RAS question
Raikas/Rabaris of Rajasthan are known as:
Correct answer: (A) Traditional camel and livestock herders.
Raikas, also known as Rabaris or Dewasis, are a traditional pastoralist community of Rajasthan known for camel and livestock herding.
Explanation
Raikas, also called Rabaris or Dewasis, are identified in Rajasthan with pastoral life, especially camel husbandry. The NIScPR Online Periodical Repository record focuses on the customs and beliefs of Raika pastoralists of Rajasthan associated with camel husbandry, and its keywords include Raika pastoralists, Rabari tribe, camel husbandry, and Rajasthan. NIScPR's abstract notes that camels play a central and identifying role in Raika rituals, customs, traditions, and ceremonial functions. This supports option A: the community is best known as traditional camel and livestock herders, not as an artisan caste. Raikas also fit this pastoral profile through their seasonal movement across the Thar Desert and their distinctive clothing and jewellery as part of Rajasthani cultural heritage.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Weaving points to a different occupational community, while the Raika/Rabari identity is tied to pastoralism and camel husbandry.
- (C) Pottery is associated with Kumhar-type artisan work, not with the Raika/Rabari pastoralist profile of Rajasthan.
- (D) Blacksmithing is Lohar-type metalwork, whereas Raikas/Rabaris are identified with camel husbandry and pastoral customs.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan's pastoral communities within art, culture, and society. RAS repeatedly asks such questions because community occupations, mobility, dress, and rituals link social history with desert ecology.