Babaria (alternate spellings of which include Bauria, Babariya, Bawaria and Baraiya) are a nomadic tribe found mainly in the Indian states of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
[1] Although they were sometimes historically believed to be aboriginal, modern studies suggest that there is little difference between them and the Jat and Rajput communities, of which they once may have been a part and whom Andrew Major describes as being originally "predatory nomadic tribes from central Asia".
The new rulers took control of Rajput kingdoms and caused the Babaria and various other groups to adopt thieving and vagrancy as a means of survival, as well as developing a mutual distrust with the more settled landowning peoples.
[2] British authorities in Punjab Province became frustrated by the criminal behaviour they perceived to be exhibited by some nomadic and semi-itinerant communities, including the Babaria, some of whom had developed a tactic of raiding British-controlled territories and then seeking refuge in areas controlled by native princes.
They remain largely a nomadic community but their traditional lifestyle, which revolved around hunting in forests and selling anything surplus to their own requirements, has been severely affected, as also has their movement, by the introduction of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.