Accepted Panels

The Raikas of Western Rajasthan historically have not been living in isolation in spite of their vulnerability. They have been participating in the rural economy and have been part of the political establishment by supplying camels to the royalty in the Medieval times. Thus, this paper connects the ethnographical note with the historical processes of Western Rajasthan. The political compulsions of settlement signify struggle that cannot merely be understood by placing settlement and mobility in bipolar opposition. Mobility formed the core livelihood practice of the semi- arid/ arid region of Western Rajasthan as its fragile ecology demanded a constant circulation of people and resources. The pastoralist group of Raikas moved across the region carrying out their occupational roles, which made them an important part of the social structure. the study considers the oral epic traditions to look into the ‘historical perspective’ to study the group of traditional camel herders. With intensification of agriculture in semi-arid areas, the nomadic groups with the absence of proprietary rights Raikas are often left with no option but to increase their nomadic pastoral cycles in pursuit of pasture and follow migratory pattern. An attempt has been made to understand this mobility through the lens of natural setting as an adaptability that the group deploy to accommodate the unpredictability of the environmental variation. As cattle and pasture continues to be the primary attributes, the paper further tries to accommodate the study of pastoral migration as survival strategy and attempts to identify other possible dynamics of migration and tries to find out the subsequent social conflicts between the settlers and the migratory movements of the Raikas and their herds.