Points on Petition
How the Act is unjust
(i) Denied me my customary rights as pastoralists.
(ii) Contrary to the principle of liberty, equality and my rights as a citizen.
(iii) In its very conception, the Act is arbitrary and authoritarian.
(iv) It is slanderous and humiliating for its describes me as a criminal by birth just because my way of life is different from the accepted norms.
(v) This Act not only makes me but even my forefathers criminal.
(vi) The Act presumes just because I change places of residence, I am not law-abiding and peaceful. It is irrational in its genesis.
How the Act affects my life
(a) makes my life unsustainable.
(b) If I am not nomadic and my herds, not mobile my herds would perish as they would be starved of fresh pastures and suitable climate for they cannot bear, snow, rain or extreme temperature.
(c) Without hawking my goods, crafts like blankets, skin, wood and dairy products I would not able to meet my and my family's needs. These trading items and crafts help supplement my meager income.
(d) Constant vigilance hinders my privacy and my way of life.
(e) Permits put a burden on my meager resources and make me vulnerable to harassment by the police.

Distinction between the wealthy and poor pastoralists developed:
(i) Under the British colonisers, chiefs of different sub-groups were made responsible for the affairs of the tribe. Over time they often accumulated wealth.
(ii) Earlier the Maasai tribes asserted power and gathered wealth by raiding other pastoral groups because cattle was wealth. The British imposed various restrictions on raiding and warfare.
(iii) The chiefs accumulated wealth by indulging in trade because many of them began living in towns and became involved in trade. Their wives and children stayed back in villages to look after the animals.
(iv) Still others made wealth by lending money on interest to poor neighbours who needed cash to pay taxes.
(v) The chiefs managed to survive devastation of war and drought because they had both pastoral and non-pastoral income. They could buy animals when their stock depleted.
(vi) The life of the poor pastoralists who depended only on livestock was different. They often had no resources to tide over hard times. In war and famines they lost everything. They had to look for work in towns as wage labourer. Only the lucky among them got regular work. Some worked out a living as charcoal burners, others did odd jobs, still others worked in road or building construction.

No, all grazing lands or forests should not be transformed into cultivable farms.
Reasons:
(i) A large percentage of the population live by pastoralists. Transforming grazing lands as cultivable farms would deprive these people their means of livelihood.
(ii) Moreover for pastoralists forests products are not only their means of livelihood. but source to supplement their meager incomes. Bringing forest lands under cultivation would lead to further marginalization of the marginalized section of society
(iii) It would deprive cattle herds of fodder and lead to starvation, death, and disease of cattle. Cattle are not only national wealth but give us many useful items like milk, butter, hide, meat etc...
(iv) Pasturelands enable livelihood of people in difficult terrain.
(v) Forests are essential for biodiversity, flora, and fauna. Clearing of forests would not only deprive nation wealth but disturb ecological balance and cause soil degradation.

The Maasai community lost their grazing lands because:
(i) Colonialism: European imperial powers' scramble for territorial possessions in Africa led to slicing up of the continent into different regions/colonies. Maasai land was divided between British Kenya and German Tanganyika. This restricted the movement of the Maasais between regions.
(ii) White settlements: The best grazing lands were taken over for white settle men and pastoralists were not allowed entry to these settlements and markets. This restricted not only grazing lands but prohibited them from entering into any form of trade as well. They were, moreover, pushed into a small area that was arid and poor in pastures.
(iii) Expansion of cultivation: In the late 19th-century local peasant communities were encouraged by the British colonizers to expand cultivation at the expense of pasture lands.
(iv) Setting up of reserves: Large areas of Maasai grazing lands were turned into game reserves, e.g. Samburu National Park in Kenya and Serengeti Park in Tanzania. These reserves were out of bound of the pastalists.
(v) Permits: For lands that were available special permits were required and rules were laid down. In case of default, Maasais were subjected to harassment and severely punished.

(i) (a) Climatic conditions: Climatic conditions are primarily responsible for the movement of the nomadic people. In winter, when the .high mountains are covered with snow, the nomadic pastoralists of the mountains move to the low hills. With the onset of summer, they start their backward journey. Example: Gaddi shepherds of Himachal Pradesh. In the plains and plateaus, the alteration of monsoon and dry season defines the seasonal rhythm of their movement. In the dry season, the nomads move to the coastal region to graze their cattle on the flourishing agricultural tract and rich oil. With the onset of the monsoon, they return with their flocks to their settlements on the plateau.
(b) Fodder: Grazing grounds, i.e. fodder for the animals is another factor that decides the movement of the nomads. The Gujjar Bakarwala of Jammu and Kashmir migrate to low hills of the Siwalik not only to avoid harsh winters but also due to the availability of grazing grounds in the low hills.
(c) Foodgrains: The availability of foodgrains in different regions is yet another important factor that decides their migration, e.g. the Dhangars get rice from Konkani peasants.
(d) Market: Nomadic tribes combine a range of different activities-herding trading and cultivation. Apart from climate and need for grazing pastures, their movement is partly influenced by need to sell plow, cattle and
goods to villagers.
(ii) The advantages to the environment from this continuous movement are:
(a) Continuous movement of the nomadic tribes allowed the pastures to recover. It prevents their overuse and intensive grazing, which would lead to the deterioration of pastures.
(b) Enabled pastoralists to set up relationships with farmers on the way so that the herds could graze on the stubble of the harvested field. This helped in weeding the soil of leftovers. The cattle also helped manure the soil. 
(c) Nomadic pastoralism provided a way out for supporting a population in a difficult environment and presented a sustainable approach to land use.

Pastoral groups often live on the edges of forests because:
(i) Apart from herding cattle, they are engaged in the cultivation of small fields to meet their needs.
(ii) Most are engaged in trading in dairy products with towns-milk, ghee, buttermilk [Examples: Gollas, Gujjars of kangrs]
Living on the edges of forests enables them to engage with towns.

(i) Europeans imperial powers scrambled for territorial possessions in Africa, and in 1885 Maasailand was cut into half with an international boundary between Kenya and German Tanganyika
(ii) Grazing lands were taken over for white settlements.
(iii) From late 19th century, British colonial government in East Africa encouraged expansion of cultivation by local peasants.
(iv) Large areas of grazing lands were also turned into game reserves like Maasai Mara and Samburu National Park

The British wanted to transform all forest lands which were actually grazing lands, into cultivated farms because,
(i) By expanding cultivation they sought to increase revenue collection as cultivated farms were main source of land revenue and finance.
(ii) This land could also be used to produce commercial crop like jute, cotton, and sugar whose demand was ever increasing in England due to rapid industrialization.
(iii) Colonial government regarded all forests which did not produce commercially viable timber as unproductive.

The pastoralists had a keep in mind a host of new factors before moving towards a new place. Cheif among them were.
(i) Knowledge or judgment about suitability of climate
(ii) Had to judge how long the herds could stay in one area and know where they could find water and pastures.
(iii) They needed to calculate the timing of their movement and ensure they could move through different territories
(iv) They had to set up a relationship with farmers on the way so that the herds could graze on harvested fields and manure the soil.
(v) They combined a range of activities-cultivation, trade, and herding to make a living. 

After the Partition of India, the new political boundaries stopped their (Raika's) movements into Sindh
(i) Raikas found new places to go. In recent years they migrated to Haryana.
(ii) They have set-up relationship with farmers on the way, where sheep can graze on agriculture fields after the harvest are cut. Their animals also help manure the field
(iii) They combined a range of activities-cultivation, trading, and herding to make their living

Pastoral communities in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were:
(i) Gollas. 
(ii) Kurumas.
(iii) Kurubas.
The pastoral communities of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka herded cattle, raised sheep and goats and sold woven blankets. Of them, the kurumas and Kurubas lived near the woods, cultivated small patches of land and indulged in a variety of petty trades.

Gaddis are shepherds of Himachal Pradesh who like other communities of Himalayas (for examples, Gujjar Bakarwals) follow a cycle of seasonal movement determined by cold and snow.

Nomadic pastoralism is a form of subsistence agriculture based on herding of domesticated animals. Under this people do not live in one
place to another along with their animals in search of fresh grazing areas.

(i) Jammu and Kashmir,
(ii) Himachal Pradesh,
(iii) Maharashtra,
(iv) Uttar Pradesh,
(v) Rajasthan.

Reasons for the shortage of pastures were:
(i) Grazing lands were taken over and turned into cultivated fields.
(ii) By reservation of forests, shepherds and cattle herds could not freely pasture their cattle in the forests.

The Criminal Tribes Act was passed in 1871.

Raikas are a nomadic community found in the deserts of Rajasthan.

Kafila is where several households of nomadic people come together for their journey. Example: Kafila of Gujjar Bakarwals with their herds during their seasonal movement from higher to lower hills.

The Gujjar herders in winters came down to the dry forests of the 'bhabar' and in summers they went to the high meadows i.e.'thy bugyals'