Vol. 6 · No. 2 · 2002
'This Is Ours'Rabari Tradition And Identity In A Changing World
Judy Frater
14 pages, 4 figs.
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The doorway hanging (toran) has a history. Embroidered by Rabari in Kutch more than fifty years ago with the fine chain-stitched geometric patterns popular at the time, it was so valued by its owner that its life was renewed by replacing large tin-framed mirrors with smaller mirrors set in the acid colours of current taste. The toran helps to tell a history as well. We have deepened our knowledge of the Rabari from such embroidery. Originally camel-herding pastoral nomads, Rabari today live scattered in western India throughout the Kutch, Saurashtra and northern regions of Gujarat state, and in western and southern Rajasthan. In each of these major regions, Rabari are further subdivided into culturally distinct, geographically based subgroups. Nomadic societies survive by their ability to adapt to their physical and cultural environments. Historically, when an environmental niche could no longer support the population of herders and herds, subgroups splintered off and migrated to new niches.