VOL 2 No 1, 2025 Research Article
Postgraduate Student, Department of History, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21659/jsae/v2n1/v2n107
[Article History: Received: 26 Mar 2025. Revised: 25 May 2025. Accepted: 27 May 2025. Published: 12 June 2025]
Abstract
The environmental crisis is one of the most significant dangers that humanity faces today. Ancient Indian Sanskrit literature, Buddhist traditions, and Jain textual sources serve as vast reservoirs of knowledge about environmental discourses. This study delves into the realm of disaster management in ancient India, exploring the intricate relationship between natural calamities and sustainable development through a critical analysis of normative literature, including the Arthaśāstra, Skānda-Purāṇa, and Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, etc. as well as creative literature like Daśakumarcharita, Adbhuta Sāgara, and epigraphical sources such as the Mahasthan Inscription and Sohgaura Bronze Plaque Inscription. This paper will examine the concept of calamities and how these normative and creative texts fostered the idea, while also exploring how these texts contributed to the notions of disaster management and sustainable development. This analysis reveals that ancient Indian societies developed a nuanced understanding of disaster management, encompassing prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. This paper examines the role of governance and environmental factors in shaping disaster management strategies and how fear of calamities generates social anxiety among ancient Indian societies. The paper, therefore, aims to explain the concepts of disaster management and sustainable development as practised by ancient Indian societies—activities that reflect a profound understanding of the relationship between nature and humanity, rather than presenting a homogeneous idea.
Keywords: Environmental Jurisprudence, Ancient India, Disaster Management, Sustainable Development.
