PPPastoralists in the Modern Worldorldorld

1 Pastoralists in the Modern World97 PPPPP astoralists in the Modern Wastoralists in the Modern Wastoralists in the Modern Wastoralists in the Modern Wastoralists in the Modern WorldorldorldorldorldIn this chapter you will read about nomadic pastoralists. Nomadsare people who do not live in one place but move from one area toanother to earn their living. In many parts of India we can see nomadicpastoralists on the move with their herds of goats and sheep, orcamels and cattle. Have you ever wondered where they are comingfrom and where they are headed?

2 Do you know how they live andearn? What their past has been?Pastoralists rarely enter the pages of history textbooks. When youread about the economy whether in your classes of history oreconomics you learn about agriculture and industry. Sometimesyou read about artisans; but rarely about pastoralists. As if theirlives do not matter. As if they are figures from the past who have noplace in Modern this chapter you will see how pastoralism has been important insocieties like India and Africa. You will read about the waycolonialism impacted their lives, and how they have coped with thepressures of Modern society.

3 The chapter will first focus on Indiaand then in the Modern Sheep grazing on the Bugyals of eastern are vast natural pastures on the high mountains, above 12,000 feet. They are under snow in the winter andcome to life after April. At this time the entire mountainside is covered with a variety of grasses, roots and monsoon, these pastures are thick with vegetation and carpeted with wild V2021 22 India and the Contemporary In the MountainsEven today the Gujjar Bakarwals of Jammu and Kashmir are greatherders of goat and sheep.

4 Many of them migrated to this region inthe nineteenth century in search of pastures for their , over the decades, they established themselves in the area,and moved annually between their summer and winter grazinggrounds. In winter, when the high mountains were covered withsnow, they lived with their herds in the low hills of the Siwalikrange. The dry scrub forests here provided pasture for their the end of April they began their northern march for their summergrazing grounds. Several households came together for this journey,forming what is known as a kafila.

5 They crossed the Pir Panjal passesand entered the valley of Kashmir. With the onset of summer, thesnow melted and the mountainsides were lush green. The variety ofgrasses that sprouted provided rich nutritious forage for the animalherds. By end September the Bakarwals were on the move again, thistime on their downward journey, back to their winter base. Whenthe high mountains were covered with snow, the herds were grazedin the low a different area of the mountains, the Gaddi shepherds ofHimachal Pradesh had a similar cycle of seasonal movement.

6 Theytoo spent their winter in the low hills of Siwalik range, grazing theirflocks in scrub forests. By April they moved north and spent thesummer in Lahul and Spiti. When the snow melted and the highpasses were clear, many of them moved on to higher mountain11111 P P P P Pastoral astoral astoral astoral astoral NNNNN omads and their omads and their omads and their omads and their omads and their MMMMM ovementsovementsovementsovementsovements Source AWriting in the 1850s, Barnes gavethe following description of the Gujjarsof Kangra: In the hills the Gujjars are exclusivelya pastoral tribe they cultivate scarcelyat all.

7 The Gaddis keep flocks of sheepand goats and the Gujjars, wealthconsists of buffaloes. These people livein the skirts of the forests, and maintaintheir existence exclusively by the saleof the milk, ghee, and other produceof their herds. The men graze thecattle, and frequently lie out for weeksin the woods tending their herds. Thewomen repair to the markets everymorning with baskets on their heads,with little earthen pots filled with milk,butter-milk and ghee, each of thesepots containing the proportion requiredfor a day s meal.

8 During the hotweather the Gujjars usually drive theirherds to the upper range, where thebuffaloes rejoice in the rich grass whichthe rains bring forth and at the sametime attain condition from thetemperate climate and the immunityfrom venomous flies that torment theirexistence in the plains. From: Barnes, Settlement Reportof Kangra, A Gujjar Mandap on the highmountains in central Gujjar cattle herders live in thesemandaps made of ringal a hill bamboo and grass from the Bugyal. A mandap wasalso a work place.

9 Here the Gujjar used tomake ghee which they took down for sale. Inrecent years they have begun to transport themilk directly in buses and trucks. Thesemandaps are at about 10,000 to 11,000 cannot climb any 22 Pastoralists in the Modern World99meadows. By September they began their return movement. On theway they stopped once again in the villages of Lahul and Spiti, reapingtheir summer harvest and sowing their winter crop. Then they descendedwith their flock to their winter grazing ground on the Siwalik April, once again, they began their march with their goats andsheep, to the summer to the east, in Garhwal and Kumaon, the Gujjar cattle herderscame down to the dry forests of the bhabar in thewinter, and went up to the high meadows thebugyals in summer.

10 Many of them wereoriginally from Jammu and came to the UP hills inthe nineteenth century in search of good pattern of cyclical movement between summerand winter pastures was typical of many pastoralcommunities of the Himalayas, including theBhotiyas, Sherpas and Kinnauris. All of them hadto adjust to seasonal changes and make effective useof available pastures in different places. When thepasture was exhausted or unusable in one place theymoved their herds and flock to new areas. Thiscontinuous movement also allowed the pastures torecover; it prevented their Gaddi sheep being September the Gaddi shepherds come down from the highmeadows (Dhars).