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{{Infobox ethnic group
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Bhotiya
| group = Bhotiya
| image =
| image =
| caption =
| caption =
| population = 13,397 (2011)<ref>{{cite report |date=2014 |title=Population monograph of Nepal |volume=II |author=Central Bureau of Statistics |publisher=Government of Nepal |url=https://nepal.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Population%20Monograph%20V02.pdf}}</ref>
| population =
| region1 = {{flag|Nepal}}
| popplace = {{flagcountry| Nepal}} and {{flagcountry|India}}
| region2 = {{flag|India}}
| region1 = {{flagcountry|Nepal}}
| pop1 = 13,397 (2011)<ref>{{cite report |date=2014 |title=Population monograph of Nepal |volume=II |author=Central Bureau of Statistics |publisher=Government of Nepal |url=https://nepal.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Population%20Monograph%20V02.pdf}}</ref>
| region3 = {{flag|Bhutan}}
| region4 = {{flag|Pakistan}}
| region2 = {{flag|India}}
| region6 = {{flag|China}}
| region3 = {{flag|Bhutan}}
| region4 = {{flag|Pakistan}}
⚫
| langs = [[Ladakhi language|Ladakhi]], [[Sherpa language|Sherpa]], [[Standard Tibetan]] and other [[Tibetic languages]],<ref name=SIL>{{cite news|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=sip |title=Sikkimese |editor=Lewis, M. Paul |year=2009 |work=[[Ethnologue]]: Languages of the World |edition=16 |location=[[Dallas, Texas]] |publisher=[[SIL International]] |access-date=2011-04-16| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110514060819/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=sip| archive-date= 14 May 2011 | url-status= live}}, ''identifying several language communities as "Bhotiya" and similarly''</ref> also [[Nepali language|Nepali]] and [[Hindi]]
| region6 = {{flag|China}}
| rels = [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], [[Bon]]
⚫
| langs = [[Ladakhi language|Ladakhi]], [[Sherpa language|Sherpa]], [[Standard Tibetan]] and other [[Tibetic languages]],<ref name=SIL>{{cite news|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=sip |title=Sikkimese |editor=Lewis, M. Paul |year=2009 |work=[[Ethnologue]]: Languages of the World |edition=16 |location=[[Dallas, Texas]] |publisher=[[SIL International]] |access-date=2011-04-16| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110514060819/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=sip| archive-date= 14 May 2011 | url-status= live}}, ''identifying several language communities as "Bhotiya" and similarly''</ref> also [[Nepali language|Nepali]] and [[Hindi]]
⚫
| related = [[Bhutia]], [[Tibetan people|Tibetan]], [[Uttarakhand Bhotiya]], [[Ngalop people|Ngalop]], [[Sharchops|Tshangla people]]
| rels = [[Buddhism]] 98.32% (2011), [[Hinduism]] 1% (2011), [[Christianity]] 0,5% (2011) <ref>{{cite report |date=2014 |title=Population monograph of Nepal |volume=II |author=Central Bureau of Statistics |publisher=Government of Nepal |url=https://nepal.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Population%20Monograph%20V02.pdf}}</ref>
⚫
| related = [[Bhutia]], [[Sherpa people|Sherpa]], [[Ladakhis|Ladakhis]], [[Tibetan people|Tibetan]], [[Uttarakhand Bhotiya]], [[Ngalop people|Ngalop]], [[Sharchops|Tshangla people]]
}}
}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 135-S-02-17-37, Tibetexpedition, Buthiawürdenträger.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A senior official in [[Sikkim]], ethnic Bhotiya, 1938]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 135-S-02-17-37, Tibetexpedition, Buthiawürdenträger.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A senior official in [[Sikkim]], ethnic Bhotiya, 1938]]


'''Bhotiya''' or '''Bhot''' ({{lang-ne|भोटिया}}, {{transl|ne|Bhotiyā}}) are groups of ethno-linguistically related [[Tibetan people]] living in the [[Transhimalaya]]n region that divides [[India]] from [[Tibet]]. The word ''Bhotiya'' comes from the [[classical Tibetan]] name for [[Tibet]], {{lang|bo|Bod}}. The Bhotiya speak numerous languages including [[Ladakhi language|Ladakhi]]. The Indian recognition of such language is Bhoti / Bhotia having Tibetan scripts and it lies in the Parliament of India to become one of the official languages through Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
'''Bhotiya''' or '''Bhot''' ({{lang-ne|भोटिया}}, {{transliteration|ne|Bhotiyā}}) is an Indian and Nepali exonym lumping together various ethnic groups speaking [[Tibetic languages]], as well as some groups speaking other [[Tibeto-Burman languages]] living in the [[Transhimalaya]]n region that divides [[India]] from [[Tibet]]. The word ''Bhotiya'' comes from the [[classical Tibetan]] name for [[Tibet]], {{lang|bo|བོད}}, {{transliteration|bo|bod}}. The Bhotiya speak numerous languages including [[Ladakhi language|Ladakhi]], [[Bhutia language|Drejongke]], [[Yolmo language|Yolmo]] and [[Sherpa language|Sherpa]]. The Indian recognition of such language is Bhoti / Bhotia having Tibetan scripts and it lies in the Parliament of India to become one of the official languages through Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.


==Background==
==Background==
[[File:Bhotia, trans-Himalayan, Sikhim.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Bhotia, trans-Himalayan, Sikhim]]
[[File:Bhotia, trans-Himalayan, Sikhim.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Bhotia, trans-Himalayan, Sikhim]]
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]] (1775 to 1797).<ref name=Crooke>{{cite book|title=The Tribes and Castes of the North-western Provinces and Oudh |volume=3 |first=William |last=Crooke |publisher=Office of the superintendent of government printing |year=1896 |pages=134, 255–257}}</ref>
The Bhotiyas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand 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]] (1775 to 1797).<ref name=Crooke>{{cite book|title=The Tribes and Castes of the North-western Provinces and Oudh |volume=3 |first=William |last=Crooke |publisher=Office of the superintendent of government printing |year=1896 |pages=134, 255–257}}</ref>


The Bhotiya people are closely related to several other groups and ethnic boundaries are porous.<ref name="Gellner (2012)"/>{{rp|page=56}} One group is the [[Bhutia]], the main ethnolinguistic group of the northern part of the Indian state of [[Sikkim]]. A second is the [[Uttarakhand Bhotiya]] of the upper [[Himalaya]]n valleys of the [[Kumaon division|Kumaon]] and the [[Garhwal division|Garhwal]] divisions of [[Uttarakhand]]. These include the [[Shauka tribe]] of Kumaon, the [[Tolchha]]s and the [[Marchha]]s of Garhwal, Gyagar Khampa of Khimling, Bhidang. A third related group are the [[Dzongkha]] speaking [[Ngalop people]], the main ethnolinguistic group of [[Bhutan]]. The Bhotiya are also related to several dispersed groups in [[Nepal]] and the adjacent areas of [[India]] including the [[Tibet]]ans and [[Sherpa people|Sherpa]]s.
The Bhotiya people are closely related to several other groups and ethnic boundaries are porous.<ref name="Gellner (2012)"/>{{rp|page=56}} One group is the [[Bhutia]], the main ethnolinguistic group of the northern part of the Indian state of [[Sikkim]]. A second is the [[Uttarakhand Bhotiya]] of the upper [[Himalaya]]n valleys of the [[Kumaon division|Kumaon]] and the [[Garhwal division|Garhwal]] divisions of [[Uttarakhand]]. These include the [[Shauka tribe]] of Kumaon, the [[Tolchha]]s and the [[Marchha]]s of Garhwal, Gyagar Khampa of Khimling, Bhidang. A third related group are the [[Dzongkha]] speaking [[Ngalop people]], the main ethnolinguistic group of [[Bhutan]]. The Bhotiya are also related to several dispersed groups in [[Nepal]] and the adjacent areas of [[India]] including the [[Tibet]]ans and [[Sherpa people|Sherpa]]s.


In Nepal, Bhotiya is 0.1 percent of the population. They live in villages throughout the Himalayas.<ref name="Gellner (2012)">Gellner D. et al (ed.) [https://books.google.com.au/books?id=n4FQMEiZcrIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=bhotiya&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjb6rOo-KXJAhUBXWMKHU85CeUQ6AEIIjAB#v=onepage&q=bhotiya&f=false "Nationalism and Ethnicity in a Hindu Kingdom: The Politics and Culture of Contemporary Nepal."] Routledge, 2012 {{ISBN|1136649565}}, 9781136649561. Accessed at Google Books 23 November 2015.</ref>{{rp|page=377}}
In Nepal, Bhotiya is 0.1 percent of the population. They live in villages throughout the Himalayas.<ref name="Gellner (2012)">Gellner D. et al (ed.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=n4FQMEiZcrIC&q=bhotiya "Nationalism and Ethnicity in a Hindu Kingdom: The Politics and Culture of Contemporary Nepal."] Routledge, 2012 {{ISBN|1136649565}}, 9781136649561. Accessed at Google Books 23 November 2015.</ref>{{rp|page=377}}


==Language of the Bhotiya people==
==Language==
⚫
The language of the Bhotiya people is called "Bhoti" or "Bhotia", but is in fact a cover term for a wide variety of [[Tibeto-Burman languages]] spoken in India. It is usually written in the [[Tibetan script]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gohain|first1=Swargajyoti|title= Mobilising language, imagining region:Use of Bhoti in West Arunachal Pradesh|journal=Contributions to Indian Sociology|date=2012|volume= 46|issue=3|pages=337–363|doi=10.1177/006996671204600304|url=https://www.academia.edu/3365452|access-date=October 6, 2014|citeseerx=10.1.1.1028.3538|s2cid=143169828}}</ref> Bhoti and Bhotia is spoken in [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Sikkim]], [[Uttarakhand]], [[Arunachal Pradesh]], [[Bhutan]], [[Nepal]], [[Tibet]], and parts of [[Pakistan]] and [[West Bengal]].{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} Bhoti is not included in the [[languages with official status in India]].
{{Original research section|date=January 2021}}
⚫
The language of the Bhotiya people is called "Bhoti" or "Bhotia", but is in fact a cover term for a wide variety of [[Tibeto-Burman languages]] spoken in India. It is usually written in the [[Tibetan alphabet]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gohain|first1=Swargajyoti|title= Mobilising language, imagining region:Use of Bhoti in West Arunachal Pradesh|journal=Contributions to Indian Sociology|date=2012|volume= 46|issue=3|pages=337–363|doi=10.1177/006996671204600304|url=https://www.academia.edu/3365452|access-date=October 6, 2014|citeseerx=10.1.1.1028.3538|s2cid=143169828}}</ref> Bhoti and Bhotia 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 with official status in India]]. On 27 February 2011, however, a resolution introduced by the [[Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh]], for the inclusion of the language{{which|date=January 2021}} in the [[Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India]] passed without opposition.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}


==Population==
==Population==
Line 43: Line 44:


==Traditions==
==Traditions==
{{unreferenced section|date=December 2023}}


=== Weddings ===
=== Weddings ===
Line 49: Line 51:
=== Funerals ===
=== Funerals ===
The Bhotiyas have distinctive funerary traditions. Young children who die of [[cholera]] or snakebite are buried while others are cremated. There is no fixed burial ground, and no ceremonies are performed at the time of burial. The wealthy keep the ashes for ''lowal'' to several streams, while others bury them. After cremation, a stalk of ''kusha'' (grass) is fixed in the ground near a tank of water and [[sesamum]] is poured on it for ten days. This makes it a refuge for the deceased's spirit until the rites are completed.
The Bhotiyas have distinctive funerary traditions. Young children who die of [[cholera]] or snakebite are buried while others are cremated. There is no fixed burial ground, and no ceremonies are performed at the time of burial. The wealthy keep the ashes for ''lowal'' to several streams, while others bury them. After cremation, a stalk of ''kusha'' (grass) is fixed in the ground near a tank of water and [[sesamum]] is poured on it for ten days. This makes it a refuge for the deceased's spirit until the rites are completed.

==Religion==
Bhotiya Tribe, the natives of the Himalayan belt are maximum Buddhist followers along with followers of other religions. Though most of Bhotiya practice a combination of [[Tibetan Buddhism]] and [[Hinduism]]. (The word Bhotiya is derived from the word ''Bhot'', the ancient name for "Tibet''.) [[Ancestor worship]] is prevalent.


==Economy==
==Economy==
In [[Uttarakhand]], particularly [[Chamoli District|Chamoli]], [[Pithoragarh District|Pithoragarh]] and [[Uttarkashi District|Uttarkashi]], the Bhotiya are nomadic, migratory pastoralists, moving about the border lands between [[India]] and [[Tibet]].<ref>[https://books.google.com.au/books?id=dcXNpmsxSn0C&pg=PA218&dq=bhotiya&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiC4qjW-6XJAhWDpYgKHXPICsUQ6AEIKTAC#v=onepage&q=bhotiya&f=false "The Social Economy of the Himalayans: Based on a Survey in the Kumaon Himalayas."] Mittal Publications 1988 p51 Accessed at Google Books 23 November 2015.</ref>
In [[Uttarakhand]], particularly [[Chamoli District|Chamoli]], [[Pithoragarh District|Pithoragarh]] and [[Uttarkashi District|Uttarkashi]], the Bhotiya are semi-nomadic, migratory pastoralists, moving about the border lands between [[India]] and [[Tibet]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dcXNpmsxSn0C&dq=bhotiya&pg=PA218 "The Social Economy of the Himalayans: Based on a Survey in the Kumaon Himalayas."] Mittal Publications 1988 p51 Accessed at Google Books 23 November 2015.</ref>


They are also traders in the Himilayas for products such as cereal, wool, and salt. Now, some are farmers and others are merchants of stones, gems, and herbs.<ref name=Handbook>{{cite book|title=Nepal and Bangladesh: a global studies handbook |series=Global Studies Handbooks |first=Nanda R. |last=Shrestha |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-57607-285-1}}</ref>
They are also traders in the Himilayas for products such as cereal, wool, and salt. Now, some are farmers and others are merchants of stones, gems, and herbs.<ref name=Handbook>{{cite book|title=Nepal and Bangladesh: a global studies handbook |series=Global Studies Handbooks |first=Nanda R. |last=Shrestha |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-57607-285-1}}</ref>


The Bhotiya are experienced in the use of medicinal plants.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kala|first=C. P.|title=Local preferences of ethnobotanical species in the Indian Himalaya: Implications for environmental conservation|journal=Current Science|year=2007|volume=93|issue=12|pages=1828–1834}}</ref> The local fermented beverages are ''jan'' (a local beer), and ''daru''. A local fermented food stuff is ''sez''. The traditional catalyzing agent used in the preparation of fermented foods and beverages is called ''balam'' in the [[Kumaon Division]] and ''balma'' in [[Garhwal Division]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Kala|first=C.P.|title=Biodiversity, Communities and Climate Change|year=2012|publisher=TERI Publications|location=New Delhi|page=358}}</ref>
The Bhotiya are experienced in the use of medicinal plants.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kala|first=C. P.|title=Local preferences of ethnobotanical species in the Indian Himalaya: Implications for environmental conservation|journal=Current Science|year=2007|volume=93|issue=12|pages=1828–1834}}</ref> The local [[fermented beverage]]s are ''jan'' (a local beer), and ''daru''. A local fermented food stuff is ''sez''. The traditional catalyzing agent used in the preparation of fermented foods and beverages is called ''balam'' in the [[Kumaon Division]] and ''balma'' in [[Garhwal Division]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Kala|first=C.P.|title=Biodiversity, Communities and Climate Change|year=2012|publisher=TERI Publications|location=New Delhi|page=358}}</ref>


A cottage wool industry employs many Bhotiya. Women weave ''pattu'', a coarse woolen serge. Plants are collected to make natural dyes for coloring the wool.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kala|first=C.P.|title=Indigenous knowledge of Bhotiya tribal community on wool dyeing and its present status in the Garhwal Himalaya, India|journal=Current Science|year=2002|volume=83|issue=7|pages=814–817}}</ref>
A cottage wool industry employs many Bhotiya. Women weave ''pattu'', a coarse woolen serge. Plants are collected to make natural dyes for coloring the wool.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kala|first=C.P.|title=Indigenous knowledge of Bhotiya tribal community on wool dyeing and its present status in the Garhwal Himalaya, India|journal=Current Science|year=2002|volume=83|issue=7|pages=814–817}}</ref>

==In Nepal==
The [[Central Bureau of Statistics (Nepal)|Central Bureau of Statistics]] of Nepal classifies the Bhotiya (called Bhote in the Nepal census) as a subgroup within the broader social group of Mountain/Hill Janajati.<ref>[https://nepal.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Population%20Monograph%20V02.pdf Population Monograph of Nepal, Volume II]</ref> At the time of the [[2011 Nepal census]], 13,397 people (0.1% of the population of Nepal) were Bhotiya. The frequency of Bhotiya people by province was as follows:
* [[Karnali Province]] (0.1%)
* [[Koshi Province]] (0.1%)
* [[Sudurpashchim Province]] (0.1%)
* [[Bagmati Province]] (0.0%)
* [[Gandaki Province]] (0.0%)
* [[Lumbini Province]] (0.0%)
* [[Madhesh Province]] (0.0%)

The frequency of Bhotiya people was higher than national average (0.1%) in the following districts:<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://cbs.gov.np/wp-content/upLoads/2018/12/Volume05Part02.pdf |title=2011 Nepal Census, District Level Detail Report |access-date=2023-04-12 |archive-date=2023-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314170005/https://cbs.gov.np/wp-content/upLoads/2018/12/Volume05Part02.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Manang District|Manang]] (6.9%)
* [[Sankhuwasabha District|Sankhuwasabha]] (2.2%)
* [[Bajura District|Bajura]] (1.0%)
* [[Dolpa District|Dolpa]] (0.7%)
* [[Mugu District|Mugu]] (0.6%)
* [[Taplejung District|Taplejung]] (0.4%)


==Notes==
==Notes==

Latest revision as of 06:18, 17 September 2024

Bhotiya
Total population
13,397 (2011)[1]
Regions with significant populations
   Nepal and  India
   Nepal13,397 (2011)[2]
Languages
Ladakhi, Sherpa, Standard Tibetan and other Tibetic languages,[3] also Nepali and Hindi
Religion
Buddhism 98.32% (2011), Hinduism 1% (2011), Christianity 0,5% (2011) [4]
Related ethnic groups
Bhutia, Sherpa, Ladakhis, Tibetan, Uttarakhand Bhotiya, Ngalop, Tshangla people
A senior official in Sikkim, ethnic Bhotiya, 1938

Bhotiya or Bhot (Nepali: भोटिया, Bhotiyā) is an Indian and Nepali exonym lumping together various ethnic groups speaking Tibetic languages, as well as some groups speaking other Tibeto-Burman languages living in the Transhimalayan region that divides India from Tibet. The word Bhotiya comes from the classical Tibetan name for Tibet, བོད, bod. The Bhotiya speak numerous languages including Ladakhi, Drejongke, Yolmo and Sherpa. The Indian recognition of such language is Bhoti / Bhotia having Tibetan scripts and it lies in the Parliament of India to become one of the official languages through Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.

Background

[edit]
Bhotia, trans-Himalayan, Sikhim

The Bhotiyas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand 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 (1775 to 1797).[5]

The Bhotiya people are closely related to several other groups and ethnic boundaries are porous.[6]: 56  One group is the Bhutia, the main ethnolinguistic 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 the Garhwal divisions of Uttarakhand. These include the Shauka tribe of Kumaon, the Tolchhas and the Marchhas of Garhwal, Gyagar Khampa of Khimling, Bhidang. A third related group are the Dzongkha speaking Ngalop people, the main ethnolinguistic group of Bhutan. The Bhotiya are also related to several dispersed groups in Nepal and the adjacent areas of India including the Tibetans and Sherpas.

In Nepal, Bhotiya is 0.1 percent of the population. They live in villages throughout the Himalayas.[6]: 377 

Language

[edit]

The language of the Bhotiya people is called "Bhoti" or "Bhotia", but is in fact a cover term for a wide variety of Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in India. It is usually written in the Tibetan script.[7] Bhoti and Bhotia is spoken in Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet, and parts of Pakistan and West Bengal.[citation needed] Bhoti is not included in the languages with official status in India.

Population

[edit]

The Bhotiya, tribe people are native (indigenous) people belonging to Himalayan Belt. In Nepal they live in the northern and eastern regions of Nepal, where they and other Tibetans are the region's autochthonous (indigenous) people.[8] By the 2001 census of Nepal, they number 27,230.[9][nb 1] The Bhotiya also live in the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura. In Uttar Pradesh, the Bhotiya live in the Bahraich, Gonda, Lakhimpur, Lucknow, Barabanki, Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, and Kheri districts.

Bhotiya have six recognizable sub-groups: the Bhot, Bhotiya, the Bhutia of Sikkim, the Tibbati (of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh), the Bhut, the Gyakar Khampa of Khimling, Bhidang of Uttarakhand.

In the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh, the Bhotiya people have Scheduled Tribe status.

In Uttarakhand, the Bhotiya are a Scheduled Tribe under the "Schedule caste order 1950, the constitutional Scheduled tribe (Uttar Pradesh) 1967 SC/ST." The Constitution of India recognizes the Bhotiya.

Traditions

[edit]

Weddings

[edit]

Bhotiya marriages are similar to Hindu weddings. When the bride's palanquin arrives at her husband's house, gods are worshipped and then she is admitted to the house. Rice, silver or gold is put in the hands of the bridegroom, which he passes on to the bride. She places them in a winnowing fan, and hands them as a present to the wife of the barber. This ceremony is known as Karj Bharna. A man may have not more than three wives. The first wife is the head wife, and she inherits an additional one tenth of the husband's estate.

Funerals

[edit]

The Bhotiyas have distinctive funerary traditions. Young children who die of cholera or snakebite are buried while others are cremated. There is no fixed burial ground, and no ceremonies are performed at the time of burial. The wealthy keep the ashes for lowal to several streams, while others bury them. After cremation, a stalk of kusha (grass) is fixed in the ground near a tank of water and sesamum is poured on it for ten days. This makes it a refuge for the deceased's spirit until the rites are completed.

Economy

[edit]

In Uttarakhand, particularly Chamoli, Pithoragarh and Uttarkashi, the Bhotiya are semi-nomadic, migratory pastoralists, moving about the border lands between India and Tibet.[10]

They are also traders in the Himilayas for products such as cereal, wool, and salt. Now, some are farmers and others are merchants of stones, gems, and herbs.[8]

The Bhotiya are experienced in the use of medicinal plants.[11] The local fermented beverages are jan (a local beer), and daru. A local fermented food stuff is sez. The traditional catalyzing agent used in the preparation of fermented foods and beverages is called balam in the Kumaon Division and balma in Garhwal Division.[12]

A cottage wool industry employs many Bhotiya. Women weave pattu, a coarse woolen serge. Plants are collected to make natural dyes for coloring the wool.[13]

In Nepal

[edit]

The Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal classifies the Bhotiya (called Bhote in the Nepal census) as a subgroup within the broader social group of Mountain/Hill Janajati.[14] At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, 13,397 people (0.1% of the population of Nepal) were Bhotiya. The frequency of Bhotiya people by province was as follows:

The frequency of Bhotiya people was higher than national average (0.1%) in the following districts:[15]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Includes Bhote (19,261) and Bote (7,969).

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Central Bureau of Statistics (2014). Population monograph of Nepal (PDF) (Report). Vol. II. Government of Nepal.
  2. ^ Central Bureau of Statistics (2014). Population monograph of Nepal (PDF) (Report). Vol. II. Government of Nepal.
  3. ^ Lewis, M. Paul, ed. (2009). "Sikkimese". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (16 ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-16., identifying several language communities as "Bhotiya" and similarly
  4. ^ Central Bureau of Statistics (2014). Population monograph of Nepal (PDF) (Report). Vol. II. Government of Nepal.
  5. ^ Crooke, William (1896). The Tribes and Castes of the North-western Provinces and Oudh. Vol. 3. Office of the superintendent of government printing. pp. 134, 255–257.
  6. ^ a b Gellner D. et al (ed.) "Nationalism and Ethnicity in a Hindu Kingdom: The Politics and Culture of Contemporary Nepal." Routledge, 2012 ISBN 1136649565, 9781136649561. Accessed at Google Books 23 November 2015.
  7. ^ Gohain, Swargajyoti (2012). "Mobilising language, imagining region:Use of Bhoti in West Arunachal Pradesh". Contributions to Indian Sociology. 46 (3): 337–363. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.1028.3538. doi:10.1177/006996671204600304. S2CID 143169828. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  8. ^ a b Shrestha, Nanda R. (2002). Nepal and Bangladesh: a global studies handbook. Global Studies Handbooks. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-285-1.
  9. ^ Singh, R. S. N. (2010). The Unmaking of Nepal. Lancer. pp. 145–146. ISBN 978-1-935501-28-2.
  10. ^ "The Social Economy of the Himalayans: Based on a Survey in the Kumaon Himalayas." Mittal Publications 1988 p51 Accessed at Google Books 23 November 2015.
  11. ^ Kala, C. P. (2007). "Local preferences of ethnobotanical species in the Indian Himalaya: Implications for environmental conservation". Current Science. 93 (12): 1828–1834.
  12. ^ Kala, C.P. (2012). Biodiversity, Communities and Climate Change. New Delhi: TERI Publications. p. 358.
  13. ^ Kala, C.P. (2002). "Indigenous knowledge of Bhotiya tribal community on wool dyeing and its present status in the Garhwal Himalaya, India". Current Science. 83 (7): 814–817.
  14. ^ Population Monograph of Nepal, Volume II
  15. ^ "2011 Nepal Census, District Level Detail Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-03-14. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
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