This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2023) |
Bakarwal | |
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Regions with significant populations | |
India | 113,198[ citation needed ] |
Languages | |
[Gujari] | |
Religion | |
Islam | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Gujjars |
The Bakarwal, (also spelled Bakkarwal or Bakrawala) 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. [1] Bakerwal and Gujjar is the largest Muslim tribe and the third-largest ethnic community in the Indian part of Jammu and Kashmir. [2] [3]
They spread over a large area from Pir Panjal to Zanskar located in the Himalayan mountains of India. They are mainly found in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. [4] [ page needed ] [5] [ page needed ]
The Bakarwals are a group of people which emerged as an ethnicity around twentieth century, and are basically a conglomerate of Gujjars and Awans who migrated to Jammu and Kashmir from modern-day Hazara Division, Pakistan. [6] The Bakarwals and Gujjars in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir sometimes practice inter-tribal marriages as well. [7] [ full citation needed ]
The Bakarwals claim to have traditionally practiced Hinduism, [8] [ better source needed ] before their conversion to Islam.[ citation needed ]
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". [4] [ page needed ]
As sheep and goat rearing transhumants, the Bakarwals alternate with the seasons between high and low altitudes in the hills of the Himalayas. 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. [4] [ page needed ]
As of 1991 [update] , the Bakarwal were classified as a Scheduled Tribe under the Indian government's general reservation program of positive discrimination. [9] [10]
In 1991 the Bakarwals, Gaddis and Gujjar were granted tribal status in Jammu and Kashmir by the Indian government after an exhaustive study. The Bakarwals 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. [11]
Kashmir is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. The term has since come to encompass a larger area that includes the India-administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the Pakistan-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, and the Chinese-administered territories of Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract.
Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions, it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower valleys in winter. Herders have a permanent home, typically in valleys. Generally only the herds travel, with a certain number of people necessary to tend them, while the main population stays at the base. In contrast, movement in plains or plateaus (horizontal transhumance) is more susceptible to being disrupted by climatic, economic, or political change.
The Bakharwal dog is a livestock guardian dog found in northern India. It is an ancient working Indian dog breed found in Ladakh and across the Pir Panjal Range of Jammu and Kashmir, India.
Kathua district is an administrative district in the Jammu division of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It is surrounded by Jammu to the northwest, the Doda and Udhampur districts to the north, the state of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Punjab to the south, and Pakistan's working boundary to the west. Its terrain is diverse, consisting of rich agricultural areas along the Punjab/Kashmir border, plains sweeping eastward to the foothills of the Himalaya, and the mountainous Pahari region in the east.
The Gurjar are an agricultural ethnic community, residing mainly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were traditionally involved in agriculture, pastoral and nomadic activities and formed a large heterogeneous group. The historical role of Gurjars has been quite diverse in society: at one end they have been founders of several kingdoms and dynasties and, at the other end, some are still nomads with no land of their own.
Korri is a clan of the Gurjar people of southern Asia.
The Dogra Muslim are a Muslim community found in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. They are Muslim converts from the larger Hindu Dogra community. Many Dogra Muslim are also now found in the province of Punjab in Pakistan. They are also known as Rajahs, especially in Pakistan.
Doi is a clan of the Gurjar ethnic group of Pakistan and India.
Mohammad Aslam Kohli is a political leader from the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. He is the head of the Gujjar and Bakerwal Tehreek-e-Insaf, an organization representing Gujjar and Bakarwal interests, such as ensuring continuation of statewide job reservations for Gujjars under the Scheduled Tribe list and participating in the Gujjar movement to be listed as a Scheduled Tribe at the national level. He is also a leader of the Jammu Migrants Front, an organization engaged in advocacy for internal migrants from the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir state.
Thikariya or Thikriya is a subcaste of the Thakkar's clan, found among the Muslim and Hindu and possibly some sikh Gujjars. The variations of the clan name include Thikariya, Thikria, Thikaria, Thekaria, or Thekria..
The Bota or Boto people are a tribal community found in Union territory of Ladakh. They are the third largest tribal community after Gujjars and Bakarwals in Jammu and Kashmir. According to 2011 Census of India, their population stands at 91,495. They have a male to female sex ratio of 1020 and child sex ratio of 957. They boast a literacy rate of 70.3, which is higher than state tribal literacy rate of 50.6. Bots primarily follow Buddhism.
Hakla, some time misspelled as Haklla or Akla is a clan originally affiliated with the Gurjar community of south Asia. They are mostly found among the Hindu and Muslim Gujjars.
The Jammu division is a revenue and administrative division of the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It is bordered by the Kashmir division to the north. It consists of the districts of Jammu, Doda, Kathua, Ramban, Reasi, Kishtwar, Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Samba. Most of the land is hilly or mountainous, including the Pir Panjal Range which separates it from the Kashmir Valley and part of the Great Himalayas in the eastern districts of Doda and Kishtwar. Its principal river is the Chenab.
Jammu and Kashmir is a region administered by India as a union territory and consists of the southern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and between India and China since 1959. The Line of Control separates Jammu and Kashmir from the Pakistani-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan in the west and north. It lies to the north of the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab and to the west of Ladakh which is administered by India as a union territory.
The Pahari people or Pahari-speaking people is a cover term for a number of heterogeneous communities inhabiting in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir and also some parts of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir who speak Pahari languages/dialects.
Javaid Rahi is an Indian author, researcher and tribal social worker. He is a writer and poet of Gojri, Punjabi and Urdu languages. He has written 25 books and edited over 300 books and issues of magazines in different languages especially in the field of tribal literature, history, and culture of pastoralists including Gujjars, Bakarwals, Shina-Dard, Sippis, and Gaddis— and other Scheduled Tribes groups of India.
Brokpa, Drokpa, Dard and Shin is a category of Scheduled Tribes under the Indian constitution.
Chechi, is a clan of the Gurjar community in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. That is prevalent among the Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim Gujjars.
Chawari or Chhawari is a subcaste (gotra) of the Gujjar community with no particular religious identity; they're found among Hindu and Muslim Gujjars. They mostly inhabit in the land of five rivers Punjab, Pakistani Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.
Shepherds of Paradise is a 2013 documentary film directed and produced by Raja Shabir Khan in Gojri and Urdu. The film won awards for Best Non-Feature Film and Best Cinematography at the 60th National Film Awards in 2013. Focusing on the nomadic lives of Gujjar and Bakerwal shepherds in Jammu and Kashmir, the documentary explores the challenges they encounter during their annual migration from the Jammu plains to the Kashmir valley.
As an ethnic group, they emerged only since the beginning of the twentieth century from a conglomerate of other groups of pastoralists and peasants including Gujjars and Awans who migrated to Jammu and Kashmir from the Kunhar and Allai valleys in what is today the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)They believe that their ancestors were Hindus and hence they share the same blood and history with their Hindu counterparts.