← GPSC syllabus
GPSC (Gujarat)Stage 2: Main Examination
Cultural Landscape of Gujarat: Coastal, Tribal and Other Communities
What the official syllabus says
GPSC Main Examination, Paper IV: General Studies-I, (B) Cultural Heritage.
- Cultural Landscape of Gujarat: Coastal, Tribal and other communities.
Topics in detail
A cultural landscape is the way people's ways of life fit their land. Gujarat has three broad ones: the coast, the tribal hills and forests of the east, and the plains and dry lands with their farming, pastoral and trading communities.
The coastal landscape
- India's longest mainland coastline: the Gulf of Kachchh, Saurashtra, the Gulf of Khambhat and south Gujarat
- Seafaring and fishing communities: Kharva, Koli, Machhi, Bhadala, Vaghers of Okhamandal
- Ports and maritime tradition: Lothal, Bharuch, Khambhat, Surat, Mandvi; dhow building at Mandvi
- Salt making by the Agariyas in the Little Rann; ship-breaking at Alang
- Siddi community of African origin (Jambur, near Gir) and its Dhamal dance
- Parsis on the south Gujarat coast: Sanjan, Udvada, Navsari
- Coastal issues: cyclones, salinity ingress, livelihoods of fishers
The tribal landscape
- The eastern tribal belt from Banaskantha to the Dangs
- Communities: Bhil, Dubla (Halpati), Dhodia, Gamit, Chaudhari, Kokna, Varli, Rathwa, Naika, Dhanka
- Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups of Gujarat: Kathodi, Kotwalia, Kolgha, Padhar, Siddi
- Economy: forest produce, millets such as nagli, migration for work
- Culture: Pithora painting, Dangi dances, Holi and tribal fairs, sacred groves, folk deities
- Protection: Fifth Schedule areas, the PESA Act (1996), the Forest Rights Act (2006)
Pastoral and dryland communities
- Kachchh and Banni: Maldharis, Rabari, Bharwad, Jat, Ahir, Meghwal, Mutwa
- Bhunga houses, embroidery and leatherwork as identity
- Kathi and other landholding communities of Saurashtra
- Charans and Barots as keepers of genealogy and oral tradition
Trading and urban communities
- Vania and Jain merchants; mahajan institutions
- Bohra, Khoja and Memon trading communities
- Patidars and the farming heartland of Charotar
- Pols of Ahmedabad: neighbourhood, caste and occupation
Issues
- Cultural change with industrialisation, urbanisation and migration
- Preserving community crafts and knowledge
- Livelihoods versus conservation (Gir, Banni, the Rann)
Regions and ways of life
| Region | Landscape | Communities and livelihoods |
|---|---|---|
| Kachchh | Rann, Banni grassland, coast | Pastoralism, crafts, salt, ports |
| Saurashtra | Plateau, coast, Gir forest | Farming, fishing, Maldhari herders |
| North Gujarat | Dry plains | Farming, dairy, animal husbandry |
| Central Gujarat | Fertile plains (Charotar) | Farming, dairy cooperatives, trade |
| South Gujarat | Wet coastal plain | Horticulture, industry, fishing |
| Eastern hills | Forests of the Aravallis, Satpuras and Sahyadri | Tribal farming and forest produce |
Settlement and house forms
- Bhunga: round, mud-walled houses of Kachchh, suited to heat and earthquakes
- Pols of Ahmedabad with carved wooden houses, chabutaras (bird-feeders) and shared courtyards
- Darbargadh: residences of local chiefs in Saurashtra
- Tribal houses of bamboo, wood and mud in the Dangs and eastern hills
- Coastal fishing settlements and boat-building yards
Overlaps
- Prelims General Studies: life of Adivasi (tribes) and social geography of Gujarat.
- Demography and ST/SC composition of Gujarat: General Studies-III.