India And The Contemporary World I Chapter 5 Pastoralists In The Modern World

(a) Waste Land Rules: From the mid-nineteenth century, Waste Land Rules enacted in various parts of the country. By these rules, uncultivated lands were taken over and given to select individuals. These individuals were granted various concessions and encouraged to settle these lands. Some of them were made headmen of villages in the newly cleared areas. In most areas, the lands taken over were actually grazing tracts used regularly by pastoralists. So, expansion of cultivation inevitably meant the decline of pastures and a problem for pastoralists.

(c) Criminal Tribes Act: British officials were suspicious of nomadic people. Those who were settled were seen as law abiding ; those who were nomadic were considered to be criminal. Therefore in 1871, the colonial government 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.

Masais have been faced with loss of grazing lands.
(i) There was a scramble for territories in Africa among the European colonial powers. They divided various regions into different colonies. In 1885, Masailand was cut into half with an international boundary between British, Kenya and German Tanganyika. As a result, the best grazing lands were taken over and the white men settled there.
(ii) The Masais were pushed into a small area in South Kenya and North Tanganyika. The Masai people lost about sixty percent of their pre-colonial lands. They were limited to an arid land with little rainfall and poor pastures. From the late nineteenth century, the British colonial government in East Africa also encouraged local peasant communities to expand cultivation.
(iii) As cultivation expanded, pasturelands were turned into cultivated fields. Large areas of grazing land were also turned into game reserves like the Masai Mara and Samburu National Park in Kenya and Serengeti Park in Tanzania. Pastoralists were not allowed to enter these reserves ; they could neither hunt animals nor graze their herds in these areas.

India and Africa, both were colonies of the European colonial power. Therefore, their exploitation was on the similar pattern.

(i) One of the problems which the Masai have faced is the continuous loss of their grazing lands. The colonial government also encouraged the local peasants to expand cultivation. In India, the colonial power transferred the pasture land from the common people to individuals. Large areas of grazing land were turned into game reserves in Africa. The pastoralists were not allowed to enter in reserves. In India also, pastoral lands were reserved, for commercial use of entertainment complex.

(ii) In India and Africa, the forests were reserved, other were declared protected. As a result, the pastoralists were not allowed to enter them and to graze their animals. They lost their traditional forest rights like usage of timber, forest produce, fuels, fodder for their livestock.

A.

High meadows

C.

Himachal Pradesh

B.

J & K

D.

Maharashtra

A.

September-October

A.

March-April

A.

Rajasthan

A.

Kenya

B.

Tanzania

A.

1933-34

B.

Dangars

C.

Ringal

A.

Southern Kenya

B.

Autumn

C.

Masai

B.

Bugyal

D.

All of these

A.

1919

B.

1961

A.

Northern China

D.

All of these

A.

Bugyal

D.

Maasai

B.

Himachal Pradesh

Nomads are people who do not live in one place but move from one area to another to earn their living.

The Gujjar Bakarwals belonged to Jammu and Kashmir.

The Gaddi Shepherds belonged to Himachal Pradesh.

The other pastoral communities of the Himalayas are Bhotiyas, Sherpas and Kinnauris.

The important community of Maharashtra is Dangars.

Maru and  Raikas are the camel herders of Thar desert near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.

Balotra and Pushkar are important camel fairs in Rajasthan.

Maldhari herders live in the Rann of Kutch.

The communities are Masai, Bedouins, Burbers, Somali, Boran and Turkana.

They live primarily in East Africa: 300,000 in Kenya and 150,000 in Tanzania.

Masai means ‘My People’.

The different forms of pastoralism are:

(1) Pastoral nomads

(2) Transhumance pastoralists

(3) Trader nomads (as gypsies)

Kraal is a basic social unit of Masais.

(i)Bugyals are vast natural pastures on the high mountains, above 12,000 feet.
(ii)They are under snow in the winter and come to life after April. At this time the entire mountainside is covered with a variety of grasses, roots and herbs.
(iii)By monsoon, these pastures are thick with vegetation and carpeted with wild flowers.

The Banjaras live in the villages of Punjab, Haryana, U.P., M.P. Maharashtra, Rajasthan etc.

The continuous movement:

(i) The pattern of cyclical movement between summer and winter pastures was typical of many pastoral communities of the Himalayas, including the Bhotiyas, Sherpas and Kinnauris.

Transhumance pastoralism:
(i) Transhumance pastoralism is practised by those who often move between winter and summer pastures. This is a seasonal migration between the same two locations. In this migration, locations are fixed and at regular intervals encampments are made. Therefore, stable villages with permanent houses are found there.

(ii) Simultaneously, they also practise farming side by side of animal rearing. They often do small scale vegetable farming at their summer encampments.

(iii) They are more likely to indulge in trade (through the barter or money) with neighbouring towns for luxury or other goods.

The importance of animals in pastoral life:

(i) Since man first appeared on the earth, he is depended largely on animals to provide him with many of his basic needs. The domestication of animals, provide a reliable source of the animal products.

(ii) The animals reared by pastoralists are rarely killed for family use alone. But hunting is often carried out by individuals or in groups. However, the people of pastoralist societies always share the meat of animals they kill. Meat sharing provides a real incentive for people to associate with each other.

(iii) Generally, the pastoralists do not slaughter the animals they pet. But occasionally, they slaughter the animals to serve their social and cultural needs.

(iv) The animals like camels, goats, sheep are milked.
(v)In East-American Pastoralist societies, animal’s blood is mixed with milk to make a protein rich milk.

Following are the ways :
(i)Pastoralists reacted to these changes in a variety of ways. Some reduced the number of cattle in their herds, since there was not enough pasture to feed large numbers. Others discovered new pastures when movement to old grazing grounds became difficult.

(ii)Over the years, some richer pastoralists began buying land and settling down, giving up their nomadic life. Some became settled peasants cultivating land, others took to more extensive trading.

(iii)Many poor pastoralists, on the other hand, borrowed money from moneylenders to survive. At times they lost their cattle and sheep and became labourers, working on fields or in small towns.

(iv)When pasturelands in one place was closed to them, they changed the direction of their movement, reduced the size of the herd, combined pastoral activity with other forms of income and adapted to the changes in the modern world. 

(v)Such changes were not experienced only by pastoral communities in India. In many other parts of the world, new laws and settlement patterns forced pastoral communities to alter their lives.

Maasai:

(i)The title Maasai derives from the word Maa.
(ii)Maa-sai means 'My People'.
(iii)The Maasai are traditionally nomadic and pastoral people who depend on milk and meat for subsistence.

The religious beliefs of Masai people:
(i) Maasais are monotheistic and often pray a religious figure called the “Medicine Man” or Laibow.
(ii)He is involved in curing, divination and prophecy. Their positions are inherited along clan lines.

(iii) There are three kinds of Laibow. The first type deals in private practices — curing illness ensuring the fidelity of wives etc.

(iv) The second type deals with ensuring success in war, adequate rainfall and prevention of diseases.

(v) The third type of Laibow was concerned with the entire tribe’s welfare.

The salience of 'Mandap' is stated below:
(i) The Gujjar cattle herders live in the mandaps made of ringal,  a hill bamboo  and grass from the Bugyal.
(ii) A mandap was also a work place. Here the Gujjar used to make ghee which they took down for sale.
(iii) In recent years they have begun to transport the milk directly in buses and trucks.
(iv) These mandaps are at about 10,000 to 11,000 feet.
(v) Buffaloes cannot climb any higher.

Stubble is Lower ends of grain stalks left in the ground after harvesting.

The restrictions imposed by the colonial government on the mobility of the pastoralists are explained below:

(i)The pastoral groups were  forced to live within the confines of special reserves. The boundaries of these reserves became the limits within which they could now move.
(ii)They were not allowed to move out with their stock without special permits. And it was difficult to get permits without trouble and harassment.
(iii)Those found guilty of disobeying the rules were severely punished.
(iv)Pastoralists were also not allowed to enter the markets in white areas.
(v)In many regions, they were prohibited from participating in any form of trade. White settlers and European colonists saw pastoralists as dangerous and savage – people with whom all contact had to be minimised.