Abstract
The Raika of Rajasthan and the Banjara/Lambadi tribe of Deccan region had been self-sustained as nomadic pastoralists and caravan traders, respectively, in pre-British India. Colonial policies imposed several restrictions on nomadic communities and their economic activities by branding them as ‘criminals’ under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871. As a result, many of the nomadic communities lost their cultural economy and struggled to survive. Colonial and post-colonial studies primarily have focused on settled communities; however, little attention is paid to pastoral nomads and itinerary communities. The present paper focuses on the transformation of traditional nomadic livelihoods, culture and economy of the two communities—the Raika pastoralist and the Banjara traditional caravan traders and livestock breeders consequent upon colonial policies. It also emphasizes on current livelihood strategies. Empirical data, resulted from ethnographic fieldwork and colonial and post-colonial literature have been examined. An ethnographic study among the Banjaras from Deccan region during the year 2009–2010 and the Raika of Rajasthan between 2013–2015 and 2019 helped to understand their past and present situations. Colonial and post-colonial policies, governance and its impact on pastoralists and other nomadic communities have been critically examined.
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Notes
- 1.
According to Salzman (2004), pastoralism is ‘the use of an extensive resource, the natural pasture, spread over the terrain—required that the animals move from where there is no pasturage or no more pasturage to where there is pasturage to be exploited.’ (Salzman, 2004: 3). According to Barfield, ‘nomadic pastoralists live in societies in which the husbandry of grazing animals is viewed as an ideal way of making a living and the regular movement of all or part of the society is considered a normal and natural part of life’ (Barfield, 2011: 160). For Galaty (2015), ‘Pastoralism is a mode of subsistence that involves raising domestic animals on natural pastures, a livelihood practice mainly pursued in dry grassland environments that support few competing forms of land use’ (Galaty, 2015: 557). There are pastoralists whose livelihoods entirely depend on their animals; others may hunt or gather or have some trade of food grains and other goods with farming people (see Pauls, 2016).
- 2.
Salzman (1980) defines nomadism as the ‘movement of the residential community in the course of the yearly round of extractive activities’ (Salzman, 1980: 2). According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, ‘Nomadism is defined as a ‘way of life of peoples who do not live continually in the same place but move cyclically or periodically’ (see Pauls, 2016).https://www.britannica.com/topic/nomadism (Accessed 3 July 2020). The term nomad comprises three general types: nomadic hunters and gatherers, pastoral nomads and tinker or trader nomads (Ibid. 2016, accessed 3 July 2020).
- 3.
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica ‘pastoral nomadism, one of the three general types of nomadism, a way of life of peoples who do not live continually in the same place but move cyclically or periodically’. And, ‘pastoral nomads, who depend on domesticated livestock, migrate in an established territory to find pasturage for their animals’ (Zelazko, 2020) https://www.britannica.com/topic/pastoral-nomadism (Accessed 5 July 2020).
- 4.
Deccan derived from the Sanskrit word Dakshina, means ‘south’ (Sen, 1988: 359), is a topographically variegated peninsula India in the south of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It is south of the Narmada River and having a high triangular tableland. The Deccan, also known as Deccan Plateau, is believed to be an ancient remnant of Gondwanaland. The Western Ghats surrounds the Deccan in West and the Eastern Ghats in the East of it, Satpura Range in the North and tip of the end of Ghats in the south. As Eaton (2005) mentioned in his book A Social History of the Deccan, 1300–1761: Eight Indian Lives about Firishta the sixteenth-century Indian historian who wrote on The Deccan history that ‘the Deccan comprises the territory today constituted by three linguistically defined states Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh’ (Eaton, 2005: 2).
- 5.
It is the present region located northwest portion of Maharashtra state and part of south Madhya Pradesh in Central India.
- 6.
https://frontline.thehindu.com/other/article30245103.ece (Accessed 5 July 2020).
- 7.
In 1882, Indian Railways handled about 2500 million metric tonne-miles (Habib, 1990: 377).
- 8.
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/coverage/health/high-and-dry-9896. (Accessed 4 May 2020).
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Bikku (2022). Colonial Impact on Pastoral Nomads and Caravan Traders in India: The Raika and the Banjara. In: Behera, M.C. (eds) Tribe, Space and Mobilisation. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0059-4_13
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