Wasteland, labour and landscape: Colonial transformation of the Brahmaputra valley

This paper examines how migration during the colonial period brought about profound transformations in the physical landscape of the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam. Following the British annexation of Assam in 1826, the colonial administration actively promoted migration to meet the labour requirements of tea plantations and expanding commercial agriculture. Migrant tea labourers and East Bengali peasants played a crucial role in reshaping the valley’s land and environment. Extensive tracts of forests and so called wastelands were cleared for tea plantations, jute cultivation, and agricultural expansion. East Bengali peasants reclaimed swamps and previously uncultivated lowlands, converting them into productive fields for rice and other crops, while tea companies established organised plantation estates to accommodate indentured labour. These interventions significantly altered the region’s natural features, transforming forests and wetlands into plantation zones and cultivated farmland. The process also resulted in a marked spatial reorganisation, with new patterns of settlements, plantation enclaves, and small towns emerging across the valley. Overall, the study highlights how migration, operating within the framework of colonial economic policies, reshaped the environment and human habitation, leading to enduring agricultural, ecological, and landscape changes in the Brahmaputra Valley.