Contents
Who are Pastoralists?
The goats, sheep or cattle farmers are known as Pastoralists.
Pastoral Nomads and their Movements
In the Mountains
The Gujjar Bakarwals of Jammu and Kashmir
• They are pastoral nomads who move in groups called ‘Kafila’.
• Their movements are governed by the cold and snow.
• In winters when the high mountains are covered with snow these Gujjars move down to the low hills of the Sivalik range.
• On the onset of summer, when the snow melts and the mountains become lush and green, these pastoralists move back to the mountains.
The Gaddi Shepherds of Himachal Pradesh
• They also spend the winter on the low Sivalik hills and the summers in Lahul and Spiti.
The Gujjar cattle herders of Kumaon and Garhwal
• They spend their summers in the ‘bugyals’ and their winters in the ‘bhabar’.
The Bhotias, Sherpas and Kinnauri
• They follow the cyclic movement which helps them to adjust to seasonal changes and make best use of pastures.
On the plateaus, plains and deserts
The Dhangars of Maharashtra
• The Dhangars stay in the central plateau of Maharashtra during the monsoon.
• This is a semi-arid region.
• By October they begin their movement towards Konkan.
→ Here their cattle help to manure the fields and hence they are welcomed by the Konkani peasant. → As soon as the monsoon sets in, they retreat back to the semi-arid land of Maharashtra.
The Gollas and Kurumas and Kurubas of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
• The Gollas herded cattle.
• The Kurumas and Kurubas reared sheep and goats and sold woven blankets.
• They live near the woods and in the dry periods they move to the coastal tracts.
The Banjaras of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra
• They moved over long distances in search of good pastureland for their cattle.
Raikas in the deserts of Rajasthan
• The rainfall in the region was meagre and uncertain.
• They combine cultivation with pastoralism.
→ When their grazing grounds become dry they move to new and greener pastures.
Pastoral life was sustained by:
• Their sense of judgement to know how long one must stay in an area
• To know where they could find food and water
• To assess and calculate the timings of their movement
• Their ability to set up a relationship with the farmers so that the herds could graze on the harvested fields.
Colonial Rule and Pastoral Life
• Under colonial rule the life of the pastoralists changed completely.
How?
• All grazing lands became cultivated farms
• Forests Act restricted movements of pastoralists in the forests
→ Some customary rights were granted to them.
→ Forests were marked as protected and reserved.
→ British officials were suspicious of these pastoral groups.
→ The Criminal Tribes Acts was passed in 1871.
• Taxes were imposed on cattle which went up rapidly.
How Did these Changes Affect the Lives of Pastoralists?
• Natural restoration of pastoral growth stopped.
• Cattle died due to the scarcity of fodder.
• A serious shortage of pastures.
How Did the Pastoralists Cope with these Changes?
• Some reduced the number of cattle in their herds.
• Some discovered new pastures when movement to old grazing grounds became difficult.
• Over the years, some richer pastoralists began buying land and settling down, giving up their nomadic life.
Pastoralism in Africa
• Over half the world’s pastoral population lives in Africa.
The Maasai – Changes in their way of life
• Maasai live primarily in east Africa.
• Before colonial times, Maasailand stretched over a vast area from north Kenya to the steppes of northern Tanzania.
• In the late nineteenth century, European imperial powers cut Maasailand into half.
• The best grazing lands were gradually taken over for white settlement and the Maasai were pushed into arid zone with uncertain rainfall and poor pastures.
Land Cultivation
• In pre-colonial period the Massai pastoralists dominated the agriculturalist both economically and politically, the British colonial government encouraged local peasants to cultivate land.
The Borders are Closed
• From the late nineteenth century, the colonial government began imposing various restrictions on the mobility of African pastoralists.
Not All were Equally Affected
• The Maasai society was divided into two social categories- elders and warriors.
→ The elders formed the ruling group while warriors consisted of younger people, who defended the community and organised cattle raids.
• British appointed chiefs of different sub-groups of Maasai, who were made responsible for the affairs of the tribe.
• The chiefs appointed by the colonial government often accumulated wealth over time.
→ They had both pastoral and non-pastoral income, and could buy animals when their stock was depleted.
• However, the poor pastoralists who depended only on their livestock did not have the resources to tide over bad times.
→ In times of war and famine, they lost nearly everything.
