The Van Gujjars ("forest Gurjars") are an Van Gujjari-speaking Indian ethnic tribe. They are traditionally herders and live mainly in the Shivalik Hills region of Uttarakhand. They follow Islam and are traditionally a pastoral semi-nomadic community, known for practising transhumance while having their own ethnic clans.[1] Van Gujjars migrate with herds of semi-wild water buffaloes to the Shivalik Hills at the foot of the Himalayas in winter and migrate to the alpine pastures higher up the Himalayas in summer. Van Gujjars are known to be lactovegetarians due to sole dependence on buffalo-herding and milk delivery as a livelihood opportunity. They neither slaughter nor sell their buffaloes for meat.[2]
Van Gujjar | |
|---|---|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| South Asia | |
| Languages | |
| Van Gujjari | |
| Religion | |
Islam  | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Gujjars |
Though the Indian Forest Rights Act of 2006 grants them forest land rights for being "traditional forest dwellers", they experience conflicts with the local state forest authorities that prohibit human and livestock populations inside reserved parks.[2][3]
Name
editTheir name, Van Gujjar, is a combination of two Van Gujjari (as well as Punjabi, Dogri and Hindi), words "van" and "Gujjar", translating to "forest"-dwelling "Gujjars". The community added the prefix "van" in the 1980s to distinguish itself from other Gujjars,[4] particularly the Muslim Gujjars.
References
edit- ^ Radhakrishna Rao (4 September 2000). "Outside the jungle book". The Hindu Business Line. Archived from the original on 28 May 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2007.
- ^ a b Michael Benanav (2018). Himalaya Bound: One Family's Quest to Save Their Animals - and an Ancient Way of Life. Pegasus Books.
- ^ Michael Benanav (31 July 2009). "Is there room for India's nomads?". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
- ^ Pal, Sanchari (2016-09-03). "Nomads of the Himalayas : A Fascinating Glimpse into the Rarely-Seen Forest World of the Van Gujjars". The Better India. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
Bibliography
edit- Chattopadhyaya, Brajadulal (1994). The Making of Early Medieval India. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195634150.
- Singh, David Emmanuel (2012). Islamization in Modern South Asia: Deobandi Reform and the Gujjar Response. Boston: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-1-61451-185-4.