Gujjars are simple, thrifty and industrious and desire nothing better than to be left alone in peace with their cattle and fields. The Gujjars are cultivators only in the plains. In the hills they are mainly pastoral, selling milk and ghee. Cultural exuberance of this Gujjar community has nicely being depicted in several of its aspects like dancing, religious rites, customs and others.
These people are well built with the physical characteristics of the Jat. The eating habits of both the Gujjars and Jats are quite similar. The close resemblance between them suggests that they are from the same ethnic stock.
Gujjars also have certain special customs of their own. The Gujjars of Nakodar Tehsil follow a marriage custom called `pind walna.` In a sort of game, the young men from the bridegroom`s party gallop around the village and the men from the bride`s side try and prevent them from doing so. The person who is able to ride round the village is given a present by the bride`s parents. This custom is perhaps, a survival of the tradition of `marriage by capture`. A day or two before the wedding, `madha` worship is held, the beam of a plough being pitched before the entrance to the house with a little straw tied to it. A large earthen jar, with a smaller one full of water placed on it, is placed beside the beam, a red thread being fastened round the uppermost pot. This is supposedly a fertility charm.
Early marriage of girls is fairly common among the Gujjars. Caste barriers and untouchability are declining gradually. A comparatively wealthy Gujjar family may own a camel, a horse, two oxen, two buffaloes and a few goats. Being pastoral some Gujjars observe a regular `siapa` or mourning on the death of a buffalo. The women mourn almost as if they had lost a relative.
The dialect of Gujjars - Gujjari or Gojari - is akin to Hindi. It has strong affinities with the language spoken in Jaipur and is akin to Rajasthani. The Gujari language belongs to the famous Rajasthani language group. In the ancient times, however, Rajasthani had been the main language spoken by all the Gujjar tribal community. In the present day, due to rapid interaction with the people of the modern community, many members of this Gujjar tribal community also have developed fluency in several other Indian languages. These are namely Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, Pahari languages (such as Dogri and Kangri), Pashto Language, Dardic languages (such as Kashmiri and Khowar), and Balti.
Following the tradition of most of the tribal communities of the Northern hilly regions of Indian Territory, this Gujjar community has adapted the occupation of semi nomadic tribal community. Majority of this Gujar tribal community used to herd animals like sheep, goats and buffalo. In some way the Gujjar tribes even cope to manage even an `old rag elegant`.
They transmigrate from the lowland plains in the winter to the upper ranges of the Himachal Pradesh during the summer season. However to go hand in hand with the demands of the changing situations, many of the Gujar tribes of the contemporary period have taken various other occupations. Instances are found where these Gujjar tribes even would serve themselves out as `porters` or pony men for the tourists who got for trekking in the Himachal Mountains.
Dresses of this community are quite exquisite. Both Gujjar men and women have got distinctive style of wearing dresses. The colorful turban with the unique style of wrapping has been a style mark of this Gujjar tribal community. The aged Gujjar males tie an Afghani hat, locally known as topi.
However , a Gujjar female`s beautify is greatly enhanced by the beautiful clothes called Dupatta. It looks like a shawl. They are very fond of the jewelries too. These Gujjar females have got fascination for the necklace with a triangle pendant, studded with a beautiful stone in the center of it. It has a religious signification. It symbolizes "evil eye" and mainly utilized to avert bad luck.
There is a peculiarity in the way the Gujjar children used to dress up. Many a time the Gujjar boys are arrived at resembling little girls to fool the evil spirits.
The societal structure too follows the trend of almost all the communities of the Indian subcontinent. Patriarchal norms are prevalent. Gujjar males also are very much family oriented. It is the Gujjar female who has had the duty and responsibility of fulfilling all the activities of the households.
