Q 1 – Who are nomads?
Ans. Nomads are the people who move from one place to another in search of food and fodder.
Q 2 – Who are Gujjar Bakarwals. ?
Ans. The Gujjar Bakarwals of Jammu and Kashmir are herders of goats and sheep.
Q 3 – Name a pastoralist community of the central plateau.
Ans. Dhangars of Maharashtra.
Q 4 – Who were the Dangers?
Ans. The Dhangars were an important pastoral community of Maharashtra. Most of them were shepherds, some were blanket weavers, and still, others were buffalo herders.
Q 5 – Who were Gaddis.?
Ans. The Gaddi is a shepherd – Pastoralist community of Himachal Pradesh.
Q 6 – Why did the colonial government decide to declare some parts of the forests as reserved?
Ans. The forests which produced commercially valuable timber like deodar and sal were declared reserved.
Q 7 – Name any two pastoralist communists of Africa.
Ans. Bedouins, Berbers, Maasai, Somali, Boran and Turkana.
Q 9 – How is the seasonal rhythm of movement of Gujjar different from that of Dhangars?
Ans. Cold and snow define the annual movement of Gujjar whereas alternation of monsoon winds is responsible for the annual movement of Dhangers.
Q 10 – Who are Maasai ?
Ans. Maasai is a pastoralist community of Africa. The Maasai cattle herders Live Primarily in East Africa, in Southern Kenya and in Tanzania.
Q 11 – Where do the Bhotiyas belong to ?
Ans. Bhotiyas is a pastoralist community of Uttarakhand. They are cattle herder.
Q 12 – Who were the elders in the Maasai Community?
Ans. The Elders Formed the ruling group and met in periodic councils to decide onm the affairs of the community and settle disputes.
Q 13 – Who were the warriors in the Maasai community ?
Ans. The Warriors consisted of younger people mainly responsible for the protection of the tribe. They defended the community and organized cattle raids.
Q 14 – Pastoralists combine pastoral activities with agriculture. Explain
Ans. (i) the Dhanger shepherds stayed in the central plateau of Maharashtra. Due to low rainfall and poor soil they grew dry crops like bajra crop and moved towards Konkan along with their herds.
(ii) Raikas pastoral community Lived in Rajasthan. Because of meager and uncertain rainfall harvests fluctuated every year. So the Raikas combined cultivation with pastoralism.
(iii) The Kurumas and Kurubas reared sheep and goats and sold women blankets. They lived near the woods,Cultivated small patches of land, engaged in a variety of petty traders and took care of their herds.
Q 15 – Who are banjaras? Dscribe the Life of banjaras.
Ans. (i) Banjaras is a Pastoral community of north India.
(ii) They are found in the villergs of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
(iii) In search of good pastureland for their cattle, they move over long distances, selling plough cattle communities, Darning the winters temperatures at high altitudes become very low.
Q 16 – What was important of raiding is the maasai community ?
Ans. Raiding was important in a society where cattle was wealth . It is through raids that the power of different pastoral groups was asserted young men came to be recognized as members of the warrior class when they proved their manliness by raiding the cattle of other pastoral groups and participating in wars. They however, were subject to the authority of the elders.
Q 17 – In What way dose the interaction of the peasants with the other communities benefit both? Explain with the example of any one pastoral community ?
Ans. (i) The Dhangar community of central plateau interact with Konkani Peasants.
(ii) After the kharif harvest, the fileds had to be fertilized and made ready for the rabi harvest.
(iii) Dhangar flocks manure the fields and feed on the stubble whereas Konkani peasants give supplies of rice.
Q 18 – Name the regions of the cyclic movement of Kurumas and Kurubas.
Ans. The Kurumas and Kurubas lived in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In the dry season they moved near the coast and left when the rains came.
Q 19 – Why were the British officials suspicious of the nomadic people? Give one reason. ?
Ans. The British officials were suspicious of the nomadic people because they distrusted mobile craftmen and traders who sold their goods in villages, and pastoralists who changed their places or residence every season. They were considered as criminals.
Q 20 – What are bugyals?
Ans. Bugyals are vast natural pastures on the high mountains, about 12,000 feet. After April the entire mountainside is covered with a variety of grasses, roots and herbs. By monsoon these pastures are covered with thick vegetation and wild flowers.
Q 21 – Why were the Dhangars welcomed by the Konkani peasants?
Ans. After the kharif crops were harvested, the field had to be fertilised for the rabi crops. Dhangar flocks manured the fields and fed on the stubble. Dhangars were also given supplies of rice which they supplied to the plateau where grain was scarce.
Q 22 – Why did the Dhangars leave the Konkan and coastal areas before the onset of monsoon?
Ans. The Dhangars left the Konkan and the coastal areas before the onset of monsoon because the sheep could not tolerate the wet monsoon conditions.
Q 23 – What are ‘Kharif and ‘rabi crops’?
Ans. Kharif is the autumn crop, usually harvested between September and October. Rabi, the spring crop, usually harvested after March.
Q 24 – What is a Gujjar Mandap?
Ans. A Gujjar Mandap is a place where the Gujjar cattle herders live. It is made of ringal and grass. A mandap was also a workplace, where the Gujjar made ghee for the purpose of sale.
Q 25 – What defined the seasonal rhythms of the movement of the pastoralists in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh?
Ans. It was the alternation of the monsoon and dry season which defined the seasonal rhythms of the movement of pastoralists in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In dry season they moved to the coastal areas and left when the rains came
Q 26 – Who are the Banjaras? Where are they found?
Ans. Banjaras are a well known group of graziers. They are found in the villages of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
Q 27 – What happend to Maasailand in 1885?
Ans. In 1885, the colonial powers scrambled for territorial possesions. Maasailand was cut into half with an international boundary between British Kenya and German Tanganyika. The Maasai lost 60 per cent of their pre-colonial land.
Q 28 – What does the title ‘Maasai’ mean? What did they depend on for subsistence?
Ans. The title ‘Maasai’ is derived from the word ‘maa’. Maa-sai means ‘My People’. Maasai are nomadic and pastoral people who depend on milk and meat for subsistence.
Q 29 – What is meant by kafila?
Ans. In winter, when the high mountains were covered with snow, the pastoralists lived with their herds in the low hills of the Siwalik range. The dry scrub forests here provided pasture for their herds. By the end of April they began their northern march for their summer grazing grounds. Several households came together for this journey, forming what is known as a kafila.
Q 30 – According to environmentalists and economists why are nomadic pastoralists the important communities?
Ans. Nomadic pastoralists are important communities because because they play a major role in the conservation of forests. People get useful products like milk, ghee, wool from herders.
Q 31 – Give one example to explain why the pastoralists have been compelled to change their movement in modern times.
Ans. The pastoralists have been compelled to change their movement in modern times.
After 1947, the camel and sheep herding Raikas could no longer move into Sindh and graze their animals on the banks of Indus. The new political boundaries between Indian & Pakistan stopped their movement. In recent years, they have been migrating to Haryana where sheep could graze on agricultural land, after harvests are cut.
Q 32 – Write about the life style of the Gujjars of Kangra.
Ans. The Gujjar cattle herders live in Garhwal and Kumaon. In the winter, they come to the dry forest of the Bhabhar and go up to the high meadows-the bugyals-in summer. Gujjars are exclusively a pastoralist tribe in the hills, where they do not cultivate anything. Buffaloes are the main wealth of the Gujjars. They live near the boundary of the forests and the mainstay of their existence is the sale of milk, ghee and other products. The men graze the cattle. The women go -to the markets every morning, with little earthen pots filled with milk, butter milk and ghee. During the hot weather they move their herds to the upper ranges where the buffaloes enjoy the weather.
Q 33 – Who were Dhangars? What were their occupations? Why were they continuously on the move?
Ans. The Dhangars were an important pastoral community of Maharashtra. Most of them were shepherds, some were blanket weavers and others were buffalo herders. They were continously on the move in search of pasture for their cattle.
Q 34 – Why were the chiefs appointed by the British not affected by war or drought in Maasai land?
Ans. The chiefs appointed by the colonial government often accumulated wealth over time. They had a
regular income with which they could buy animals, goods and land.
They lent money to poor neighbours who needed cash to pay taxes. Many of them began living in towns, and became involved in trade. Their wives and children stayed back in the villages to look after the animals.
These chiefs managed to survive the devastations of war and drought. They had both pastoral and non-pastoral income, and could buy animals when their stock was depleted.
Q 35 – Which parts of the African continent are inhabited by the pastoralists? What are the different types of activities they are involved in?
Ans. Most of the pastoralists in Africa lived in semi-arid grasslands or arid deserts where rain-fed agriculture is difficult.
The pastoralists are involved in different type of activities like they rear cattle, camels, goats, sheep and donkeys; and sell milk, meat, animal skin and wool. Some also earn through trade and transport, others combine pastoral activity with agriculture, still others do a variety of odd jobs to supplement their meagre and uncertain earnings from pastoralism.