The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c19.s9.97

v1.c19.s9.97

Adjoining or merged into these wilder tracts were supplementary grazing pastures³ of herds of cattle⁴ and goats⁵,—herds belonging to king⁶ or commoners⁷. Commoners customarily entrusted their flocks to a communal neatherd, as we find in the Pennine Alps to-day (*le fromageur*). We find him either penning his herds at night in sheds⁸, or, more often, bringing them back every evening and counting them out to the several owners, varying the pasturage from day to day⁹. The official name, *gopālaka*, and the context suggest that dairywork was not usually expected of him so much as sagacity in minding his beasts¹⁰.