Created by Devanshi Garara Class IX

1. PASTORALISTS IN THE MODERN WORLD
Devanshi Garara
KR Mangalam School
Gurgaon
Class: IX-A

2. Migration

6. Pastoralists communities
in India

7. PASTORAL NOMADS AND THEIR MOVEMENTS
In the Mountains
•The Gujjar Bakarwals:Jammu and Kashmir
In Winter Season: Moved towards the low hills of Shivalik
In Summer Season: They Moved towards upward
•The Gaddi Shepherds: Himachal Pradesh
In Winter Season: Moved towards the low hills of Shivalik
In Summer Season: lahul and Spiti

8. GUJJAR SUMMER HOMES ON HIGH MOUNTAINS

9. GADDIS SHEEP BEING SHEARED

10. PASTORAL NOMADS AND THEIR MOVEMENTS
In the plateaus, Plains and Deserts
•The Dhangars: Maharastra
•The Gollas, Kurumas and Kurubas: Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
•The Raikas: Rajsthan
•Banjaras: UP,Punjab, Rajsthan, MP and Maharastra

11. RAIKA CAMEL HEARD

12. A CAMEL FAIR AT PUSHKAR

13. RABARI RAIKA DEVASI

14. MALDHARI HERDERS MOVING IN SEARCH OF PASTURES

15. POLITICAL
Pre Colonial Colonial Post Independence
• Had high important as
breeder
• Social,economical & physical
exploitation started in some
kingdom
• Close to decision makers due
to their indigenous knowledge
and skills
Lost importance
•Exploitation &
ignorance at height
• Lost interest in
governance
• No where in the political
picture
• Not a “worthy”
community for a politician
• State atrocity very high
• Out of political or co-
operative movement

16. ECONOMICAL
Issue Pre-Colonial Post-Independence
• Herd-size
• Livestock pattern
• Grazing practices
• Breeding practices
• More than 100 cows, camels
• Cow>Camel>Goat>Sheep>
Buffalo
• Social norms for grazing (when, where, how)
• Good and sufficient grazing land
• Janada system
• Selection of breed, exchange of bull
•15 –25 animals
•Sheep>Goat>Buffalo>Cow>Camel
• No access and control over CPRs
• Degraded and declining grazing land.
•Legal Land grabbing
• focused on cross breeds, loss of
indigenous breeds

17. ECONOMICAL (CONT.)
Issue Pre-Colonial Post-Independence
• Health
• Transfer of
knowledge
• Marketing
• Healthy cattle, at times,
mass deaths due to unknown illnesses
• Women & Men Had good indigenous
knowledge and skills
• Milk and other produces
were not sold
• Only excess produces to be sold
• Poor health of cattle due to lack of water
& fodder
• No transfer of
indigenous knowledge
• Increased sale of row
milk

18. COLONIAL RULE AND PASTORAL LIFE-1
•The colonial rulers wanted to transform all grazing lands into
cultivated farms.
•This was necessary to increase land revenue.
•Additionally, increasing the cultivated land was necessary for
increasing the production of jute, cotton and wheat which were
required in England.

19. COLONIAL RULE AND PASTORAL LIFE-2
•Waste Land Rules: Under these rules, uncultivated lands
were taken over and given to select individuals.
•The expansion of cultivated land resulted in significant
reduction in grazing grounds.

20. COLONIAL RULE AND PASTORAL LIFE-3
•Forest Act: Under these Acts, many forests were declared
‘Reserved’. Pastoralists were not allowed in the reserved forests.
Some other forests were classified as ‘Protected’.
•They could not enter many areas and entry to some other areas
was restricted.

21. COLONIAL RULE AND PASTORAL LIFE-4
•Criminal Tribes Act: The nomadic people were viewed with
suspicion by the colonial rulers.
•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.

22. COLONIAL RULE AND PASTORAL LIFE-5
•Grazing Tax: It 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.

23. 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.

24. HOW DID THE PASTORALISTS COPE WITH THESE CHANGES
• Some of the pastoralists reduced the number of cattle in their herds. Some others
discovered new pastures. For example; when the Raikas 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.
• Poor pastoralists had to borrow from money lenders in order to survive. Most of them
finally lost their cattle and sheep and became laborers. They began to work in fields or in
small towns.

25. PASTORALISM IN AFRICA
• Over half of the world’s pastoral population lives in Africa.
• Bedouins, Berbers, Maasai, Somali, Boran and Turkana are some of the pastoral communities of Africa.
• They raise cattle, camels, goats, sheep and donkeys and they sell milk, meat, animal skin and wool.
• Some also earn through trade and transport.
• Some others combine pastoral activity with agriculture.
• Many others do a variety of odd jobs to supplement their earnings.

26. MAASAI
• Tribal group of Eastern Africa cattle Herders
• Known for being hunters, warriors, and herders
• No longer hunt in most of Africa
• Are known to be fearless and helpful to animals and all people
• The Maasai never engaged in slave trade and have never taken conquered tribes for slaves
(but they have displaced other tribes and taken their land)
• 300,000 Maasai live in Kenya and about 150,000 live in Tanzania.

27. KILIMANJARO-MAASAI LAND

28. WITHOUT GRASS- LIVESTOCK MALNOURISHED

29. Maasai People

30. Maasai Huts - Engang

31. WHERE HAVE THE GRAZING LANDS GONE?
• Before the colonial rule, the Maasailand stretched over a vast area from north Kenya to the steppes
of northern Tanzania. The European colonial powers began the slicing up of Africa. The Maasailand
was cut into half in 1885.
• Maasai lost more than 60% of their pastureland from the pre-colonial period. They were now
confined to an arid zone with poor pastures and uncertain rainfall.
• The local peasant communities were encouraged by the British government to expand cultivation.
• Large areas of grazing land were also turned into game reserves, e.g. Maasai Mara and Samburu
National Park in Kenya and Serengeti Park in Tanzania.
• Kokoland Herders: The Kokoland herders traditionally moved between Kokoland and Ovamboland
in Namibia. They sold skin, meat and other items in neighbouring markets. The new system of
territorial boundaries restricted their movements and stopped their activities.

32. THE BORDERS ARE CLOSED
• Redrawing of borders, the movement of all the pastoralist communities was
severely restricted.
• They were required to get special permits in order to move.
• Getting a permit was often difficult.
• People were severely punished for violating the rules.
• They were viewed as savage and dangerous by the Europeans and hence every
effort was taken to minimize the contact with them.

33. WHEN PASTURES DRY
• Before the colonial rule, seasonal movement was a time-tested way to tide over the
periods of drought in a particular area.
• Since the movement was restricted, so a large number of Maasai cattle died because of
starvation and disease in the years of drought.
• In 1930, the Maasai in Kenya possessed 720,000 cattle, 820,000 sheep and 171,000
donkeys.
• Within just two years of severe drought (1933 and 1934) more than half of the cattle in
Maasai Reserve died.

34. NOT ALL WERE EQUALLY AFFECTED
• During pre-colonial period; the Maasai society was divided into two social groups: elders and warriors.
• The elders formed the ruling group.
• The warriors consisted of younger people who were mainly responsible for the protection of the
tribe.
• The British introduced a series of measures to administer the affairs of the Maasai. Several restrictions
were imposed on raiding and warfare. This led to erosion of authority for both elders and warriors.
• A chief appointed by the colonial government often accumulated wealth over time. They could now
buy animals, goods and land. The chiefs became more powerful.
• The poor pastoralists did not have resource to tide over the bad times. Many of them had to migrate
to towns in search of livelihood.
• New distinction between the wealthy and the poor developed in the Maasai community.