Bakarwals are nomadic tribal spread across the Pir Panjal and Himalayas and are mostly shepherds. They live in tents and keep moving from one place to another. The dera is the basic unit of social setup among the Bakarwals and they define their households in terms of the deras. Their language is also known as Parimu or Hindki and is very different from the Kashmiri and the Dogri languages. They are largely Muslims, do not intermix with Kashmiris and are generally good natured and friendly in their own way.
While passing through Gumri and Mughalpura, we came across two deras of Bakarwals and spent some time with them. Their sharp features are quite remarkable and it was a great experience capturing their lives in our frames.
Bakarwal woman and children at the first dera we came across just after Gumri. They were quite camera friendly and did not hesitate in posing. However, what bothered us a lot was their incessant demand for bakshish (tips)
- Camera – D7000,
- A – f10
- S – 1/320 s
- ISO – 200
A man, not quite middle aged yet, in a traditional dress similar to the tribal men in NWFP sits with his infant child. Behind them we can see their dera (tent) made of mud, rocks and plastic sheets usually supplied by the army.
- Camera – D7000,
- A – f6.3
- S – 1/320 s
- ISO – 100
- E -7
A young Bakarwal woman in front of her Dera, wearing all black. Like rest of Kashmir, they do not have to cover their faces.
- Camera – D7000
- A – f5.6
- S – 1/500 s
- ISO – 100
Horses are common companions of Bakarwals who still use them for transport and for carrying luggage. The gentleman in this photograph identified himself as Mohammed Latif and was happy to stand next to his horse and pose for us.
- Camera – D7000,
- A – f6.3
- S – 1/400 s
- ISO – 125
I am not able to recall his name, but this old gentleman seemed like an important person at his dera.
- Camera – D3000
- A – f5.6
- S – 1/500 s
- ISO – 100
- E -7
And then he was sitting at his dera, taking puffs from his hukkah. Such a peaceful tranquil life !
- Camera – D3000
- A – f6.3
- S – 1/400 s
- ISO – 100
- E -7
While we were taking photos, an older gentleman came walking from a distance. He has this solitary look about him and a remarkable expression in his eyes.
- Camera – D7000
- A – f6.3
- S – 1/320 s
- ISO – 125
Nice captures.
Thanks Arun 🙂
Beautiful people and gorgeous photos! Thank you for sharing this. Had never heard of them… I like how you have documented this.
Thanks Chaitali 🙂
Lovely Photo story on the Bakarwals….Would have liked to see some photographs of the interiors of their residence.
Thanks Amitabha, I would have loved to but did not try for the fear of invading their privacy.. they live in circular huts with stone walls and a thatched roof over the top.
That’s a great collection.
Such telling images Puru. And it great to see these people in their own surroundings.
Thanks D 🙂 More storied will come soon as I am back to blogging after a long sabbatical.
Gorgeous photos! Would like to know more about Bakarwals. Amazing how they live life with so little ‘material’. And here we are living materialistic life.
Thanks Nisha, they keep wandering from one place to another and are quite an interesting people. There is another race that lives there in remote locations called Dard who are believed to be from the Central Asian Aryan stock
Thanks Neha 🙂
What lovely photos shoot amazing….. Great job…..
so cool to see these faces 🙂
Thanks Daniel 🙂