Pastoralists in Colonial India: Mountains, Plains and the Laws That Restricted Them

Imagine a herder who must move or lose his flock. Now imagine a law that treats his whole community as born criminals. In 1871, the British passed exactly such a law. It targeted people who never stayed in one place.

In this lesson, we follow India’s pastoralists through the year. We see how mountain and plains herders moved. Then we look at the colonial rules that boxed them in, and how they coped.

1How did herders of the mountains live?

The Gujjar Bakarwals live in Jammu and Kashmir. They are known for moving with their flocks every year. In summer they climb to high meadows. In winter they come down to lower land.

On the way, they cross the Pir Panjal and Banihal passes. Standard accounts say several households travel together as a kafila. The Bakarwals have been listed as a Scheduled Tribe since 1991.

The Gaddi shepherds of Himachal Pradesh follow a similar yearly cycle. School texts describe winters in the lower hills and summers on high pastures. Moving also let tired pastures rest and grow back.

• Bakarwals: cross the Pir Panjal and Banihal passes.
• A kafila is a group of households travelling together.
• Gaddis of Himachal Pradesh also move with the seasons.

2How did herders of the plateau and desert live?

The Dhangars are a shepherd community of Maharashtra. School texts say they moved between the dry plateau and the wetter Konkan coast. After the harvest, their flocks grazed on Konkani fields.

This worked for both sides. The sheep manured the soil. In return, the farmers gave the Dhangars rice. Each side got something it needed.

The Raikas of Rajasthan mixed farming with herding. Some of them herded camels across the Thar desert. In dry years, they moved to find fodder and water.

The Banjaras were traders as well as herders. Historians describe them carrying goods and grain across inland India. They used cattle, camels and oxen to move it.

• Dhangars: plateau to Konkan. Manure for rice.
• Raikas: farming plus camel herding in the Thar.
• Banjaras: traders and herders.

3Which colonial laws squeezed the herders?

Colonial officials liked fields that paid land revenue. Open grazing land looked like waste to them. So they made new rules.

The Waste Land Rules, as school texts describe them, handed uncultivated land to selected individuals. These were often the very grazing tracts herders used. Cultivation spread, and pastures shrank.

Forest laws made things harder. The Indian Forest Act of 1927 set out three kinds of forest. They were Reserved, Protected and Village Forests. Textbooks say grazing was barred in reserved forests and limited in protected ones.

A grazing tax came next. It was charged for each animal. By the late nineteenth century, herders also needed a pass to enter grazing tracts. Officials checked the pass at the entry.

• Waste Land Rules: grazing tracts given to individuals for farming.
• Indian Forest Act, 1927: Reserved, Protected and Village forests.
• Grazing tax on each animal, and a pass to enter.

4What was the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871?

British officials trusted people who stayed in villages. They feared people who moved. Traders, craftsmen and herders all moved.

The Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 first applied mostly in North India. It was later extended to other regions. It named whole communities as “addicted to the systematic commission of non-bailable offences”. Members were registered by the government.

The rules were harsh. Adult men had to report weekly to the local police. Their movement was restricted. Anyone born into a listed community was presumed a “born criminal”.

• 1871: first Act, applied mostly in North India.
• Whole communities labelled criminal by birth.
• Men had to report weekly to the police.

5How did pastoralists cope?

Herders found different ways out. Some cut the size of their herds. Smaller herds needed less grass. Others hunted for new pastures.

Richer pastoralists often bought land and settled down. Some became peasants or traders. Poorer ones lost their animals. Many ended up as labourers.

Pastoralism did not vanish. School texts note that herder numbers have grown in many regions. Ecologists now see pastoral life as a sound way to use dry land.

• Cut herd size or find new pastures.
• Richer families bought land. Poorer ones became labourers.
• Pastoralism survives today.

6What did Partition do to the Raikas?

Before 1947, Raika camel herders could cross into Sindh to graze along the Indus. Partition drew a new border there. School texts say it blocked this old route.

The Raikas had to adapt. Many moved to Haryana. There they grazed their animals on fields that needed manure. It was a new version of the old bargain.

• 1947: border blocks the route into Sindh.
• Raikas move to Haryana and graze on fields.

7What happened to the Act after independence?

Independent India did not keep the label. The Criminal Tribes Act was repealed in 1949. The communities were denotified in 1952. That is why we call them denotified tribes.

The same year brought the Habitual Offenders Act of 1952. Critics say it kept some old suspicion alive. Many denotified and nomadic groups still face stereotypes.

• Act repealed 1949. Tribes denotified 1952.
• Habitual Offenders Act, 1952 replaced it.

8What are the exam traps?

• The Waste Land Rules gave grazing land to individuals. Forest Acts limited access to forests. Do not mix them.
• The Bakarwals belong to Jammu and Kashmir. The Gaddis belong to Himachal Pradesh.
• The Criminal Tribes Act was passed in 1871, not 1947. It was repealed in 1949.
• The Raikas herd camels. The Dhangars herd sheep.
• A kafila is a travelling group, not a pasture or a permit.