There were many need of nomadic tribes to move from one place to another:
→ The nomadic tribes had no regular fields of their own from where they could get fodder for their cattle.
→ They lived with their herd in the low hills of Himalayas from September to April because; the huge mountains or high altitude were covered with snow during this period. In these areas, the dry scrub forests provided pastures for their herds during this period.
→ With the onset of summer, as the snow melted and the hills side began to be covered with lush green with a variety of new grasses, the pastoralists started their northward march for their summer grazing grounds.
→ Again with the onset of winter when the mountains began to be covered with snow and there were dearth of nutritious forage, these pastoralists on the move again, this time on their downward journey.
The movement of the nomadic pastoralists from the downward to the upward areas and vice-versa allowed sufficient time for natural restoration of vegetation grounds. Their continuous shifting provided sufficient forage to the different animals both at the high mountains and the lower hills. They also helped in maintaining the quality of the pastures.
By: Admin
(i) Waste Land rules: All grazing lands were considered 'waste land' by the colonial rulers as they brought no revenue to them. If this land could be transformed into cultivated farmland, it would result in an increase in land revenue and production of crops such as jute, cotton and wheat. This is why the Waste Land rules were formulated. However, they sounded the death knell for pastoralists because an increase in cultivated land meant an obvious decline in pastures and a consequent loss of a means of livelihood for them.
(ii) Forests Acts:These were enacted to protect and preserve forests for timber which was of
commercial importance. These acts changed the life of pastoralists. They were now prevented from entering many forests that had earlier provided valuable forage for their cattle. They issued permits which monitored their entry and exit into forests. They could not stay in the forests as much as they liked because the permit specified the number of days and hours they could spend in the forests.
(iii) Criminal Tribes Act: The British government eyed nomadic people with suspicion and disregard on account of their continuous movement. They could not be tracked down or placed in one particular place, unlike rural people in villages who were easy to identify and control. Hence, the colonial power viewed nomadic tribes as criminal. The Criminal Tribes Act was passed in 1871 and it further ruined the lives of the pastoralists who were now forced to live in notified settlements and were disallowed from moving out without a government permit.
(iv) Grazing Tax: It was imposed by the colonial government to expand its revenue income. Pastoralists had to pay a tax on every animal they grazed on the pastures. This right was now auctioned out to contractors. They extracted as high a tax as they could, to recover the money they had paid to the state and earn as much profit as they could. Later the government itself started collecting taxes. This created problems for the pastoralists who were harassed by tax collectors. It also became an economic burden on them.
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The Maasais lost their grazing lands due to the following reasons:
→ In 1885, Maasai land was cut in half by an international boundary between British Kenya and German Tanganyika.
→ The best pastures were reserved for white settlements, and the Maasai tribes were given arid zone with uncertain rainfall and poor pastures into a small area in south Kenya and north Tanzania.
→ The British colonial government in east Africa also encouraged local peasant communities to expand cultivation. As cultivation expanded, pasturelands were turned into cultivated fields.
→ Large areas of grazing land were also turned into game reserves where pastoralists were not allowed to enter.
→ This lack of good grazing lands and a two-year drought led to losses of almost 60% cattle belonging to the Maasai tribes.
Thus, with the expansion of British colonisation, the Maasai community lost their grazing lands.
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There are many similarities in the way in which the modern world forced changes in the lives of pastoral communities in India and East Africa. Here are two examples of changes which were similar for Indian pastoralists and the Maasai herders:
→ All uncultivated land was seen as 'waste land' by colonial powers. It produced neither revenue nor agricultural produce. This land was brought under cultivation. In most areas, the lands taken over were actually grazing tracts used regularly by pastoralists, so the expansion of cultivation inevitably meant the decline of pastures and a problem both for Indian pastoralists and the Maasai.
→ From the 19th century onwards, the colonial government started imposing restrictions on the pastoral communities. They issued permits which allowed them to move out with their stock and it was difficult to get permits without trouble and harassment. Those found guilty of disobeying the rules were severely punished.
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1.Nomadic Pastoralists are People Who
(a) Live in one place
(b) Move from one area to another
(c) Move from one place to another with their herds to earn a living
(d) Gonds, Dhurwas and Bhatros are some nomadic pastoralists of India
2.Pastoral Nomads of Jammu and Kashmir
(a) Bhotiyas
(b) Gujjar Bakarwals
(c) Sherpas
(d) Gaddis
3.Significant feature of nomadic pastoralists
(a) cycle of seasonal movement
(b) shifting cultivation
(c) live on the edges of forests
(d) continuously on the move
4- Bhabar
(a) Thick forests
(b) Semi-arid region
(c) Dry forested area
(d) Vast meadows
5. The cyclical movement of mountain pastoralists is defined by
(a) cold and snow
(b) dry season
(c) onset of monsoons
(d) prospects of trade
6.Bugyals are
(a) dry forested area below the foothills of Garhwal and Kumaun
(b) vast meadows in high mountains
(c) semi-arid region in the Central Plateau of Maharashtra
(d) swampy wet coastal tracts
7. Dhangars are pastoralists of
(a) Jammu and Kashmir
(b) Garhwal
(c) U.P. hills
(d) Maharashtra
8.Which of the following was not a reason for Konkani peasants welcoming the herders?
(a) Dhangar flocks fed on the stubble of the rabi crop
(b) They helped in kharif harvest
(c) Shepherds received supplies of rice
(d) They returned to the plateau with the onset of monsoons
9.The alternation of monsoon and dry season defined the rythm of
(a) Gaddis
(b) Gujjar Bakarwals
(c) Berbers
(d) Gollas
10.Pastoralists sustain by'
(a) herding
(b) cultivation
(c) trade
(d) all of these
11.In which of the following states are Banjara's to be found?
1. It takes place at the Balotra in Western Rajasthan.
2. Camel herders come to the fair to sell and buy camels.
3. The Maru Raikas also display their expertise in training their camels.
4. Horses from Gujarat are also brought for sale at this fair.
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1. In the 19th century, many forest Acts were made by the British.
2. The Forest Act 1878 classified the forest into three categories-Reserved, Protected and Village Forests.
3. Pastoralists were severely affected by the Acts.
4. Their movements were restricted
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1. The British were always suspicious of nomadic tribes as the nomads were never settled on a particular place. The colonial power considered them criminal.
2. Therefore, the Criminal Tribes Act was passed in 1871. By this act many nomadic tribes were classified as criminal tribes.
3. These tribes were forced to live in notified villages.
4. Their movement was restricted and they were always kept under strict surveillance
By: Admin
1. The British tried to discourage Nomads tribes in all possible ways.
2. Grazing Tax was one such measure adopted by the colonial power.
3. They wanted to increase revenue income. So Grazing Tax was imposed on many items including grazing land.
4. The Tax on grazing land was step to discourage Nomadism.
5. Pastoral tribes had to pay tax on every animal they grazed on the pastures.
By: Admin
1. To the colonial officials forest lands or uncultivated lands were waste land as these did not yield agricultural produce or any other revenue.
2. They considered these lands in to cultivate land and waste land rules were enacted in mid-nineteenth century, in various parts of the country.
By: Admin
In 1871 the colonial in India passed the criminal Tribes Act. By this act many communities of craftsmen, traders and pastoralists were classified as criminal tribes. They were stated to be criminal by nature and birth. Once this act came into force, these communities were expected to live only in notified village settlements. They were not allowed to move out without a permit. The village police kept a continuous watch on them.
British officials were suspicious of nomadic people. They distrusted mobile craftsmen and traders who hawked their goods in villages, and pastoralists who changed their places of residence every season, moving in search of good pastures for their herds. The colonial government wanted a rule over a settled population. They wanted the rural people to live in villages, in fixed places. Such population was easy to identify and control
By: Admin
1. In the areas of the mountains the Gaddi shepherd of Himachal Pradesh had also a cycle of seasonal movement.
2. They too spent their winter in the low hills of Siwalik range, grazing their flocks in scrub forests.
3. By April the moved north and spent the summer in Lahul and Spiti.
4. When the snow melted and high passes were clear, many of them on to higher mountain meadows.
5. By September they began their return movement. On the way they stopped once again in the village of Laul and Spiti, reaping their summer harvest and sowing their winter crops.
6. Then they descended with their flock to their winter grazing ground in the Siwalik Hills.
By: Admin
1. High temperature combines with low rainfall.
2. It creates conditions which are dry and extremely hot.
3. Drought conditions are common in this semi arid land of equatorial heat.
4. During such times pastoral animals die in large numbers
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Buchanan a traveler, travel through Mysore and wrote about Gollas.
1. Their families live in small villages near the skirt of the woods, where they cultivate a little ground, and keep some of their cattle selling in the towns the produce of dairy.
2. Their families are very numerous, seven to eight young men in each being common.
3. Two or three of these attend the flocks in the woods, while the remainder cultivate their fields, and supply the towns with firewood, and with straw for thatch
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1. Reserved Forests: The forests which produced commercially valuable timber like Deodar or Sal. No pastoralist was allowed to access these forests.
2. Protected Forests: In these forests some customary grazing rights of pastoralists were granted but their movements were strictly restricted.
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1. Droughts made a severe effect on the pastoral tribes.
2. When rain is less and pastures are dry, pastorals move to new grazing lands but the colonial powers restricted their movement to a small area.
3. They were forced to live in the semi-arid areas.
4. During the drought period, a large number of cattle used to die due to starvation and disease.
By: Admin
1. The police were given instruction to keep a watch on the movements of pastoralists, and prevent them from entering white areas.
2. Passes to enter the Territory should not be given to these natives unless exceptional circumstances necessitate their entering.
3. Ordinary visiting passes should not be given to the locals.
By: Admin
To expand its revenue income, the colonial government looked for every possible source of taxation.
1. Taxes were imposed on land, on canal water, on salt, on trade goods and even on animals.
2. Pastoralists had to pay tax on every animal they grazed on the pastures.
3. In most pastoral tracts of India, grazing tax was introduced in the mid-nineteenth century.
4. The tax per head of cattle went up rapidly and the system of collection was made increasingly efficient.
5. In the decades between the 1850s and 1880s the right to collect the tax was auctioned out to contractors
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1. Even today the Gujjar Bakarwals of Jammu and Kashmir are great herders of goat and sheep.
2. Many of them migrated to this region in the nineteenth century in search of pasture for their animals.
3. Gradually over the decades they established themselves in the area, and moved annually between their summer and winter grazing grounds.
4. In winter when the high mountains were covered with snow they lived with their herds in the low hills of the Siwalik range. The dry scrub forests have provided pasture for their herds.
5. By the end of April they began their northern march for their summer grazing grounds.
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