Understanding Pastoralism: Tradition and Practice in India

Millions of people across India wake up before dawn, gather their herds, and begin journeys that have been made for thousands of years – across mountain passes, through arid deserts, and along river valleys. These are India’s pastoralists, and their way of life is one of the oldest, most ecologically sophisticated, and economically significant livelihood systems in the country. Yet pastoralism remains poorly understood, often invisible in official statistics, and frequently mischaracterized as environmentally harmful. This post unpacks what pastoralism actually is, who practices it, where it happens, and why it matters more than most people realize.

What is pastoralism? 🔗

Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry in which domesticated animals – cattle, goats, sheep, camels, buffalo, yaks, and others – are raised on natural grazing lands rather than in enclosed farms. What distinguishes it from settled farming is mobility. Pastoralists move their herds, either seasonally or continuously, to access fresh pastures, water, and favorable climatic conditions. The movement is not random; it follows carefully mapped routes and timing systems refined over many generations. Pastoralists produce food – milk, meat, wool, hides – and also provide ecological services like soil fertilization and seed dispersal in the process.

In India, pastoralism is practiced across highly diverse landscapes: the Himalayas in the north, the Thar Desert in the west, and the Deccan Plateau in the south. Each region has shaped distinct pastoral traditions and distinct communities that practice them.

A millennia-old practice 🔗

Pastoralism in India is not a recent adaptation. Its roots go back to some of the earliest human settlements on the subcontinent. Archaeological traces of livestock husbandry appear as far back as the Indus Valley Civilization. Over centuries, it evolved into a specialized, hereditary profession passed down through specific castes and ethnic communities. Many pastoral communities believe their primeval ancestors were divinely created to care for livestock, a belief that shapes not just their cultural identity but their deep sense of responsibility toward their animals.

Today, an estimated 10 to 13 million people in India are practicing pastoralists for whom herding is a hereditary occupation. Around 46 castes and communities across the country have distinct pastoralist identities, including the Gujjars, Bakarwals, Raikas, Gaddis, Kurubas, Maldharis, Dhangars, and Changpas, among others.

Pastoralism as a caste and community identity 🔗

One distinctive feature of Indian pastoralism – compared to pastoralist cultures in the Middle East or Africa – is how deeply it is embedded in the caste system. Unlike in the Middle East, where pastoralists are organized in tribes occupying distinct areas, in India pastoralists are integrated into the caste system as endogamous social units specializing in animal husbandry. Pastoral identity is not just an occupation; it is an inherited social position tied to kinship, ritual, and community rules.

Different communities have developed expertise with specific livestock. The Gujjar, Gaddi, and Kinnaura of the northern Himalayas; the Rabari and Bharwad of western India; the Changpa, Bhotia, and Brokpa of the eastern Himalayas; and the Dhangar and Kuruba of the Deccan each have their own migration routes, livestock specializations, and social traditions. The Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir herd buffalo and migrate between high-altitude summer pastures and lower winter grounds. The Raika of Rajasthan have historically been camel herders, though many have shifted to sheep and goats as camel rearing has declined. The Gaddis of Himachal Pradesh move their sheep and goat flocks vertically through the Himalayas, spending winters in lowland plains and summers in alpine pastures at altitudes of 3,000 to 4,500 meters.

Types of pastoralism in India 🔗

Pastoralism in India is not a single practice – it exists in several forms depending on the level of mobility involved.

Nomadic pastoralism 🔗

Nomadic pastoralists continuously move with their herds and have no permanent settlement. They depend entirely on livestock and do not grow crops. This is common in harsh, arid environments like Rajasthan and parts of Jammu and Kashmir, where movement is the only viable strategy for accessing water and fodder.

Seminomadic pastoralism 🔗

Seminomadic pastoralists split their year between herding and crop cultivation. They have some attachment to a home base but spend significant parts of the year moving. This pattern is widespread across the Deccan and in many Himalayan communities.

Transhumant pastoralism 🔗

Transhumant pastoralists follow a regular seasonal migration between two defined zones – typically lowlands in winter and highlands in summer. This is the dominant form in the Himalayan region. Transhumant pastoralists travel between two pastures depending on the season, with well-established routes and timing built around environmental rhythms.

Sedentary or village-based pastoralism 🔗

Sedentary pastoralism involves keeping animals near a fixed village and grazing them on nearby common lands. Animals return to the village each night, though they may be taken further afield for short periods when local pastures dry up. This form is more common in agriculturally productive plains.

Pastoralism’s contribution to India’s economy 🔗

The economic contribution of Indian pastoralism is both enormous and largely uncounted. India’s pastoralists, estimated at 10-12 million people, manage almost all of India’s 75 million sheep, about half of its 150 million goats, and roughly a tenth of its cattle. These animals feed sprawling value chains of milk, meat, wool, hides, and dung – yet this “grazing economy” rarely appears in official statistics.

Livestock kept in pastoral systems produce about 53 percent of India’s milk and 74 percent of its meat. The livestock sector accounts for almost 4.5 percent of India’s total GDP, with about two-thirds of that stemming from pastoralist production. Yet official livestock figures mostly capture formal dairying; the pastoral contribution remains largely invisible in national accounts.

When researchers attempt to quantify the full picture, the numbers are striking. According to estimates from the Centre for Pastoralism, the total value of Indian pastoralism – including meat, milk, wool, pashmina, and dung – could be closer to Rs 1,650 billion annually, exceeding India’s national education budget and approaching 3 percent of agricultural GDP.

Beyond food, pastoralism sustains rural employment across transport, butchery, trade, and textile sectors. India is the world’s second-largest wool producer, generating about 33.6 million kilograms a year, almost all from pastoral flocks. Pastoralists are also irreplaceable custodians of livestock genetic diversity: they have developed 73 out of 200 officially recognized livestock breeds in India through generations of selective breeding adapted to local environments.

Pastoralism and nutrition 🔗

The nutritional significance of pastoral production extends well beyond livestock owners. Pastoralists supply affordable animal protein – milk, meat, and eggs – to rural and semi-urban populations across India. Dung, often overlooked, serves as cooking fuel and fertilizer for millions of rural households, reducing dependence on chemical inputs and commercial energy sources. For some herders, manure is actually their main source of income, as farmers compensate pastoralists in cash or in kind for penning animals overnight on their fields. This exchange links pastoral and agricultural economies in a symbiotic relationship that sustains soil fertility across large parts of rural India.

The environmental debate: unfairly blamed? 🔗

Pastoralism carries a persistent reputation as environmentally destructive. Critics point to overgrazing, soil erosion, and the degradation of grasslands – concerns that are not without some basis. In the Changthang plateau of Ladakh, increasing goat populations have degraded fragile arid rangelands through overgrazing, trampling, and soil erosion, leading to the loss of native vegetation and affecting wild herbivores.

However, the broad characterization of pastoralism as environmentally destructive is contested by a growing body of ecological research. According to the FAO, because pastoral systems mimic and replace wildlife systems, they may not add to total greenhouse gas emissions – pastoral systems can build up soil carbon, reducing the total impact, while promoting rangeland health by improving soil fertility, conserving biodiversity, and managing fires.

A key problem is that policymakers and critics tend to treat all livestock systems identically. Dominant climate narratives tend to homogenize all livestock systems as environmentally harmful, often ignoring the relatively low-impact nature and socio-ecological value of pastoralist systems – most greenhouse gas assessments are based on data from industrial livestock systems, where animals are confined and emissions are concentrated, models that overlook the complexities of carbon cycling in extensive grazing systems.

Livestock grazing has greatly affected plant growth, distribution, and diversity through seed dispersal and soil enrichment, creating ecosystem sustainability – yet this positive contribution is rarely perceived, as pastoralists are blamed for degrading their dependent lands. The more accurate picture is that mobile, extensive pastoralism – when practiced within sustainable carrying capacities – supports grassland health rather than undermining it. The problem tends to arise when mobility is restricted, forcing animals to overgraze limited areas.

Challenges facing India’s pastoralists today 🔗

Despite their historical depth and economic significance, India’s pastoralists face acute pressures from multiple directions.

Shrinking grazing lands 🔗

Agricultural expansion, urban development, and afforestation programs have progressively reduced the common lands that pastoral communities depend on. Lands historically used as rangelands are routinely classified as “wastelands” in government records, making them targets for diversion to other uses. The forest department often labels pastoralists as encroachers, and expanding afforestation efforts aimed at carbon offsetting inadvertently displace pastoralists from their traditional resource base.

Policy neglect and invisibility 🔗

The Indian government does not formally recognize “pastoralism” as an official economic category, which means it collects no systematic data on pastoral populations, their contributions, or their needs. While adivasi communities and Scheduled Tribes have a Ministry of Tribal Affairs, no such ministry exists for pastoralists, which accounts for the fact that there are few provisions for them despite their significant contribution to the economy.

Climate change and youth migration 🔗

Contemporary stresses on pastoralists include the lack of herding labor linked to the changing aspirations of youth, the decline of traditional knowledge systems, and climatic stresses affecting rangeland and livestock health. Younger generations, drawn by the perceived security of urban employment, are increasingly leaving pastoral livelihoods. This threatens not just economic continuity but the survival of indigenous livestock breeds and centuries of accumulated ecological knowledge.

The path forward 🔗

Recognizing pastoralism as a legitimate, productive, and climate-adapted economic sector is the first step toward supporting it effectively. Progressing toward the International Year of Rangeland and Pastoralism 2026, a need-based action plan and a holistic strategy to improve pastoral livelihoods would depend on collaborative dialogue among stakeholders. Concrete measures – livestock insurance, legal protection for grazing routes, recognition of common lands, and inclusive data collection – could make a significant difference.

Pastoralism is not a relic of the pre-modern past. It is a dynamic, adaptive, and deeply skilled livelihood system that feeds India, sustains its livestock diversity, and manages vast ecological landscapes that no other production system can reach. Its invisibility in policy is a choice that comes at a real cost – to communities, to biodiversity, and to national food security.

What do you think? If pastoralism contributes such a significant share of India’s livestock economy, why do you think it remains absent from formal economic policy and national data? And given the pressures of climate change and shrinking grazing lands, should India treat pastoralism as a strategic national asset rather than a marginal rural occupation?

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastoralism
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