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 Masai herders.
India and Africa, both were colonies of the European colonial power. Therefore, their exploitation was on the similar pattern.
(i) One of the problems which the Masai have faced is the continuous loss of their grazing lands. The colonial government also encouraged the local peasants to expand cultivation. In India, the colonial power transferred the pasture land from the common people to individuals. Large areas of grazing land were turned into game reserves in Africa. The pastoralists were not allowed to enter in reserves. In India also, pastoral lands were reserved, for commercial use of entertainment complex.
(ii) In India and Africa, the forests were reserved, other were declared protected. As a result, the pastoralists were not allowed to enter them and to graze their animals. They lost their traditional forest rights like usage of timber, forest produce, fuels, fodder for their livestock.
Discuss why the colonial government in India brought in the following laws. In each case, explain how the law changed the lives of pastoralists:
(a) Waste Land Rules: From the mid-nineteenth century, Waste Land Rules enacted in various parts of the country. By these rules, uncultivated lands were taken over and given to select individuals. These individuals were granted various concessions and encouraged to settle these lands. Some of them were made headmen of villages in the newly cleared areas. In most areas, the lands taken over were actually grazing tracts used regularly by pastoralists. So, expansion of cultivation inevitably meant the decline of pastures and a problem for pastoralists.
(c) Criminal Tribes Act: British officials were suspicious of nomadic people. Those who were settled were seen as law abiding ; those who were nomadic were considered to be criminal. Therefore in 1871, the colonial government in India passed the Criminal Tribes Act. By this Act many communities of craftsmen traders and pastoralists were classified as Criminal Tribes. They were stated to be criminal by nature and birth. Once this Act came into force, these communities were expected to live only in notified village settlements. They were not allowed to move out without a permit. The village police kept a continuous watch on them.
Explain why nomadic tribes need to move from one place to another. What are the advantages to the environment of this continuous movement?
Give reason to explain why the Masai community lost their grazing lands.
Masais have been faced with loss of grazing lands.
(i) There was a scramble for territories in Africa among the European colonial powers. They divided various regions into different colonies. In 1885, Masailand was cut into half with an international boundary between British, Kenya and German Tanganyika. As a result, the best grazing lands were taken over and the white men settled there.
(ii) The Masais were pushed into a small area in South Kenya and North Tanganyika. The Masai people lost about sixty percent of their pre-colonial lands. They were limited to an arid land with little rainfall and poor pastures. From the late nineteenth century, the British colonial government in East Africa also encouraged local peasant communities to expand cultivation.
(iii) As cultivation expanded, pasturelands were turned into cultivated fields. Large areas of grazing land were also turned into game reserves like the Masai 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.
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