Bagar, also Bagad (बागड़) and even Bar, a term meaning the "dry country",Nonica Datta

The Tribune ''The Tribune'' or ''Tribune'' is the name of various newspapers: United States Daily California *'' Oakland Tribune'' * ''The Tribune'' (San Luis Obispo) *''San Gabriel Valley Tribune'' Indiana *'' Kokomo Tribune'' *'' Peru Tribune'' * ''The Tri ...

, 3 July 1999. refers to the sandy tract of north-western

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and eastern parts of current

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

bordering India. For example, area north and south of

Ravi river The Ravi River () is a transboundary river crossing northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. It is one of five rivers associated with the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two other rivers were ...

between

Chenab river The Chenab River () is a major river that flows in India and Pakistan, and is one of the 5 major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul regi ...

and Sutlej is called Ihang Bar.1892 , Haryana District Gazetteers: Ambala district gazetteer, Page 2.

Etymology

Bagar means the

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

(grazing shrubs and grassland) of northern Rajputana,Elaine King,1998, Tales & legends of India, Page 61. which likely comes from

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

Arabic word "bagar" meaning "cow" ( sacred to Hindus),2002, Abubakar Garba, "State, city and society: processes of urbanisation", University of Maiduguri - Centre for Trans Saharan Studies, Archaeological Association of Nigeria, Page 82. derived from the Arabic word "cattle".Mohamet Lawan, 1997, No travel is little, Page 66. ''

Baggara The Baggāra ( ar, البَقَّارَة "heifer herder") or Chadian Arabs are a nomadic confederation of people of mixed Arab and Arabized indigenous African ancestry, inhabiting a portion of the Sahel mainly between Lake Chad and the Nile ri ...

'' in Arabic means "cattle herders".Deepak Kumar Behera,

Georg Pfeffer Georg Pfeffer (17 January 1943 — 20 May 2020) was a German anthropologist. Born in 1943 in Berlin to a German sociologist father and a British mother, he was schooled in Hamburg. In 1959, he moved to Lahore with his family, and studied at the c ...

, 2002, The concept of tribal society, Page 284.Jemera Rone, Brian Owsley, Human Rights Watch/Africa, 1996, Behind the Red Line: Political Repression in Sudan, Page 274. Bagar tract refers to the

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

semi-fertile rain-fed sandy shrubby grassland tract at the confluence of

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ...

Thar Desert The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Subcontinent that covers an area of and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world's 20th-largest desert, a ...

and fertile bangar and khadir areas of Indo-Gangetic Plain, which as historically inhabited by the cattle herders who remained semi-nomadic until they began to adapt to settled life in the mid to late Medieval Period. Before the adoption of the Arabic name bagar, the area was earlier known as

Jangladesh Jangladesh, also known as Janglu, was a historical region in north, north-western and north-eastern Rajasthan state in northern India. It included the present-day districts of Bikaner, Churu, Ganganagar, and Hanumangarh. It was bounded on th ...

during the

Vedic era The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (ca. 1300–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, betw ...

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...

and even in early medieval times at least until the end of Hindu reign of

Prithviraj Chauhan Prithviraja III ( IAST: Pṛthvī-rāja; reign. – 1192 CE), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora, was a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, with his capital at Ajmer in presen ...

. ''Rājputāna'', meaning "Land of the

Rajputs Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

", is a historic term for a region in

that includes mainly the present-day

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

, parts of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

and

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, as well as adjoining areas of Punjab and Haryana, and some adjoining areas of Sindh in modern-day southern Pakistan. It lies to the west of the Aravalli Hills, and was earlier known as Samarkand, the earlier form of

Registan The Registan (Uzbek language, Uzbek: Регистон, Registon) was the heart of the ancient city of Samarkand of the Timurid Empire, now in Uzbekistan. The name ''Rēgistan'' () means "sandy place" or "desert" in Persian language, Persian. Th ...

, before it came to be known as ''Rajputana'', early in the

Medieval Period In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. The name was later adopted by British government as the

Rajputana Agency The Rajputana Agency was a political office of the British Indian Empire dealing with a collection of native states in Rajputana (now in Rajasthan, northwestern India), under the political charge of an Agent reporting directly to the Governor ...

for its dependencies in the region of the present-day

n state of Rājasthān, which comprised 18 princely states, two chiefships and the British district of

Ajmer-Merwara Ajmer-Merwara, also known as Ajmir Province and as Ajmer-Merwara-Kekri, was a former province of British India in the historical Ajmer region. The territory was ceded to the British by Daulat Rao Sindhia by a treaty on 25 June 1818. It was u ...

, which was renamed to "Rajasthan" in 1949.

Bagri people

Mani Ram Bagri with Rajiv Gandhi and others

The term ''Bagri people'' was originally applied to the Hindu Jats,B.S. Nijjar, 2008
"Origins and History of Jats and Other Allied Nomadic Tribes of India: 900 B.C.-1947 A.D."
Atlantic Publishers, page 51, .Nonica Datta, 1999
"Forming an Identity: A Social History of the Jats

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

Press, page 12.

Gurjar Gurjar or Gujjar (also transliterated as ''Gujar, Gurjara and Gujjer'') is an ethnic nomadic, agricultural and pastoral community, spread mainly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were tra ...

s and

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

s, such as Bagri Jat and Bagri

bishnoi Bishnoi (also known as Vishnoi) is a community found in the Western Thar Desert and northern states of India. They follow a set of 29 principles/commandments given by Guru Jambheshwar (also known as Guru Jambhoji, Guru Jambha Ji) (1451-1536) ...

sub casteRobert Vane Russell, 1916
"pt. II. Descriptive articles on the principal castes and tribes of the Central Provinces"
page 435.Robert Vane Russell, 1916
"The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India (Volumes I and II)"
Library of Alexandria publication, .B.S. Nijjar, 2008
"Origins and History of Jats and Other Allied Nomadic Tribes of India: 900 B.C.-1947 A.D."
Atlantic Publishers, page 51, .2000
"Haryana District Gazetteers: Rohtak district gazetteer, 1910"

Government of Haryana The Government of Haryana, also known as the State Government of Haryana, or locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Haryana and its 22 districts. It consists of an executive, ceremonially led ...

Gazetteers organization, page 237.Vīrasiṃha, 2006
"The Jats: Their Role & Contribution to the Socio-economic Life and Polity of North & North-west India, Volume 2"
page 305, .Nonica Datta, 1999
"Forming an Identity: A Social History of the Jats

Press, page 12. but now also applied to

Bishnoi Bishnoi (also known as Vishnoi) is a community found in the Western Thar Desert and northern states of India. They follow a set of 29 principles/commandments given by Guru Jambheshwar (also known as Guru Jambhoji, Guru Jambha Ji) (1451-1536) ...

Jats2000
"Haryana District Gazetteers: Rohtak district gazetteer, 1910"

Gazetteers organization, page 237.Vīrasiṃha, 2006
"The Jats: Their Role & Contribution to the Socio-economic Life and Polity of North & North-west India, Volume 2"
page 305, . one of the sections of Agarwal Banias and Maheshwari banias as well as Badhik ("butcher"), Pardhi ("hunter") and Bawariya (semi-nomads) castes. Prominent bagri people include was politician from Haryana

Mani Ram Bagri Ch. Mani Ram Bagri (1 January 1920 – 31 January 2012) was an Indian parliamentarian and political activist. He served three terms in the Indian Parliament, first from 1962 to 1967, and then again from 1977 to 1984. He belonged to the league of ...

(1 January 1920 – 31 March 2012, a politician from Haryana),

Raj Bagri, Baron Bagri Raj Kumar Bagri, Baron Bagri, (24 August 1930 – 26 April 2017) was an Indian-born British businessman and a Conservative member of the House of Lords from 1997 to 2010. He was made a life peer in 1997 under the title Baron Bagri, of Regent's ...

(24 August 1930 – 26 April 2017, India-born British businessman and a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

from 1997 to 2010, who was made a life peer in 1997).

Bagri language

Bagri people of the sandy dry Bagar tract speak the

Bagri language The Bagri language (باگڑی/बागड़ी) is a language that forms a dialect bridge between Haryanvi, Rajasthani, and Punjabi and takes its name from the Bagar tract region of Northwestern India. The speakers are mostly in India, wit ...

(बागड़ी), a

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

of overlapping

Rajasthani language Rajasthani (Devanagari: ) refers to a group of Indo-Aryan languages and dialects spoken primarily in the state of Rajasthan and adjacent areas of Haryana, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh in India. There are also speakers in the Pakistani provinces ...

Haryanvi language Haryanvi ( ' or '), also known as Bangru, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the state of Haryana in India, and to a lesser extent in Delhi. Haryanvi is considered to be part of the dialect group of Western Hindi, which also includes Khari ...

and

Punjabi language Punjabi (; ; , ), sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It has approximately 113 million native speakers. Punjabi is the most widely-spoken first language in Pakistan, with 80.5 ...

of the Indo-Aryan family, spoken by about five million speakers.

Bagri region

Bagri region or tract is long strip of shifting sand dunes called ''tibba'' (टिब्बा) and relatively semi-fertile lands between them called ''lal'' (लाळ ) along the western border of

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...

and eastern border of

. The Bagar region has potentially very fertile

alluvial soil Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

interspersed with highly permeable very sandy tracts in several places with

water table The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated. T ...

more than 100 feet below ground containing

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

usually unfit for human consumption, where

dust storm A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transp ...

s frequent during the warm summer months from April till the end of July when

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...

arrives. Previously the tract was solely based on the rain and irrigation was possible only in the small area of Bagar region in districts of Fatehabad, Sirsa, Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar where the season

Ghaggar river The Ghaggar-Hakra River is an intermittent river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season. The river is known as Ghaggar in India, before the Ottu barrage, and as the Hakra in Pakistan, downstream of the barrage, ending ...

flows. After the opening of

Bhakra Nangal Dam Bhakra Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Sutlej River in Bhakra Village near Bilaspur in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh in northern India. The dam forms the Gobind Sagar reservoir. The dam, located at a gorge near the (now submerg ...

canal system in 1963 as well as the earlier

Western Yamuna Canal Western Yamuna Canal is canal in river Yamuna that was dug out and renovated in 1335 CE by Firoz Shah Tughlaq. In 1750 CE, excessive silting caused it to stop flowing. The British raj undertook a three-year renovation in 1817 by Captain GR Blane ...

now irrigate most of Haryana including all of the Bagar region falling in Haryana on its western border. Opening of

Indira Gandhi Canal The Indira Gandhi Canal (originally, Rajasthan Canal) is the longest canal in India. It starts at the Harike Barrage near Harike, a few kilometers downriver from the confluence of the Satluj and Beas rivers in Punjab state, and ends in irriga ...

in 1983 brought the water of Sutlej and

Beas Beas is a riverfront town in the Amritsar district of the Indian state of Punjab. Beas lies on the banks of the Beas River. Beas town is mostly located in revenue boundary of Budha Theh with parts in villages Dholo Nangal and Wazir Bhullar. ...

rivers to the fields of Rajasthan including its Bagar tract stabilizing the sand dunes and soil erosion by preventing the expansion of desert.E. Walter Coward, 1980
"Irrigation and Agricultural Development in Asia: Perspectives from the social sciences"

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

press, page 302, . In Haryana, it covers southern parts of

Sirsa district Sirsa district is the largest district of Haryana state. Sirsa is the district headquarters. It is located on National Highway 9 and from the capital Delhi. Etymology The district is named after its headquarters, Sirsa. The name, Sirsa is der ...

(earlier known as

Bhattiana Bhattiana is a tract of land lying in the Indian states of Haryana and Punjab between Hisar and the Garra. It was named ''Bhattiana'' because of being ruled by Bhatti Rajputs. Origin of name This geographical area derives its name from the ...

), and western villages of Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri districts. In

, it covers parts of tehsils of

Ganganagar Sri Ganganagar is a planned city and the northernmost city of the Indian state of Rajasthan, near the international border of India and Pakistan. It is the administrative headquarters of Sri Ganganagar district. It is named after Maharaja Shri ...

;

Bhadra ''Bhadra''Feminine: sa, भद्रा, Bhadrā is a Sanskrit word meaning 'good', 'fortune' or 'auspicious'. It is also the name of many men, women and objects in Hindu mythology. Male Figures King of Chedi Bhadra was a king of Chedi Kingdom ...

, Nohar in

Hanumangarh Hanumangarh is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, situated on the banks of the river Ghaggar also identified as Ancient Sarasvati river, located about 400 km from Delhi. It is the administrative seat of Hanumangarh District. The c ...

district; Taranagar tehsil in Churu district.India District Census Handboook, 1961
/ref> In Punjab (India), bagar tract covers

Fazilka district Fazilka district is one of new and 23 districts in the state of Punjab in India. The district headquarters of the Fazilka District are at Fazilka. History On 27 July 2011, the Government of Punjab created two new districts: Fazilka district by ...

and southern villages of

Muktsar district Sri Muktsar Sahib district, colloquially known by the city's former name Muktsar; is one of the 23 districts in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. The city was renamed from Muktsar to Sri Muktsar Sahib. The district itself was historical ...

.Census India 2001
/ref> In

Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...

, Bagri as minor language is spoken in

Bahawalpur Bahawalpur () is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. With inhabitants as of 2017, it is Pakistan's 11th most populous city. Founded in 1748, Bahawalpur was the capital of the former princely state of Bahawalpur, ruled by the Abbasi fa ...

and

Bahawalnagar district Bahawalnagar District (Urdu and pa, ), is a district of Punjab province in Pakistan. Before the independence of Pakistan, Bahawalnagar was part of Bahawalpur state governed by the Nawab of Bahawalpur. The city of Bahawalnagar is the capital ...

, though these are not considered parts of Bagar tract.Gusain, Lakhan: Reflexives in Bagri. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 1994Gusain, Lakhan: Limitations of Literacy in Bagri.

Nicholas Ostler Nicholas Ostler (; born 20 May 1952) is a British scholar and author. Biography and work Ostler studied at Balliol College, Oxford, where he received degrees in Greek, Latin, philosophy, and economics. He later studied under Noam Chomsky at ...

Blair Rudes Blair Arnold Rudes (May 18, 1951 – March 16, 2008) was an American linguist and professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte best known for his expertise in Native American languages. He was hired in 2004 to reconstruct the long e ...

(eds.). Endangered Languages and Literacy. Proceedings of the Fourth FEL Conference. University of North Carolina, Charlotte, 21–24 September 2000Gusain, Lakhan: Bagri Grammar. Munich: Lincom Europa (Languages of the World/Materials, 2000, p. 384

Gallery

India - Haryana - Sirsa.svg,

India - Haryana - Fatehabad.svg,

Fatehabad district Fatehabad District is one of the twenty two districts of the state of Haryana, India. Fatehabad was founded by Firuz Shah Tughlaq. Fatehabad district was carved out of Hisar district on 15 July 1997. It borders districts of Mansa and San ...

Map rajasthan dist 7 div.png, Bagar tract through eastern parts of

Ganganagar district Sri Ganganagar district is the northernmost district of Rajasthan state in western India. History Named after Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner, Sri Ganganagar district was part of Bikaner state. This was a mostly uninhabited region. The hi ...

district, Churu district and

Jhunjhunu district Jhunjhunu district is a district of the Indian state of Rajasthan in northern India. The city of Jhunjhunu is the district headquarters. District location The district falls within Shekhawati region, and is bounded on the northeast and east ...

Punjab district map.png, Bagar tract through

(now a separate district, formerly southern part of Firozpur district) and southern villages of

of Punjab (India) Pakistan Punjab.png, Bagri as minor language is spoken in

and

, though not considered parts of Bagar tract.

References