Gujjar Bakarwals


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Gujjar Bakarwals

Pastoralism has been important in societies like India and Africa for years. Pastoralism is a way of keeping animals such as cattle, sheep that involves moving from one place to another to find water and food. Nomads are people who do not live in one place, but move from one area to another to earn their living. In many parts of India we can see nomadic pastoralists which move with their herds of goats and sheep , or camels and cattle.

Movement of Pastoral Nomads in Mountains: Mainly pastoral communities are found in mountaineous regions. There are some reason Nomadic tribes need to move from one place to another:

  • The nomadic tribes had no regular fields of their own from where to get fodder for their animals, so they had to move from one place to another in search of pastures.
  • In the hilly hilly areas, they lived with their herds in the low hills of the  Himalayas from September to April because the huge mountains were covered with snow.
  • The dry scrub forest provided pastures for their herds during this period (September to April). When this source was exhausted they were on the move again.
  • With the onset of the summer, when the the snow melted and the hill sides were covered with lush green with a variety of new grasses , the pastoralists (in the beginning of April), began their northern march for their summer grazing grounds.
  • When again , the mountains covered with snow and there was dearth of nutritious forage, they were on the move again, this time on their downward journey.
  • Advantages to the Environment of their Continuos Movement :

  • The movement of the nomadic pastoralists from the downward to the upward areas and from the upward areas again to the downward areas proved very advantageous to the environment.
  • These movement allow sufficient time for the natural restoration of vegetation grounds.
  • This continuous shifting provided sufficient forage to the different animals both at the high mountains and the lower hills.
  • They helped in maintaining the quality of the pastures.
  • GUJJAR BAKARWALS OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR : The Gujjar Bakarwals of Jammu and Kashmir belong to the nomadic people who in search of pastures for their animals (goat and sheep) go on migrating from one place to another

  • In summer , when the snow melted in the mountains and mountain sides were lush green, they moved on to the high levels.
  • The variety of sprouted grass provided rich nutritious forage for their animals herds.
  • As soon as the winter came and the high mountains with snow again , they came down to the low hills of the Shiwalik hills and stayed there with there herds.
  • So every year, they moved annually between their summer and winter grazing grounds.
  • They continued year after year.
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