Legacy of Decisions: The Bagri Nomadic Women of Sindh

Irfan Ali

11:10 2026, 11 January

Kamla, around 38 years old, lives in the outskirts of Khairpur district in Sindh. She belongs to the Bagri tribe, which traditionally leads a nomadic life and moves from one place to another in search of livelihood. However, Kamla’s family has been settled near Khairpur for some time now.

Kamla is the primary breadwinner of her family. She works in agriculture and also plays a central role in managing household expenses, children’s education, and family decision-making. She says that women have to step forward in decision-making—Bagri women work hard and take daily decisions. Despite limited income, they must run the household and arrange their children’s upbringing and education. Because she belongs to the Bagri community, she faces social difficulties. Along with work, she also has to cook, take care of children, and manage all other household chores herself.

The Bagri are inhabitants of the ancient Dravidian lineage, breathing in the soil of Sindh for five thousand years.

This tribe was nomadic—companions of roads, lovers of land, confidants of the sky.

Even today, 26 nomadic Hindu tribes exist in Sindh: Meghwar, Bhil, Kolhi, Od, Bhatt, Charan, Rabari, Valmiki, Lohariya… Bagri, Chara, Jogi, Sansi, Shikari, Rawri, Banwari, Bijani… Gowariya, Gargala, Kokri, Jhandawra, Rapri, Konchra, Kabutra, Barha… All of them migrate from place to place in search of livelihood.

In India—Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana—their settlements are still alive.
In Pakistan, they are called “Scheduled Castes,” considered lower in the caste system, yet in reality they are heirs of centuries.

The lives of these tribes are deeply tied to centuries-old traditions. No permanent housing, no basic facilities—just hope, a journey, and the burden of culture. They are not only fighting for their identity but also keeping their civilization alive.

In recent years, some have learned to settle, but most still live in huts—no walls, no doors, just a sheet, a roof, and countless dreams.

In upper Sindh, their settlements extend up to Kashmore—on the edges of towns, alongside highways, where even the sun accompanies them. In lower Sindh, they are seen less, but during mango season they return with the call: “Buy mangoes…” These are people whose history is not written in books, but etched into the soil.

Among the Bagri tribe, men, compared to women, generally do not possess specific skills. Earning, cooking, washing clothes, collecting firewood, farming—all these responsibilities fall on women.

Nomadic tradition:

The Bagri community is a nomadic Hindu tribe in Sindh that traditionally moved between cities and towns for livelihood. Their stay in one place was never long; they moved according to seasons and work opportunities.

Duration of stay:

In the past, families stayed in one place for a few weeks or months before moving on. Their lifestyle was based on temporary shelters.

Recent changes:

Now many Bagri families have begun settling permanently so their children can receive education. For example, in areas around Rohri, some families have settled and enrolled their children in local schools.

Reason for settlement:

Better opportunities for education, health, and employment have encouraged families to stay longer in one place. This change has given their children a chance at education and a better future.

Champa says women must step forward in decision-making because if they do not, the family falls into hardship. In her view, women’s self-reliance is the guarantee of the Bagri community’s survival.

Champa, 32, belongs to the Bagri tribe and lives in huts in Tharparkar. For the past two years, she has been selling toys by the roadside. Her tone is confident, her eyes full of courage. She says, “From birth, we have seen women making decisions.”
Marriage decisions? The mother makes them.
Should a child work or not? The grandmother decides.
A dispute in the community? Women sit together, talk, and announce the decision.

Champa says, “Whether it is home or street, it is the woman who manages everything.” Childcare, daily decisions—all are in women’s hands. Champa does not just sell toys; she sells courage. She is an example, a leader. Yet, as a Bagri woman, she feels sorrow at societal attitudes that consider them inferior.

Thirty-year-old Rita, also from Tharparkar, is a mother of two. Morning work in the fields, afternoon selling vegetables in the market, evening managing the stove—this is her entire life. She says she has seen her mother and grandmother making decisions since childhood, while her father always remained silent. In the Bagri tribe, women make decisions. “I know that if a Bagri woman stops, neither the home runs, nor the fields, nor the market.”

Lachhmi is also a daughter of Thar. She cooks, earns, and sows seeds in the fields. She says, “We do everything. So we will make the decisions about home and children too.” There is neither pride nor complaint in her tone—just truth. She adds, “Our men are not against our authority. In fact, they are happy and support us.”

These women not only run households; during work they also keep their young children with them and care for them. They manage the community, resolve disputes, and make decisions. These are Bagri women—holding both the plough and authority in their hands.

All these Bagri women face hardship at work, social attitudes, and humiliation. Yet they say that seeing these problems, they cannot sit at home in fear; for their children, they themselves must step forward and work.

Ghanshyam, from the Bagri tribe, says, “Our women are among the most hardworking. We have no rituals involving killing or harming anyone. If our women make decisions and manage the household, we are happy. We have seen this system since our ancestors’ time, and they run it better. From farming to all other work, women stand shoulder to shoulder with us.”

Moti Lal, from Dadu, who works as a laborer, says, “We have never thought whether women making decisions is good or bad. It has been this way for years, and we are happy. There is nothing to take offense at.”

Renowned writer Khalid Kumbhar, who has researched the lives, culture, and housing patterns of Sindh’s nomads, has deeply studied this subject. His books “Nomadic Tribe” and “Jhang Ja Matho” are well known and offer rare insight into nomadic life.

Khalid Kumbhar says Bagri women hold decision-making power in their homes, communities, and daily lives—whether it is children’s education, choice of work, or resolving family disputes. Women’s opinions are valued, especially elder women’s counsel. Despite limited education and economic opportunities, women make decisions based on tradition and experience. In some areas, women also act as mediators in local disputes.

Jagdish, who makes decisions in the Bagri panchayat in Mirpurkhas, says that disputes related to transactions between men are resolved by men, but all domestic and social matters are handled by women in their own way, and nothing can happen without their consent.

Bibi Bagri, from Qambar city, has been on a mission for years—to shape the future of her community’s children through education. She runs a school where Bagri children are educated.

She chose a difficult path, defying traditional family systems and facing social oppression, criticism, and opposition. A conscious woman and social worker, simple in appearance but carrying a storm within. When she sent community children to school, her heart ached—hatred, contempt, humiliation were what those innocent eyes learned, while education was lost.

Sleepless nights, a burning fire in her chest. She wondered: Are our children different? Are their dreams worth less?

When she asked children, “What did you learn today?” they replied, “Teachers call us names, beat us, scold us.”

That pain became her mission. She decided that if her children were to be educated with dignity, she would have to open her own school.

Resources? None. Just a dream, a desire, stubborn determination, and a small room where she taught the first lesson.

Today, that dream is reality—a permanent building, over 300 students, mostly girls, now friends with books. There is one teacher for every fifty students, and due to poverty, around 150 children drop out and cannot continue education.

Bibi Bagri is an intermediate pass, but her vision and courage are no less than a university degree. Nursery to middle education, six female teachers, and one mother—not just a mother, but a leader, a builder, a revolution.

The school was gradually built with funds from the Minority Temples Fund. Every brick holds a dream, every wall a prayer.

Bibi Bagri proved that a woman does not only light the stove—she can light the lamp of knowledge. She does not just beautify a home; she shapes the future of nations.

She says a woman does not only build a home but the entire society, making and fulfilling life’s decisions beautifully.

She adds that disputes, grudges, financial or business issues are resolved by men in the panchayat, but all other matters are handled by women.

Dr. Lal Chand Okrani, President of the PPP Sindh Minority Wing, says the Bagri are a peaceful community, with no reported cases of murder or threats. Their women manage all aspects of life excellently.

In the Bagri community, women are not just responsible for the home—they are the real power. Professor Dr. Najma Noor Phulpoto of Shah Latif University says women are the economic providers, decision-makers, while men are limited to support roles. Their hard work is the foundation of this system.

Senior journalist Wali Chandio says Bagri women are not just homemakers but architects of the entire system. “Here, women don’t just run the stove; they run decisions too.”

From morning light to evening fatigue, from finances to daily expenses, everything is in their hands. Whether it is the household budget or children’s marriages, men remain silent until women agree. No decision is complete without them.

He says the role of Bagri men is simply to agree with their women. Here, a woman does not just manage the home—she runs the entire society.

Researcher and writer Asif Raza Moro says that when a woman loves someone, a man does not even have the courage to question it.

If a guest visits the neighborhood, the husband respectfully allows the woman to meet them without argument. This is the tradition that distinguishes the Bagri community from others in Sindh. Where elsewhere women are killed in the name of honor, the Bagri woman is a symbol of dignity, authority, and decision-making.