Pastoralists

The Lapps, the Basseris. The Shah

Nawaz Baluchi, the Mongols, the Yueh
Chi, the Hiung Nu etc.,

Pastoralists
I. What is Pastoralism?

1. Dependence domesticated herds of animals for their

living.
2. Meat, milk and blood from the animals ae the chief

proteins
3. Trade animal products for plant foods and other

necessities. In fact, a large proportion of their food may

actually come from trade with agricultural groups.
4. Sale of oriental rugs.

5. The Kuruba Kamblis

6. the Gaddis.

Pastoralists
II. Where do the Pastoralists live?

Dry and arid regions scanty rainfall

The Pastoralists have regular grazing

lands.
Thus the Basseris (shepherds of

South Persia) are nomadic

grazing
lands within their territory.

In Summer move up the hills

Pastoralists
III. Pastoralism is practiced mainly in
grasslands.

Pastoral communities are nomadic and

generally small

Decisions about when and where to

move the herds are generally community
decisions.
There is interdependence between

pastoral and agricultural groups.

Pastoralists
IV. The Il Rah:
Right to pass through certain areas and feed

their animals on waste lands and take water

universally recognized
The concept of il-rah or `tribal road.' The il
rah is regarded, in effect, as the property of the
tribe. Local populations and authorities
recognize the tribe's right to pass along roads
and cultivated lands, to draw water from the
public wells, and to pasture flocks on public land.

Pastoralists
V. Articles of production and consumption:
The Basseri generally herd sheep and

goats together.
Milk and its by-products are the most

important commodities, but wool, hides,

and meat are also important to the
economy of the Basseri. Both wool and
hides are traded, but they are of even
greater use within the tribe.

Pastoralists
The Basseri are skilled spinners and weavers, especially the
women, much of whose time is spent at these
activities. Saddle bags and pack bags are woven on
horizontal looms from homespun wool and hair, as are
carpets, sleeping rugs, and the characteristic black tents
made of panels of woven goat hair.
Lambskin hides also serve many purposes.

Most of the Basseri trade for their necessities and

luxury items since they do not produce them within the

community. The staple items they sell are butter, wool,
lambskins, rope, and occasionally livestock.

Pastoralists
VI. The Lapps:
The Lapps. -> northwestern Scandinavia -> a

typical Arctic habitat: cold, windswept, with long,

dark days for half the year. -> theirs is still
largely a pastoral form of life.
The Lapps herd their reindeer either

intensively or extensively.
The Lapps eat the meat of the bull reindeer;
the female reindeer are kept for breeding
purposes. Meat and hides are frequently sold or
bartered for other food and necessities.

Pastoralists
VII. Pastoral nomadism and Pastoral
Transhumantism:
Pastoral nomadism is an economic

adaptation and life-style characterized

by lack of permanent habitation and
primary dependence on the herding of
animals for subsistence. In contrast the
pastoral transhumants live in stable villages
and meet much of their subsistence
requirements by agriculture.

Pastoralists
VIII. Origins of Pastoral nomadism:
Development of pastoral nomadism followed

domestication of the horse in the Asian steppes

and the camel in southwestern Arabia, both
around 3000 B.C. It was a fully developed form
of cultural adaptation in the steppes of Central
Asia by 1400 B.C. The use of these animals for
food and transportation enabled a more mobile
pattern based on animal grazing than had
previously been possible.

Pastoralists
VIII. The emergence of warrior and aggressive
Pastoral nomads:
Some of these pastoralists became aggressive

warriors and used to attack settled

communities. Thus the Altai of southern Siberia
consisted of mounted warriors and therefore
possessed considerable military advantage over
societies using foot soldiers, an advantage well
out of proportion to their number. They posed
such a threat to China that the Chinese had to
build the Great Wall of China to keep them out.

Pastoralists
IX. Nomadism central to pastoral
life:
Movement is a central feature of

pastoral nomadism. Take for

example, the Shah Nawazi Baluch.

Pastoralists
X. Extent of economic sufficiency:
Also involved in agricultural production Activities
A pastoral nomadic society is organized and its annual
cycle of activities.
The Shah Nawazi Baluch supplemented their yearly
pastoral activities with raiding and slavery, resorted to
predatory raiding of trade caravans and
sedentary agriculturalists for food, slaves, and other
valuables.

Pastoralists

XI. Social organisation:

The primary group of production and consumption is the family.
Families are grouped into "individual herding groups" or camps.

Nawazi Baluch consider themselves members of a single "tribe"

because of their presumed descent from a common founding
ancestor.

Within pastoral nomadic societies the division of labor is based

primarily on age and sex.

Specialisation within a group is rare..

Pastoralists
XII. Extent of wealth and inequality:
Despite their mobility, pastoral nomads are able to
accumulate possessions because they can carry them on
large pack animals, such as horses and camels.
Unlike foragers, small-scale farmers, and transhumants,
pastoral nomads often exhibit considerable differences in
social status.
The taking of slaves and use of serf labor by some nomadic
groups has led to the integration of persons into their
societies who are of a decidedly lower status.

Pastoralists
XIII. Future of Pastoralism:
There are still, however, pastoralists over 15 million

square miles of the earth's surface.

It is highly unlikely that pastoral nomadism will

disappear in the near future, for in many, arid regions it

remains the optimum method of production. It is
important to note that the pastoralists have been able to
interact with larger political units without suffering a
total loss of autonomy. When they come into contact with
industrial societies, pastoralists are rarely reduced to the
impoverished status so common with foragers and
indigenous shifting cultivators.