Bhotiya
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(January 2017) |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 13,397 (2011)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Nepaland India | |
| Nepal | 13,397 (2011)[2] |
| Languages | |
| Ladakhi,Sherpa,Standard Tibetanand otherTibetic languages,[3]alsoNepaliandHindi | |
| Religion | |
| Buddhism98.32% (2011),Hinduism1% (2011),Christianity0,5% (2011)[4] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Bhutia,Sherpa,Tibetan,Uttarakhand Bhotiya,Ngalop,Tshangla people | |
BhotiyaorBhot(Nepali:भोटिया,Bhotiyā) is an Indian and Nepali exonym lumping together various ethnic groups speakingTibetic languages,as well as some groups speaking otherTibeto-Burman languagesliving in theTranshimalayanregion that dividesIndiafromTibet.The wordBhotiyacomes from theclassical Tibetanname forTibet,བོད,bod.The Bhotiya speak numerous languages includingLadakhi.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]
The Bhotiyas of Himachal Pradesh identify asRaghuvanshiRajputand prefer to be referred asThakurorRajvanshi.The Bhotiya may be the original immigrants to northOudhin the period ofNawabAsaf-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 theBhutia,the main ethnolinguistic group of the northern part of the Indian state ofSikkim.A second is theUttarakhand Bhotiyaof the upperHimalayanvalleys of theKumaonand theGarhwaldivisions ofUttarakhand.These include theShauka tribeof Kumaon, theTolchhasand theMarchhasof Garhwal, Gyagar Khampa of Khimling, Bhidang. A third related group are theDzongkhaspeakingNgalop people,the main ethnolinguistic group ofBhutan.The Bhotiya are also related to several dispersed groups inNepaland the adjacent areas ofIndiaincluding theTibetansandSherpas.
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 ofTibeto-Burman languagesspoken in India. It is usually written in theTibetan script.[7]Bhoti and Bhotia is spoken inHimachal Pradesh,Sikkim,Uttarakhand,Arunachal Pradesh,Bhutan,Nepal,Tibet,and parts ofPakistanandWest Bengal.[citation needed]Bhoti is not included in thelanguages 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 ofNepal,where they and otherTibetansare 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 theIndianstates ofJammu and Kashmir,Himachal Pradesh,Uttarakhand,Uttar Pradesh,West Bengal,Sikkim,Assam,Arunachal PradeshandTripura.InUttar Pradesh,the Bhotiya live in theBahraich,Gonda,Lakhimpur,Lucknow,Barabanki,Kanpur Nagar,Kanpur Dehat,andKheridistricts.
Bhotiya have six recognizable sub-groups: theBhot,Bhotiya, theBhutiaofSikkim,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 haveScheduled Tribestatus.
In Uttarakhand, the Bhotiya are a Scheduled Tribe under the "Schedule caste order 1950, the constitutional Scheduled tribe (Uttar Pradesh) 1967 SC/ST." TheConstitution of Indiarecognizes the Bhotiya.
Traditions
[edit] |
Weddings
[edit]Bhotiya marriages are similar toHindu weddings.When the bride'spalanquinarrives 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 awinnowing fan,and hands them as a present to the wife of thebarber.This ceremony is known asKarj 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 ofcholeraor 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 forlowalto several streams, while others bury them. After cremation, a stalk ofkusha(grass) is fixed in the ground near a tank of water andsesamumis poured on it for ten days. This makes it a refuge for the deceased's spirit until the rites are completed.
Economy
[edit]InUttarakhand,particularlyChamoli,PithoragarhandUttarkashi,the Bhotiya are semi-nomadic, migratory pastoralists, moving about the border lands betweenIndiaandTibet.[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 localfermented beveragesarejan(a local beer), anddaru.A local fermented food stuff issez.The traditional catalyzing agent used in the preparation of fermented foods and beverages is calledbalamin theKumaon DivisionandbalmainGarhwal Division.[12]
A cottage wool industry employs many Bhotiya. Women weavepattu,a coarse woolen serge. Plants are collected to make natural dyes for coloring the wool.[13]
In Nepal
[edit]TheCentral Bureau of Statisticsof 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 the2011 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:[15]
Notes
[edit]- ^IncludesBhote(19,261) andBote(7,969).
References
[edit]- ^Central Bureau of Statistics (2014).Population monograph of Nepal(PDF)(Report). Vol. II. Government of Nepal.
- ^Central Bureau of Statistics (2014).Population monograph of Nepal(PDF)(Report). Vol. II. Government of Nepal.
- ^Lewis, M. Paul, ed. (2009)."Sikkimese".Ethnologue:Languages of the World(16 ed.).Dallas, Texas:SIL International.Archivedfrom the original on 14 May 2011.Retrieved2011-04-16.,identifying several language communities as "Bhotiya" and similarly
- ^Central Bureau of Statistics (2014).Population monograph of Nepal(PDF)(Report). Vol. II. Government of Nepal.
- ^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.
- ^abGellner D. et al (ed.)"Nationalism and Ethnicity in a Hindu Kingdom: The Politics and Culture of Contemporary Nepal."Routledge, 2012ISBN1136649565,9781136649561. Accessed at Google Books 23 November 2015.
- ^Gohain, Swargajyoti (2012)."Mobilising language, imagining region:Use of Bhoti in West Arunachal Pradesh".Contributions to Indian Sociology.46(3): 337–363.CiteSeerX10.1.1.1028.3538.doi:10.1177/006996671204600304.S2CID143169828.RetrievedOctober 6,2014.
- ^abShrestha, Nanda R. (2002).Nepal and Bangladesh: a global studies handbook.Global Studies Handbooks. ABC-CLIO.ISBN978-1-57607-285-1.
- ^Singh, R. S. N. (2010).The Unmaking of Nepal.Lancer.pp. 145–146.ISBN978-1-935501-28-2.
- ^"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.
- ^Kala, C. P. (2007). "Local preferences of ethnobotanical species in the Indian Himalaya: Implications for environmental conservation".Current Science.93(12): 1828–1834.
- ^Kala, C.P. (2012).Biodiversity, Communities and Climate Change.New Delhi: TERI Publications. p. 358.
- ^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.
- ^Population Monograph of Nepal, Volume II
- ^"2011 Nepal Census, District Level Detail Report"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2023-03-14.Retrieved2023-04-12.
| Sino-Tibetan (Trans-Himalayan) |
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| Indo-Aryan |
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| Indo-Aryan of adistinct origin | |||||||||
| Other peoples (M,D,i) ofIndus-Ganga |
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| Immigrants | |||||||||
| Other basis |
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