APPENDIX I: RAIKA BIODIVERSITY REGISTER
We steward the following breeds of livestock. Some of them have been exclusively developed by us,
while others have been jointly developed with other communities.
1. Nari cattle
The Nari cattle breed is bred by the Raika of Sirohi district and the southwestern tip of Bali
tehsil in Pali district (villages Bhatund and Kothar), as well as a few villages in Jalore district. It
has not been recognized by scientists. We keep this breed not primarily to produce milk but to
breed and to sell offspring to farmers who need a good milking cow or a pair of bullocks.
According to our folklore, the Nari cattle was first domesticated by the Bhil, but then passed on
to the Gujjars. We took it over from the Gujjars when we arrived in the area from Jaisalmer.
The Nari cattle is of whitish-gray colour,
medium size, and has very long forward
pointing horns. The shape of the horns is
unique and like that of wild cattle. It has a
dished nose with prominent protruding
eyes and a (“goli”), making the cow very
beautiful. Its tail is long and supposed to
reach well below the hocks, and with a
black tip.
The Nari cattle is very sure-footed in hilly
terrain and also able to defend itself and
its calves from predators, including leopards. The cows jointly pursue aggressors. A Nari cow is
extremely alert and it defends its owner against any attackers. The breed is also very disease
resistant, the only problem being occasional outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth Disease.
We keep the Nari cattle in large herds of 100-150 animals and take them on migration, usually
to Gujarat. Over night the animals stay in thorn enclosures. The bull runs with the herd and is
exchanged (“satta”) every four years to prevent inbreeding which is a sin. We believe in guna
or pure-breeding and to not dilute the traits and good quality of the breed, we select the
breeding bull with great care based on its lineage and performance of female relatives.
The Nari breed combines good milk yields with good draughtability of the male animals. Pairs of
Nari bullocks are a frequent sight in Sirohi district and in the Godwar area of Pali district.
Because of the absence of dairy cooperatives, the bulk of the milk is processed into mava, the
basis for the local sweets. The mava is sold every two days by a middleman who handles this
business for several families. Most of the mava is sold in Udaipur and in Mt. Abu.
Sometimes we also sell fresh milk to the dairy societies when on migration in Gujarat. The male
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