Pastoralists in the Modern World
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Discuss why the colonial government in India brought in the following laws. In each case, explain how the law changed the lives of pastoralists:

  • Waste Land rules
  • Forest Acts
  • Criminal Tribes Act
  • Grazing Tax


(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.


(b) Forest Acts: In the mid-nineteenth century, various Forest Acts were enacted in the different provinces. Through these Acts some forests which produced commercially valuable timber like deodar or sal were declared ‘Reserved’. No pastoralist was allowed access to these forests. Other forests were classified as ‘Protected’. However, some customary grazing rights of pastoralists were granted but their movements were severely restricted. In fact, the colonial officials believed that grazing destroyed the saplings and young shoots of trees that germinated on the forest floor. The herds trampled over the saplings and munched away the shoots. This prevented new trees from growing.

These Forest Acts drastically changed the lives of pastoralists. Now they were prevented from entering many forests that had earlier provided valuable forage for their cattle. Even in the areas they were allowed entry, their movements were regulated. Their agriculture stock declined and trade and crafts were adversely affected.


(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.


(d) Grazing Tax: To expand its revenue income, the colonial government imposed many taxes. The tax was imposed on land, on canal water, on salt, on trade goods and even on animals. Pastoralists had to pay tax on every animal they grazed on the pastures. In most pastoral tracts of India, grazing tax was introduced in the mid-nineteenth century.

The tax per head of cattle went up rapidly and the system of collection was made increasingly efficient. In the decades between the 1850s and 1880s, the right to collect the tax was a auctioned out to contractors. These contractors tried to extract as high a tax as they could to recover the money they had paid to the state and earn as much profit as they could within the year. By the 1880s, the government began collecting taxes directly from the pastoralists.
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