During the Colonial era, forest management policies in India were primarily shaped by the economic and strategic interests of the British administration rather than the traditional needs of local communities, including the tribal populations who depended on forests for their livelihood, culture, and identity. The arrival of the British in India brought about a shift from community-based forest usage to a centralized, state-controlled system that prioritized commercial exploitation of timber and other forest resources. Tribes, who had historically practiced sustainable forms of forest management, found their way of life increasingly restricted, leading to social, economic, and cultural disruptions. Before colonial intervention, Indian forests were largely managed through customary rights and practices by indigenous communities. Tribes such as the Gond, Bhil, Munda, and Santhal had complex systems of forest management that included rotational cultivation, regulated hunting, sacred groves, and collection of non-timber forest products like honey, bamboo, lac, and medicinal plants. These practices maintained ecological balance while providing sustenance for tribal communities. With the British understanding forests as resources for revenue and raw materials for industries like shipbuilding, railways, and construction, they introduced laws that centralized control and excluded local populations from decision-making processes. The first significant step in colonial forest policy was the enactment of the Indian Forest Act of 1865, which allowed the government to declare certain areas as reserved forests. Reserved forests were strictly controlled, with access limited primarily to government officials and licensed contractors. Tribes who relied on these forests for grazing, hunting, and minor forest produce suddenly faced restrictions and fines. This act marked the beginning of the systematic disenfranchisement of tribal forest users, as the state assumed the authority to regulate or prohibit traditional rights. The 1865 Act laid the groundwork for the 1878 and later the comprehensive Indian Forest Act of 1927, which further consolidated state control and formalized the categorization of forests into reserved, protected, and village forests. The 1878 Act was a more aggressive approach to forest management, emphasizing scientific forestry principles imported from Europe. British officials, often trained in forestry schools in France and Germany, introduced the concept of scientific forestry, which involved planting commercially valuable species such as teak and sal in monoculture plantations, controlled logging, and strict regulation of forest usage. While the stated aim was sustainability and forest regeneration, the real objective was to ensure a steady supply of timber for military, railway, and industrial purposes. For tribes, this approach was disruptive because it disregarded the ecological knowledge