Pastoral Economy Communities in
Asia or Africa
Nomadic Pastoralism in India
Many Nomads tribes in India are found that practice nomadic pastoralism. They generally
live in hilly or mountainous regions. They also prefer to live in the areas containing grass,
shrubs and forests etc. because it will provide them with pastures for their cattle to survive
and grow. In search of such areas, they used to move from one place to another so that they
could find ideal climates and temperatures for cattle such as sheep and goats.
In different states of India such as Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and
Andhra Pradesh etc. have a lot of tribes that practice nomadic pastoralism. Let us know
about these tribes in detail.
Gujjar Tribe From Garhwal
The location of Garhwal is in the mountainous region of the Himalayas in
Uttarakhand. A pastoral nomad tribe is found in this region called the Gujjar tribe.
The origin of this tribe can be traced back to the Jammu region, but around the 19th
century, the Gujjar tribe came south to the hills of Uttar Pradesh in the search of
fresh pastures for their cattle.
Now, this tribe can be found wandering around the hilly areas of the Kumaon and
Garhwal regions. They live in the grasslands of the Bugyals in the summertime while
during winter they move to the region of Bhabar as it is covered in dry forests. This is
the cyclic movement of the Gujjars between seasons.
Dhangars From Maharashtra
The Dhangars tribes are found in Maharashtra. This is a are a prominent tribal
community. This can be understood that the word “dhangar” is related to the wealth
of cattle in Sanskrit. The Dhangars people are traditionally blanket weavers,
butchers, cattle herders, occasionally farmers, cow and buffalo herders.
They live in an agricultural area of Maharashtra called the Konkani region, from
January to June. They move to the plateaus before the hitting of the monsoon hits as
the heavy rainfall is not suitable for the cattle, especially the sheep.
Impact of Colonization on Pastoralism
The life of pastoralists changed dramatically under the colonial rule. The colonial rulers
wanted to transform all grazing lands into cultivated farms. This was necessary to increase
land revenue, which was the main source of revenue for the government. Additionally,
increasing the cultivated land was necessary for increasing the production of jute, cotton
and wheat which were required in England.
Waste Land Rules: Waste Land Rules were enacted in different parts of the country from
the mid-nineteenth century. Under these rules, uncultivated lands were taken over and
given to select individuals. These individuals were encouraged to settle on these lands and
were granted various concessions. Some of them were made headmen of villages in the
newly cleared areas. The expansion of cultivated land resulted in significant reduction in
grazing grounds. This created huge problem for the pastoralists.
Forest Act: New Forest Acts were enacted by the mid-nineteenth century. Under these Acts,
many forests were declared ‘Reserved’. Pastoralists were not allowed in the reserved
forests. Some other forests were classified as ‘Protected’. The pastoralists got some grazing
rights in the protected forests, but their movements were highly restricted. These Forest
Acts changed the lives of pastoralists. They could not enter many areas and entry to some
other areas was restricted. So instead of following the seasonal cycle, they were forced to
follow the new Forest Acts, which disturbed their traditional ways of life.
Criminal Tribes Act: The nomadic people were viewed with suspicion by the colonial rulers.
The Criminal Tribes Act was passed in 1871. Many communities of craftsmen, traders and
pastoralists were classified as Criminal Tribes under this Act. They were forced to live in
notified villages only and the police officials kept a watch on them. You can imagine the
ignominy these people were forced to suffer. The colonial government looked for every
possible source of taxation, in order to increase its revenue income. Tax was imposed on
land, on canal water, on salt, on trade goods, and even on animals.
Grazing Tax: Grazing tax was introduced in the mid-nineteenth century, in most of the
pastoral tracts of India. Tax was calculated on the basis of per head of cattle. The tax rate
went up rapidly and the tax collection system was made more efficient. The right to collect
the tax was auctioned to contractors between 1850s and 1880s. These contractors tried to
extract as high a tax as possible to recover their investment. By 1880s, the government
began to directly collect taxes from the pastoralists.
Changes in the Lives of Pastoralists: The availability of pastureland decreased drastically.
This resulted in continuous intensive grazing of the remaining pasture. Unlike in the past,
the lack of seasonal movement of pastoralists did not allow time for the natural restoration
of vegetation growth. This created shortage of forage for animals and the animal stock
deteriorated. Most of the cattle died due to shortage of fodder.
Some of the pastoralists reduced the number of cattle in their herds. Some others
discovered new pastures. For example, when the Rakia’s could no longer move into Sindh
after the partition of 1947 they began to migrate to Haryana in search of new pastures.
Some rich pastoralists began to buy land to settle down and gave up their nomadic life.
While some of them became peasants, some others took to more extensive trading. But the
poor pastoralists had to borrow from moneylenders in order to survive. Most of them finally
lost their cattle and sheep and became laborer’s. They began to work in fields or in small
towns.
