rao (1987) the concept of peripatetics_an introduction

8/12/2019 Rao (1987) the Concept of Peripatetics_an Introduction

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Chapter 1

THE CONCEPT OF PERIPATETICS: AN INTRODUCTIONAparna Rao

In recent years there has been an abundance of books on nomadic inci-pient and primary producers - on hunter-gatherers and pastoralists.However, peripatetics, namely endogamous nomads who are largely non-primary producers or extractors, and whose principal resources are con-stituted by other human populations have been largely overlooked.Although occasional anthologies on Gypsies (Rehfi sch 1975, Salo 1981,1982) and on regional i ssues (d. Leshnik & Sontheimer 1975, Misra &Malho tra 1982) do contain chapters on peripatetic communities, no at-tempt has so far been made to present and compare data on such com-munities in a cross-cultural perspective. The purpose of this volume isto put together f irst-hand ethnographic materia l avai lable on peripa te -tics, who are the most widely distributed nomadic populations in theworld, and to plead for a somewhat broader and more flexible approachin the study of spat ial mobility as an adaptive strategy. In this introduc-tory chapter I shall first consider the basic problems which are containedin the concept of peripate ti c. I shal l then describe some of the featurescommon to all peripatetic societies.

The Peripatetic StrategyWhil in French anthropology and geography the term nomad and

its d rivative have b n applied to all group who employ regular spatialmobility a an n m i s trut gy, in th An I -American and Germanlitcn ur riaini ng 0 th iop i ,th t rms hay been applied prin-'il .lIy l< nim.1 hu sb : n I .rs , but .Is l hunt r and gatherers. In theIlly se ven i 'S, h ( W'V', 'o n, , . IId1l()1 o log is s s tarted t I k at thOil It, lilt lil~'1 -m l .1 I 01 ex mpl' S. lzrn: n WI'Ol' (I 71: 1 0):NWlI, Ii III i \ I\ill I olillov 'Ill III , , 1 ,I tOl,lli Ill, hUllt ing ~111 I gu h 'Ii1\ , II i \IiI till, IIId 11111111i t l i III \I III II H Ii (III 0 I f',ood II 1111


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2 Aparna Raocertain kinds of resources ... Nomadism could logically be associatedwith the extraction of any of these or with various combinations ... Gradually, others too took up this line and nomadism, now no longerconfused with say, pastoralism, began to be applied to, for example, ...the spatial arrangements of the Gypsies or Nawar of the Mediterranean... (Chatty 1980: 82). Another term often used in the study of humanspatial mobi li ty is circulation, which has been defined by Zelinsky(1971: 255-256 in Chapman & Prothero 1985: 1) as a great variety ofmovements, usually short-term, repetitive, or cyclic in nature, but allhaving in common the lack of any declared intention of a permanentor long-lasting change in residence.

Commercialism, like pastoralism, is a kind of resource exploitation,the resource in this case being customers with purchasing power - whatBerland (1979a: 3) has termed the human resource base . Whereas the

. basic elements of pastoralism are labour, livestock and pasture, those ofperipatecism are labour, customers and skills/goods. Posing the questionof whether it would be meaningful to classify peripatetics together withpastoral nomads (Leshnik 1975: xv) suggested that while the term nomadbe reserved for migrating pastoralists, primarily non-food-producingmobile communities may be termed 'wanderers. arlier, LUlZ 61:299) had, following Baines (1912: 105), a vOCatea-tne distinction bet-ween trader, artisan and non-artisan i tinerants (see also Salzman 1983).Another term suggested to categorize such i tinerant communities is'non-ecological nomads' (Misra 1978) by way of contrast to pastoralnomads, who are more directly dependent on ecological factors. 'Servicenomads', another term proposed by Hayden (1979, see also Hayden th ivolume) implies mobile communities who do no wage labour, but selltheir services; but this term fails to account for those numerous c m -munities who sell their goods (plus, perhaps incidentally, their service ).Some years ago I myself (Rao 1982a) suggested the term 'non-food-pro-ducing nomads', but data now indicate that this would be too r stri r i v e ,since in many par ts of the world a group, or a part of a gr up may befood-producing one year, and non-food-producing the n xt. Thi 'msto be particularly true for Africa (see Chapter 8 th i v IIIm ')i n l t h u j . \ hfor the Middle East (Rao 1983) and n tc rn p rary W stern Ew o p ., III 'non-food-producing criteri n m t b appli ~Il m )SLxu 'II gro upover very J ng peri ds f ti m . r n kccj ing with he fa 'I t 11.\ltill' \1(,f d and rvi s Iorms tl 'm.j)rr's(lIr'I.1\'olth'l'tllllll 'I

r lis lI~, ing h r,,' 01 111I' i l numn I 'i ,wot It 'I 111111II1III I I IIII I, '11 ~lllll' ',1,1 (A toll II H ) , Pill III 'p 'I iPII'11I ' I ,I I II III1 \ I

The concept of peripatetics: an introduction 3thrown up by Berland (1978, 1979a, 1979b), although others before him(e.g. Srinivas 1955: 10, Rosander 1976: 151) had already used it to referto such communities.

The peripatetic strategy consists basically of combining spatial mobili-ty and non-subsistent commercialism at the economic level with endo-gamy at the social level. Of various ethnic origins and speaking differentlanguages peripatetics are thus defined asprimar ily non-food-producing/extracting, preferentially endogamous, itinerant communities subsistingmainly on the sale of goods and/or more or less specialized servicesto sedentary and/or nomadic customers (Rao 1985, 1986c). A few mayhave a little land (Ivan ow 1920: 282), houses (Olesen this volume) orherds (Rauber-Schweizer this volume), and some may even hunt andgather a li tt le (Kosambi 1967: 107, Bollig this volume); but their primarysubsistence is derived over long stretches of time from commercialism.The degree of spatial mobility also varies from community to communi-ty. Peripatetics as a whole consti tute a socio-enonomic category and eachcommunity is, in addition, an ethnic unit (see Barth 1969: 10-11), andconstitutes a minority wherever it may be.

Nomadism of various degrees can now no longer be seen as a responseto the physical environment alone, but to the total environment, oneaspect of which can be demand and supply. Similarly, circulation of dif-ferent k inds can no longer be perceived exclusively as the ... inter-change of labour between different modes of production ... (Chapman I&Prothero 1985: 5). Peripatecism, like pastoralism should not be.regard-(ed as a specific mode of production, but rather as a mode of subsistence.Further just as pastoral resource exploitation may take many forms,depending on the physical environment and the animals herded, just ashunters, gatherers and fishers extract a variety of prey and plants, depen-ding on the flora and fauna available, commercialism can also take manyforms, and peripatetics in Africa, western Europe and North Amer icaare reported as being extremely flexible in adapting their skills to suithanging requirement. In fa t, even in the most unfavourable cir -.urnstance .peripat 'Li s, rn rc p rhap than other itinerant populations,, p p c r g nerally t c tt: in hOI11 s t sis whi h has been defined by Krebs(I 78: 622 ) as, ... rn : int en t 11 ( f constnn y ... in ... interaction ofin livi Ill, Is in , I ( 11I1 lion () .ommun ity un der h nging n d i t i ns,h', L IS' o he , il ilit i' ,1(1)\111\, ,UljU,'1111nts, Mosl f h h. pt rin Ihis v( hi III , di 'II tili ''1l1'lIli Ii IOIIl\ () I' (III XII i .c i 1 1

i t hiu Iii hlOlll1 111111 111\111 \111 III III 1.1J1IivvalueIhi 1111'1 II11I (Iljlll II ,III I II 11I11 ,III II II II ir in 111il


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4 Aparna Raochapter, peripatetics ... are generalists ... yet specialize at any giventime .. :' (p. 135).

Maximizing Benefits and the Optimal Foraging Theory

~

' As opposed to pastoral nomads and hunters and gatherers the idealtype of peripatetics obtain their food almost exclusively from andthrough other human populations (Rao & Casimir 1983, in press) andone important distinction between these different categories of nomadsthus lies in the amount of control they exercise over food resources(Berland 1977: 86). But like nomadic pastoralists and most hunter-ga-therers, peripatetics employ cyclic spatial mobility as a strategy to max-imize benefits, and in his chapter in this volume Piasere considers cer-tain peri ateticsubsistence activities asa form of gathering (seealso Ar-nold 1980: 1 r : - W a pe;ipa;;tics have inCom'ffioii-with most hunters,gatherers and pastoral nomads is the characteristically patchy distribu-tion of their resources, and the seasonality of resource extractionpossibilities. Thus the cycle of migration patterns among peripatetics isas dependent upon their customers' specific demands as the migrationof hunter-gatherers is upon the seasonal availability of wild foods, or theherd management routines of nomadic pastoralists upon the patchy andseasonal distribution of pasture and water resources. Hunter-gatherersprocure various plant material and animals at specific times of the year,and many peripatetic communities obtain compensation at fixed timeof the year for goods and services in seasonal demand.

In recent years anthropologists have increasingly discussed thusefulness of the optimal foraging theory, drawn from ecological stud ito ask if and how given communities having for example, patchilydistributed resources exploit them optimally. The models of optimalforaging theory ... analyze foraging strategies as the joint product ofenvironmental and behavioral givens (constraints) and the goals andchoices exhibited by foragers attempting to maximize the benefits ob-tained per unit foraging time:' (Smith 1983: 47). Applied to peripatetic,this model would mean that in an environment where resour e are at-tered unevenly, benefits can be maximized nly if the n t r turn g , in dcan counterbalance the H rt mad ( .. n rgy xp nd d) I y rn in irn iz-in t h tim p nt in vi i ing di I f r n u : t 11 I t e l

I n rn I n c r l 'rl1lS, this i n v Iv s hi till Ih ,n il 1 1 1 11 1 1 II hr d mnn I 1 \ I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i l r v I o f I h ill I u t (hi I I I III (\I 11 1 11 1 I ,

The concept of peripatetics: an introduction 5and in fact, peripatetics follow the cycle of the primary resources oftheirown resources, i.e., the agricultural and/or pastoral cycles of theircustomers. Thus Berland has shown (1982: 80-81) how the mobility ofthe peripatetic Kanjar and Qalandar of Pakistan attain peaks during andshortly after the spring and autumn harvests (d. also Berland thisvolume). Similarly, the Sheikh Mohammadi and the Ghorbat ofAfghanistan sell their winnowing fans and sieves respectively (Olesenthis volume and Rao 1979, 1981, 1982b, 1986b) in time for the harve tand the visits of the Gaduliya Lohar of northern India coincide withspecific agricultural activities of their peasant customers (Misra 1965).In other contexts the peripatetic migration cycle depends on vari uecological parameters (R.M. Hayden 1981) and while the income peakof the Xoraxane Rom depend on the local ritual calendar (Piasere chivolume), Gmelch and Gmelch describe in their chapter how the rni gr a-tion patterns of Irish Travellers are largely determined by occupati no lpossibilities.In its most idealized form the peripatetic strategy thus tends tow I one end of a non-food-producing - food-producing/extracting ntinuurn, the other end being exemplified by a self-subsistent p , ncommunity. Similarly if mobility and sedentism are viewed a, n-tinuum, it is clear that peripatetics along with mobile animal hub nd rsand hunter-gatherers tend towards the mobile end. Figure 1 h w ~wdimensional model, where the degree of mobility and the ext nt f f I.production/extraction aretaken to represent the two axesm t r J vr n t(the definition of a peripatetic community a distinct fr m th r i n

nomic categories. Many of the chapter in this anth J y will sh )wthat these categories are not alway di ret and t h : t th y ar fl n h e 1'1lived. In orne parts of th w rId th y ar , h w v r, m r di 1'1' ru]or 1 nger duration than in ther j at rt in p ri d in his ry hey 1 1m r in flux than in th r. M r inter 'iv r arc l in tip i lls 0 1P I' hi s t ry, human I gy nd s ic i I nnt hrc p I gy is n ,.J.J i hd i f f c r c n s a n d v a r i a t i n s , r w l x ll . i n l . l , g r w i h M i 'h , ll \ o ll i( t h i s vo lum e: h. 8 ) w h '/1he slIgl' 's ts tlu I il has I 1 1 l1lis 1 \ 1 < to 'n il-idcr )( J-I r luc ion, 1 1 I Il( n-Io: I-I rorlu 'lioll, 1 1 10 1 ilily ,nd s d 'd III,nd of;. my, I1d 'X g . III ,~ li.t1 I p i li , 's , I,ItlWI d U 1 1 l ,1 - o n ri n u 1 1 0 1 1wlri'hS\llt'gi'SI1I' dOIIdlO II U' ( 11 11 IOP'Wilh 'Ol\sthlilll whir hI I lot n t i, 1 ,iH i I. 1'10111 dl I IV i ln l I \I lid t \ 1 it -'II I'III II II v 1 .11 Cillt Iwc I I IIHII Illh n ill OIlClllli I' I 1\i IIIIII I III 1 1 \ If' '1 '1 1 1 1 , IlIIld 1 1 1 11 \ 1 '' 1 ,1 . tli IlIdll I Millti I , tllII I d I 1 1 11 11 1 II I (II ill I I 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 I I II 1 11 1 1 11 I III I I' Itli I I I


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r,6 Aparna Rao

minFOOD

production / extraction max>


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)

Each peripatetic community is in its cultural environment a minority. ethnic group, and very often it is of a different ethnic origin from its I

customers. Even when this is not the case, however, peripatetics are oftenregarded as foreigners, and this contributes partially to their socialmarginality. Barth (1969: 29) noted that ... ethnic membership is atonce a question of ... origin as well as of current identity:' Now, currentprofessional identity is a part of current social identity and the socialmarginality of a peripatetic community can thus be linked both to itsalleged origins as well as to its current identity, itself largely influencedby the professional activities of its members. In many societies the moralor religious ideologies of the customers result in certain professions be-ing despised, eventhough frequently, these professions are extremely im-portant. Such ideologies deeply affected the ial tatus f m stperipatetic in th ur p n Middl A (. n I r 1 7 ). 10 I iv lur n n v id N In th's ] rm n in h W I ' i l t Ii n w I w r k r w r o ' i II d e I i 1 I I I B I Ilhi II I I I 1 1 rll ( I I I 1 1 1 1 1(n I orl I il/dl II I I I 1 1\ I 11 1 1 nd II ('Ii l i l ' I/ V I (I hll I II I It I I

8 Aparna Raowith any recurring economic, cultural or seasonal factors. All empiricaldata now available on the migration patterns of peripatetics show,however, that their mobility is regular and closely linked to easily iden-tifiable and fixed parameters. The second characteristic of 'vagrancy' ap-pears to be the lack of a place to live in, a home in the widest sense ofthe word. Peripatetics, however, have a place to sleep in, be it theirtents, wagons, carts, caravans or huts, or in case only a part of the familyis mobile, their houses. The third feature of 'vagrancy' concerns occupa-t ion and profession: 'vagrants' have no precise occupations, no fixedsources of subsistence. Although economic adaptability is valued amongsome peripatetic communities, each group has at least one if not several(eventually sex-specific)professions, which are more or less specialized.Finally, it should be noted that 'vagrants' in any given area would notform an endogamous community, though they could form a gene pool.Peripatetics are, on the contrary, endogamous, and endogamy is one ofthe characteristics also marking them off against itinerant salesmen, in-dividual pedlars, hawkers, etc. In fact, one could go even further and af-firm that each peripatetic community represents a 'subsociety', as oppos-ed to a 'subculture' (Fine & Kleinman 1979).

Peripatetics and the Greater Society _

The concept of peripatetics: an introduction 9


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10 Aparna Raoand rain-makers on the other (Bollig this volume). The peripatetictinkers of the Sahara (Briggs 1960: 71) and the peripatetics living amongthe nomadic pastoral Iranian tribes of Fars (Amanolahi 1978: 15) writecharms and amulets, caste spells, perform marriages and carryonreligious ceremonies. In Turkey, wrote Garnett (1891: Vol. II p. 361) pe-ripatetic ... women are the witches par excellenc e, and on this account... as much feared by the ... populace as ... detested and despised.In northern Afghanistan sedentists believe that the peripatetic Jogi,quacks and fortune-tellers eat corpses and practice black magic (Rao1982b: 31, 1986a). Peripatetics are thus despised, yet feared. This appa-rent contradiction stems at least partially from the inherent contradic-tion in most societies between social and economic necessity and politicalauthority and order (Rao 1985: 99); the fate of the Skomoroxi, peripateticRussian minstrels (Zguta 1978, Voorheis 1982: 114-115) exemplifies thiscontradiction. Similarly, as Loeb (1977: 96) writes, the occupations ofpeddler ... imply considerable face-to-face interaction with diverse ele-ments of the population. People engaged in these activities are thereforein a position to exchange information with a wide variety of social groupsand thus may be said to perform the task of communicator ordisseminator of ideas. According to Sjoberg (1960: 135-137), it i s becauseof this extra-occupational role that such vocations were viewed with suspi-cion by the elite in feudal autocratic preindustrial societies .... Since theabove mentioned vocations were deemed necessary for economic reasons,it was advantageous to the authorities to have them fil led by people whowere not taken seriously by the populace. Outcaste groups, ridiculed andse g reg ated , served this function well .. :' In their chapters on 'Gypsies'in Europe both Kaminski and L ieg eo is show clearly how these principleswere and are applicable in industrialized societies as well.

Table ISet of complementary oppositions between peripatetics and their host societies.

~ vc (\N 11\.) \A t0?\,.~ '

PERIPATETICSMarginalWildNatureDisorderNeutralPowerAn m yII '1 '. I I I. '( (

(l IHlll 1'111 III \ I it) 11 OSI(I HI hi h\I' I 1111ll, 'I'II

HOST SOCIETYMainstreamTameCultureOrderParti anA u r h rityL a w fu ln e s s

1111ll', hI v I, ill (I 1.l1i I \I pl 11111Illd ' III tll I II

The concept of peripatetics: an introduction 11tion peripatet ic s entertain with their host societies, but also to numerousother groups, such as smiths in very many cultures, women in certaincommunities and~ groups in certain contexts (d. Goldberg1978), i~ fact to all groups :,,)o~. ~e ;,ese~t p~ibilities forbidden bythe reality of the .. ~SO'Clal structure (Lindholm 1981: 521). Somecnapt;;;in this-volume raise these issues and explain how the combina-tion of a low socio-political status and high ritual status function inreality.

The Peripatetic Niche: Symbiosis and Parasitism?Since there are few systematic studies of peripatetics very little has

been reported till now about the roles they play and the place(s) th yoccupy in the structural relations of general interaction among differ ntcommunities, Can one legitimately consider the 'peripatetic niche' ( f.Berland 1978, 1979a, 1979b) as unique, or does it vary with the gr up,and consequently also with its environment (d. in this volum thchapters by Salo, Bollig and Casimir, also Rao in press a? Peri pat ti 'have very often been dubbed parasites and predators (e.g. Bain 1 1 :109, Barth 1975: 286, Fisher 1981: 64, Berland 1982: 76-77). Thi im-plies that peripatetics prey on their hosts. The basic point at que r i nis therefore, 'Do eri atetics fulfill economic and/or social need f th 'larger society?' To ascertain this, an examination of both the r I w I i hperipatetics play within the soc ial fabric at any given point f tim swell as the rewards (direct and indirect, immediate and longterm) whihare allocated to them as incumbents of these role is required, Th n. turof both roles and rewards depends largely on the level f dev I pm 'litof the forces of production, but i al 0 cl sely link d t the id I gi 1base, the norms and values of the p ifi ntext. Th at I c t r pp r r 'Illly ambiguou nature f r lati ns bc iw n p ripat ti an I theircustomers further mpli a t c h i , i ss I',

An examinati 11 f th L t. LV. il. II sh


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12 Aparna Raotions to the subject. It appears that the higher and the more constantthe rates of exchange, the greater the degree of specialization within theperipatetic community. Hence, if each peripatetic community is con-sidered as committed to its own special ized means of production, asdistinct from other peripatetic communities exploiting the sameresources, it may be considered as occupying a specific niche of its own.On the other hand, considered as committed to a specialized mode forsubsistence - commercialism - all peripatetics as opposed to say allpatoral nomads, shifting cultivators, etc., may be judged as occupying .thespecific niche of mobile communities offering their goods and servicesfor sale.Since the concept of need is culture specific, and must varydiachronically, I suggest that parasitism and symbiosis should be viewedas lying on a scale along which the interacting agents need each otherto varying degrees; the nature of the interaction is situated on a con-tinuum between near symbiosis and near parasitism. Most of the caseslie somewhere in between these two extremes and their position shiftsaccording to various factors. ; - 0 e '. /< ~ t ~r.

Patterns of Political and Economic InteractionThe overall political context of interaction between peripatetics and

their neighbours is comparable to a 'dependency chain' (Van den Berghe1975: 73 -75), with the peripatetic always occupying the weaker end ofthis chain. Within this broad context two pat terns of economic andpolitical interaction emerge between peripatetics and their customers:they may be termed contiguity and attachment. It is doubtfulwhether there are, especially in non-industrial societies, peripatetics whoare neither contiguous, nor attached to their customers.

Peripatetics may be said to be con t i gu 0u s to their customers whenthey live primarily independently, but visit their customers at more orless regular intervals. Attachment, on the other hand, may be ob erv-ed when peripatetics live with a given group of customers and w rkprimarily, if not exclusively for them. In a contigu us it u at i nperipatetics may thus be economically dependent n vari u lu t r fcustomer, wherea when th yar t h d t h ir us t m rs , h y rrt n n tir J y d nd n n hi. A n \ ( m e f rrn I r -n In 'ruil1f\ m t. .hn -nt c I I l u tI 'I ill~ 0 iri] 111,1 luv 1 ,1 1 1 1 1I II Illidl 111 I , I' H I II III III 1I1lt111'11,

The concept of peripatetics: an introduction 13The customers of a given peripatetic community may consist entirely

of sedentary townspeople and/or villagers, or entirely of pastoralnomads, or again of a combination of the three in varying proportions.Purely hunter-gatherer customers are rare, the only instance known tome being that of the Bavarlof Central India (Baines 1912: 105). By andlarge while contiguity seems the form of interaction most commonlyencountered between peripatetics and sedentist customers, attachmentappears frequent with pastoral groups; it is thus no coincidence that thetwo papers in th is volume about peripatetics attached to their customersdeal with pastoral contexts (Lancaster &Lancaster and Casajus). Whilea very large number of pastoral groups in North Africa, Arabia, Turkey,Iran and Baluchistan have at least one peripatetic group living withthem, in some cases (Barth 1961: 92, Ehmann 1974: 144, Amanolahi1978) the nature of the interact ion is intermediate between attachmentand contiguity, with the peripatetics also having sedentary ruralcustomers. Peripatetic Anne musicians in Niger, originally having onlysedentary farmer patrons are now also turning to patrons among Fulaniand Bugaje pastoral nomads (Erlmann 1981: 74).

Peripatetics are compensated by their customers, immediately or overlonger periods of time in cash, kind or services (see Fig. 2). The natureof the compensation is obviously correlated with the customers' socio-economic conditions, and generally urban customers tend to give cashor food immediately while rural sedentists and pastoralists tend to com-pensate more in kind and/or services, sometimes immediately, but moreoften on a long term basis. Compensation in kind consists primarily offoodstuffs, but also of fodder for pack animals, old clothes, shoes, etc.The foodstuffs received are consumed immediately and when there is asurplus it is either stored to be consumed later (Misra 1965: 168, Rao1982b) or at least partly sold at a profit (Berland 1982: 81, Rao &Casimir 1983, in press). In her chapter Olesen describes this bartersystem at length, and shows how barter affects the internal economicorganization of the Sheikh Mohammadi of Afghanistan.

Compensati n in services rendered by customer groups or individualsnits mainly, if n t wh lly , of granting direct or indirect political

patr nag. Th [orrn f thi p tr nag varie a cording to whetherhu t rn rs rc scdcnu y r n mad i .n nd al rd ing t th s ci-

n rnic strucru ) t hci ow n s -jt.W I1 l1 h sc dcnt isc .ndI. t I Il10m I I \ I I 1 11 ' 1 I I \ I I i, I'li ouuuunity, thisI liti '.1I III II ~ j I II I I d t III, il II III, I I' I II I n 11111, Willi IIII 11II it Iii I . II I I IltlvlIl \I i l l III II II I I 1 1 1 1 \ 11 1 1 11 1 II 1 \ iv I


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14 Aparna Rao

< /)t-


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~ ---- _ .16 Aparna Raoof goods, services and labour to a host economy where demand is ir-regular in time and place (Okely 1975: 114).Predictability and frequen-cy of demand for goods and services offered by peripatetics are whatdetermines their existence and viability in a given area (Fig. 3) . The de-mand for new, or repaired agricultural and household implements, ritualservices, etc., may be classified as highly predictable since the activitiesof the customers for which these goods and services are required tendto be seasonal, annual, etc. The frequency of demand isthus determinedby the more or less long gapsbetween the periods of demand. Durabilityand price also influence the frequency of demand. The higher thedurability of an object, the lower the frequency of demand in absoluteterms. Generally, also the higher the price the remoter the chances thatthe customer will be prepared to buy the' product often. Thus, in ruralor urban centres itinerant pedlars and artisans often manage very wellin spite of stiff competi tion from sedentists, simply because they keeptheir prices low. In remoter areas, however, they may do good businessin spite of their high prices. On the whole, the lower the frequency ofdemand the greater the mobility of the peripatetic community must be,since a larger potential customer population must be reached by widerranging migrat ion circuits. The demand for the services of the peripa-tetic fortune - teller, quack, prostitute, musician (except for ceremonialoccasions) and entertainers generally, may be diff icult to predict . A la-tent demand is always present for these services and it has seasonal orother cyclic periods of intensity. But this demand is not universal andthus, the lower the predictability the larger the total potential customerpopulation required to sustain a given peripatetic population. In theirchapter here Gmelch and Gmelch postulate that the movements ofperipatetic Gypsies and Travellers in England and Wales are more fre-quent and lesspredictable than those of most nomadic pastoral peoplesand hunters and gatherers.

Referring to the relations between peripatetics and their customerssome writers have termed peripatetics 'castes' or 'clients' (Toupet 1963,Van Bruinessen 1978: 140, Bollig this volume). Digard (1978: 44-45),like others before him asks whether, in the absence of a caste system inthe region, peripatetics can be legitimately called ca tes, or wh th r itwould be more appropriate to peak f a patr nodi nt sy se m rn -plementary tala i ty . Th pr upp iti n f, t i ' I gy ...tha h pnm iion bcrwcc n na rn cd ,rsis.lS>lul'.nlil1ll'i'l,i1I(L . .h 171: 7) i , Iii ll y , I ut n: I 'IHi, I li . 1 1 II II , dill Ii( 11\lll IIIi Ii , lo v,, iI I III I III d III I III I I II t i III I III Ii

The concept of peripatetics: an introduction 17

high

FREQUENCYOF DEMAND/ \igh low/ \REDICTABILITYOF DEMANDIlow

CUSTOMERPOPULATION/\arge smallHIGHLY MOBILEP ER IP A TETI S

PREDICTABILITYOF DEMAND

high

LESS MOBILEP ERIP A TETI CS

'I ipl\ 'Ii11 1 1 1 I v


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18 Aparna Raoto their customers entertain jajmani-type relations with them, jajmanibeing defined as ... durable relations ... essentially those between afood-producing family and the families that supply them with goods andservices ... (Mandelbaum 1972: 161). Even between peripatetics andtheir contiguous customers, relations may be analogous to those of jaj-mani (Hayden this volume, Misra 1969, Berland 1982: 81, Wiser 1969:43-44), although even in India they may not always be recognized assuch, especially since a group must reside in a given village in order tobe officially part of this system (Wiser 1969: 44). Data on the migrationpatterns of contiguous peripatetics also show clearly that not only aretheir migration circuits fairly strict, but also that they are territoriallyorganized and that these territories and thus the customers are quitestrictly inherited within fixed social units (d. Rao 1982b, in press a).

. Leonardo Piasere's chapter on the Xoraxane contains a very interestingdiscussion on the topic of territoriality among peripatetics.

Social Strategies of SurvivalGiven their generally precarious socia l s ituat ion in the macro-society,

peripatetics have to resort to strategies of self-conservation and developmethods to boost their self-esteem (d. Casimir this volume). Nomadismand frequent fission of residence units/camps appears to be one fairlycommon method resorted to when internal conflict situations arise (d.Gmelch &Gmelch this volume and Berland this volume); but this is notspecific to peripatetics. Among peripatetics the use of self-imposed ethnicmarkers separat ing them from the surrounding populations appears to becharacteristic. These self-imposed markers must be clearly distinguishedfrom markers which are of great signi ficance for non-group members (d.Rao in press b) but may be of little symbol ic value for group members.Language, genealogy and religion in order of importance are the mostcommon markers within the group, and in certa in societies language andreligion can also be important markers for non-group members.I The use of a means of linguistic communication which ~sent.irely ,i~-I telligible only among group members, and at be t only partially intelligi-ble to non-members is the commonest pr tective devic mpl yed by

\ peripatetics. Originally, uch a 'languag , rnt y n t hay rv d ih pur-p F a mark r, but mnny nt m I. Y I rip, t nics 10 ns i uslyuse i in his rn ann crEvcn within rh me 'O llli ll 1 \1(111 o l'il lil,li llH(I( 111ell' linll lli Ii' 11 n m liv '1 111 I IIIif 1 .1 11n C I I lin llti I i I 'Ido ll I

The concept of peripatetics: an introduction 19this is a common phenomenon in many parts of Africa (Bollig t~isvolume) and in South Asia (Ryan 1953: 142, Childers 1975: 247, Kurian& Bhanu 1980 Berland 1982: 62-63; see also R.M. Hayden 1981).However even' when the language of the peripatetics is basically thesame as that of their clients and customers, and thus intel,ligible to t~ela tter , a tendency to use a different lingo among themselv~s ISnoted. ~hlstongue can be either 'real' or 'artificia~'; the Adurgan, of the Sh~lkhMohammadi of Afghanistan (Olesen this volume, Ra~ III ~r~ss c) IS anexample of the la tter. Whether 'real' or 'a~tificial.', the lIngUIstIc. purposeachieved is that of a 'secret language' and III fact It appears that III Egyptrotani the language of some peripatetic groups, literally means '~ecretlanguage' (Weber 1986). In some parts of the world the vocabulan~s ofthese 'secret languages' are a remarkable mixture d~awn from vanouslanguages, including Romany (Rosander 1976: 156, ?Igar~, 19~8: 46,-:47;Lerch 1981), and in the Middle East these vocabulanes are ... g~~slfled. .. (by) the addition of various suffixes . .. (the) t:ansposmon ofsyllables, etc, (Ivan ow 1922: 375). In his chapter CasaJ~s. reports th~tthe secret language of the Inadan is also formed by the addi tion of certainprefixes and suffixes (d. also Bollig this volume): .'

Peripatetics often boost their self esteem and prestige by ref~rnng to kin- I \ihip ties or other (even negative) r~lat~onships tO,an hl~toncal.ar legen- \d : ry, religious or secular personality Important III t~elr lo cal ity . Thuswhile some 'Gypsy' legends mention the vague part their ancestors playedin the crucifixion of Christ, the Gaine of Nepal (Helffer 1977: 51), andh Ramosis of western India (S ch lag in rweit 1884: 72) claim respectivelyIh andharvas and Rama of Hindu mythology as their ancestors. TheMid an of Somalia claim descent from Dir, generally regarded as the, Id s t mali stock (Goldsmith & Lewis 1958: 189) and the Ghorbat ,?fAfgh, ni tan trace de cent from the assanian monarch Key Kayhan(It 1 82b: 41f'). In her chapter Asta Ien, aso m,entions that theSh .ikh M hammadi laim a 1 ally r p t d rchgl u fIgure as ancesto~,ln t lif~ r nt ti n s of th rnrnunity v n dispu t the de~r e f pun-t o this I S n t, Also o rni ni quc s jus r ports c I at while m In-, ld , n I ,im he Pr ophet r avid ns ih .ir : 11 S t r, ihc rs onsi I r tl t ,1 1PIOII, M lh. ru m : I w. s r'SI onsnhlc (I', I~i~'.n: 's t r's ~ . ()~I~gP '1 il ate i ()I ' I h ' ~IIh I 'g '1 1 I~ ,~ II l1I 1 ' IllS V )lul, .). Su hf \ 1'\('1I0lli, I IIl,tilll' I'inlol . Ih' I illil I lO W 'I' , n I I , I '~(II.' 0 111,J1 ti l Ii WOIII, '1 '111 1 , ill Ollllt III I t III 0111 '1 'III 11 '11 I1Il l I~)I,

I I III liv I, IHIIIII III till I I II It I Molt 1111 11) \(1 , Ito II VIII\1, , IIII I i III II III 1 1 Itl lid I I' II I i III ill I 111111 11 1 1 \I I I' II III


11/17

20 Aparna Raodingly dress l ike Sayyeds and perform rituals normally performed by thelatter alone (Amanolahi 1978: 15). In his chapter Michael Casimirdiscusses at length the legends of origin of several peripatetic groups andsuggests that these legends reflect the hardship of their way of life andserve, simultaneously to reduce psychological stress.

Finally, many per ipatet ics have a distinctive religion or weltanschau-ung, which acts as a basic ideology for the community, and in its owneyes renders it morally superior to all its neighbours. The rigid purityand po llu tion ideo logy of some peripatetic 'Gypsies' is an exce ll ent ex-ample of this phenomenon; similarly in certain Islamic societiesperipatetics are Shias, whereas the majority of the sedentists are Sunnis.In his chapter Kaminski examines the use of taboo concepts by 'Gypsies'in thei r resistance to cultural assimi la tion and the chapter on the Tahtaci

. of Turkey shows how their belief sys tem protects them against culturalabsorption.

The Rise and Fall of PeripateticsThe sparse references available in historical records enable one to deduce

the ex istence of it ine rant communi tie s sel ling thei r goods and serv ices inmany parts of the world from early times (Bli imner 1918, Gaheis 1927).Jacobson (1975: 88) has suggested that the rock shelters of Central Indiadating from between the 6th and 1st centuries B.C. may have been inha-bi ted or visi ted by nomadic smi ths. Ancient Japan had i tineran t art isans,travelling showmen, etc. (Ninomiya 1933: 75-77), and in his chapterDavid Nemeth cites evidence for such communities in ancient Korea too.It is al so known that travelling entertainers were part of the ancient Indianscene (Basham 1954: 209-210, Berland thi s volume) and in medieval In-dia trade was partly in the hands of peripatetics (Thapar 1966: 295). TheSassanian monarch Bahram Gur is supposed to have first importedmusic ians and dancers into Iran and then banished them, so that theybecame itinerant (d. Dehhoda 1330 HS). De Planhol (1966: 278) haargued for the existence in Central Asia also of itinerant artisan ca tprior to the Genghis Khan era. References are al ~ und to it in rant m -munities of entertainers and arti an in Afri a; f r x m p l i n th arly16th century Le Afri anu m nti 11 d 'll h n mun itic , u th f hAda M L in t , in wh lid t th ir g ne I g I ,I Iw hUll I, I-,rs(13, .har 1 8 0 : 1 7),.nI17Ih' 111111 1~lhi I i,1l C i I livid1

in v I lou II Hit I Oil c I hi hell i I I II il ill I \III illf'1 I 111

The concept of peripatetics: an introduction 21beggars (Beckingham & Huntingford 1954: 126). For centuries Europealso has known mobi le communit ie s of art isans, pedlars, entert ainersand the l ike (e .g. A ve-Lallernan t 1858, Arnold 1980, Gunda 1981, Irsigler&Lassot ta 1984), many of whom were endogamous; from the 15th cen-tury onwards, 'Gypsies' could be added to this list, al though many gotsedentar ized fairly ear ly. ILit tle empi rical data i s avai lable about the evo lution and development i .of peripatet ic communi ties, but it appears that many contemporaryperipatetics evolved from hunter-gatherers, or nomadic pastoralists, while \some were peasants or sedentist craftsmen. The change over from a pri-marily hunter-gatherer subsistence to a primarily peripatetic one appearsto have taken place ei the r when the hunte r-ga therers were pushed intomarg ina l a reas where resources were too low, by expansionis t peasants orpastoral nomads (Bacon 1954: 48, Bose 1956, Adhikari 1974), o r whenhunters and gatherers gradually grew unab le to depend on uni -resourceubsistence, largely because of deforesta tion (Bhowmick 1973 in Gup ta1976). Some peripatetics were originally pastoral nomads (see Bollig, Rouxthis volume), but turned to a peripatetic way of life either because theyI st their herds and pastures as an aftermath of war (Doughty 1888), ordue to p rogressive impoverishment caused for example in Mongolia byxcessive interest paid to moneylenders (Legrand, pers. comm.). Contem-P rary Waata in East Africa are an example of a peripatetic group many

whose members try and become pastoral to join the Boran, whilethers settle and become urban merchants (Legesse, pers. comm.).

ther data point towards a peasant origin (d. Berland this volume) r p ripatetics whose ancestors were driven from their lands by agressors(I ughty 1888) or because sudden, and perhaps recurring catastrophies,1I .h famines and earthquakes led to hunger and destitution, and final-I t p ripatetic way of life (Crooke 1888: 69, Berland 1982: 75). Final-I , s m peripatetics may have originally been sedentary art isans (de1'1 .11 h I 1966: 279). Invading armies who brought artisans along withIh '111 ort n 1 ft t h m b hind when they left (see Nemeth this volume);W \I 1 s t r ught in its wake destruction of the infrastructure and seden-I II ar is. n s s m tirn b am e refugees unable to settle anywhere in the1 1 1 1 t ~ r u n ( . w r I J97 ,R. 1 2b). It i further likely that certainII Iii tc tic 111m un I I arc h u t m findividual getting togetherI, vII i liS In , ,I l th n buildi: UI. n w m rn u niry , ArnoldI 'H O h i \IH't l i l t i in 1'111 1 iibe n l c h hi yy r'warIII It I V I' I I I I I I II c II I' 1 \ I I I 1 \ I I i l l Ii v i Iu I iI i n n lII rllli , 1 1 II \ I I 1 11 1 1 I hiI'I \1 11 lit lit I tli lOll III with ill


12/17

22 Aparna Raodivi?ual 'Gypsies' - evolved to form what are today known as theyemsh (d. Lerch 1981).It does seem certain that by the late 15th centuryin parts of Germany peripatetic ... Musiker gerieten immer sehr leichtin Verdacht kriminell zu sein oder mit zwielichtigen Elementen Verbin-dungen zu haben .. . (Irsigler & Lassotta 1984: 136). In contemporaryHausaland, the Yan Goge who are peripatetic musicians and actors arealso an example of this development (Olofson 1980). In a somewhatsimilar fashion D~vid Nemeth uses the theory of riverine migrancy tosuggest some possible ways for the evolution of peripatetics in Korea andelsewhere.

On. th: :vhole disastrous events encouraged, or even obliged groupsand. md~vId~als having various, subsistence activities to adopt aperipatetic li fe style (Tab. II). Existing prejudices, write Irsigler andLassotta (1984: 13) were reinforced in Europe in the Middle Ages by

* * *

OR I GI NS OF P E R I P A T E T I C S

s u d d e n *HU NT GA T H P AS T NO M P E AS ANT S S E D A R T I S A N S-


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