Pastoralism in Rajasthan Thar: Muslim Pastoralists of Chitrang (Bikaner)

-->

The region, referred to as the Chitrang tract of north- west Bikaner was predominantly a pastoral society and economy, surviving by customary sanctions, practices and communal institutions linked to the sprawling extensive pastoral grasslands, catchments, deep wells and ponds of the wide open desert.

Each important village in Chitrang had _johads_ or _tobas_ which were ponds where rain water would collect and could be got for four to five months even after rains. The particular community or caste would move to it's _toba_ along with the family and livestock and stay there in the monsoons and some months after it. The tale told by Khamise Khan Baloch of the _toba_ of Gogliwali tells how pastoralists slowly over time develop close relations with land around a _toba_.

Gogliwali which is around ten km north of Sattasar has been a part of the village. The Balochs have been associated with the water source ever since the Balochs were given shelter by the Thakur of Sattasar centuries back. The ancestors of Khamise Khan and his other Baloch brethren have been coming to this toba with their livestock from generations. They would cultivate the land around the toba for subsistence. For a long time the place was a temporary dwelling for these Balochs who used to return to Sattasar after the water in the tobas used to dry up. One of the forefathers of Khamise Khan made a well here which ensured a more consistent and longer supply of water. During the conversation he and his sons kept pointing to that old structure of the well. This really saved us during summers, he murmured. They were not so compelled to go on the long migration to Punjab except during severe famines like that of the 1969 or 86-87. For him like most others in Sattasar areas around Nal and Bikaner provided the fodder and water during those grueling months of summers.

After the coming of the canal in the seventies the land around the well came under the command area and was allotted to the Balochs. The Gogliwali dhani as it is called now is a permanent settlement of around twenty five houses of Balochs who cultivate land as well as keep cattle. This _toba_ system allowed a more regulated use of village pastures as well distributed the pressure of livestock to different points. Once the water in the tobas would dry up the families and their livestock would use the wells in the village for water.

20.5.1994 at Gogliwali dhani, Chhatragarh with Jetha Ram