The Curious Case of the “Bengal Cattle”: Unpacking Cattle-Breeding in Colonial Bengal, 1860–1920

Viewing Bengal as an administrative unit, this article explores how ideas surrounding “breed” were instrumental in describing, classifying, and enumerating cattle within official narratives in British India. It examines British agrarian and veterinary records, highlighting recurrent discontents with cattle within the purview of Bengal’s administration. The official narrative maintained that the cattle of Bengal were “diminutive” and “degenerate” and these characteristics were primarily attributed to the region’s predominantly tropical climate. Official discussions repeatedly lamented the absence of proper nutrition for cattle, linking it to pasture shrinkage. Such perceived shifts in the landscape were articulated as major factors for cattle being starved, overworked, and thereby physically impoverished in this province. This article also discusses ramifications of certain policies adopted by the government to address the problem of alleged cattle-degeneration and highlights anomalies within colonial narratives in perceiving “breed” as a stable category for classifying and organizing nonhuman animals.