Survival in a Hostile Environment: An Ethnographic Study

The region of Kutch (Kachchh) constitutes, administratively, a large district in northern Gujarat. In fact, it is one of the largest districts in India. The political boundaries of the district coincide with what was a Princely State of the same name in colonial India. The State acceded to and was merged with the Union in 1948 as one of the ten ‘Part C’ territories which were directly under the central government. Whereas popular opinion in Kutch was in favour of its being made a Union Territory, the haste with which Princely States were amalgamated into larger administrative units, combined with considerable ignorance on the part of decision-makers at the central and provincial levels about the region, brought about the State’s inclusion in the new State of Bombay which in turn was divided into Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1960. Kutch became a district of Gujarat. Lacking any significant political clout, the result partly of the backwardness of the region’s economy and partly of its remoteness, Kutchis were unable to press for a separate administrative arrangement which would take into account the distinctive character of the region.