A Comparative Analysis of the Scheduled Tribes in J&K:A Case Study of Gujjars in Rajouri & Poonch Districts of Jammu Division

The spatial distribution of ethnic groups and tribal population is an interesting area in which the social and cultural geographers are increasingly probing. Studies associated the ethnic minorities inhabiting the vast forest lands have been the focal theme in the studies of Cultural Geography. Many of these groups exhibit typical traits like hunting, gathering and transhumance in particular for survival. The Gujjars in J&K forms an ethnic minority, inhabiting large tracts in mountainous Jammu division. This social group is identified with seasonal migration from higher pasture lands towards lower plains during winter season and from plain valleys towards the high altitude grazing pastures during summers. A substantial time period in a year is consumed in journey. Being a nomadic tribe, Gujjars have remained alien to the currents of modernism, development and are still identified with backwardness. In this back drop, it becomes imperative to study the demographic attributes of this tribe and a comparative analysis of these attributes among the tribe occupying different administrative units, but having similar environmental milieu. The districts of Rajouri and Poonch are largely inhabited by Gujjars and Bakerwals, who inherit an agrarian economy and tradition bound society, where winds of modernity has not penetrated yet, thus have been selected as units of the study. The society of Gujjars in J&K possesses a unique character of seasonal transhumance, which has resulted in their backwardness. Due to this reason, study of their demographic attributes assumes significance. During the study it has been assessed that though Gujjars belongs to a backward society on the whole, but marked variation in the demographic attributes have been observed spatially. Further, successive progress has been noticed in demographic attributes like growth, literacy, sex ratio, dependency ratio and occupational structure.