Pastoralism in India — 2019 Paper I

Approach

• Demand of Question: Describe pastoralism in India as an ecological and livelihood adaptation with suitable examples.
• Structuring the Response: Explain its major forms, representative communities, ecological basis and contemporary challenges.
• Key Dimensions to Cover: Nomadism, transhumance, agro-pastoralism, Raika/Rebari, Gaddi, Bakarwal, mobility and grazing commons.

Model Answer

Introduction: Pastoralism is a subsistence and livelihood system in which livestock herding forms a major economic activity. In India, it is particularly adapted to arid, semi-arid, mountainous and seasonally variable environments.

Major forms:

1. Nomadic pastoralism: Households move with herds in search of pasture and water. Sections of the Raika/Rebari of Rajasthan illustrate this pattern.
2. Transhumance: Seasonal movement occurs between relatively fixed ecological zones.
   • Gaddis of Himachal Pradesh
   • Bakarwals of Jammu and Kashmir
3. Agro-pastoralism: Herding is combined with cultivation, creating complementary dependence between livestock and agriculture.

Ecological adaptation:

Seasonal pasture variation → Herd mobility → Efficient resource use

Livestock transform vegetation into:

• milk;
• wool;
• meat;
• manure;
• transport.

Social organization: Pastoral mobility encourages kin-based cooperation, exchange with cultivators and flexible use of territory.

Contemporary challenges: Shrinking grazing commons, forest restrictions, infrastructure projects, sedentarization and disruption of migration routes increasingly threaten pastoral livelihoods.

Conclusion: Pastoralism in India is a specialized biocultural and ecological adaptation, whose survival depends upon access to commons, mobility corridors and customary grazing rights.