ABSTRACT
Nomadic communities can be categorized based on economic criteria such as pastoral, peripatetic, and foragers. There are three categories, which differ from each other, pastoral nomads subsist on their herds, peripatetic nomads are commercial nomads who provide their goods and services to sedentary and other nomadic communities, and foragers are hunters and gatherers (Rao, 1987). This chapter focuses on the second category, that is, the peripatetic community called Dombari. Dombari is a nomadic community which established a settlement on their traditional travel route, in PaithanTaluka in Aurangabad District in Maharashtra. Apparently, a place like Paithan, a holy place has created many livelihood opportunities for different communities. The Dombari settlement is on the Gairan land and there is an opposition to it by villagers. Dombari had applied for the two different housing schemes but still could not get the benefits. On the other hand, the state of Maharashtra has introduced a special welfare scheme known as YashwantraoChavanMuktaVasahatYojana pertaining to settlements for the nomadic communities. However, the empirical findings show that the scheme has not yet been implemented as there are social, political, and other extraneous factors influencing the process. It was observed that the life of the Dombari community, in the settlement, experience inextricable situations. Dombari traditionally performed DombaryachaKhel (Acrobatic performance) and earned their subsistence by moving to different places, now they have adopted new different livelihood activities. There is a change in the socio-cultural dimensions of the Dombari. This chapter is based on my fieldwork and discusses the struggle for settlement and space which is the potential requirement for the present livelihood of Dombari.
