Nomads are people who do not live in one place but move from one area to another to earn their living.
In the Mountains
The Gujjar Bakarwals of Jammu and Kashmir — They are pastoral nomads who move in groups called ‘Kafila’. Their movements are governed by the cold and snow. In winters when the high mountains are covered with snow these Gujjars move down to the low hills of the Shivalik range. On the onset of summer, when the snow melts and the mountains become lush and green, these pastoralists move back to the mountains.
The Gaddi Shepherds of Himachal Pradesh have a similar cycle of movement. They also spend the winter on the low Shivalik hills and the summers in Lahul and Spiti.
The Gujjar cattle herders of Kumaon and Garhwal spend their summers in the ‘bugyals’ and their winters in the ‘bhabar’.
The Bhotias, Sherpas and Kinnauri follow the cyclic movement which helps them to adjust to seasonal changes and make the best use of pasture.
On the Plateaus, Plains and Deserts
The Dhangars of Maharashtra: The Dhangars stay in the central plateau of Maharashtra during the monsoon. This is a semi-arid region. By October they begin their movement towards Konkan.
Here their cattle help to manure the fields and hence they are welcomed by the Konkani peasant. As soon as the monsoon sets in, they retreat back to the semi-arid land of Maharashtra.
The Gollas who herd cattle and the Kurumas and Kurubas who reared sheep and goat are from Karnataka and Andhra. They live near the woods and in the dry period the coastal tracts.
The Banjaras of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra move to different places in search of good pastures. The Raikas of Rajasthan combines cultivation with pastoralism.
When their grazing grounds become dry they move to new and greener pastures.
Pastoral life was sustained by their sense of judgement to know how long one must stay in an area to know where they could find food and water to assess and calculate the timings of their movement their ability to set up a relationship with the farmers so that the herds could graze on the harvested fields.
