The Nature of Nomadism: A Comparative Study of Pastoral Migrations

The Nature of Nomadism: A Comparative Study of Pastoral Migrations

Douglas L. Johnson

The University of Chicago

Important works dealing with nomads and their genre de vie have been published in a wide variety of languages and, for an American, are often located in the most obscure places. Few people are capable of comprehending and evaluating the full scope of the literature in this field1 and the present study, while it does bring together a considerable body of previous scholarship, does not pretend to do so. For while the bibliography accompanying the case studies is large, it is suggestive rather than exhaustive.
A cmniction that existing classifications of ...

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments / iii
Preface / v
List of Illustrations / viii

Chapter

I. Aspects of Pastoral Nomadism / 1
The Ecological Compulsions of Pastoral Nomadism
Herding Animals
Dependence on Agriculture
Nomadism as a Continuum: Some Classifications

II. Case Studies of Pastoral Nomadism:
Southwestern Asia / 20
Nomads of Southwestern Turkey: The Yörük
Nomads Patterns in Southeast Anatolia: The Kurds
The North Arabian Bedouin
The Mountain Nomads of Iran: Basseri and Bakhtiari
The Marri Baluch
The Pashtûn Nomads of Afghanistan£

III. Case Studies of Pastoral Nomadism:
Northern Africa / 82
The Kabābīsh of Kurdufān
The Pastoralists of Cyrenaica
The Arbaa and Saïd Atba
The Beni Mguild
The Chaamba
Pastoral Regimes of Mauritania
The Tuareg
The Tibbu of Tibesti and Borku

IV. A Classification of Pastoral Migrations / 166
Bibliography / 185

List of Illustrations

1. Yörük of Pamphylia and Pisidia / 27
2. Kurds of Southeast Anatolia / 35
3. Ruwala / 41
4. Muμtir / 49
5. Basseri of Fars / 57
6. Bakhtiari / 61
7. Marri Baluch / 69
8. Pashifui Nomads of Afghanistan / 79
9. KababTsh of Kurdufān / 87
10. Pastoralists of Cyrenaica / 95
11. Arbaa and Saïd Atha / 101
12. Beni Mguild of the Middle Atlas / 111
13. Chaamba of the Northern Sahara / 117
14. Reguibat Legouacem of Northern Mauritania / 125
15. Nomads of Central and Southern Mauritania / 129
16. Tuareg of Ahaggar / 139
17. Southern Tuareg / 147
18. Teda of Tibesti / 153
19. Daza of Borku / 155
20. Cartograms of Horizontal Nomadism / 167
21. Cartograms of Vertical Nomadism / 171

PREFACE

The present study has a dual purpose. On the one hand it reviews a portion of the vast literature dealing with nomads, and on the other it attempts to classify nomadic groups on the basis of the cartographic appearance of their migration patterns. The original intention was to do a comprehensive analysis of representative nomadic groups throughout the world. However, because the literature on pastoral nomadism is so extensive, it became necessary to limit the research to Southwestern Asia and Northern Africa, and thus to omit the cattle nomads of East Africa, the reindeer nomads of the Arctic, and the horse and sheep nomads of Central Asia. Even within the two areas selected for intensive study, the literature is too copious to make consideration of every group possible, and as a result case studies of tribes representing a variety of environmental conditions and ecological adjustments are utilized as the major research tool. An additional restriction is imposed by· the study's focus on ecological and environmental factors at the tribal level; liternture dealing with macroscale social and historical factors exceeds the scope of this work. Moreover, topics such as sedentarization and transhumance, each with its own highly developed literature, could not be cited in detail and are only mentioned where relevant to the particular case study under consideration.

Because French, German, and English sources were used in compiling the case studies, the spellinp; of place names. filtered as they are through different systems of transliteration, poses a considerable problem. Wherever possible, an attempt is made to achieve standardization by referring to the appropriate gazetteers of the United states Board on Geographic Names. However, since gazetteers are not available for all of the areas under review, spellings in many instances, particularly for North Africa, follow the most frequent spelling in the literature. For places too small to appear in the gazetteers of the Board on Geographic Names, as well as the names of the seasons in local dialects, the literature again is relied on, subject to the stipulation that such spellings, particularly in the case of Arabic, be as close to the best native spelling as possible (thus al-Golea, not El Golea; Jabal ad-Duruz, not Djebel Druze).

There are three exceptions to the policy of following the specifications of the Board on Geographic Names. First, in conformity with the Encyclopedia of Islam's practice, the Board's omission of hamzah and use of cedilla (,), is abandoned, and hamzah is written', while the subscript dot (.) is substituted for the cedilla. In addition, hyphens, contrary to Board on Geographic Names' practice, are used to separate the definite article and noun, and the definite article (al) is always rendered in lower case letters. Second, the undotted Turkish "i" is rendered î, Î, whereas the dotted "i" appears as i, İ in the text. However, on the maps the undotted "i" is simply left undotted and the circumflex (^) is eliminated. Third, the common English forms of certain well-known place names are used instead of local spellings. For example, the conventional anglicized version is used for such places as the Taurus Mountains (rather than Taros Daglar'i), Zāgros Mountains (for Kūhā-ye Zagros), and Euphrates River (instead of al-Furāt), although on its first appearance the local spelling is indicated in parenthesis. On the maps the reverse is the case, with the local spelling being favored, while the English version or variant is relegated to parentheses. Also, in North Africa wadi is substituted for the local dialectal spelling, oued.

Pastoral nomadism today has lost its former importance in all but a few areas in northern Africa and the Near East. Technology has made the nomad obsolete, and another large quantity of information within the general literature on nomads deals with the process of sedentarization. The significance of sedentarization is that today few nomadic tribes continue to follow their traditional pattern. As a result, much of the data presented reflects not the contemporary situation but conditions as they existed when pastoral nomadism was operating in its traditional and unchallenged manner. For the purpose of arriving at a classification of nomads, it is the traditional migratory regime rather than its current alterations that is most important.

The material below is presented in the order in which the research was conducted. An introductory statement about the nature and ecology of pastoral nomads is introduced first to make the case studies more comprehensible. The individual case studies form the bulk of the work and were chosen to give the most representative selection possible within the regional limitations. Each tribal study is accompanied by a map of the tribe's migration pattern and whatever value this work may have is largely contained therein. The concluding chapter, together with its suggested classification, is the logical outgrowth of the maps and serves to draw together the collection of case studies.

Chapter I

Aspects of Pastoral Nomadism

Important works dealing with nomads and their genre de vie have been published in a wide variety of languages and, for an American, are often located in the most obscure places. Few people are capable of comprehending and evaluating the full scope of the literature in this field1 and the present study, while it does bring together a considerable body of previous scholarship, does not pretend to do so. For while the bibliography accompanying the case studies is large, it is suggestive rather than exhaustive.

A cmniction that existing classifications of pastoral nomadism fail to offer adequate insight into the ecological compulsions and regular migrations of pastoral nomadism forms the starting point of this study. An initial survey of the ethnographic material indicated that many peopk still entertain the notion that pastoral nomads wander randomly. Because this view appeared to be inaccurate it seemed clear that the best way to settle the Issue permanently was to study in detail a wide selection of individual tribes before elaborating a classification. Originally, the intention was to select examples from all possible geographic settings, since many of the earlier classifications were too limited in this respect. But this tusk proved to be too large. The literature on sub-Saharan Africa alone would have required a paper of nearly equal scope and after due consideration, it was decided not to pursue it further. - Language difficulties as well as the sheer …

1 A significant exception is the niluable series of comprehensive review articles by Xavier de Planhol in the Revue Geographigue de l'Est (1961-1967). They form an indispensible starting point for study of any aspect of pastoral nomadism. Two additional review articles are also worthy of mention : Xavier de Planhol, "Montagnards du Proche et du Mayen-Orient: etudes et l'xplorations rccentes," Annales de Geographie, LXIX (1960), 194-199; and idem, "Caractères généraux de la vie montagnarde dans le Proche-Orient et dans l'Afrique du nord, "Annales de Geographie, LXXI (1962), 113-130.

2 For an introduction to the Fulani pastoralists of West Africa, see Marguerite Dupire, Peules nomades: Etude descriptive des Wodaabe du Sahel nigerien (Travaux et Mémoires de l'Institut d'Ethnologie, No. 64; Paris: Institut d'Ethnologie, 1962); Edward C. Hopen, The Pastoral Fulbe Family in Gwandu (London: Oxford University Press, 1968); and Derrick J. Stenning, Savannah Nomads: A Study of the Wodaabe of Western …

Douglas L. Johnson

The Nature of Nomadism:
A Comparative Study of Pastoral Migrations in Southwestern
Asia and Northern Africa

The University of Chicago

The University of Chicago
The Nature of Nomadism:
A Comparative Study of Pastoral Migrations in Southwestern
Asia and Northern Africa
By Douglas L. Johnson

Department of Geography
Research Paper No.118

University of Chicago
1969

Department of Geography
Research Papers
1101 E. 58th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637

Copyright 1969 by Douglas L. Johnson
Published 1969 by the Department of Geography
The University of Chicago, Printed by Public
Litho Service, Inc., Chicago, Illinois USA

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 69-18022