Bakarwal

The Bakarwal (also Bakkarwal, Bakharwal, Bakrawala and Bakerwal) are a nomadic ethnic group who along with Gujjars, have been listed as Scheduled Tribes in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh since 1991.[2][3] Gujjar Bakerwal is the largest Muslim tribe in India and the third-largest ethnic community in the Indian part of Jammu and Kashmir.[4]

Bakarwal
Bakarwal
A Bakarwal Jirga in Rajouri, Kashmir
Regions with significant populations
India113,198[1]
AfghanistanUnknown
PakistanUnknown
Languages
Gojari, Hindi, Urdu, Pashto, Hindko, Pothwari, Dari
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Gujjars

As a nomadic tribe, they spread over a large area from Pir Panjal to Zanskar located in the Himalayan mountains of India to the Hindukush mountains of Afghanistan. They are goatherders and shepherds and seasonally migrate from one place to another with their herds. They are found in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and in the Afghan province of Nuristan.[2][5][6]

History

The Bakarwals claim the same origin as Gujjar. The Gujjars are known by many names: Ajjadh, Dohdhi Gujjars, Banhara Gujjars, and Van-Gujjars. Among Gujjars, those who rear goats and sheep are called Bakarwals. Gujjars and Bakarwals share the same history, culture, language, sub-caste and racial identity. They say that anthropological and genetic studies conducted on Gujjars and Bakarwals conclude that they are not separate identities in any way. In 1991 the Gujjar-Bakarwals were granted tribal status in Jammu and Kashmir by the Indian government after an exhaustive study. The study revealed that Bakarwal is another name for Gujjar and, as such, they were entered into revenue records as a separate tribal category according to the Indian constitution. Bakarwals belong to the same ethnic stock as the Gujjars, and inter-tribal marriages take place freely among them.[7][8]

Etymology

The term Bakarwal is an occupational one and is derived from the Gojri word bakara meaning goat or sheep, and wal meaning "one who takes care of".[5]

Society

The Bakarwals belong to the same ethnic group as the Gujjars, and inter-tribal marriages take place among them.[9]

Economy

As sheep and goat rearing transhumants, the Bakarwals alternate with the seasons between high and low altitudes in the hills of the Himalayas. This is why the Bakarwals as a singular tribe are stretched from the hills of the Hindu Kush in Nuristan to the hills of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand. They are mainly found in the following areas of Nuristan Province, Kunar Province, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. From here, it is clear to see that the Bakarwals mainly follow a migration route through the foothills of the Himalayas as they can be found on the Upper Himalayan Range all the way down into the Lower Himalayan Range.[5]

As of 1991, the Bakarwal were classified as a Scheduled Tribe under the Indian government's general reservation program of positive discrimination. [10][11]

References
  1. "Census of India Website: Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India". www.censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  2. The Gazette of India
  3. Bamzai, Sandeep (6 August 2016). "Kashmir: No algorithm for Azadi". Orf. Observer Research Foundation. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016.
  4. "History & politics of systematic marginalization of Gujjar-Bakerwal tribe: A Subaltern Narrative".
  5. Khatana, Ram Parshad (1992). Tribal Migration in Himalayan Frontiers: Study of Gujjar Bakarwal Transhumance Economy. Gurgaon, India: South Asia Books (Vintage Books). ISBN 978-81-85326-46-7.
  6. Sharma, Anita (2009). The Bakkarwals Of Jammu And Kashmir: Navigating Through Nomadism. Delhi, India: Niyogi Books. ISBN 978-81-89738-48-8.
  7. "Don't get divided: TRCF to Gujjars-Bakerwals". Daily Excelsior, Jammu. 23 February 2015.
  8. "Neither Jammu, nor Kashmir: Bakarwals who've come into focus after the Kathua rape case need to be given citizenship". 10 June 2019.
  9. Raha, Manish Kumar; Basu, Debashis (1994). "Ecology and Transhumance in the Himalaya". In Kapoor, Anuk K.; Kapoor, Satwanti (eds.). Ecology and Man in the Himalayas. New Delhi: M. D. Publications. pp. 33–48, pages 43–44. ISBN 978-81-85880-16-7. citing an unpublished paper by Negi, R. S. et al. "Socio-Economic Aspirations of Guijjara and Bakerwal"
  10. https://tribal.nic.in/downloads/CLM/CLM_1/17.pdf
  11. "List of Scheduled Tribes". Census of India: Government of India. 7 March 2007. Archived from the original on 7 February 2013.
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