1 MATRIMONIAL ALLIANCES AMONG GUJJARS OF JAMMU & KASHMIR *Prof. (Dr) Rafique Anjum Chair Professor Tribal Studies, BGSB University Rajouri-JK (India) TRIBALS OF JAMMU & KASHMIR, AN INTRODUCTION Tribe: The Term ‘Tribe’ has been defined differently by anthropologists, sociologists and political theorists with no consensus or standardisation. The term Aboriginal commonly used in Africa, and Western world denotes original population of a geographic area before European settlements. In India it is translated as Adivasi or the people who inhabited India before the Dravidians and Aryans. In some cases, tribes have legal recognition and some degree of political autonomy from national or federal governments but most have suffered decline and loss of cultural identity. Generally, a Tribe is a social group, that comprises of original occupants of their lands/geographical areas and exhibiting ‘Common Culture’ (such as, common ancestry religion, dress, means of livelihood/ occupation, lifestyle, language etc. living under a tribal system. The global population of Tribal communities is estimated to be 250-600 millions, the huge difference in estimate being attributed to difference in definition and classification. India has 104 million indigenous people (8.6 percent of the population) concentrated in North-East states and Eastern Coast extending from Bengal to Puducherry with a fairly large chunk of tribals inhabiting Central Indian States. India adopted a republican constitution in 1950, that includes list of tribals included in Schedule 5 of the constitution, hence termed 'Scheduled Tribes', often abbreviated to ST. GUJJARS & BAKARWALS Jammu & Kashmir has considerable share of tribals constituting about 12% of total population in 2011. In J&K the 12 communities declared Scheduled tribes include: 1. Balti, 2. Beda, 3. Bot, Bota, 4. Brokpa, Drokpa, Dard, Shin, 5. Changpa, Garran, 6. Mon, 8. Purigpa, 9. Gujjar, 10. Bakerwal, 11. Gaddi and 12. Sippi. Among these, the Gujjars and Bakarwals form the largest group accounting for nearly three quarters of the total tribal population(10.94/14.93 lacs), with variable distribution in almost all the Districts of Jammu & Kashmir. Nevertheless, Pir-Panchal region remains the central province of Tribal Gujjars as regards the chunk of population or originality of language & culture. In the recent years, although serious and sincere attempts have been made at Government level to analyse and mitigate the problems being faced by tribals in Jammu & Kashmir, the field of academic research on sociological aspects of tribal life remains virgin. The present write-up is an attempt in this direction, that will remain incomplete without feedback of readers and experts. MATRIMONIAL ALLIANCES AMONG GUJJARS & BAKARWALS OF J&K Introduction: The Gujjar & Bakarwals, although concentrated in Jammu & Kashmir have a wider distribution in sub- Himalayan belt including larger geographical areas extending from Indian states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, UP, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. Transcending the political boundaries Gujjars and Bakarwals form identifiable social groups in Northern Pakistan and parts of Afghanistan too. Interestingly there are similarities in their language, culture and lifestyle among them, despite spatial variance. As such the social practices of Gujjars & Bakarwals are similar in their social groups across sub- Himalyan range.