| The Gujjars of the Himalaya
These few pages are dedicated to a lowly shepherd people
called Gujjars. A friendly and hospitable people, the Gujjars are relatively
unknown. The most reliable census status on them is over sixty years old.
In 1931 the Census of India reported 2,038,692 G There is very little known about these fascinating people. I have been photographing them over the past eight years. In these pages I will be focusing on the Bakarwal Gujjar also known as the goat herding Gujjar.It needs to be stated at this point that Gujjars tend not to mind being photographed. In fact, I was asked by the "Ministry of Gujjar Affairs" in Srinagar, Kashmir to do what I could to make the Gujjar people known to the world. This is my attempt at fulfilling this request. No person on these pages was photographed without their permission. I hope you enjoy these glimpses into a fading culture. Best wishes,
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ujjars
inhabiting eight provinces and Indian states; Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir,Punjab
(undivided) the North West Provinces (now Pakistan) and other area in and
along the Himalaya. The vast majority of Gujjars today are Muslim and are
semi-nomadic, herding sheep, goats and buffalo. They migrate from the lowland
plains in the winter to the upper reaches of the Himalaya during the summer.
| The links below are to photo pages. | |||
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Women |
The Children | Life | |
All photographs Copyright © 1997 Matt Brandon
These photographs are not to be used in the promotion of any product or in other publications without express written permission by the photographer.
