Paper short abstract:

Against a backdrop of booming India, this paper will provide what is perhaps the first comparison of Muslim STs with Hindu STs as Gaddis and Gujjars in Chamba District (Himachal Pradesh) struggle to negotiate the obstacles which block paths to social mobility.

Paper long abstract:

Gaddi shepherds and Gujjar herdsmen have driven their goats and buffalo along the mountains trails of Himachal Pradesh for generations. But migratory pastoralism is no longer viable. Returning to settle in their home villages in the Chamba valley these two Scheduled Tribe communities now have to seek new opportunities in the mountainous terrain of one of India's officially most backward districts. This paper will show how the Gaddis have, in the past, been the beneficiaries of land redistribution policies but have been unable to leverage this into the good government jobs that they aspire to. Although for many Muslim Gujjars, the circumstances are perhaps even worse - forced to scratch a living from steeply terraced fields, irregular employment as wage labourers is for many the only way to earn a living - there is also significant class differentiation as enterprising individuals have had some success at business. Against a backdrop of booming India, this paper will provide what is perhaps the first comparison of Muslim STs with Hindu STs as Gaddis and Gujjars in Chamba District struggle to negotiate the obstacles which block paths to social mobility.