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Van Gujjar people
وان گجر
Van Gujjar child from Uttarakhand
Total population
1,50,000 (see below)
Regions with significant populations
India Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Western Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand70,000[1][2][3][4]
Punjab, Haryana, West U.P80,000[5]
Languages
Van Gujjari, Pahadi, Urdu,[6] Hindi[6]
Religion
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Gaddis • Bakarwal • Bhoksa people • Bhotiyas

The Van Gujjars ("forest Gurjars") are a Van Gujjari-speaking nomadic ethnic group and a sub-tribe of the larger Muslim Gujjar community.[7][8][9][10] They are traditionally herders and primarily reside in the Shivalik Hills region of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Western Uttar Pradesh.[11] Following Islam, they are a pastoral semi-nomadic community known for practicing transhumance.[12] Van Gujjars started adopting Islam between the 13th and 14th centuries, with Sufi teachings playing a significant role in their conversion.[10] The Van Gujjars of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh have strong ties with the Muslim Gujjars of Himachal Pradesh, with intermarriages being common, but they have not maintained relations with Hindu Gujjars of North India.[13]: 108 [14][15]

Historically, they were referred to as Jammuwallahs, or Dudh Gujjars by others, but they simply identified themselves as Gujjars.[10]

The Shivalik Hills Forest Division has been a seasonal habitat for the Van Gujjars since the late 1920s. Traditionally, they'd migrate with their livestock, spending winter in Shivalik Hills and summer in the meadows of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Currently about 4,000 Van Gujjar families reside in Shivalik hills forest area.[16]

Van Gujjars are known to be lactovegetarians due to sole dependence on animal-herding and milk delivery as a livelihood opportunity.[17][18]

Etymology and origin

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Etymology

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The term Van Gujjar, is a combination of two Van Gujjari words "van" and "Gujjar", translating to "forest-dwelling" "Gujjars". The community added the prefix "van" in the 1980s to distinguish itself from other Gujjars, particularly the Hindu Gujjars of north western India, historically, the Van Gujjars were referred to by various names, including Jammuwallahs and Dudh Gujjars, while within their own community, they simply identified as Gujjars.[10]

Origin

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The Van Gujjars are believed to have originally migrated from the Kashmir region, passing through Sirmaur before settling in the Bhabar tracts of the Shivalik Hills approximately 1,500 years ago.[19] Traditionally forest-dwelling pastoralists, they adopted the prefix "Van"—meaning "forest"—to distinguish themselves from other Gujjar communities. However, many who have recently settled in villages have since dropped the "Van" and now refer to themselves simply as "Gujjars."[20][21]

Demographics

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The Van Gujjars are a forest-dwelling, pastoral Muslim community primarily residing in the Himalayan foothills of northern India.

They are traditionally found around the Himalayan states such as Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh,[11] which both border the Chinese state of Tibet.

Uttarakhand

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In Uttarakhand, Van Gujjars are primarily found in the southern districts, particularly Nainital and Dehradun. They traditionally migrate with their buffalo herds through forested regions and have longstanding seasonal routes between winter and summer pastures within the state.[22]

Himachal Pradesh

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In Himachal Pradesh, Van Gujjars are predominantly located in the southern and northern districts. Key areas of settlement include Kangra, Bilaspur, Sirmour, Shimla, and Chamba. Their presence in the state is characterised by transhumant pastoralism and a deep dependence on forest resources for livelihood and cultural practices.[23]

Religion

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The Van Gujjars are completely Muslim and adhere to the Sunni sect of Islam, similar to other Muslim Gujjar communities such as the Bakarwals.[24][25]

It is believed they converted to Islam through Sufism in the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries during the Turkish rule in India.[19]

Clans

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They share similar clans with Gujjars, Muslim Gujjars and Bakarwals. Some of their notable clans include.[26]

Culture and traditions

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Taukeer Alam sharing the Van Gujjar wedding rituals and clothings in Van Gujjari

Van Gujjars adhere to Islamic law, which doesn't restrict family planning. But, their nomadic lifestyle, dependence on herding, and women's physical demands likely contribute to limited birth rates. Divorce is rare among Van Gujjars families. They use local Panchayat system to resolve disputes and marital issues.[27]

Both men and women are deeply invested in their animals, which play a significant role in determining relationships.[27] Men of the Van Gujjar community wear a traditional embroidery cap called "Topi" in cultural events and rituals.[28]

Like Hindu Gujjars, they also neither slaughter nor sell their buffaloes for meat.[29]

The Van Gujjar community specializes in rearing a unique, indigenous breed of wild buffalos, designated as "Gojri" or "Gujari".[30][31]

Van Gujjar community's fundamental social unit is the family, typically comprising a father and his son, along with their buffaloes. These families often cluster together in settlements, forming kinship-based groups that share a common ancestry. Since the British Raj, annual grazing permits have been issued to family or clan leaders, delineating specific are made by compartments for each group's use. Main decisions regarding these compartments and migration patterns are made by the family head, ensuring effective management of resources.[30]

Population

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The Van Gujjar community's population figures have not been documented in any Indian census reports yet.[19] According to CFM (City Forest Management plan) for Dehradun, the Van Gujjar population in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand, was around 3,072 in 1931, growing to approximately 5,500 by 1991.[32]

As per recent estimates the population of the van Gujjar in Uttarkhand state is reached to seventy thousands.[1]

Social status

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The Social status of the Van Gujjars varies by location; In Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir they are classified as Scheduled Tribes (ST) and as Other Backwards classes (OBC) in Uttarakhand.[6][33][6]

Also in Uttar Pradesh's region of Western Uttar Pradesh they are classified under OBC category.[30]

Though the Indian Forest Rights Act of 2006 grants them forest land rights for being "traditional forest dwellers", they experience conflicts with the local state forest authorities that prohibit human and livestock populations inside reserved parks.[29][34]

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  • A Muslim Van Gujjar family
    A Muslim Van Gujjar family
  • A Van Gujjar family from Uttarakhand
    A Van Gujjar family from Uttarakhand
  • Three Van Gujjar girls​​‌
    Three Van Gujjar girls
  • An old Van Gujjar man​​‌
    An old Van Gujjar man
  • Van Gujjar woman with her children
    Van Gujjar woman with her children
  • A young Van Gujjar man sitting on floor
    A young Van Gujjar man sitting on floor
  • A typical Van Gujjar house
    A typical Van Gujjar house
  • Van Gujjar house in at night
    Van Gujjar house in at night

References

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  1. ^ a b "In Uttarakhand, Van Gujjars Battle Decades of Silencing as State Pushes Them to the Brink". The Wire. Retrieved 16 September 2025.
  2. ^ Bhalla, Vineet (18 April 2024). "Ground report: Why this Muslim nomadic tribe in Uttarakhand has little to gain from elections". Scroll.in. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  3. ^ Hamilton-Jones, Phoebe; Gabrys, Jennifer; Westerlaken, Michelle (2024). COMMUNITY-LED FOREST TECHNOLOGIES: A SMART FORESTS INTERIM REPORT. UK: University of Cambridge. p. 44. The Van Gujjars, who identify as Indigenous to South Asia, follow Islam and practice transhumance and semi-nomadic activities in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. Within Uttarakhand, where this case study is located, about 70,000 Van Gujjars are spread out across various constituencies in forested landscapes.
  4. ^ Kumar, Satyam (24 December 2022). "The forest is calling, but Van Gujjars cannot return". daijiworld.com. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  5. ^ Benanav, Michael (22 July 2015). Himalaya Bound: An American's Journey with Nomads in North India. HarperCollins Publishers India. p. 13. ISBN 978-93-5177-091-6. Already, over the previous six decades, many Van Gujjar clans had been driven out of the jungles by government policies; today perhaps 80,000 of them live settled in villages in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, with little connection to their ancestral ways.
  6. ^ a b c d Adamson, Michael (Mukund) Dean (4 June 2024). "Culture, Environment & Education: Learnings from my Time in the Van Gujjar Basti". AIF. Retrieved 16 September 2025.
  7. ^ Karlsson, Bengt T.; Subba, T. B. (28 October 2013). Indigeneity In India. Routledge. p. 105. ISBN 978-1-136-21922-1. At that time the Van Gujjars were still (at least) officially just part of a large fuzzy, ethnic group of Muslim Gujjars.
  8. ^ Madsen, Stig Toft (16 December 2013). State, Society and the Environment in South Asia. Routledge. pp. 78–103. ISBN 978-1-136-79785-9.
  9. ^ Karlsson, B. G. (19 November 2013). Contested Belonging: An Indigenous People's Struggle for Forest and Identity in Sub-Himalayan Bengal. Routledge. pp. 141–295. ISBN 978-1-136-82753-2.
  10. ^ a b c d Srivastava, Raghav (24 October 2022). "The making of pastoralisms: An account of the Gaddis and Van Gujjars in the Indian Himalaya". Pastoralism. 12 (1) 42. Bibcode:2022Pasto..12...42S. doi:10.1186/s13570-022-00259-z. ISSN 2041-7136. PMC 9590384. PMID 36311345.
  11. ^ a b Gujjar, Rahim Bhatti (1 January 2025). "The Gujjar People: An Ethnohistorical and Linguistic Survey with a Focus on Central Asian Origins and Gojri's Hindko Affinities". Independent.
  12. ^ Radhakrishna Rao (4 September 2000). "Outside the jungle book". The Hindu Business Line. Archived from the original on 28 May 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2007.
  13. ^ Rawat, Ajay Singh (1993). Man and Forests: The Khatta and Gujjar Settlements of Sub-Himalayan Tarai. Indus Publishing. ISBN 978-81-85182-97-1.
  14. ^ Sitaram, Kasana (October 2020). "Sustainable Livelihood and Resilience of the Van Gujjars" (PDF). International Journal of Rural Development, Environment and Health Research (IJREH). 04 (5): 213. doi:10.22161/ijreh.4.5.6 (inactive 30 September 2025). ISSN 2456-8678. The Van Gujjars of Uttarakhand closely related to the Muslim Gujjars of H.P. (Himachal Pradesh) whom they met during the summer migration. The Gujjars of H.P. are like family to them, and the two groups have been known to intermarry.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of September 2025 (link)
  15. ^ Pierre-Alexandre, Paquet (28 March 2018). Jungle Government: Forestry, state-making and development for the Van Gujjar pastoralists of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, India. Canada: Department of Anthropology McGill University Montreal, Quebec, Canada. p. 11. The Van Gujjars of U.P (Uttar Pradesh) closely related to the Muslim Gujjars of H.P. (Himachal Pradesh) whom they met during the summer migration.The Gujjars of H.P. are like family to them, and the two groups have been known to intermarry.
  16. ^ maniyar, zahid (17 April 2021). "Bullets and bureaucracy: Van Gujjars of Shivalik hills are caught in the crosshairs". CJP. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
  17. ^ Tandon, Aditi (28 May 2021). "Van Gujjars: People of the forest or nowhere?". Mongabay-India. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  18. ^ Rahi, Dr Javaid (1 January 2018). "The GUJJARS Vol -04 History and Culture of Gujjar Tribe : Ed. Dr. Javaid Rahi". The Gujjars Vol 04.
  19. ^ a b c Srivastava, Raghav (2022). "The making of pastoralisms: An account of the Gaddis and Van Gujjars in the Indian Himalaya". Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice. 12 (1) 42. Bibcode:2022Pasto..12...42S. doi:10.1186/s13570-022-00259-z. ISSN 2041-7136. PMC 9590384. PMID 36311345.
  20. ^ Srivastava, Raghav (24 October 2022). "The making of pastoralisms: An account of the Gaddis and Van Gujjars in the Indian Himalaya". Pastoralism. 12 (1) 42. Bibcode:2022Pasto..12...42S. doi:10.1186/s13570-022-00259-z. ISSN 2041-7136. PMC 9590384. PMID 36311345.
  21. ^ Lapinski, Valerie (7 October 2009). "Showcase: Traveling With the Van Gujjar Tribe". Lens Blog. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  22. ^ Seshia, Shaila (2005). Traditional Wisdom in Natural Resource Management: The Only Way to Conserve. Rural Litigation & Entitlement Kendra. p. 13.
  23. ^ Pathways: In Search of Exemplary Practices on Environment and Sustainable Development in Asia. Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement for the International Conference of Asian Foundations and Organizations. 2000. p. 37. ISBN 978-971-8817-18-6.
  24. ^ Rana, J. P. Singh (1998). Marriage and Customs of Tribes of India. M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. p. 88. ISBN 978-81-7533-087-0. Van Gujjars are Sunni Muslims, as might be expected from their origins.
  25. ^ Seshia, Shaila (2005). Traditional Wisdom in Natural Resource Management: The Only Way to Conserve. Rural Litigation & Entitlement Kendra. p. 38.
  26. ^ a b c d Pathways: In Search of Exemplary Practices on Environment and Sustainable Development in Asia. Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement for the International Conference of Asian Foundations and Organizations. 2000. p. 37. ISBN 978-971-8817-18-6. Van Gujjars have many clans such as the Kushan (Kasana), Chechi, and Lodha.
  27. ^ a b Rana, J. P. Singh (1998). Marriage and Customs of Tribes of India. M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. p. 91. ISBN 978-81-7533-087-0.
  28. ^ Karlsson, Bengt T.; Subba, T. B. (28 October 2013). Indigeneity In India. Routledge. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-136-21922-1. One detail that is interesting for identity formation was the symbolic importance of the embroidered cap, topi, traditionally used by Van Gujjar men.
  29. ^ a b Michael Benanav (2018). Himalaya Bound: One Family's Quest to Save Their Animals - and an Ancient Way of Life. Pegasus Books.
  30. ^ a b c "Traditional Governance Systems of the Van Gujjars in Uttarakhand (India)". Radical Ecological Democracy. 9 July 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2025.
  31. ^ Usmani, Sharjeel. "Van Gujjars Trapped In A Cycle Of Debt And Dependence". Retrieved 16 September 2025.
  32. ^ Society, Bombay Natural History (1999). The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. Bombay Natural History Society. p. 129. The CFM plan seeks to circumvent the trauma of forcefull eviction that the Van Gujjars otherwise face. The book highlights the population trends in the area and points out that the Van Gujjars have been unjustifiably accused of breeding like rabbits. The Van Gujjar population has shown a marginal increase from approximately 3072 in 1931 to about 5500 at present, while the population of Dehradun district has multiplied roughly four times between 1941 and 1991.
  33. ^ "Van Gujjars help conserve forests, but are deprived of rights | Climate-Diplomacy". climate-diplomacy.org. 20 March 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  34. ^ Michael Benanav (31 July 2009). "Is there room for India's nomads?". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 8 November 2020.

Bibliography

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