Nomadism in South Asia

by Rao, Aparna; Casimir, Michael J.; Madan, T. N.

• ISBN13: 9780195657456
• ISBN10: 0195657454
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-09-25
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Nomads in South Asia brings together a selection of ground-breaking essays on Nomads and their lifestyles in South Asia, which has the worlds largest nomadic population. Reflecting colonial and orientalist attitudes and biases, the study of this section of the population has been largely ignored, with little or no empirical research being carried out so far. This volume is the first attempt to present comprehensive information, theoretically informed discussions and tentative conclusions about the ideology, practice of migration and mobility of South Asian nomads. This informative and thought- provoking book provides a rich and wide field for study, and the essays included span a vast region, covering a variety of ecological, economic and political settings. It will be of immense value to scholars and students of sociology, anthropology and historians.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Tables and Figures	xiii
APARVA RAO AND Nomadism in South Asia: An Introduction	1	(38)
MICHAEL J. CASIMIR
I. NOMADIC SETTINGS AND FRONTIERS: ASPECTS AND PERSPECTIVES	39	(110)
1. MICHAEL J. CASIMIR AND APARNA RAO
The Historical Framework of Nomadism in South Asia: A Brief Overview	43	(30)
2. NINA SWIDLER
The Development of the Kalat Khanate	73	(8)
3. MICHAEL J. CASIMIR
Pastoral Nomadism in a West Himalayan Valley: Sustainability and Herd Management	81	(23)
4. JOSEPH C. BERLAND
Servicing the Ordinary Folk: Peripatetic Peoples and their Niche in South Asia	104	(21)
5. PETER M. GARDNER
Bicultural Oscillation as a Long-term Adaptation to Cultural Frontiers: Cases and Questions	125	(24)
II. NOMADISM, RESOURCES, AND RIGHTS TO ACCESS	149	(122)
6. G.PRAKASH REDDY
Hunter-Gatherers and the Politics of Environment and Development in India	155	(19)
7. APARNA RAO
Access to Pasture: Concepts, Constraints, and Practice in the Kashmir Himalayas	174	(39)
8. VASANT K. SABERWAL
Property, and Access: Sheperd Land-Use in the Western Himalayas	213	(34)
9. B. ANANDA BHANU
Boundaries, Obligations, and Reciprocity: Levels of Territoriality among the Cholanaickan of South India	247	(24)
III. THE PRACTICE OF MIGRATION: A SPECTRUM OF ADAPTATIONS	271	(197)
10. BARBARA BROWER
The Organization of Transhumance in the Nepal Himalayas: Sherpa Yak-Keeping in Khumbu	275	(32)
11. H.M. SIDKY
Verticality, Multiple Resource Utilization and Subsistence Economy in the Karakorum Mountains: The Case of the Transhumant Hunzakut	307	(35)
12. HANNA RAUBER-SCHWEIZER
Trade in Far West Nepal: The Economic Adaptation of the Peripatetic Humli-Khyampa	342	(22)
13. GÜNTHER-DIETZ SONTHEIMER
The Dhangar: A Nomadic Pastoral Community in a Developing Agricultural Environment	364	(34)
14. C.H. CHILDERS
Banjaras	398	(21)
15. ARUN AGRAWAL
Indigenous Decision-Making and Hierarchy in Migrating Pastoralist Collectives: The Raika of Western India	419	(29)
16. ROBERT M. HAYDEN
Conflicts and Relations of Power between Peripatetics and Villagers in South Asia	448	(20)
References	468	(60)
Index	528	(14)
Notes on Contributors	542