The British colonial empire throughout the world had varying forms of administrative and exploitative tools based upon the prevailing local conditions. Among the various forms and methods of colonization, one of the forms was to put the biodiversity and green resources for their commercial and greedy ends. Thus the phenomenon of green imperialism by the British exploiters, having a universal character, witnessed the similar course and impact in the case of the Indian situation. The various justifications given by the British for exploitation of such resources have found a significant presentation in this paper. However, the exploitation of flora and manipulation of certain plant species disturbed the biodiversity of the forest and it brought tremendous climatic change due to deforestation, extinction of variety of flora and fauna, etc.

The consciousness for environmental concern in India has been deep-rooted since ages. Nature worship and anthropomorphism have been a phenomenon since time immemorial till date. The efforts made by Mauryan emperors in the field of plantation are well-known. The Mughals showed more interest in gardens and their development. Mughal Emperors Akbar and Jahangir were well-known for laying out beautiful gardens and planting trees.

The concept of green imperialism emphasizes that during the colonial period, throughout the globe the metropolitan state exploited the green resources of the colonized state. Several justifications were developed as ideological currents as to why such exploitation of forest resources was required such as the concept of scientific forestry, civilizing mission, etc.

Interest in environmental history arose due to increasing environmental consciousness in the decade of 1960s. Alfred Crosby's work, Ecological Imperialism, published in 1986, described the colonization of the white colonies of Australia, America and New Zealand. However, there was hardly any mention of Africa and Asia in this work. In 1972, Elizabeth Whitcombe in her work, Agrarian Condition in Northern India showed that the East India Company's attempt to establish a number of irrigation projects in Northern India brought a number of ecological disasters.

History and Culture Journal, Green Imperialism, Deforestation, British Colonial Empire, Green Resources, Anthropomorphism, Ecological Imperialism, Scientific Forestry, Irrigation Projects, Environmental Crisis, Historical Relationships, South Asian Environmental Historians, British Imperialism, Social Consequences, Ecological Consequences, British Forest Policy, Scientific Management, Power Projects, Forest Resources.