Contested Commons: History of Colonial Grazing Policy in South India (Andhra), 1890–1930

Abstract

Historical dimension of common property resource management systems acquired prominence with emergence of environmental history in India. This paper examines the policy and practice of colonial grazing management policies in South India with particular reference to Andhra region. It has been proposed by this paper that British colonial state initiated a radical change in the composition of common property resources by the way of incorporating them into agricultural expansion, forests and grazing reserves. This process exercised significant impact upon rural society particularly of small peasantry and landless were the main victim of this process. This paper also shows that consistent struggle exists between colonial state and rural society over the issue of control over forests and grazing lands. The fights to access village commons so intense that colonial state was compelled to change the grazing policies to incorporate the demands of peasantry. This paper provides a historical trajectory of the way communities which depended upon common pool resources react when their access is curtailed by the state and other agencies.