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Herding on High Grounds: Diversity and Typology of Pastoral Systems in the

Eastern Hindukush (Chitral, Northwest Pakistan)

Chapter · March 2012

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-3846-1_2

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Chapter 2
Herding on High Grounds: Diversity
and Typology of Pastoral Systems in the Eastern
Hindukush (Chitral, Northwest Pakistan)

Marcus Nüsser, Arnd Holdschlag, and Fazlur-Rahman

Abstract This chapter analyses pastoral migration patterns as strategies for utilising
the grazing resources at the marginal belts of human habitation in Chitral, an area
located in the eastern Hindukush of northern Pakistan. Beyond the common features
of combined mountain agriculture, pastoral utilisation strategies vary between dif-
ferent tributary valleys in the region. Based on six case studies from northern, eastern
and southern Chitral, similarities and differences between pastoral resource utilisa-
tion are presented and analysed here. Although the influence of heterogeneous envi-
ronmental settings needs to be considered, differences in resource utilisation mainly
stem from distinct settlement processes and territorial rights of access and utilisation,
which in turn evolved from ethnic and social segregation between two dominant
actor groups: the Kho mountain farmers and formerly nomadic Gujur. Hence, a bet-
ter understanding of the complexity, diversity and dynamics involved in pastoral
management systems must be based on a historically informed study of these spatial
and social patterns.

Keywords Human ecology • Pastoralism • Diversity • Chitral • Pakistan

M. Nüsser (*)
Department of Geography, South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg,
Im Neuenheimer Feld 330, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]
A. Holdschlag
Institute of Geography, Hamburg University, Bundesstr. 55 (Geomatikum),
D-20146 Hamburg, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]
Fazlur-Rahman
Department of Geography, Urban & Regional Planning, University of Peshawar,
Peshawar, Pakistan
e-mail: [email protected]

H. Kreutzmann (ed.), Pastoral practices in High Asia, Advances in Asian 31

Human-Environmental Research, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-3846-1_2,
© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012
32 M. Nüsser et al.

2.1 Introduction

Pastoral migration patterns in high mountain regions have predominantly been

analysed as local adaptation strategies within specific socio-economic conditions
and natural resource potentials. The spheres of environmental, especially biological
resources, grazing management practices and subsequent land use/land cover
change together constitute a complex and dynamic human-environmental setting
(Nüsser 1998, 2003). A better understanding of the interactions between these
various spheres is calling for an integration of the diverse perspectives of both
natural and social sciences that emphasises the recognition of plural explanations
(Forsyth 1998).
A deeper knowledge of pastoral land use dynamics and the concomitant changes
in both production patterns and livelihood strategies strongly depend on the integra-
tion of the territoriality of land tenure (spatial dimension), historical developments
(temporal dimension) and external influences (power relations). Especially in the
context of communal property systems and community-based institutions (cf.
Ostrom et al. 1999), the interaction of local knowledge and norms, formal and
informal regulations and external development interventions all must be taken into
consideration (Ives 2004; Kreutzmann 2004a).
This chapter analyses pastoral mobility patterns in different tributary valleys of
Chitral in northern Pakistan. Much like in other parts of the Hindukush, Karakoram
and Western Himalayas, animal husbandry in this mountain region generally takes
place within a context of combined mountain agriculture (Ehlers and Kreutzmann
2000), relying on irrigated crop cultivation and mobile livestock-holding across dif-
ferent altitudinal belts. Despite this general pattern, livelihood strategies in the indi-
vidual valleys of Chitral vary amongst themselves (Holdschlag 2011). Based on six
case studies, this chapter draws attention to aspects of spatial access rights and ter-
ritoriality, mobility patterns, herding arrangements and specific pasture-ecological
settings. A similar comparative approach has been established for the Nanga Parbat
area (Clemens and Nüsser 2008). In order to cover the diversity and dynamics of
pastoral systems in Chitral, we present a typology according to historical and socio-
political constellations and development paths rooted in factors of ethnic and social
segregation of local and regional actors. Based on the comparative and classifica-
tory assessment, we aim to identify specific forces that have shaped the evolution of
pastoral systems. Against this background, we argue that it is fruitful to analyse
various cases according to the bipolarity of persistence and change in order to better
understand the impact of external (non-place-based) interventions and specific local
(place-based) response.
Research has been carried out through socio-economic surveys drawing on quan-
titative and extensive qualitative interviews covering local household economies
and livelihood strategies in a historical dimension. Empirical data collection has
been organised from 1997 until 2006.
2 Herding on High Grounds: Diversity and Typology of Pastoral Systems… 33

2.2 Regional Contextuality of Animal Husbandry

2.2.1 Environmental Settings

Chitral (ca. 35–37°N, 71–74°E) constitutes the northernmost district of Pakistan’s

province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (until 2010 known as the North-West Frontier
Province), bordering the Afghan provinces Kunar and Badakhshan to the west and
north (Fig. 2.1). The valley floors reveal arid conditions, and the vegetation is char-
acterised by open dwarf-scrub communities and sharply delimited forests and
shrublands along tributary streams and irrigation channels. Whereas montane conif-
erous forests (Cedrus deodara, Pinus wallichiana, Picea smithiana, Abies pindrow)
can only be found in southern Chitral, the inner valleys of northern Chitral are sub-
stantially treeless (Nüsser and Dickoré 2002).
The altitudinal distribution of cultivated areas ranges from the colline to the
lower montane belt. Generally, the production of wheat (Triticum durum, T. aestivum
up to approximately 3,300 m), maize (Zea mays up to 2,900 m), barley (Hordeum
vulgare up to 3,500 m) and rice (Oryza sativa up to 2,300 m) depends on the avail-
ability of glacial and snowmelt water for irrigation (Israr-ud-Din 1996). The general
development of cultivated areas in Chitral is characterised by an extension of irri-
gated areas and an increasing number of fruit and fodder trees in the village envi-
rons (Nüsser 2001). Double cropping is possible with an upper limit at approximately
2,500 m. Crop residues, hay, planted fodder trees (Salix spp., Populus spp.) along
the new water channels and hygrophilous bushes (Hippophae rhamnoides, Rosa
webbiana) form the major source for the livestock’s winter supplies within the
cultivated areas, supplemented by the cultivation of lucerne (Medicago sativa, M. X
varia). The fodder situation for stall-feeding during the long winter season is gener-
ally more severe in the single-cropping areas of the upper tributaries (Haserodt 1989).
On the other hand, the economic importance of animal husbandry is more pronounced
in the single-cropping areas. Consequently, the poor condition of all animals in early
spring is symptomatic of important nutrition problems and is responsible for diseases
and low productivity. Herd size and composition generally varies with local fodder
potentials, which in turn depend on the biological productivity of accessible pasture
land, cultivation of fodder plants and cropping patterns. Cows, for example, need
more feed throughout the year than oxen, as the latter are mostly sent to the alpine
pastures for free grazing in summer. Goats are predominantly kept in those areas of
southern Chitral where evergreen oak woodlands (Quercus baloot) are found, pro-
viding a broad basis for lopping and winter grazing.
The multifunctionality of biological resources in the pastoral economy is not
limited to the aspect of fodder. Especially in the vicinity of seasonally inhabited
pastoral settlements at higher elevations, thorn cushions (Acantholimon, Astragalus)
and other dwarf-scrubs (Artemisia, Ephedra gerardiana) are utilised for fuel and
thatched roofs. Insufficient fuel wood is often the reason for the abandonment of
pasture settlements in favour of the utilisation of higher alpine grazing grounds
(ghari).
34 M. Nüsser et al.

Fig. 2.1 Map of Chitral, eastern Hindukush, northwest Pakistan

2 Herding on High Grounds: Diversity and Typology of Pastoral Systems… 35

2.2.2 Importance of Animal Husbandry for Livelihood Strategies

Animal husbandry has always been a critical economic activity in Chitral’s

combined mountain agriculture. During pre-colonial and colonial times, animal
husbandry was the only possible long-term investment for ensuring the security of
sustenance in such a harsh environment, one in which the local rulers exclusively
owned all the land and other resources. Furthermore, the productivity of and entitle-
ment to arable land was closely connected with livestock rearing, for example, the
annual sheep tax (thangi) on arable land was in practice for a long period of time in
the feudal state of Chitral (General Staff India 1928; Barth 1956; IUCN Pakistan
2004). According to historical sources, 800 sheep, 8 yaks, 20 horses and 400 bati
(ca. 1,000 kg) of ghee (clarified butter) were collected from Torkho tahsil, for example,
in one single year at the end of the nineteenth century (IOR/2/1077/235/11826/214–
213). Moreover, animals were the only source of draught power and manure in the
cultivated fields and the only available means of exchange and barter in the absence
of a monetary system.
Although other sources of non-agrarian income and investment have recently
become more attractive to the villagers, animal husbandry is still of crucial eco-
nomic importance for the mountain dwellers in Chitral. This becomes obvious if
one compares specific monetary values. A 4-year-old male yak, for example, costs
about 10,000 Pakistani Rupees (Rs) in the local market. In comparison, the total
earnings of a seasonal labourer hardly exceed 5,000 Rs for the whole winter season
(Fazlur-Rahman 2007, 140). A rural household usually keeps a variety of animals to
enrich the animal produce whilst optimising security against animal diseases. This
diversity in animal species is one of the mountain farmers’ basic strategies that
ensure their subsistence livelihood by utilising all available natural resources. A herd
may be composed of cattle, yaks, sheep and goats, donkeys and horses, as well as
poultry. Livestock provides food for the family, raw material for domestic handi-
crafts and manure for the fields and can serve as draught or pack animals. Meat,
eggs, milk and other dairy products still play an important role in the socio-economic
as well as in the cultural spheres of the inhabitants. Although these products are
imported into Chitral from the lowlands, they are not generally available in the mar-
kets of the remote villages. Instead, their availability is usually restricted to the
central places, where they command higher prices and are thus unaffordable for the
majority of villagers. Therefore, most of the households keep a few animals to
secure the availability of the aforementioned products. Animals also serve as an
investment for emergency situations and are an asset that can be easily liquidated
into cash at any time.
Apart from that, varying socio-cultural dimensions of animal husbandry can be
found. Animals are the main source of mutual exchange and reciprocity at the village
and neighbourhood levels and between in-laws. Since a large number of households
do not have enough animals to fulfil their own needs, villagers commonly practise
seasonal and temporary lending and borrowing of oxen, donkeys and threshing
teams, without any expectation of financial compensation. Although this trend is
36 M. Nüsser et al.

Table 2.1 Composition and changes of livestock in Chitral District (1972–2006)

Animal species 1972 [%] 1986 [%] 1996 [%] 2006 [%]
a
Cattle 71,580 14.03 100,083 12.18 173,262 13.38 174,842 15.45
Sheep 97,310 19.08 113,627 13.82 188,822 14.58 181,146 16.01
Goats 169,389 33.21 221,070 26.90 335,780 25.94 347,977 30.75
Otherb 2,469 0.48 4,383 0.53 6,760 0.52 3,910 0.35
Poultry 169,360 33.20 382,801 46.57 590,022 45.57 423,749 37.45
Sources: GoNWFP (1997, 201), GoP (1998, 1, 2006, 1), Beg (2011, 141), Khan and Khan (n.d., 32)
a
Includes yaks
b
Includes horses, asses, mules, buffalos and camels

changing with current socio-economic transformations, livestock still plays a major

role in maintaining relationships and exchange system throughout the region.
The main driving forces of the overall increase of livestock up until the end of the
last millennium (Table 2.1) can be linked to both a pattern of constant population
growth between 1951 and 1998 with an average annual growth rate of 2.5% (GoP
1999) and an increasing domestic need for animal products. The developments of
the last decade (1996–2006), however, seem to signal the termination of this trend.
Stocks of sheep, as well as of the traditional pack animals (horses, asses and mules),
are already on the decline. According to one sample survey (Aga Khan Rural
Support Programme 2000, 32), the average number of livestock is 4 head of cattle
and 12 sheep/goats per Chitral household. Comparative livestock figures are given
for the early 1960s based on a survey of 37 villages (Israr-ud-Din 1965, 148). He
assessed on average 4–5 cattle, 14 goats and 13 sheep per household.

2.2.3 Diverse Actors: Historical Politics

and Social Heterogeneity

In addition to the physical characteristics that determine the availability and produc-
tivity of a local community’s natural resources, political institutions usually define
the entitlement to and utilisation of pastoral resources. Access rights and ownership
systems are susceptible to modifications with related transformations in the political
organisation. Historically, the study area of Chitral was a mountain kingdom ruled
by a hereditary ruler (mehtar). It consisted furthermore of various districts con-
trolled by powerful hierarchical or conical clans (qaum). Social stratification was
based on administrative categories which were established for state military duties
of the elite on the one hand and the collection of revenues and corvée labour
services on the other hand (Eggert 1990; Parkes 2001). Therefore, the society could
be regarded as dichotomised, split into the rigid categories of ‘noble’ (adamzada)
and ‘ignoble’ (ghalamus) groups (Ghulam Murtaza 1962, 168–169). All lands
belonged at least nominally to the mehtar, and it was his prerogative to make grants
2 Herding on High Grounds: Diversity and Typology of Pastoral Systems… 37

to his relatives and influential clans at will. Local political regulations determined
the way in which pasture resources were distinctly utilised by different user groups
and social classes.
As a region affected by constant immigration, Chitral is characterised by diverse
ethno-linguistic settings dominated by the Kho, but comprising about 12 different
languages in all (Biddulph 1880; Strand 1997–2011; Kreutzmann 2005). Diversity
is also revealed through the existence of complex religious structures (Cacopardo
and Cacopardo 2001; Marsden 2005). During the feudal periods, the levy of taxes
on minority groups was a common source of state income, for example, to raise a
grazing tax (qalang) on Gujur nomads. These groups of Gujri-speakers, who were
probably formerly shepherds settled in the Doabs of Punjab, were pushed towards
the northern mountain belt in the course of large-scale expansion of irrigation proj-
ects since the middle of the nineteenth century onwards (Fautz 1963; Edelberg and
Jones 1979). Coming from Dir, Swat and Hazara Kohistan Gujur nomads migrated
to Chitral at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century
(Israr-ud-Din 1969, 55). According to Robertson (1896, 298) and contemporary
informants, it was a part of the mehtar’s policy to attract Gujur herdsmen in order to
secure experienced workforce for herding the large flocks of the local elite.
Gujri-speakers have established a livelihood based on combined mountain agri-
culture in the southern valleys of the region. Colonial sources described sedentary
Gujur families, commenting: ‘…and even in their cultivation, chiefly maize, their
first thought is for their animals’ (Lawrence 1908, 35). Herdsmen were especially
employed by the powerful landlords of lower Chitral, in particular by the family of
the ruling Katoor dynasty (Katoorey clan). In the 1920s, the British colonial admin-
istration, for example, documented a Gujur community living in Shishi Valley and
paying a tax of 60 maunds (ca. 2,240 kg) of ghee (purified butter) annually (General
Staff India 1928, 199). As one of the main suppliers, the Gujur also provided 400–
500 maunds (15–19 t) of ghee per annum to the regional bazaars of Chitral (town)
and Drosh (ibid., 50–51). With the passage of time, the Gujur shepherds have
extended their economic activities towards the north and west of Chitral.

2.3 Case Studies of Pastoral Systems

In order to display the diversity and dynamics of pastoral systems beyond common
features, the results from six empirical case studies are presented. The historically
informed analysis includes aspects of the economic and political power constella-
tions and development paths. Our six case studies are re-grouped into three distinct
types to make them more comparable. For this comparative approach, we have
developed a framework that encompasses such aspects as territorial and social fea-
tures of access to grazing grounds, herd size and animal composition, horizontal
and vertical migration patterns, herding arrangements and regional differences in
pasture and fodder resources (Table 2.2).
38 M. Nüsser et al.

Table 2.2 Principal components and specificities of pastoral land use systems in Chitral
Principal component Range (bipolarity)
Access rights and spatial territoriality Agreed – contested
Individual access – village commons
Herd size and animal composition Large – small
Homogeneous – heterogeneous
Horizontal and vertical mobility pattern Short distance – long distance
Stages of vertical utilisation Settlement pattern with cultivation – without
cultivation
Herding arrangements Internal – external
Fodder and pasture resources Rich/sufficient – degraded

2.3.1 Laspur and Khot: Communally Controlled Systems

of Combined Mountain Agriculture

The valleys of Laspur and Khot, with the village of Yakhdiz in particular, may serve
as examples of communally controlled pastoral systems in the context of mountain
agriculture. Laspur Valley (northeastern Chitral) is connected via the Shandur Pass
(3,720 m) with Gilgit-Baltistan, an important transport route to Gilgit, especially
since colonial times (cf. Lockhart and Woodthorpe 1889, 292–294; General Staff
India 1928, 289–291). Historically, adamzada had no principal influence in Laspur
(NDC 826), resulting in a comparatively egalitarian social structure.
The peripheral village of Yakhdiz is located on a northernly exposed slope of Khot
Valley (Torkho) and comprises a population of about 500 people of 11 clans in 57 house-
holds. The average holdings of livestock are three head of cattle, nine sheep and six
goats per household (for 1999, based on full survey n = 57). In addition, four households
keep a total of 15 yaks. The possession of animals reflects a relatively balanced socio-
economic segmentation of this community resulting from the relatively low influence of
ancient local rulers. Yakhdiz predominantly consists of former lower-class clans.
Both example communities have de facto communal pasturage rights to use the
nearby valley slopes (mal/pai rochini) and the high pastures (ghari) of adjacent tribu-
taries. These pastoral mobility patterns cover various altitudinal belts in a seasonally
differentiated cycle. As a common adaptive practice and risk-mitigation strategy,
numerous families have arable land and houses in vertically dispersed locations and
move their entire households between winter and summer settlements. In Laspur, for
example, only 10 of the 40 households reside in village Phargam (3,120 m) for the
entire year, whereas the majority of households spend the winter months in the lower-
lying permanent settlements of Rahman or Harchin. The migration distances between
permanent and seasonal settlements are comparatively short in both cases examined,
enabling a daily movement and, therefore, an effective coordination of labour neces-
sities at all localities. The altitudinal distances between the homesteads of Sor Laspur,
the summer field settlement Shapir Mali and the summer pasture settlement Laspur
Ghari as well as between Yakhdiz and the seasonal settlements of the affiliated
summer pasture Wozg reach approximately 600 m.
2 Herding on High Grounds: Diversity and Typology of Pastoral Systems… 39

In the annual cycle of pastoralism, the villagers’ flocks of cattle, sheep and goats
are kept in stalls attached to the permanent farmsteads in the time period from
January to March. Yaks are allowed to graze freely depending on weather condi-
tions. In spring, the animals begin their grazing cycle on pastures in close proximity
to the settlements. In the village of Yakhdiz, the yaks are sent to a commonly shared
summer pasture at the end of Khot valley in late March. By the end of April, cattle,
sheep and goats begin their movement to separate grazing grounds. Cattle, with the
exception of young and lactating animals, are brought up twice a day to the irrigated
parcelled grasslands, indigenously termed adrakh, which stretches from about
2,870 m upwards.
In contrast to this manner of family-based animal care, the labour-intensive
herding of sheep and goats is managed communally in Yakhdiz. This system is
based on usufructuary communal grazing rights which are valid for all lands above
the highest irrigation channel. Following the receding snow line, the village’s
entire population of sheep and goats are driven to the surrounding Artemisia brev-
ifolia steppes for daily grazing. The tending is organised by individual households
on a rotational basis. This system, locally called sotsiri, is practised until the
beginning of the winter snowfalls, with the exception of two summer months
when the flock grazes on the alpine pasture. Similar sotsiri systems also predi-
cated on communally arranged turns exist throughout the whole Laspur Valley, all
based on either kinship or neighbourhood. Such rota systems are an effective
strategy for reducing pressure on household labour resources. These regulations
of shared responsibility are considered as crucial components of a sustainable
management system (Masoodul Mulk 1991, 45).
During the summer months, livestock is sent to the highest available grazing
grounds. The Laspur people drive their flocks to the pastures of Phargam Valley
where young livestock is concentrated. In the upper section of this side valley, the
remains of a former pasture settlement, abandoned due to the lack of fuel wood, can
be found, indicating a more intensive pastoral utilisation of this valley in the past.
Nonetheless, fire wood for the summer settlements is still collected. The majority of
animals in Laspur Valley are driven to the wide and flat pastures of Shandur Pass,
where permanent villages hold pasture settlements individually and daily herding is
organised by local shepherds. The pasturage rights exceed the mountain pass further
to the east. The summer huts set up by people from the Laspur Valley in the Shandur
Region negate the claim of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. According to local sources,
the number of huts there has risen from 344 in 1959 to 479 in 2007 (Inayatullah
Faizi, www.chitralnews.com/LN923.htm). About 5,000 and 6,000 sheep and goats
as well as 1,500 bovines are sent for grazing at Shandur Pass between July and
September. In the remaining seasons, only the free pasturing of yaks, crossbreeds,
cattle and donkeys is practised. The productive pasture vegetation at Shandur Pass
consists of herb-rich steppe meadows and dwarf-scrub steppes indicating intense
grazing pressure.
In Yakhdiz, grazing on high grounds is carried out during July and August.
Formerly, each clan could use distinct pasture areas with fixed boundaries in three
different locations. Today, only the pasture of Wozg is utilised on a community basis.
40 M. Nüsser et al.

The grazing area spreads 600 m along the mountain flanks between the two pasture
settlements Dok-a-Shal and Touq-a-Shal (3,470 m) and the ridge (4,070 m) towards
the neighbouring Mehlp Valley. These two boundaries as well as those towards west
and east mark a traditionally fixed, uncontested territory.
In an annual rotational cycle, it is the responsibility of 1 of the 11 hamlets’ resi-
dents to send or recruit shepherds for the whole village community’s flock of sheep
and goats. According to local rules, these villagers are subject to a fine of 7,000–
8,000 Rs if they fail to do so. Cattle are sent uphill according to individual arrange-
ments. In recent times, the duty of the ghari management has been delegated to two
families. Following traditional regulations, two groups of users, utilising Dok-a-
Shal and Touq-a-Shal separately, are formed, and all livestock is distributed on a
hamlet-to-hamlet basis. Livestock holders and the number of animals are recorded
in detail. In summer 1999, in Dok-a-Shal, 359 sheep and 203 goats of 33 households
of Yakhdiz and, additionally, of six households in neighbouring villages were kept.
In Touq-a-Shal, only 170 sheep and 172 goats of 22 households of Yakhdiz were
tended. According to the herdsmen, the total number of livestock grazing in Wozg
declined in the 1990s.
Historically, the lower segments of the society just as the Gujur in many places of
Chitral were forced to run the herding of the noble clans’ flocks on the higher grounds.
Nevertheless, these 2 months of work prove to be quite lucrative for the ‘Dok-a-Shal
family’: after returning from Wozg, it receives 4 kg of wheat flour per pair sheep or
goats (balach – traditional livestock unit; see also Fazlur-Rahman 2007, 150) tended,
20 kg of wheat flour per head of cattle tended, profits from the sale of dung and
the milk produced in the second month – all in return for its exertions. The shared
production of the first month is handed over to the livestock holders.
In summary, the cases of Laspur and Khot Valleys demonstrate that pastoral
systems of peripheral village communities are smoothly managed by means of
informal institutions. Common property systems including equal access and utilisa-
tion rights as well as share-tending arrangements contribute to the efficiency and
stability of the villages’ arrangements. Moreover, it can be seen that these systems
have been subject to various transformation processes within the last decades, for
example, the abandonment of pasture settlements or the change from a clan-managed
to a community-managed system of pastoralism. Though the size of herds and the
role of animal husbandry in the single household economy are on the decline, as, for
example, in Yakhdiz, the samples show that a majority of families still derive large-
scale benefit from domestic and common livestock production.

2.3.2 Tirich and Mehlp: Co-occurrence of Sedentary Mountain

Farmers and Gujur Herders

Tirich Valley drains the central part of the main Hindukush Range between Tirich
Mir (7,690 m) and Noshaq (7,455 m) towards the east. The valley is connected with
the main valley via the Zani Pass (3,840 m). The longitudinal cross section of the
2 Herding on High Grounds: Diversity and Typology of Pastoral Systems… 41

large tributary valley comprises semi-arid to arid steppes of the submontane and
montane belts. The high pastures around Zani Pass consist of thorn cushions on the
slopes and scattered individual plants on scree.
Extended irrigation systems sustain the relatively high importance of crop culti-
vation in this valley (Nüsser 1999). Whereas wheat is the main crop up to the high-
est permanently inhabited village Shagrom (2,900 m), barley dominates the fields in
the summer settlement Bandok (3,140 m). Depending on the snow melt, field prepa-
ration in Bandok is carried out during May and the harvest of barley ends in
September. Around the middle of August, irrigated meadows are cut, and hay trans-
ports to Shagrom are carried out. As only 8 km separate Shagrom and Bandok, all
necessary irrigation work can be coordinated and organised in both cultivated areas.
This example shows a remarkable continuity, a continuity reported in the same
manner by Schomberg (1936, 302, 304) and Haserodt (1989) and illustrated by a
bitemporal comparison (Photos 2.1 and 2.2).
The pastoral arrangements in Tirich Valley are characterised by coexistent utili-
sation patterns of sedentary Kho mountain farmers and individual Gujur groups
practising a more pronounced form of pastoral mobility. Whereas the Kho farmers
enjoy territorial privileges of access and resource utilisation based on traditional
village rights, single Gujur households are allowed to occupy small and limited
ecological niches in the vicinity of the Zani Pass left partly vacant for herders with-
out customary grazing rights. In order to obtain such seasonal access rights, the
Gujur commit to herding the indigenous Kho farmers’ sheep and goats on the high
pastures. As a means of compensation, they enjoy specific seasonal grazing rights
for their own flocks on selected high pastures.
This mutual arrangement between the Kho population and the Gujur constitutes
the main reason for the specific differentiation of pastoral mobility patterns in the
valley. As the summer grazing of small animals has largely been delegated to indi-
vidual Gujur groups, the Kho farmers are able to concentrate their economic activities
on irrigated crop cultivation and stall-feeding of lactating cows. This leads to a spa-
tial differentiation within the valley, as the longitudinal transect between Shagrom
and Bandok shows a distinct concentration of stall-feeding, eventually sustained by
additional grazing on the adjoining slopes. The mountain farmers of Shagrom drive
their lactating cows to the summer settlement Bandok between early August and
end of September. During the early summer months, utilisation of the upper valley
section is limited to daily grazing from the village Shagrom.
The non-lactating cattle are sent with relatives to the upper valley sections, where
the animals are left free to graze. The labour-intensive sheep and goats, which are
not herded by Gujur, are driven for daily grazing from Bandok, based on the afore-
mentioned rotational sharing between participating households (sotsiri).
In contrast, one can find small, seasonally inhabited grazing settlements such as
Margali Shal (3,440 m) and Kathgaz Shal (3,600 m) in the vicinity of the Zani Pass.
These settlements are used by individual Gujur households between May and the
end of September. In both grazing settlements, some Gujur stay with 40–60 of their
own sheep and goats and with pension animals from about 50 households of Tirich
Valley. Together they herd between 1,200 and 1,300 small stock with a preponderance
42 M. Nüsser et al.

Photo 2.1 The summer settlement of Bandok in the Tirich Valley in 1966 (Photograph © Klaus
Haserodt, July 12, 1966)

of goats, preferred for the production of ghee and cheese. The seasonal mobility
pattern of these Gujur groups is characterised by long-distance migrations between
their winter locations in the colline belt of southern Chitral and their summer
pastures near Zani Pass. As their winter pastures are located in the vicinity of the
small bazaar town Drosh, they migrate a distance of approximately 120 km along
the road.
A similar example of coexistent pastoral utilisation patterns of sedentary moun-
tain farmers and Gujur herders can be found in the Mehlp Valley, located between
the Khot-Shagram spur and the Torkho-Mastuj divide. The habitable place in the
valley stretches between 2,800 and 3,700 m, and the cultivated fields of the three
villages are part of the single-cropping zone of northern Chitral. The selected case
village Odier consists of 120 households belonging to six clan groups who use the
three summer settlements Romolasht (53 households), Nashtani (25 households)
and Lashtodok (4 households) located between 3,200 and 3,300 m. The total popu-
lation was 1,100 in the year 2001. Almost every household in Odier owns milk cows
and a few sheep. At present, only three households have yaks. According to the col-
lected data, there are 6.8 sheep, 3.7 goats, 1.9 milk cows and 3.6 cattle per house-
hold. It is important to keep in mind, however, that there is a wide disparity amongst
the households and clan groups. In reality, more than 60% of the total households
do not own goats, and 47% do not own a single bull. An important precondition for
keeping yaks is to own cultivated land in one of the summer settlements (Romolasht),
in order to provide winter fodder. The village’s yak herd was traditionally tended
2 Herding on High Grounds: Diversity and Typology of Pastoral Systems… 43

Photo 2.2 The summer settlement of Bandok in the Tirich Valley in 1997 (Photograph © Marcus
Nüsser, July 5, 1997)

there, and in the early 1980s, there were 26 yak-owning households in Odier, with a
total of 65 head of yaks.
The villagers’ right of livestock grazing and fodder collection is complex. They
have de facto right of grazing in 13 high pastures and fodder collection from only
five pastures in the village environs. Generally, the usage patterns vary accordingly
and lead to two different forms of organisation during the summer season. The vil-
lagers either send most of the sheep and goats to the high pastures for about
3–4 months, or else they keep the sheep and goats with them in the summer settle-
ments with cultivation, and take them to pasture on a daily basis. In Odier, the latter
pattern is practised, and more than 80% of the households change their residences
from the winter to the summer houses in altitudes ranging from 3,000 to 3,300 m.
Besides free grazing of the non-lactating animals and yaks in the high pastures,
turn-based daily grazing (sotsiri) is practised for sheep and goats from mid-June to
the end of September. For this purpose, households residing in nearby neighbour-
hoods of the village are grouped together to make a single grazing group, locally
known as roam. Throughout the entire outdoor grazing season, women keep the
lactating cows at home and feed them on irrigated grass patches in the vicinity of the
dwellings. Thus, during the summer season, livestock belonging to Odier village is
distributed over a wide range of elevations between 2,900 and 4,000 m.
Up until the recent past, the rotational grazing of sheep and goats was conducted
through reciprocal exchange of household labour (hoyou) and conventional helpers
44 M. Nüsser et al.

on request (yardoyee). All household members participated in pastoral management

and regularly contributed their share of work. Since the late 1980s, the increasing
numbers of households participating in the seasonal migration and children attend-
ing school have also stressed the availability of labour for keeping yak and goat
grazing in Odier. Consequently, the number of yak-owning household decreased
drastically from 26 to 2, and the number of households without goats increased
from 7 to 68. One goat-grazing group (roam) in the upper part of the village com-
pletely ceased. Since 1999, the villagers have changed the rotational grazing
arrangements for sheep and goats. They have employed two Gujur for sheep and
goat herding. On the occasion of collective seasonal movement, the households of
the two groups take their own Gujur with them to the upper part of the village and
summer settlement. Three small huts have been constructed for the Gujur as resi-
dences, one each in the lower and upper parts of the village and the summer settle-
ment. The households benefiting from the Gujur’s services are paying 40 Rs per
household per month, together with four bati (about 10 kg) of wheat flour during the
summer season. For the winter season, two bundles of firewood and four bundles of
grass or lucerne are added to the usual honorarium. Like in the Tirich Valley, the
Gujur are allowed to graze their herd on the village’s communal pastures and collect
firewood from the reserved pastures of the village. Both case studies illustrate the
various modes of change and the principle of co-occurrence of mountain farmers
and Gujur herders in combined systems.

2.3.3 Kesu, Shishi and Golen: Connected and Contested Pastoral

Systems of the Gujur

The last case studies presented here focus on the current pastoral system of Gujur
clans (goth) in southern Chitral. Their traditional activity space is Shishi Valley,
which stretches about 50 km towards the southwest of the main valley. In lower
Shishi, oak forests (Quercus baloot) reach from about 1,600 m up to 2,500 m, pro-
viding winter fodder resources especially for goats (Scheibe 1937, 127; Staley 1982,
180). The higher valley sections accommodate humid coniferous forests. In Shishi
Valley, several pastures are the de facto property of influential landlords of the for-
merly royal Katoorey clan living in Kesu Village located near the valley mouth, a
few kilometres north of Drosh. For this reason, we present a combined analysis of
both the highly differentiated pastoral practices in the village community and the
closely interconnected long-distance system maintained by Gujur herders.
Additionally, Kesu Village, a multilingual community composed of Khowar-,
Pashto- and Gujri-speakers as well as Afghan refugees (speakers of Pashto and
Persian), may serve as an example of the many local communities in southern Chitral
that have experienced a definite decline of the livestock economy in recent times.
About 30% of the households surveyed in Kesu (random sample n = 100) have
reduced or eliminated their flocks in the last one to two decades. Currently, the posses-
sion of sheep and goats is reduced to a few families and specialised livestock holders.
2 Herding on High Grounds: Diversity and Typology of Pastoral Systems… 45

Only 22 of 100 households keep sheep or goats, with a distinct preference for goats.
Amongst these, four households own comparatively large flocks of 120, 40, 30 and
20 animals, respectively, six households own between 2 and 9 animals, whereas 12
households keep one goat for milk production only. The majority of the sample
households keep one or two dairy cows.
In the annual migration cycle, all livestock is wintered in stalls at the permanent
settlement. Dairy goats and cows are grazed near the farmsteads the whole year and
are driven to the stubble fields immediately after the harvest. Larger flocks of goats
and non-lactating cattle are sent to the high pastures. The pastoral practice shows
diverse and dynamic systems and patterns at the local level that are highly depen-
dent on social parameters. Territorial dimensions of the grazing areas, access and
utilisation rights have changed over time. In the past, livestock owners from Kesu
had access rights to Angarba, Doumouk and Poshiden pastures in the Shishi Valley.
After disputes between several user groups, the grazing territories came under the
control of other communities.
At the present time, different local user groups can be identified. A household’s
pasturage right or system of exclusion reflects the traditional structure of local
power. Although all non-arable lands are the de jure property of the Government of
Pakistan, the powerful landowners continue to exercise authority over the pasture
areas beyond the irrigated inner fields. The various forest and other grazing areas
associated with the village are the de facto property of a few members of the
Katoorey clan. The utilisation arrangements of the pastoral land owned by the two
most influential landlords of Kesu will now be elaborated, demonstrating the pecu-
liarity and complexity of these systems.
In one case, a landlord has divided his forest into two parts. The western territory
can be utilised only by the Kho inhabitants of one specific area of the village
(Kesudeh). The area is further divided into single parts for each clan. The eastern
portion is only accessible to six Gujur families who tend both the landlord’s flocks
as well as their own herds. They are also the exclusive tenants of the landlord’s
ghari (Kesu Gol) where they have established permanent farmsteads. A spring
provides irrigation water for the cultivation of maize; the crop residues have a
favourable winter fodder value. Half of the cereal production as well as dairy
products and meat are delivered to the landlord as rent.
A second powerful Katoorey household has de facto ownership over several
forest and pasture areas at different places. The largest territories are located near
Madaglasht in Shishi Valley. There, about 15 Gujur households utilise certain forest
parts and the Andowir ghari at the valley end, an already overgrazed and flood-
prone pasture, between July and October. The landlord’s flock and their own herds
are grazed there. The Gujur shepherds pay a fluctuating amount of money in cash
and provide livestock products annually to the landlord. Moreover, members of
Afghan refugee families, who settled in Kesu after 1979, are often hired as
herdsmen.
Beyond these arrangements, different livestock owners from Kesu send their ani-
mals to further high pastures – usually between early June and late October. Access
and utilisation rights to Phoushkari ghari are traditionally restricted to Kho clans
46 M. Nüsser et al.

also of the village part Kesudeh. The few owners of livestock recruit herdsmen
locally or hire Gujur shepherds. With the exception of the Katoorey clan, livestock
proprietors of the remaining parts of the village do not possess any local pasturage
rights at all. Therefore, those excluded groups cannot follow a pastoral migration
routine but are compelled instead to negotiate annual and spatially flexible arrange-
ments with external pasture user groups from neighbouring villages, or with Gujur
tenders.
The complex pastoral system of Kesu reflects the contemporary social heteroge-
neity of the village and the unequal balance of power between the different groups.
A historically privileged minority is able to keep the usufruct landholdings and
control over the grazing resources. Furthermore, the example illustrates the declining
relevance of the livestock sector in the double-cropping area of Chitral – a develop-
ment that is strongly related to a considerable over-exploitation and subsequent
degradation of pastures in that part of the region.
Moreover, this outlined practice in Kesu Village demonstrates what sort of role
that Gujur shepherds play in connection with a definite village of southern Chitral.
Subsequently, the spatial and seasonal pattern of Shishi’s Gujur community will be
analysed to emphasise the persistence of nomadic and transhumant forms of animal
husbandry.
For over a century, the Gujur community has been the principal actor in animal
husbandry in the Shishi Valley (General Staff India 1928, 199, 297; Israr-ud-Din
1969, 55; Haserodt 1989, 129). It is a common practice for the mobile herders to
utilise partly vacant pastoral niches which the sedentary mountain farmers have not
made full use of. This is arranged through the payment of a tax (qalang) to local
individuals or communities. However, in the course of the past decades, a number
of Gujur families have established permanent settlements with cultivation in the
valley and the surrounding areas. These settlements specialise in maize production,
as was demonstrated in the case of Kesu Village. Nonetheless, the long distances
required for pastoral mobility between the winter and the summer pastures, as well
as the comparatively large flocks dominated by goats, still remain a distinctive
feature. A survey amongst Shishi’s Gujur community (Khan 2000) shows an average
holding of 4.2 cattle, 68.7 goats and 2.1 sheep per household (authors’ own
calculations).
During the winter months, the majority of these mobile shepherds remain in the
surroundings of Drosh (1,465 m), where the terraces and the lower side slopes of the
main Chitral Valley are utilised as winter pastures. In the multistage migratory pro-
cess from Drosh towards the upper Shishi Valley, the herders pass its largest village
Madaglasht (2,450–2,670 m) in which Tajiks from Badakhshan settled more than
200 years ago. There, the Persian-speaking inhabitants maintain a completely con-
trasting pastoral system, keeping small herds of predominantly milk cows concen-
trating on stall-feeding and the utilisation of nearby summer pastures.
As indicated above, the upper portion of the Shishi Valley is allotted on rent to
the Gujur by the Katoorey landlords. During the summer months, the herdsmen live
in various pasture settlements. The Gujur of the permanent settlement of Kutik stay
in Ruagol Ghari (3,100 m) located in the highly degraded coniferous forest, as well
2 Herding on High Grounds: Diversity and Typology of Pastoral Systems… 47

as in Ghochhar Sar (3,500 m) above the tree line, at the top of the valley. As the
alpine turfs that are found there are insufficient for the flocks, the Gujur of the per-
manent villages of Chin Nissar and Kawash cross the high Dok (4,219 m) and
Lohigal (4,487 m) Passes into the tributaries of the upper Golen Valley to utilise the
additional pastures there. In summary, the seasonal migration distances covered by
the Gujur herders reach about 70 km with a difference in height of more than
3,000 m in certain cases.
Between the middle of June and the beginning of September, ten households of
Chin Nissar are tending in total about 1,200 goats, 200 sheep and a few cattle, using
the pasture settlement Krui Uts (3,580 m) in the upper Lohigal area. Extended and
level turfs are located there at altitudes of 3,900 and 4,000 m. However, these graz-
ing grounds are contested because of the high pass crossing practice of the Gujur.
The Kho pastoralists of Golen, who exclusively utilise the upper portion of the main
Golen Valley, claim ownership of these pastures, arguing that the ridge and the high
passes form a natural barrier. Upon these grounds, they plead for a ban on grazing
by the Gujur’s flocks. Yet, Haserodt (1989, 130) observed a reduction of the Gujur’s
practice of trans-pass pasturing between different valleys during the 1980s. Contrary
to this trend, the lack of sufficient pasture areas put the herders under pressure to
continue to maintain this kind of mobile grazing, making future disputes about
valuable pasture resources highly probable.

2.4 Discussion and Conclusion

The diverse pastoral systems in Chitral have undergone multiple changes and modi-
fications over the past decades. Although contrary examples can be found, it can be
stated as a general trend that the economic role of animal husbandry at the house-
hold level has lost importance due to internal as well as extra-regional socio-economic
factors. Population growth, land fragmentation and the division of herds as a result
of the traditional law of inheritance are important driving forces. Political, institu-
tional and legal changes have occurred, especially after the full administrative inte-
gration of Chitral into the nation-state of Pakistan in 1969, at which point new laws
on state land affected customary access regulations (Faizi 1999). Law and legal
pluralism and uncertainty have resulted in contested spatial territoriality and free
grazing leading to pasture degradation which, in turn, has reduced the forage base.
This is especially prevalent in the submontane and montane forest belts of southern
Chitral, as it has been shown in the case of Kesu/Shishi.
Moreover, both the increased accessibility resulting from improved road net-
works constructed since colonial times (cf. Kreutzmann 1998, 2004b) and further
infrastructural and agrarian improvements have contributed to the transformation of
socio-economic conditions, attitudes and behaviours of the inhabitants, land use
patterns and livelihood strategies. In particular, the role of labour is constantly being
reassessed. Keeping livestock is regarded as demanding physical work which is no
longer very profitable as compared with new off-farm income opportunities in the
48 M. Nüsser et al.

towns, lowland cities or the Gulf countries. In addition, the rural workforce is scarce
due to the fact that a growing number of children, who have traditionally played a
major role in animal tending, have increasingly begun attending school since the
early 1990s (Holdschlag 2011).
Another contributing factor is the decline in the demand of sheep wool, goat hair
and skins as more textiles, shoes and fabric goods at relatively cheap rates are being
imported, a shift which results from the intensified supra-regional exchange patterns.
The introduction of chemical fertilisers, tractors and threshing machines has also
undermined animal husbandry. The number of cattle in many households has
decreased because of these mechanisation processes. Nevertheless, oxen are still
needed for ploughing the fields in disadvantaged locations, as seasonal conditions
and topography do not favour tractor use there.
The past decades have also witnessed significant changes in the Gujur’s mobility
pattern, prevalent until the late 1970s. Since it became possible to claim usufructu-
ary land rights after 1969, many families in individual areas of southern Chitral have
become more sedentary with their own cultivation, particularly in regard to their
maize crop, in the process adapting to a combined mountain agriculture. Despite
their more sedentary way of life, however, the seasonal migration patterns of Gujur
herdsmen are still characterised by higher mobility, longer distances and the cross-
ing of high passes. In many cases, Gujur have become shepherds of the ‘autochtho-
nous’ Kho population. Apart from cultivation and pastoral activities, Gujri-speakers
often take work as rangers and in the timber and transportation businesses of
southern Chitral.
We may arrive to the conclusion that on the local level, that is, in the community
context, the transformation of pastoral systems is the rule whereas persistence is the
exception. However, in spite of the various dimensions and factors of transforma-
tion analysed here, animal husbandry still plays a vital role in the economy of a
large number of households. Its changing structures and functions reflect the overall
socio-economic conditions of the region as well as supra-regional developments.
Pastoral mobility patterns and livelihood strategies of diverse groups and individu-
als shall be differentiated not only as for environmental factors but according to
such factors as ethnic and socio-cultural affiliation and territorial rights of resource
access and utilisation, reflecting the political setting. A better understanding of the
diversity, the dynamics and the complexities of pastoral systems requires identify-
ing and evaluating the importance of these key elements, which are embedded in
contexts of various temporal and spatial scales.
Regarding the six cases examined, we have identified three present types of
corresponding pastoral land use systems in Chitral:
– Communally controlled systems of combined mountain agriculture (case studies
2.3.1): arranged spatial territoriality and common access rights, heterogeneous
flocks, short migratory distances and internal herding arrangements
– Co-occurrence of sedentary mountain farmers and Gujur herders (case studies
2.3.2): arranged combination of traditional and seasonally negotiated access
2 Herding on High Grounds: Diversity and Typology of Pastoral Systems… 49

rights, heterogeneous flocks, short as well as long migratory distances, and internal
as well as external herding arrangements
– Connected and contested pastoral systems of the Gujur (case studies 2.3.3): con-
tested territoriality, individual access rights, large homogeneous flocks, long
migratory distances and internal herding arrangements
Although the fodder situation and the variability of pasture degradation between
different valleys and altitudinal belts is certainly high in both summer and winter
grazing areas, these differences cannot be reduced solely to differences in pastoral
systems and herding practices. Clearly, a better understanding of the pasture-
ecological situation and related fodder availability strongly depends on the integra-
tion of environmental diversity and distribution features of vegetation types.
Nevertheless, the stability of the identified types of pastoral systems strongly
depends on political and socio-economic factors. Besides disputes between differ-
ent clans and village communities, the potential for conflict is relatively high in
the zones where contact with the dominant Khowar-speaking population is
increasing, keeping sheep and goats together with cattle in the form of combined
mountain agriculture, with Gujur groups, mainly relying on the mobile mainte-
nance of sizeable herds of goats. Gujur herders, who are often placed on the lower
end of the social strata by the Kho, have long been accused of utilising the natural
resource base in an unsustainable way (Edelberg and Jones 1979, 100; Masoodul
Mulk 1991, 46). Notably in the oak forest areas of southern Chitral, there are dif-
ferences of resource management practices between Kho farmers (for the Kalasha
in Rumbur, Bumboret and Birir Valleys, cf. Parkes 1987, 1992), who are estab-
lishing protective measures against the over-exploitation of certain plant species
(Haserodt 1989, 126), and the Gujur shepherds. As the number of Afghans who
are employed as herdsmen in certain locations of the region has been increasing
for the last couple of years, they create a new factor in pastoral management, fur-
ther contributing to the complexity of the system, for example, in terms of behav-
ioural norms.
Improving accessibility resulting in advanced mobility, increased availability
of consumer goods, as well as agricultural inputs and services will significantly
transform the existing livestock sector and the pastoral systems. However, the
future impact of factors such as population growth and migration, market incor-
poration and changing attitudes and values cannot be predicted. Until the present
day, the overall regional animal husbandry system has proven to bear remarkable
persistence under changing political and socio-economic conditions and, there-
fore, can be regarded as a long-term flexible and adaptive livelihood strategy in
Chitral.

Acknowledgements This research has been substantially funded by the German Research
Council (DFG) within the framework of the Pakistan-German joint research programme ‘Culture
Area Karakorum’ (CAK). We thank Adam Knowles for proofreading.
50 M. Nüsser et al.

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