Tharparkar · The Survivor

Tharparkar

Enduring · Thrifty · Unfailing

Coming later

Gives milk where little else survives.

Native region
Thar desert, Rajasthan
Bloodline
Born of the Thar
Tharparkar cow standing in the front yard of a typical village house in Rajasthan.

Born of the Thar

A cow is never just a cow. The Tharparkar was made by the Thar, her endurance, her thrift, her steady yield drawn from sand and uncertain rain. For generations desert herders have kept her because she milks in years when little else will. This is her bloodline. And now a little of it comes home with you.

Want Tharparkar next?

We are not making Tharparkar ghee yet. Join the list and we will tell you when we do. The list is how we decide what to make next.

  1. The breed

    A white to grey coat, a straight back and a deep frame. Dual-purpose, drought-hardy and economical to keep.

  2. The land

    The Thar desert of western Rajasthan, where rain is uncertain and grazing is sparse for most of the year.

  3. The people

    Desert pastoralists who have carried her through drought years when other cattle could not be kept.

  4. Her history

    From the Thar, across what is now the Rajasthan and Sindh border. Carried through partition and through drought, and valued by the army and by dairies for the same reason: she keeps going.

  5. Her milk

    Dual-purpose, so a steady rather than spectacular yield. What matters is that she milks in years when other cattle dry off completely.

  6. Where she stands

    Among the more secure indigenous breeds, though her home tract is shrinking as irrigation changes who keeps cattle and why.

  7. Indicative ghee

    pale-to-mid gold, clean, lean