Reclaiming Indigenous Environmental Wisdom: An Eco-critical Analysis of Mahasweta Devi’s Aranyer Adhikar

Abstract

Aranyer Adhikar by Mahasweta Devi can be counted among the most renowned historical novels, even though it narrates the struggle of the Adivasi leader Birsa Munda in late nineteenth-century Chotanagpur. The novel transcends the standard boundaries of a political novel; it is also profoundly ecological. Devi’s writing conveys a strong sense of urgency about present-day environmental crises, including climate change. She constructs a narrative in which land, people, and survival are inseparably linked, while also condemning the violence that emerges when these relationships are disrupted by colonialism and consumer capitalism.

This paper discusses Aranyer Adhikar as an eco-critical work within the broader discourse of environmental justice. It foregrounds the lived realities of India’s Adivasis, whose identity and survival remain deeply tied to land and forest ecosystems. Drawing upon eco-critical theoretical approaches such as ecofeminism, deep ecology, and postcolonial ecocriticism, the study suggests that Devi’s narrative allows indigenous cosmologies, forest ethics, and ecological knowledge systems to emerge and flourish. Devi avoids romanticising the tribal world; instead, she reveals the intricate balance that sustained it, the rituals and practices that held it together, and how it was systematically dismantled by the state and corporate forces.

Central to this interpretation is the figure of Birsa Munda, whose vision of revolt combines political liberation with ecological renewal. His uprising becomes a rebellion of land and people against erasure. His life is not only a human tragedy but also symbolic of ecological devastation.

By re-reading Aranyer Adhikar eco-critically, this paper proposes that Devi’s novel serves as an exhortation to reclaim indigenous environmental wisdom. It calls for an ethic of reciprocity and care, transforming the novel into not merely a historical document but a living manifesto for sustainable and equitable futures.