Nomadic People of Pakistan
Nomadic in Pakistan
Nomads are people who have no permanent residence. They travel from one place to another. Many Bedouins migrate with the seasons. They move in search of food, water, and places to eat animals.
Overview
The word "nomad" comes from Greek and means "to roam the pastures". Some cultures around the world have always been nomadic like Turks. Nomads are rare in today's industrialized countries. However, there are still 30-40 million Bedouins in the world today!.
Bedouins are generally divided into three groups. There are hunters, nomads, and wandering nomads. Hunters are the oldest nomadic people.
As the name suggests, fishermen move around a lot. They look for fruits, vegetables, and wildlife that change with the seasons. Until roughly 10,000 years ago, all humans existed as hunters and gatherers.
When people start farming, the need for liquidity decreases. Today, there are very few groups of hunters and gatherers. Those present also farm and raise animals.
Bedouin shepherds kept large herds of animals. When animals have eaten all the food in an area, they move to a new area. This gives the grass time to produce new food.
How do Nomadic or Shepherds survive?
Bedouin shepherds usually stick to specific areas. The area they cover can be hundreds of square miles. Pick a place where you can live for a few weeks or months. Later, they built portable wooden houses called tents.
The only type of nomads you might find in industrialized countries are itinerant nomads. These Bedouins travel a lot. They are involved in the transfer of business from one place to another. An example is someone who works in a circus.
Famous Nomads or Shepherds of Pakistan
The Kochis are the most nomadic tribe in Pakistan and also depend on animals. Moreover, Nomadic people are people who move from one place to another, not live in one area. Numerous peoples and communities are traditionally nomadic; such as Berbers, Kazakhs, and Bedouins. However, Nenets, also known as the Samoyeds, are the largest nomadic community in Russia and live mainly on reindeer.
Nomads and semi-nomads, commonly known as Kutches in Afghanistan, are mainly sheep and goats. Animal products (meat, dairy, hair, and wool) are traded or sold to buy grains, vegetables, fruits, and other products of sedentary life. In this way, an extensive network of communication develops along the main paths that the Bedouins follow every year.
Moreover, Powindah (Gilji) [or Ghilzai] Pashtun traders used to move from the mountains of Afghanistan to the Indus Valley every year. These long-distance migrations stopped when the borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan closed in the early 1960s, but many Kochis are still allowed to cross because border officials acknowledge seasonal Kutch migrations, which are allowed even in times of political turmoil. However, migration within Afghanistan has continued in recent decades, although trucks are now used to transport livestock and families from one place to another.
Final Thoughts
Nomads in Pakistan, as a way of life, are rarely explained simply as ecological adaptations. Under modern conditions, seasonal mobility can in many cases be carried out by commuting shepherds as well as by immigrant families. But the compromise that nomads form between home and steppe in marginal conditions may not be achieved any other way, and in the long run, is more environmentally friendly than any other possible strategy of use.
Furthermore, the knowledge and understanding of the nomadic in Pakistan is an important support for other sectors of the economy. As well as general concepts of the nature of society, the relationship between the community as a whole, and its environment.