Unlike the rest of the subcontinent, Assam retained many elements of its tribal economy well into the 19th century. With the British invasion the picture began to change gradually. Opening up of the Brahmaputra Valley in 1826 brought about two major changes in the mode of surplus extraction. One, colonial capital flowed into tea plantations, along with indentured labourers from mainland India. Though immensely profitable for the planters, this had a limited impact on the larger peasant economy of Assam.

In an atmosphere marked by a growing confrontation, the Assam Forest Department and a dominant section of the Assamese nationalists and conservationists argue that the Kaziranga National Park is facing imminent danger from its neighbouring habitats. The poor farmers, fishermen, and petty traders in the neighbourhood refuse to give up their land and be rehabilitated. This article journeys briefly into some of the issues to help understand the complex contest over both conservation practices and ownership of a prized space.

Almost after a century of experimenting, Kaziranga National Park is now a well-known example of the success of wildlife conservation. Conservationists have no hesitation in ascribing the success of this story to the careful application of the science of wildlife conservation. A large section of the Assamese middle class would like to associate the institution as organic to their success story.

The present work examines the changing notion of wastelands and contested rights over it in
Assam in the last 200 years. As the East India Company gradually became aware of this
region, they expressed their serious interest in the wastelands. The initial intervention took
place with the discovery of tea plants in Assam, and the Company administration began to
lease out such lands to the European planters. During the 1830s and 1870s, a significant
amount of such lands was transferred to the planters. It was from the 1870s that the newly

In the last quarter of the 19th century, Assam’s oilfields became part of the larger global petroleum economy and thus played a key role in the British imperial economy.