The People of Nepal

1. The People of Nepal

2. Dominant Nepali Cultural Concepts • Caste • Bahun or Brahmin • Chhetri • Newar • Status

3. Nepal is the meeting place of the Indo-Arayn people of India and the Mongolian people of the Himalaya. • 141 indigenous groups. • 24-100 different languages and dialects. • Nepali is the unifying language although it is the first language for less than half of the population. • Devanagari is the script.

5. Bahun (Brahmin)

7. Punya (Merit) • Sixth year is the most holy for Brahmin girls to marry. • Hindu scripture charges the parents with the duty to marry their daughters. • Doing ones duty earns merit toward reaching swarga (heaven) when they die.

16. Bidhua

17. Sherpas and Bhotias

19. Newars

20. The Newari language while greatly influenced by Sanskrit, is still distinctly Tibeto-Burman. • Beginning of the Newar civilization is estimated to be about 6th century BC. • Uray and Shrestha are traditionally business people and farmers. • Within the Shrestha community there are three hierarchically ranked groups, chha-thare, panch-thare and char-thare.

21. Rais and Limbus • The Rais and Limbus ruled the Kathmandu Valley from the 7th century BC until around AD 300. • They then moved to the east from the Arun Valley to the Sikkim boarder. • They are of Tibeto-Burmese descent and their traditional religion is distinct from Buddhism and Hinduism.

22. Gurungs • Live mainly in the central midlands. • Gurungs have made up large number so of Gurkha regiments. • Gurung women wear nose rings (phuli) and coral necklaces.

24. Tharus • Thought to be early inhabitants of the Terai. • May be the descendents of the Rajputs from Rajasthan. • Their beliefs are largely animistic. • Many harve been exploited by the zamindars, and fallen into debt so became bounded laborers, kamaiyas.

25. Nepal’s Population • Chhetri 15.5% • Braham-Hill 12.5% • Magar 7% • Tharu 6.6% • Tamang 5.5% • Newar 5.4% • Muslim 4.2% • Kami 3.9% • Yadav 3.9% • Other 32.7%