Resumo de Tharus Of Nepal - Tek Nath Gautam

Tharus of Nepal

The Tharus are the indigenous ethnic group who live in the northern part of Terai and inner Terai with a concentrated population in the middle and west. They approximately form 6.4% of total population.

Most of the Tharus have Mongoloid features with dark and semi- dark colors. They are aboriginal Terai settlers. Some also believe that Tharus came to Nepal from India during the Muslim invasion in the 12th and 13th century.

The Tharus have their indigenous dialect, known as Naja . But they speak a mixture of local dialects, such as Prakriti, Bhojapuri, Mughali, Nepali, Urdu and Maithili.

Culture and Tradition :- The Tharus believe in Animism. They do also celebrate Hindu festivals. There are normally two clans; Pradhan and Apradhan; the former is considered superior. Each of the Tharu family venerates its personal tutelary deity which is represented by a lump of earth mixed with multicolored cotton threads, crude sugarcane and a gold coin in the center. Each village has its own local gods and goddesses protecting the people.

Marriages among the Tharus, are monogamous. It is , however, strictly endogamous. Polyandry and polygamy are practiced sometimes. Rites and rituals linked with Tharu marriages are elaborate and complex. Most of the Tharu cremate their deceased. Others, however, bury them. There is a strange custom of keeping men face down and women face up during the burial. There is no apparent reason for it.

Tek Nath Gautam writes that Tharus ruled Nepal s mid-western valleys in ancient times. They are believed to have inhabited Dang valley in the second or third century B. C. and ruled their state for nearly 700 years. In the 13th century B.C., non-Tharu kings from adjoining states started sending people to inhabit Tharu-occupied regions. Tharu states are believed to have come to an end some 600 years ago (around 1480 B.S.). During Nepal s unification campaign by Gurkha kings, Dang was made a province of Salyan state. Tharus who collected land tax from the local people were known as Chaudharis. These Chaudharis also hired kamaiyas . After the Chaudhary system was abolished in 1897, several of these tax collectors could not pay their dues to government.
They fled the district and headed toward four Districts - Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur also known as `Naya Muluk in the 1940s.
Those who still had hundreds of bighas of land started competing with non-Tharus (mainly Bahuns and Chhetris) in organizing huge feasts and reckless spending. They even started borrowing from local landlords. Because of their migratory nature, they never gave much importance to the land they inherited. As the landowner had to fulfill a number of formalities, pay taxes to the government and provide free labor, Tharus preferred not to own land.

Land reforms introduced in 1964 failed to improve the tenancy system and address the kamaiya problem, common in fertile rural areas. There was an influx of non-Tharus from nearby hilly districts after the introduction of land reforms. By that time, malaria had been eradicated, making the move to the fertile plains an attractive option for these people. The government distributed land to Tharus in Banke and Bardiya districts and prohibited them from selling it for five years. But after five years, most Tharus sold their land and ended up working as kamaiyas. It is now believed that Tharus own less than 7 percent of land in Dang district that houses nearly 450,000 people.

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