Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Indian Natural History
This article explores the history and people involved in the study of natural history in India. Natural history is here restricted to the broad fields of paleontology, zoology and botany.
Although much of the growth of natural history in India can be attributed to British colonialism and the growth of natural history in Britain, there is considerable evidence to suggest that India with its diverse landscape, fauna and flora along with many other tropical colonies helped in creating an interest in natural history in Britain and elsewhere in world.
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Vedic times
The vedas represent some of the oldest historical records available and it lists the names of nearly 250 kinds of birds and also has notes on various other fauna and flora. A notable piece of information is the knowledge of brood parasitism in the Indian Koel, a habit known well ahead of Aristotle. This is possibly because of the commonness of the Indian Koel and its host the House Crow.
The elephant was a well studied animal and the capture, training and maintenance of elephants was documented.
Moghul period
The Moghul emperors not only led a leisurely life but also pursued gardening and art. They decorated their gardens with their private zoos and hired artists to paint many subjects including plants and animals. Hunting and falconry were also extensively practised.
Colonial India
The Indian Civil Services brought many British naturalists to India. Some collected species on behalf of British naturalists, while others carried out their studies entirely on their own. The massive collection and documentation efforts led to the production of the Fauna of British India series.
- Birds
- Allan Octavian Hume
- Thomas C. Jerdon
- Edward Blyth
- Hugh Whistler
- W H Sykes
- C. M. Inglis
- E C S Baker
- Stuart Baker
- E W Oates
- Ferdinand Stoliczka
- W T Blanford
- Charles Swinhoe
- Robert Swinhoe
- C H T Marshall
- Samuel Tickell
- Mammals
- R. C. Wroughton
- Robert A. Sterndale
- S. H. Prater
- Brian Houghton Hodgson
- Reptiles and Amphibians
- R. H. Beddome
- Frank Wall
- H. S. Ferguson
- Invertebrates
- Fish
- Francis Day
- Francis Buchanan-Hamilton
- Flora and Forests
- Charles McCann
- Joseph Dalton Hooker
- John Gerard Koenig
- Nathaniel Wallich
- William Roxburgh
- Dietrich Brandis
- T. F. Bourdillon
- A. A. Dunbar-Brander conservator of forests in the Central Provinces
- H. G. Champion
- F. W. Champion Deputy Conservator of Forests, United Provinces
- P. D. Stracey
- Hunter-Naturalists
- Popularizers
- Museum workers
Post-Independence (1947-current)
Ornithologists
Ichthyologists
- Sunderlal Hora
Entomologists
- M. S. Mani
- B. K. Tikader
Scientists
Popularizers
Conservationists
- E. P. Gee
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