Author:

Sahabub Alam
Research Scholar
Department of History
University of North Bengal
Darjeeling,West Bengal,India

Email: sahabubalam422@gmail.com

Abstract:: Abstract: The paper focuses on the British forest policy and its impact on the life of the Lepcha
community, who were the aboriginals in the Darjeeling hilly region. This study also explores how the
colonial forest laws destroyed the dense forests of Darjeeling hills and how this region’s fragile
ecosystem and demography have changed. The main motives of the British forest policy were revenue
maximization and the commercialization of reserved forests in the name of scientific forestry. In the
Darjeeling Himalayas, the main factors of deforestation were the expansion of tea plantations,
urbanization, development of railways, forest-based industries, and demographic changes. The
Lepcha people were predominantly associated with forests for their livelihoods, and they had built a
deep relationship with nature and the environment. Actually, the forest played an important role in the
material and social life of the Lepchas. Hunting-gathering and shifting cultivation were the sole of
their livelihood. However, under the colonial forest management system, the Lepcha people had lost
their traditional forest rights. Gradually, the Lepchas were outnumbered by the migrant Nepali tea
labour due to the rapid expansion of tea gardens in Darjeeling hills. The Lepcha people lost their
traditional livelihoods (shifting cultivation) in their own land, and they were moved forcefully to the
southwestern part of the hills to accept settled cultivation.

Key Words::Darjeeling, Deforestation, Forest policy, Lepchas, Consequences etc.