Chet Ram Paudel
The caste hierarchy stemming from inter caste marriages, many poor high-caste and rich low-caste households could be found In the society everywhere.
Although Paharis, especially those in rural areas. were generally quite conscious of their Caste status, the question of caste did not usually arise for Tibeto-Nepalese communities unless they were aware of the Hindu caste status arbitrarily assigned to them, Insofar as they accepted caste-based notions of social rank, the Tibeto-Nepalese tended not only to see themselves at a higher level than did the Hindu Pahari and Newar, but also differed as to ranking among themselves.
Thus, it was doubtful that the reported Rai caste's assumption of rank Superiority over the Magar and Gurung castes was accepted by the two latter groups. Moreover, the status of a particular group was apt to vary from plac. to place, depending on its relative demographic size, wealth, and local power.
Even though Nepali (written in Devanagari script, the same as Sanskrit and Hindi) was the national language and was mentioned as the mother tongue by approximately 58 percent of the population, there wore several other languages and dialects, Other languages included Maithill, Bhojpurl, Tharu, Tamang, Newari, and Abadhi. Non-Nepali languages and dialects rarely were spoken outside their ethnic enclaves. In order to estimate the numerical distribution of different ethnic groups, the census data indicating venous mother tongues spoken in the country must be used.
In terms of linguistic roots, Nepali, Maithali, otd Bhoipuri belonged to the lndo-European family: th. mother tongues of the Tibeto-Nepalese groups, including Newarl, belonged predominantly to the Tibeto-Burman family. The Pahari. whose mother tongue was Nepall, was the largest ethnic group. If the Maithali. and Bhojpuri speaking populations of the Tarai were included, more than 75 percent of the population belonged to the Indo-Nepalese ethnic group. Only three other ethnic groups--the Tamang, the Tharu, and the Newar.-approached or slightly exceeded the one-half million population mark. Most of those non-Nepali linguistic and ethnic population groups were closely knit by bonds of nationalism and cultural harmony, and they were concentrated in certain areas.
Nepali, the native tongue of the Paharis and the national language of Nepal, is closely related to but by no means Identical with, Hindi. Both are rooted in Sanskrit. The Hinduism of the Paharl has been Influenced by Buddhism and Indigenous folk belief. The Paharis' caste system was neither as elaborately graded nor as all embracing in Its sanctions as that of the Indians; physically, many of the Paharis showed the results of racial intermixture with the various Mongoloid groups of the region. Similarly, the Bhote or Bhotia groups inhabiting the foothills of the Himalayas--among whom the Sherpas have attracted the most attention in the mountaineering world--have developed regional distinctions among themselves, although clearly related physically as well as culturally to the Tibetans. The term Bhote literally means inhabitant of Shot, a Sanskrit term for the trans-Himalayan region of Nepal, or the Tibetan region. However, Bhotes also a generic term, often applied to people of Tibetan culture or Mongoloid phenotype As used by the Paharis and the Newars, it often had a pejorative connotation and could be applied to any non-Hindu of Mongoloid appearance.
An extra ordinary complex terrain also affected the geographic distribution and interaction among various ethnic groups. Within the general latitudinal sorting of Indo-Nepalese (lower hills) and Tibeto-Nepalese (higher hills and mountains) groups, there was a lateral (longitudinal) pattern, in which various ethnic populations were concentrated in specific geographic pockets The deeply cut valleys and high ridges tended to divide ethnic groups Into many small, relatively isolated, and more or less self- contained communities, This pattern was especially prominent among the Tibeto-Nepalese population. For example, the Bhote group was found in the far north, trans-Himalayan section of the Mountain Region, close to the Tibetan border. The Sherpas, a subgroup within the Bhote. were concentrated In the northeast, around the Mount Everest area. To the south of their areas were other Tibeto- Nepales. ethnic groups--the Gurung in the west-central hills and the Tamang and Ral In the east-central hills--particularly close to and east of the Kathmandu Valley. The Magar group. found largely in the central hills was much more widely distributed than the Gi.rung. Tamang, and Ral. In the areas occupied by the Limbu and Rae peoples, the Limbu domain was located farther east in the hills, just beyond the Rai zone. The Tharu group was found in the Tarai, and the Paharis were scattered throughout Nepal. Newars largely were concentrated In the Kathmandu Valley. However, because of their past migration as traders and merchants, they also were found in virtually all the market centers, especially in the hills, and as far away as Lhasa in Tibet. This geographically concentrated ethnic distribution pattern generally remained In effect in the early 1990s, despite a trend toward increasing spatial mobility and relocating ethnic populations. For example, a large number of Bhotes (also called Mananges from the Manang District) in the central section of the Mountain Region, Tamangs, and Sherpas have moved to the Kathmandu Valley. Similarly, Thakates from the Mustang District adjacent to Manang have moved to Pokhara, a major urban center In the hills about 160 kilometers west of kathmandu, and to Butawal and Siddhartha Nagar, two important urban areas in he Central part of the Tarai, directly south of Pokhara. Gurungs, Magars, and Rais also have become increasingly dispersed.
Most of the lndo-Nepalese peoples--both P3haris and Tarsi dwellers (commonly known among the Paharis as madhesis, meanina rnidlanders)..were primarily agriculturalists, although a majority of them also rellod on other activities to produce supplementary income. They generally raised some farm animals, particularly water buffalo, cows, goats. and sheep, for domestic purposes.. In spite of tho Increasing number of Newars holding government jobs. they traditionally were recognized as a commercial merchant and handicraft class II was no exaggeration that they historically have been the prime agents of Nepalese culture and art A significant number of them also were engaged in farming. In that sense, they can be described as agro-commercialists.
No single, widely acceptable definition can be advanced for the caste system. bishop and others, however view caste as a multifaceted status hierarchy composed of all members of society, with each individual ranked within the broad, fourfold Hindu class (varna. or color) divisions, or within the fifth class of untouchables.-outcastes and the socially polluted. The fourfold caste divisions are Brahman (priests and scholars), Kshatriya or Chhetri (rulers and warriors), Vaisya (or Vaisaya, merchants and traders), and Sudra (farmers, artisans, and laborers[ These Pahari caste divisions based on the Hindu system are not strictly upheld by the Nowars They have their own caste hierarchy, which, they claim, Is parallel in caste divisions to the Pahari Hindu system. In each system, each caste (jati) is ideally an endogamous group 'n which membership Is both hereditary and permanent The only way to change caste status is to undergo Sanskritization.
Sanskritization can be achieved by migrating to a new area and by changing one's caste status and/or marrying across the caVe line, which can lead to the upgrading or downgrading of caste, depending on the spouse's caste However, given the rigidity of the caste system, entorcasto marriage carries a social stigma, especially when it takes place between two castes at the extreme ends of the social spectrum.
As Bishop further asserts, at the core of the caste structure is a rank order of values bound up en concepts of ritual status, purity, and pollution. Furthermore, caste determines an individual's behavior, obligations, and expectations All the social, economic, religious, legal, and political activities of a caste society are prescribed by sanctions that determine and limit access to land, position of political power, and command of human labor. Within such a constrictive system, wealth, political power, high rank, and privilege converge, hereditary occupational specialization is a common feature.
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