A History of Agriculture in India v2.c75.s9: Forests
A History of Agriculture in India v2.c75.s9
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Forests
v2.c75.s9.1
There were extensive forests in the North-West Frontier Province, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal, Orissa, modern Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and southern India. Ralph Fitch (1583-1591) in his travels through Bengal noticed large forests infested by wild animals, including tigers. Abu-l-Fazl says that one had to traverse a thick forest during a journey along the southern bank of the Ghagra. William Finch (1608-1611) found the road from Jaunpur to Allahabad through a continuous forest. He says that there were lions and tigers on the road to Jalaur. Due to lack of transport forests were mostly unexploited. According to Moreland, ‘inaccessible forests can have yielded no income, and inaccessibility’ was more common than now, while forests within reach of towns or villages furnished the inhabitants with timber, fuel, and minor produce on a scale which, roughly speaking, varied inversely with the pressure of the population. Such instances as we get of particular forms of produce having acquired a reputation in the markets fall in with this view; the bamboos of Bengal, which were in demand for fitting out ships, could be transported cheaply by the waterways of the country, while the teak of the Western Ghats was within reach of the sea-coast where large vessels were built.’⁵
v2.c75.s9.2
⁵ Moreland, W. H. *India at the Death of Akbar—An Economic Study*, p. 144