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Q.1 Explain why nomadic tribes need to move from one place to another. What are the advantages to the environment of this continuous movement?
Solution: Nomadic tribes move from one location in order to maintain their sustenance and way of lie. As they are involved in animal husbandry, the availability of water is paramount to their existence along with fresh pastures for their animals. When the pasture is depleted they move to next area looking for new grazing grounds.
The advantages of the environment are as follows:
(I) The environment gets a chance to regrow and recover, thus maintaining the ecological balance of the area.
(II) It prevents overgrazing as this will lead to depletion of future grazing grounds.
(III) The manure of the animals helps in fertilising the soil, which will be instrumental in repeating the nomadic process of moving from one location to another a possibility.
Q.2 Discuss why the colonial Government in India brought in the following laws. In each case explain how the law changed the lives of the pastoralists.
Solution:
These laws were enacted as the colonial authorities believed that grazing destroyed roots and depleted the fertility of the forests. It affected the pastoralists in the sense that their movements were restricted with specific timings to control how much time they spent in the forests. One can safely say their lives were ruled by the permits of the forest departments.
Thus in order to bring nomadic and pastoralist people under their control, the British passed the Criminal Tribes Act in 1871. Through this act, communities of craftsmen, traders and pastoralists were classified as criminals by birth and nature.
They were forced to settle in one location and could not move without a permit. The village police kept a close watch on them as a result.
The Grazing Tax was introduced in India by the mid-nineteenth century. In the 1850s, the right to collect these taxes were auctioned off to contractors. The contractors on their part tried to extract as much tax as possible in order to recover the money they paid to the government. In order to pay less, the pastoralists had to decrease the number of animals they took for grazing.
Q.3 Give reasons to explain why the Maasai community lost their grazing lands.
Solution: In the late nineteenth century, in what would be knowns as the ‘scramble for Africa’, European imperial powers slicing up the region into different colonies with little to no regard about the local sentiments. In 1885, the land of the Maasai, Maasailand, was cut into half with an international boundary between British Kenya and German Tanzania. As a result, the best grazing lands were reserved for white settlers with Maasai being pushed into a small area in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania.
Large areas of grazing land were also turned into game reserves like the Maasai 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.
Q.4 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. Write about any two examples of changes which were similar for Indian pastoralists and the Maasai herders.
Solution: India and East Africa were under occupation by European colonial powers. There were many similarities in which both the regions were exploited by these powers
(I) Forest laws:
Various forest laws were also responsible for changing the lives of pastoralists both in India and Africa.
In India, the forest was classed as reserved and protected. No pastoralist was allowed access into the reserved forest.
One of the problems is the Maasai people have faced is the continuous loss of their grazing lands. The colonial government increase the local peasants to expand cultivation.
b) Closing of borders:
In Africa, Maasailand was cut into half with the International boundary between British Kenya and German Tanganyika. The best land was taken over by the White settlers and the locals were pushed into a small area with restricted pastures.
In India, the division of country forced the Raikas to find out the new pastures in Haryana as due to political division they were no longer allowed to go to Sindh which became a province of Pakistani. The Sindh province has become a part of Pakistan and the herders cannot go there
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| Source A Writing in the 1850s, G.C. Barnes gave the following description of the Gujjars of Kangra: In the hills the Gujjars are exclusively a pastoral tribe . they cultivate scarcely at all The Gaddis keep flocks of sheep and goats and the Gujjars, wealth consists of buffaloes. These people live in the skirts of the forests, and maintain their existence exclusively by the sale of the milk, ghee, and other produce of their herds. The men graze the cattle, and frequently lie out for weeks in the woods tending their herds. The women repair to the markets every morning with baskets on their heads, with little earthen pots filled with milk, butter-milk and ghee, each of these pots containing the proportion required for a day.s meal. During the hot weather the Gujjars usually drive their herds to the upper range, where the buffaloes rejoice in the rich grass which the rains bring forth and at the same time attain condition from the temperate climate and the immunity from venomous flies that torment their existence in the plains. From: G.C. Barnes, Settlement Report of Kangra, 1850-55. |
| Source B The accounts of many travellers tell us about the life of pastoral groups. In the early nineteenth century, Buchanan visited the Gollas during his travel through Mysore. He wrote: ‘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 the dairy. Their families are very numerous, seven to eight young men in each being common. 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.’ From: Francis Hamilton Buchanan, A Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar (London, 1807). |
Activity 1. Read Sources A and B. Write briefly about what they tell you about the nature of the work undertaken by men and women in pastoral households.
Answer In the case of the pastoralists of the hills, the Gaddis and the Gujjars, the men used to graze the cattle, sheep or goats and remained away from the home for many days. The women used to sell the milk products like milk, butter-milk and ghee in the local marketplace every day. Regarding the Gollas in Mysore, besides being pastoralists, they were also cultivating land. So some men were taking out the cattle for grazing while some men cultivated the fields.
Activity 2 Why do you think pastoral groups often live on the edges of forests?
Answer Pastoral groups often lived near the edges of forests so that they could graze their flocks of animals in the forest as well as cultivate fields next to the forest area. They were selling the milk and milk products from the animals in the local market and also cultivating land for their requirements of food. By living on the edge of forests, both of these activities were conveniently handled.
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Activity 1 Write a comment on the closure of the forests to grazing from the standpoint of (a) a forester (b) a pastoralist
Answer (a) A Forester Since a forester’s duty is to ensure the conservation of forests, it is good that the forests have been closed for grazing. This will ensure proper growth of the vegetation and trees, so that the forest wealth will be maintained.
(b) A Pastoralist Earlier our animals were grazing in the forest area, where vegetation was plentiful. Now, since the closure of forests for grazing, our animals have to be taken far away to find grass and vegetation for food. This has put us to a lot of inconvenience, as managing our flock has become more difficult.
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Activity 1 Imagine you are living in the 1890s. You belong to a community of nomadic pastoralists and craftsmen. You’ learn that the Government has declared your community as a Criminal Tribe.
(a) Describe briefly what you would have felt and done.
Answer I feel that declaring my tribe as criminal just because we move from place to place is totally wrong and unjust. We are not committing any crime by grazing our herds. For our herds to graze, moving from place to place is required when fodder at one place gels finished. I will write a petition to the District Collector to remove our tribe’s name from the list of Criminal Tribes.
(b) Write a petition to the local collector explaining why the Act is unjust and how it will affect your life.
Answer
Petition to Collector
Sir,
I request you to remove my tribe’s name from the list of Criminal Tribes, as we are not committing any crime by grazing our herds at different places. We are not criminals, as we do not commit theft or kill anyone; we are just earning our living by selling the milk and milk products of our animals. So the Act is totally unjust and it should not be enforced.
In fact, I am suffering great hardship, as I am limited to a very small area and when the vegetation there is finished, I have to take a special permission to go elsewhere for my animals to feed. Also the policemen harass us for bribes when we go elsewhere, which causes us further hardship. So you are requested to remove my tribe’s name from the list of criminal tribes.
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Activity 1 Imagine that it is 1950 and you are a 60-year-old Raika herder living in post-Independence India. You are telling your grand-daughter about the changes which have taken place in your lifestyle after Independence. What would you say?
Answer
Since the coming of independence, my life has changed quite a bit. Since now there is not enough pasture for our animals, we had to reduce the number of the animals we keep. We have changed our grazing grounds also, as those on the banks of the River Indus have gone into Pakistan and we are not allowed to go there.
So, we have found alternative grazing grounds in Haryana, where our herds go when the harvest has been cut. At this time they can feed on the stumps of the plants remaining and also fertilise the soil with manure from their excreta.
Your father did not like a herder’s life and so he decided to become a farmer. I gave him my savings to buy some land and now he is cultivating food grains. I think you will have a much better life than what we had.
Activity 2 Imagine that you have been asked by a famous magazine to write an article about the life and customs of the Maasai in pre-colonial Africa. Write the article, giving it an interesting title.
Answer Peculiarities of Maasai Culture : The word Maasai means My People (‘Maa’ means My and ‘sai’ means people, in their language). They are traditionally nomadic and pastoral people. The males in their society are divided into two parts – Elders and Warriors. The elders belong to the higher age group and decide on the affairs of the community by meeting as a group and also settle disputes.
The Warriors are the younger group who are responsible for the protection of the tribe. They also organize cattle raids when required. Since cattle are their wealth, these raids assume importance, as in this way they are able to assert their power over other pastoral groups. However, the Warriors are subject to the authority of the Elders.