>Unionsa1 at 02:29, 4 June 2021

2021-06-04T02:29:50Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = 
| native_name = Bakarwal
| image = Bakarwal man.jpg
| image_caption = A Bakarwal man in Kashmir.
| population =
| region1 = {{flagicon|India}} [[India]]
| pop1 = 113,198 <ref>{{Cite web|title=Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India|url=https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/SCST-Series/ST14.html|access-date=2021-05-31|website=www.censusindia.gov.in}}</ref>
| ref1 =
| region2 = {{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Pakistan]]
| pop2 = Unknown
| ref2 =
| region3 = {{flagicon|Afghanistan}} [[Afghanistan]]
| pop3 = Unknown
| region5 =
| pop5 =
| ref5 =
| languages = [[Gojri]] and varieties of [[Pashto]], [[Hindko]], [[Pahari-Pothwari|Pahari]] and [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]]
| religions = Majority: [[File:Star and Crescent.svg|15px]] [[Islam]] (98.7%) <ref>{{Cite web|title=Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India|url=https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/SCST-Series/ST14.html|access-date=2021-05-31|website=www.censusindia.gov.in}}</ref>
*
{{small|Minority: [[File:Om.svg|15px]] [[Hinduism]] (2.3%)}} <ref>{{Cite web|title=Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India|url=https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/SCST-Series/ST14.html|access-date=2021-05-31|website=www.censusindia.gov.in}}</ref>
| related_groups = [[Gujjars]]
| footnotes =
}}

The '''Bakarwal''' (also '''Bakharwal''', '''Bakrawala''' and '''Bakerwal''') are a mostly [[Muslim]]<ref name="Bamzai">{{Cite web|last=Bamzai |first=Sandeep |date=6 August 2016 |title=Kashmir: No algorithm for Azadi |publisher=Observer Research Foundation |url=http://www.orfonline.org/expert-speaks/kashmir-no-algorithm-for-azadi |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810045102/https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speaks/kashmir-no-algorithm-for-azadi/ |archive-date=10 August 2016 |url-status=live |df=dmy}}</ref> [[nomads|nomadic]] [[tribe]] based in the [[Pir Panjal Range]] and the [[Himalayan mountains]] of [[South Asia]]. They are traditionally, and still mainly, [[goatherder]]s and [[shepherd]]s. They reside in the entire [[Kashmir region]] between [[India]] and [[Pakistan]], and in the [[Nuristan Province]] of northeast [[Afghanistan]].<ref name="Khatana">{{Cite book|last=Khatana |first=Ram Parshad |year=1992 |title=Tribal Migration in Himalayan Frontiers: Study of Gujjar Bakarwal Transhumance Economy |location=[[Gurgaon]], India |publisher=South Asia Books (Vintage Books) |isbn=978-81-85326-46-7}}</ref>

==History==

The Gujjar-Bakarwals claim a common ancestry from the [[Gujjars]] and Bakarwals are one tribe popularly known as Gujjar or Gurjars in South Asia. Gujjars have many names like Ajjadh, Dohdhi, Banhara, and Vanvasi. Gujjars who rear goats and sheep are called Bakarwals. Gujjars and Bakarwals share the same history, culture, language, sub-castes and racial identity. Even all anthropological and genetic studies conducted on Gujjars-Bakarwals say that they are not separate identities in any way. In 1991 the Gujjar-Bakarwals were granted tribal status in Jammu and Kashmir by the Indian government after conducting a study. The study revealed that Bakarwal is another name of Gujjars entered in revenue records which is why both the names (Gujjars and Bakarwals) were included while the community was enlisted in tribal category in Indian constitutions. Bakarwals belong to the same ethnic stock as the Gujjars, and inter-marriages freely take place among them. There are a number of examples where one brother's name was entered in revenue record as Bakarwal and other's as Gujjar.<ref name="Daily Excelsior ">{{cite web|url=https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/dont-get-divided-trcf-to-gujjars-bakerwals/|title=Don’t get divided: TRCF to Gujjars-Bakerwals |publisher= Daily Excelsior, Jammu |date=23 February 2015 }}</ref>

== Etymology ==

'Bakarwal' is derived from the [[Indic language]]<ref>Compare: [[Gojri language|Gojri]], [[Urdu]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]], [[Dogri language|Dogri]], [[Jammu]] and [[Pashto language|Pashto]] language terms.</ref> terms, ''bakara''<ref>Sanskrit: बर्कर ''bakara''</ref> meaning goat or sheep, and ''wal''<ref>Sanskrit: पालक ''palaka'' "keeper"</ref> meaning "one who takes care of".<ref name="Khatana" /> Essentially, the name "Bakarwal" implies "high-altitude goatherds/shepherds".

== Society ==
{{Refimprove|section|date=October 2017}}
The Bakarwals belong to the same ethnicity as the [[Gujjar]]s, and inter-marriages take place among them.<ref>{{Cite book
|year=1994
|last1=Raha |first1=Manish Kumar |last2=Basu |first2=Debashis
|chapter=Ecology and Transhumance in the Himalaya
|editor-last1=Kapoor |editor-first1=Anuk K. |editor-last2=Kapoor |editor-first2=Satwanti
|title=Ecology and Man in the Himalayas
|location=New Delhi |publisher =M. D. Publications
|pages=33–48, pages 43–44 |isbn=978-81-85880-16-7
}} citing an unpublished paper by Negi, R. S. ''et al.'' "Socio-Economic Aspirations of Guijjara and Bakerwal"</ref> Bakarwals have clans (''[[gotra]]'') like Gujjars; however, "''bakarwal''" is also occasionally used indiscriminately to refer to any nomadic shephard group in the foothills, even those who may not belong to a Bakarwal community ([[Wiktionary:qafila|qafila]] group).
The Gadaria-Bakarwals have divided themselves into three principal kinship groups:
:(i) The dera (household),
:(ii) Dada-Potre (lineage),
:(iii) the [[gotra]] (clan).

The [[Gujars]] are also very prideful about their land which they own to [[grazing|graze]] their [[livestock]] which has lead to some land conflicts between the Gujars and their neighbouring groups such as the [[Nuristanis]]. The Nuristanis believe that the Gujars are encroaching on their land meanwhile the Gujars believe that they need more land for their livestock since they are nomads so conflicts between the two groups have risen from time to time. The conflicts between the Gujars and the Nuristanis date back to the 19th century. In 1997, the Gujar villagers of [[Kunar Province]] also had a disagreement with the [[Taliban]] about their land and weapons (It is a tradition for Gujar villagers to keep weapons with them) being confiscated and taken away to which fighting between the tribal Gujars and the Taliban militants started in which the Taliban were driven out of the capital of the Kunar province, [[Asadabad, Afghanistan|Asadabad]], by the tribal Gujar militants. Eventually however, an agreement was signed between the Taliban government and the Gujars in which the Gujars were allowed to keep their land and weapons but had to remain loyal to the [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan]].

== Economy ==
As sheep and goat rearing [[Transhumance|transhumants]], the Bakarwals alternate with the seasons between high and low altitudes in the
hills of the [[Himalayas]]. This is why the Bakarwals as a singular tribe are stretched from the hills of the [[Hindu Kush]] in [[Nuristan]] to the hills of the [[Himalayas]] in [[Uttarakhand]]. They are mainly found in the following areas of [[Nuristan Province]], [[Kunar Province]], [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Azad Kashmir]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]], [[Himachal Pradesh]] and [[Uttarakhand]]. 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 [[Hindu Kush|Upper Himalayan Range]] all the way down into the [[Lower Himalayan Range]].<ref name="Khatana"/>

== Legal status ==
In 1991 in [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]], the Bakarwals were first recognized as an [[Government of India|Indian]] [[Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes|Scheduled Tribe]]. {{As of|2001}}, the Bakarwal were classified as a Scheduled Tribe under the [[Reservation in India|Indian government's general reservation program]] of [[positive discrimination]].<ref>{{Cite web|publisher=Census of India: Government of India |date=7 March 2007 |title=List of Scheduled Tribes |url=http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/scst_main.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130207163453/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/scst_main.html |archive-date=7 February 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy}}</ref>

They are mentioned in the ''[[Afghan National Anthem]]'' as one of the integral tribes present in [[Afghanistan]].

==References==
{{Reflist|20em}}
{{Clear}}

{{Ethnic groups, tribes and clans of the Punjab}}

[[Category:Indigenous peoples of South Asia]]
[[Category:Social groups of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Social groups of Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in India]]
[[Category:Scheduled Tribes of Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Transhumant ethnic groups]]

Bakarwal - Revision history

>Unionsa1 at 02:29, 4 June 2021