This
lady is from an Ahir tribe.Home Indian Trips <<Previous Gujarat Next>>
There are a number of different tribal groups in the region of Kutch, the main ones are the Jat, the Harijans, the Ahir and Rabari. Most are farmers, herders and cratf workers. These groups will live and marry within their own tribal groups. There also further subdivisions within some of the groups.
The Jats originally came from an area in Iran migrating to the Indus valley about 500 years ago looking for new grazing lands. There are three main groups pf Jats in Kutch and all are Muslims.
Harijan was the name given to the Meghwal people by Mahatma Gandhi. Hari means God and Jan means people, he used the name to try and overcome prejudice against people of the untouchable or Dalit caste in the Hindu religion. However now some Dalits find the term patronising and prefer the older names. The Meghwals originally came from a region in the neighbouring state of Rajasthan. They are experts in many crafts such as weaving in wools and cotton, leather work, wood carving and embroidery.
The Ahir are descendants of Lord Krishna and there are thought to be about 18 million Ahirs in India. About 30,000 are in the Kutch region, there are many sub-groups within the Ahirs. Originally in Kutch most were farmers but have diversified into other areas such as transportation and salt making due to regular droughts.
This
lady is from an Ahir tribe.
The Rabari are a predominately nomadic group, though there origin is not clear some believe that the came to India from Afghanistan. The women will generally wear black wool as this is otherwise wasted cloth. The outfits will vary between different sub-castes. The men all wear white. The women also have many tattoos.
This
is a Rabari lady with her grandson. You can see many small tattoos on her
arm and below her throat.
Photo:Corinne
This
is an example of some of her embroidery work.
Photo:Corinne