"What counts as Gaddi?": An Afterword

Himalaya: The Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies, 2019

As the dualistic analyses in the social sciences began to be discredited with new research in the academy, it became apparent that the nature–culture dualism earlier posited was not an encompassing structure everywhere. This ethnographic study about the Gaddi people in the Indian Himalayas exhorts us to redescribe human–environment relations by arguing that ‘not all societies juxtapose nature and culture’ (11). Drawing insights from the foundational works of Philippe Descola, Bruno Latour, and Tim Ingold, the author of this book makes a definite contribution towards recognising how the opposition between nature and culture is specifically a line of thought that is Western in origin and that the case of Gaddi requires a distinctive imagination. Building her argument around the phenomenological turn in practice theory and drawing primarily from the insights of Tim Ingold's original research, Wagner chooses to focus her attention on the practical activity and sensory perceptions of the Gaddi to describe how the Himalayan environment that is lived by them is an enacted landscape and not an objective reality. Her analysis moves away from the usual trappings of studying the environmental knowledge embodied in the local meanings and aims to discover environment through an active framework of a human–environment nexus. Deriving her intellectual insights from Latour's symmetric anthropology, Wagner's analysis claims to understand and represent humans and non-humans in tandem.

Pastoralism, 2022

The pastoral communities of the western and central Himalayas have, for centuries, presented the modern Indian state with a problem of governance (as it has often been projected). Their existence, largely outside the domains of fixed property and capitalist production relations, has long since been problematized. Their seasonal migrations and vertical movements in space and time have enabled neither a smooth nor complete assimilation of these peoples into one of the state's existential imperatives-the sedentarized market economy. The interventions imagined and imposed in response, have largely shaped these unbalanced relationships which, I assert, closely follow the features of James Scott's high-modern state projects (Scott 1998, Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed). Through this, an articulation of the tension between the Indian state and two transhumant pastoral communities-the Gaddis and the Van Gujjars-will be attempted to be juxtaposed and contrasted. I will attempt to show how the state in its various forms has used an array of legitimizing arguments and toolsmorality, conservation, revenue, development and climate change-to 'settle' the Gaddis and Van Gujjars out of their traditional roles, into a lifestyle more conducive to measurement, surveillance and control: a 'de-pastoralization' of the pastoralists (Caravani, J Peasant Stud 46:1323-1346, 2019), towards the larger statal goals of assimilation, measurement and appropriation (Foucault 1995, Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison). Through this, the changing and seemingly haphazard dynamics of legitimization will be attempted to be situated in their contexts and used to characterize the contrasting situations of both these communities-while highlighting the need to complicate the role of their social and religious identities in the making of their pastoralisms.

2024

Nomadic pastoralism is an ancient way of life that has been practised for centuries by various tribes and ethnic groups across the world. It is characterized by the movement of herders and their livestock between different regions in search of fresh pastures, water and other resources. Despite its longstanding history, this way of life is now on the brink of extinction in many parts of the world, facing various challenges including modern politics and infrastructural development. One such group of pastoralists that have been affected by these changes are the Gaddi pastoralists of the western Himalayas. The Gaddi tribe is one of the oldest ethnic groups that have lived in this region for hundreds of years, and they have developed their own distinct culture and traditions. They have played a signi cant role in sustaining the ecosystem of the region by herding sheep and goats, moving between the highaltitude pastures of the middle Himalayas and the Shiwalik ranges of the lower Himalayas. However, the present dynamics have changed the scenario for the Gaddi pastoralists. The growth of physical infrastructure like dams, canals, and roads, and the expansion of social infrastructure like healthcare, education, and banking, as well as the diversi cation of employment opportunities in the region, has prompted the Gaddi pastoralists to shift away from their traditional profession. Additionally, the politics of the state has also played a signi cant role in shaping the fate of the Gaddi pastoralists. The policies of the government, along with the in uence of powerful interest groups, have led to the restriction of traditional grazing practices, and the Gaddi pastoralists are now facing challenges in their pursuit of maintaining their traditional ways of life. As a result of these challenges, many Gaddi pastoralists are now shifting towards sedentary occupations, leaving behind their traditional profession. Therefore, this research aims to explore the complex history, politics, development and challenges encountered by the Gaddi pastoralists in the pursuit of maintaining their traditional ways of life in an ever-changing world.

HIMALAYA, 2023

This Introduction provides the first exhaustive overview of the range of ethnographic and historical research on Gaddis. Beginning with late 19th-century colonial efforts to pin down, in a manner characteristic of the period, the elusive structure of Gaddi society, we trace the trajectory of research in numerous Gaddi communities in western Himachal Pradesh over the last seventy years. We highlight several areas of substantial research at the intersection of politics, religion, gender and economy, and how these shape contemporary disputes about cultural identity. These disputes can be best summarized as the question: 'Who counts as a Gaddi?' Of course, the historic identity of Gaddis as the preeminent sheep and goat herding pastoralists of the region looms large, even as transhumant pastoralism itself declines, for herein lies the ideological roots of contemporary social divisions and exclusion. We also highlight how the diversity of ethnographic vantage points brought together in this Special Issue help to dispel lingering assumptions of Gaddi cultural and political uniformity across the region, as each in different ways illuminates the connections between Gaddis, their neighbors, and the state.

NCM Publishing House , 2023

India is home to the world's tribal communities, which are distributed throughout 28 states and 8 union territories. Article 342 of the Indian Constitution addresses the subject of tribal groups. Himachal Pradesh has a significant proportion of tribes within the state. Various types of tribes like kinners or kinnaure, Lahuels, Spitians, Pangwalas, and Gujjars etc. can be found in the state. One of them, Gaddi, resides in the Himachal Pradeshi districts of Mandi, Kangra, and Chamba.. Tradiional livelihood systems of many tribal communities in India directly depend on their symbiotic relationships with the surrounding natural resources and the local socioeconomic and cultural dynamics. However, in the light of globalization and westernization activities resulting in drastic socioeconomic changes, these communities are often found to mobilize themselves for economic aspects. This paper presents the ongoing evolution in the traditional livelihoods of the Gaddis and their land use pattern that cause a significant transition in their economy and livelihood. These studies is conducted through the interview, observation and live recording secession in the area of Bharmour village, Brahmaur tehsil, Chamba district, Himachal Pradesh, as the results shown that the centre-state government and tribal development in India emphasizes on the development of their socioeconomic status.

Himalaya, 2023

This article examines Gaddi memory construction and transmission, influenced by popular historical narratives from the agrarian communities with which they interacted. After considering the construction of Gaddi 'Rajputs' who migrated from Rajasthan-claims that are historically dubious but have obvious social utility-I draw from old fieldnotes to explore another salient memory. Specifically, I analyze Gaddi shepherds' memories about the communitarian strife and massacre during the 1947 Partition of India at the high-altitude Himalayan pass connecting Chamba to the Kangra plains. These events are the 'little histories' of marginal people that give us an insight not only into small scale societies but also how an event of larger dimension impacts even geographically remote areas and tribal communities. Their collective memories of 1947 stand out when we consider that they have little recollection of their origins and historical past.

This paper documents the transformations taking place in the process of mobility, both in terms of structure and attitudes, deliberating upon the linkages between the seasonally mobile shepherds on the one hand and the sedentary peasants on the other over a time frame of a century. We argue that the shepherds bring into economic equation the resources that are beyond the revenue demand and marketing strategies that are beyond fixed markets and bazaars. We therefore consider shepherding not only as a constituent of the larger economic and social system but also as a competing economy in it-self. As a result, an attempt has been made to understand the process of interaction within different ecological zones and how the state, particularly colonial rule, intervened to control the pastorals in their attempt to ‘Hinduize’ by ritualizing and locating them in a caste hierarchy. In the process the dynamics of herding—alpine-temperate migratory cycle; the rights and obligations in relation to herding practice; the evolution of herding tax structure; and the socio-economic basis of herding—has been analyzed.

South Asian Anthropologist, 2019

This research paper discusses about the Gaddi, a pastoral community of the Bharmaur region, a tribal dominated region of Himachal Pradesh. The author presents the historical and the religio-mythological aspects of the community, their ecosystem practices, traditional myths and beliefs that have influenced their life style. The Gaddi is a semi-nomadic agro-pastoral community engaged in pastoralism and agricultural activities on varying seasons. The author has looked upon the socioeconomic structure of the society with special reference to caste structure, religious mythological practices and occupational patterns of Gaddis that is very close to their ecosystem. The study was conducted in the Bharmaur tribal region of Himachal Pradesh from the different villages including Bharmaur, Holi, Quarsi, Malkota and Kugti and others. The focus of this paper covers how they influence or are influenced by the traditional belief systems in the present state of government run development programmes for transformation and modernization. The established knowledge system of Gaddi pastoral cycle which is very close to their deity institutions make them live with the mythological beliefs governing pastoralism.

Nawala, a sacrificial ritual offering made to Shiva, is central to the identity of the Gaddis, nomadic mountain shepherds of Himachal Pradesh—Northern India. Over a long period of time the Gaddis were encouraged to give up shepherding and settle in the plains among agricultural communities. Displaced from their ancestral habitat and nomadic ways, the focus of their ritual performances changed. Examining one ritual text as a prism for folklore and social change, this essay analyzes how dislocated “identity” negotiates and reinvents itself through ritual performance. The transformation of ritual text, disappearing lineages of traditional singers and ritual specialists, new interpretations and transmission agencies, as well as the eventual preservation and transmission of ritual-lore through audio and video technology chart the trajectory of identity transformation and engagement with modernity.