Apr 27, 2010

The Great Hedge of India- Wikipedia

How extraordinary a reading this makes:


Great Hedge of India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"Presently Mr. Joyce remarked how much lighter it seemed on the left side of the road than on the right. As there was no moon the appearance puzzled me, as it did also our men to whom I pointed it out. We were speculating on the cause, when we came to the track which would lead us, over some fields and the great parade ground, to the back of the station. We passed through the avenue which bordered the road, and perceived the cause of the light. For miles and miles all along the horizon there stretched a line of fire; in some places it was burning brightly, elsewhere emitting only a dull glow. The spectacle was so beautiful and so singular that with one accord we pulled up to admire it. Our admiration was mingled with other feelings not so agreeable. The line of fire we conjectured to be the burning Customs' hedge, which was a bank of thorny bushes, lately erected by the Government along the Customs' frontier to prevent the smuggling of salt and opium."

Apparently, these two gentlemen were travelling along The Great Hedge of India-

"A customs line was established, which stretched across the whole of India, which in 1869 extended from the Indus to the Mahanadi in Madras, a distance of 2,300 miles; and it was guarded by nearly 12,000 men and petty officers... it consisted principally of an immense impenetrable hedge of thorny trees and bushes, supplemented by stone wall and ditches, across which no human being or beast of burden or vehicle could pass without being subject to detention or search"

I don't know how true this is: is there any reference to it in our regional languages? It seems to have existed as recently as 1869- an impenetrable barrier that almost cut India into two- it is not possible that there is no record of it in our vernacular.

A review of the book,  "The Great Hedge of India." by Roy Moxham is at India Environmental Portal: the review discusses the book in great detail, and is quite informative.