Hanumangarh, Rajasthan: It is seven in the morning on the banks of a canal in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district. Standing amid a herd of around thirty cows and four buffaloes, Mange Khan watches his animals spread across the landscape in search of fodder.

“My grandfather kept cows, my father too was in animal husbandry, and I am also raising cows,” he said. “For us, the cow is a livelihood, responsibility and a member of the family.”

Every animal in the herd has a name. Call out to one, Mange Khan said, and it will come running.

For the Rath Muslim community of north-western Rajasthan, cattle rearing has been the basis of livelihood, identity and survival for generations. Their history is inseparable from the Rathi cow — one of Rajasthan’s principal indigenous dairy breeds — which they have nurtured across parts of Hanumangarh, Shri Ganganagar, Bikaner and Churu districts for centuries. The story of the community and the breed it has sustained is also a story that complicates assumptions that often place cows and Muslims on opposite sides of public discourse.

Shrinking grazing lands, rising fodder costs and shifting aspirations among younger generations are making traditional animal husbandry increasingly difficult to sustain. As the economics of livestock rearing become more uncertain, the Rath Muslims are reducing their herds or moving into other occupations, and scientists warn that the future of the Rathi breed may not be separable from the future of the people who have kept it alive.

Indigenous Rathi cows resting under trees in a shrinking natural grazing area of Hanumangarh (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)

Changing landscape

Mange Khan’s family originally lived in the Mahajan area of Bikaner district. Around fifteen years ago, while moving with their animals, they arrived in the Sangaria region of Hanumangarh and eventually settled there. He said conditions today are very different from when they first arrived.

“Earlier there was no particular problem with fodder,” he said. “Now we have to buy fodder for the animals. Pesticides are used heavily in the fields and even grass does not survive. Grazing land is continuously shrinking.”

Kasam Khan (65) remembers when livestock could be raised largely on common grazing lands, with families taking their animals into open areas and relying on naturally available fodder.

“Our elders used to graze animals in open fields. Back then there was not so much worry about fodder or expenses. Now grazing land has reduced and we have to buy fodder.”

His son, Arif Khan, said he learned animal husbandry from childhood and never pursued extensive formal education. But the occupation, he believed, no longer offers the economic stability it once did. “I only learned this work. But under today’s circumstances it is not as profitable as it used to be.”

That shift is perhaps most visible in Baag Ali, a resident of Hanumangarh Junction. Until a few months ago, he owned around seventy cows. Today, only thirty remain. Faced with rising costs and declining returns, he sold forty animals and took up painting work to supplement his family's income. His brother Gulab Ali now looks after the remaining herd.

“It became difficult to run the household through animal husbandry alone,” Baag Ali said. 

Kasam Khan standing with his herd of cows and buffaloes near a local canal site (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)

Shrinking commons

Rajasthan officially has more than 9.11 lakh hectares of permanent grazing land. But in many areas, herders and experts say, these commons have steadily diminished because of encroachment and changes in land use, occupied by settlements, converted into agricultural fields. The result is a gradual reduction in the open spaces that pastoral communities have traditionally depended upon.

As access to natural fodder declines, dependence on purchased fodder increases. Families that once maintained large herds are finding it harder to do so. Younger generations are increasingly reluctant to continue in an occupation that demands substantial labour but offers uncertain returns.

The burden of sustaining animal husbandry in the meantime falls on entire households — particularly women. Suddan Bibi (71), also a resident of Hanumangarh Junction, said animal husbandry within the Rath community has never been the responsibility of men alone. While men take animals out for grazing, much of the daily work — feeding, milking, cleaning sheds, collecting dung, caring for calves — is carried out by women within the household.

Suddan Bibi’s family currently owns fifteen cows. Four years ago, they had around forty. Like Mange Khan, she named every animal. “Dabbi, Kali, Khair and Mayar,” she said. “We have raised them since they were calves. When we call them by name, they recognise us.” Her sons take the animals for grazing; her daughter-in-law Rasheeda Bano manages the day-to-day care.

Precious breed

For the Rath Muslims, animal husbandry is more than an occupation. Whether the community came to be known as Rath Muslims because of its connection to the Rathi cow, or whether the breed acquired its name through its association with the community, remains unclear. What is clear is that the histories of the two have long been intertwined.

Research by Dr Najma Khatun Joiya, head of the Sociology Department at Shri Khushaldas University in Hanumangarh, suggested that Rath Muslims are concentrated across about 145 villages in Hanumangarh, Shri Ganganagar and Bikaner districts. Animal husbandry has historically been their principal occupation. Their presence in trade, industry and government services remains limited; educational attainment within the community has also remained relatively low. These factors have made livestock rearing central not only to household income but to the community's broader social and economic position.

The Rathi cow, in turn, is widely regarded as one of Rajasthan’s most valuable indigenous livestock resources. Developed over generations in the arid and semi-arid north-west of the state, it is known for its ability to withstand harsh climatic conditions and produce milk even in resource-limited environments. Dr Vijay Bishnoi, Assistant Professor at the Veterinary and Animal Science University in Bikaner, said that the breed can tolerate temperatures ranging from zero to 50 degrees Celsius, and is comparatively resistant to disease.

Dr Govind Narayan Purohit, former professor at the same university, said animals reared under traditional conditions often display strong adaptability and resilience to climatic stress — characteristics that make the breed particularly important as rising temperatures affect livestock systems across the region.

But the Rathi population has been declining. According to the breed-wise report of the 20th Livestock Census, figures fell significantly between 2012 and 2019. Rajasthan’s 2019 livestock census recorded 11,26,167 Rathi cattle in the state. The latest census data are still awaited.

Dr Bishnoi identifies shrinking pastures, the promotion of crossbred animals and the decline of traditional herding communities as the principal reasons. For much of the period following the Green Revolution and White Revolution, livestock policy focused on increasing milk production through exotic and crossbred cattle, which offered higher yields but required greater inputs. Indigenous breeds such as the Rathi received comparatively less attention.

He is direct about the connection between the community and the breed’s survival. “Rath herders have played an important role in conserving the Rathi breed. Had these families not maintained the breed across generations, it is possible that the Rathi cow would not exist in such numbers today.”

Mange Khan standing with his herd of cows and buffaloes near a local canal site (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)

Conservation efforts

Efforts to conserve the breed have been underway for more than two decades. The National Dairy Development Board launched a programme in Bikaner and Shri Ganganagar in 2002 focused on conservation and breed improvement, later followed by a genetic improvement programme supported by the Urmul Trust. The work is now being carried forward under the National Gokul Mission, with a focus on developing superior breeding bulls and expanding artificial insemination. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research has also approved a long-term project aimed at improving Rathi breeding stock.

But several experts caution that conservation programmes focused solely on the animal may not be enough.

Prof Santosh Rajpurohit, former chairman of the Rajasthan Economic Council, argued that discussions about indigenous breeds frequently overlook the communities that have cared for them. “In conversations about conserving indigenous livestock, attention is often paid to the animals. The communities that have maintained these breeds are often forgotten.”

Professor Rajaram Chhoyal of Maharaja Ganga Singh University in Bikaner described the relationship between Rath Muslim herders and the Rathi cow as part of a broader interaction between people, animals and the environment. Traditional livestock systems, he argued, historically helped maintain a balance between grazing lands, vegetation and animal populations. “The relationship between the Rath Muslims and the Rathi cow is not merely economic. It is an example of a long symbiotic relationship that has developed between humans, animals and the environment.”

On the ground, the changes are already visible. Advocate Mohammad Mushtaq, founder of the Rath Muslim and Cultural Society in Hanumangarh, estimates that in Khunja village, now part of Hanumangarh's urban area, around 90% of Rath Muslim families have moved away from livestock rearing, turning instead to wage labour, farming or other occupations.

A young herder from the Rath Muslim community standing with his indigenous cattle (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)

Dr Najma argued that protecting the Rathi breed requires addressing the structural challenges confronting herding communities. Protecting grazing lands from encroachment, and ensuring herders have access to resources, she said, are as important as any breed improvement programme. “If common lands are restored and herders receive adequate support, conditions can improve for both the animals and the people who depend on them.”

Cover Image  - Members of the herding community tending to their animals (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)