1.
Gurung language
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Gurung is spoken by the Gurung people in two dialects with limited mutual intelligibility. Total number of all Gurung speakers in Nepal is 227,918, there is no distinction between Gurung as an ethnic group and the number of people who speak the language. Nepali, Nepals official language, is an Indo-European language, whereas Gurung is a Sino-Tibetan language, Gurung are recognized as an official nationality by the Government of Nepal. Gurung is spoken in the districts of Nepal. Languages of Nepal Languages of Bhutan Manang Language Project of Kristine A. Hildebrandt Manang Language Archive at the University of Virginia Tibetan and Himalayan Library J. Burton-Page, two studies in Gurungkura, I. tone, II. Bulletin of the Society of Oriental and African Studies 111-19, the Organizing Principles of Gurung Kinship. Occasional Papers of the Wolfenden society on Tibeto-Burman Linguistics III, Tone systems of Tibeto-Burman languages of Nepal, Pt. I, ed. by Austin Hale and Kenneth L. Pike, Studies in tone and phonological segments. Sememic and Grammatical Structures in Gurung, warren W. Glover and Jessie Glover. Kathmandu, Tribhuvan University and Summer Institute of Linguistics, warren W. Glover and John K. Landon. In Papers in Southeast Asian Languages No, Kristine A. Hildebrandt, D. N. Dhakal, Oliver Bond, Matt Vallejo and Andrea Fyffe. “A sociolinguistic survey of the languages of Manang, Nepal, Co-existence and endangerment. ”Parallel Landscapes, Ritual and Political Values of a Shamanic Soul Journey in Himalayan Space, Cultural Horizons and Practices, edited by Balthasar Bickel and Martin Gaenszle, 247-271. Zürich, Völkerkundsmuseum Nishi 西, Yoshio 義郎, in 亀井 Kamei, 孝 Takashi, 河野 Kōno, 六郎 Rokurō, 千野 Chino, 栄一 Eichi. 三省堂言語学大辞典 The Sanseido Encyclopaedia of Linguistics
2.
Nepali language
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Nepali, originally known as Khas Kura, Parbate Bhasa or Gorkhali, is an Indo-Aryan language. It is the language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal. It is also spoken in parts of India, particularly by Indian Gorkha. In India, Nepali language is listed in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India having a status in the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepali developed in proximity to a number of Indo-Aryan languages, most notably the Pahari languages and Magahi, however, owing to Nepals geographical area, it has also been influenced by Tibeto-Burman languages. Nepali is mainly differentiated from Central Pahari, both in grammar and vocabulary, by Tibeto-Burman idioms owing to close contact with the language group. Nepali language shares 40% lexical similarity with the Bengali language, in the nineteenth century, the British resident at Kathmandu Brian Houghton Hodgson observed that it was, in eight-tenths of its vocabulary, substantially Hindi. Historically, the language was first called the Khas language, then Gorkhali or Gurkhali before the term Nepali was adopted, in 1920, during Rana regime in Nepal, the term Nepal which resembled the Nepal Mandala was taken from its people. Soon after that, Nepal Bhasa was renamed into Newari and Parbate/Khas language took over as Nepali language, other names include Parbatiya and Dzongkha Lhotshammikha. It is also known as the Khey language or Partya language among the Newar people and Pahari language among Madhesi, however, due to protests for identity, Newars have restored their languages name as Nepal Bhasa and voices have been raise to re-instate Parbate language in its original name. Nepali developed a significant literature within a period of a hundred years in the 19th century. This literary explosion was fueled by Adhyatma Ramayana, Sundarananda Bara, Birsikka, a collection of folk tales. The contribution of trio-laureates Lekhnath Paudyal, Laxmi Prasad Devkota, the contribution of expatriate writers outside Nepal, especially in Darjeeling and Varanasi in India, is also notable. In the past decade, there have been many contributions to Nepali literature from the Nepali diaspora in Asia, Europe, America, according to the 2011 national census,44.6 percent of the population of Nepal speaks Nepali as a first language. The Ethnologue website reports 12,300,000 speakers within Nepal, Nepali is traditionally spoken in the Hill Region of Nepal, especially in the western part of the country. Although the Newar language dominated the Kathmandu valley, Nepali is currently the most dominant, Nepali is used in government and as the everyday language of a growing portion of the local population. Nevertheless, the use of Nepali in the courts and government of Nepal is being challenged. Recognition of other languages in Nepal was one of the objectives of the Communist Party of Nepals long war
3.
Buddhism
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Buddhism is a religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. Buddhism originated in India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, from where it spread through much of Asia, two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars, Theravada and Mahayana. Buddhism is the worlds fourth-largest religion, with over 500 million followers or 7% of the global population, Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices. In Theravada the ultimate goal is the attainment of the state of Nirvana, achieved by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path, thus escaping what is seen as a cycle of suffering. Theravada has a following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon, rather than Nirvana, Mahayana instead aspires to Buddhahood via the bodhisattva path, a state wherein one remains in the cycle of rebirth to help other beings reach awakening. Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian siddhas, may be viewed as a branch or merely a part of Mahayana. Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth century India, is practiced in regions surrounding the Himalayas, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Buddhism is an Indian religion attributed to the teachings of Buddha, the details of Buddhas life are mentioned in many early Buddhist texts but are inconsistent, his social background and life details are difficult to prove, the precise dates uncertain. Some hagiographic legends state that his father was a king named Suddhodana, his mother queen Maya, and he was born in Lumbini gardens. Some of the stories about Buddha, his life, his teachings, Buddha was moved by the innate suffering of humanity. He meditated on this alone for a period of time, in various ways including asceticism, on the nature of suffering. He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree now called the Bodhi Tree in the town of Bodh Gaya in Gangetic plains region of South Asia. He reached enlightenment, discovering what Buddhists call the Middle Way, as an enlightened being, he attracted followers and founded a Sangha. Now, as the Buddha, he spent the rest of his teaching the Dharma he had discovered. Dukkha is a concept of Buddhism and part of its Four Noble Truths doctrine. It can be translated as incapable of satisfying, the unsatisfactory nature, the Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism, we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, incapable of satisfying and painful. This keeps us caught in saṃsāra, the cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha
4.
Gurkha
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The name may be traced to the medieval Hindu warrior-saint Guru Gorakhnath who has a historic shrine in Gorkha. The word itself derived from Go-Raksha, raksha becoming rakha, rakhawala means protector and is derived from raksha as well. Ethnically, Chhetri or Khas, Thakuri, Gurung and Magar mainly were the Gorkha tribes who united erstwhile Gorkha kingdom, but today, Gorkha soldiers mostly belong to the Gurung, Chhetri, Magar, Rai, Limbu, Sunuwar there is no ethnicity based restriction to join. There are Gurkha military units in the Nepalese, British and the Indian army enlisted in Nepal, United Kingdom and India. Although they meet many of the requirements of Article 47 of Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions regarding mercenaries, Gurkhas are closely associated with the khukuri, a forward-curving Nepalese knife, and have a well known reputation for fearless military prowess. The former Indian Army Chief of Staff Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, once stated that If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or he is a Gurkha. During the Anglo-Nepalese War between the Gorkha Kingdom and the East India Company, the Gorkhali soldiers made an impression on the British and their war cry was and is to this very day, Jai Mahakali, Ayo Gorkhali. In the peace treaty the parties agreed that Gorkhalis could be recruited to serve under contract in the East India Companys army, once more I hear the laughter with which you greeted every hardship. Once more I see you in your bivouacs or about your fires, on forced march or in the trenches, now shivering with wet and cold, now scorched by a pitiless and burning sun. Uncomplaining you endure hunger and thirst and wounds, and at the last your unwavering lines disappear into the smoke, bravest of the brave, most generous of the generous, never had country more faithful friends than you. Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab started recruiting Gurkha soldiers in his army, the elite wing of his Sikh Khalsa Army, the Fauj-i-Khas had one rajman of Gurkhas. The rajman was known for its excellent morale, gallantry, discipline, the well-known Gurkha freedom-fighter Balbhadra Kunwar was an officer in the Gorkha rajman. One of the best battles in which the Gurkhas served was the Battle of Nowshera, even though the Sikhs were losing in the beginning, Maharaja Ranjit Singh launched a decisive charge at the Afghan positions. The Gurkhas climbed the Pir Saibak hill, and together with their Sikh comrades, after the battle, Ranjit Singh personally met and awarded the Gurkhas, and promoted Balbhadra Kunwar into the captain of the regiment. The Gurkhas served also during the Sino-Sikh War, where they were praised for their excellent skirmishing at the Tibetan Hills and they also fought the First Anglo-Sikh War, where the Dogra commanders of the Sikh Khalsa Army, betrayed their forces and delivered battle plans to British. After the Treaty of Lahore, this regiment was added into the Bengal Army, the Anglo-Nepalese war was fought between the Gurkha Kingdom of Nepal and the British East India Company as a result of border disputes and ambitious expansionism of both the belligerent parties. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816, david Ochterlony and the British political agent William Fraser were among the first to recognize the potential of Gurkha soldiers in British service. During the war the British were keen to use defectors from the Gurkha army and his confidence in their loyalty was such that in April 1815 he proposed forming them into a battalion under Lieutenant Ross called the Nasiri regiment
5.
Brill Publishers
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Brill is a Dutch international academic publisher founded in 1683 in Leiden, Netherlands. With offices in Leiden and Boston, Brill today publishes more than 200 journals and around 700 new books, in addition, Brill is a provider of primary source materials online and on microform for researchers in the humanities and social sciences. Brill publishes in the subject areas, The roots of Brill go back to May 17,1683. As was customary at the time, Luchtmans combined his business with publishing activities. These were primarily in the fields of studies, theology, Oriental languages. Luchtmans established close ties with the University of Leiden, which was one of the major centers of study in these areas. In 1848, the business passed from the Luchtmans family to that of E. J. Brill, a former employee. In order to cover the financial obligations that he inherited, E. J. Brill decided to liquidate the entire Luchtmans book stock in a series of auctions that took place between 1848 and 1850. Brill continued to publish in the core areas of the company. Thus, in 1882, the firm brought out a two-volume Leerboek der Stoomwerktuigkunde. In 1896, Brill became a limited company, when E. J. Brills successors, A. P. M. van Oordt and Frans de Stoppelaar. A series of directors followed, until in 1934, Theunis Folkers took over the reins and his directorship marked a period of unprecedented growth in the history of the company, due to a large extent to Folkers cooperation with the German occupying forces during World War II. In 1934, the company had a turnover of 132,000 guilders, by 1943, after the war, the Dutch denazification committee determined the presence of enemy money in Brills accounts. Folkerts was arrested in September,1946, and deprived of the right to hold a managerial post, the company itself, however, escaped the aftermath of the war relatively unscathed, after some negotiation its fines were fixed at 57,000 guilders. Brills path in the years was again marked by ups and downs. The late 1980s brought a crisis due to over-expansion as well as general changes in the publishing industry. Thus, in 1987–88 the company underwent a restructuring, in the course of which it closed all its foreign offices, including the oldest ones in London. Brill, moreover, sold its business, which amounted to amputat its own limb
6.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
7.
Robert Gordon Latham
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Robert Gordon Latham FRS was an English ethnologist and philologist. The eldest son of Thomas Latham, vicar of Billingborough, Lincolnshire and he entered Eton College in 1819, and in 1829 went on to Kings College, Cambridge, where he graduated B. A. in 1832, and was soon afterwards elected a Fellow. Latham studied philology for a year on the continent, near Hamburg, then in Copenhagen with Rasmus Christian Rask, in Norway he knew Ludvig Kristensen Daa and Henrik Wergeland, he wrote about the country in Norway and the Norwegians. In 1839 he was elected professor of English language and literature in University College, here he associated with Thomas Hewitt Key and Henry Malden, linguists working in the tradition of Friedrich August Rosen. Together they developed the Philological Society, expanding it from a student group to a base among London philologists. Latham decided to enter the profession, and in 1842 became a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians. He became lecturer on medicine and materia medica at the Middlesex Hospital. Latham was more interested, however, in ethnology and philology, in 1849 he abandoned medicine and resigned his appointments. In 1852 he was given the direction of the department of The Crystal Palace. He frequently lectured in this area, as a baseline he used the three-race theory of Georges Cuvier. However, he followed in 1854 by writing The Native Races of the Russian Empire, Latham moved on, though, from Prichards assumption, that the historical relationships of languages matched perfectly the relationships of the groups speaking them. In 1862 he made a prominent protest against the central Asian theory of the origin of the Aryan race and he supported views which were later advocated by Theodor Benfey, Parker, Isaac Taylor, and others. The controversy over Lathams views on Indo-European languages following his Comparative Philology did permanent damage to his scholarly reputation, Gordon Hake wrote in his memoirs of Lathams habit of pleading poverty and asking for money. In 1863 Latham obtained a civil list pension, in later life he was afflicted with aphasia, and died at Putney on 9 March 1888. In 1841 Latham produced a well-known text-book, The English Language and he devoted himself to a thorough revision of Samuel Johnsons Dictionary of the English Language, which he completed in 1870. He subsequently spent much time on a Dissertation on the Hamlet of Saxo Grammaticus and his works on the English language passed through many editions, and were regarded as authoritative till they were superseded by those of Richard Morris and Walter William Skeat. Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Wood, James. London and New York, Frederick Warne and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Latham, Robert Gordon
8.
Madison, Wisconsin
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Madison is the capital of the U. S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. As of July 1,2015, Madisons estimated population of 248,951 made it the second largest city in Wisconsin, after Milwaukee, and the 84th largest in the United States. The city forms the core of the United States Census Bureaus Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Dane County and neighboring Iowa, Green, the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Areas 2010 population was 568,593. When the Wisconsin Territory was created in 1836 the territorial legislature convened in Belmont, One of the legislatures tasks was to select a permanent location for the territorys capital. Doty lobbied aggressively for Madison as the new capital, offering buffalo robes to the freezing legislators and he had James Slaughter plat two cities in the area, Madison and The City of Four Lakes, near present-day Middleton. Doty named the city Madison for James Madison, the fourth President of the U. S. who had died on June 28,1836 and he named the streets for the other 39 signers of the U. S. Constitution. Being named for the founding father James Madison, who had just died. The cornerstone for the Wisconsin capitol was laid in 1837, on October 9,1839, Kintzing Prichett registered the plat of Madison at the registrars office of the then-territorial Dane County. Madison was incorporated as a village in 1846, with a population of 626, when Wisconsin became a state in 1848, Madison remained the capital, and the following year it became the site of the University of Wisconsin. The Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad connected to Madison in 1854, Madison incorporated as a city in 1856, with a population of 6,863, leaving the unincorporated remainder as a separate Town of Madison. The original capitol was replaced in 1863 and the capitol burned in 1904. The current capitol was built between 1906 and 1917, during the Civil War, Madison served as a center of the Union Army in Wisconsin. Camp Randall, on the west side of Madison, was built and used as a camp, a military hospital. After the war ended, the Camp Randall site was absorbed into the University of Wisconsin, in 2004 the last vestige of active military training on the site was removed when the stadium renovation replaced a firing range used for ROTC training. The City of Madison continued annexations from the Town of Madison almost from the date of the citys incorporation, Madison is located in the center of Dane County in south-central Wisconsin,77 miles west of Milwaukee and 122 miles northwest of Chicago. The city completely surrounds the smaller Town of Madison, the City of Monona, Madison shares borders with its largest suburb, Sun Prairie, and three other suburbs, Middleton, McFarland and Fitchburg. The citys boundaries also approach the city of Verona, and the villages of Cottage Grove, DeForest, and Waunakee. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 94.03 square miles
9.
Nepal
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Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked central Himalayan country in South Asia. Nepal is divided into 7 provinces and 75 districts and 744 local units including 4 metropolises,13 sub-metropolises,246 municipal councils and 481 village and it has a population of 26.4 million and is the 93rd largest country by area. Bordering China in the north and India in the south, east, Nepal does not border Bangladesh, which is located within only 27 km of its southeastern tip. It neither borders Bhutan due to the Indian state of Sikkim being located in between, Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the worlds ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the capital and largest city. It is a nation with Nepali as the official language. The territory of Nepal has a history since the Neolithic age. The name Nepal is first recorded in texts from the Vedic Age, the era which founded Hinduism, in the middle of the first millennium BCE, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet, the Kathmandu Valley in central Nepal became known as Nepal proper because of its complex urban civilization. It was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala, the Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valleys traders. The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional art and architecture, by the 18th century, the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal. The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire, the country was never colonized but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and Colonial India. In the 20th century, Nepal ended its isolation and forged ties with regional powers. Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951, but was suspended by Nepalese monarchs in 1960 and 2005. The Nepalese Civil War resulted in the proclamation of a republic in 2008, modern Nepal is a federal secular parliamentary republic. Nepal is a nation, ranking 144th on the Human Development Index in 2016. The country struggles with the transition from a monarchy to a republic and it also suffers from high levels of hunger and poverty. Despite these challenges, Nepal is making progress, with the government declaring its commitment to elevate the nation from least developed country status by 2022
10.
Demographics of Nepal
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Nepalese also referred to as Nepalis or Nepali people are the Indo-Aryan and Sino-Tibetan citizens of Nepal under the provisions of Nepali nationality law. The country is home to people of different national origins. As a result, people of Nepal do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, although citizens make up the majority of Nepalese, non-citizen residents, dual citizen, and expatriates may also claim a Nepalese identity. Nepalese are descendants of migrants from parts of India, Kashmir, Tibet, and parts of Burma and Yunnan, Nepal is a multicultural and multiethnic country. Kathmandu Valley, in the hill region, constitutes a small fraction of the nations area but is the most densely populated. In the 2011 census, Nepals population was approximately 26 million people with a growth rate of 1. 35%. In 2016, the median age was approximately 25 years old. Only 4. 4% of the population is estimated to be more than 65 years old, 61% of the population is between 15 and 64 years old, and 34. 6% is younger than 14 years. In 2011, the Birth rate is estimated to be 22.17 births per 1,000 people with an infant mortality rate of 46 deaths per 1,000 live births. Compared to the infant mortality rate in 2006 of 48 deaths per 1000 live births, infant mortality rate in Nepal is higher in rural regions at 44 deaths per 1000 live births, whereas in urban regions the IMR is lower at 40 deaths per 1000 live births. This difference is due to a lack of delivery assistance services in rural communities compared to their counterparts who have better access to hospitals. Life expectancy at birth is estimated to be 67.44 years for females and 64.94 years for males, the mortality rate is estimated to be 681 deaths per 100,000 people. Net migration rate is estimated to be 61 migrants per 100,000 people, according to the 2011 census,65. 9% of the total population is literate. The population of Nepal has been steadily rising recent decades, in the June 2001 census, there was a population of about 23 million in Nepal. The population increased by 5 million from the last census, the rate is 2. 3%. The current population is roughly 30 million which contributes to an increase of about 3 million people every 5 years. Source, Births and deaths Structure of the population, Total Fertility Rate and Crude Birth Rate, The following demographic statistics are from the 2011 Nepal Demographic, the following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated. Nationality Noun, Nepali, Nepalese, Gorkhali Adjective, Nepali, Nepalese, Gorkhali Religions Hindu 81. 34%, Buddhist 9. 04%, Muslim 4. 38%, Kirant 3. 04%, according to the 2001 national census,92 different living languages are spoken in Nepal
11.
Languages of Nepal
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The 2011 National census lists 123 Nepalese languages spoken as a mother tongue in Nepal. Most belong to the Indo-Aryan and Sino-Tibetan language families, the official language of Nepal is Nepali, formerly called Khaskura then Gorkhali. According to the 2011 national census, the percentage of Nepali Bhasi people is about 44. 6%, maithili is the second largest Nepalese language and according to 2011 Census, the percentage of Maithil people is 11. 57%. Three quarters of the 123 languages native to Nepal belong to the Tibeto-Burman language family, this includes Nepal Bhasa, the Dravidian languages are represented by Kurux, and the Munda languages of the Austroasiatic family by Santali and Mundari. The indigenous languages of Nepal that predated the influx of Indic, Tibeto-Burman, and other families barely survive in the Kusunda language, which is nearly extinct today. Nepal also has at several indigenous village sign languages, Jhankot Sign Language, Jumla Sign Language, and Ghandruk Sign Language, in addition to the Nepali Sign Language designed for national use
12.
Sino-Tibetan languages
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The Sino-Tibetan languages, in a few sources also known as Tibeto-Burman or Trans-Himalayan, are a family of more than 400 languages spoken in East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. The family is only to the Indo-European languages in terms of the number of native speakers. The Sino-Tibetan languages with the most native speakers are the varieties of Chinese, Burmese, many Sino-Tibetan languages are spoken by small communities in remote mountain areas and as such are poorly documented. Several low-level groupings are well established, but the structure of the family remains unclear. A genetic relationship between Chinese, Tibetan, Burmese and other languages was first proposed in the early 19th century, and is now broadly accepted. The initial focus on languages of civilizations with long literary traditions has been broadened to include less widely spoken languages, some of which have recently, or never. However, the reconstruction of the family is less developed than for families such as Indo-European or Austroasiatic. Difficulties have included the great diversity of the languages, the lack of inflection in many of them, in addition, many of the smaller languages are spoken in mountainous areas that are difficult to access, and are often also sensitive border zones. During the 18th century, several scholars had noticed parallels between Tibetan and Burmese, both languages with extensive literary traditions. Early in the century, Brian Houghton Hodgson and others noted that many non-literary languages of the highlands of northeast India. The name Tibeto-Burman was first applied to this group in 1856 by James Richardson Logan, the third volume of the Linguistic Survey of India, edited by Sten Konow, was devoted to the Tibeto-Burman languages of British India. Studies of the Indo-Chinese languages of Southeast Asia from the century by Logan and others revealed that they comprised four families, Tibeto-Burman, Tai, Mon–Khmer. Julius Klaproth had noted in 1823 that Burmese, Tibetan and Chinese all shared common basic vocabulary but that Thai, Mon, Ernst Kuhn envisaged a group with two branches, Chinese-Siamese and Tibeto-Burman. August Conrady called this group Indo-Chinese in his influential 1896 classification, Conradys terminology was widely used, but there was uncertainty regarding his exclusion of Vietnamese. Franz Nikolaus Finck in 1909 placed Karen as a branch of Chinese-Siamese. Jean Przyluski introduced the term sino-tibétain as the title of his chapter on the group in Meillet and he retained Conradys two branches of Tibeto-Burman and Sino-Daic, with Miao–Yao included within Daic. The English translation Sino-Tibetan first appeared in a note by Przyluski. In 1935, the anthropologist Alfred Kroeber started the Sino-Tibetan Philology Project, funded by the Works Project Administration and based at the University of California, the project was supervised by Robert Shafer until late 1938, and then by Paul K. Benedict
13.
Tibetic languages
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Classical Tibetan is a major regional literary language, particularly for its use in Buddhist literature. The Tibetic languages are spoken by some 8 million or more people, outside of Lhasa itself, Lhasa Tibetan is spoken by approximately 200,000 exile speakers who have moved from modern-day Tibet to India and other countries. Tibetan is also spoken by groups of ethnic minorities in Tibet who have lived in proximity to Tibetans for centuries. Although some of the Qiang peoples of Kham are classified by China as ethnic Tibetans, Qiangic languages are not Tibetic, classical Tibetan was not a tonal language, but some varieties such as Central and Khams Tibetan have developed tone registers. Amdo and Ladakhi-Balti are without tone, Tibetic morphology can generally be described as agglutinative. e. Groups which do not allow mutual intelligibility, the notion of ‘dialect group’ is equivalent to the notion of language but does not entail any standardization. Thus if we set aside the notion of standardization, I believe it would be appropriate to speak of 25 languages derived from Old Tibetan. This is not only an issue but it gives an entirely different perception of the range of variation. When we refer to 25 languages, we make clear that we are dealing with a comparable in size to the Romance family which has 19 groups of dialects. The more divergent dialects such as this are spoken in the north and east near the Qiangic and Rgyalrongic languages, the Tibetic languages used for broadcasting within China are Standard Tibetan, Khams and Amdo. Tournadre adds Tseku and Khamba to Khams, and groups Thewo-Chone, Zhongu, other Some classifications group Khams and Amdo together as Eastern Tibetan. Some, like Tournadre, break up Central Tibetan, most Tibetic languages are written in one of two Indic scripts. Standard Tibetan and most other Tibetic languages are written in the Tibetan script with a historically conservative orthography that helps unify the Tibetan-language area, Some other Tibetan languages are written in the related Devanagari script, which is also used to write Hindi, Nepali and many other languages. However, some Ladakhi and Balti speakers write with the Urdu script, the Tibetan script fell out of use in Pakistani Baltistan hundreds of years ago upon the regions adoption of Islam. Many shops in Baltistans capital Skardu in Pakistans Northern Areas region have begun supplementing signs written in the Arabic-Persian script with signs written in the Tibetan script, Old Tibetan phonology is rather accurately rendered by the script. The finals were pronounced devoiced although they are written as voiced, the graphic combinations hr and lh represent voiceless and not necessarily aspirate correspondences to r and l respectively. The letter was pronounced as a guttural fricative before vowels. Whether the gigu verso had phonetic meaning or not remains controversial, for instance, Srongbtsan Sgampo would have been pronounced and babs would have been pronounced
14.
Upper Mustang
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Mustang, formerly Kingdom of Lo, is a remote and isolated region of the Nepalese Himalayas. Tibetan culture has been preserved by the isolation of the region from the outside world. The Upper Mustang comprise the northern two-thirds of Mustang District of Dhawalagiri Zone, the southern third of the district is called Thak and is the homeland of the Thakali, who speak the Thakali language, and whose culture combines Tibetan and Nepalese elements. Life in Mustang revolves around tourism, animal husbandry and trade, Mustangs status as a kingdom ended in 2008 when its suzerain Kingdom of Nepal became a republic. The influence of the world, especially China, is growing and contributing to rapid change in the lives of Mustangs people. Upper Mustang has a climate which is cool and semi-arid with precipitation in the range of 250–400 mm. It is in the shadow of the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges. The population of the whole Mustang District in 2001 was 14,981, the inhabitants are either Thakalis, Gurung or, in traditional Mustang, primarily Tibetan. Most of the population of Mustang lives near the Kali Gandaki River, the tough conditions cause a large winter migration into lower regions of Nepal. The administrative centre of Mustang District is at Jomsom which has had an airport since 1962 and has become the main tourist entry point since Mustang was opened to tourism in 1992. The main hydrographic feature of Mustang is the Gandaki River, the river runs southward towards Nepal Terai, bisecting Mustang. Routes paralleling the river served as a major trade route between Tibet and India, especially for salt. Part of the valley in the southern Mustang District forms the Kali Gandaki Gorge. Upper Mustang is on an ancient trade route between Nepal and Tibet exploiting the lowest 4,660 metres pass Kora La through the Himalaya west of Sikkim and this route remained in use until Chinas annexation of Tibet in 1950. China eventually decided to trade and in 2001 completed a 20 kilometres road from the international border to Lo Manthang. Across the TAR border is Zhongba County of Shigatse Prefecture, China National Highway 219 follows the valley of the Yarlung Tsangpo River some 50 kilometres north of the border. Meanwhile, road-building from the south was inhibited by difficulties along the Kali Gandaki Gorge to the south, in 2010, a 9 kilometres gap remained but the road was completed before 2015 and is suitable for high clearance and 4 WD vehicles. Currently, the easiest and only widely used road corridor, from Kathmandu to Lhasa—named Arniko Highway in Nepal and this is some 465 metres higher than Kora La
15.
Bhotiya
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Bhotiya or Bot are groups of ethno-linguistically related Tibetan people living in the Transhimalayan region of the SAARC countries. The word Bhotiya comes from the classical Tibetan name for Tibet, the Bhotiya speak Ladakhi, a Tibetic language. The Bhotiya identify as Raghuvanshi Rajput and prefer to be referred as Thakur or Rajvanshi, the Bhotiya may be the original immigrants to north Oudh in the period of Nawab Asaf-Ud-Dowlah. The Bhotiya people are related to several other groups and ethnic boundaries are porous. One group is the Bhutia, the main group of the northern part of the Indian state of Sikkim. A second is the Uttarakhand Bhotiya of the upper Himalayan valleys of the Kumaon and these include the Shauka tribe of Kumaon, the Tolchhas and the Marchhas of Garhwal. A third related group are the Dzongkha speaking Ngalop people, the main group of Bhutan. The Bhotiya are also related to several dispersed groups in Nepal, in Nepal, Bhotiya are 0.1 percent of the population. They live in villages through the Himilayas, the language of the Bhotiya people is Ladkahi. It is usually written in the Tibetan alphabet, bhoti is spoken in Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet, and parts of Pakistan and West Bengal. Bhoti is not included in the languages official status in India. The Bhotiya, recognised by Mongoloid facial features, live in the northern and eastern regions of Nepal, the Bhotiya also live in the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura. In Uttar Pradesh, the Bhotiya live in the Bahraich, Gonda, Lakhimpur, Lucknow, Barabanki, Kanpur, and Kheri districts. The Bhotiya have six recognisable sub-groups, the Bhot, Bhotiya, the Bhutia of Sikkim, the Tibbati, the Bhut, the Gyakar Khampa of Khimling, Bhidang of Uttarakhand and the Bhutola. In Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, in Uttarakhand, the Bhotiya are a Scheduled Tribe under the Schedule caste order 1950, the constitutional Scheduled tribe 1967 SC/ST. The Constitution of India recognizes the Bhotiya, Bhotiya marriages are similar to Hindu weddings. When the brides palanquin arrives at her husbands house, gods are worshipped, rice, silver or gold is put in the hands of bridegroom, which he passes on to the bride. She places them in a fan, and hands them as a present to the wife of the barber
16.
Sherpa people
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Sherpa are an ethnic group from the most mountainous region of Nepal, the Himalayas. Sherpa as a surname is the result of census takers of the Nepalese government. Not recognizing that some only have one name, census takers wrote Sherpa in the place of a last name. The surname Sherpa has thus been adopted and involuntarily used as last names even though last names are not part of Sherpa culture, most Sherpa people live in Nepals eastern regions, however, some live farther west in the Rolwaling valley and in the Helambu region north of Kathmandu. Tengboche is the oldest Sherpa village in Nepal, Sherpa people also live in Tibet, Bhutan, as well as in the Indian states of Sikkim and the northern portion of West Bengal, specifically the district of Darjeeling. The Sherpa language belongs to the branch of the Tibeto-Burman languages. However, this language is separate from Lhasa Tibetan and unintelligible to Lhasa speakers, the number of Sherpas migrating to the West has significantly increased in recent years, especially to the United States. New York City has the largest Sherpa community in the United States, the 2001 Nepal census recorded 154,622 Sherpas within its borders. Some members of the Sherpa population are known for their skills in mountaineering, the Sherpa were nomadic people who first settled in the Solukhumbu District, Nepal, then gradually moved westward along salt trade routes. According to Sherpa oral history, four groups migrated out of Solukhumbu at different times, giving rise to the four fundamental Sherpa clans, Minyagpa, Thimmi and these four groups have since split into the more than 20 different clans that exist today. About 1840, Sherpa ancestors migrated from Kham, mahayana Buddhism religious conflict may have contributed to the migration in the 15th and 16th centuries. Sherpa migrants traveled through Ü and Tsang, before crossing the Himalaya, by the 1400s, Khumbu Sherpa people attained autonomy within the newly formed Nepali state. In the 1960s, as tension with China increased, Nepali government influence on the Sherpa people grew, in 1976, Khumbu became a national park, and tourism became a major economic force. According to Oppitz, Sherpas migrated from the Kham region in eastern Tibet to Nepal within the last 300–400 years, on the other hand, Gautam concluded that the Sherpa migrated from Tibet approximately 600 years ago, through the Nangpa La pass. It is presumed that the group of people from the Kham region, east of Tibet, was called Shyar Khamba, as the time passed, the Shyar Khamba, inhabitants of Shyar Khumbu, were called Sherpa. A recent Nepal Ethnographic Museum study postulated that present-day Nepal became a part of the kingdom of Nepal. Since ancient times, Sherpas, like other indigenous Kirat Nepalese tribes, would move one place to another place within the Himalayan region surviving as Alpine pastoralists. Genetic evidence shows that the majority of Sherpa have a Tibeto-Burman origin, genetically, the Sherpa cluster closest with Tibetans and Han Chinese
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Central Tibetan languages
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Central Tibetan, also known as Dbus a. k. a. Ü or Ü-Tsang, is the most widely spoken Tibetic language, Dbus and Ü are forms of the same name. Dbus is a transliteration of the name in Tibetan script, དབུས་ and that is, in Tibetan, the name is spelled Dbus and pronounced Ü. All of these names are applied specifically to the prestige dialect of Lhasa. Amdo Tibetan Ladakhi language Balti language Ü-Tsang
18.
Tibetan Muslims
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The Tibetan Muslims, also known as the Kachee, form a small minority in Tibet. Despite being Muslim, they are recognized as Tibetans by the government of the Peoples Republic of China, unlike the Hui Muslims. The Tibetan word Kachee literally means Kashmiri and Kashmir was known as Kachee Yul, thus, many of them display a mixture of Indo-Iranian and indigenous Tibetan facial features. The appearance of the first Muslims in Tibet has been lost in the mists of time, between the eighth and ninth centuries, the Abbasid rulers of Baghdad maintained relations with Tibet. However, there was little proselytisation among the missionaries at first, although many of them decided to settle in Tibet and marry Tibetan women. In 710-720, during the reign of Me Agtsom, the Arabs, during the reign of Sadnalegs, there was a protracted war with Arab powers to the West. It appears that Tibetans captured a number of Arab troops and pressed them into service on the Eastern frontier in 801, Tibetans were active as far west as Samarkand and Kabul. Some Tibetans in Qinghai who converted to Islam are now considered Hui people, the Balti people of Baltistan in Pakistan and Kargil are descendants of Tibetan Buddhists who mostly converted to Shia Islam, with a Sunni minority. Their Balti language is archaic and conservative and closer to Classical Tibetan than other Tibetan languages. Islam in China Uyghurs Hui people Dungan people Salar people Balti people Nepalese Muslims Akasoy, Anna, Burnett, Charles, Yoeli-Tlalim, Islam and Tibet, interactions along the musk routes
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Sunuwar people
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The Sunuwar are one of the indigenous peoples of Nepal and some areas in India. The majority of this tribe follow the Kirant religion and adopt the Mundhum culture, however, some population of this tribe is influenced by the Hinduism and Christianity also. According to the 2001 census, only 17. 4% were Kirant, the term ‘Kõinchs’ is also the name of the mother tongue. Other terms like Mukhiya or Mukhia are exonyms of the tribe, there is another common teasing name of the tribe coined from the Sunuwar language itself, e. g. Maaraapaache. Sunuwar have their language, religion, culture and social customs. They inhabit the hills of Nepal. They are autochthonous to the Molung Khola, Likhu Khola and Khimti Khola, by administrative division, they dwell in Okhaldhunga, Ramechhap and Dolakha districts of Nepal, politically known as Wallo Kirant after the fall of the Kirant dynasty at the ancient Nepal valley. Wallo Kirant in the past was their Kipat or communal land, most Sunuwar practice agriculture throughout the eastern hills of present-day Nepal. Crop cultivation and cattle farming are the agricultural works. Sunuwar people also took part in the Second World War and they were known as brave gorkhali, some Sunuwar still join the Nepal Army, Indian Army, Singapore Police Force and British Gurkha Army. Due to limited opportunities within the nation, people with education go abroad for work, attractive salaries and facilities in other countries motivate these people for jobs abroad. Only few Sunuwar people are involved in the government service and private sectors in Nepal, Sunuwar are very in rich culture and traditions. They have hundreds of traditional feasts and festivals which are difficult to explain in detail, every traditional feast and festival has its own objectives, characteristics and system of celebration. Some greatest traditional festivals such as Chandi Dance in, Sakela, Gil puja and they celebrate Shyadar-pidar festival on the Day of Buddha Purnima or after 5 days of Buddha Purnima according to Nepali calendar. Sunuwar New year is celebrated on the day of Basanta Panchami, as a community, they celebrate Meserani Pidar twice a year, with no specific date allocated as such. See more Sunuwar Dress Ne, सुनुवार पोसाक Sunuwari Song, Reuhita Ragimshumshaa Hal-Li Or HaliCha हाल्ली खेल Place, Khiji Chandeshwori DVC, Mainland after Kathmandu Month, November/Dec. Only One in the World Players, 12x12, As 12 Month Rule,1 Hali change the Area/court, arranged Marriage Escape Marriage Traction Marriage. Before but not now The 29 Kirat kings were as follows, Yalamber 2
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Rai people
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The Khambu or Rai are indigenous ethnolinguistic groups of Nepal, the Indian State of Sikkim and Darjeeling Hills. They were Rai meaning king (Rai means King in old Khas kura, when the king Prithvi Narayan Shah couldnt defeat Khambu king, he somehow took them in confidence that the land is theirs forever and gave them the title Rai in around B. S.1832. The title of Rai instead khambu kirant people who used to live in majh kirant for particular reason, then the post Rai was provided to the topmost leaders of the region. They were given the power to land tax. Thats why sometimes Rai people are called jimmi or jimmi-wal, the Rai belong to the Kirati group or the Kirat confederation that includes Limbu, Sunuwar, Yakkha and Dhimal ethnic groups. Rais are also found in significant numbers in the Indian state of Sikkim, Assam and in the northern West Bengal towns of Kalimpong, Kurseong, Mirik, according to Nepals 2001 census, there are 635,751 Rai in Nepal representing 2. 79% of the total population. Of this number,70. 89% declared themselves as practicing the traditional Kiranti religion, some groups number only a few hundred members. More than 32 different panoti languages and dialects are recognized within the Tibeto-Burman languages family and their languages are Pronominalised Tibeto-Burman languages, indicating their antiquity. The traditional Kiranti religion, predating Hinduism and Buddhism, is based on ancestor-worship, sumnima-Paruhang are worshipped as primordial parents. They are worshipped as Lord Shiva and Parvati, a major Rai holiday is the harvest festival, Nwogi, when fresh harvested foods are shared by all. The Bijuwa and Nakchhung or Priest plays an important role in Rai communities, the Rai people do not belong to the caste system. The Rai people have never accepted casteism and never adopted a caste, the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities and the Nepal government have recognised this fact. Rai women decorate themselves lavishly with silver and gold coin jewellery, marriage unions are usually monogamous and arranged by parents, although love marriage, bride capture in the past and elopement are alternative methods. Sakela or Sakewa dance is the greatest religious festival of Kirant Rai people in Nepal, the Sakela celebration is a prayer to Mother Nature for healthy crops and protection from natural calamities. Therefore, the festival is known as Bhumi Puja. Starting on Baisakh Purnima, Sakela Ubhauli is celebrated for 15 days in Baisakh marking the beginning of the farming year, Nepal is a very ancient country, which has been ruled by many dynasties. Among them, the Kirat rule is taken as a significant one. In ancient Hindu scriptures, Nepal is referred as the Kirat Desh or the Land of Kirats, when the 28th Kirat King Paruka was ruling in the valley, the Sombanshi ruler attacked his regime many times from the west
21.
Lohorung people
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Lohorung are a janajati or ethnic native people of eastern Nepal. The Lohorung homeland is Sankhuwasabha district in the part of the Arun watershed. At present they are found in eight districts of Nepal, Ilam, Jhapa, Sunsari, Morang, Dhankuta, Terhathum, Lalitpur. They also live in states of India, Darjeeling and Kalimpong in West Bengal, Sikkim and Assam. The Lohorung language belongs to the Kiranti group of Sino-Tibetan languages, Lohorung Yakhkhaba Yuyong is a non-profit organization advocating for the Lohorung community. It is based in Kathmandu, Nepal, the main festivals of Lohorung are Nwagi and Iksamam
22.
Limbu people
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The name Limbu is an exonym of an uncertain origin. They call themselves Yakthumba (IPA, or Yakthungba, in Standard Tibetan, they are referred to as Sikkimese people and in Sikkimese as Shong or Tsong Tsang people. Portions of the Limbu population are located in the east and west districts of Sikkim. Limbu clans and tribes are divided into two gotras indicating their origin, Lhasa and Yunnan, the Limbu are known as Yakthung Thibong or Ten Limbu, from which thirteen Limbu subgroups have emerged. According to legend, five of the came from Yunnan. The Chinese text Po-ou-Yeo-Jing translated in 308 AD refers to the Yi-ti-Sai, accounts with Sirijunga Limbu, Lepcha and Newar are the only Sino-Tibetan languages of the Central Himalayas to possess their own pre-20th century scripts. Vowels, ʌ, ɑ, i, u, e, ɑi, o, ɑu, ɛ, ɔ Consonants k, kh, g, gh, ŋ, c/ts, ch/tsh, j/dz, jh/dz, t, th, d, dh, n, p, ph, b, bh, m, j, r, l, w, sh, s, h, tr 1. Sleep, imma, kiratism or Kirat Dharma Limbus practice many of their own life cycle rituals and they believe that lineage is not transmitted patrilineally. Rather, a woman inherits her mothers gods, and when she marries and lives with her husband she brings with her the deities that will then be recognized as the household deities, Limbu bury their dead and observe for two-to-three days through practiced death rituals. The length of the period varies depending on the gender of the deceased. Dancing parties are arranged for visitors to the village and these affairs give the young Limbu girls and boys a chance to meet and enjoy dancing and drinking. The traditional dress of the Limbus are mekhli and taga, while performing mangsewa IPA, Yakthung IPA, people wear mekhli and taga in white colour as it symbolizes purity. Dhaka is the fabric of the Limbus which are made by weaving it in geometric patterns in a handloom. The art of making dhaka is taught by one generation to another and you will always see a Limbu man clad in dhaka topi and scarf, and a Limbu lady in dhaka saree, mekhli, blouse and shawl. In the olden days, the Limbus were skilled in silk farming, the Kiratis were also known as silk traders. According to JB Subba and Iman Xin Chemjong, the Kirat is a form of kereta. Mekhli- Long dress worn with a strip of cloth with collars crossing over or in a Vneck style. Chunglokek/sunghamba- Blouse Chaubandi Cholo- Blouse with collars overlapping each other Sim- gunyo in Nepali, a long strip of cloth wrapped around like a skirt
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Tamang people
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The Tamang ཏ་མང, or Murmi, are the indigenous inhabitants of the Himalayan regions of Nepal and India, their ancestral land is called Tamsaling. Tamang are also a significant minority in Sikkim and Darjeeling District of West Bengal of India as permanent settlers and they were one of the aborigines who were least affected by Nepalisation. Peculiar to Tamang people are complex marriage restrictions within the community, until 1950, Tamang were neither accepted into government posts, whether administrative, judicial or political, nor allowed to accept foreign employment, serving as a labour pool for the ruling class. But nowadays, Tamangs are highly respected as Buddhist Monks as rinpoche, in many Tamang Villages, there is still a tradition of sending the second son to study Buddhism and preferably to remain in the Monastery, and serve as a Buddhist Monk throughout his life. Tamangs have also served as Gurkha soldiers in British Gurkha army, Singapore police, Indian army and police and Nepalese army, the governments have considered that an empowerment of Tamang community is essential to in order to increase the living standard of the people. On August 3 the Nepalese parliament adopted a bill amending the Civil Service Act 1993, the amendments provide reservations for disadvantaged groups by allocating 45 percent of the jobs in the bureaucracy to these groups. Tamangs are represented by Tamsaling Rastriya Mukti Morcha and Tamsaling Nepal Rastriya Dal, the umbrella group Mongol National Organisation supports self-determination and works against said discrimination not just for Tamangs but for all Mongoloid groups in the country. Mongol National is against conversion to Hinduism of non-Hindus, but it holds no official parliamentary vote, federal Limbuwan State Council also works towards similar goals for self-determination for the Kirati peoples, who co-mingle with Tamangs, citing a reneged treaty with Kathmandu for autonomy. Tamang have gompas in every sizeable village, every family has their special Buddhist god and book to worship every morning. The Tamangs retain jhankris in addition to their Lama clan, the latter whose surnames are also Lama, additionally there exists the honorific term Lama, assigned to all Tamang regardless of kinship clan. This is not to be confused with Lama of Tibet or the Sherpa Lama surname and these jhankris perform certain rites such as trances and sacrifices to alleviate problems or assure good fortune. According to the 2001 census,90. 3% of the Tamang people follow Buddhism that makes up 47. 3% of the total in the country, hence, Tamang are the largest population who follow Buddhism in Nepal. Majority of the Tamangs are Buddhist, not Hindu so they dont belong to low caste system of Hindu, today they inhabit the borders of Nepal and Tibet, due to marginalization from Kathmandu, and are among the groups hardest hit by the April 2015 Nepal earthquake. The word Tamang is re-constructed from 2 words, Ta – Horse, Tamangs are divided into 240 families. Flags and colourful printed by Buddhist mantra, holy words and clothes are put in different places in the village. Tamang have a dance called Tamang Selo that is performed with the Damphoo instrument, also known as Damphoo Dance, having a brisk movement, dashain is also approached with much enthusiasm by Tamangs. Most Tamangs are farmers, engaged in agriculture, due to the lack of irrigation at higher altitudes, their crops are often limited to corn, millet, wheat, barley, and potatoes. They often supplement their income with manual labour
24.
Thakali people
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The Thakali are an ethnolinguistic group originated from the Thak Khola region of the Mustang District in the Dhaulagiri zone of Nepal. Thak-sat-se is the area of the Thakali community, which lies in the salt trading zone on the south of Tukuche mountain. According to 2001 census, Thakalis population of around 13,000 constitute only 0. 06% of Nepals population, there are around 30,000 Thakali in Nepal, of which are Buddhist, Hindus and some both. The Thakalis are some of Nepals most successful businessmen and they trade in places like Tukuche and Thaksatse. Furthermore, many are owners of Nepals hotels and motels, however, due to extensive trade all over Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet, many Thakalis have resettled in Pokhara, Kathmandu and in southern Nepal. You will also see good number of them in Japan and in England these days, due to this, the Thakalis outside their homeland follow a form of Tibetan Buddhism, Thakalis in southern Nepal practice Buddhism with bit Hindu flavor. Those in Mustang remain much more traditionally Buddhist, the Thakalis are a strictly endogamous group, distinctly divided into four exogamous clans. Thus, a member of the Thakal community is expected to marry another Thakali, the four clans are equal in status socially and ritually. However, on the basis of precedence in worship, the Sherchan/Serchan usually comes first, followed by Gauchan, Bhattachan and Tulachan. Each clan group has a distinct clan god represented by a totem, such as dragon, elephant, snow leopard, and yak for Gauchan, Tulachan, Sherchan/Serchan. The Thakalis are very organized people and they have neat kitchens and keep tidy houses. Lhafewa, Tornala and Falo are the festivals of the Thakali. Dhnom is the title of the Thakali priest who works as the local shaman, madaal, Khaprang, and Thamken are their main musical instruments. Three types or varieties of Thakali exist in the Thakkhola valley, Three village Thakali called as Tin Gaule Thakali, Marphali Thakali also known as PUNEL, among the Yhulkosompaimhi they are also divided into subgroup. The Thakali have their own Thakali language and their own culture regarding birth, marriage and they have their own festivals like Tungla and Fala. Untersuchungen zur Sprache des Dorfes Marpha im Oberen Kali-Gandaki-Tal/Nepal, Nepal Mustang District Dhaulagiri The Thak Archive
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Magars
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The Magars are one of the indigenous ethnic nationalities of Nepal representing 7. 13% of the Nepals total population as per the census of 2011. Their ancestral homeland extends from the Western and the Southern edges of the Dhaulagiri range of the Himalayas to the Mahabharat foothills in the South, genetically and physically, Magar people are Mongoloid/east Asian. They are believed to have migrated from Tibet via Sikkim like other prominent ethnic groups, mythical stories on the Origins of Magars, There are interesting mythical stories describing the origins of Magars. Three different versions relative to three different language groups are presented, the Magar of the Bahra Magaranth east of the Kali Gandaki River) are said to have originated in the land of Seem. Two brothers, Seem Magar and Chintoo Magar, fought, and one remained in Seem, while the other left, the Bhutia people lived at the northern end of this region. Over time, the Magars became very powerful and made the northern Bhutia their vassals, sintoo Sati Sheng ruled in a very despotic manner, and the Bhutia conspired to assassinate him. Shengs queen took revenge and poisoned 1,000 Bhutia people at a place now called Tong Song Fong, meaning where a thousand were murdered, the Bhutia later drove the Magar out, forcing them to again migrate further south. As part of migration, one group migrated to Simrongadh, one group moved towards the Okhaldhunga region. A second Magar federation called Athara Magarat was situated west of the Gandaki River, the first written history about Magar people dates as back as 1100 AD. But it is accepted that they have resided around Palpa from time immemorial. They are also thought to be the earliest settlers from the north, some records show these twelve areas as being Arghakhanchi, Gulmi, Isma, Musikot, Khanchi, Ghiring, Rising, Bhirkot, Payung, Garhung, Dhor and Satung. However, it is probable that some of the latter places should have been excluded in favour of Palpa, Galkot, Dhurkot, Char Hajar, Parbat, the Magars of middle and western region also played a role in Nepals formative history. Their kingdom was one of the strongest of west Nepal in, the 18th-century king, Prithvi Narayan Shah, the founder of the modern Kingdom of Nepal was announced and loved to call himself the King of Magarat. Many prominent historians of Nepal have claimed that Aramudi, a ruler of the Kali Gandaki region, was a Magar King. Aramudi derives from the word for river in the Magar language, ari-Source of Water + Modi-River=Arimodi or Aramudi, thus the literal meaning of Aramudi is source of river. But due to the lack of evidence there are some conflicting ideas among the historians. The Magars are structured with septs, followed by sub-septs, broadly speaking, Magars are divided into two main groups, Baraha Magaratis and Athara Magaratis. Before the unification of Nepal in the 18th century by the King Prithvi Narayan Shah, west of Kali Gandaki was called eighteen Magarat and East of Kali Gandaki was called twelve Magarat
26.
Newar people
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The Newar or Newah are the historical inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley and its surrounding areas in Nepal, and the creators of its historic heritage and civilization. Newars form a linguistic and cultural community of primarily Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Burman ethnicities following Hinduism and Buddhism with Nepal Bhasa as their common language, Newars have developed a division of labour and a sophisticated urban civilization not seen elsewhere in the Himalayan foothills. Newars have continued their traditions and practices, and pride themselves as the true custodians of the religion, culture. The valley and surrounding territories constituted the former Newar kingdom of the Nepal Mandala, Indo-Aryan immigrants like the Licchavis and Mallas that arrived at different periods eventually merged with the local population by adopting their language and customs. Newar rule in Nepal Mandala ended with its conquest by the Gorkha Kingdom in 1768, Newars are known for their contributions to culture, art and literature, trade, agriculture and cuisine. Today, Newars consistently rank as the most economically, politically and socially advanced community of Nepal, nepals 2011 census ranks Newars as the nations sixth-largest ethnicity/community, with 1,321,933 Newars throughout the country. The terms Nepāl, Newār, Newāl and Nepār are phonetically different forms of the same word, Nepal is the learned form and Newar is the colloquial form. The term Newar referring to inhabitant of Nepal appeared for the first time in an inscription dated 1654 in Kathmandu, italian Jesuit priest Ippolito Desideri who traveled to Nepal in 1721 has written that the natives of Nepal are called Newars. It has been suggested that Nepal may be a sanskritization of Newar, according to another explanation, the words Newar and Newari are vulgarisms arising from the mutation of P to V, and L to R. As a result of the process of dropping the last consonant and lengthening the vowel, Newā for Newār or Newāl. For about a thousand years, the Newar civilization in Central Nepal preserved a microcosm of classical North Indian culture in which Brahmanic, snellgrove and Richardson speak of the direct heritage of pre-Islamic India. The different divisions of Newars had different historical developments, the common identity of Newar was formed in the Kathmandu Valley. Until the conquest of the valley by the Gorkha Kingdom in 1769, so, the history of Newar correlates to the history of the Kathmandu Valley prior to the establishment of the modern state of Nepal. The earliest known history of Newar and the Kathmandu Valley blends with mythology recorded in historical chronicles, one such text, which recounts the creation of the valley, is the Swayambhu Purana. According to this Buddhist scripture, the Kathmandu Valley was a giant lake until the Bodhisattva Manjusri, with the aid of a sword, cut a gap in the surrounding hills. This apocryphal legend is supported by evidence of an ancient lakebed. According to the Swayambhu Purana, Manjusri then established a city called Manjupattan, now called Manjipā, a shrine dedicated to Manjusri is still present in Majipā. No historical documents have been found after this era till the advent of the Gopal era, a genealogy of kings is recorded in a chronicle called Gopalarajavamsavali
27.
Thami
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The Thami are an indigenous tribe of hills east of Kathmandu, Nepals capital. They mainly live in Suspa, Kshamawati, Khopachagu, Alampu, Bigu, Kalinchok, Lapilang and they are locally known as Thangmi. They speak the Thami language, also called, Thangmi Kham, Thangmi Wakhe, and Thani. According to the 2011 Nepal Census there are a total of 30,000 Thami of which 55. 74% were Hindus,12. 41% were Buddhists,14. 60% were Bon and 16. 77% were Shamanists. Legend says that the first Thami couple had seven sons and seven daughters, when the parents could not find suitable marriage partners for their children, they allowed them to intermarry. The Thami people are their descendants, the Thami earn a meagre living through stone quarrying businesses and by joining the military forces. To escape this extreme hardship, many have fled to India to find better jobs, many upper class members of Thami clan are living in Bhutan. They go to Nepal in search of employment, and to do business, the Thami are shamanists, though they have come under strong Buddhist influence from the Tamang. Hindu influence can be seen in their marriage rituals, which is a festival to them. Although they are poor they must make a chautara in the name of their deceased relatives, recently many people of Thami clan are seem to be joining Christianity. Remembering the Thami, A case study Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities थामी जातिबारे जानौं, सपना थामी
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Kham Magar
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There is no obvious proof of where they come from. Later on the Kham kings ruled from present Karnali region or ancient Nepal region in the far west, however, after Khas kings from Kumaon and Garwal continued to attack upon Kham kings of Humla and Jumla area in around 400 AD. The Kham kings are reported to have fought against brute and uncivilized Khas aggressors for 100s years, but Khams last kings were defeated when king Khudu was the king. He had fought fiercely against Garra army but could not protect his forth and was deposed, Khas kingdom flourished in the Jumla region which started their rule after which they claimed this region as Khasan. The Magars divided in 12 kings called 12 Magrant were divided into 12 and 18 clans after which they claimed their family titles, all 12 and 18 clans belonged to the same titled Magars who usually spoke one Magar language and lived around Gandak region. The western magar highlands may also have left as a buffer between the easternmost Baise kingdom, Salyan, and the westernmost Chaubisi kingdom, Pyuthan. For the Hindu brahaman, the highlands, unsuited for rice cultivation, were hardly worth contesting. Kham civilization is said to have given Pal title to many of its inhabitants, as a matter of fact Pal kings were the early rulers of Nepal during which Kham were given the title of Pals at the end of their names. After unification of Nepal coming Shaha king, official neglect, underdevelopment, the main export was manpower as mercenaries to the British and Indian armies, or whatever other employment opportunities could be found for largely uneducated and unskilled labor. Despite unending toil, food shortages have become a problem that still persists. Food deficits were historically addressed by grain imports bought dearly with distant work at low wages, development introduced motor transport, which diminished porterage employment. But Hindu government directly indirectly encouraged the drugs. The Rolpa and Rukum districts in the center of the homelands became known as the Maoist heartland. Bhume Naach / Bal puja is one of the ancient cultural festivals celebrated by the Kham tribes of Rolpa, although they describe themselves as belonging to Magar community, their language, culture, historical legends differ. Some of the anthropological and sociological conclusions indicate towards separate ethnic entity of the Kham people who speak Kham language in this region, Kham people dance very slowly in Jholeni and Bhume dance while Magars dance a fast dance in Kaura dance. Currently Kham people worship their ancestors through bon shamanism while Magars have adopted Buddhism as their religion to express their cultural rites, Kham are also politically elevated in Nepali politics while Magars are elevated in Police, Army and Armed Police or in civil servants. Magars in the Eyes of Western Writers, A Socio-Anthropological Review, govind P. Thapa, Magar Studies Center. Magar Studies Center Sowing the Wind…, History and Dynamics of the Maoist Revolt in Nepals Rapti Hills, robert Gersony for Mercy Corps International, October 2003. The History and Dynamics of Nepals Maoist Revolt, International Resources Group, Washington, DC, IRG Discussion Forum, #15
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Chepang people
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The Chepang are an indigenous Tibeto-Burman people group numbering around fifty-two thousand mainly inhabiting the rugged ridges of the Mahabharat mountain range of central Nepal. The severe topography, however, has made permanent farming difficult, Chepang men and women are basically egalitarian and no social ranking exists as it does in caste Nepalese society. Many Chepang cannot read and write due and deprived of school beyond elementary, despite that the nation has been making great gains in reducing illiteracy. According to the 2001 Nepal Census, there are 52,237 Chepang in the country, of which 67. 63% were Hindu,23. 38% were Buddhists,7. 49% were Christians, and 1. 25% others. They are mostly located in Dhading District, Chitwan District, Gorkha District, Makwanpur District, the Chepangs themselves follow Animism, although they are strongly influenced by both Hinduism and Buddhism, which came from the Tamangs just north of them. They observe all the Hindu festivals of Dashain, Tihar and Sakrantis besides their own tribal festival Nwagi or Chhonam, Chhonam is the auspicious day for eating a new crop. Before the celebration of festival, there is prohibition for eating certain agricultural products. In in 5th National Gathering of Chepang,2004, it was stated they practiced Prakriti and they worship many deities including Bhumi, Aita Bare, Gaidu, Namrung etc. etc. They also observe other different festivals like, Maghe Sakranti, Saune Sakranti, Dashain, the language is also known as Chepang but is called Chyo-bang by the people themselves. Some Bahun Chettri castes call these people the Praja meaning political subjects, the people speak 3 different dialects of this Tibeto-Burman language that is closely related to Raute and Raji, two undocumented languages spoken in western Nepal. Chepang language is one of the few languages which uses a counting system rather than the decimal. Chepang communities were already suffering from severe malnutrition before the blockade, due to historic discrimination and neglect and remote communities, Chepang have suffered discrimination even at the hands of the Nepali Food Corporation in charge of emergency food distribution. Social activist KP Kiran Sharma said Chepangs compulsorily eat rice during Dashain, where meat is eaten by more wealthy groups. Hence they are among the most vulnerable ethnic groups facing potential population bottleneck in the winter of 2015/16 despite their small numbers. The Nepal Red Cross has stepped in providing them with relief when left to rot by the government, in turn, Chepangs in Lothhar fight cold with donated clothes Kathmandu Post
