This book emphasizes the significance of various ways of resource use in India. This book is divided into three parts. The first part examines the several forms of restraint on resource use reported from human societies. In the second part, a new interpretation of how the cultural and ecological mosaic of Indian society came together is discussed. The last part presents a socio-ecological analysis of the new modes of resource use which were introduced by the British, and which have continued to operate, with modifications, after Independence in 1947. It also indicates that the British colonial rule established a crucial watershed in the ecological history of India. Generally, this book reports new data along with new interpretations of old data, and, most importantly, it shows a new and alternative framework for understanding Indian society and history.

Habitats in human history --
Forest and fire --
Caste and conservation --
Conquest and control --
The fight for the forest --
Biomass for business --
Competing claims on the commons --
Cultures in conflict.