Abstract
Nestled in the north-west Himalayas has survived a cultural landscape. Though severely fractured, this is an ancient tradition of pasturing sheep on the grazing dhars, not unlike the Swiss alps (Lyall 1865) and soanas or grazing runs for cattle, which are in the nature of commons. Contrary to the Hardinian perception of shepherds over-grazing a hillside which is a common property resource, the protagonists of this story—both shepherds and herders—have averted a tragedy of the commons. This has been by adopting “physical mobility to change location” (Scott 2009) not because they are fugitives of a stateless society as in nearby Zomia (which Scott describes), but have rather made it possible for sedentary cultivators to co-survive in extremely isolated locations.
It will be sufficient to speak of original property in land, for among pastoral peoples… In general, property in land includes property in its organic products. (Karl Marx 1857–1858).
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Notes
- 1.
Batten (1856–1864).
- 2.
Hutchison and Vogel (1933, p. 274) in fn by Vogel. The Gaddis have castes such as Brahman, Rajput and Khatris and they returned themselves in the census under these caste names and not as gaddis. They are principally in the Brahmour Wazarat which is called Gadaran.
- 3.
J.M. Douie, District Collector, Karnal to Commissioner and Superintendent.
- 4.
Shamilat meant common land belonging to the entire village proprietary body of the individual villages. This was distinct from the open access forests.
- 5.
Gujars and Gaddis were pastoral tribes in the main but they were not always nomadic.
- 6.
Una, Hoshiarpur Settlement Report 1876. para 103.
- 7.
Ibid, para 108.
- 8.
Lowis’ reply to questions asked by Rai Bahadur Shyam Sunder Lal, Famine Inquiry Report 1901, p. 306.
- 9.
Shahpur Kandi Tract, Gurdaspur Settlement Report 1877 p. 15.
- 10.
Gurdaspur Settlement Report (1912, p. 100).
- 11.
The iqrarnamas (statement of rights) frequently differ greatly on important points. For example “… the unmeasured waste in one is not declared to be shamilat or joint property of the landholders, and a literal rendering of the text would limit their proprietary right to the measured rights only; in another no mention is made of the right of Government to the timber of trees on waste lands etc.” Kangra Settlement Report 1865–1872, p. 29.
- 12.
Board of Administration's circular No. 15 of 1852, prescribing the steps to be taken to encourage plantations and conservancy, Circular Order issued by the Board of Administration in the Revenue Department during the years 1849–1853, Manual for Arboriculture, 1905, para 3.
- 13.
Edmonstone in his letter No. 2554 of Nov 9, 1853, para 12, “It may be encouraging to the local officers to know that in the Simla Hills this revolution has within the last year or two actually effected… and joint responsibility fully recognised and established." Jhang Settlement Report, 1860, para 12.
- 14.
P.S. Melvill, Commissioner and Superintendent, Trans-Sutlej States, to District Collector Hoshiarpur, 1/3/1860, Revenue and Agriculture (forests), Proceedings 3-5 B, October 1887.
- 15.
Revenue and Agriculture (Famines) Proceedings 3-4 A, September 1885, p. 324.
- 16.
Punjab Gazette, 1907, Notification No. 179 for the Rawalpindi Forests.
- 17.
C.F. Amery, at the Advance Conference on forestry in Simla, 1875.
- 18.
C.A. Roe, Settlement Officer Hoshiarpur to Commissioner and Superintendent, Jalandhar Division, 13/11/1872. Agriculture and Revenue (Forests), Proceedings 3–5 B, Oct. 1887, para 18.
- 19.
Report of the Royal Commission on Agriculture in India (1927, p. 683).
- 20.
Conservator of Forests, Punjab to Officiating Secretary Government Punjab, 4/12/1876, Revenue, Agriculture and Commerce, Government of India, Proceedings 1–3 A, March 1878.
Abbreviations
- Gaz:
-
Gazeteer
- PAR:
-
Punjab Administration Report
- PBEI:
-
Punjab Board of Economic Inquiry
- Progs:
-
Proceedings
- SR:
-
Settlement Report
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Chakravarty-Kaul, M. (2013). Severance of a Traditional Grazing Landscape in the Himalayas: Commons and Ecosystems in Crisis?. In: Rotherham, I. (eds) Cultural Severance and the Environment. Environmental History, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6159-9_6
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