Assignment Submitted by: Mahwish Rasheed

M.Phil Anthropology
BZU Multan

Table of Contents
Contents....Page#
Peasant .................................................................. 1
Introduction ...............................................................1
Historical Bckground..2

Socio-Economic Patterns of Kolhi Peasants and Major Role of Kolhi Women in Kolhi
Economy .....................................................................................................................
...2
Critical Analysis..................................................................................................................5
Recommendations...6
Summary & Conclusion...........................................................................................................6
Bibliography ...........................................................................................................................7

Peasant
According to Encyclopedia Britannica,
Peasant is any member of a class of persons who till the soil as small landowners or as
agricultural laborers. Peasant families consume a substantial part of what they produce, and
while some of their output may be sold in the market, their total production is generally not much

larger than what is needed for the maintenance of the family. Both productivity per worker and
yields per unit of land are low.
According to Urban Dictionary,
Peasants were/are typically small farmers, tenant farmers, sharecroppers, and laborers
and invariably rural, living in villages and tending land which is practically theirs but officially
belongs to the wealthy.
The term peasant also applies to landless peasants. Some peasant groups are semi
permanent or migratory groups, they move from one place to another in search of livelihood or
sometimes from drought stricken areas to irrigated areas. According to the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) definition, the following categories of people are considered to
be landless and are likely to face difficulties in ensuring their livelihood:

Agricultural labor households with little or no land.

Non-agricultural households in rural areas, with little or no land, whose members are
engaged in various activities such as fishing, making crafts for the local market, or
providing services.

Other rural households of pastoralists, nomads, tenats, shifting cultivators, hunters and
gatherers, and people with similar livelihoods.

Introduction
Major role of Kolhi women in economy at Karachi Paro is going to discuss in this essay.
Karachi Paaro has irrigated land and it is one of the temporary settlements of Kolhis migrated
from drought stricken district of Tharparkar (Sindh).
The major role and participation of Kolhi women in everyday tasks and their greater
share in Kolhi economy is the main focus of this essay. Almost all Kolhi community depends on
sharecropping as they are landless peasants under debt bondage of landlords. But now kolhi men
are finding some alternative source of income except agriculture to get rid of debt bondage.
Kolhi women also work inside and outside the house from morning till night. They also
domesticate animals and work with their men in the fields too. (Hussain, 2014)

Historical Background

The term, Koli/Kolhi are Tamil [Dravidian] words which, in Dravidian language literally
means (trees and shrubs) and pastoral people. (Byly, 2008) The word Koli is commonly used in
India to refer to same tribe/ race/Samaj/, whereas in Sindhi it is written and pronounced as Kolhi. As

Hindus, the Kolhis of Pakistan are a minority. Most of the other Kolhis migrated to India in 1947
at the partition of India and Pakistan. Kolhis are geographically, historically, politically and
economically marginal people or considered as lower class. Historically Kolhi were socially
labeled as untouchables by Brahaminic Hinduism, but anthropologists and archeologists consider
them among the aboriginal tribes of Dravidian origin most probably. Kolhis are officially fall
into the category of Scheduled Tribes (ST), Scheduled Castes and as Other Backward Castes
(OBC) in India. These castes are assumed to be untouchable and second-rate or even third-rate
citizens, officially regarded as socially disadvantaged. Majority of Kolhis are Hindu, only a small
percentage has converted to Islam. (Hussain, 2014)
Kolhi caste or tribe exists in Gujraat and Rajhistan in India and Tharparkar Sindh in
Pakistan. Kolhis are basically landless peasants of Nangarparkar (sindh). Traditionally Kolhis have
been indigenous pastoralists belonging to the Nangarparkar town of Tharparkar district of Sindh
province. Kolhis are semi-permanent peasants, every year large number of Peasants migrate from the
drought-prone district Tharparkar to river irrigated areas. And these migrated groups of Kolhi
peasants have been the worst victims of social bondage and debt. Kolhi migrants from Tharparkar
provide cheap agricultural labor and even unpaid labour in debt bondage to local landlords. (Hussain,
2014)

Socio-Economic Patterns of Kolhi Peasants and Major Role of Kolhi Women

in Kolhi Economy
Kolhi peasants economy is based on agriculture. As sharecroppers, they raise wheat, cotton,
rice, sugarcane, corn, and oil seeds. (kcm.co.kr)

At Karachi Paaro settlement Kolhi women work more than kolhi man and can be
observed doing planting, harvesting and cleaning in sugarcane, wheat and cotton fields. Inside
house and in the field Kolhi women bear maximum burden probably. This labour work by
women was unpaid before but now unpaid labour is finished in Karachi Paaro. Now women do
paid labour in agricultural field and also assist their man in the field. But the paid labour is not

enough to fulfill the needs, its often underpaid or paid in exchange of something like wheat
cutting in exchange of fodder for animals. (Hussain, 2014)
In Contrast Kolhi men involve in small scale business like shop keeping, hawkering etc.
They dont do such work which requires much of manual labour. While kolhi women remain
busy in labour activities continuously from early morning till late night. Before 2013,
domestication of animals and sharecropping were major sources of income of Kolhi peasants.
Landless sharecropper peasant families due to their unstable economy take loans from landlords
to fulfill their daily needs and agricultural input. Landlords exploit Kolhi families especially
women and children are bound to work for landlord till the debt is paid off to the satisfaction of
the landlord. But now much awareness has risen because of some NGOs or through media
among Kolhi peasants about unpaid labour or debt bondage and Kolhi peasants are trying to find
out alternative sources of income and now they are observed in doing some other kind of work
like non agricultural work for example small scale businesses like tailoring, shop keeping, small
trading businesses, running quniqi rikshaws etc. (Hussain, 2014)
Kolhi women do different kind of activities in house
or outside the house like grinding of flour, cleaning
of house, giving fodder to animals, milking animals,
preparing children for going to school, preparing
breakfast, going to field for animals grazing. And at
noon Kolhi women do other tasks like cleaning
utensils and preparing lunch to take to field to their
husbands. And then in the field Kolhi women work
with their husbands till evening. She collects dry
dung (fuel) and sticks. She goes to fetch water from
well which is approximately at distance of 2 to 3
Kolhi Women and her daughter, returning from the
field, after doing free labour in exchange of fodder for
animals.

kms. In evening she again performs household tasks

like meal preparation, putting fodder to animals.

(Hussain, 2014)
Kolhi women perform not only household tasks but they perform certain tasks in the field
like harvesting, cleaning, threshing, bundling crop in the field. Kolhi women can perform all

kind of agricultural work except loading of crops on trucks. Kolhi women also engage in grazing
of animals and bringing, cutting and chafing fodder for animals. They collect animal dung and
systematically soak it and make it usable as a burning fuel. They also milk animals and churn
lassi and butter out of it. Kohli women take part in both kind of labour, at home and in the field.
(Hussain, 2014)
She performs all tasks that are related to domestication of animals. Taming and tending of
animals is Kolhi womens responsibility. Kolhi husbands allow their women to keep share in
income which they earn by selling animal production like butter, milk, lassi, ghee and by selling
any animal which is given to their wives in the form of dowry by their parents.

Kolhi Women performing major household and outside tasks

Kolhi men were not great savers or even investors before. They were used their earned
money on paying debts, investing in ill planned businesses and on fairs. The best saving
technique for them was to spend money in early marriages and then depend on heavy loans taken
from landlords with undefined interest. Now kolhian attitude has changed, this change came
gradually when they stopped their children from working in the fields and gave importance to

make them educated. They also delayed marriages of school going children. Kolhi women are
also good in saving money and it is their savings which sometimes keep their families away from
taking loans from landlords.
Kolhi women participate in both field and household work. Kolhi women has greater
contribution in socio economics of Kolhi community. They have larger part in earning income
for household, in fact she is the backbone of Kolhi household. They participate in agriculture and
pastoralism and provide freedom to their men to look for some good alternatives outside
agriculture. The burden of labour in debt bondage is gradually reducing from Kolhis now. And
Kolhi women have major role in reducing this burden by their full participation in work with
their men. (Hussain, 2014)

Kolhi Women performing child rearing activities and working in

field

Critical Analysis
Inspite of the fact that Kolhi women have greater share in Kolhi Economy it is desperate
to say that they have no control even on their own assets/income. As it is discussed above that
Kolhi men sometimes allow their women to keep share in income which they earn by selling
animal production like ghee, yogurt etc and by selling any animal which they got in dowry from
their parents, it shows that Kolhi women are destined to take permission of their husbands in
utilizing even their own income earned by their own labour or assets. If her husband does not
allow her to use her income then she cannot even use that.
Kolhi women participate in field work and labor work too. But they are underpaid or paid
less than male workers. Mostly they do work in exchange of any crop like fodder, wheat etc.
They work equally like men but reward is not enough according to their labor.

Conflict theorists in Marxist tradition asserts that gender stratification results from
private ownership of the means of production; some men not only gain control over property and
the distribution of goods but also gain power over women. (Sir Zahid notes, Sex and Gender)
So its because of male domination and their control over property, resources and even women
that Kolhi women are bound for permission of their husbands in any decision. Male dominancy,
gender discrimination and lack of education are the main reasons of males control over women.

Recommendations
Addressing the issues mentioned above some recommendations are given below;

Communities should be sensitized about access and control of women to the assets to
ensure equality

Various NGO's are struggling to bring out the farmer's problems to the corridors of
powers but no integrated policy has yet been framed to address their issues. (npcp.net.pk,
2016) There is a need for legislation at provincial and national level for considering
agriculture labour as labour in order to ensure implementation of labour laws for
agricultural labour without any kind of gender discrimination.

Poverty cannot be addressed without ensuring equality (race, gender caste etc)

Land should be allotted on lease to landless farmers and tenants by Government.

Summary and Conclusion

The burden of this essay has been, first, to show the major role of Kolhi women in Kolhi
economy. Kolhi women participate in the tasks inside the house and outside the house daily. She
has greater share in earning livelihood for their families. Infact, they are the backbone of Kolhi
economy. In second section, I have attempted to address the issues about Kolhi women which are
related to gender discrimination. These issues can be addressed by giving awareness to women
about their rights.

Bibliography

Hussain, G. (2014). Kolhi-Peasant Activism in Naon Dumblo, Lower Sindh, Creating

Space for Marginalized Kolhi Community through Multiple Channels. Islamabad:
Quaid-i-Azam University.
kcm.co.kr. (n.d.). The Koli of Pakistan. Retrieved 1 19, 2016, from kcm.co.kr:
http://kcm.co.kr/bethany_eng/clusters/8081.html
npcp.net.pk. (2016, 1 19). National Peasants Coalition of Pakistan. Retrieved from
http://www.npcp.net.pk/: http://www.npcp.net.pk/