VAN-GUJJARS OF HIMALAYAS

The Van Gujjars are a nomadic Muslim tribe of Northern India. They have practiced transhumance, i.e. seasonal migration between fixed summer & winter pastures in the Himalayas for generations.

Until recently, they have remained quite unknown, in their forest & mountain dwellings ; But mainstream society, which has by and large failed to solve its own problems, has turned its attention increasingly to these people.

A new paradigm of has been discovered by Anthropologists, among these sub sutures, which may hold answers even for our collective future.

Now we know something about Van Gujjars. Poor, marginal land, inaccessible and unsuitable for agriculture, has been put to sustainable use for centureis by the pastoral communities of the Himalayan region, of which, the Van Gujjars are one.

Diverse origions have been attributed to the Gujjars- some as far apart as Scythian and Rajput. It seems, that marginalised people of many races became fused into one pastoral identity through marriage, persecution, defeat (in war) or other misfortunes down tha ages. Even after converting to Islam, Gujjars, as a community have shown a subconscious mistrust of centralized authority, and chose to inhabit remote, hostile regions in relative freedom. Rulers too have failed to comprehend their spirit of independence and distrusted them in turn. But the Royal House of Nahan seems to be an exception. during the 18th Century, it appears, they encouraged Gujjars to migrate from Jammu and settle in Himachal Pradesh. Land deeds to Gujjars from Royalty are still extant in Himachal.

Gujjars are Sunni Muslims & practice male circumcision. Older Gujjars can often be seen offering 'Namaj' facing west even in the middle of the forest or on the road during migration. Their understanding of their forest dwellings are built close by Hindu Temples and pilgrims are invariably offered hospitality. Many trekkers in the Himalayas, too, testifyto their generosity.

Gujjars have perfected the art of living in harmony with nature. They are vegetarian. Even when wild animals attack their cattle, trapping, poisoning or killing such animals is not permitted in the community. Infact they have been known to go to great lengths to rescue wild animals. A news item, in Amar Ujala recently, describes how Gujjars rescueda baby elephant that had fallen into a deep ditch - at considerable personal risk. On the other hand they have been supplying cities and villages with milk and milk products, by utilizing wisely, those forest areas and remote pastures which cannot be put to any sustainable use by mainstream agriculture or industry. As per an estimate, they supply a sizeable amount of the milk demand of Dehra Dun. Their milk supply has been found to be the purest, free even from ubiquitous DDT.

Women have a better place in this community - as compared to their sisters in settled communities, probably because they play an important role in the entire cycle of milk production, which is the mainstay of their economy. They collect fodder, climb trees for lopping, graze the cattle, carry loads, prepare herbal potions for sick animals. All this, besides providing many healthy heirs to carry on this demanding way of life. Gujjar women do not veil their faces and can be seen walking shoulder to shoulder - almost - with their menfolk. Gujjar women own cattle, the only indication of prosperity among these nomadic people. IN the event of a divorce - not very common, she takes back her

share of cattle. Yet, it can not be said, that they enjoy same privileges as their menfolk ; She is still viewed more as an asset - rather than the partner in life. To get married, Gujjar men have to follow one of the following procedures.

1. Bride money - to be paid to the girl's family-anything from five to fifty thousand rupees is the current trend.

2. Sister Exchange - Both family exchange marriageable daughters. No money is involved. This is the commonest mode.

3. "Ghar Jamai" - Poor Young men, without sisters, resort to this practice. They have to live with the in laws and serve them for a certain length of time (5-7 years) in lieu of bride money. An early instance of this, among shepherds is foundin the story of Jacob and Rachel, in the Bible. Probably for these reasons, polygamy, though sanctioned, was never very popular among them. In the event of husband dying, marriage with husband's brother is also one of their customs.

Every Gujjar has a special identity and that is his/her Gotra name. Kasana, Baniya, Lodha, Chechi, Chauhan etc. are used as suffix to their names. These Gotra names refer to their preconversion ethnic origions. These Gotras are exogamous.

In recent times, the Gujjar community has been facing a crisis from the rise of "Conservationist". Consciousness among Governments and mainstream society. Historically, this has been inspired by medieval European concept of forests as being inhabited by no one ; large tracts owned by members of the aristocracy (absentee landlorsds) who used them periodically only for the "hunt" or the "shoot" by themselves, for themselves. On the whole a rather sterile concept. This was totally inapplicable to theIndian scene and led to "barbed wire" Conservationism. Indian polity, scarcely emerged from its intention to declare Chilla, Rajaji and Motichur forests as the Rajaji National Pard, the Gujjars realised the grave danger to their existence from their own national Govt. Peaceful villagers of the hills too have shown a different face to them : They have been opposing Gujjars on one pretext or the other - least realizing that Gujjar's cattle do less harm to the Himalayas than the rapacious tourist, religious or otherwise. Gujjar's huts have been wantonly burnt and destroyed by local villagers.

Setting Gujjars elsewhere, however "Satisfactory" for the planners, is not the answer. This is tantamount to "encouraging" villagers from the remote areas of Garhwal to settle down in Dehradun or Delhi or elsewhere because 'life is so difficult up there'. We are concerned by the loss of bio-diversity on the planet- a legitimate concern ; but the loss ofcultural diversity, a whole way of life - will this too, not be, a tragic and an irreparable loss?

Fortunately the Van-Gujjars have demonstrated great resilience : they have begun reading, writings, forming milk co-operatives, making representation to the government - in short, interacting with the outside world, in its own language.

Satyendra Srivastava (Edit. Bindu/Simeran)