreign women in India’s freedom struggle for independence
Meera Ben and Sarla Ben popularly known as Mahatama Gandhi's two English daughters also made
significant contribution to the cause of freedom. Meera Ben whose real name was Madeleine Slade
attended the second Round Table Conference with Gandhi. She sent news releases concerning
Gandhi's campaign to the world press for which she was repeatedly threatened by the government, but
she continued her work. She undertook Khadi tour throughout the country. She was arrested for
entering the city of Bombay in violation of the government order. Catherine Mary Heilman or Sarla
Ben as she was better known went from village to village helping the families of political prisoners.
Annie Besant an Irish lady became the leader of the of the Theosophical Society. In 1902 while in
London she criticized England for the conditions prevalent in India. In 1914 she joined the Indian
National Congress and gave it a new direction. The idea of the Home Rule League was first discussed
by her. She with the radical congress leader Tilak presented a memorial to Montagu on December 18,
1917 which gave equal rights to women in the matters of political franchise. She was the first woman
president of the Congress and gave a powerful lead to women's movement in India. The Mother She
took charge of Ashram in Pondicherry in 1926. She was the inspirer of Auroville, the international
town near Pondicherry. It was to serve as a meeting place for the followers of Shri Aurobindo. Paying
her tribute to the Mother at a women‘s gathering in Kanpur the late Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira
Gandhi said: ―The Mother was a dynamic lady, who came from France and adopted the Indian culture.
She played an important role in motivating women like Mrs. Annie Besant and Mrs. Nellie Sen Gupta,
The Mother had also contributed to enrich India‘s age-old heritage and culture‖.
Sister Nivedita was one among the host of foreign women who were attracted towards Swami
Vivekananda and Hindu philosophy. Born in Ireland on 28 October 1867, she arrived in India in
January, 1898, in search of truth. She was impressed by the ideals of Womanhood in India. She once
remarked that India was the land of great women. She, however, felt that Indian women needed, to
cultivate among themselves a wider and broader concept of the nation, so that they could participate
along with men in building a free and strong nation.She propagated for the cause of India throughout
America and Europe. Swami Vivekananda described her as a real Lioness. Rabindranath Tagore
regarded her as Lok-Mata and Aurobindo Ghosh as Agni-sikha besides the hundreds and thousands
of Indian women who dedicated their lives for the cause of their motherland; there were a number of
noble and courageous foreign women who saw in India - its religion, its philosophy and its culture, a
hope for the redemption of the world. They thought that in India‘s spiritual death shall world find its
grave. These noble women were sick of the material west and found in India and in its civilization,
solace for their cramped souls. Subhash Chandra bose or netaji as he was polpularly known,
accompied by captain Lakshmi Swaminadhan (later Sehal), joined the rani jhansi regiment at
Singapore. The women‘s regiment was a wing of the INA raised during world war II for the liberation of
India. Lakshmi sehgal is the doughter of ammuswaminadhan, an eminent congress worker and
member of the women‘s movement. a medical doctor, lakshmi too is an ardent champion of workers‘
and women‘s rights. Charulatamukerjee (1880-1969) eldest daughter of distinguished educationasts
P.K. and Sarla Ray, she was among the first two women to be admitted to the prisedency college,
Calcutta. She was a pioneer in starting mahilasamitis and girls‗s schools in Bengal districts.
Sarojini‘s daughter Miss Padmaja Naidu devoted herself to the cause of Nation like her mother. At the
age of 21, she entered the National scene and became the joint founder of the Indian National
Congress of Hyderabad. She spread the message of Khadi and inspired people to boycott foreign
goods. She was jailed for taking part in the ―Quit India‖ movement in 1942. After Independence, she
became the Governor of West Bengal. During her public life spanning over half a century, she was
47
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associated with the Red Cross. Her services to the Nation and especially her humanitarian approach
to solve problems will long be remembered.
In Shimla, Raj kumariAmritkaur took a leading part in the protest meetings and processions which
were subjected to ruthless lathi charge about 14-15 times between 9 and 10 August 1942.Raj
kumariAmrit Kaur was arrested along with other workers. Shakuntala Sharma, a first year student of
Allahabad University, succeeded in hoisting the Congress Tricolour on the top of the kuchehri
building.
The Quit India Movement marked a new high in terms of popular participation in the national
movement and sympathy with the national cause. Women, especially college and school girls, played a
very important role. ArunaAsaf Ali and SuchetaKripalani were to major women organizers of the
underground, and Usha Mehta important members of the small group that ran the Congress Radio.
The adoption of non-violent forms of struggle enabled the participation of the mass of the people who
could not have participated in a similar manner in a movement that adopted violent forms. This was
particularly true of women‘s participation. Women would have found it difficult to join an armed
struggle in large numbers. But when it came to undergoing suffering, facing lathi-charges, picketing
for hours on end in the summer of the winter; women were probably stronger than men. (Chandra
Bipan: 1989:514).ArunaAsaf Ali, a radical nationalist played an outstanding role in the historic Quit
India Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi on August 9, 1942, and was a prominent leader of the
underground movement. She published bulletins, went from place to place and even met Mahatma
Gandhi avoiding arrest. She edited Inqulab a monthly journal of the Indian National Congress.
To know more refer below links
http://www.jfki.fu-berlin.de/academics/SummerSchool/Dateien2011/Papers/juncker_remy.pdf
http://sol.du.ac.in/mod/book/view.php?id=1474&chapterid=1388
http://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/women_empowerment.htm
http://www.aryasamaj.com/enews/2011/feb/2.htm
http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SHS/pdf/Culture-WomensEmpowerment.pdf
http://www.unwomen.org/en/partnerships/businesses-and-foundations/womens-empowermentprinciples
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What is secularism?
What is the relationship between secularism, the state policy; and secularisation, the social process?
Most conversations tend to confuse the two, moving from one to the other. However, we don't really
have a clear map of how the two are related to each other. Does the adoption of secularism as a policy
lead to the process of secularisation in society? Or is it the other way round? Is it possible that groups
such as the Islamists who oppose secularism may be, inadvertently perhaps, facilitating
secularisation?
The general understanding about the relationship between secularism and secularisation is based on
a reified reading of European history. The potted version would run something like this: "Once the
Catholic church was challenged there was a lot of fighting and eventually people decided that
tolerance is the best way forward. They also realised that the most convenient way to operationalise
tolerance would be to separate church and state, public and private spheres." There are many
problems with this narrative, including questions of historical accuracy, as well as immense variations
and reversals in the European experience. However, it is important here to note that in this version
secularism and secularisation seem to have developed together.
Specially crafted for Windows 10, this app gives you full access to the Guardian's award-winning
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Paradoxically, for the world beyond Europe the policy prescriptive has been the opposite. Since the
late colonial period – and particularly for predominantly Muslim societies today – the policy dogma has
been that the adoption of secularism as a state project will lead to the process of secularisation. But
secularism as a separation of church (religion) and state does not make ready sense in societies where
there was no hierarchical, structured church that had inherited an empire's state apparatus as the
48
Q10 There are countries that are antagonistic to the religion. But, there are models that there
could be reconciliation between religion and secularism. With the context of India mark
the difference between Secularism and Secularisation. How relevant are they in the
present Indian context.
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Roman Catholic church had in Europe. In the various versions of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism etc
there has been no one clerical figure vested with the kind of power and authority that the pope
excersised over domains now assumed within the modern state.
So we cannot assume that the lack of secularisation within these societies is due to some "lateness" on
their part. They did not secularise in the way that Europe did because they did not need to. Branding
them as backward was part of a colonial project but not one that we have to subscribe to today
without evidence to support it. At the same time as acknowledging this, we also need to recognise that
over the last century something new has happened that has led to much critical thinking about the
relationship between religion and the state in these societies. This catalyst for political and intellectual
tumult is the modern state. The modern state with its interest in managing individuals rather than
communities tends to politicise various kinds of identities, many of which had been assumed to be
private/apolitical in pre-modern contexts, for instance, gender relations, sexual preferences, ethnic
and of course, religious identities.
The Islamists, or those within the larger category of Muslim fundamentalists who focus on taking over
the state, are one of the range of responses generated within societies grappling with the modern state
bound up with the legacy of colonialism.
Islamists are not primarily militant nor pre-modern. They are modernist in the structure of their
thought, in their organisation – indeed Jamaat-e-Islami, an influential Islamist party in south Asia,
was organised on the Leninist model of a cadre-based vanguard party – and in the categories and
political structures that they engage with.
Islamism arose in early 20th century at a time when the state was the dominant paradigm for
organising political energies. Political movements of the time from communist to fascist to liberal
nationalist, and including the Islamists, were focused on taking over the state to transform society.
The Islamists are vehement in their public insistence on dislodging the idea of secularism as
universal, claiming it to be a parochial, European experience – with some justification. Yet, the
process of raising these and other questions about the definitions of public and private in the political
arena, the fierce competition amongst Islamists to provide a definitive answer and the very structure of
Islamist thought that emphasises an individual relationship with religious texts has led to a deep,
conscious and critical questioning of the role of religion – a secularisation – in predominantly Muslim
polities.
Secularisation is not just the increase or decrease in visible markers of religiosity or in church
attendance, but also a fundamental shift in religious belief towards rationalisation and objectification.
The Protestant reformers were not arguing for less religion, they were asking for more – for a
continuously religious life against the Catholic cycles of sin and repentance. Yet, as Max Weber's
influential work suggests, they ended up rationalising and secularising. To say all this is not to
suggest that Pakistani Islamists will have exactly the same impact as the German Protestants. There
can be little doubt that they will produce a very different subject and citizen because of the disparity
in context.
But we can at least acknowledge that we need to understand the relationship between secularism and
secularisation more clearly before we can build a universal definition of secularism. I am not arguing
here for abandoning a universal definition, just for a more truly universally grounded and methodical
one.
Secular means without religion. Non-religious people lead secular lives. Secular government runs
along rational and humanistic lines. This is the norm in democratic countries. The individuals that
make up the government are rightly free to have whatever religion they want, as are the populace.
Because of this freedom, in a multicultural world, there is a requirement for governments not to cause
resentment or divisions by identifying itself with a particular religion. The most well-known phrase
proposing secular democracy as an ideal is Jefferson's "wall of separation between church and state"
[paraphrased].
Secularism, promoted by secularists, is the belief that religion should be a private, personal, voluntary
affair that does not impose upon other people. Public spaces and officialdom should therefore be
religion-neutral. Secularism ensures that religions are treated fairly and that no bias exists for a
particular religion, and also that non-religious folk such as Humanists are treated with equal respect.
It is the only democratic way to proceed in a globalized world where populations are free to choose
their own, varied, religions. ⇒ See Secularism.
Secularisation is the process of things becoming more secular. Most of the Western world has seen
this paradigm come to dominate politics and civil life, starting from the time of the Enlightenment. For
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example in 1864 the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) published a document as a hostile response to
fledging secularisation, as growing tolerance for other religions and the growing power of democracy
was challenging the RCC's power to implement its doctrine in the countries of Europe2. Thus as the
world develops morally and tolerance and public equality come to the fore, religion, because it causes
issues, retreats from the public sphere as people prefer to meet on neutral terms, in peace.
Secularisation Theory is the theory in sociology that as society advances in modernity, religion retreats
and becomes increasingly hollow. The theory holds that intellectual and scientific developments have
undermined the spiritual, supernatural, superstitious and paranormal ideas on which religion relies
for its legitimacy, and, the differentiation of modern life into different compartments (i.e. work, politics,
society, education and knowledge, home-time, entertainment) have relegated religion to merely one
part of life, rather than an all-pervading narrative. As this continues, religion becomes more and more
shallow, surviving for a while on empty until loss of active membership forces it into obscurity although most theorists only hold this happens for organized public religion, not for private
spirituality. ⇒ See: Definitions of Secularisation Theory: Why is Religion Declining?
The evidences and shortcomings of this theory are discussed later in this text.
Some take the process of secularisation as a personal affront, and think that mere lack of bias from
government implies an active attack. They see any reduction in (their own) public religion to be bad,
and apparently they do not understand the causes or reasons behind the secularisation of officialdom.
Hopefully this page will address this.
Difference between Secularisation and Secularism:
Secularisation involves a removal of dominance of religious institutions and symbols from sectors of
society and culture.
But secularism is a belief/ideology that states that religion and religious considerations must be kept
out of temporal affairs. It refers to a neutrality of the state/administration where religious affairs are
concerned.
‗Secularisation‘ has meanings at different levels as a theoretical concept and as a process in history. It
has been stated by Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Max Weber and other theorists that as a society
modernises, there would be decrease in its level of religiosity. As a process, secularisation determines
the manner in which and the extent to which, religious beliefs, practices and institutions are losing
relevance in society.
But the basic idea in secularisation is the concept of a secular State— a State where government and
religious institutions are separate and where laws are man-made rather than religion-derived.
Secularisation involves cultural shifts in society and is linked to emergence of rationality and
development of science that replaced superstition. With responsibility for education moving to the
State, the ‗collective‘ conscience is reduced. Religion becomes a matter of personal choice owing to
fragmentation of communal activities.
Throughout history, secularisation has been applied with different meanings. When referring to
church property, it refers to the church abandoning goods and these being sold off after the
government lays claim to the property. In Catholic theology, it refers to authorisation given to
individuals to live outside the monastery for a fixed period or permanently.
Six uses of the term ‗Secularisation‘:
According to John Sommerville (1998), ‗secularisation‘ can refer to many things:
(i)
Secularisation can denote differentiation, that is, specialisation and distinct nature of various
aspects of society—economic, political, legal and moral.
(ii)
In the context of institutions, secularisation refers to transformation of a religious institution
into a secular one. An example is that of the Harvard University which transformed from a
predominantly religious institution into a secular institution.
(iii) When speaking of activities, secularisation denotes transfer of activities from religious
institutions to secular institutions.
(iv) Secularisation refers to the transition from ultimate concerns to proximate concerns, that is,
people‘s concern for immediate effects rather than post-mortem consequences which suggests
decline in the personal religious and a movement towards a secular lifestyle.
(v)
In the context of populations, ‗secularisation‘ means broad patterns of decline in levels of
religiosity and not individual-level secularisation, (vi) Secularisation can only be used
unambiguously to refer to religion in a generic sense, that is, a reference to any religion, say
Christianity, is not clear unless it is specified as to which denominations of that religion (or
Christianity) are being referred to.
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Differentiation:
Secularisation ushers in ‗differentiation‘—areas of life becoming more distinct and specialised with
modernisation of the society. The single, less differentiated institutions gave way to a differentiated
subset of institutions. Talcott Parsons talked of society as a system immersed in constant
differentiation. This was a process where new institutions assumed the societal tasks in order to
ensure society survived even as the original monolithic institutions gave way.
The concept of differentiation mooted by Parsons has gained great acceptance. For Jose Casanova, the
concept of differentiation is the ―core and central thesis of the theory of secularisation‖. It is ―the
conceptualisation of the process of societal modernisation as a process of functional differentiation
and emancipation of the secular spheres—primarily the state, the economy, and science—from the
religious sphere and the concomitant differentiation and specialisation of religion within its own newly
found religious sphere‖. It calls this the theory of privatisation of religion. David Martin criticises some
aspects of the traditional sociological theory of secularisation, but labels the differentiation concept
the most useful element in secularisation.
Secularisation has occurred in most countries of the West, in the sense that the government, the notfor-profit sector and the private sector have taken over the responsibility of provision of social welfare.
In Germany, however, secularisation is still not there to a great degree. Many churches- based
charitable foundations provide services like education and health.
However, some issues in secularisation remain. Scholars argue that secularisation cannot be directly
linked to levels of religiosity. They point out that levels of religiosity are not actually declining. Others
have introduced the idea of neo- secularisation which defines secularisation in such a manner that it
includes decline of religious authority. This means that even if religious affiliation may not be coming
down, religion‘s authority is declining as people are looking outside of religion on issues like birth
control. But the debate over how to measure secularisation goes on.
To know more refer below links
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2011/jun/29/secularism-secularisationrelationship
http://www.geographynotes.com/human-geography/difference-between-secularisation-andsecularism-and-its-uses/1004
http://www.humanreligions.info/secularisation.html
http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2015/10/secularism-in-india-romila-thapar/
https://www.academia.edu/10620961/Secularism_and_Secularization_Untying_the_Knots
The challenges of effective implementation of family planning (reproductive health) with a view to
improving women and children's health in the developing world.
Affected Population
In developing countries, lack of awareness and access to effective methods of contraception and family
planning impacts the health of women and indirectly that of children. Less than 20 percent of women
in Sub-Saharan Africa and barely one-third of women in South Asia use modern contraceptives. In
places where majority of the population lives in poverty, family planning is of a great financial help to
a family. UNFPA asserts that family planning helps lift nations out of poverty. A recent study predicted
that Nigeria's economy would grow by at least $30 billion if the fertility rate in the country fell by just
one child per woman in the next 20 years. Family planning interests impact diverse cross-sections of
the population through issues such as: maternal health, child mortality and spread of sexually
transmitted diseases.
One area for greater attention is maternal health. Up to 25% of all maternal deaths are due to
pregnancies in certain groups of women: very young women, very old women, pregnancy within short
birth intervals and women with more than four children or existing health problems. Negative
outcomes associated with lack of family planning can include: delays in initiating prenatal care,
reduced likelihood of breastfeeding resulting in less healthy children, maternal depression, increased
risk of physical violence during pregnancy, mothers‘ school dropout.
Births resulting from unintended pregnancies can have negative consequences including birth defects
and low birth weight. Such children are more likely to experience poor mental, physical health during
childhood, and have lower educational attainment and more behavioral issues in their teen years. As
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It is the social and cultural factors that have led to the failure of family planning in India.
Explain in context of regional variance in fertility rate in the country.
Page
11.
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per WHO research, three of the ten most important global burdens of diseases are of childhood, which
cause over half of child deaths:•respiratory infection, prenatal conditions and diarrhea.
Rates of both maternal and child death are particularly high in areas where the social status of women
is low. Looking ahead, if an additional 120 million obtained access to family planning, reports estimate
3 million fewer babies would die in their first year of life. Such an improvement has a predictable
positive impact on the quality of families and communities and should thus be considered a global
health priority.
Basis of the Problem: Why the Challenge
Key drivers of this problem lie in the roots of society and government initiative. In many male
dominated societies in the developing world, women are not empowered to take decisions for family
planning. Some other key factors are traditional social attitudes and illiteracy. Some governments who
lack the initiative have failed to provide basic infrastructure to tackle this or to facilitate public-private
partnership to run family planning programs.
Availability of Resources
•
Economical : As this problem mostly exists in developing countries, there will always be funding
constraints, but finance is not the main problem as lots of private organizations have raised their
hand to support such programs, even WHO has increased funding many fold.
•
Human personnel: Developing countries lack human personnel in the medical field. The doctor
to patient ratio in developing countries is far less as compared to the developed world. Most of the
doctors are male and few women visit male doctors due to society and family pressure.
•
Tools and technologies: The most important tool available in the developing market is a mobile
phone, more than 70% of the population has mobile handsets in their pockets but governments have
failed to provide or improve technical infrastructure such as availability of internet (even if the internet
facility is there its quite expensive). Significant challenges stand in the way of making contraceptives
more widely available and accessible, including the high cost of quality mid- to long-acting
contraceptives, unpredictable donor funding, and lack of coordination in procurement processes.
Social and cultural factors
•
Knowledge: Lack of sufficient education regarding the importance of reproductive health, and
lack of awareness of the harmful effects of neglecting family planning on women‘s health and
indirectly that of children.
•
Attitude - Financial: Having many children is considered a benefit as it would mean more
hands to help on the field. Safety net: Due to high child mortality rate, families tend to have more
children as not all survive. Insurance for old age: People have faith that children will take care of
parents in their old age and so they tend to have many children. Family status: Often the social status
of a family is defined by the number of children they have.
•
Behavior: Bias against the girl child: In some countries like India, a girl is considered a
liability as ‗dowry‘ has to be paid to get her married. So people want to have a boy as son would be of
greater use economically. Until a son is born, women keep conceiving. Rape: Unwanted pregnancies
often result from rape. According to the NCBI, It is estimated that 5% of rape victims become
pregnant, that is around 32,000 a year in the US of which 32% want to keep their infants.
•
Social and public opinion: In many societies going against public opinion leads to social
ostracism. Age old traditions have formed public opinion in favor of a large family size.
•
Gender Discrimination: In many male dominated societies, men consider it below their dignity
to use contraceptive tools in their households. ‗Purdah‘(Veil): If the nearest available doctor is a male,
women in many traditional societies in the developing world would go without medical care.
•
Religious/ethnic/racial issue: Abortion is considered unacceptable among traditional Islamic,
Christian and Hindu families.
•
Demographic barriers: Elders are often against family planning due to age old tradition and
superstition. Youngsters who want to go in for family planning risk the wrath of elders.
Structural Considerations
•
Delivery of health care: In many developing countries, lots of births occur outside a hospital
and not many women are assisted by trained health workers either before or after birth. Further,
access to state of the art tools is limited. This situation greatly affects the health of mother and child
and can result in prenatal and neonatal mortality. As per a WHO report, majority of 8 million deaths
in infants under the age of 1, occur in their first 28 days of life.
•
Infrastructure gaps: In remote and rural areas hospitals are often geographically far,
transportation is inadequate or unavailable and so many go without any form of medical help or are
52
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dependent on very basic facilities if at all, through small clinics or mobile hospitals on wheels. There is
a dependence on herbal medicine and home remedies.
Of all these factors, availability of resources and structural considerations are modifiable. Factors
most difficult to change are the socio-cultural ones related to attitude and behavior.
Regional
In much of the developing world, the problem is similar to what has been described above. Some
countries in South Asia, like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh face a serious reproductive health
challenge. The government approach to deal with this issue is varied in different parts of the world.
China has taken a drastic step, by implementing the One-child policy as a method of population
control. It restricts urban couples to only one child, while making allowances for cases like twins.
Although authorities claim that this controversial policy has prevented 400 million births between
1979 to 2011, the policy has often resulted in an increase in female infanticide. Yet, a 2008 survey
undertaken by the Pew Research Center reported that 76% of Chinese people support the policy.
In the developed first world, the challenge is diametrically opposite due to declining fertility rates.
Governments often give incentives to couples for having children. In Russia, a government initiated
program pays mothers $10,000 for the birth of a second child.
Low –Hanging Fruit
•
Contraceptives : One of the easiest solutions is to make common types of family planning tools
like contraceptives easily available and accessible. It can be distributed through a concerted
government effort and a robust distribution network.
•
Education and information: Another workable solution is improved quality and reach of
reproductive health information, through government incentivised family planning campaigns on TV,
radio and posters with support from local NGOs and local opinion leaders. This would also be the
most effective factor as increased knowledge could start influencing a gradual change in social and
cultural attitudes.
•
mHealth: mHealth can be very effective to provide health workers with training materials at a
low cost as well as to bridge the gap between women and trained healthcare providers.
•
Integrate family planning services with other health services, including HIV prevention and
care, maternal and child health care (including postpartum care), and post-abortion services.
Demographic processes have again been propelled to the forefront of the major challenges facing
humankind in the 21st century. Intense press coverage of the 7 billion population theme, together
with increased concern over major global threats such as climate change and food crises have once
more thrust issues of population growth into the public spotlight. Often overlooked in these debates is
the even more striking fact that all of this future growth will occur in the towns and cities of the
developing world. Global population is projected to increase by 2.4 billion between 2010 and 2050. In
the same time span, however, because rural areas will decrease, the urban population is expected to
grow by 2.7 billion, with 94 per cent of that growth concentrated in less developed regions (United
Nations, 2012). Overall population growth and urbanization processes are evidently related. Although
the debate has focused most attention on the speed and volume of population growth per se, the
economic, social, environmental and demographic welfare of the human population actually hinges on
the progress of those localities that will absorb almost all of this growth: the towns and cities of the
developing world. Recent concern with global population increase has inevitably led to renewed
discussions as to the best means to abbreviate the transition to low fertility and population
stabilization. Public opinion (as well as that of many donors and policymakers) in developed countries
supports the introduction of massive family planning campaigns in high fertility countries, on the
assumption that this represents the most effective approach to rapid fertility reduction and thus to
mitigation of the alleged ‗population pressure‘. This intuitive approach, sometimes known as ‗The
Northern Perspective‘,1 finds support in the ideology, research and actions of the population
establishment that emerged in the wake of fears of a ‗population explosion‘2 in mid-20th century.
However, then as now, family planning programmes tended to be erroneously projected as a
determinant of fertility decline whereas, in fact, they are actually an ‗intermediate variable‘ or
‗proximate determinant‘ that makes it possible for people to achieve their lower fertility desires more
easily, if and when such aspirations arise. The crucial question, which this perspective overlooks, is
what makes people want to reduce their fertility in the first place. A large body of research that has
sought to understand when, how and why fertility declines needs to be more carefully reviewed.
Analysis of the historical record shows that social and economic processes have invariably been
significant in accelerating fertility decline since the inception of the demographic transition. As aptly
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put by Amartya Sen: ‗There can be little doubt that economic and social development, in general, has
been associated with major reductions in birth rates and the emergence of smaller families, as the
norm.‘ (Sen, 1994, n.p.). In essence, the very demand for fertility regulation information and methods
stems from improvements in economic and social conditions. A combination of changes linked to
human development and to the exercise of human rights – inter alia, urban residence, education,
infant and child mortality reduction, women‘s empowerment, wage labour, women‘s participation in
the labour force, increased consumption aspirations and social mobility – are among the main factors
that motivate people to regulate their natural fertility. Urbanization – the process through which an
increasing proportion of the total population resides in towns and cities – has long been touted by
analysts as a main factor in fertility decline. It is almost universally acknowledged that urban fertility
is lower than rural fertility, except in the very poorest urban slum areas. On the surface, this would
appear to be attributable tothe fact that urban populations, across the world, enjoy advantages over
rural populations in relation to all those factors that affect fertility levels, including education and
employment of women, gender equality and better access to all types of services. Others have
disagreed with this perception, alleging that the impacts of urbanization on fertility are
inconsequential. As will be shown in this paper, simple correlations between fertility decline and
urbanization are not always consistent, for a number of reasons stemming from the great variety of
urbanization and fertility trajectories. Other discrepancies stem from data limitations, defective study
designs or different theoretical perspectives. But still others would appear to be, at least in part,
influenced by differentiated perceptions regarding the nature of population problems and,
consequently, the nature of priorities to be highlighted in population policy. Concern with rapid
population growth and the desire to intervene more directly in the process of fertility decline have not
only prompted a greater focus on the proximate determinants of reproductive behaviour, and thus on
the importance of family planning programmes, but has sometimes led to the negation of the very
impact of structural changes on fertility decline. This paper attempts to combine an analysis of
structural and proximate causes. As such, it is part of an ongoing paradigm shift that makes a
sustained case for taking structural factors more seriously and for not assuming that their influence is
only through proximate causes. Supported by new techniques, this approach ascribes causality to
structural/social factors that would previously have been described as distant factors of less direct
relevance. As aptly stated by Cockerham (2013: 25) in relation to health research: ‗A number of
factors, including the pervasiveness of the biomedical model in conceptualising health problems, a
research focus on health from the standpoint of the individual, and the former lack of appropriate
statistical techniques have all combined to relegate social structural factors to the background in the
quest to discover the social connections to health. But this situation is changing in the direction of a
more realistic approach in which the relevance of structure is not only being recognized, but endowed
with causal properties with regard to health and disease. In fact, it can be argued that a major
paradigm shift toward a neo-structural perspective is now appearing in 21st-century medical
sociology. This is seen in the greater emphasis upon structure in both theory and research that is
stimulated by the need to acquire a more comprehensive understanding of the social causes of health
and illness in contemporary society. The work in medical sociology…is evidence of this paradigm shift.‘
It is our belief that the actual impact that urbanization has on fertility is a critical question that has
importantpolicy implications and thus warrants further elucidation. Given the massive scale of urban
growth currently being experienced by developing regions, the issue is certainly not trivial. This paper
proposes to do two things: a) contribute to a clarification of the part played by urbanization in the
reduction of fertility, and b) discuss the importance of getting the policies right in the ongoing urban
transition in developing countries, both for the promotion of social development in general, and for
improvements of reproductive health in particular. The next two sections of this paper review some of
the main contributions in the lengthy debate over the relative impact of urbanization on fertility
decline. This will show that the results of a long series of studies concluding that rural–urban
migration favoured fertility decline (Section 2) have been questioned by other schools of thought,
particularly by researchers who were concerned with the need for a more hands-on approach to
fertility decline in the developing world (Section 3). The subsequent section (4) then re-examines both
perspectives with the object of clarifying the sources and policy significance of these discrepancies.
The final empirical section (5) reviews recent fertility trends, worldwide and in a specific country study,
in order to better understand the correlation between fertility levels and a wide variety of factors that
have been posited as having an influence on fertility decline. To this purpose, recent data from a large
number of countries are first analysed. Then, more detailed data from Brazil, a developing country
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that has practically completed both its fertility and urban transitions, is used in order to explore
differences in the process of fertility decline between rural and urban areas within a more homogenous
setting, using a multivariate approach. A final section (6) wraps up the main arguments and discusses
their implications for policy. The empirical analyses presented in Section 5 show that, although urban
fertility levels are systematically lower than those in rural areas, and although urbanization is itself
highly correlated with practically all of the factors that affect fertility reduction, the simple correlation
between levels of urbanization and fertility is not always impressive. This apparent discrepancy gives
room to different interpretations. However, more complex models and a case study permit closer
examination of the factors involved and would suggest that urbanization is a major vehicle in
promoting a variety of social changes that affect the fertility transition. The argument is made that the
ongoing process of massive urbanization is one of the most important structural changes of this
century. It needs to be accepted and promoted in order to yield its benefits for human development,
favouring the exercise human rights in a variety of areas, including in the dissemination of quality
reproductive health services that allow people to choose and manage their reproductive behaviour
The case for urbanization’s strong role in fertility decline
Migration, urbanization and fertility: theory and field studies Interest in the influence of urbanization
on fertility has a long history in demographic studies. Prior to World War Two, and only a decade or so
before the onset of the modern concern with rapid global population growth, below-replacement
fertility was a main preoccupation in developed regions of the world. Therein, urbanization was
perceived as a strong, universal force that was accelerating fertility reduction. Several prominent
demographers analysed the subject in the 1930s and 1940s; their findings unanimously portrayed
urbanization as a main factor in the fertility reduction of developed countries. Warren Thompson
wrote: ‗Urban–rural differential fertility was studied in a number of non-European countries as of the
present time and in a number of European nations and in the United States during the early
nineteenth century. With but one exception the rural fertility rate was observed to be substantially
higher than the urban rate.‘ (Thompson, 1935:153). Kingsley Davis was so concerned with the
strength of urbanization in fertility decline that he advocated a return to rural areas in order to avoid
population decline and to save the family (Davis, 1937:289–306). In 1942, Alfred Jaffe‘s extended
research of the relation between urbanization and fertility decline to developing countries, commenting
that: ‗It is a well-establishedfact that in our modern European culture fertility rates are generally
higher in rural areas than in cities. This has been demonstrated by a number of investigators who
used a large variety of analytical techniques and several different measures of fertility… Urban–rural
differential fertility is far more widespread than was originally thought. Not only does it exist today in
the European nations and in those lands whose population is predominantly of European descent, but
it is also found among the populations of Latin-American countries where there is a large admixture of
native blood, among at least some of the native Asiatic populations, among the Moslems in Palestine,
among the native Negroes and the Asiatics in South Africa, and among the nonwhite groups (other
than Negro) in the United States.‘ (Jaffe, 1942:48 & 57). Jaffe then asked what might cause this
differential. He first discarded the greater availability of modern contraceptives, observing that all
peoples have always known ways and practices to avoid having children. He then attributed the
fertility reduction strength of urbanization to the greater ‗plane of living‘ of urban populations and to
the greater desire to achieve this better standard in the future (Jaffe, 1942:58–59). These types of
observations fed into the broader perspective of demographic transition theory, which posited both a
reduction in mortality levels and a subsequent fertility decline as a result of a general process of
development. Notestein (1945) provided a seminal analysis that reaffirmed the importance of
urbanization within the framework of economicfactors that are associated with fertility reduction. In
his view, fertility was necessarily high in traditional rural, agricultural societies in order to provide
needed labour and to offset high mortality. Economic and social changes such as industrialization,
urbanization, and increased education accelerated a decline in mortality. Subsequently, the declining
economic value and the rising cost of children in urban life and the desire of parents to promote better
health and education for their children prompted fertility decline in developed countries, and this
could be expected to soon reduce fertility in developing countries as well. The influence of such factors
on the micro-level of decision-making would be famously formalized in the later works of Becker
(1960), Schultz (1972) and others. While the previous macro-perspectives had focused on the impact
of broad social change on demographic dynamics, neoclassical micro-economic theory emphasized the
proximate determinants that directly influence the decisions of individual couples. Changes in the
demand for children would occur due to changes in family income and to changes in the relative cost
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of children and other consumer goods. A spate of field studies focused on migration and fertility in
developing countries during the late 1960s and early 70s generally supported the hypothesis that
urbanization, as an integral component of the process of ‗modernization‘, was speeding up fertility
decline in different parts of the developing world. However, interest in these studies was primarily
centred on rural– urban differentials, rather than on explanations of why or how urbanization affected
fertility. The findings of earlier studies in the United States showing that rural– urban migrants exhibit
higher fertility rates than urban natives were later confirmed, inter alia, by Goldberg (1959, 1960), as
well as Freedman and Slesinger (1961) (studies cited in Beine et al., 2009). A review of other studies
on rural–urban fertility in the United States concluded that ‗the evidence indicates that prior to World
War II in the general population migrant fertility was substantially higher than that of urban residents
and the differential increased with age‘. (Zarate and Zarate, 1975:123). Moreover, the authors found
that the overall level of migrant fertility is closely associated with the higher level fertility of the
migrant population from rural areas and small towns (Idem:135). Myers and Morris (1966) and
Macisco(1968), as well as subsequent studies in Puerto Rico, vindicated such findings, although some
nuances and intervening variables were highlighted. In Latin America, Zarate and Zarate (1975)
reviewed the findings of some 16 studies using different approaches, methodologies and data,
involving 17 different cities and 9 different countriesand concluded that: ‗In view of this heterogeneity,
the consistency of findings in this region is impressive. With only one exception, the fertility of
migrants to urban areas is higher than that of natives… regardless of place of birth, except in Santiago
and Monterrey.‘ Moreover, ‗the fertility of rural migrants is almost always higher than that of other
migrants…‘ (Idem:134). The authors concluded that, although the methodology of some of the earlier
studies might be considered suspect due to lack of controls for such factors as age and proportions
married, the results pointing to pervasive higher rural fertility had also been confirmed by later and
more sophisticated studies. Other studies from the 1970s in Asia and Africa generally reaffirmed the
differences in rural–urban fertility and explicitly highlighted the significance of urban-wards
migrations in promoting fertility decline. An enduring discussion of whether the lower fertility of
migrants was due to adaptation, selectivity or disruption3 was launched during this period. Thus,
Goldstein (1978) used census data in Thailand to analyse the fertility behaviour of migrants to
Bangkok and found that they tended to assimilate the fertility behaviour of the native population at
destination when they moved from rural areas and smaller urban areas to larger cities. Migrants to
Bangkok had lower fertility than those to other urban places, especially if they had an urban origin.
This suggested to Goldstein that ‗selectivity‘ and ‗adjustment‘ have a joint impact on fertility levels. His
findings suggest strongly that in Thailand movement from rural to urban places is associated with
considerable reduction in fertility and that this results both from the initial selection of persons with
lower fertility and from the adherence to lower fertility levels than the non-migrant population in the
urban metropolis, at least in the period immediately following migration (Goldstein, 1973:238). Several
more recent studies from the field of demography have continued this line of research and suggested
that urbanization somehow contributes to fertility decline. Some of these were carried out in China.
For instance, Yi and Vaupel (1989) found that birth rates in rural areas were higher and that
childbearing started earlier there. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of rural areas in 1981 was 2.9,
compared to 1.4 in urban areas. The authors calculated that continued urbanization would thus have
a major impact on fertility levels and could reduce the overall population size by 133 million by 2050.
In a similar vein, Goldstein et al. (1997) compared fertility rates of migrants, nonmigrants, temporary
migrants and urbanites in China and found that migrant fertility is systematically lower. Moreover,
contradicting common lore in that country, thstudy found that temporary migrants do not contribute
to higher fertility. More recently, Guo et al (2011) observe that not only was urbanization important in
China‘s fertility decline but that it will become the primary factor in future fertility decline, allowing
China to relax its ‗one child‘ policy. The relevance of urbanization in fertility decline has been
highlighted in other studies on developing countries. Thus, Shapiro and Tambashe (2002) analysed
Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data from 29 African countries and explored in some detail
the role of urban areas as the place of origin for the fertility transition in sub-Saharan Africa. The
paper provided an overview of reproductive change and quantified the importance of the various
factors contributing to the differentials in fertility. Specifically, it carried out exploratory analyses on
the extent to which urban–rural differences in fertility (and hence, presumably, changes in fertility) are
linked to differences (and changes) in schooling, age at marriage, contraceptive use, and infant and
child mortality. The Shapiro and Tambashe study did not specifically analyse the role of migration and
thus of ‗urbanization‘ in fertility decline, but it did find pervasive differences between rural and urban
56
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fertility; considerable diversity across countries in terms of urban–rural differences in age-specific
fertility rates and in the pace and nature of fertility was also emphasized. Urban–rural fertility
differentials in this study are attributed to a combination of expected factors, including the differential
availability of services and a differentiated population composition in rural and urban areas. More
recently, a review by Beine et al. (2009:5), which looked at studies in Puerto Rico, Thailand, Colombia,
Costa Rica, the Philippines, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Papa New Guinea, Estonia and 13 African
countries, concluded that ‗Internal migration studies that examine the fertility impact of rural–urban
migration have found support for the convergence of migrants‘ fertility rates to those of natives.‘ These
authors study both international and internal migration and conclude that most studies on
migration‘s fertility impact have confirmed that its reduction is due to adaptation of migrants‘ fertility
behaviour to the patterns prevailing in the host countries (regions). In sum, a wide variety of field
studies focused on rural–urban migration processes in a broad assortment of countries over different
periods arrived at similar conclusions. Firstly, they found systematic differences between rural–urban
levels of fertility. Secondly, most of them found that rural–urban migrants adapted their fertility
behaviour upon settling in urban areas so that it resembled more closely that of urban residents at
their destination. The inference that urbanization was a key factor in fertility decline generally
followed; a more elaborate theoretical framework centred on the effects
To know more refer below links
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/4196/12/12_chapter%207.pdf
http://www.efpia.eu/uploads/UCL_summary.pdf
https://novoed.com/mhealth/reports/46478
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3115338/
https://www.nap.edu/read/6475/chapter/2
http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/10653IIED.pdf
12.
What contributes to the location of cotton textile industry in India. Trace its current
trend.
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Article shared by
Six geo-economic factors on which the localization of cotton textile industry depends are as follows: 1.
Climate 2. Power 3.Raw Material 4.Labour 5.Transport 6.Markets.
1. Climate:
Climate exercises the most powerful influence on cotton industry. Cotton yarn cannot be spun
successfully under dry conditions. The humidity of the atmosphere must be considerable; otherwise
the yarn breaks constantly during the process of spinning. The localization of the cotton spinning
industry in UK has clearly been determined by climatic factors.
It must be noted that so far as this climatic factor (humid atmosphere) is concerned, it has been
overcome by the installation of ‗humidifiers‘ in the cotton mills in dry areas. Thus, places far in the
interior with dry climate, like Kanpur in India, in the summer months are able to carry on spinning
independent of climate. Only the process of humidification raises slightly the cost of production.
Another climatic factor in the localization of cotton industry is an abundant supply of water. Water is
needed in so many operations connected with the industry. Water is necessary for use in the
condensers of the steam engines, and in the numerous washing operations of the industry.
57
Primary factors
Factors on which location of
industries depends can be broadly classified as
1)Physical factorsa) Raw materials
b) Energy supply
c) Natural routes
d) Site and land
2) Human and Economic
a) Labour
b)Market
c) Transport
Geo-Economic Factors on which Localization of Cotton Textile Industry Depends
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The influence of this factor can be seen in the location of cotton mills in Lancashire along streams or
canals.
2. Power:
Like any other industry cotton textile industry also requires constant and cheap sources of power.
Most of the industries are located near sources of power. Earlier cotton textile industry was based on
power obtained from coal; this can be seen in UK where all the cotton textile industry was established
near coal mines. But afterwards hydropower has also been used and now all sources of power are
being utilised in this industry.
3. Raw Material:
A historical analysis of the locational pattern reveals that, at its earlier period of growth, textile mills
were developed near raw material sources, because at that time transportation system was ill
developed. Away from the cotton-growing region, availability of raw cotton was also very low.
Naturally, due to higher demand, price of raw cotton was high at the distant places. But in its second
phase of development, rapid progress of transportation system facilitated easy accessi-bility within the
region.
At that time, price of raw cotton became same, both near the raw material source and the market.
Naturally, market became the favorite site for plant location. The importance of raw material gradually
lost its previous importance.
4. Labour:
Basically, cotton textile industry was a labour-intensive industry. The early history of localisation in
any country shows that development of cotton textile industry was a pre-requisite.
The need of clothing and requirement of low level of technology enabled the entrepreneurs to set up
the industry. Minimum level of training was enough for the labourers to be acquainted with the
production system.
Cotton Textile Industry in India: Production, Growth and Problems
Article shared by
Cotton Textile Industry in India: Production, Growth and Development!
Growth and Development:
India held world monopoly in the manufacturing of cotton textiles for about 3,000 years from about
B.C. 1500 to A.D. 1500. In the middle ages, Indian cotton textile products were in great demand in the
Eastern and European markets.
The muslins of Dhaka, chintzes of Masulipatnam, calicos of Calicut, baftas of Cambay and goldwrought cotton piece goods of Burhanpur, Surat and Vadodara acquired a worldwide celebrity by
virtue of their quality and design.
This industry could not survive in the face of strong competition from the modern mill industry of
Britain which provided cheap and better goods as a result of Industrial Revolution in that country.
Moreover, the British textile industry enjoyed political advantage at that time.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The first modem cotton textile mill was set up in 1818 at Fort Glaster near Kolkata. But this mill could
not survive and had to be closed down. The firat successful modem cotton textile mill was established
in Mumbai in 1854 by a local Parsi entrepreneur C.N. Dewar. Shahpur mill in 1861 and Calico mill in
1863 at Ahmedabad were other landmarks in the development of Indian cotton textile industry.
The real expansion of cotton textile industry took place in 1870‘s. By 1875-76 the number of mills
rose to 47 of which over 60 per cent were located in Mumbai city alone. The industry continued to
progress till the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. The total number of mills reached 271
providing employment to about 2.6 lakh persons.
The First World War, the Swadeshi Movement and the grant of fiscal protection favoured the growth of
this industry at a rapid pace. Demand for cloth during the Second World War led to further progress
of the industry. Consequently, the number of mills increased from 334 in 1926 to 389 in 1939 and
417 in 1945. Production of cloth also increased from 4,012 million yards in 1939-40 to 4,726 million
yards in 1945-46.
The industry suffered a serious setback in 1947 when most of the long staple cotton growing areas
went to Pakistan as a result of partition. However, most of the cotton mills remained in India. Under
such circumstances, India faced a severe crisis of obtaining raw cotton.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The country had, therefore, to resort to large-scale imports of long staple cotton which was an
extremely difficult task in view of the limited foreign exchange reserves. The only solution to this
58
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problem was to increase hectare-age and production of long staple cotton within the country. This goal
was achieved to a great extent in the post partition era.
Present Position:
At present, cotton textile industry is largest organised modem industry of India. There has been a
phenomenal growth of this industry during the last four decades. About 16 per cent of the industrial
capital and over 20 per cent of the industrial labour of the country is engaged in this industry. The
total employment in this industry is well over 15 million workers.
There are at present 1,719 textile mills in the country, out of which 188 mills are in public sector, 147
in cooperative sector and 1,384 in private sector. About three-fourths were spinning mills and the
remaining one-fourth composite mills. Apart from the mill sector, there are several thousand small
factories comprising 5 to 10 looms.
Some of them have just one loom. These are based on conventional handloom in the form of cottage
industry and comprise decentralised sector of this industry. Table 27.4 shows that the constitution of
decentralised sector is much more than the organised sector.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
It has increased rapidly from a mere 19.31 per cent in 1950-51 to 58.96 per cent in 1980-81 and
made a sudden jump to 87.95 per cent in 1990-91. It gradually improved during the first half of 1990s
and stood at 94.63 per cent in 2003-04. (see Table 27.4)
Production:
Cotton cloth is produced in three different sectors viz., 1. Mills, 2.Power-looms and 3.Handlooms.
1. Mills:
The mill sector played a dominant role in cotton textile industry at the initial stage. But its importance
was reduced drastically with the growth of powerlooms and handloom. The share of mill sector in
cotton cloth production came down from 80.69 per cent in 1950-51 to only 5.37 per cent in 2003-04.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
2. Powerlooms:
The decentralised powerloom sector plays a pivotal role in meeting the clothing needs of the country.
The production of cloth as well as generation of employment has been rapidly increasing in powerloom
sector. This sector not only contributes significantly to the cloth production in the country but also
provides employment to millions of people.
The powerloom industry produces a wide variety of cloth with intricate designs. The powerloom sector
accounts for about 63 per cent of the total cloth production in the country and contributes
significantly to the export earnings.
The production of cloth as well as employment has been increasing in the powerloom sector. During
2002-03, the production of cloth in the decentralised powerloom sector was 18,281 million sq. metres
while the employment generation was 4.23 million. The corresponding figures estimates for 2003- 04
were 17,071 million sq metre and 4.18 million respectively.
3. Handlooms:
The handloom sector provides employment to over 65 lakh persons engaged in weaving and allied
activities. The production of handloom fabrics registered more than fifteen fold increase from 500
million sq metres in 1950-51 to 7,585 million sq metres in 2001-02. This sector constitutes nearly 14
per cent of the total cloth produced in the country and also contributes substantially to the export
earnings.
Table 27.4 shows that the production of spun yam and cotton cloth has increased considerably during
the 53 years from 1950-51 to 2003-04. The production of spun yarn registered more than four¬fold
increase from 533 million kg in 1950-51 to 2,121 million kg in 2003-04.
Although the total production of cotton cloth increased considerably, the share of mill sector has been
drastically reduced. This is an indication of our efforts to decentralise the industry and create greater
employment opportunities.
There are about 40 lakh handlooms and about 5 lakh powerlooms in the decentralised sector.
Although they are widely distributed throughout the country, states of Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh,
Assam and Manipur account for nearly 50 per cent of the production capacity.
The rest are scattered in Nagaland, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh. Maharashtra,
Kerala, Rajasthan, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. Table 27.5 shows that power looms contribute
an overwhelmingly large percentage of production of fabrics.
Table 27.5 Production of Cotton Cloth (Mill Cloth) in India, 2002-03:
State/Union Territory Production in SqMtr Percentage of all India production
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Maharashtra
3,82,257
39.38
Gujarat
3,21,775
33.14
Tamil Nadu
64544
6.69
Punjab
55,784
5.75
Madhya Pradesh
47305
4.87
Uttar Pradesh
32386
334
Rajasthan
28384
2.92
Pondicherry
24357
2.51
Karnataka
7,222
0.74
Kerala
6342
0.66
Total
9,70,756
100.00
Locational Factors:
Several factors, like availability of raw cotton, market, transport, etc. play a key role in the localisation
of cotton textile industry. The significance of raw cotton is evident from the fact that 80 per cent of the
industry is coterminous with the cotton growing tracts of the country.
Some of the important centres such as Ahmedabad, Solapur, Nagpur, Coimbatore and Indore are
located in the areas of large scale cotton cultivation.
Mumbai is also not far away from the cotton producing areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat which have
contributed a good deal in the localisation and growth of cotton textile industry here. It is equally
important to note that cotton is a pure raw material, in the sense that it does not lose much of its
weight in the process of manufacturing and the slight loss in weight is more than compensated by the
use of sizing materials.
There is not much of difference between the cost of transporting raw cotton and finished cloth. Both
can be transported with equal ease and without adding much to the total cost of production. Hence,
this industry normally tends to be located at such centres which have favourable transport facilities
with respect to market. In other words, it is primarily a market oriented industry.
With tropical and sub-tropical climate, all parts of India provide vast market potential for cotton textile
industry. West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Orissa do not grow cotton and still have large
number of big centres where cotton textile industry has flourished well.
Thus although in earlier stages of industrialisation, cotton textile manufacturing was concentrated in
Mumbai, it has witnessed great spatial spread and now covers almost the entire country. Since, it was
a traditional cottage industry, cheap and skilled labour was readily available. The most notable feature
of the distribution of the industry is that even within a state, the industry is localised within particular
areas and regions, almost to the complete exclusion of others.
Dispersal of industry from the old nuclei started after 1921 with railway lines penetrating into the
peninsular region. New centres like Coimbatore, Madurai, Bangalore, Nagpur, Indore, Solapur and
Vadodara were favourably located in respect to raw material, market and labour than places of
original locations. This industry also reached some places with some additional advantages, such as
nearness to coal (Nagpur), financial facilities (Kanpur) and wide market with port facilities (Kolkata).
Dispersal of cotton textile industry was further boosted with the development of hydroelectricity. The
growth of this industry in Coimbatore, Madurai and Tirunelveli is largely due to the availability of
hydroelectricity from Pykara dam. The industry also tended to shift from areas of high labour cost to
those with low labour cost. The labour cost factor played a crucial role in establishing this industry at
Madurai, Turunelveli, and Coimbatore.
To know more refer below lniks
http://www.geographynotes.com/industries/7-general-factors-influencing-location-of-industries-inindia/1054
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/industries/geo-economic-factors-on-which-localization-of-cottontextile-industry-depends/25408/
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/industries/cotton-textile-industry-in-india-production-growthand-problems/19704/
http://www.importantindia.com/20480/cotton-textile-industry-in-india/
Government is envisaging Interlinking of rivers as a panacea to solve the twin problems of
water scarcity & water surplus across India. Explain the model of interlinking of rivers for
India & critically analyse the merits/demerit of the same.
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Inter-linking the great rivers of India is a dream that has been around for a while. Many problems that
confound the country—flood control, irrigation, limiting droughts and boosting farm output—can be
sorted out by linking the country‘s rivers in two big garlands. This requires a massive amount of
political and financial capital, both scarce commodities. There are signs that the Narendra Modi
government may be willing to invest both.
Viewed dispassionately, it is a miracle that India‘s irrigation potential rose from 22.6 million hectares
(mha) at independence to 113 mha by the end of the 11th five-year plan. This is not enough. As the
country‘s population grows, the need for better irrigated farmland will only increase. In this context,
there are limits to what small and medium irrigation projects can do. While these projects are
important for conserving water, their returns from investment are low and their potential is somewhat
limited. Beyond a point, India‘s geography dictates what needs to be done in this area.
While India boasts of some impressive irrigation projects—including the Bhakra Nangal and Narmada
dams—a look at the map of the country shows the strong correlation between water-stressed regions
and the distribution of water resources. Most of the water available for irrigation—from rivers,
perennial and rain-fed—is to be found in the southwestern and northeastern regions. In contrast, the
demand for water is largely in northern India and the eastern part of peninsular India. Local irrigation
projects cannot do much unless innovative projects—such as the inter-linking of rivers—are carried
out.
Here, by fortuitous circumstance, geography favours plans. A north to south inter-linking of rivers is
physically not possible: the barrier imposed by the Vindhya mountains makes it prohibitively
expensive to lift water along the north and south axis. It is also unnecessary. The river-water linking
plan—one for peninsular India and the other for linking rivers from the east to the north—is an ideal
solution for what India needs.
Between 2003 and now, precious little has been done for implementing the project. In the first
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, a task force on inter-linking of rivers was created
under Suresh Prabhu, the current railways minister; nothing much took place beyond the detailed
project reports on individual river linking projects. In April, the second NDA government once again
created another task force for inter-linking of rivers. The issue now is to move forward instead of
replicating the same experience once again. There are plenty of issues to resolve, ones that need
political attention.
For one, building consensus among states is essential if these projects are to take off. There are
dozens of links in the overall inter-linking plan. One does not need to imagine hard what is required to
get those projects started. States have to be convinced of the benefits—even if they are well known. For
another some bit of environmental assessment is necessary in case of a project of this magnitude. This
need not be of the destructive variety that is designed to derail projects. What is needed is a careful
scientific assessment of the project and its impact on the environment, one that is best carried out by
academicians.
The other—yet unclear—issue is one of finding the financial and other resources for the task. River
inter-linking is an expensive business: from building the link canals to the monitoring and
maintenance infrastructure needed requires a tidy sum. Annual budgetary outlays will not do the
trick. If one is to create innovative financial schemes required—such as bonds—then investors will
need a credible answer on returns to their investment and credible guarantees they want.
None of these issues have been sorted as of now. Playing committee games is an interesting sport but
it does precious little for Indians wanting access to water and irrigation. The government needs to get
cracking if this project is to succeed at all.
Introduction
India‘s population is growing at an exponential rate and all the natural resources, including water are
being consumed at a much faster rate than it is getting replenished through natural ways.
The scarcity of water is at the heart of many an inter-state and inter-nation conflicts‘ and at the same
time excess of rainfall during the monsoon season brings about havoc, causing huge loss of life and
public property.
Hence, there is an urgent need to judiciously harness the water resource so as to prevent its wastage,
dispel flood fury and increase irrigable land to ensure food security.
Towards this end, the National River Inter-link Project, envisaged to create a National Water Grid, in
the form of a network by inter-linking rivers is a well conceived plan.
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A garland of rivers across India
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Background Information
The desirability of interlinking rivers was first visualised by a British engineer, Sir Arthur Cotton, who
designed the provisions for linking Godavari and Krishna rivers.
The idea was to speed up movement of import and export from the British colonies in South Asia and
also to cater to water deficiency in south eastern India, now the state of Andhra Pradesh.
The proposal to interlink rivers got an impetus in 1970‘s, when Mr KL Rao was the Irrigation Minister.
Taking a cue from the several already successful projects of inter-basin transfer of river water, he
proposed that the Brahmaputra and Ganga basins, which are water surplus, and results in floods
during the monsoon season nearly every year, could divert water to central and south India, which is
water deficient. Thus the proposal of a ―National Water Grid‖ took birth.
The Water Resources Ministry in the early 1980‘s submitted a report called the ―National Perspectives
for Water Resources Development‖.
The Report suggested that the overall water development project be categorised into two sub-parts,
namely the Himalayan Rivers Inter-link Component and the Peninsular Rivers Inter-link Component.
Later in 2005, the Intra- State River Linking Component was also added.
In order to carry out a detailed feasibility study by experts in respect of surveys, identification and
alignment of canals, inter-linking of Peninsular Rivers, etc a committee called the National Water
Development Agency (NWDA) was set up in 1982.
Though the NWDA has produced a number of reports right from its inception, nothing concrete has
happened on the ground.
Understanding the Need for Creation of the ―National Water Grid‖
There are primarily two major reasons that warrant Water Resources Management in India:
Certain areas receive excessive rains as compared to others resulting in floods and famine conditions
during the same period, i.e. the north-eastern region of the country receives heavy precipitation, in
comparison with the north-western, western and southern parts.
India receives 85% of its precipitation during a limited monsoon season in the Himalayan catchments
of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin.
The catchment areas are unable to retain adequate water to cater for the explicit demand of water
during the dry period (9-10 months).
Hence, it emerges that this excess - scarcity regional disparity and flood-drought cycles have created a
very genuine need for Water Resources Management and the most appropriate way to address the
issue, is to implement the proposal of inter-linking rivers and creating a ―National Water Grid‖.
Advantages of Inter-linking of Rivers
India receives about 4,000 billion cubic meters of rain annually, or about 1 million gallons of fresh
water per person every year. However, the growing demand for irrigation, drinking and industrial
water creates a demand-supply gap. Inter-linking of rivers will ensure water is evenly and judiciously
distributed across the country to reduce the demand-supply gap.
It will help to increase the irrigable area, so as to enhance the production of food grains to ensure food
security for a population that is growing at an annual rate of about 10 to 15 million.
India can use the inter-linked rivers for speedy movement of freight from one part of the country to the
other, thus reducing the stress on other means of surface communication. The same would promote a
‗cleaner and greener‘ means of transportation.
A very significant advantage of inter-linking of rivers will be that an additional generation of hydropower to supplement our energy needs and reduce reliance on conventional forms of energy that
increase our carbon imprint.
Inter-linking of rivers will enhance the amount of water that we can store for consumption and
irrigation purposes. Presently, we are capable of storing only up to 30 days of requirement of the
complete population in basins and lakes, as compared to 900 days that some of the other more
advanced countries can store in their reservoirs.
Presently we rely heavily on ground water and nearly 15% of the crop production uses this source
which is rapidly depleting. Inter-linking of rivers will help to reduce the strain on the usage of the
ground water.
Every year the conditions of floods and famine brings about avoidable catastrophe in various parts of
the country resulting in loss of life and property, suicide by farmers and the resultant strain on the
state exchequer for relief and rescue operation. Inter-linking of rivers will be able to divert excessive
water to draught hit areas and mitigate the losses at both ends.
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Disadvantages of Inter-linking of Rivers
The creation of water storage facilities like water barrages, dams and reservoirs, will result in the
displacement of people from those areas. Proper rehabilitation of the displaced persons has always
remained an area of concern.
Rampant corruption in the country will aggravate the situation and those displaced may join the anti
national cadres like the Naxals.
Disturbing the ecology by man-made actions may result in certain unforeseen conditions, e.g. aquatic
ecosystems could migrate from one river to another, which in turn may affect the livelihoods of people
who rely on fishery as their income.
The creation of large dams, inter-basin transfers and water withdrawal from rivers is likely to have
negative as well as positive impacts on freshwater aquatic ecosystem.
In some cases neighbouring countries will also get affected by our inter-linking projects and in the
absence of any legal international framework, the proposal may have international ramifications.
Lastly, disturbing the ecosystem may have adverse environmental effects, like on aqua life,
deforestation and submerging of areas.
Highlights of the Proposal
Himalayan Component
A total of 14 inter-links are being considered and feasibility study for most of these has been
completed.
Proposal entails transfer of surplus flows of the eastern tributaries of the Ganga to the West apart
from linking of the main Brahmaputra with the Ganga through inter-linking canal systems.
The project will reduce the chances of floods in the Ganga- Brahmaputra basin, irrigate additional 22
million hectares of wasteland and generate 30 million kilowatts of hydro-power.
Peninsular Component
The main aim of this project would be to send water from the eastern part of India to the south and
west, for which the following interlinks are envisaged:
Phase-I: Mahanadi-Godavari-Krishna-Pennaiyar-Cauvery to transfer surplus water from Mahanadi
and Godavari to southern states.
Phase-II: Connect west flowing rivers, north of Bombay and south of Tapi to provide additional
drinking water to Mumbai and for irrigation purposes to the coastal regions of Maharashtra.
Phase-III: Inter-linking of Ken with Chambal to cater to the regional needs of water for Madhya
Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
Phase-IV: Diversion of some water from west flowing rivers in the Western Ghats towards the east
flowing rivers like Cauvery and Krishna for irrigation purposes in those usually drought affected areas.
The feasibility study for 16 river inter-linking projects in the Peninsular Component has been nearly
completed.
These projects are likely to irrigate an additional 25 million hectare by surface water, another 10
million hectares due to increased use of ground water.
Further, it will assist in the generation of hydro power and also provide a means of flood control and
regional navigation.
Intra-State Interlinking of Rivers
The National Water Development Agency (NWDA), in 2005 adopted the proposal of conducting a
feasibility study for inter-linking of rivers within the states, in respect of 37 recommended projects.
The States Government of Bihar proposed 6 inter-linking projects, Maharashtra 20 projects, Gujarat
one project, Orissa three projects, Rajasthan two projects, Jharkhand three projects and Tamil Nadu
proposed one inter-linking proposal between rivers inside their respective territories.
Since 2005, NDWA completed feasibility studies on the projects, found one project infeasible, 20
projects as feasible, one project was withdrawn by Government of Maharashtra, and others are still
under study.
Latest Developments on the Issue
In a historic development and as a first step towards the mission to inter-link rivers, River Godavari
was formally connected with River Krishna in Andhra Pradesh on 16 September 2015.
The water from Godavari River has been lifted to flow and link with Krishna River at Krishna District
nearly 174 km away to supply water to the parched Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh.
The farmers of the Krishna Delta, mainly in Krishna and Guntur districts have been facing an acute
shortage of water due to the increased height of the Almatti Project (hydroelectric project on Krishna
River in north Karnataka, completed in July, 2005).
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The inter-linking of Godavari and Krishna will serve as a great boon for the farmers in the region,
which was once referred to as the ‗rice bowl‘ of the country.
Inter-linking of rivers was one of the election manifestos of the present government and the Finance
Minister had allocated Rs 100 crore for conducting the feasibility study in their first budgetary
allocation.
So far a detailed project report has been prepared only for Ken-Betwa project. Approximately 8,650
hectares of forestland in Madhya Pradesh is likely to be submerged for the project; and a portion of
that forestland is a part of the Panna National Park.
The Ken-Betwa link project includes a dam and a 221 kilometre canal. Work has already commenced
on the Damanganga-Pinjal link to boost water supplies for Mumbai and surrounding industrial areas.
Interlinking of rivers in India – Advantages & Disadvantages
Topics >>GD >>Latest Group Discussion topics - GD topics with answers -07/21/15
« PreviousNext »
Interlinking of rivers in India – Advantages & Disadvantages
Introduction:
Interlinking of Rivers is nothing but joining the rivers of the country by networks of canals and
reservoirs. Interlinking of rivers in India was proposed for the first time during British Colonial rule.
The main intension of the proposal was to reduce the transportation cost of raw materials and finished
products. The Indian Government has established the National Water Development Agency to study
the interlinking of rivers under the Ministry of Water Resources. Many states have proposed for
interlinking of rivers due to scarcity of water in their states and hence the central government is
working on a few projects.
Yes – It will reduce the poverty and floods & distribute water equally.
1.
India receives most of its rain during monsoon season from June to September, most of it falls in
northern and eastern part of India, the amount of rainfall in southern and western part are
comparatively low. It will be these places which will have shortage of water. Interlinking of rivers
will help these areas to have water throughout the year.
2.
The main occupation of rural India is agriculture and if monsoon fails in a year, then
agricultural activities come to a standstill and this will aggravate rural poverty. Interlinking of
rivers will be a practical solution for this problem, because the water can be stored or water can
be transferred from water surplus area to deficit.
3.
The Ganga Basin, Brahmaputra basin sees floods almost every year. In order to avoid this, the
water from these areas has to be diverted to other areas where there is scarcity of water. This
can be achieved by linking the rivers. There is a two way advantage with this – floods will be
controlled and scarcity of water will be reduced.
4.
Interlinking of rivers will also have commercial importance on a longer run. This can be used as
inland waterways and which helps in faster movement of goods from one place to other.
5.
Interlinking creates a new occupation for people living in and around these canals and it can be
the main areas of fishing in India.
No – It will environmental problems, ecological imbalance & reduce water table
1.
Interlinking of rivers will cause huge amount of distortion in the existing environment. In order
to create canals and reservoirs, there will be mass deforestation. This will have impact on rains
and in turn affect the whole cycle of life.
2.
Usually rivers change their course and direction in about 100 years and if this happens after
interlinking, then the project will not be feasible for a longer run.
3.
Due to interlinking of rivers, there will be decrease in the amount of fresh water entering seas
and this will cause a serious threat to the marine life system and will be a major ecological
disaster.
4.
Due to the creation of Canals and Reservoirs, huge amount of area which is occupied by the
people will be submerged leading to displacement of people and government will have to spend
more to rehabilitate these people.
5.
The amount required for these projects is so huge that government will have to take loans from
the foreign sources which would increase the burden on the government and country will fall in
a debt trap.
Conclusion:
Interlinking of rivers is definitely a good solution for the scarcity of water, but interlinking has to take
place after a detailed study so that does not cause any problem to the environment or aquatic life
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To know more refer below links
http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/Hi8y34oWbB0V7PEkM6i5JL/A-garland-of-rivers-acrossIndia.html
http://www.careerride.com/view.aspx?id=24255
http://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/book-shelf-interlinking-rivers-india-issues-and-concerns
http://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/national-river-linking-project-dream-or-disaster
http://www.geoecomar.ro/website/publicatii/Nr.19-2013/12_mehta_web_2013.pdf
http://www.olivegreens.co.in/blog/significance-of-national-river-inter-link-project
http://profskmazumder.com/PDF/Ref_123.pdf
http://mrunal.org/2012/08/polity-waterlinking.html
The integration of forest ecosystems into agriculture and social landscape is ingrained into the socioecological fabrics of South Asian farming community over centuries. It has not only displayed the
inevitable association between men and forest, but also helped to sustain farming systems in
formidable conditions in the region. The presence of trees in backyard and within the agriculture field
is unique in the farms in South Asia. Agro-forestry is referred as a dynamic, ecologically based,
natural resource management system that, through the integration of trees on farms and in the
agricultural landscape, diversifies and sustains production for increased social, economic and
environmental benefits for land users at all levels (ICRAF 1996, FAO, 2008). The management of
complex agroforestry systems is largely dependent on the optimization of both ecological and social
processes (Boni et al., 2004). Among the priority areas to consider in the practice of agroforestry is the
harmonious balance between food production and environmental protection. In this context, soil and
water conservation is an important strategy for sustainable crop production and environmental
conservation. According to Dennis Garrity (1993), assortment of agroforestry systems has evolved in
response to pressure of population on land, technological options and market changes. Traditional
knowledge on integration of trees in the farm is extensive in the SAARC Region. All the eight SAARC
Member States cover wide range of agro ecological zones, and people have been practicing growing
trees in farm for generations. Agro-forestry is therefore seen as a means of not only improving people‘s
livelihoods through the supply of fruits, timber, fodder and fertilizer and therefore higher incomes, but
also in stabilizing erosion, replenishing soils, storing carbon and enhancing on-farm biodiversity. In
the present day context, contribution of agroforestry to the mitigation of climate change (through
carbon sequestration) is of particular relevance at present as countries attempt to negotiate a
mechanism for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). With the
increased engagement of people in forestry management through participatory forestry management
strategies, the role of people in developing and applying REDD+ mechanisms has become
fundamental. In view of the dynamic socio-ecological interactions and benefits offered by agroforestry,
it can be a basis for evolving climate smart agricultural technologies that is able to fulfill the social,
economic and environmental benefits for land users at all levels. Agro-forestry is emerging as an
enduring technology with ability to help socio-ecological systems develop resilience in the face of
changing weather patterns. In view of the evolution of agro-forestry systems, SAARC Agriculture
Centre (SAC) and SAARC Forestry Centre (SFC) initiated a SAARC Regional v consultation to
document the technological advancement in agro-forestry practices and assess its relevance as climate
smart technologies. The specific objectives of the initiative were as follows: • To document the
innovative agroforestry practices under the influence of changes (climate, socio-economic, governance)
in SAARC Countries • To assess the productive and environmental functions of trees in agriculture
landscape and its contribution to food security and poverty alleviation • To identify emerging issues
and propose strategies to develop agroforestry This compilation is organized in ten chapters. The first
chapter is the synthesis of the country papers and provide brief descriptions of agroforestry scenario
in respective countries. The country papers as received from the national focal points are included in
Chapter 2 to 9 in alphabetical order. The final chapter (10) presents the issues and recommendations
drawn from the regional consultation meeting. Some of the pertinent issues raised are as follows: Absence of policy specific on agroforestry in many Member States - Limited awareness about
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65
Agroforestry is one of the many measures being adopted to make agriculture climate
resilient. Enumerate the economic and environmental benefits of agroforestry. What steps
can be taken to realize the latent potential of this sector?
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agroforestry - Shortage of extension personals in the field of agroforestry - Unorganized structure of
agroforestry institutions and agriculture departments - Poor technology dissemination and adoption Need for network on SAARC agroforestry for technology dissemination The consultation meeting also
made some recommedations related to policy, research and extension. 1. Policy • Formulation of
Agroforestry Policy/Framework/Guidelines for all SAARC countries 2. Research • Complete inventory
of existing AFS in all the SAARC countries (D&D Analysis) • Identification of suitable climate smart
agroforestry practices for different SAARC countries. • SAARC regional coordinated project on AF in
line with AICRP on Agroforestry in India • Agroforestry intervention for watershed management (water
harvesting ,storage, application and management, and participatory watershed management
approach) • Research on fodder species and livestock that can be integrated into agroforestry system •
Energy Smart Agroforestry (Biofuel – Jatropha, Pongamia, Madhuca, Simaruba, and bioenergyFuelwood, Gasifiers) vi 3. Extension and Training •Training of extension in agroforestry and AF based
watershed management • Technology dissemination through field visits, exhibitions, and on farm
trials • Organize mass media: radio talks, Kisan call center, leaflets and news papers• Training on
D&D analysis • Methodology to quantify Ecosystem services • Training on conservation agriculture
with trees, integration of trees and their management in agriculture, and biofuels-bioenergy •
Technology dissemination and adoption of smart and successful agroforestry technologies • Establish
network and website creation like SAAN (South Asia Agroforestry Network) It was also decided that the
following institutions of the respective Member States will be involved in preparation of Agrofrestry
Diagnosis and Design (D&D) . • Institute under Ministry of Agriculture Afghanistan • OFRD, BARI
Bangladesh , •MoFA Maldives • RNRC, Yusipang ,Bhutan •DoF, Sri Lanka • CAFRI India – Technical
support •Dept of Agriculture- Nepal • PARC –Pakistan Considering the capacity of the national
program, the involvement of following agencies wll be vital to facilitate agroforestry research and
development. • Central Agroforestry Research Institute, Jhansi • Indian Institute of Forest
Management, Bhopal, India • World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) • KVK based systems with
agroforestry expert • NGOs like Bhartiya Agro-industry Foundation • Private industries: WIMCO, ITC
Paper ltd, BILT Paper board • International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas
(ICARDA) • International Water Management Institute (IWMI) • FAO • SAARC
Agroforestry potential as Climate Smart Agriculture technology
Agricultural sectors must become climate-smart to successfully tackle current food security and
climate change challenges. Agriculture, including forestry and fisheries, is crucial for food security and
rural incomes as well as other essential products, such as energy, fiber, feed and a range of ecosystem
services. Climatesmart agriculture is a pathway towards development and food security built on three
pillars:
Increasing productivity and incomes, enhancing resilience of livelihoods and ecosystems and *
reducing andremoving greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere.
• Climate-smart agriculture contributes to a cross-cutting range of development goals.
• There are many opportunities for capturing synergies between the pillars of climate-smart
agriculture, but also many situations where trade-offs are inevitable. Working at the landscape level
with an ecosystems approach, combining forestry, fisheries, crops and livestock systems is crucial for
responding to the impacts of climate change and contributing to its mitigation. Inter-sectoral
approaches and consistent policies across the agricultural, food security and climate change are
necessary at all levels. Institutional and financial support is needed for farmers, fishers and forest
dependent peoples to make the transition to climate-smart agriculture. Some effective climate-smart
practices already exist and could be scaled-up, but this can only be done with serious investments in
building the knowledge base and developing technology. Investments in climate-smart agriculture
must link finance opportunities from public and private sectors and also integrate climate finance into
sustainable development agendas. Other potential applications of agroforestry are - Agroforestry for
soil and water conservation - Agroforestry for wasteland development - Carbon sequestration potential
of agroforestry - Biofuel and bio-energy from Agroforestry.
Constraints to up scaling agroforestry There are number of technical challenges to the introduction
and expansion of agroforestry. Many are associated with misperceptions concerning the interactions
between trees and crops, and most can be solved through demonstration and training. Many of the
obstacles to wider use of agroforestry are related to policies. Agricultural policies often entirely ignore
trees on farms, so agricultural authorities do not develop incentives for tree cultivation or include
agroforestry in extension and other guidance. The availability of quality planting material is a major
bottleneck in the development of agroforestry systems in the country. The lack of quality material
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results in poor productivity and low returns. The lack of well-developed markets for agroforestry
products, combined with the emphasis on immediate returns seen in some agriculture projects and
thedifficulty many farmers face in investing in activities that have a delayed financial return, force
many farmers to rule out agroforestry as a viable option.
Currently, mitigation and adaptation measures are handled separately, due to differences in priorities
for the measures and segregated planning and implementation policies at international and national
levels. There is a growing argument that synergistic approaches to adaptation and mitigation could
bring substantial benefits at multiple scales in the land use sector. Nonetheless, efforts to implement
synergies between adaptation and mitigation measures are rare due to the weak conceptual framing of
the approach and constraining policy issues. In this paper, we explore the attributes of synergy and
the necessary enabling conditions and discuss, as an example, experience with the Ngitili system in
Tanzania that serves both adaptation and mitigation functions. An in-depth look into the current
practices suggests that more emphasis is laid on complementarity—i.e., mitigation projects providing
adaptation co-benefits and vice versa rather than on synergy. Unlike complementarity, synergy should
emphasize functionally sustainable landscape systems in which adaptation and mitigation are
optimized as part of multiple functions. We argue that the current practice of seeking co-benefits
(complementarity) is a necessary but insufficient step toward addressing synergy. Moving forward from
complementarity will require a paradigm shift from current compartmentalization between mitigation
and adaptation to systems thinking at landscape scale. However, enabling policy, institutional, and
investment conditions need to be developed at global, national, and local levels to achieve synergistic
goals.
Mitigation and adaptation are the two primary instruments of the international climate convention to
minimize negative impacts of climate change on humans and ecosystems. The less effective global
mitigation is in reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increasing GHG sinks,
and the more adaptation is needed to avoid such negative impacts. Adaptation deals with enhancing
the adaptive capacity and/or reducing vulnerability to climate change impacts while also taking
advantage of the positive opportunities resulting from climate change. Despite both aiming to reduce
the negative human and ecosystem impacts of climate change, the two measures are different in their
specific objectives, scope, time dimension, and level of collaboration required (Wilbanks et al. 2003;
Fig. 1).
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Climate change mitigation and adaptation as distinct interventions in the two-way relationship
between human activity and global climate change. Note: the various comparative attributes are
summarized from Dang et al. (2003), Tubiello et al. (2008) and ...
The primary objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as
stated in Article 2 is mitigation leading to ―… stabilization of GHG concentrations in the atmosphere
…..‖, but within a time frame that allows ―…ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to
ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a
sustainable manner‖. In the first decade of the UNFCCC, there was hope that mitigation efforts would
be adequate not requiring intensive active adaptation (van Noordwijk et al. 2011). With that hope
gone, there still are distinct policy streams for mitigation and adaptation in current UNFCCC
negotiations. Mitigation and adaptation are still implemented independently (Verchot et al. 2007;
Locatelli et al. 2010), at different scales and are addressed by different groups of scholars (or
institutions) each dealing with their own aspects of the two measures following different approaches
(Ayers and Huq 2009). At the national level in developing countries, Nationally Appropriate Mitigation
Actions (NAMA) are distinct from National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA) and may be
managed by different institutions. In Bangladesh, for example, adaptation is handled under the
Ministry of Environment and Forestry, while mitigation is administered through a high-profile
Designated National Authority (DNA) (Ayers and Huq 2009). All in all, the continued dichotomy has
‗carbonized‘ the climate change discourse from the mitigation perspective to the detriment of salient
issues of direct climatic effects of land cover (van Noordwijk et al. 2014) and land use that transcend
the mitigation and adaptation divide. At national and subnational level, wherein implementation of
climate change measures occurs, these dichotomies promote inefficiencies, unnecessary duplication,
and most critically, contradictions in the minds of local farmers in developing countries who may not
recognize these differences. Institutionally, the concept of ‗additionality‘ that restricts mitigation
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finance to emission-reducing activities that would not otherwise happen can be in direct conflict with
synergies.
Developing countries, which already have the lowest adaptive capacity and are bearing the heavy
burdens of climate change impacts while they contribute little to GHG emissions deserve support for
adaptation (UNFCCC 2001). At the Sixteenth Conference of the Parties (COP 16) in 2012, this need for
international collaboration to assist developing countries to adapt to climate change impacts was
formally acknowledged, although paling in comparison to the strong focus on mitigation in climate
change dialogs over the last decades. Recently, arguments supporting the necessity for both
adaptation and mitigation are growing (e.g., Laukkonen et al. 2009; Parry et al. 2001; IPCC 2001).
Despite the dichotomy at global and national levels and the differences in priorities for the two
measures, Klein et al. (2007) stated that the opportunities for synergy between adaptation and
mitigation measures are high in sectors like agriculture, forestry, and construction. However, so far,
no specific work has been done to characterize the synergy approach and how it could be
implemented. Little is known about what it takes to move from the current dichotomized approach to
the synergy approach i.e., the necessary steps to be taken, the enabling conditions required, and the
possible challenges that might be faced. To contribute to bridging these knowledge gaps, this paper
aims to highlight key characteristics of synergy approaches and justify why the move toward such
approaches is a necessary step in the land use sector. The drawbacks of the current climate policy
were also examined and the necessary enabling conditions for synergy outlined. A case study from the
Ngitili restoration system in Tanzania was used to illustrate some of our arguments backing the
synergy approach.
Go to:
The Synergy Concept: A Theoretical Perspective
Corning (1995) stated that the concept of synergy exists in almost all forms of science even though the
terminologies used to express it vary widely. Corning (1998) defined synergy as ―combined or ‗cooperative‘ effects—literally, the effects produced by things that ‗operate together‘ (parts, elements or
individuals)‖. Classically, it has the context that ―effects produced by the wholes are different from
what the parts can produce alone‖ (Corning 1998). In synergy, two or more agents (von Eye et al.
1998), or components, or business units (Lazic and Heinzl 2011; Tanriverdi 2006) or interventions (in
our case) are working together to achieve a jointly defined goal that matches all agendas. The main
motive behind such an approach is increasing effectiveness, minimizing costs, and ensuring
continuity of production and/or service provision by minimizing risks.
There are two major forms of synergy: additive and non-additive (von Eye et al. 1998). Additive
synergy is the type of synergy where the desired effect or outcome is the sum of the independent
effects of the agents or firms or interventions.
V(x1) + V(x2) + … + V(xn) = V(x1, x2,…xn) + I
1
where x1, x2,…xn represent interventions/practices, V stands for the values/outcomes, and I is an
interaction term being zero for the additive synergy case.
The second type, the non-additive synergy, is of three main categories: superadditive (I > 0 in Eq. 1),
subadditive (I < 0 in Eq. 1), and isolated synergies (I depends on the specific set of x‘s considered in
Eq. 1). In superadditive synergy, the underlying principle is the concept of the whole is greater than
the sum of the parts as there is an enhanced outcome when the components interact with each other
(Corning 1998; von Eye et al. 1998). In the subadditive synergy model, the aggregate outcome when
the interventions act together is less than the sum of the individual interventions outcomes. As a
result, often some scholars view, this synergy model from its cost reduction value as that is also
another goal of synergy. If costs are separated from benefits, the best result is obtained (Tanriverdi
2006; Tanriverdi and Venkatraman 2004) for superadditive value with subadditive costs. The third
type of the non-additive synergy, the isolated synergy, is where the interaction between the
interventions is the main focus irrespective of their individual effects (von Eye et al. 1998), for
example, in chemical reactions.
Of the various forms of synergy, the most familiar one is the superadditive model and is even referred
to as the classical conceptual model of synergy (von Eye et al. 1998). In this paper, we emphasize only
the superadditive synergy model, as an approach to increase efficiency in addressing climate change
(effectiveness per unit cost). In-depth empirical analysis relating to the models above is subjects of
continuing research though we believe the Ngitili case study illustrated in this paper could suffice for
the current context.
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Go to:
Current Practices in Climate Actions: Complementarity
According to Klein et al. (2007), four major aspects of integration of climate change measures can be
identified forming a potential platform for the synergy approach.
Mitigation actions with adaptation benefits.
Adaptation actions with mitigation benefits.
Processes that promote both mitigation and adaptation measures.
Policies and strategies that promote integrated mitigation and adaptation measures.
However, practices to-date largely emphasized the first two with limited attention to the last two
despite them being necessary to progress along the synergy continuum. Table 1 shows some climate
change related actions which largely emphasize the co-benefit context i.e., mitigation practices with
adaptation benefits and vice versa, except the waste management in Bangladesh and the Ngitili
system in Tanzania. There is limited emphasis on (1) the interactions and interconnections between
the different practices and the associated processes and; (2) the policy and institutional integration
aspects of synergy. Though the co-benefit provision is the very early and a necessary step toward
synergy, synergy goes further in that it considers whether the co-benefits provided address the priority
problems of the particular area, and whether the system-wide impacts of the co-benefits provision are
positive and significant.
Table 1
Table 1
Some differences between synergy and complementarity approaches to adaptation and mitigation
measures in agricultural landscapes
In the complementarity context, the emphasis was largely on the major–minor notion wherein either
adaptation or mitigation was used as an entry measure and the other a co-benefit. Yohe and Strzepek
(2007) stated that adaptation and mitigation could be complementary, in essence, because both end
up in addressing climate change. Mitigation, in several instances, was even considered as a means of
adapting to climate change (Dang et al. 2003). In contrast, in synergy, there is no prioritization of
interventions during implementation; rather, emphasizing the mix of interventions to optimally
achieve simultaneous multiple benefits while maintaining and enhancing system functionality. As
much as possible, the combinations of interventions should reduce the negative impacts (tradeoffs)
that would have occurred, which had the interventions been implemented individually. Thus, besides
the multiple benefits of the practices, understanding and taking into account, the associated tradeoffs
are central to synergy. Various studies (e.g., Bryan 2013; Bryan and Crossman 2013; RaudseppHearnea et al. 2010) addressing synergy/co-benefits and tradeoffs particularly in ecosystems services
context could provide important insights for this. Table 2 illustrates the major differences between
synergy and complementarity.
Some exemplary projects that are making use of the early stages of the synergy approaches at project
and landscape levels
Go to:
Limitations of the Complementarity Approach
As described above, the current conceptualization of synergy within climate policies and various
projects has not gone beyond the co-benefit context (complementarity). However, doing so has its own
drawbacks which point to the inefficiency of the approach and implying the need for approaches that
are integrative, efficient, and effective.
First, by definition, it implies tradeoffs. In complementarity, it is difficult to achieve optimal benefits of
both mitigation and adaptation. It is driven by either adaptation or mitigation.
Second, complementarity is less cost effective in general. As Kane and Yohe (2000) argued, the
treatment of adaptation and mitigation as different policy options increases the cost of climate change.
Among the reason for this is the low integration of practices that could have minimized resource
requirements. The poor integration of practices so far could be a precursor for poor institutional
linkages, which also influenced the policy integration and sustainable development in general at
international and local levels as argued by Tompkins and Adger (2005).
Third, competition for resources between mitigation and adaptation (Tol 2005) is inevitable in
complementarity obliging developing countries to prioritize among the measures e.g., the strong
emphasis on adaptation by developing countries.
Go to:
Complementarity as a First Step in Synergy Continuum
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Figure 2 below illustrates the evolution of how adaptation and mitigation measures are addressed over
time.
A schematic showing the complementarity and the synergy approaches to adaptation and mitigation
measures. The size of the spheres is a relative indicator of the priorities for the measures with time.
Note: MITI and ADA stand for Mitigation and Adaptation ...
For synergy to happen, there should be resource relatedness (Lazic and Heinzl 2011; Tanriverdi 2006)
and resource complementarity (Tanriverdi and Venkatraman 2004). Resource relatedness refers to a
case where among two or more interventions, there exist resources to be shared, and there are similar
activities between the interventions to be synergized. For example, in the land use sector, adaptation
and mitigation share numerous resources: 1) land as a common necessity for both; 2) related practices
e.g., afforestation, reforestation, agroforestry, silvopastoral systems; 3) skills of agriculture, forestry,
and natural resource management and; 4) shared purpose—reducing the impacts of climate change.
Resource complementarity on the other hand refers to a case when if the increase in one resource
increases the return to the other resource (Milgrom and Roberts 1995; Harrison et al. 2001). There are
a number of publications (e.g., Guariguata et al. 2007; Klein et al. 2007; Wilbanks et al. 2007)
documenting that both adaptation and mitigation enhance the effectiveness of one another.
Klein et al. (2005) argued that adopting the synergy approach could enhance the cost-effectiveness of
climate change measures. Two reasons underlie the efficiency and effectiveness associated with the
synergy approach. The first is the fact that mitigation and adaptation capture two key components of
climate policy. For instance, Tubiello et al. (2008) stated the integrative nature of synergy approach
makes it the core of climate policy at multiple scales in the future. The second reason is the strong
resource relatedness and resource complementarity between adaptation and mitigation measures in
the land use sector. Klein et al. (2005) highlighted that if achieved, such efficiencies (resulting from the
resource relatedness concept) could make the practices attractive to land users and to those engaged
in making decisions about climate change measures. Such efficiency and effectiveness attributes of
synergy also make it a potential approach for addressing issues of food, energy, and water supply.
The move from complementarity to synergy requires identifying the right approaches and concepts
that enhance multifunctionality ensuring the provisions of simultaneous benefits. The landscape
approach, which puts particular emphasis on multifunctionality and interactions among components,
is very helpful in the move toward synergy. Another much related approach to the landscape one is
the ecosystem services concept. For example, according to De Groot et al. (2010), contextually there is
almost no distinction between ecosystem services and landscape functions. In the land use sector,
most landscape functions can be expressed directly or indirectly by one or more ecosystem services.
For example, according to MA (2005), climate regulation (e.g., carbon sequestration and effects of land
cover on climate parameters) is a regulating ecosystem function that mainly contributes to mitigation
potential, while the provisioning, regulating, habitat, and supporting ecosystems functions boost
adaptation. It is thus arguable that ecosystem services could serve as a potential strategy for
enhancing synergies between mitigation and adaptation.
Go to:
Moving from Complementarity to Synergy to Address Climate Change in the Land Use Sector
In our view, the move from complementarity to synergy particularly to achieve the superadditive value
and subadditive cost models needs to capture four key elements:
Identifying the practices;
Understanding the processes;
Addressing tradeoffs and;
Formulating supportive policies.
The following sections deal with each of these elements in further details.
A Portfolio of Practices and Their Interconnectedness
In agricultural landscapes, there are considerable linkages between mitigation and adaptation. A
number of studies have highlighted this, for example, in agriculture by Harvey et al. (2013), Rahn et
al. (2013) and Rosenzweig and Tubiello (2007) and in the forestry sector by Kane and Shogren (2000),
Dang et al. (2003), Klein et al. (2005), Ravindranath (2007), and Wilbanks et al. (2007). Tompkins and
Adger (2005) stated that there is a clear interdependence between adaptation and mitigation actions
as they are driven by common factors such as the availability and penetration of new technologies and
the capacity and readiness of the society for change. Practice portfolios in synergy should therefore
enhance both adaptation and mitigation benefits while addressing other development and
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conservation needs. Some examples of such practices include agroforestry, soil conservation,
ecosystem-based adaptation, and climate smart agriculture.
In communities where livelihood is based on land resources, the success of mitigation measures
depends on how good the community adapts to the prevailing conditions (e.g., drought, erratic rainfall,
flood, etc.). For example, mitigation measures such as afforestation, reforestation, and sustainable
forest management are very susceptible to community livelihood conditions, because driven by poverty
people may illegally exploit forests thereby affecting carbon sinks hence mitigation efforts. The strong
interconnectedness of the processes, decisions, and interventions (Fig. 3) challenges our conventional
fragmented approaches to problems in the land use sector. Hence, for effective mitigation or
adaptation actions, taking holistic approaches that consider community livelihood, natural resources
management and other biophysical, policy, and institutional aspects are required. One way of moving
toward such holistic approaches while capturing the above-mentioned diverse and strong
interconnections, inter-linkages, and interdependencies is the systems thinking concept.
The interrelationships between adaptation and mitigation measures in rural landscapes. NRM denotes
natural resources management and C stands for Carbon
The adoption and implementation of systems thinking approach to climate change measures require
proper policies, strategies, and institutions that favor the approach. For instance, if a state‘s policy
emphasizes only economic returns from land uses without considering their ecological and social
implications, it is challenging to implement integrated system-wide approaches.
Processes Necessary to Move towards the Synergy Approach
The synergy approach involves numerous processes. For the sake of simplicity, we synthesized some
processes necessary for projects or programs that intend to employ the synergy approach to address
climate change issues. However, depending on the local contexts of the projects/programs, other
relevant processes may be added too. The first important step is to identify the extent of
complementarity, because it is a prerequisite for synergy to happen (Fig. 4). This largely emphasizes
exploring the multiple benefits from the mix of practices. The system analysis process (no. 2 in Fig. 4)
is crucial in synergy and involves identifying the system components, how they function and interact
and how good the selected measures fit into the local context. It intends to identify the tradeoffs
associated with the practices and craft strategies for its possible reduction. Even in countries
possessing an integrated climate policy, this process is often overlooked or simplified and sometimes is
overshadowed by environmental impact assessment activities that rarely go beyond investment project
perspectives.
The hypothetical national or project level processes to move from complementarity to synergy between
mitigation and adaptation
Processes 3–5 in Fig. 4 designate the synergy planning phase which addresses the creation of the right
institutions, defining the financing mechanism, and ensuring the involvement of the necessary
stakeholders in the process, i.e., participatory approach. It embraces efforts toward cross-sectoral and
interdisciplinary planning approaches whereby climate change is mainstreamed into sectoral polices
thereby enhancing the integration process. Some examples include the Low Carbon Agriculture
Programme of Brazil, the Climate Resilient Green Economy Strategy of Ethiopia and the National
Action Plan on Climate Change of Indonesia. Processes 3–5 also form the basis for the creation of the
necessary processes linking the national and subnational governments to the local level. Such
processes may have binding agreements that define rules/procedures, rights, and responsibilities
among the actors especially between the national and local ones.
To ensure multifunctional initiatives like synergy function properly, multiple long-term financing
mechanisms (process no. 4 Fig. 4) are required as argued by Bryan and Crossman (2013) for
ecosystem services provision. Such arrangements may reduce risks due to unforeseen circumstances
(e.g., budget cuts) while possibly increasing the trust of the local communities for the initiatives.
Process no. 6 (Fig. 4) focuses on designing and developing the required metrics, i.e., criteria and
indicators to properly assess benefits and impacts of synergy.
Addressing Tradeoffs between Mitigation and Adaptation Measures in the Land Use Sector
Identifying and dealing with tradeoffs is as important as exploring the potential for synergies between
mitigation and adaptation though the former received little attention thus far. With closer scrutiny, a
number of tradeoffs can be identified between mitigation and adaptation when the two are treated
separately (Harvey et al. 2013). For example, the expansion of fast-growing tree species like
Eucalyptus in the highlands of Ethiopia resulted in considerable carbon sequestration though the
species was often blamed for intense water consumption due to its growing habit and thus
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constraining water availability for local communities. Kidanu et al. (2004) also observed the species
competed with adjacent crops significantly thereby reducing crop productivity. Tree-crop biofuels
expansion, a mitigation strategy to replace fossil fuels with renewable energies, has also faced
backlashes in different parts of the world due to its competition for crop production areas despite
sequestering considerable amount of carbon in the medium term and reducing the use of fossil fuels
for energy in the long term. Bryan et al. (2010) illustrated that despite the first generation biofuels
being attractive in their mitigation potential, they negatively influenced food production under
different scenarios. Asquith et al. (2002) also argued that carbon projects that result in large-scale
land use changes may influence community livelihood by limiting access to land and other resources
besides their impact on biodiversity. Livestock (particularly in drought prone areas) is considered a
common coping strategy to drought and famine despite contributing about 18 % of the anthropogenic
GHGs emissions (Herrero et al. 2009). Rahn et al. (2013) found that promoting soil conservation
practices and adequate fertilization of coffee agroforestry systems implied increased adaptation
potentials while providing limited mitigation benefits.
Though identifying tradeoffs is important, strategies to minimize it are equally necessary. In crop
production systems, practices such as conservation agriculture (Hobbs et al. 2008), agroforestry
(Verchot et al. 2007), and soil and water conservation (Ravindranath 2007) could reduce the extent of
possible tradeoffs. In the forestry sector, use of diverse tree species in plantations (Ravindranath
2007), growing native tree species (Ravindranath 2007), tree plantings in degraded and marginalized
lands, adoption of sustainable forest management, and enclosure systems in dryland areas (Duguma
et al. 2013) could be considered potential strategies to minimize tradeoffs. In the livestock sector,
growing leguminous fodder trees and adopting silvopastoral systems could play crucial role in
minimizing tradeoffs.
Harvey et al. (2013) argued that occurrence of tradeoffs varies by time and scale implying the need for
time and scale sensitive strategies to address it. For instance, integrating nitrogen fixing trees into
farms reduces land area of production; however, in the long run, such trees could enhance soil fertility
and thus increase productivity.
Policies for Promoting Synergies between Mitigation and Adaptation within the Multifunctionality
Context National and subnational policies and strategies are crucial for the implementation of
multifunctional interventions which provide mitigation, adaptation, development, and conservation
benefits simultaneously. Through this, synergies between mitigation and adaptation could be more
practical and also engaging. Such policy related supports for synergy could be through: 1) creation of
the right institutions; 2) establishment of long-term multiple financial mechanisms (e.g., arranging
mechanisms of funding multifunctional projects through international donors supports); 3) developing
and implementing policy incentives for either private or communal multifunctional projects, for
example, through land tenure clarification; 4) empowering local communities and technical
backstopping for committed engagement through extension schemes. Though this list is not
comprehensive, it highlights that national and subnational governments can help the implementation
of multifunctional processes through proper policy formulations. Such moves can be integral
components during the designs of cross-sectoral policies and strategies at various scales.
Policies and strategies are also crucial in determining the practices and processes that might be
adopted in interventions that promote multifunctionality. They can guide the nature of decisions that
should be made besides defining who makes those decisions during the initiative‘s design and
implementation. These, in some cases, may include decisions on tradeoffs and who should have the
power to make the choices (and the priorities) in order to minimize the tradeoffs. Policies may also
guide the institutional arrangements required and the financing schemes necessary for
multifunctional initiatives like synergy.
Go to:
An Illustrative Case Study: Applying the Non-Additive Synergy Model to the Ngitili System in
Shinyanga, Tanzania
Shinyanga region is a semiarid area in Northern Tanzania receiving average annual rainfall of 700
mm. Its inhabitants are largely agropastoralists and the region hosts almost 20–30 % of the country‘s
livestock population. Its vegetation type is mainly extensive Acacia and Miombo woodlands (Monela et
al. 2005).
Ngitili, a practice involving regeneration and conservation of trees on cropping and grazing lands, is a
traditional fodder bank system used to conserve pasture for the dry season in Tanzania (Mlenge 2004).
Due to a complex set of factors (Fig. 5), the practice was abandoned in 1920 s and was reintroduced in
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1980 s after realizing its potential against the desertification problem that threatened the region.
Figure 5 shows the problem context and the underlying processes in this transition. This strongly
relates to the process no. 2 (system analysis) illustrated in Fig. 4.
The position of the Ngitili along the dynamics in the Shinyanga region
Together with other practices such as rotational woodlots, improved fallows, and homestead planting,
Ngitili was promoted in Shinyanga as a means to reduce poverty and promote livelihood security
through ecosystem restoration efforts (Mlenge 2004; Monela et al. 2005). The Ngitili-based restoration
had a strong national support (Mlenge 2004). Some key policy and strategic measures taken by the
government to promote the restoration include 1) institutionalization of the region-wide program
known as HASHI (Shinyanga Soil Conservation Programme) in the 1980 s supported financially by the
Royal Norwegian government and technically by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF); 2) creation of
a funding mechanism such as the ShinyangaMazingra Fund which supported grassroot initiatives and
the channeling of the bilateral support from the Royal Norwegian government toward this program; 3)
empowerment of the local institutions and adoption of the local practices to ensure the intense
engagement of local communities; 4) creation of village environmental committees who had strong
voice in the dialogs and decisions on matters relating to the program; 5) the enactment of the 1997
Land Policy and the Land and Village Land Acts of 1999 that enabled villages and its members to have
land title deeds which supported the formal establishment of Ngitili (United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) 2012).
Such strong measures and policy supports from the national government (together with the intense
engagement of the local communities in the program, the multiple financial mechanisms and the
sustained technical support from ICRAF) propelled the restoration effort remarkably, i.e., from around
611 ha in 1986 (Mlenge 2004) to at least 350,000 ha by 2004 (UNDP 2012). Thus, to realize
multifunctional initiatives like synergy, such supportive policies and multi-institutional engagements
which value the voices of the locals are necessary.
The reintroduction of Ngitili played a major role in addressing climate change issues though the
implementation was neither as adaptation nor as mitigation but rather as a multifunctional approach
encompassing a pool of practices. Figure 6 shows the key practices in the landscapes where Ngitili
restoration was taking place and how they interact and influence each other. Ngitili‘s potential to
provide simultaneous multiple functions makes it a good illustration for the superadditive synergy
model. These functions could be expressed in one or more ecosystem services, hence supporting our
earlier argument that ecosystem services could serve as a vehicle to promote synergies between
mitigation and adaptation measures.
Practices and their interconnections in the Ngitili system in the Shinyanga region. Note: A- Adaptation;
M- Mitigation; A + M denotes the practice contributes positively to both adaptation and mitigation; A −
M denotes the practice ...
With average carbon (C) stock of 45 t/ha (Monela et al. 2005), the Ngitili system sequestered around
23 million t C by 2000 (Barrow and Shah 2011). Recognizing this sequestration potential, REDD +
pilots have already commenced in the area. Ngitili expansion also generated additional benefits which
boost the adaptive capacity of the community. For example, due to catchment conservation and other
hydrological services of Ngitili vegetation, water availability for household use and for livestock is
increasing and even there are small dams constructed by the community to accumulate water for the
dry season (Mlenge 2004). The availability of edible items also increased after Ngitili restoration. The
annual provisions of 534 liters of milk, 14 kg bush meat, 26 kg mushrooms, 33 liters of honey, and 30
kg of fruits were associated with Ngitili (Monela et al. 2005). Over 25 medicinal plants used to treat
over 20 different diseases were also recorded in restored Ngitilis.
Ngitili expansion proved to be a strong economic boost for the whole region with an increase in value
of around $23.7 million (Monela et al. 2005). The per capita per annum economic value of a restored
Ngitili was around $168 (Barrow and Shah 2011), considerably surpassing the national average rural
expenditure ($102). Ngitili also provides numerous social and environmental benefits (Monela et al.
2005): 1) conflicts on grazing areas and on woodland products collection reduced; 2) children can now
attend schools as livestock can be kept around Ngitilis; 3) wood products became easily available e.g.,
fuelwood collection time reduced between 2 and 6 h for women (Barrow and Shah 2011); 4) a favorable
habitat for wildlife was created, for instance, restored Ngitilis were home for up to 145 bird and 13
mammal species (Barrow and Shah 2011).
Despite the numerous functions of Ngitili restoration, there are a number of tradeoffs in the system.
Some of them are: 1) livestock are among the important contributors to GHG emissions despite being
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also the livelihood basis of this community; 2) the increasing expansion of enclosure-based fodder
management system competes with the land available for crop production; 3) there is a poor market
access for the products though currently most products seem to be consumed locally; 4) most recent
discussions emphasize the expansion of Ngitili with limited look at the long-term implications of the
expansion, for example, possibilities of woodland invasion which in the long run can enhance carbon
sequestration but may limit the livestock feed production.
Go to:
Concluding Remarks and the Way Forward
We set out to examine how the synergy concept is currently conceptualized and concluded that the
current notion does not differ from complementarity. Complementarity, however, is not sufficient to
address the existing and projected impacts of climate change especially in the land use sector. Thus,
climate policy should start looking at the next possibility, synergy, which has often been overlooked or
sometimes confused with complementarity.
The transition from complementarity to synergy requires shifting from the co-benefit context to
systems approach that embodies a set of practices that provide simultaneous multiple functions. We
suggest four crucial elements necessary in the move toward synergy: 1) identifying the practices and
their interconnectedness; 2) examining the processes and their interrelationships; 3) addressing the
tradeoffs; and 4) supportive policies and strategies. Understanding the practices and the processes
and their interactions is the key to minimize the costs of climate policy. This in a way is by looking at
the resource relatedness and resource complementarity between mitigation and adaptation. A closer
look at the illustrated case study on Ngitili system showed that processes that link the national
systems to the local practices through policies and strategies are necessary especially to ensure the
necessary policy support, to put in place appropriate financing schemes, to remove obstacles for the
implementation of multifunctional initiatives. For example, the move taken by the Tanzanian
government in ensuring land tenure security to promote the Ngitili restoration is exemplary.
The financing scheme is crucial to implement multifunctional initiatives like synergy as the current
mode of budget allocations at national, subnational, and local scales is often earmarked with specific
practices which do not encompass the whole spectrum of synergy. Some financing schemes that hold
potentials include the payment for ecosystem services (PES), the co-investment mechanisms
(Namirembe et al. 2014), and the emerging REDD + scheme. However, identifying the right financing
mechanism to effectively implement synergy remains an open area of research.
Besides the financing, below are some selected key challenges to the synergy approach.
The dichotomy created at UNFCCC in treating mitigation and adaptation as separate policy measures;
The strong emphasis of UNFCCC on achieving stabilization of GHGs (UNFCCC Article 2) and looking at
the adaptation aspect as a mechanism to achieve the mitigation objective;
The lack of proper metrics (criteria and indicators) for analyzing the benefits of synergy approach;
The scientific uncertainty regarding the optimal mix of practices to achieve maximum benefits out of
synergy (Klein et al. 2005; Dang et al. 2003).
For enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of climate policy using synergy approach, 1) intense
lobbying and dialogs with the concerned bodies are necessary to address the first two challenges; 2)
research needs to focus on the last two challenges; 3) enabling policy, institutional and investment
conditions for synergy need to be developed at global, national, and local levels. In sum, synergy is a
continuum, which could be achieved by targeting the superadditive synergy model presented earlier.
To know more refer below links
http://www.sac.org.bd/archives/publications/Agro-forestry%20Systems.pdf
http://international.oregonstate.edu/sites/international.oregonstate.edu/files/final_report_agroforest
ry_synthesis_paper_3_14_2013.pdf
Soldiers arrive to help Assam flood victims
Rescuers and soldiers arrive to help flood victims at Majuli in Assam. Photograph: AnupamNath/AP
The Brahmaputra river and its tributaries have burst their banks, flooding roads, highways and
villages in more than half of the region‘s 32 districts. Mobile phone signal is down in many parts of the
state, and power transmission towers have been toppled.
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Why India is one of the worst flood affected nation across the world? Critically assess the
government measures taken to deal with floods.
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―The situation has turned from bad to worse since Tuesday, and over a million people have been
shifted to relief camps,‖ Assam‘s water resources minister, KeshabMahanta, told Reuters.
The Kaziranga national park in Assam – home to two-thirds of the world‘s one-horned rhino
population – is 80% under water, and wild animals are seeking shelter on roads. At least one rhino
was killed in the rains, according to forest officials.
Rescuers attend to a rhinoceros calf affected by flooding in Kaziranga national park. Photograph:
Anuwar Hazarika/Barcroft Images
Floods in the state have become an annual event, particularly during the June-September rains. The
worst occurred four years ago, killing 124 people and displacing 6 million. Hundreds of people are
killed, and thousands of acres of fertile land lost, to floods every year.
The government in Assam has said that flood relief and rescue measures are a priority, and that
disaster-response forces are doing everything they can to help. A minister from prime minister
Narendra Modi‘s cabinet promised their support in the state‘s relief efforts.
With extreme weather becoming increasingly common, the government is under pressure to find longterm solutions to India‘s water woes.
Earlier this year, a drought hit many parts of India, affecting more than 300 million people. Last year,
floods in the southern city of Chennai killed more than 280 people.
India tops list of nations at risk from floods
Uttarakhand floods, 2014. Brahmaputra floods, 2012. Bihar‘s Kosi floods, 2008. Mumbai deluge,
2005.
If you thought India has no respite from relentless flood fury, you‘re spot on.
According to the World Resources Institute (WRI), India tops the list of 163 nations affected by river
floods in terms of number of people.
Every year, the lives of 4.85 million Indians are disrupted by floods. At risk: $14.3 billion of gross
domestic product.
The analysis says with climate change and socio-economic development accelerating, the risk is bound
to increase in the years ahead and river flooding will affect more people and wreak more damage by
2030.
As per the analysis, river flooding could affect 21 million people and expose $96 billion in GDP
worldwide each year but by 2030, these numbers could grow to 54 million people and $521 billion in
GDP affected every year.
India is followed by Bangladesh with 3.47 million people facing flood risk every year, China with 3.27
million, Vietnam with 0.92 million and Pakistan with 0.71 million people.
The numbers were generated with a new tool, the Aqueduct Global Flood Analyzer, which quantifies
and visualizes the reality of global flood risk.
The tool estimates current and future potential exposed GDP, affected population and urban damage
from river floods for every state, country and major river basin in the world.
WRI co-developed the tool with four Dutch research organizations: Deltares, the Institute for
Environmental Studies of the VU University Amsterdam, Utrecht University and PBL Netherlands
Environmental Assessment Agency.
As per the WRI study, the top 15 countries in the list accounts for nearly 80% of the total population
affected every year; these countries are all considered least developed or developing.
Among high-income countries, roughly 167,000 people are affected every year in the US, which is the
highest-ranked high-income country in the list.
As per WRI, a clear trend that emerges across the world from their study is that ―in lower and middleincome countries, socio-economic development is expected to concentrate more people, buildings,
infrastructure and other assets in vulnerable regions‖. ―So, the developing world is expected to see
more GDP exposed to flood risks in 2030, driven largely by socio-economic change,‖ the analysis
added.
For instance, India faces more potential change in exposed GDP than any other country. As per the
study estimates, India‘s current $14 billion in GDP exposed annually could increase more than 10-fold
to $154 billion in 2030 and approximately 60% of that increase could be caused by socio-economic
development.
Among the developed nations, Australia, Croatia, Finland, Portugal, and Israel are expected to see
more GDP exposed to floods in 2030, driven primarily by social-economic change.
―On the contrary, countries like the Netherlands, Slovenia, Belgium, Ireland, and Switzerland will
likely see increased GDP exposure driven primarily by climate change,‖ the analysis explained.
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Meanwhile, the study also said that climate change will expose more people to river floods than socioeconomic development because both the ―frequency and intensity of river floods is expected to increase
due to climate change in many areas‖.
Climate change would expand flood-prone areas and make floods more likely to occur in those areas
more often, explained the study while adding that climate change would threaten population in the
developed and developing world alike.
In Ireland, for instance, 2,000 people face flood risks currently but by 2030, 48,500 more people could
face river flood risk, and 87% of that difference would be driven by climate change.
Among developing nations, around 715,000 people in Pakistan are at risk today but by 2030, river
floods could affect two million more, with climate change driving 70% of that increase.
WRI said that sharing of their tool‘s easily accessible data with public and private sector decision
makers will immediately raise their awareness about current and future river-flood risks and thus
armed with the right information, public and private sector decision makers can prioritize risk
reduction and launch climate adaptation projects to prevent catastrophic damage to people and
infrastructure.
NATURAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN INDIA (Overview & Executive Summary)
India is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. The locational and geographical
features render it vulnerable to a number of natural hazards such as cyclone drought, floods,
earthquakes, fire, landslides and avalanches.
The country has an integrated administrative machinery for disaster management at National,
Provincial (State), District and Sub-District levels. India has a federal system of Government with role
of Union and Provincial Governments specified by the Constitution, The responsibility for undertaking
rescue and relief measures in the event of natural calamities is that of the State Government
concerned. The Union Government supplements the State relief efforts by initiating supportive action.
Elaborate procedural mechanism outlined in relief manuals & codes and backed up by Contingency
Action Plans along with allocation of resources on a regular basis facilitates emergency management
operations. A National Contingency Action Plan has been notified.
The country has an elaborate cyclone detection, tracking system, flood forecasting and warning
systems covering major rivers and drought monitoring arrangements.
Long term planning and preparedness for disaster mitigation form part of the process of development
planning in India. Science & technology inputs constitute its basic thrust which is manifested in
development of forecasting and warning systems, disaster resistant construction technologies,
appropriate cropping systems.
A number of special programmes are in operation over many years for mitigating the impact of natural
disasters. As the country has been facing natural hazards over centuries, the local communities have
developed their own indigenous coping mechanism. The rich store house of this knowledge is the
country's proud inheritance. At times of emergencies, spontaneous mobilisation of community action
supported by Non-governmental Organisations add strength to national capability in disaster
management. However, the areas where efforts made and results achieved have not been
commensurate with the magnitude of the problem faced by natural disasters are forging linkages
between disaster reduction and development, training and education, participation at the community
level, enlisting people's participation in integrating social and human science inputs in vulnerability
assessment and appropriate resource allocation against competing demands.
Accepting the fact that the trend of losses is not indicating any sign of improvement inspite of
initiating various disaster mitigation measures, the country is planning to give more stress in some
vital areas in this field during next century. These include linkage of disaster mitigation with
development plans, effective communication system , use of latest information technology, insurance,
extensive public awareness and education campaigns particularly in the rural areas ,involvement of
private sector , strengthening of institutional mechanism and international co-operation .
India is committed to take necessary steps to achieve the goals and objective of the International
Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction . Country believe that co-operation among the various
countries particularly of the Asian region, is very essential for effective disaster reduction and
preparedness. There is a need o have continuous exchange of experience and know how. As a part of
regional co-operation, India has hosted some regional conferences. World Disaster Reduction Day is
observed on 2nd Wednesday of October every year to create public awareness about natural disasters
and motivate them to adopt preparatory measures. India has also became the member of the Asian
Disaster Reduction Centre, Kobe, Japan.
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1. INTRODUCTION
India covers an areas of 32,87,263 sq. kms. extending from now covered Himalayan heights to the
tropical rain forests of the South. It is the seventh largest country in the world and is well marked off
from the rest of Asia by mountains and the sea which give the country a distinct geographical entity.
In the North, it is bounded by the Great Himalayas and stretches southwards tapering off into the
Indian ocean between the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. The main land extends between
latitudes 8o4‘ and 37o6‘ North and longitudes 68o7‘ and 97o25‘ East. It means about 3,214 kms from
North to South between extreme longitudes. It has a land frontier of 15,200 kms. and coastline of
7,500 kms. It has also group of islands located both in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.
The main land comprises of four regions, namely, the Great Mountain Zone, Plains of the Ganges and
the Indus, Desert Region and the Southern Peninsula. The Himalayan range comprises three almost
parallel ranges interspersed with large plateau‘s and valleys. The mountain wall extends over a
distance of 2,400 kms. with a varying depth of 240 to 320 kms.
The plains of the Ganges and Indus, about 2,400 Kms. long and 240 to 320 Kms. broad are formed by
basins of three distinct river systems, viz.; the Indus, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra. The desert
region is clearly delineated in two parts - the Great Desert running beyond Rann of Kutch to
Rajasthan - Sindh Frontier while the little desert extends between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur upto the
Northern wastes. Between the two deserts is a zone of absolutely sterile region, consisting of rocky
land cut up by limestone ridges.
According to 1991 census, Indian has a population of 843.93 million consisting of a male population
of 437.60 million and female population of
406.33 million. The average population density in the country as a whole is 267 persons per sq. km.
The literacy rate as per 21991 census is 52.2 percent - 64 percent for male and 39 per cent for female.
The country is a Union of 25 States and 7 Union Territories. The Union Territories are subject to the
direct rule - making powers of the National Parliament and the administrative control of the Union
Government. The States have elected Legislatures and Governments, which are fully autonomous in
relation to the sphere of activities entrusted to them under the Contrition. The States are further
divided into Administrative Units called Districts.
2. Country & Climate
India is a large country with a geographical area of 3.28 million sq. kms. Situated between the
latitudes 8 4' N and 37 6' N and Longitudes 68 7' E and 97 25', India has a tropical and subtropical
Climate. The country is bounded in the north by the Himalayan mountain ranges. The wide IndoGangetic plain lies between the Himalayas in the north and the Deccan Plateau, that occupies most
parts of the southern peninsular
India. The western and the eastern Ghats constitute long mountain ranges, running along the west
and the east coasts of the peninsula. These Ghats leave narrow stretches of coastal plains along the
Arabian Sea on the west and wider plains on the Bay of Bengal coast on the east. The country receives
an annual precipitation of 400 million hectare metres, 73 per cent of which is received between June
and September.
The heavy concentration of rainfall within a span of three months in most of the areas causes heavy
run-off and high floods. Non-availability of moisture over most parts of the year, particularly in the
arid and semi-arid regions, renders 68 per cent of the land-mass vulnerable to drought. The tectonic
plates of Indian sub-continent makes it vulnerable to frequent earthquake disturbances.
The Asia Pacific Region faces over 60% of the world's natural disasters. India, on account of its
geographical position, climate and geological setting, has had from time immemorial, a fair share of
these disasters. There is hardly a year when some part of the country or other does not face the
spectre of drought, due to the failure of monsoons in vulnerable areas. One or two cyclones strike the
peninsular region of the country every year. Similarly, floods are a regular feature of the Eastern India
where Himalayan rivers inundate large parts of its catchment areas uprooting people, disrupting
livelihood and damaging infrastructure. The fragility of the Himalayan mountain ranges are a
continuing source of concern for their high vulnerability to earthquakes, landslides and avalanches.
The recent earthquakes in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have demonstrated that the areas
considered comparatively safe till now, are really not so.
3. Overview of Natural Disasters
A natural disaster is an event of nature, which causes sudden disruption to the normal life of a society
and causes damage to property and lives, to such an extent that normal social and economic
mechanisms available to the society are inadequate to restore normalcy. Viewed in this manner, a host
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of natural phenomena constitute disasters to a society, whether they are related to an occurrence in
micro environment
or not. In macro terms, the disasters, which cause widespread damage and disruption in India, are
drought, flood, cyclone and earthquakes.
3.1. Floods
Of the annual rainfall, 75 per cent is concentrated over four months of monsoon (June - September)
and as a result almost all the rivers carry heavy discharge during this period. The flood hazard is
compounded by the problems of sediment deposition, drainage congestion and synchronisation of
river floods with sea tides in the coastal plains. The rivers originating in the Himalayas also carry a lot
of sediment and cause erosion of the banks in the upper reaches and over-topping in the lower
segments. The most flood prone areas are the Brahmaputra and the Gangetic basins in the IndoGangetic plains. The other flood prone areas are the north-west region of the west flowing rivers like
Narmada and Tapti, the Central India and the Deccan region with major east flowing rivers like
Mahanadi, Krishna and Cavery. While the area liable to floods is 40 million hectares, the average area
affected by floods annually is about 8 million hectares. The annual average cropped area affected is
approximately 3.7 million hectares. The average annual total damage to crop, houses and public
utilities during the period 1953-95 was about Rs.972.00 Crores, while the maximum damage was Rs.
4630.00 Crores in 1988.
3.2. Drought
As much as 73.7 per cent of the annual aggregate precipitation of 400 million hectare metres is
received during the south-west Monsoon period, June to September. Due to erratic behaviour of
monsoon, both low (less than 750 mm) and medium (750 - 1125 mm) rainfall regions, which
constitute 68 per cent of the total areas, are vulnerable to periodical droughts. The analysis of 100
years of rainfall behaviour reveals that the frequency of occurrence of below normal rainfall in arid,
semi-arid, and sub-humid areas is 54-57 per cent, while severe and rare droughts occur once every 89 years in arid and semi-arid zones. In semi-arid and arid climatic zones, about 50 per cent of the
severe droughts cover generally 76 percent of the area. In this region, rare droughts of most severe
intensity occurred on an average once in 32 years and almost every third year was a drought year. The
impact of drought varies from year to year. The 1987 drought, which was one of the worst drought of
the century, with the overall rainfall deficiency of 19 per cent, affected 58-60 per cent of cropped area
and a population of 285 million.
By the end of July, an estimated 300 people have been killed by floods, around three million have
been forced to flee their homes, over 1,00,000 animals have been drowned – including 21 rare and
endangered one-horned rhinoceros – as a water-parched South Asia has suddenly got too much of it
since the start of the monsoon in mid-June.
As the Ganga, Brahmaputra, Indus and their tributaries swelled with rain water, large swathes of
farmland were inundated in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan. Parts of large cities such
as Dhaka, Guwahati, Patna, Allahabad, Lahore, Sialkot and Gujranwala went under water, and the
same fate threatened New Delhi.
It is not as if it has been an especially vigorous monsoon. In fact, the India Meteorological Department
said the rainfall during June and July has been exactly the same as the long-period average. It has
even been 13% deficient in east and northeast India.
Southern Bhutan flooded
Relative to its size, Bhutan is perhaps the worst flood-hit country in South Asia right now. King Jigme
KhesarNamgyelWangchuk has joined ministers and officials in the rescue and relief efforts in the
southern parts of the country.
The Bhutanese King, Prime Minister, CEO of the Army, and Agriculture Minister, Sarpang [image
courtesy King of Bhutan‘s Facebook page]
The Bhutanese King, Prime Minister, CEO of the Army, and Agriculture Minister, Sarpang [image
courtesy King of Bhutan‘s Facebook page]
With floodwaters and landslides cutting off the highway from Phuentsholing on the India border,
landlocked Bhutan is already experiencing shortages of food and fuel. Power transmission lines have
been brought down by landslides and many parts of the country are without electricity.
The highway was reopened after five days, and the shortages are expected to ease soon. Prime Minister
TsheringTobgay went public with a declaration that there was enough food in every district warehouse
and asked people not to panic.
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The department of roads has reported that nine gewogs (districts) were totally cut off when the
Buduney Bailey bridge in Samtse district collapsed on July 21. Many other roads, especially to remote
districts in the eastern parts of the country, were blocked by landslides.
Floods affected the construction site of the second hydropower project on the Punatsangchu River,
with its water diversion tunnel and coffer (temporary) dam under water. Ironically, this was a year
when Bhutan had faced a rare drought before the onset of the monsoon, and many farmers had been
forced to leave their lands fallow. The Bhutan government is now laying emphasis on developing flood
early warning systems along its rivers.
Assam, Bihar worst hit in India
As Bhutan struggles to bring things under control, India‘s Northeastern state of Assam is struggling.
In terms of size of area affected, it is the worst hit. In the Brahmaputra basin 34 people have died and
another 1.1 million have been displaced, according to official records. Kaziranga, the world famous
rhinoceros sanctuary on the bank of the Brahmaputra, is flooded – some of the rhinos have been
drowned, others run over as they tried to cross a busy road to higher ground.
Such widespread flooding during a normal monsoon season is in line with the prediction of scientists –
climate change is leading to fewer rainy days, but more intense rainfall on those days. In this
situation, the rainwater has less chance of percolating underground and recharging the water table. It
rushes along the surface instead. Riverbeds silted due to ill-planned embankments, dams and
barrages do not help.
Wild elephants swim through the Kaziranga forest flooded by the Brahmaputra (left); a rhinoceros calf
flooded out of the forest seeks refuge in a village home (right) [images by Hariswar Brahma, courtesy
News Today]
Wild elephants swim through the Kaziranga forest flooded by the Brahmaputra (left); a rhinoceros calf
flooded out of the forest seeks refuge in a village home (right) [images by Hariswar Brahma, courtesy
News Today]
In many cases, people were flooded out when officials were forced to open the gates of dams or
barrages to protect the structures. That is why the Yamuna is flowing above the danger mark in
India‘s capital New Delhi.
In Himachal Pradesh, the Sutlej – which joins the Indus downstream in Pakistan – has inundated
villages through multiple flash floods in the mountain areas. The rains have been followed by
landslides throughout the Himalayas. Hundreds of tourists are stuck behind them in the resort town
Manali.
Scores killed in Nepal landslides, floods
Over 50 people were killed by landslides and flash floods in Nepal in the last week of July alone,
according to the home ministry. The toll since May has crossed 150; of them 97 have been killed by
landslides.
In the last week of July, almost all the major rivers of Nepal breached danger levels, which experts say
is rare. ―Normally it doesn‘t happen that almost all rivers get above danger level at the same time but
on July 26, the water level on most of the rivers that we monitored was above the danger mark," said
BinodParajuli, hydrologist at the department of hydrology and meteorology. "It is pretty unusual to
have such heavy rainfall within a short span of 24 hours.‖ Climate scientists call it the new normal.
A flooded village in Banke district of western Nepal [image courtesy Nepalese Army Facebook page]
A flooded village in Banke district of western Nepal [image courtesy Nepalese Army Facebook page]
Still, in a country with over 6,000 rivers and rivulets rushing down the steep mountain slopes of the
Himalayas, the early warning systems are few and far between. ―Flood early warning systems have
helped reduce human casualties. If more resources are provided we can reduce it further in coming
days,‖ Parajuli said.
Same story in Bangladesh
By the end of July, floods had killed 14 people in Bangladesh and displaced almost 1.5 million people,
washing away 9,000 houses and damaging another 12,000, according to official records. Most of the
deaths and damage have taken place in northwestern Bangladesh, where the Brahmaputra enters the
country from India.
Ripon Karmakar, duty forecasting officer at the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), does
not expect more damage in northwestern Bangladesh, but is more worried about the central and
southern parts of the country, as the floodwaters rush to the Bay of Bengal.
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Ataur Rahman, a hydrologist who teaches at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and
Technology, said that apart from floods in Tibet and India, siltation in the rivers and lack of structural
measures were worsening the situation.
So far, the government‘s response has been to give 5.50 crore Bangladeshi Taka (USD 702,000) and
13,000 tonnes of rice to the affected districts, apart from 13,000 packets of dry food, Disaster
Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya said in the last weekend of July.
Parts of Pakistan flooded
Residents of Pakistan‘s capital Islamabad are enjoying the downpours this monsoon without being
waterlogged, since the city is built on a slope on the Himalayan foothills. But life in the waterlogged
parts of Lahore, Sialkot, Gujranwala and other towns along the Indus and its tributaries has come to
a standstill.
Islamabad‘s twin city Rawalpindi shows how unnecessary it all is. In 2006, the Pakistan
Meteorological Department installed an early warning system in LehNullah, a natural storm water
drain that flows from Islamabad to Rawalpindi. Thanks to the warning, the Rawalpindi city
administration now cleans up the city drains on time and gets vigilant about encroachments, so there
is no flooding.
The same cannot be said about the northern provinces of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan administered
Kashmir and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where the rainfall so far has been 10-20% above average. By the
first week of July, 46 people had already been killed and 21 more injured in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
alone, according to media reports. There are continuous reports of more damage due to lack of
preparedness on the part of the government.
“Given the pattern of intensifying monsoons over the past five years, it is becoming imperative that
our cities are built with adequate drainage, and that nullahs (storm water drains) are in proper
condition prior to the commencement of the monsoon season," said Ghulam Rasool of Pakistan
Meteorological Department. "The drainage of rainwater is not rocket science. It requires a little
investment, and some government capacity to put in place by-laws and ensure that appropriate space
is allocated on roads for the purpose of maintaining storm water drains.‖
Predicting heavier rainfall in August, Rasool said, ―The showers were not unprecedented, but poor
drainage is the reason why our cities are increasingly witnessing urban flooding.‖ City administrators
need to factor in climate change while planning, he added.
Storm water drains were traditionally planned keeping extreme records in mind, but the extremes are
being breached more and more often. ―We have to look at future projections and develop climate
resistant infrastructure," he said. "That is the need of the time, but our engineers have yet to realise
this."
The other problem is encroachment on the drains due to migration from villages to cities. Many of the
poor immigrants settle down in low lying areas because they have no alternative.
Though it only comprises two percent of the world‘s landmass, India is home to one-sixth of the
world‘s population. Approximately 85 percent of Indian land is vulnerable to one or more natural
hazards, with 68 percent vulnerable to drought, 57 percent to earthquakes, and 12 percent to floods .
Drought and flood have a widespread effect on the population. The India Disaster Knowledge Network
estimated that 50 million people are affected by droughts and 30 million by floods annually .
India has experienced high economic growth, especially in the communications and technology
industry. Thus, a large-scale disaster can have a significant impact on the country‘s economy and
destroy any progress in economic development. Human factors such as deforestation, poor
agricultural and land use practices, urbanization and construction of large infrastructure all
contribute to disaster risks and people‘s vulnerability.
“India has a highly diversified range of natural features. Its unique geo-climatic conditions make the
country among the most vulnerable to natural disasters, which occur with amazing frequency and
regularity,‖ said Surya P. Loonker, Give2Asia Field Advisor in India. ―While the society at large has
adapted itself to these regular occurrences, the economic and social costs continue to mount year
after year.‖
International donors can help people, communities and industries across India defend against
disasters through community-based programs, including rainwater harvesting and recycling systems,
training first responders to floods, and implementing early warning systems and evacuation plans.
MAJOR THREATS & THE ECONOMY
Population growth and urbanization has increased India‘s vulnerability to natural disasters, as more
people reside in slums and informal settlements. There has been a great push from administrators,
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practitioners and NGOs to re-examine settlements constructed by private developers which can
increase the population vulnerability and the impact of disasters.
Approximately 25 percent of the population lives in poverty and are therefore least resilient to
disasters. The poor often extract and exploit environmental resources to sustain their living which
exposes them to even greater risks.
CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT
Due to climate change, disasters are occurring with higher frequency and intensity. They are also
happening in new areas, causing more damage to populations that are less prepared. The warmer
climate will increase snowmelt and the occurrence of avalanches leading to fatalities and property
damage, flooding in the lower basin and prolonged droughts. Drought will not only affect agricultural
activities, it will affect the availability of water for the entire country.
As the global temperature increases, sea level rise will contribute to coastal erosion and displacement
of many densely populated coastal communities. Cyclones will also continue to be a threat to these
coastal communities.
―Several studies show a decreasing trend in the frequency of tropical cyclones and monsoon
depressions over the Bay of Bengal in recent years,‖ said Loonker. ―However, their potential for
damage and destruction still continues to be significant.‖
HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL VULNERABILITY
Floods
The most common disaster in India is flooding, which constitutes 46 percent of all disaster events and
contributes the highest economic loss . About 3,000 square miles flood annually.
The northern region of India experiences recurring floods from major rivers, including the Ganges and
Brahmaputra and their tributaries, especially during monsoon season. The plains of Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar are frequently affected by water overflow from major rivers. Excess rainfall over a short
period can also lead to flash flooding, while insufficient rainfall will lead to drought.
High magnitude floods during the monsoon season are considered to be India‘s recurring and leading
natural disaster. The country has to face loss of life and damage to property due to severe floods time
and time again. Heavy flood damages were experienced in the country during the monsoons of 1955,
1971, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1998, 2001 and 2004. The Central Water
Commission has compiled the damage figures due to flood since 1953 and reports yearly average loss
to life to be about to 1,590 and that damage to public utilities has totaled approximately $132 billion .
Severe losses were also caused by floods in the recent past. Heavy monsoon rains triggered landslides
and flooding in India in July 2006, specifically in the regions around Mumbai. Over 1,100 people lost
their lives, and the insured property damage amounted to US$800 million.
In a report by Swiss Re covering the 20 worst catastrophes of 2007, India was shown to be one of the
most victim-prone countries, as more people were affected inside India that year than in all non-Asian
nations combined.
Cyclones and Storms
Storms are the second most recurring disaster following floods. Of India‘s 7,500 kilometers of
coastline, approximately 5,700 kilometers are prone to cyclones and other storms from both the Bay of
Bengal and the Arabian Sea. The East coast of India is vulnerable to cyclones and coastal flooding
during the months of May to June and October to November. Storms are frequent in Andhra Pradesh,
Orissa, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu along the Bay of Bengal and parts of Maharashtra and Gujarat
at the Arabian Sea.
Drought
Although drought is of a low three percent of the total recorded disasters, it causes the most fatalities
and number of people affected. A single drought event impacts an average of 75 million people – more
than the combined population of California and Texas – whereas a flood impacts 3 million people.
Thus, although drought occurs less frequently, it has a widespread effect on the whole country .
Drought is recurrent in the Rajasthan, Gujarat and some parts of Maharashtra state, and it has a
widespread impact on people‘s livelihood, food security, and health. Droughts are aggravated by the
El-Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and shortage of food production. About 68 percent of arable land
in India is vulnerable to drought.
During 1999, 2000 and 2001 drought conditions prevailed over some parts of India, not affecting the
country as a whole significantly. During 2002 twelve out of 36 subdivisions of the country were struck
by moderate to severe drought with about 29 percent of the total area of the country affected.
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GEOPHYSICAL VULNERABILITY
Earthquakes & Landslides
India lies along major fault lines between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian plate that run through the
mountainous region making it vulnerable to seismic activities. Another friction exists between the
Indian Plate and the Burmese Micro-Plate in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean, which exposes
India to tsunami threats. In total, about 60 percent of India is vulnerable to seismic damage of
buildings to varying degrees . The Himalayan, Sub-Himalayan, Kutch, and the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands are particularly prone to this hazard. Areas surrounding the Himalayas are also exposed to
avalanches and landslides.
The Kutch Earthquake in 2001 was one of the worst earthquakes experienced in India. The event
devastated 7,633 villages in Gujarat, killed 13,805 people, injured 167,000 and caused $2.6 billion in
economic damage .
Northeast India, including Bihar, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat,
is prone to earthquakes, but the buildings are not resistant to seismic activities and can contribute to
huge damages and casualties. Scientists advise that a severe earthquake can occur at anytime and
can be detrimental to densely populated cities. Landslides in the Nilgiri Mountains are also common
due to melting icecaps and logging activities. The catastrophic events destroy settlements, agricultural
fields, electricity lines, and public infrastructure.
ADAPTATION
Adaptation & The Government
The national institutional structure for disaster management is the National Disaster Management
Authority (NDMA). The State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMA) is responsible for the
coordination at the state level. The NDMA is responsible for drafting policies and guidelines on
disaster management, to be enacted by different ministries. It published a set of guidelines for each
specific disaster including regulatory and non-regulatory frameworks, policies and programs. The
National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) was established in 2003 to undertake research,
develop training modules, and organize conferences and lectures to raise awareness on disaster
management.
For a long time, the government has been heavily focused on emergency response and few initiatives
were taken on disaster preparedness. However, more recently, the government passed the Disaster
Management Act 2005 to mainstream disaster risk reduction into development plans and projects to
decrease vulnerability. Under the provisions of the Act, the NDMA is responsible for the use of the
National Disaster Mitigation Fund on risk reduction projects. The government also launched a number
of national mitigation projects to strengthen disaster readiness in hazard-prone areas by establishing
building codes for earthquakes, managing land-use, fostering collaboration, and raising public
awareness.
Since India is constantly affected by floods, the government created the Flood Management
Programme, investing approximately $1.81 billion between 2007 and 2012 in improving river
management, flood control and drainage systems. The Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for
drought mitigation through educating communities about water management, using water
conservation technologies, and constructing watersheds to store water. The state governments are
responsible for providing employment, food security, and support for livestock when drought is
declared.
NDMA has carried out emergency drills at different schools based on the disasters they are exposed to,
and tried to assess the resources and response systems. In flood-prone areas like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh
and a few other states, villagers are raising their houses and gardens above flood level by using
earthen mounds to reduce flood risks . In the city of Pune in the state of Maharashtra – a flood-prone
area, the government developed a new drainage map, widened streams, expanded bridges, and applied
natural soil infiltration supplement. Furthermore, the municipal government provided tax incentives
for households who recycle wastewater and use rainwater. These tactics have been extremely
beneficial to the communities to mitigate risks and promote water management .
The government of India is also promoting the use of watersheds to deal with water resource deficiency
in drought-prone areas. The Participatory Watershed Development (PWD) program, led by the
Watershed Organization Trust (WOTR), includes the building of rainwater harvesting structures, soil
erosion control activities (planting trees), capacity building, education, and community empowerment.
WOTR is also leading the climate change adaptation project by working in 53 villages in three states
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on water management techniques, weather report installations, crop diversification and environmental
conservation .
Some challenges to disaster related programs are poor communication systems and a lack of
awareness among community members. Additionally, there appears to be a wide gap of knowledge and
expertise among government officials, NGOs, and civil society. Therefore, the success of disaster
management efforts are contingent upon the capacity of actors at the state and local leve
To know more refer below links –
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/27/flooding-in-india-affects-16m-people-andsubmerges-national-park
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/hjUVTrwyI0I4p4b4enBg1K/India-tops-list-of-nations-at-risk-fromfloods.html
http://www.internationalfloodnetwork.org/AR2006/AR08Nandy.pdf
http://www.internationalfloodnetwork.org/AR2006/AR08Nandy.pdf
http://www.adrc.asia/countryreport/IND/INDeng98/
http://www.give2asia.org/disaster-preparedness-and-resilience-india/
http://floodlist.com/tag/india
http://scroll.in/bulletins/14/doctors-have-it-easier-than-us-their-mistakes-get-buried-but-ourmistakes-will-be-there-for-everyone-to-see
Every year 2nd February is observed as International Wetland Day. The theme for 2016 is ―Wetlands
for our Future: Sustainable Livelihoods‖. The sustainable utilization of wetlands for the benefits of
mankind in a way compatible with the maintenance of the natural properties of the ecosystem is the
hallmark of wise-use concept of wetlands under Ramsar Convention. In fact, global recognition of
wetlands came through the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as
Waterfowl Habitat which provides framework for conservation and wise use of wetlands. The
convention was adopted on 2 February, 1971 at a conference in Ramsar, a small town near the
Caspian Sea in Iran; thus designated ‗Ramsar Convention‘. Realizing the importance of wetlands as
habitats supporting rich flora and fauna, especially waterfowl, and a resource of great economic,
cultural, scientific and recreational value, and the need for their conservation with coordinated
international action, India joined the Convention in October 1981.
Wetland values are manifold, and the future of mankind is intimately linked to their sustainable
utilization. Apart from replenishing ground water aquifers, wetlands provide necessary water (20-50
liters needed daily by every human being) for drinking, cooking and cleaning purposes. Nearly half of
the world‘s population is dependent on rice (staple diet) grown in wetland paddies. Moreover, 70% of
all freshwater extracted globally finds use in crop irrigation. Wetlands constitute an important life
support system by helping in recharging the aquifers, regulating hydrological regimes and acting as
natural traps for sediments and nutrients Aptly called the nature‘s ‗kidneys‘, wetlands help in partial
removal of nutrients and toxic substances from waste waters; an important mechanism for the
abatement of pollution. However, the plight of wetlands, the world over, is disturbing. Estimates
suggest that 64% of the world‘s wetlands have disappeared during the last ten decades, and Asia in
particular is believed to have suffered heavy losses. Global scenario indicates that access to freshwater
for 1-2 billion people is poised to face mounting pressure triggering genuine debate on sustainable
livelihoods. The impact on biodiversity is so severe that 76 % decline of freshwater species have
occurred during the last 4 decades.
Kashmir Valley, comprising a part of Western Himalaya, with varied relief and dense drainage net
work has outstanding distinction of richness of natural waters including lakes/ wetlands. No wonder,
some of the wetlands (latest being Hokersar wetland) from the region have been designated ‗Wetlands
of International Importance‘ (‗Ramsar Sites‘). Pertinent to mention that Hokersar has a special
importance as the wetland constitutes habitat for waterfowl migrating in tens of thousands during
winter from northern cold regions to wetlands in warmer regions. The Government of India, under the
aegis of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi has been vigorously pursuing the policy
of conservation, management and sustainable development of wetlands. The author undertook a
comprehensive research work on Hokersar to assess anthropogenic pressures on the ecology of the
wetland with special reference to conservation. It is beyond the scope of this article to deal in detail
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Wetlands are Nature’s kidneys. Elucidate. How they are threatened by anthropogenic
actions in India. Give steps taken to attend the same.
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about the research findings. However, it may be mentioned that in Kashmir, the last few decades have
witnessed an exponential increase in urbanization. The onslaught has been so severe that even the
floodplains have not been spared; the ecological consequences, among other factors, have been
manifested by way of recent Kashmir deluge in September, 2014.
Wetlands provide significant social, economic and ecological benefits including water regulation,
habitat for waterfowl, fish etc., and resources to meet human needs, recreation and eco-tourism. The
well identifiable aspects include their role in natural flood-control or buffering for downstream areas
besides ground water recharge areas. They support highly valuable pools for biodiversity and genetic
resources. Many wetland plants were extensively used for housing and food. Today, wetlands (natural
or human modified) provide staple food (rice and fish) for more than half of the world‘s human
population which highlights the importance of wetlands for future and thus calls for international
efforts for sustainable livelihoods. Wetlands are significant sources and sinks of greenhouse gases and
thus, play an important role in global climate change. Carbon trading in wetlands has been proposed
as one mechanism to enhance carbon sequestration
Indeed, use of wetland ecosystems in a fair and equitable manner for environmental, social and
economic security merits global attention, and the theme chosen for this year‘s Wetland Day is a step
in right direction.
Etlands are valued for the important services they provide: wildlife habitat, flood water storage,
recreation and pollution cleaning up (water quality). Currently the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency is planning to collect information to assess the overall health of these important aquatic
resources in 2011. http://www.epa.gov/wetlands/survey/
This will be accomplished by working with states, tribes and other partners to go out to specific sites
to monitor and analyze wetland condition. The sample sites will be a subset of those used by the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service to evaluate losses and gains in wetland acreage—which it has done through
its status and trends reports going back to the mid50s http://www.fws.gov/wetlands/
StatusAndTrends/index.html
EPA has or is in the process of completing similar surveys on the Nation‘s coastal waters, wadeable
streams, rivers and lakes. All together it is the first comprehensive assessment of the overall health of
the Nation‘s aquatic resources. EPA is conducting this national assessment to help everyone make
good decisions about on how to better protect, maintain and restore the Nation‘s waters.
It is a very ambitious project given the diversity of water resources and particularly wetland resources.
EPA has worked hard to coordinate and share information with state and tribal wetland managers.
There has been a lot of discussion about wetland health and wetland services (flood storage, wildlife,
etc.) and how they relate to each other. Let it suffice to say it‘s complicated.
In addition to the scientific discussions the public has its own perception of healthy wetlands, which
sometimes departs significantly from wetland experts. First, most are probably under the impression
that ‗wetter is better.‘ This is because nearly every photograph or video of wetlands involves water,
usually lots of water. Wetland professionals know that many very important wetlands are dry part or
much of the year. It is the wet-dry cycle that creates the services people value. But photographs of
wetlands during dry periods rarely make it into educational material.
The public also has some interesting perceptions of how large a wetland should be for certain services.
They are comfortable with the concept that wildlife and flood storage require large areas. But for some
reason the same perception does not carry over for improving water quality and reducing pollution.
I‘m not sure why it is true, but here seems general consensus that improving water quality either does
not or should not take up much space.
Maybe it is because it is easy to visualize wildlife habitat and flood storage. We have all seen images of
hundreds of waterfowl landing in a shallow marsh. We know that floods are all about too much water
and it‘s logical that flood storage would require large acreage. But there is no similar visual that
applies to improving water quality. In fact the only picture the public might logically seize on is the
well known idea that wetlands are nature‘s kidneys. Kidneys are, after all, a relatively small organ. It
might be equally valid to call compare wetlands to another organ, the liver, since wetlands clean up
water before it enters lakes and rivers, rather like the liver‘s role for the circulatory system of the body.
The liver is also a much larger organ. But calling wetlands ‗Nature‘s livers‘ is unlikely to improve their
image.
The urge to understand and make sense of the world is intrinsic to being human. That understanding
is based wholly or in part on experience. Today, more than ever, knowledge is shared through
images—TV, movies, films, the internet, etc.. It will be interesting to learn what EPA discovers about
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the health of the Nation‘s water resources and equally interesting to learn how the public interprets
that information using their own visual experience.
The vanishing wetlands in India
In movies, they are shown as dark and dank places, full of bloodthirsty creatures lurking in unseen
corners. Our perception of swamps, marshes and other such semi-aquatic habitats have always
walked on the fear of the unknown. They have been as seen hot, humid, mosquito-breeding
infestations, and not recognized for the richness of their ecosystem.
This mindset has led to the large-scale destruction and paving over of wetlands that dot our cities and
countryside. The disappearing wetlands, part of our commons, has at long last set alarm bells ringing
in conservation circles.
Wetlands are defined as areas of land that is either temporarily or permanently covered by water. They
are neither truly aquatic nor terrestrial. Each wetland is ecologically unique. It recycles nutrients,
purifies and provides drinking water, reduces flooding, recharges groundwater, provides fodder and
fuel, facilitates aqua-culture, provides a habitat for wildlife, buffers the shoreline against erosion and
offers avenues for recreation. But, wetlands across the country are threatened by reclamation by
draining and filling, besides pollution, and are exploited for their natural resources, leading to the loss
of biodiversity. ―Wetlands are one of the most threatened habitats of the world. They are considered as
wastelands in our country. This is pushing us towards an unperceived ecological crisis,‖ said B.C.
Choudhury, scientist and former faculty member at the Wildlife Institute of India.
Dire situation
The situation is dire, according to environment ministry. ―Research suggests that one-third of Indian
wetlands have already been wiped out or severely degraded,‖ it said in a recent report.
India is a signatory to the Ramsar Convention (February 1982), an international treaty for the
conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. The country has only 26 sites (see table) designated as
wetlands of international importance, with a surface area of 689,131 hectares, whereas a much
smaller country like the UK has 169 Ramsar sites.
Even these 26 sites are plagued by uncontrolled development and illegal encroachment. They include
all of India‘s largest and well-known lakes—Wular in Kashmir (fresh water), Sambhar in Rajasthan
(salt) to Chilka in Orissa (brackish)—each one of them rapidly shrinking.
Pulicat Lake, India‘s second largest lagoon bordering Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, is threatened
by the Dugarajapatnam port project, which has already acquired 2000 acres of its area.
Kolleru Lake, the second biggest freshwater lake located in Andhra Pradesh, faces massive
anthropogenic pressure. Almost 90% of the lake bed has been covered by fish tanks that have turned
into a drain.
In Kerala, the Vembanadlake—said to be India‘s longest lake and the largest in the state—is famous
for the annual snake boat race held on its waters. This wetland is regarded as the rice bowl of central
Kerala. It provides drinking water to millions of people in Thrissur and Malappuram districts, apart
from supporting 12 species of threatened birds.
When most wetlands in Kerala were reclaimed for various reasons, this unique ecosystem was
protected, primarily by those who farm in the lake‘s wetlands. But, land use changes and waste
dumping are posing a major threat to the lake.
―The lake is an example of how unregulated commercial interests destroy a wetland. An airstrip is
planned here. There is sand mining on the islands. Resorts have come up all over, and each resort has
illegally netted off portions of the wetland,‖ said Neha Sinha, advocacy and policy officer, Bombay
Natural History Society.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) study estimated that wetlands cover 7% of the earth‘s
surface and deliver 45% of its natural productivity and ecosystem services. Globally, 1.5-3 billion
people depend on wetlands as a source of drinking water as well as food and livelihood security. These
natural resources are estimated at $20 trillion a year. But despite the benefits, wetlands have been
systematically destroyed by being converted to industrial, agricultural and residential use.
Nothing to show
Despite India having a National Wetlands Conservation Programme since 1985-86 that provided
financial support for the protection of 115 wetlands in different states, there‘s nothing to show for this
on the ground.
Conservationists blame state governments for not being proactive and letting the issue slide. With no
working plans being drawn up by the states, the Central funds are unused.
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The environment ministry has outlined threats to the wetlands, which include habitat destruction and
encroachments through drainage and landfill, overexploitation of fish, discharge of waste water and
industrial effluents, uncontrolled siltation and weed infestation, and harmful fertilizer and pesticide
runoff.
The vanishing wetlands did nudge the government into action earlier this year.
In February, the cabinet committee on economic affairs approved a proposal for the merger of the
National Lake Conservation Plan and National Wetlands Conservation Programme, creating the
National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-Systems, aimed at a more holistic framework for the
conservation and restoration of lakes and wetlands.
The plan is to be operational during the 12th five-year plan that ends on March 2017 at an estimated
cost of Rs.900 crore on a 70:30 cost-sharing basis between the Central and state governments (90:10
for the north-eastern states), with the bigger part of the money coming from the Union government.
But apart from the announcement, there hasn‘t been much by way of progress beyond that in terms of
guidelines or the nodal agency under which plan will function.
The role of the wetlands is critical as a habitat for wildlife. For instance, they act as a refuge to
thousands of migratory birds. Of the 465 important bird areas identified by BNHS and Birdlife
International in the country, 125 are in the wetlands, all potential Ramsar sites and needing
immediate protection.
Take the example of the Kawar Lake in Bihar. An oxbow lake, it‘s the largest water body in the state
and home to more than 20,000 migratory and local water birds. One of the three wetlands of Bihar
identified under the wetland conservation programme of the environment ministry, it is threatened by
illegal land sales and encroachments that are resulting in it shrinking.
Funds to the tune of Rs.31. 36 lakh earmarked by NWCP for the lake are lying unutilized in the state‘s
treasury since 1992, said Arvind Mishra, member, State Board for Wildlife, Bihar.
In neighbouring Jharkhand, Udhwa Lake is the state‘s only bird sanctuary, comprising two interconnected water bodies, Pataura and Berhale. Here, intensive agriculture is squeezing the life out of
the lake. Whatever is left of the wetland is prey to encroachment for settlements, poaching of birds
and illegal fishing.
Noupada, referred to as the salt bowl of Andhra Pradesh, is a 4,000-acre swamp adjoining the
Telineelapuram bird sanctuary. This is considered the only remnant of the marsh ecosystem on the
eastern coast of India and is home to communities that practice a unique and traditional style of
inland fishing. It harbours a globally important breeding site for spot-billed pelicans and painted
storks. About 150 of the pelicans and 250 of the storks breed here and scientists have also recorded
nesting Olive Ridley turtles, an endangered species. However, the entire area is threatened by several
projects, including the controversial Bhavanapadu thermal power project promoted by East Coast
Energy Pvt. Ltd (ECEPL).
The Kutch Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat comprises of the largest seasonal saline wetlands and is also
Asia‘s largest flamingo breeding ground. This unique habitat is now threatened by a proposed massive
road construction project.
―While the project proponent claims that the road is meant to facilitate mobility for the Border Security
Force (BSF), our sources on the ground unequivocally assert that this project is nothing but a cover
for promoting and expanding tourism in the region,‖ according to Conservation India, a wildlife
conservation web site and a campaigner against the road project.
The threat posed by the project was outlined in a report by eminent conservationists M.K. Ranjitsinh,
DivyabhanusinhChavda and AsadRahmani, deputed as experts by the National Board for Wildlife
(NBWL) to assess the situation.
―If the proposed road is allowed to be constructed, it would in all probability result in the
abandonment of this breeding site and thus India would lose the only breeding site of flamingos,
which in turn could spell doom to the population of these birds in the Indian subcontinent,‖ the report
said. In her letter to the environment minister, another NBWL member, PrernaBindra, said,
―Importantly, too, were this road to come up, it will also destroy the sacred and unique mangrove
forest of Shravan Kavadia. This Avicennia mangrove is one of its kind in the world. Located more than
100 km inland from the sea and completely landlocked, these Avicennia trees are enormous in
stature, extraordinary for mangroves anywhere. Most importantly, such ecological devastation seems
pointless given that there is accessibility by a perfectly viable alternate alignment.‖
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The fight over wetlands is a global one. In the US for instance, conservationists and local citizens have
been battling developers and the sugar industry over the destruction of the Florida Everglades for
decades.
All over India, it‘s the same story—not a single wetland has been spared. While the monsoon breathes
fresh life into the country‘s wetlands, policy makers will hopefully wake up to the need to conserve this
critical ecosystem. So far this year, India has recorded a good monsoon and by now the rain has
replenished the wetlands, offering yet another opportunity to retain what we have before it‘s destroyed.
Wetlands are amongst the most productive ecosystems on the Earth (Ghermandi et al., 2008), and
provide many important services to human society (ten Brink et al., 2012). However, they are also
ecologically sensitive and adaptive systems (Turner et al., 2000). Wetlands exhibit enormous diversity
according to their genesis, geographical location, water regime and chemistry, dominant species, and
soil and sediment characteristics (Space Applications Centre, 2011). Globally, the areal extent of
wetland ecosystems ranges from 917 million hectares (m ha) (Lehner and Döll, 2004) to more than
1275 m ha (Finlayson and Spiers, 1999) with an estimated economic value of about US$15 trillion a
year (MEA, 2005).
One of the first widely used wetland classifications systems (devised by Cowardin et al., 1979)
categorized wetlands into marine (coastal wetlands), estuarine (including deltas, tidal marshes, and
mangrove swamps), lacustarine (lakes), riverine (along rivers and streams), and palustarine (‗marshy‘ –
marshes, swamps and bogs) based on their hydrological, ecological and geological characteristics.
However, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, which is an international treaty signed in 1971 for
national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their
resources, defines wetlands (Article 1.1) as ―areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or
artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt,
including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres‖. Overall,
1052 sites in Europe; 289 sites in Asia; 359 sites in Africa; 175 sites in South America; 211 sites in
North America; and 79 sites in Oceania region have been identified as Ramsar sites or wetlands of
International importance (Ramsar Secretariat, 2013).
As per the Ramsar Convention definition most of the natural water bodies (such as rivers, lakes,
coastal lagoons, mangroves, peat land, coral reefs) and man made wetlands (such as ponds, farm
ponds, irrigated fields, sacred groves, salt pans, reservoirs, gravel pits, sewage farms and canals) in
India constitute the wetland ecosystem. Only 26 of these numerous wetlands have been designated as
Ramsar Sites (Ramsar, 2013). However, many other wetlands which perform potentially valuable
functions are continued to be ignored in the policy process. As a result many freshwater wetlands
ecosystems are threatened and many are already degraded and lost due to urbanization, population
growth, and increased economic activities (Central Pollution Control Board, 2008).
The negative economic, social, and environmental consequences of declining water quality in wetlands
are also an issue of concern for India. The problem of deteriorating water quality is particularly more
alarming in the case of small water bodies such as lakes, tanks and ponds. In the past, these water
sources performed several economic (fisheries, livestock and forestry), social (water supply), and
ecological functions (groundwater recharge, nutrient recycling, and biodiversity maintenance). Despite
all these benefits, many decision-makers and even many of the ‗primary stakeholders‘ think of them
as ‗wastelands‘. Every one claims a stake in them, as they are in the open access regime, but rarely
are willing to pay for this extractive use (Verma, 2001).
These freshwater bodies are often subject to changes in land use in their catchments leading to
reduction in inflows and deteriorating quality of the ―runoff‖ traversing through agricultural fields and
urban areas. On the other hand, many of them act as the ―sink‖ for untreated effluents from urban
centres and industries. Encroachment of reservoir area for urban development, excessive diversion of
water for agriculture is yet another major problem (Verma, 2001). Lack of conformity among
government policies in the areas of economics, environment, nature conservation, development
planning is one reason for the deterioration of these water bodies (Turner et al., 2000). Lack of good
governance and management are also major reasons (Kumar et al., 2013a).
Given this background, the objective of this paper is to review the status of wetlands in India, in terms
of their geographic distribution and areal extent; the ecosystem goods and services they provide;
various stresses they are being subject to; and the various legal and policy approaches adopted in
India for their conservation and management.
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2. Distribution and extent of wetlands in India
India, with its varying topography and climatic regimes, supports diverse and unique wetland habitats
(Prasad et al., 2002). The available estimates about the areal extent of wetlands in India vary widely
from a lowest of 1% to a highest of 5% of geographical area, but do support nearly fifth of the known
biodiversity (Space Applications Centre, 2011). These wetlands are distributed in different
geographical regions ranging from Himalayas to Deccan plateau.
Initial attempts to prepare wetland inventory of India were made between 1980s and early 1990s
(Table 1). As per the: Country report of Directory of Asian Wetlands (Woistencroft et al., 1989); and the
Directory of Indian Wetlands 1993 (WWF and AWB, 1993), the areal spread of wetlands in India was
around 58.3 m ha. But, Paddy fields accounted for nearly 71% of this wetland area. However, as per
the Ministry of Environment and Forests (1990) estimates, wetlands occupy an area of about 4.1 m
ha, but it excludes mangroves. The first scientific mapping of wetlands of the country was carried out
using satellite data of 1992–1993 by Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad. The exercise
classified wetlands based on the Ramsar Convention definition. This inventory estimated the areal
extent of wetlands to be about 7.6 m ha (Garg et al., 1998). The estimates did not include paddy fields,
rivers, canals and irrigation channels. Thus, all these early assessments were marred by problem of
inadequate understanding of the definition and characteristics of wetlands (Gopal and Sah, 1995).
. Importance of wetlands
Wetlands are considered to have unique ecological features which provide numerous products and
services to humanity (Prasad et al., 2002). Ecosystem goods provided by the wetlands mainly include:
water for irrigation; fisheries; non-timber forest products; water supply; and recreation. Major services
include: carbon sequestration, flood control, groundwater recharge, nutrient removal, toxics retention
and biodiversity maintenance (Turner et al., 2000).
3.1. Multiple-use water services
Wetlands such as tanks, ponds, lakes, and reservoirs have long been providing multiple-use water
services which include water for irrigation, domestic needs, fisheries and recreational uses;
groundwater recharge; flood control and silt capture.
The southern States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have the largest concentration of
irrigation tanks, numbering 0.12 million (Palanisami et al., 2010), and account for nearly 60% of
India's tank-irrigated area. Similarly, there are traditional tank systems in the States of Bihar, Orissa,
Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, accounting for nearly 25% of net tank irrigated area (Pant and Verma,
2010). Tanks play a vital role of harvesting surface runoff during monsoon and then allowing it to be
used later. Apart from irrigation, these tanks are also used for fisheries, as a source of water for
domestic needs and nutrient rich soils, fodder grass collection, and brick making. These uses have
high value in terms of household income, nutrition and health for the poorest of the poor (Kumar et
al., 2013a).
Tanks are also very important from the ecological perspective as they help conserve soil, water and
bio-diversity (Balasubramanian and Selvaraj, 2003). In addition, tanks contribute to groundwater
recharge, flood control and silt capture (Mosse, 1999). Water from tanks has also been used for
domestic and livestock consumption. Over the years, the multiple-use dependence on tanks has only
increased (Kumar et al., 2013a). Similarly, ponds in north-eastern States of India are used for fisheries
(Sarkar and Ponniah, 2005) and irrigating homesteads (CGWB, 2011 and Das et al., 2012).
Lakes, such as, Carambolim (Goa); Chilka (Orissa); Dal Jheel (Jammu and Kashmir); DeeporBeel
(Assam); Khabartal (Bihar); Kolleru (Andhra Pradesh); Loktak (Manipur); Nainital (Uttarakhand);
Nalsarovar (Gujarat); and Vembanad (Kerala), have long been providing recreational, tourism,
fisheries, irrigation and domestic water supply services (Jain et al., 2007a and Jain et al., 2007b).
These lakes also contribute to groundwater recharge and support a rich and diverse variety of aquatic
flora and fauna.
Further, surface reservoirs have also played an important role in providing irrigation and domestic
water security in both rural and urban areas. Approximately 4700 large reservoirs (capacity of not less
than 1 million cubic metre) have been built in India so far for municipal, industrial, hydropower,
agricultural, and recreational water supply; and for flood control (Central Water Commission, 2009).
As per the recent estimates, total live water storage capacity of completed reservoir projects is about
225 billion cubic metres (BCM) and the area covered by reservoirs is around 2.91 m ha (Central Water
Commission, 2010). These reservoirs also support a wide variety of wildlife. Many of the reservoirs
such as GovindSagar Lake formed by diverting river Satluj (Bhakra Dam, Punjab) and Hirakud
reservoir (Sambalpur, Orissa) are a major tourist attraction.
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As per official estimates, tourism contribution to India's GDP and employment in 2007–2008 was
5.92% and 9.24% respectively (Government of India, 2012). These are very important numbers as
wetlands (such as coral reefs, beaches, reservoirs, lakes and rivers) are considered to be a significant
part of the tourism experience and are likely to be a key part of the expansion in demand for tourism
locations (MEA, 2005 and Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and WTO, 2012). Every year, on an
average nearly seven million tourist visit Kerala's backwaters, beaches and wildlife sanctuaries; three
million visit Uttarakhand's lakes and other natural wetlands; one million visit Dal lake; and 20,000
visit lakeTsomoriri.
In terms of growth in fish production in India, wetlands play a significant role. At the moment,
majority of fish production in the country is from inland water bodies (61% of total production), i.e.
rivers; canals; reservoirs; tanks; ponds; and lakes (Table 2). It increased from 0.2 million tonne in
1950–1951 to about 5.1 million tonne in 2010–2011. Carp constitute about 80% of the total inland
aquaculture production. Presently, the State of West Bengal occupies the topmost position (30% of
total inland fish production) followed by Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa (Ministry of
Agriculture, 2012). Overall, fisheries accounts for 1.2% of India's total Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
and 5.4% of total agricultural GDP.
Growing threat to wetland ecosystem
Freshwater wetland ecosystems are among the mostly heavily used, depended upon and exploited
ecosystems for sustainability and well-being (Molur et al., 2011). More than 50% of specific types of
wetlands in parts of North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand were converted during the
twentieth century (MEA, 2005). In Asia alone, about 5000 km2 of wetland area are lost annually to
agriculture, dam construction, and other uses (McAllister et al., 2001). Further, dependence on water
and other resources in this environment has placed enormous pressures on the ecosystem worldwide
resulting in direct impacts to species diversity and populations (Molur et al., 2011). As a result many
wetland dependent species including 21% of bird species; 37% of mammal species; and 20% of
freshwater fish species are either extinct or globally threatened (MEA, 2005).
Loss in wetland area results in adverse impact on the key functions (ecosystem goods and services)
performed by wetlands (Zedler and Kercher, 2005). Worldwide, the main causes of wetland loss have
been: urbanization; land use changes; drainage to agricultural use; infrastructure development;
pollution from industrial effluent and agricultural runoff; climate change and variability. Some of
these factors which led to significant alterations in India's wetland ecosystems have been discussed in
the subsequent sub-sections.
To know more refer below links –
http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/op-ed/wetlands-nature-s-kidneys/208383.html
http://www.aswm.org/wordpress/the-compleat-wetlander-wetlands-%E2%80%93nature%E2%80%99s-kidneys-and-other-specialized-services/
http://southasia.wetlands.org/OurWetlands/Threatenedwetlandsthatdeserveourattention/tabid/633/Default.aspx
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/rOFyi3baM1800Zif2DDrkK/The-vanishing-wetlands-in-India.html
http://envfor.nic.in/divisions/csurv/WWD_Booklet.pdf
Early Warning: Saving Lives in India
Early Warning: Saving Lives in IndiaMAP OF AFFECTED AREAS IN INDIA FOR THE 2004 TSUNAMI.
SOURCE: [REPORT] TSUNAMI, INDIA – TWO YEARS AFTER (2007)
Ten years after the catastrophic Indian Ocean tsunami, the investments of coastal governments in
India, in systems that alert people early about disasters, are helping save millions of lives.
For a country of 1.2 billion, where nearly one-third of the population lives in coastal areas – at risk
from not only tsunamis, but also cyclones and storm surges – these early warning systems are proving
vital time and again.
The benefits of early warning and preparedness can been seen in two successive cyclones that hit
India‘s east coast in the last two years, compared to the cyclones several years ago.
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First world Tsunami awareness day, observed on 5th November 2016 was approved by
UNGA. UNISDR has elaborate plans for the same. What do you understand by Tsunamigenic
zones. Bring out these zones on Indian coastline. Examine the steps taken by government
to minimize the impact of Tsunamis.
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In October 2014, when powerful Cyclone Hudhud struck Odisha and Andhra Pradesh on the country‘s
eastern coast, there was widespread destruction, and 46 people were reported killed.
Almost exactly a year earlier, Cyclone Phailin, the strongest storm to hit India in more than a decade,
had swept across the Bay of Bengal and battered the same area.
In comparison to cyclones past, the death toll represented a dramatic drop. It was also indicative of
the preparedness measures put into place.
For instance, four days before Phailin struck the area was evacuated and a staggering 1.2 million
people were moved to safer areas. Phailin‘s devastating blow caused hundreds of millions of dollars in
damages, and affected the livelihoods of millions of people, but only 21 people died.
In contrast, a 1999 cyclone in that very area had a much more devastating impact, killing 10,000
people. Similarly, the 2004 tsunami took the lives of about 10,000 people in India – 75 percent of
them women and children – and wrecked towns and villages in several coastal states.
Since then and now, much has changed.
A Global Model for Early Warning
WOMEN ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN ODISHA. PHOTO: UNDP INDIA.WOMEN ADAPT TO
CLIMATE CHANGE IN ODISHA. PHOTO: UNDP INDIA.
Under the leadership of the government, UNDP has worked extensively, at both the national and subnational level, with officials, civil society groups and volunteers to better prepare communities to
manage disaster risks, particularly by strengthening early warning systems in tsunami-affected states.
―India‘s experience has demonstrated to the world that combining strong disaster alert mechanisms
with empowered communities can dramatically reduce the loss of life from disasters,‖ says Lise
Grande, United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative.
Following the tsunami, the Government of India has taken major steps to build early warning systems.
At the national level, India‘s Ministry of Earth Sciences has established the National Tsunami Early
Warning System at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) in Hyderabad,
Andhra Pradesh. The Indian Meteorological Department has developed systems for issuing accurate
warnings and generating real-time weather reports that are provided to disaster management agencies
and emergency support service responders.
In the immediate aftermath of the 2004 tsunami, UNDP and other United Nations partners provided
technical assistance to help establish systems to track damages, monitor progress of relief and
recovery projects, and address grievances. Later, UNDP provided technical assistance to help set up
early warning systems. Emergency Operation Centres in all five coastal districts in Tamil Nadu, one of
the worst-affected states, were equipped with public address systems and networked with Very High
Frequency wireless communication networks.
The Tamil Nadu government, with funding from the World Bank, is building on this initiative and
setting up early warning systems using advanced technologies to reach 36 million people that live in
densely populated coastal areas. Other coastal states at risk, including Odisha and Andhra Pradesh,
are part of the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project, which has also established early warning and
dissemination systems.
Prioritizing Community-Based Disaster Risk Management
Prioritizing Community-Based Disaster Risk ManagementCOVER OF A DISASTER PREPAREDNESS
TRAINING BOOK IN INDIA.
In a flagship partnership with the Ministry of Home Affairs, UNDP has helped to develop the
capabilities of communities to mitigate the impact of disaster. The partnership, which evolved into one
of the largest community-based disaster risk management programmes in the world, has reached
more than 300 million people across 150,000 villages in high-risk areas, and has better equipped
them to tackle disaster.
Communities have been empowered to handle emergency response equipment, understand warning
alerts, and take action. Training manuals in English and local languages have been widely
disseminated, ensuring that communities are alert to measures they can take to ensure their safety
when disaster strikes.
The success of such preparedness was demonstrated during cyclones Hudhud and Phailin. Warning
messages, including coordinates of the impending cyclone‘s location and intensity, were
communicated in the days prior to the landfall of Phailin through constant news coverage via
broadcast, print and online media, email and fax, telephone, text messages, and loudspeakers.
Satellite phones were distributed to representatives in the 14 most vulnerable districts to ensure that
warnings and information continued to be communicated during the storm.
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Taking Early Action
During Phailin, Odisha authorities were able to order emergency control rooms to function around the
clock, and to position thousands of rapid-action disaster field officers, in advance, to assist with
evacuations and brace for search and rescue operations. Likewise, arrangements were made to
stockpile food, drinking water, and medicine for those affected. All cyclone and flood shelters were
checked and readied to house evacuees, while earthmovers and other road-clearing machinery was
requisitioned to facilitate movement of relief materials to hard-hit areas.
In addition, special attention has been paid to fisherfolk, often the worst hit when disaster strikes
coastal areas. They have been trained to recognize warning signs to ensure their own safety. For
instance, INCOIS has collaborated with one of the country‘s premier research institutions, the M.S.
Swaminathan Research Foundation, to develop the Fisher Friend Network, which ensures safety at
sea and improves the livelihood of fisherfolk. Aided by the power of communication technology,
fisherfolk now receive regular ocean weather forecasts, early warnings about adverse weather
conditions, and advisories on potential fishing zones.
Coping With Emerging Challenges
Despite the advances in preparedness, key interventions to reduce disaster risk are still needed in
many parts of the country. In Jammu and Kashmir state, high in India‘s northwestern Himalayan
region and far from vulnerable coastal areas, ―abnormal‖ amounts of rainfall are becoming a regular
occurrence despite near-drought in surrounding areas. This heavy precipitation causes floods almost
every year in this mountainous state – including in 2014. This makes improvement of early warning
systems for floods an urgent priority, to improve the timeliness and precision of flood forecasting.
Less than four weeks after Phailin struck India, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the largest ―supertyphoons‖
ever to make landfall, brought heavy rains, raging storm surges and damaging winds to Philippines
and Viet Nam. While many people were saved, 4,000 perished. Many refused to leave their homes, or
were unable to take refuge in a shelter that could withstand the storm.
The Haiyan experience illustrates the magnitude of resources required simply to accommodate
evacuation, contend with the vulnerability to extreme waves and wind, the vulnerability of typhoon
shelters, and the critical importance of community awareness and leadership.
Back in India, however, many of the challenges of the Haiyan experience are receding into the past.
Now, the focus has shifted to expanding early warning systems to areas that lie beyond the country‘s
coastline. Climate change is adding a new and intractable dimension to vulnerability, one which
threatens the resilience of millions of people across the country. India‘s success will depend on its
ability to orient governance mechanisms, people and communities to this emerging challenge.
UNDP‘s partnership with the Ministry of Home Affairs focuses on strengthening the capabilities of
state and district management authorities to reduce risk, and address climate change.
As they
develop plans to mitigate climate change and adapt to new realities, states and districts are already
channeling public investment and taking action to try to minimize the negative impacts of climateinduced disasters.
Edmund Cairns
Senior policy adviser, Oxfam
The tsunami's impact was even worse because it hit some of the poorest parts of the affected
countries. The solution now - along with an end to local conflicts - must be a reconstruction plan that
does more than just rebuild poverty. It must create better access to safe water, health and education,
reduce hunger, and lower child mortality rates.
Another lesson is that the initial reluctance to accept UN leadership of the humanitarian response
proved a costly mistake. The US plan for a "core group" of governments for the emergency response
lasted just eight days before it was quietly ditched. The UN, and especially Jan Egeland's Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance, has at last been recognised as the best leadership option.
Third, we must look at the policies that are hurting the very countries we are trying to help. Just six
days after the tsunami struck, the quota system that gave textile exports from Sri Lanka and the
Maldives special access to Europe and the US ended. Sri Lanka could now lose 100,000 jobs. If there
was ever a time for the EU and US to open their markets to exports from these countries, it is now.
World leaders need to double global aid as well as provide debt relief and reform unfair trade rules.
This is the key to long-term recovery in tsunami-affected countries and the rest of the developing
world.
Vandana Shiva
Director, Research Foundation for Science,Technology and Natural Resource Policy
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The first lesson is about development in coastal regions. Respect for the fragility and vulnerability of
coastal ecosystems has been sacrificed for hotels and holiday resorts, shrimp farms and refineries.
Mangroves and coral reefs have been relentlessly destroyed, taking away the protective barriers. Our
study of the Orissa cyclone in India in 1999, which killed 30,000 people, found that the destruction
was much more severe where the mangroves had been cut down for shrimp farms and an oil refinery.
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The people's movement against industrial shrimp farming led to a court order to shut down the farms
within 500 metres of the coastline. But the shrimp industry tried to undo environmental protection
laws by seeking exemption from the government. We calculate that every acre of shrimp farming has
an ecological footprint of 100 acres in terms of destruction of mangroves and the surrounding land,
along with sea pollution. Every dollar generated by shrimp exports leaves behind $10 of ecological and
economic destruction.
Conversely, the indigenous tribes of Andaman and Nicobar - the Onges, Jarawas, Sentinelese and
Shompen - who engage in traditional fishing methods, had the lowest casualties, even though they
were closest on the Indian sub-continent to the epicentre of the earthquake.
The government of Kerala state, observing that the tsunami left less destruction in regions protected
by mangroves than barren and exposed beaches, has started a project for insulating coasts with
mangroves.
Second, the tsunami shows us how severe the costs of continuing business as usual can be. The
tsunami should wake up people like [Bjorn] Lomberg [an environmentalist who has questioned global
warming]. They should ask the people of the Maldives whether they accept the inevitability of
irreversible sea-level rise due to climate change induced by the burning of fossil fuels. I felt nature was
telling us: "This is what sea-level rise will look like, this is how entire societies will be robbed of their
ecological space to live in peace on the planet."
The third lesson is that environmental vulnerability must be reduced, not increased, and the true
costs of damaging development taken into account.
Edward Clay
Senior researcher, the Overseas Development Institute
There is now a consensus on the need for a tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean, but
that draws too narrow a lesson from the disaster. Warnings should cover extreme weather too. Are the
2004 hurricanes, and the mild El Niño now affecting the eastern Pacific, part of a wider pattern of
increasing climatic extremes driven by global climatic change? How can we hope to understand the
effects of global warming if we do not understand the effects of extreme weather and inadequately
monitor them?"
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The poor must be helped to help themselves. Less than 4% of the damage is believed to have been
insured, yet catastrophe insurance is one of the most effective ways of recovery. A major effort is
needed to ensure that those providing microcredit to millions of poor people are able to include
insurance in their loans, and have the funding in place and guarantees to withstand the effects of
disasters. Arrangements are also needed for reinsuring risks and protecting micro-credit
organisations.
Additionally, aid must not be tied. Almost $1bn of emergency aid has been confirmed, but we can be
near certain that some of the initial decisions about relief will be wrong. Those on the ground and
those supporting them require the flexibility to change what they are doing. This is why the money
that voluntary agencies get directly from the public is very important. It is the most flexible form of
relief.
Most of the aid provided by official donors comes with restrictions on what is to be provided, where it
is to be sourced, and when and where it can be used. These restrictions are partly to ensure coherence
and accountability, but are also motivated by domestic interests. Much of the relief is food aid, 90% of
which comes from donor countries and 50% of that from the US. But US laws also protect American
commercial interests.
Some European countries, including the UK and Sweden, have taken a lead in untying humanitarian
food aid. The rest of Europe is slowly following suit.
Early Warning: Saving Lives in India
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MAP OF AFFECTED AREAS IN INDIA FOR THE 2004 TSUNAMI. SOURCE: [REPORT] TSUNAMI,
INDIA – TWO YEARS AFTER (2007)
Ten years after the catastrophic Indian Ocean tsunami, the investments of coastal governments in
India, in systems that alert people early about disasters, are helping save millions of lives.
For a country of 1.2 billion, where nearly one-third of the population lives in coastal areas – at risk
from not only tsunamis, but also cyclones and storm surges – these early warning systems are proving
vital time and again.
The benefits of early warning and preparedness can been seen in two successive cyclones that hit
India‘s east coast in the last two years, compared to the cyclones several years ago.
In October 2014, when powerful Cyclone Hudhud struck Odisha and Andhra Pradesh on the country‘s
eastern coast, there was widespread destruction, and 46 people were reported killed.
Almost exactly a year earlier, Cyclone Phailin, the strongest storm to hit India in more than a decade,
had swept across the Bay of Bengal and battered the same area.
In comparison to cyclones past, the death toll represented a dramatic drop. It was also indicative of
the preparedness measures put into place.
For instance, four days before Phailin struck the area was evacuated and a staggering 1.2 million
people were moved to safer areas. Phailin‘s devastating blow caused hundreds of millions of dollars in
damages, and affected the livelihoods of millions of people, but only 21 people died.
In contrast, a 1999 cyclone in that very area had a much more devastating impact, killing 10,000
people. Similarly, the 2004 tsunami took the lives of about 10,000 people in India – 75 percent of
them women and children – and wrecked towns and villages in several coastal states.
Since then and now, much has changed.
A Global Model for Early Warning
WOMEN ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN ODISHA. PHOTO: UNDP INDIA.
Under the leadership of the government, UNDP has worked extensively, at both the national and subnational level, with officials, civil society groups and volunteers to better prepare communities to
manage disaster risks, particularly by strengthening early warning systems in tsunami-affected states.
―India‘s experience has demonstrated to the world that combining strong disaster alert mechanisms
with empowered communities can dramatically reduce the loss of life from disasters,‖ says Lise
Grande, United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative.
Following the tsunami, the Government of India has taken major steps to build early warning systems.
At the national level, India‘s Ministry of Earth Sciences has established the National Tsunami Early
Warning System at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) in Hyderabad,
Andhra Pradesh. The Indian Meteorological Department has developed systems for issuing accurate
warnings and generating real-time weather reports that are provided to disaster management agencies
and emergency support service responders.
In the immediate aftermath of the 2004 tsunami, UNDP and other United Nations partners provided
technical assistance to help establish systems to track damages, monitor progress of relief and
recovery projects, and address grievances. Later, UNDP provided technical assistance to help set up
early warning systems. Emergency Operation Centres in all five coastal districts in Tamil Nadu, one of
the worst-affected states, were equipped with public address systems and networked with Very High
Frequency wireless communication networks.
The Tamil Nadu government, with funding from the World Bank, is building on this initiative and
setting up early warning systems using advanced technologies to reach 36 million people that live in
densely populated coastal areas. Other coastal states at risk, including Odisha and Andhra Pradesh,
are part of the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project, which has also established early warning and
dissemination systems.
Prioritizing Community-Based Disaster Risk Management
COVER OF A DISASTER PREPAREDNESS TRAINING BOOK IN INDIA.
In a flagship partnership with the Ministry of Home Affairs, UNDP has helped to develop the
capabilities of communities to mitigate the impact of disaster. The partnership, which evolved into one
of the largest community-based disaster risk management programmes in the world, has reached
more than 300 million people across 150,000 villages in high-risk areas, and has better equipped
them to tackle disaster.
Communities have been empowered to handle emergency response equipment, understand warning
alerts, and take action. Training manuals in English and local languages have been widely
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disseminated, ensuring that communities are alert to measures they can take to ensure their safety
when disaster strikes.
The success of such preparedness was demonstrated during cyclones Hudhud and Phailin. Warning
messages, including coordinates of the impending cyclone‘s location and intensity, were
communicated in the days prior to the landfall of Phailin through constant news coverage via
broadcast, print and online media, email and fax, telephone, text messages, and loudspeakers.
Satellite phones were distributed to representatives in the 14 most vulnerable districts to ensure that
warnings and information continued to be communicated during the storm.
Taking Early Action
During Phailin, Odisha authorities were able to order emergency control rooms to function around the
clock, and to position thousands of rapid-action disaster field officers, in advance, to assist with
evacuations and brace for search and rescue operations. Likewise, arrangements were made to
stockpile food, drinking water, and medicine for those affected. All cyclone and flood shelters were
checked and readied to house evacuees, while earthmovers and other road-clearing machinery was
requisitioned to facilitate movement of relief materials to hard-hit areas.
In addition, special attention has been paid to fisherfolk, often the worst hit when disaster strikes
coastal areas. They have been trained to recognize warning signs to ensure their own safety. For
instance, INCOIS has collaborated with one of the country‘s premier research institutions, the M.S.
Swaminathan Research Foundation, to develop the Fisher Friend Network, which ensures safety at
sea and improves the livelihood of fisherfolk. Aided by the power of communication technology,
fisherfolk now receive regular ocean weather forecasts, early warnings about adverse weather
conditions, and advisories on potential fishing zones.
Coping With Emerging Challenges
Despite the advances in preparedness, key interventions to reduce disaster risk are still needed in
many parts of the country. In Jammu and Kashmir state, high in India‘s northwestern Himalayan
region and far from vulnerable coastal areas, ―abnormal‖ amounts of rainfall are becoming a regular
occurrence despite near-drought in surrounding areas. This heavy precipitation causes floods almost
every year in this mountainous state – including in 2014. This makes improvement of early warning
systems for floods an urgent priority, to improve the timeliness and precision of flood forecasting.
Less than four weeks after Phailin struck India, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the largest ―supertyphoons‖
ever to make landfall, brought heavy rains, raging storm surges and damaging winds to Philippines
and Viet Nam. While many people were saved, 4,000 perished. Many refused to leave their homes, or
were unable to take refuge in a shelter that could withstand the storm.
The Haiyan experience illustrates the magnitude of resources required simply to accommodate
evacuation, contend with the vulnerability to extreme waves and wind, the vulnerability of typhoon
shelters, and the critical importance of community awareness and leadership.
Back in India, however, many of the challenges of the Haiyan experience are receding into the past.
Now, the focus has shifted to expanding early warning systems to areas that lie beyond the country‘s
coastline. Climate change is adding a new and intractable dimension to vulnerability, one which
threatens the resilience of millions of people across the country. India‘s success will depend on its
ability to orient governance mechanisms, people and communities to this emerging challenge.
UNDP‘s partnership with the Ministry of Home Affairs focuses on strengthening the capabilities of
state and district management authorities to reduce risk, and address climate change.
As they
develop plans to mitigate climate change and adapt to new realities, states and districts are already
channeling public investment and taking action to try to minimize the negative impacts of climateinduced disasters.
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted a resolution to designate 5th November
every year as World Tsunami Awareness Day. The observance of the day would help to spread
awareness among people across the world in matters related to the dangers of tsunami and shall
stress on the importance of early warning systems in order to mitigate damage from the devastating
natural calamity. The proposal in this regard was first mooted by the Government of Japan after the
3rd UN Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai (Japan) in March 2015. Significance of
the Day: November 5 has been selected by UNGA to coincide with the annual anniversary of the 1854
Inamura-no-hi or ―Fire of Inamura‖ event. On this day of that year a Japanese villager through his
quick action saved countless lives when he set fire to sheaves of rice, thus warning people of the
imminent danger of a tsunami. Note: The International Day for Disaster Reduction has been observed
annually on October 13 to highlight tsunami. Some facts Japan had suffered heavy losses as a result
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of tsunamis in the past and the most recently Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on 11
March 2011. It had claimed over 15,000 lives and also had disrupted the nuclear power industry and
left many thousands homeless. While on 26 December 2004 i.e. on Boxing Day, the Indian Ocean
tsunami had claimed arounf 230000 lives. The devastating tsunami was formed due to earthquake
with its epicenter off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. It had affected lives and the natural
environment in six countries in the region including India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Somalia and Thailand.
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted a resolution to designate 5th November
every year as World Tsunami Awareness Day. The observance of the day would help to spread
awareness among people across the world in matters related to the dangers of tsunami and shall
stress on the importance of early warning systems in order to mitigate damage from the devastating
natural calamity. The proposal in this regard was first mooted by the Government of Japan after the
3rd UN Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai (Japan) in March 2015. Significance of
the Day: November 5 has been selected by UNGA to coincide with the annual anniversary of the 1854
Inamura-no-hi or ―Fire of Inamura‖ event. On this day of that year a Japanese villager through his
quick action saved countless lives when he set fire to sheaves of rice, thus warning people of the
imminent danger of a tsunami. Note: The International Day for Disaster Reduction has been observed
annually on October 13 to highlight tsunami. Some facts Japan had suffered heavy losses as a result
of tsunamis in the past and the most recently Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on 11
March 2011. It had claimed over 15,000 lives and also had disrupted the nuclear power industry and
left many thousands homeless. While on 26 December 2004 i.e. on Boxing Day, the Indian Ocean
tsunami had claimed arounf 230000 lives. The devastating tsunami was formed due to earthquake
with its epicenter off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. It had affected lives and the natural
environment in six countries in the region including India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Somalia and Thailand
To know more refer below links
https://www.e-education.psu.edu/earth501/content/p2_p4.html
http://www.in.undp.org/content/india/en/home/ourwork/environmentandenergy/early-warning-saving-lives-in-india.html
http://www.gdrc.org/uem/disasters/disenvi/tsunami.html
http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/cramerbd/
http://www.tn.gov.in/tsunami/About%20us/Aboutus.html
18.
Differentiate between planetary winds and local winds in terms of their origin, influence
and scale of operation. Also, illustrate the impact of local winds in influencing the climate
of any area.
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The ocean plays a fundamental role in shaping the climate zones we see on land. Even areas
hundreds of miles away from any coastline are still largely influenced by the global ocean
system.
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Illustration of major ocean currents throughout the globe. Ocean currents act as conveyer belts of
warm and cold water, sending heat toward the polar regions and helping tropical areas cool off.
The world‘s ocean is crucial to heating the planet. While land areas and the atmosphere absorb some
sunlight, the majority of the sun‘s radiation is absorbed by the ocean. Particularly in the tropical
waters around the equator, the ocean acts a as massive, heat-retaining solar panel. Earth‘s
atmosphere also plays a part in this process, helping to retain heat that would otherwise quickly
radiate into space after sunset.
The ocean doesn't just store solar radiation; it also helps to distribute heat around the globe. When
water molecules are heated, they exchange freely with the air in a process called evaporation. Ocean
water is constantly evaporating, increasing the temperature and humidity of the surrounding air to
form rain and storms that are then carried by trade
winds, often vast distances. In fact, almost all rain that
falls on land starts off in the ocean. The tropics are
particularly rainy because heat absorption, and thus
ocean evaporation, is highest in this area.
Outside of Earth‘s equatorial areas, weather patterns are
driven largely by ocean currents. Currents are movements
of ocean water in a continuous flow, created largely by
surface winds but also partly by temperature and salinity
gradients, Earth‘s rotation, and tides (the gravitational
effects of the sun and moon). Major current systems
typically flow clockwise in the northern hemisphere and
counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere, in circular patterns that often trace the coastlines.
Ocean currents act much like a conveyer belt, transporting warm water and precipitation from the
equator toward the poles and cold water from the poles back to the tropics. Thus, currents regulate
global climate, helping to counteract the uneven distribution of solar radiation reaching Earth‘s
surface. Without currents, regional temperatures would be more extreme—super hot at the equator
and frigid toward the poles—and much less of Earth‘s land would be habitable
LOCAL WINDS
Local winds occur on a small spatial scale, their horizontal dimensions
typically several tens to a few hundreds of kilometres. They also tend to
be short-lived lasting typically several hours to a day. There are many
such winds around the world, some of them cold, some warm, some wet,
some dry. There are many hazards associated with the winds.
The
main
types
of
local
winds
are:
Sea breezes and land breezes, Anabatic and katabatic winds, and Foehn
winds.
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This wind is caused by thermal (heat) processes. Anabatic (upslope)
winds occur over slopes which are heated by the sun. Air which is in contact with slopes that are
warmed expands upward and cool and sinks over neighbouring
valleys (see diagram). Anabatic winds are usually slow, at only 12m/s and are rarely importance expect near coasts where they
can increase the strength of sea breezes.
Katabatic Winds
Katabatic (downslope) winds occur over slopes which are cooled.
Katabatic winds occur where air in contact with sloping ground
is colder than air at the same level away from the hillside over
the valley (see diagram below). Katabatic winds are nocturnal
phenomena in most parts of the world (i.e. they tend to happen
at night) as there is surface cooling, especially when there is
little cloud and due to lack of heating by the sun.
Katabatic wind speeds do not typically not exceed 3 or 4 m/s.
However, where the ground is covered with snow or ice,
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Download wind Factfile with many more winds
 Anabatic winds
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Sea breezes are the result of differential heating of the land and the sea. Sea breezes occur by day,
when the land becomes warmer than the sea. Warm air from the land cannot expand into the sea
as the air is cooler and more dense, so it expands up into the atmosphere. Cumulus clouds tend to
form as the warm air rises over the land to about 500-1500m. The diagram below shows the whole
sea breeze process.
Air in sea breezes is cool and moist compared to the air over the land. Sea breezes can move 70km
inland in temperate climates by 9pm in the evening. Sea breezes can be noticed several kilometres
out to sea. In the tropics they can be felt 20km from the land.
Wind speeds from sea breezes can be about 4-8m/s but can be
even stronger.
Land breezes
Land breezes occur at night and in the early morning, when
the land is cooler than the sea. This is because as the air cools
in the night time (as there is less heating from the sun) it
contracts. Pressure is higher over the land than the sea. This
causes the air to flow from the land to the sea which is known
as a land breeze. The circulation is completed by air rising and
moving towards the land at 100-300m. This is shown on the
diagram below. Cumulus clouds from where there is rising air.
Land sea breeze fronts tend to only affect a small area of 1015km out to sea, in comparison to the much larger effect of sea
breezes. Wind speeds are also lower at 2-3m/s.
As well as local winds and local weather phenomena, the
following list includes seasonal winds with local names:
The Bise
A cold dry wind which blows from the north-east, north or
north-west in the mountainous regions of southeastern France
and western Switzerland in winter months. The bise is
accompanied by heavy cloud.
The Bora
The bora is a strong, cold and gusty north-easterly wind which
descends to the Adriatic Sea from the Dinaric Alps, the
mountains behind the Dalmatian coast (the coast of Croatia). It
is a winter phenomenon that develops when a slow-moving depression is centred over the Plain of
Hungary and western Balkans so that winds are blowing from the east towards the Dinaric Alps.
These mountains form a barrier which trapthe cold air to the east of them whilst the Adriatic coast
remains comparatively mild. Gradually, though, the depth of the cold air
increases until the air flows over passes and through valleys to reach the
Adriatic Sea. The bora begins suddenly and without warning and the cold
air typically descends to the coast so rapidly that it has little time to warm
up. The bora can reach speeds of more than 100 km/h and has been
known to overturn vehicles and blow people off their feet.
The Chinook Wind
A warm, westerly wind found in western North America – Canada and the
USA, when air from the Pacific blows over the Rocky Mountains and other
upland areas. On January 15th, 1972, the Chinook caused the temperature
in Lorna, Montana to rise from -48°C to 9°C in 24 hours! The fastest wind
speed recorded during a Chinook was 107mph, in Alberta, Canada.
The Crachin
The name given to the drizzly weather with low stratus, mist or fog which
occurs from time to time during the period January to April over the China Sea and in coastal
areas between Shanghai and Cape Cambodia. It occurs when cool, moist air from the north
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katabatic winds can occur at any time of day or night with speeds often reaching 10 m/s, or even
more if funnelling through narrow valleys occurs. Katabatic winds may lead to the formation of
frost, mist and fog in valleys.
Sea Breezes
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The danger of a Föhn where there are steep snow-covered slopes is that
avalanches may result from the sudden warming and blustery conditions. In
Föhn conditions, relative humidity may fall to less than 30%, causing
vegetation and wooden buildings to dry out. This is a long-standing problem in
Switzerland, where so many fire disasters have occurred during Föhn conditions that fire-watching
is obligatory when a Föhn is blowing.
An explanation of the Föhn effect in the UK from BBC weather.
The Gregale (or grigale)/ euroclydon/ euraquilo
A notorious wind of the western Mediterranean which also blows across central parts of the
Mediterranean Sea. It is a strong and cold wind from the north-east and occurs mainly in winter. It
is most pronounced on the island of Malta, where it sometimes reaches hurricane force and
endangers shipping.
The Bible tells us that the ship which carried St Paul and other prisoners across the
Mediterranean en route to Rome was driven by a storm from Crete to Malta, where it was
eventually wrecked.
The ship set sail from a bay called Fair Havens near Lasea on the south coast of Crete, having put
into this bay to wait for favourable conditions after being delayed by contrary winds. As the bay
was exposed to storms, it was not considered a safe place to remain at the time of year in question,
which was either late September or early October. The harbour at Phoenix on the south-western
coast of Crete was considered a safer place to spend the winter. Soon after the ship left Fair
Havens, however, a severe gale began to blow. So violent was the storm that the sailors could do
no more than drift with the wind. The Bible tells us that the ship reached Malta fourteen days
later.
Paul experienced a gregale. As these winds normally last no more than four or five days, the storm
he experienced appears to have been unusually persistent.
The Harmattan
A dry and comparatively cool wind which blows from the east or north-east on the coast of North
Africa between Cabo Verde and the Gulf of Guinea during the dry season (November to March). It
brings dust and sand from the Sahara Desert, often in sufficient quantity to form a thick haze
which hinders navigation on rivers. Dust and sand are sometimes carried many hundreds of
kilometres out to sea.
The Helm Wind
An easterly wind found in Cumbria, N. England, where the winds blow over Cross Fell and then
descend into the Eden Valley. A bank of cloud forms over the hill tops, and the roaring of the wind
can be heard as far away as Penrith.
The Kaus/Suahili
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encounters warm, moist air, and it is intensified by orographic lifting and/or by coastal
convergence.
The Etesians/meltemi
The strong northerly winds which blow at times over the
Aegean Sea and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea during
the period May to October. The winds are known as meltemi in
Turkey.
The Föhn (or foehn)
The Föhn is a warm, dry, gusty wind which occurs over the
lower slopes on the lee side (the side which is not directly
exposed to wind and weather) of a mountain barrier. It is a
result of forcing stable air over a mountain barrier. The onset of
a Föhn is generally sudden. For example, the temperature may
rise more than 10°C in five minutes and the wind strength
increase from almost calm to gale force just as quickly. Föhn winds occur quite often in the Alps
(where the name föhn originated) and in the Rockies (where the name chinook
is used). They also occur in the Moray Firth and over eastern parts of New
Zealand‘s South Island. In addition, they occur over eastern Sri Lanka during
the south-west monsoon.
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The name given to the south-easterly winds which prevail in winter (December to April) in the
Persian Gulf. They are accompanied by gloomy weather, rain and squalls and are sometimes
followed by very strong south-westerly winds called suahili.
 The Khamsin
A hot, dry, dust-laden, southerly wind over Egypt, the Red Sea and eastern parts of the
Mediterranean Sea ahead of eastward-moving depressions. It occurs during the period February to
June, being most frequent in March and April. The Khamsin is a Sirocco wind, whose name comes
from the Arabic word for ‗fifty‘, which is approximately the length of time the wind blows for. In the
nineteenth Century, the plague was worst in Egypt when the Khamsin was blowing.
 The Kharif
A strong south-westerly wind which blows daily over the Gulf of Aden from about 22:00 hours
until about noon the following day. It occurs in June, July and August (during the south-west
monsoon) and frequently reaches gale force.
 The Leste
A hot, dry, southerly wind which occurs in winter and spring between Madeira and Gibraltar and
along the coast of North Africa ahead of an advancing depression.
 The Levanter
A moist wind which blows from the east over the Strait of Gibraltar. It is frequently accompanied
by haze or fog and may occur at any time of year, though it is most common in the period June to
October. A feature is the occurrence of a ‗banner cloud‘ extending a kilometre or more downwind
from the summit of the Rock of Gibraltar. The strength of the Levanter does not normally exceed
Beaufort Force 5. When it is strong, however, complex and vigorous atmospheric eddies form in
the lee of the Rock, causing difficult conditions for yachtsmen and the pilots of aircraft. The
levanter can also cause persistently foggy weather on the coast of Spain.
 The Levenche
A hot, dry, southerly wind which blows on the south-east coast of Spain ahead of an advancing
depression. It is typically laden with sand and dust, and its approach is often heralded by a belt of
brownish cloud on the southern horizon.
 The Libeccio
A strong, squally, south-westerly wind which occurs over central parts of the
Mediterranean Sea, most common in winter.
 The Maestro
The name given to north-westerly winds over the Adriatic Sea, the Ionian Sea
and coastal regions of Sardinia and Corsica.
 The Marin
A strong south-easterly wind over the Golfe du Lion. It is usually
accompanied by warm, cloudy weather with rain.
 The Mistral
The mistral is also a strong and often violent wind. It blows from the north or
north-west down the Rhône Valley of southern France and across the Rhône
Delta to the Golfe du Lion and sometimes beyond. Though strongest and most
frequent in winter, it may blow at any time of year and develops when stable air is forced through the
Rhône Valley. It occurs when a depression is centred over north-west Italy and the Ligurian Sea and a
ridge of high pressure extends north-eastward across the Bay of Biscay. It may blow continuously for
a day or two and attain speeds of 100 km/h, causing considerable damage to crops and making
driving conditions difficult in the Rhône Valley. It clears clouds and pollution out of the air. In the
Rhone valley in France, trees lean to the South because of the force of the Mistral.
 The Norther
This name for a wind is used in more than one place. In Chile, a Norther is a northerly gale with
rain. It usually occurs in winter but occasionally occurs at other times of year. Typically, it can be
identified by falling air pressure, a cloudy or overcast sky, good visibility and water levels below
normal along the coast. Over the Gulf of Mexico and western parts of the Caribbean Sea, Northers
are strong, cool, northerly winds which blow mainly in winter. Over the Gulf of Mexico, they are
sometimes humid and accompanied by precipitation, but over the Gulf of Tehuantepec they are
dry winds.
 Pampero
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The name given to severe line squalls in Argentina and Uruguay, particularly in the Rio de la Plata
area. They are associated with marked cold fronts and are usually accompanied by rain, thunder
and lightning, a sharp drop in temperature and a sudden change of wind direction from northerly
or northwesterly to southerly or south-westerly. They are most likely to occur during the period
June to September.
Roaring forties
Strong westerly winds found in the Southern Hemisphere between 40 and 50 degrees South.
Sailing ships have always made use of them. The winds are much stronger in the Southern
Hemisphere because there is very little land to slow them down – only Tasmania, New Zealand and
the very bottom of South America.
The Santa Ana
A hot, dry, strong, blustery, föhn-type wind which blows from the north-east or east over southern
California and carries with it large quantities of dust. It is most frequent in winter but may also
occur in spring or autumn. It may get its name from the Santa Ana Mountains or the Santa Ana
Canyon but other possibilities are that it derives from santanas, meaning ‗devil winds‘, or the
Spanish Satanás, meaning Satan. These winds can cause a great deal of damage. As they are hot
and dry, they cause vegetation to dry out, so increasing the risk of wildfires; and once fires start
the winds fan the flames and hasten the spread of the fires. In spring, Santa Ana winds can cause
considerable damage to fruit trees.
Shamal
Strictly, the shamal is any north-westerly wind over the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, but the
term usually refers not to the normal prevailing winds but to the squally gale-force winds
accompanied by rain and thunder which occur in winter.
The Scirocco/ Sirocco
A hot, dry wind southerly wind which blows from the Sahara in northern Africa into the southern
Mediterranean. It picks up moisture as it crosses the Mediterranean and can reach Spain, France,
Italy and Greece bringing Saharan dust and hot, windy, damp weather, often with fog or low
stratus cloud. In spring, the Sirocco can bring gale force winds. There are many local names for
the Sirocco, including chom, arifi, Simoom, Ghibli, Chili, Khamsin, Solano, Leveche, Marin and
Jugo.
The Solano
An easterly or south-easterly wind, with rain, which occurs in the Strait of Gibraltar and over
south-eastern coasts of Spain.
Southerly-buster
The name given to the violent squalls which are associated with well-defined active cold fronts over
coastal regions of southern and south-eastern Australia. They are accompanied by lightning,
thunder and gale-force winds and are similar to pamperos. They are most frequent in summer but
may also occur in spring and autumn.
Sumatra
These are characteristically squally local winds which occur over the Malacca Strait several times a
month during the period April to November. They are always accompanied by heavy rain from
cumulonimbus clouds and are almost always accompanied by lightning and thunder. They are
initiated by katabatic winds and therefore tend to occur at night.
Tehuantepecer
A violent squally wind from the north or north-east in the Gulf of Tehuantepec in winter. It
originates in the Gulf of Mexico as a norther and blows across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
The Trade wind
Easterly winds in the Tropics (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn). The
Trade winds helped European explorers reach America.
Tramontana
A cold, dry, northerly or north-westerly wind over the coast of Catolina and a cold, dry northerly or
north-easterly wind over the west coast of Italy and the north coast of Corsica. It is typically a
strong wind but does not often reach gale force.
The Vendavales
Strong, squally, south-westerly winds off the east coast of Spain and in the Strait of Gibraltar.
They occur mainly during the period September to March and are often accompanied by violent
squalls, heavy rain and thunderstorms.
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
Williwaw
A sudden, cold, violent wind found in Alaska and Cape Horn which blows from the mountains to
the sea.
 Willy-Willy
A willy-willy is a dust storm over north-west Australia. More information.
 The Zonda/Sondo
This term applies to two different phenomena. It usually refers to a dry and often dusty föhn wind that
occurs over the eastern slopes of the Andes in central Argentina in winter months. It is also the name
(or sondo) given to a hot, humid, northerly wind over the Pampas region of South America in advance
of an eastward-moving depression and preceding a pampero occurrence.
To know more refer below links
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/climate.html
http://www.metlink.org/other-weather/weather-hazards/local-winds/
https://www.reference.com/science/effects-wind-climate-1fc6fb7bef3905ad
http://www.playquiz2win.com/tothepoint/gk/types-of-winds.html
http://www.nos.org/media/documents/316courseE/ch11.pdf
India has witnessed rapid growth in recent years driven by the increase in new-age industries. The
increase in purchasing power has resulted in the demand for a new level of quality of service.
However, there is a growing shortage of skilled manpower in the country. In the wake of the changing
economic environment, it is necessary to focus on inculcating and advancing the skill sets of the
young population of the country.
India lags far behind in imparting skill training as compared to other countries. Reports indicate that
only 10% of the total workforce in the country receives some kind of skill training (2% with formal
training and 8% with informal training). Further, 80% of the entrants into the workforce do not have
the opportunity for skill training. But all that is changing.
The other day when I was at speaking at the African Development Conference at Harvard, I was
excited to share the present government's interest in the skill building in India. Our Prime Minister
has become the brand ambassador of skilling as he passionately mentions 'Skilling India' in each of
his speeches without fail during his tours beyond the shores of the country. The new government has
also been able to recognize the disparities in the extent to which young people have been able to
acquire formal skills.
Realizing this need the government has made provisions for upgrading skills under multiple
disciplines and allocated resources across the length & breadth of the country. To list a few, the centre
is taking efforts to come up with a legislation to set up a Skill Development University. Further, a
separate Ministry for Skills Development & Entrepreneurship has been tasked to coordinate and
streamline multiple skill development initiatives undertaken by the government to build a skilled &
employable India. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, recently gave its approval for the
Pradhan MantriKaushalVikasYojana (PMKVY) with an outlay of Rs1500 crore.
Being the largest partner of NSDC for the second year in a row, we harbor dreams to provide workforce
to power global youth. Our youth is our biggest strength and we have to entrench 'dignity for labor in
the minds of Indians. As a country, India has a strong surplus in working population (age 15-50),
which has helped the nation to maintain the momentum in the growth story. A significant portion of
this demographic dividend lies in rural areas, which is Centum Learning's primary area of focus. With
presence in 383 districts in India, we are now customizing training as per the requirements of the
industries and doing our bit to bridge the skills shortage.
Have the promises made by the industry been fulfilled?
There has been visible effort by the Government to meet their promises on skill development in the
country for empowerment of its citizens. The Finance Minister has rightly recognized the most critical
aspect, which is taking a step towards effective implementation of the Right to Education Act. Also, the
allocation to National Skill Development Fund will aid in capacity building and developing skilled
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President of India recently observed that India will lose demographic dividend and it will
form into demographic explosion if youth in not trained. In this context briefly describe
the new policies being under taken to redefine the skill-development landscape in India.
How do they overcome the shortcomings of previous measures to address the huge
mismatch between employability and employment?
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human resource to meet growing demand for India Inc. Another major highlight is the provision of
fiscal incentives to the private sector for setting up vocational and skill development institutions. This
has motivated a lot of private sector organizations to lay emphasis on the sector.
An increase in budgetary allocation for primary education is a long awaited requirement that been
met. National Skill Development Agency is encouraging innovation in skills development and
promoting entrepreneurship in the country. The newly set up Skills Ministry is determined to
encourage innovative ideas and modules in skill development landscape and at the same time assist
the youth of the country in the skilling and entrepreneurial domain, to translate the vision of the
Government into a concrete reality. With focus on self-employment as a key aspect to job creation, the
Government has chalked out a plan to set up incubation centres at all districts across the country to
train budding entrepreneurs.
The Government has also decided to revamp the antiquated industrial training centres that will skill
over 20 lakh youth annually and devise special courses based on industry needs. All these are positive
signs to show that the government's promise of skilling 500 million will be achieved in due course of
time.
Now, the Govt should incentivize industry to spend 50% of their CSR funds on skills training and
Government should match the same.
Ground reality of skill development industry
Unemployment of youth is a ticking time bomb that is perilously close to exploding with the young
population that we have. Soon, three of every four people will be 20 years of age. Despite growing as a
developing country, the economy has not created youth friendly labor market where millions of young
Indians descend every year, creating rising youth unemployment.
The lack of jobs or a limited number of jobs, ineffectual vocational training, lack of skills development,
unrealistic expectations from jobs, lack of entrepreneurship, absenteeism in school, early dropouts
and a myriad of other factors have given rise to youth unemployment. Growth in economies has not
led to a resultant increase in formal jobs or a youth-friendly labor market. The situation is further
exacerbated with an influx of youth from rural areas to populous urban centers.
As in other developing countries and countries that have recently bridged the chasm to become
developed nations, the problem perhaps also lies in perception and inadequate transition from school
to the workplace. Youth are keen to get employment in formal sectors to get full-time employment,
which may even offer benefits such as healthcare and paid holidays, instead of pursuing jobs in the
informal or traditional sectors that may be seasonal.
Our leaders have recognized this crisis and the Indian Government has taken steps to initiate action
to tackle this flashpoint before it explodes. But these are not enough, and the government in isolation
cannot tackle such a mammoth problem. The biggest challenge in the Indian ecosystem lies in finding
out how to make skilling programmes aspirational? How do you create a desire or need in the mind of
people to get pursue skill development programmes vis-a-vis a pure educational course?
As our skill development minister, Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy recently said, "the day I find a matrimonial
advertisement where the bride or groom is vocationally skilled, I would feel that our initiatives have
made some impact." A welcome step in this direction is the recent announcement where over 11,000
ITIs and other apprentice & training divisions, which were earlier with Ministry of Labour, will now be
integrated with the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship.
Another big challenge facing the implementation and execution of any skills development-related
scheme is reaching out, educating and motivating youth in the rural and remote parts of the country.
With over thirty years of experience in Training & Development, we have realized that the only way to
increase the efficiency of the employees in the corporate sector is through innovative training
methodologies which need to be upgraded from time to time. At Centum Learning we have adopted offbeat training modules which can be as simple and varied as story telling or Team building using
theatre workshops. Depending on the clients, Centum Learning, which believes in the mantra of
"Business of positive transformation", has devised training modules which can enhance business
results and develop skills as per industry requirements.
There cannot be a more opportune time to consider how closely a nation's growth agenda is aligned
with the skill-level of its manpower. We are playing a key role in evangelizing skilling like a religion in
India and making youth job-ready so that in turn they can make India a manufacturing hub in order
to fulfill PM's vision of 'Make in India'.
Manufacturing cannot become a growth driver if the lack of skilled workers continues to be the
greatest constraint in this journey. A survey conducted in 2014 reveals thataround 78 per cent of the
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surveyed employers said they are concerned with the growing skills gap in India while 57 per cent said
they currently have open positions for which they cannot find qualified candidates. So, the
Government needs to pursue the two pronged approach of creating jobs in the manufacturing sector
and encouraging multi-stakeholder partnerships to impart relevant, "employment worthy" skills. It is
good that Skill development is garnering so much interest from both the government and the industry.
The fact that this space is growing and large players with pedigree and Governance standards are
entering is good for the sector.
Government should make vocational education mandatory for women not pursuing full time
education. Jobs and hiring in India needs to shift from being 'qualification based' to 'skill based'. With
'BetiBachao, BetiPadhao' and 'Digital India' schemes being rolled out by the Government, youth and
especially women must be compulsorily taught to use computers and be skilled (in any field) in order
to get acquire an id card (maybe something like a BPL card) . Government also needs to take specific
steps for differently-abled people and help create job opportunities for them by building relationships
with employer and industry groups. If the Government can get the major chunk of the above target
groups in its umbrella, the dream of empowering and transforming lives will be achieved to a great
extent.
Challenges galore
The tragedy is that less than 2% of India's workforce has formal skills and even among those who have
some sort of training or qualification, only a third today, are armed with employable skills amounting
to a colossal waste of our biggest asset: people power. The perception of educated parents that
everyone had to be either a doctor or an engineer -- a hangover to the mindset of the 1960s and 70s -has tragically hamstrung efforts at skill building at its most important stage -- during school.
Admittedly there has been realization that school-level skilling can lead to satisfying, lucrative careers.
CBSE now offers some 50 vocational courses and the school management is now encouraging
students to discover original or innovative talents in themselves.
A trishul of talents need to coalesce before skills can be translated into gainful employment: technical
skills, domain knowledge, and soft skills. The first two are a matter of training and application. The
final, presents some rather nuanced, challenges and the needless roadblocks need to be addressed
with sensitivity.
Today whether you are a beautician or a tour guide or a taxi driver, a working knowledge of English is
a force multiplier when it comes to employability. In Bengaluru, which is home to the largest number
of MNC tech companies in India, a headhunter tells me, a licensed driver, maintenance engineer or a
nursing assistant who can speak and read English, can straight away add 50 percent to his or her pay
packet. This is something that Governments- both at the State and Central levels are beginning to
take cognizance of.
But the biggest bottleneck in the skills space is getting the students to the classrooms and retaining
them there. Government and training partners need to work together to ensure that the candidate is
incentivized to attend classes through industry aligned courses, relevant training methodology, deeper
connect with jobs and industry so that they themselves can see their career path ahead.
The larger training players also need to harness technology wherever available -- digital solutions,
smart tools, Internet-driven delivery -- to achieve the required scale and maybe even for large scale
mobilization.
We must also recognize that at basic levels, one has to contend with low aspiration levels, coupled
with lack of capacity to pay. This has to be addressed with sensitivity that can be best achieved by
government-funded programmes, executed by large training partners who have the ability to scale up.
For mid-level skills, both government and private enterprises can join in the funding -- but we need to
recognize that corporates tend to skill as per their requirements.
It is time to recognize that a placement need not necessarily be accompanied by a wage. Many skills,
from electrician to care giver for the aged, lend themselves to gainful self-employment and can account
for as much as 30-40% of all skill acquirers.
Skilling India to empower her citizens and to equip them to compete and excel on a global maidan is a
multi-pronged challenge. We need our engineers and doctors and business executives and we also
need many times those who bring a rainbow of heterogeneous skills to drive the engine that is India.
And sometimes we discover in ourselves skills and talents for which we were not necessarily trained,
but which constitute a coming together of head and heart.
Skills and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social development for any
country. Countries with higher and better levels of skills adjust more effectively to the challenges and
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opportunities of world of work. As India moves progressively towards becoming a ‗knowledge economy‘
it becomes increasingly important that the country should focus on advancement of skills and these
skills have to be relevant to the emerging economic environment. In order to achieve the twin targets
of economic growth and inclusive development, India‘s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has to grow
consistently at 8% to 9% per annum. This requires significant progress in several areas, including
infrastructure development, agricultural growth coupled with productivity improvements, financial
sector growth, a healthy business environment, ably supported by a skilled workforce. The agriculture
sector accounts for about 20% of the economy. The secondary and tertiary sectors account for about
25% and 55% respectively. 3 For the economy to grow at 8% to 9%, it is required that the secondary
and tertiary sectors grow at 10% to 11%, assuming agriculture grows at 4%. In such a scenario, it is
obvious that a large portion of the workforce would migrate from the primary sector (agriculture) to the
secondary and tertiary sectors. However, the skill sets that are required in the manufacturing and
service sectors are quite different from those in the agriculture sector. This implies that there is/will
be a large skill gap when such a migration occurs, as evidenced by a shrinking employment in the
agriculture sector. This scenario necessitates skill development in the workforceOut of the current
workforce of about 450 million, only about 8%-9% are engaged in the organised/formal sector. In
India, only about 5% of the workforce has marketable skills, as compared to 50% to 60% in other
countries. The magnitude of the challenge is further evident from the fact that about 12 million
persons are expected to join the workforce every year.
2.Current Structure and Supply of Education and Skill Development system in India 2.2.1. Current
Structure The following is the structure of the Education and Skill Development system in India.
Figure 1: Current Structural Framework of the Education and Skill Development Sector in India
Education, including all aspects higher education and college education falls under the Ministry of
Human Resource Development. The University and Higher Education arm is responsible for all college
education (Arts, Science, Commerce, etc.), while engineering education, polytechnics, etc., fall under
the category of Technical Education. The University Grants Commission (UGC) provides funds in the
form of grants and also coordinates as well as sets standards for teaching, examination and research
in universities. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is the regulatory body for
Technical Education in India. Its objectives are: promotion of quality in technical education
To know more refer below links
http://www.businessinsider.in/Skill-development-in-India-is-growing-but-theres-long-roadahead/articleshow/51679102.cms
http://yojana.gov.in/18-9-15%20Final%20Yojana%20October%20FS.pdf
http://www.skilldevelopment.gov.in/assets/images/Skill%20India/Policy%20Booklet%20V2.pdf
http://www.skilldevelopment.gov.in/policyframework.html
http://www.isas.nus.edu.sg/ISAS%20Reports/ISAS%20Insights%20No.%20328%20%20Skills%20Development%20Landscape%20in%20India.%20Backdrop%20and%20the%20Policy%2
0Framework.pdf
http://ficci.in/spdocument/20073/imacs.pdf
Development of Inland Waterways
Anil Anand
A vast country like India with a huge network of rivers and interconnecting canals could ordinarily be
an ideal place for an efficient inland waterways system as it has multifarious economic advantages
and is the cheapest mode of transportation. However, this potential could not be tapped as developing
inland waterways as means of passenger and cargo transportation, has never been a part of the
planning until recently. As a result, burden on the road and railways networks went on piling and
they became over stressed.
Let us have a look at the river connectivity potential of the country. The country has been divided into
20 river units that include 14 major river basins. The remaining 99 river basins have been grouped
into six river units. The poor planning and neglect of this sector over the decades is reflected by the
fact that the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin which covers 34 per cent of the country‘s area
contributes about 59 per cent of the water resources. The West flowing rivers flowing towards the
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What are possible benefits of utilizing India's vast network of Inland waterways for
transport? Elucidate the challenges and the steps being taken in this regard?
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Indus covering 10 per cent of area account for a mere four per cent of the resources while remaining
56 per cent of area contributes 37 per cent of the runoff.
Clubbed with this geographical picture is also the fact that India has 7,551 kilometer coastline and
about 14,500 kilometer of navigable inland waterways. This huge potential has by and large remained
unexploited despite the universal acceptance of the fact that waterways transportation is fuel efficient,
environment friendly and more economical as compared to rail and road.
As the current scenario stands, the Inland water transport (IWT) has only less than a 1 per cent share
of the total goods transported within the country through various modes such as rail, road and water.
This is much less in comparison to other nations which are similarly blessed with such a vast river
network.
Let us compare ourselves with our immediate neighbour China with which we tend to compete both
on economic and industrial fronts. As against our 14,500 kilometeres of navigable inland waterways
China has over one lakh kilometeres of well honed waterways.
This scenario is significant both from the public and planners point of view when fresh efforts are
afoot to develop inland waterways. The idea behind this endeavour is to provide relief from the choked
road and railways network with a cheaper option that has the potential to help the economy
particularly in the rural sector.
This fact has been corroborated by Shipping and Surface Transport Minister Mr Nitin Gadkari who
has been a strong votary of developing inland waterways. ―National highways are very important. But
waterways are most important,‖ he had stated recently in Parliament while seeking passage of the
National Waterways Bill, which has now become an Act, during the Budget Session.
The importance of his statement in relations to the waterways development could be better understood
through comparatives with other nations. For instance in China, 47 per cent of goods and passenger
traffic is on water while in Korea and Japan, 43 and 44 per cent of goods and passenger traffic
respectively is on water. In European countries, 40 per cent of goods and passenger traffic is on water.
Where does India stand vis-a-vis these nations which are currently dominating the economic
firmament of the world and India wants to play a competing role? India accounts for just 3.5 per cent
goods and passenger traffic through inland waterways.
Covering this gap will be a huge task due to poor state of the rivers and infrastructure. Nevertheless,
Mr Gadkari views inland waterways as game-changer in terms of increasing exports and reducing cost
of goods as well as passenger traffic.
It is not that Mr Gadkari is the first one to realise the potential of internal waterways as means of
transportation. The need for its development had been felt earlier also but all efforts remained on
papers only. Mr Gadkari is the first one to lay thrust on a planned movement.
Since Independence many expert committees studied the Inland Water Transport area and advocated
systematic development of the mode. National Transport Policy Committee in its report (1980)
accordingly recommended for setting up of an Authority for development and regulation of inland
waterways. This led to formation of Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) in 1986 for
development and regulation of inland waterways.
The present Government plans to set up 30 water ports on Ganga itself to make reality the premise
that travelling by water costs much less as compared to road or train travel. It may be noted that road
travel costs approximately Rs 1.50 per kilometre while travel by railway is pegged at Rs 1 per
kilometre. It is a mere Rs 0.25 per kilometre if one embarks on the waterways.
This is just sample of the more ambitious plans which the Government has drawn for developing the
inland waterways. It includes developing 2000 water ports and Roll-on-Roll-off (Ro Ro) services which
will be available at five select places to transport goods and vehicles, across the country. Under this
scheme Varanasi, Haldia and Sahibganj will be developed as multi-modal hubs with linkages to
roadways, waterways and railways.
A much bigger challenge for the Government‘s plans to succeed on this front lies in ensuring the
physical viability of water flow in various rivers. That would entail that the rivers maintain a particular
level of water flow which has drastically gone down over the years due to overuse under intense
population pressure and industrial and agricultural requirements. The regular flow of rivers has also
been affected by the construction of dams up-streams.
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Going by the yardsticks set up by the Inland Waterways Authority of India, a minimum, consistent
year-long water depth (water draft)of two meters has to be maintained along the national waterways to
ensure uninterrupted transport. This is a daunting task given the present status of river pollution and
lack of policy and planning on judicial use of river water.
This is one area which is still devoid of proper research to enable developing a more feasible model of
water retention. Some experts strongly feel that 1.5 meter water draft could be a more realistic
proposition and its operational viability needs to be tested.
Apart from the water draft levels, there are other related needs for making the waterways operations
efficient and viable. This pertains to technological requirements that include developing small jetties,
channel markings, night navigational aids as also deployment of GPS and river maps and charts for
navigation. Although the National Inland Navigation Institute, Patna, has been entrusted with the
task, it is still a long way off.
Maintaining water levels is an intensive cost proposal as it requires river training, dredging and
navigation. This would be required for a particular variety of river beds while in other cases periodic
maintenance of river banks and time to time dredging would be required to maintain the required
depth and flow of water.
These steps are necessary to ensure that river maintenance remains at a consistent level so as to
provide a sufficient depth for the vessels that are expected to ferry along. The cost could vary from Rs
8 to Rs 11 crore per kilometre on each bank depending on the topography and urban or rural settings
as the river stretch passes through.
Up till now five waterways have been declared as National Waterways. These include Ganga Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system ( Allahabad-Haldia- 1620 kilometers) as NW-1, River Brahmaputra
(Dhubri-Sadiya- 891 kilometeres) as NW-2, West Coast Canal (Kottapuram-Kollam) along with
Udyogmandal and Champakara Canals- 250 kilometeres as NW-3, Kakinada-Puducherry canals along
with Godavari and Krishna rivers (1078 kilometers) as NW-4. The NW-5 consists of East Coast Canal
integrated with Brahmani River and Mahanadi delta Rivers (588 km).
Of these, NW-1, 2 and 3 are operational in certain stretches and vessels are moving on them. They
have developed a fairway of required depth and width, terminals with cargo handling facilities and
navigational aids. NW- 4 and 5 are yet to be made operational.
According to the Ministry of Shipping and Surface Transport, the draft National Perspective Plan
(NPP), prepared under the Sagarmala Programme, has recommended priority development of National
Waterways-1, 2, 4 and 5 to enhance port connectivity to the hinterland. This in turn would enable
faster and cheaper movement of key cargo types such as coal, iron ore, food grains etc.
The National Waterways Bill, 2015 which was recently passed by the Parliament and became an Act
also makes a provision for declaration of 106 additional waterways as National Waterways. The
process to prepare Techno-Economic Feasibility Studies/ Detailed Project Reports for identified new
waterways has already been initiated. The real extent and scope of developing these waterways will be
known after completion of these studies.
Developing entire spectrum of Inland Waterways would require substantial funding. As of now,
provision of an amount of Rs 284.52 crore was made in 2015-16 (Revised Estimates) Budget. This has
been increased to Rs 350 crore in 2016-17 Budget allocation.
The funding part remains to be a major area of concern which is reflected in these meagre sums kept
only for study purposes. The Government still has to come out with a comprehensive financial plan for
the Inland Waterways development. However, the Minister Mr Gadkari has repeatedly assured that
money would not be a problem. In this connection he pointed to financial resource of over Rs 1 lakh
crore would be garnered soon for the development and augmentation of the Inland Waterways and
coastal shipping.
Already polluted rivers remain to be an area of concern and this has led to the states expressing fear
that regular movement of traffic on waterways would further compound the problem. To allay these
fears the Centre has decided to set up a River Traffic Control System on the lines of Air Traffic Control
system. The other area of attention would be to operate the cargo steamers and other vessels on clean
fuel. In this connection, LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) is being considered as the ultimate fuel.
Yet another impediment which also has the danger of assuming political overtones of the nature of
Centre-states disputes relates to the jurisdiction of water as a subject. The subject matter relating to
Inland Water Transport falls in all the three lists of the Seventh schedule of the Constitution of India.
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Weaknesses and Advantages of Inland Waterways in India
By Raghav
As per an estimate of Ministry of Transport, Government of India, the length of nine inland waterways
of India is 19,000 km, out of which 14,500 km long are of rivers and 4,000 km are of canals. Out of
total navigable ways, 10,000 km waterways remain fit for navigation throughout the year whereas, the
remaining 5,000 km are fit for navigation only for a few months.
Steamers ply in 3 500 km mechanically propelled boats ply in 2,500 km in rivers, and large local boats
can play in the remaining 5,700 km long way. Like other means of transport, inland waterways also
have some advantages and weaknesses.
Weaknesses:
1. In most of the rivers of India, floods are caused during rainy season when water current is so
torrential that it becomes difficult to ply boats.
2. Most of the rivers remain dry during the summer and whatever water becomes available in rivers,
it is used for supply of water to the vast canal system during the beginning of winter and summer
seasons. Due to use of river water for irrigation, there remains no water for navigation during the
summer season.
3. Rivers of the South India flow in rocky areas, hence they are not fit for plying boats because there
are waterfalls in the way.
4. As compared to boats, railways are quicker, safer and cheaper means of transport.
5. Sometimes rivers also change their way and due to that only a small stream flows on one side and
cannot be used for navigation. On banks of most of the rivers, thick layer of sand is deposited.
Hence, loaded steamers or boats can reach the bank with great difficulty.
6. Almost all rivers fall from shallow and sandy deltas. Hence, ships cannot sail from sea shores to
inland parts.
Advantages:
1. Inland navigation has been considered as the cheapest means of transport among the methods of
transport. Initial investment on river services as well as expenditure on their maintenance is
much lesser as compared to road and rail transport.
107
The exclusive jurisdiction of the Central Government is only in regard to shipping and navigation on
inland waterways declared by an Act of Parliament to be national waterways. Shipping and navigation
on other waterways with respect to mechanically propelled vessels falls in Concurrent list whereas
navigation by vehicles other than mechanically propelled vessels is exclusive jurisdiction of State
Government.
The issue did crop up during discussion on the Bill with Members from the Opposition parties
expressing fears that the states‘ jurisdiction over territorial water rights would be muzzled. Allaying
their fears, Mr Gadkari assured that new law will not infringe upon their rights. This in fact would
boost the maritime trade of the states and help boost economy.
The Government has also announced some incentives for carriage of some portion of cargo by coastal
shipping and inland waterways instead of by rail and road. This is being done with a view to make
waterways an integral part of the country‘s logistics chain.
This is one of the most significant steps taken by the Government, in recent times, to boost the inland
waterways system and coastal shipping and develop it as a viable alternative to road and rail. It entails
compensating the costs incurred in availing the first-mile and last-mile connectivity for goods that
have the potential to be moved by waterways.
The scheme proposes to provide monetary incentives to beneficiaries when they transport certain
identified commodities, containerized cargo or automobiles, on Indian flag vessels, on trips having
either a major port (owned by the Union Government), a designated non-major port (owned by the
state government) or a terminal/jetty owned by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) as the
point of loading or discharge.
This is the just the beginning of the process of realizing the huge potential of Inland waterways and
would go a long way in easing pressure on the over stretched traditional modes of transport.
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For more load and long journey, transport through waterways is cheaper than rail and road
transport.
3. It is considered as the most useful method from the point of view of energy saving. One horse
power can carry 4,000 kilogram load in water whereas, it can carry 150 kilogram and 500
kilogram load by road and rail respectively.
4. Water transport is most useful for heavy loads.
5. In north-east India, road and rail transport is blocked during rains. It is also difficult to construct
roads or railways in these areas. Hence, water transport is more suitable in such region.
6. There is lesser pollution in water transport.
An efficient transport sector is vital for development of the economy of any country. In a large country
like India, efficient transportation becomes pivotal to stimulate competitive business environment.
Indian transport system comprises various modes, viz; Railways, Roadways, Inland Waterways,
Coastal Shipping and Airways.
Inland Water Transport (IWT) is a fuel efficient, environment friendly and cost effective mode of
transport having potential to supplement the over burdened rail and congested roads. For this,
however, it is necessary that IWT mode is developed with
public funding at least to a threshold level at which private
sector
would
get
attracted
to
this
mode.
In the 19th century and first half of 20th century, IWT was an
important mode of transport and navigation by power
crafts/country boats played significant role in the
development of trade and commerce along several rivers and
canals. The advent of railways and extension of its network
made a dent in share of water transport in India. Rapid
growth of roads, coupled with inadequate development of IWT
sector over the years gave a decisive set back to IWT and in
the later years of 20th century, except in a few areas namely, Assam, Goa, Kerala, Mumbai,West
Bengal, and some other coastal areas (where it has natural advantage and no developmental
intervention was needed), the IWT sector was marginalized.However, considering its inherent
advantages, the need for systematic development of IWT sector was always felt which is evident from
the fact that since independence, several Committees studied IWT system of the country from time to
time and advocated systematic development of the mode.National Transport Policy Committee in its
report (1980) accordingly recommended for setting up of an Authority for development and regulation
of inland waterways,which led to formation of Inland Waterways Authority of India(IWAI)in 1986 for
development and regulation of inland waterways.
IWAI undertakes infrastructure development and maintenance works on National Waterways.It also
takes up techno-economic feasibility studies and prepares proposals for declaration of other
waterways as National Waterways. It also advises Central Government on matters related to IWT and
assists States in development of IWT sector.
As per constitutional provisions, only those waterways which are declared as National Waterways
come under the purview of Central Government while rest of waterways remain in the purview of
respective State Government.Since formation of IWAI, five waterways namely:
1. Ganga
2. Brahmaputra
3. West Coast Canal with Udyogmandal and Champakara Canals
4. Kakinada-Puducherry Canals system along with Godavari and Krishna rivers
5. East Coast Canal with Brahmani river and Mahanadi delta have been declared as National
Waterways.
6. One more waterway namely Barak river is under consideration of the Central Government for
declaration as a National Waterways.
Waterways Identified by National Transport Policy Committee for consideration for declaration
as National Waterways
108
The National Transport Policy Committee (1980) recommended the following principles for declaration
of a national waterway.
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It should possess capability of navigation by mechanically propelled vessels of a reasonable size.
It should have about 45 m wide channel and minimum 1.5m depth.
It should be a continuous stretch of 50 kms.The only exception to be made to waterway length is
for urban conglomerations and intra-port traffic.
 It should pass through and serve the interest of more than one State (or).
 It should connect a vast and prosperous hinterland and Major Ports (or).
 It should pass through a strategic region where development of navigation is considered necessary
to provide logistic support for national security (or).
 It should connect places not served by any other modes of transport.
The National Transport Policy Committee considered the following waterways as having the potential
for declaration as national waterway
 The Sunderbans
 The Mahanadi
 The Narmada
 The Mandovi,Zuari rivers and Cumberjua Canal in Goa
 The Tapi,
Hydrographic surveys and techno economic feasibility studies are the Pre-requisites for establishing
the potential and viability of a waterway. Extensive surveys and investigations have been carried out
on all the above waterways based on which three waterways have been so far declared as national
waterways namely the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the West Coast Canal. Development of many
more new waterways as national waterways are planned during the 9th Plan period.
Background
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Three basic IWT related infrastructure for development of waterways are:
1. Fairway or navigational channel with desired width and depth.
2. Navigational aids for safe navigation and
3. Terminals for berthing of vessels, loading/unloading of cargo and for providing interface with
road and rail.
The fourth component for operationalising a viable IWT system is 'inland vessels' for transportation of
goods and passengers. It is envisaged that once the fairway, terminals and navigational aids are
provided to a threshold level, private sector investment in inland vessels, will increase dictated by
market forces resulting in increase in inland fleet.Various projects for providing/maintaining fairway,
terminals and navigational aids are being executed on National Waterways.
National Waterways No. 1 and 2 are typical alluvial rivers with characteristics of braiding, meandering
and large water level fluctuation (both horizontal and vertical) between summer and monsoon
months.On these rivers, several shallow areas (shoals) come up during low water season and
109
Out of the 108 layers invisaged under project India-WRIS, 'Inland waterways' is one of the layer. India
has about 14,500 km of navigable waterways, which comprise of rivers, canals, backwaters, creeks,
etc. About 55 million tones of cargo are being moved annually by Inland Water Transport (IWT), in a
fuel-efficient and environment-friendly mode. Its operations are currently restricted to a few stretches
in the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly River, the Brahmaputra, the Barak River, the rivers in Goa, the
backwaters in Kerala, inland waters in Mumbai and the deltaic regions of the Godavari-Krishna rivers.
Besides these organized operations by mechanized vessels, country boats of various capacities also
operate in various rivers and canals. Substantial quantum of cargo and passengers are transported in
this unorganized sector as well. The Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly between Allahabad-Haldia (1620 km)
in UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, the Sadiya-Dhubri stretch of river Brahmaputra (891 km)
in Assam and the Kollam-Kottapuram stretch of West Coast Canal along with Champakara and
Udyogmandal Canals (205 km) in Kerala have so far been declared as national Waterways and are
being developed for navigation by IWAI.
Indian Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has completed hydrographic survey in five sectors known
as NW-1, NW-2, NW-3, NW-4 and NW-5.Brief description of these stretches is given here.Figure:1
shows the index map of all the waterways.
Development of National Waterways
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110
maintenance of 2m Least Available Depth, particularly in upper reaches, becomes a difficult task. In
these rivers,conservancy works (dredging and bandalling) are to be repeated every year on the shoals
since after every monsoon the shoals are to be identified afresh and corrective measures (River
Conservancy works) taken up. NW-3 on the other hand, is a tidal canal with predictable and uniform
tidal variation in water level. On this waterway, therefore, once the desired depth is provided by capital
dredging, it can be maintained for a number of years by undertaking nominal maintenance dredging
from time to time as per actual requirement. NW-4 and 5 consist of both canal and river stretches.
While canal portions need to be extensively dredged once to provide depth, on Godavari and Krishna
rivers yearly dredging will be required and on Brahmani river five barrages with navigational locks
have been proposed. Works of NW-4 and 5 will commence after completion of their DPR's, approval of
development projects by competent authorities and allocation of adequate funds by the Government of
India. PIB note for development of NW-4 has already been prepared and submitted to Ministry of
Shipping for approval.
To know more refer below links
http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/wrpinfo/index.php?title=Inland_Waterways
http://employmentnews.gov.in/NewEmp/MoreContentNew.aspx?n=Editorial&k=51
http://www.geographynotes.com/articles/weaknesses-and-advantages-of-inland-waterways-inindia/670
http://www.ilfsindia.com/downloads/bus_concept/inland_water_transport.pdf
http://www.importantindia.com/21229/transport-system-in-india/
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