British officials feared people who moved. In 1871, they passed a law branding entire wandering communities as born criminals.
This article covers India’s nomadic pastoralists, their seasonal migrations, and how colonial laws reshaped their way of life.
🏛️ Must Know
Pastoralists of the Mountains
- Gujjar Bakarwals The Gujjar Bakarwals of Jammu and Kashmir moved annually between Siwalik winter pastures and Kashmir’s summer meadows.
- Travelling as a Kafila Several Bakarwal households travelled together as a kafila, crossing the Pir Panjal passes each April.
- The Gaddi Shepherds The Gaddi shepherds of Himachal Pradesh followed a similar cycle, wintering in the Siwalik hills and summering in Lahul and Spiti.
- Why They Moved This seasonal movement let exhausted pastures recover, preventing overuse of any single grazing area.
- Other Himalayan Herders This same summer-winter cycle was followed by other Himalayan communities too, including the Bhotiyas, Sherpas, and Kinnauris.
📘 Good to Know
Pastoralists of the Plateaus, Plains and Deserts
- The Dhangars Maharashtra’s Dhangars, numbering about 467,000 in the early twentieth century, moved between the dry plateau and the fertile Konkan coast.
- A Mutual Exchange Dhangar flocks manured Konkani fields after harvest, while Konkani peasants gave rice in return for this service.
- Gollas, Kurumas, Kurubas In Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, these communities herded cattle, sheep, and goats, moving with the monsoon and dry seasons.
- The Raikas of Rajasthan Raikas combined cultivation with pastoralism, with the Maru Raikas specialising in herding camels across the Thar desert.
- The Banjaras Banjaras were graziers found across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. They traded cattle and goods for grain and fodder.
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🌟 Great to Know
Four Colonial Laws That Reshaped Pastoral Life
- Waste Land Rules From the mid-nineteenth century, these rules handed uncultivated grazing tracts to selected individuals for cultivation.
- Forest Acts Reserved forests barred pastoralists entirely, while protected forests granted only limited, permit-based grazing access.
- The Colonial Reasoning Officials believed grazing cattle trampled saplings and young shoots, stopping new trees from growing on the forest floor.
- Grazing Tax Introduced in the mid-nineteenth century, this tax was charged per animal and auctioned to contractors between the 1850s and 1880s.
- A Pass System By the 1880s, herders needed a government-issued pass showing their cattle count and tax paid to enter grazing tracts.
The Criminal Tribes Act of 1871
- Settled Was “Safe” British officials trusted settled populations and viewed nomadic communities with suspicion, wanting fixed, easily controlled villages.
- Criminal by Birth The 1871 Act classified many craftsmen, traders, and pastoralist communities as Criminal Tribes, deemed criminal by nature and birth.
- Confined to Villages Once classified, these communities could only live in notified settlements and needed a permit to move, watched by village police.
Exam Point of View
How Pastoralists Coped With the Changes
- Shrinking Herds Some pastoralists reduced herd sizes since shrinking pastures could no longer support large numbers of animals.
- Settling Down Richer pastoralists bought land and settled as peasants or traders, while poorer ones often became landless labourers.
- Still Thriving Today Despite these pressures, pastoralist numbers have expanded in many regions, and ecologists see pastoralism as ecologically viable.
Partition and the Raikas
- Borders Cut Routes After 1947, Raikas could no longer cross into Sindh to graze camels along the Indus, as the new border blocked them.
- Adapting to Haryana Raikas have since migrated to Haryana, grazing sheep on harvested fields that need manure before the next sowing.
The Trap Examiners Set on Pastoral Communities
- Why Students often confuse the Gujjar Bakarwals of Jammu and Kashmir with the Gujjar cattle herders of Garhwal and Kumaon. Different regions, related name.
- Instead The Waste Land Rules and Forest Acts are often mixed up. Waste Land Rules handed grazing land to individuals; Forest Acts restricted access to reserved timber forests.
- Takeaway The Criminal Tribes Act (1871) predates the grazing tax’s efficient direct-collection system (1880s) by roughly a decade.
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