ErinChamberlin3 at 09:24, 27 February 2026

2026-02-27T09:24:01Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
The '''history of [[Kaziranga National Park]]''' in the Golaghat and Nagaon districts of the state of [[Assam]], [[India]], can be traced back to the beginning of the twentieth century, in 1904. It now is a [[World Heritage Site]] and hosts two-thirds of the world's Great One-horned Rhinoceroses, tigers, and many other endangered animals.

==Reserve Forest==
[[File:Franz von Lenbach Portrait Lady Curzon.jpg|thumb|Baroness Curzon, [[Mary Victoria Leiter|Mary Victoria Leiter Curzon]] who requested the creation of the Kaziranga conservation area in 1904]]

In the early nineteenth century, the area around what is now Kaziranga National Park was not well settled. It was notorious for wild animals, [[malaria]], frequent floods, and unpredictable changes in the course of the [[Brahmaputra River]]. Historical records of the forest called Kaziranga date to the seventeenth century. Several local [[kaziranga100.com|legends]] relates to the origin of its name, but historians suggest that the name relate to ''Karbi'', a woman who ruled the region at one time. With the rise of the [[Assam Tea|tea industry]] in Assam, slowly, the forests in the area were cleared for settlements and tea plantations. The local villagers practiced some [[slash-and-burn]] cultivation, while the [[British Empire|British]] established small permanent colonies for tea cultivation.<ref name= "kazi100">{{cite web
| last =
| first =
| title = Kaziranga National Park-History and Conservation
| publisher = Kaziranga National Park Authorities
| url = http://www.kaziranga100.com/Conservation%20Management.htm
| accessdate = 2007-02-23
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928033213/http://www.kaziranga100.com/Conservation%20Management.htm
| archive-date = 28 September 2007
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>

During the Nineteenth Century, megafauna populations in Assam were systematically destroyed as a result of hunting by British soldiers. Major John Butler of Bengal Native Infantry wrote in 1855 that it was not uncommon for three soldiers "to shoot thirty [[Water buffalo|buffalos]], twenty [[deer]], a dozen [[Pig|hogs]], besides one or two [[tigers]] and [[rhinoceroses]]. Captain Pollock, a British military engineer wrote that one or two rihnos or buffalos were shot dead before every breakfast. "the vast eThe history of protection in Kaziranga dates back to the early twentieth century, when [[Mary Curzon, Baroness Curzon of Kedleston|Baroness Mary Victoria Leiter Curzon]], an American who was the wife of [[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston|Lord Curzon]], the [[Viceroy of India]], first visited the Kaziranga area in 1904.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Kaziranga National Park Cenetary Celebration Website
|publisher=Kaziranga National Park Authorities
|url=http://www.kaziranga100.com
|accessdate=2007-02-23
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214193300/http://www.kaziranga100.com/
|archivedate=2008-02-14
}}</ref>
Kaziranga had been renowned for its [[rhinoceros]] population, however, during her trips in the region, Baroness Curzon failed to see any rhinoceros, seeing only some [[hoof]] marks.

It is rumored that the noted Assamese animal tracker, [[Balaram Hazarika]], showed Baroness Curzon around Kaziranga and impressed upon her the urgent need for conservation of the wildlife.<ref name = "bbc">{{cite news
| last =Bhaumik
| first =Subir
| title = Kaziranga's centenary celebrations
| work =[[BBC News]]
| date =2005-02-18
| url = https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4274927.stm
| access-date = 2007-02-25 }}</ref> Concerned about the dwindling numbers of rhinoceros, she asked her husband to take the necessary action to save the rhinoceros, which he did on 4 November 1904 when he proposed the creation of a reserve in Kaziranga.

[[File:Image-Kazi-letter.gif|thumb|250px|Formal document regarding the 4 November 1904 proposal for the establishment of the Kaziranga Reserve Forest, dated September 1905]]
Thus the Kaziranga Proposed [[Reserved forests of India|Reserve Forest]] was created on {{convert|57,273.6|acre|km2|lk=in}} of land, on 1 June 1905 by notification of the Chief [[Commissioner#India|Commissioner]] of the area.<ref>{{cite news
| last = Talukdar
| first = Sushanta
| title = Waiting for Curzon's kin to celebrate Kaziranga
| work =
| pages =
| language =
| newspaper = [[The Hindu]]
| date = 2005-01-05
| url = http://www.hinduonnet.com/2005/01/05/stories/2005010503052000.htm
| accessdate = 2007-02-24
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091105102311/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2005/01/05/stories/2005010503052000.htm
| archive-date = 5 November 2009
| url-status = usurped
}}</ref>

A proposal soon was made to extend the Kaziranga Reserve Forest by including a piece of land to the east of the existing reserve toward the Bokakhat Dhansirimukh road. Local people objected to this as their rights regarding such things as grazing, fishing, collection of cane, thatch, and firewood would be in danger. The European community of tea planters also objected to the proposal, mainly on the grounds that the area available for big game hunts would be greatly reduced. Another objection was that during the rainy season there had been a good deal of boating down the [[Diphlu river]] and the [[River Mora Dhansiri|Mora Dhansiri River]] through which tea from the neighboring tea gardens was taken to the [[Brahmaputra River]]. At last with the interventions of the forest settlement officer and deputy commissioner, Sibsagar District Major A. Playfair, an area of {{convert|13,506|acre|km2}} was added to the Kaziranga reserve vide notification No.295 R dated 28 January 1913.<ref name= "kazi100"/>

In later years another proposal was made to add extra land toward the north of the reserve, to provide shelter for the wild animals during flooding, as the ground was comparatively higher, and also to protect the wild animals from the danger of possible epidemics spreading through the domestic livestock. The presence of a large number of domestic buffaloes belonging to Nepali grazers in the proposed area caused much delay in the final making of the Reserved Forest, however, the chief commissioner decided in favour of making the reserve, and finally, an area of {{convert|37,529|acre|km2}} of land extending the Kaziranga Reserve up to the Brahmaputra River was notified vide notification No.3560 R dated 26 July 1917.<ref name= "kazi100"/>

Additions to the protected area continued and an area of {{convert|151|acre|km2|1}} was added further to the Kaziranga reserve vide notification No.FOF/WL/512/66/17 on 7 April 1967<ref name= "kazi100"/> extending the reserve to the south of the National Highway No.37 to provide a corridor for the animals to cross over safely to the [[Karbi Anglong]] Hills during flooding.

==National Park==
The proposal to declare Kaziranga as a [[National Park]] was taken up by the then Chief Conservator of Forests, P. Baruah. To achieve this objective, "The Assam National Park Act of 1968" was passed by the [[Government of Assam]], as there was no provision to create a National Park under the existing Forest Regulations. Kaziranga National Park was established on 11 February 1974, with an area of 429.93 square kilometres vide notification No.FOR/WL/722/68.<ref name= "kazi100"/>

Later several new areas were added to the National Park. The first addition (area 43.79 km2 on 28 May 1977), the second addition (area 6.47 km2 vide preliminary notification on 10 July 1985), third addition (area 0.69 km2 on 31 May 1985), fourth addition (area 0.89 km2 on 3 August 1988), fifth addition (area 1.15 km2 on 13 June 1985), and the sixth additions (area 376.50 km2 on 7 August 1999) were made.<ref name= "kazi100"/>
Two reserve forests Panbari ({{convert|1894|acre|km2|0|disp=semicolon}}) and Kukurakata ({{convert|3936|acre|km2|0|disp=semicolon}}) also came under the administrative control of the Kaziranga National Park.<ref name= "kazi100"/>

The park formally became a [[Reserve Forest]] in 1908, a ''game sanctuary'' in 1916, and it was closed officially for shooting in 1926. Kaziranga was thrown open to visitors in 1938. After the [[independence of India]], Kaziranga was declared a [[wildlife sanctuaries of India|Wildlife Sanctuary]] in 1950. In 1954 the Assam Legislative Assembly gave the rhinoceros legal protection through the Assam (Rhinoceros) Bill that laid down heavy penalties for killing any of them.<ref name= "kazi100"/> In 1974 Kaziranga was designated a [[national parks of India|National Park]], the first national park in the state of Assam. [[UNESCO]] declared Kaziranga a [[World Heritage Site]] in 1985.<ref name = "un"/>
Additional lands have been incorporated into the park, and a proposal to add some 454.50 square kilometres has been put forward to include the adjoining section of the Brahmaputra River to the north and part of the Karbi Anglong to the south, to provide a protected refuge where animals may take shelter during floods.<ref name="un">{{cite web
|title = UN Kaziranga Factsheet
|publisher = [[UNESCO]]
|url = http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/kazirang.html
|accessdate = 2007-02-23
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20081115023944/http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/kazirang.html
|archivedate = 2008-11-15
|url-status = dead
}}</ref>

Before 1950 the tourist facilities were limited and the accommodations consisted mainly of a [[Public Works Department]] inspection bungalow at Kaziranga and a Forest rest house at Baguri. These accommodations were found highly inadequate to meet the demands of increasing number of visitors to the park. Solutions implemented for this problem were one visitor's camp at Kaziranga and later on two tourist lodge, constructed by the department on a small hillock at [[Kohora]] as well as one Forest Rest House constructed at Arimora. The management of these two Tourist Lodges was handed over to the State Tourism Department in 1963 after the creation of this new department under the Government of Assam.<ref name="unescoreport">{{cite journal
|title=Section II: Periodic Report on the State of Conservation of Kaziranga National Park, India
|publisher=[[UNESCO]]
|year=2003
|url=https://whc.unesco.org/archive/periodicreporting/cycle01/section2/337.pdf
|accessdate=2007-02-28
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061231192431/https://whc.unesco.org/archive/periodicreporting/cycle01/section2/337.pdf
|archivedate=2006-12-31
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>

Unlike [[Manas National Park]] in Assam, the [[ULFA]] [[separatist]] movement in Assam did not affect the park's wildlife or tourism adversely, in fact, it has been reported that the ULFA "tried" and executed rhinoceros [[Poaching|poachers]] in the late 1980s.<ref name = "bbc"/>

Severe losses to the number of wildlife occurred during floods, events worth mention include the floods of 1973 in which several animals were killed.<ref name="unrevised"/> In 1988 a devastating flood ravaged the park in which 70% of the park was submerged under water killing 38 rhinoceros, including 23 calves, 1,050 deer, 69 wild boar, three baby elephants, two tigers, and numerous smaller species.<ref name="unrevised"/> In 1996 44 rhinoceros were killed by floods.<ref name="unrevised">[http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/kazirang.html Kaziranga Factsheet (Revised)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020223151613/http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/kazirang.html |date=2002-02-23 }}, [[UNESCO]], Retrieved on 2007-02-27</ref> In 1998 due to exceptionally heavy rainfall the Brahmaputra River flooded and parts of the park were under 6 metres of water.<ref name="unsummary"/> More than a square kilometre area of the floodplain was washed away; an estimated 652 animals, including 42 rhinoceroses, were lost.<ref name="unsummary"/> During that time [[World Wide Fund for Nature|WWF]]-India provided material assistance and the [[Indian army]] constructed ten islands on high ground for wildlife.<ref name="unsummary">{{cite web
| title = State of Conservation of the World Heritage Properties in the Asia-Pacific Region –Kaziranga National Park
| publisher =UNESCO
| date =
| url =https://whc.unesco.org/archive/periodicreporting/cycle01/section2/337-summary.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-02-28
| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060524160242/https://whc.unesco.org/archive/periodicreporting/cycle01/section2/337-summary.pdf
| archivedate = 2006-05-24 }}</ref>

The park celebrated its centenary with much fanfare in 2005, inviting descendants of Baroness and Lord Curzon for the celebrations, and combining the celebrations with the annual Kaziranga Elephant Festival.<ref name = "bbc"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==See also==
*[[Kaziranga National Park]]

{{Kaziranga National Park}}

[[Category:History of Assam|Kaziranga]]
[[Category:Kaziranga National Park]]

History of Kaziranga National Park - Revision history

ErinChamberlin3 at 09:24, 27 February 2026