Unit I:

An Overview of Social Structures of Nepali Society: Social Structure of Nepalese Society: 1. There are two major human civilizations- Mongoloid from the North and the North East, and Indo-European or Caucasoid from the South and South West Hierarchical Social structure- based on Hindu Verna system- Brahmin, Chhetri, Baishya, and Sudra (Dalits) Horizontal social structureNationality (Janajati) Indigenous (Adibashi)

2. Minor groups- Austro- Asiatic and Dravidian civilizations Religious Minorities- Muslim, Shikh, Christians, etc.

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1.1: Historical perspective Oral accounts are the major source for the histories of Adibasi/ Janajatis in Nepal. The Kirant dynasty was the first ruler of the Kathmandu valley. Indigenous Nationalities used to live by organizing around the various small kingdoms, chiefdoms and clans when the Indo-Aryan speaking population entered through western Nepal during 11th centuryi. Very little is known about the history of Indigenous Nationality population until the medieval period except self-governing and independent principalities. Major changes for the indigenous nationalities began to occur with the arrival of the IndoAryan people and their cultural and political domination. Restructuring of the society along with hierarchical caste system introduced by Jayasthiti Malla in the 14th century- it was the disruption in the egalitarian value of Indigenous Nationality societies. A political domination and encroachment upon the native societies (khas people) occurred in western hill through predominance of newly infiltrated Hindu refugees. Thakuri chieftains emerged in the western hills. The process of domination finally culminated in the territorial unification of Nepal in 1768 by King Prithvi Narayan Saha. The unification project eventually submerged 64 small kingdoms and political units in Nepal under one umbrella either through violent conquest or negotiation. The unification of Nepal basically meant a subjugation of independent indigenous nationalities of Nepal. The loss of independence and autonomy was followed by the gradual loss of their rights over land and other natural resources. Although King Prithvi Narayan Saha characterized Nepal as a garden of four caste and thirty-six Varna his mission was to make the country asali Hindustan (true Hindu land) eventually turned into Hindu religious kingdom. The state lacked tolerance to cultures, languages, religions, customary laws and knowledge systems of the indigenous peoples and, consequently, they began to face discrimination and to lose their heritage.

Ascendance of Jung Bahadur Kunwar in 1846 as Prime Minster and the autocratic Rana rule for 104 years was another dark chapter in the history of Nepal. Jung Bahadur Rana introduced the first Nepalese Code: the Muluki Ain in 1854. o The ritually pure twice born Tagadhari Brahmin and Chhetri o Indigenous nationalities were slotted beneath them as Matwali alcohol drinking castes. Within the Matwali groups, some were further classified into caste category as enslavable (masine) low caste groups. Dalit groups were classified as enslavable (masine) low caste groups.

Through the Muluki Ain, the Nepali rulers formalized punishments for failing to observe the caste hierarchy and these punishments differed for the same crime according to the specific caste status. The political system called Panchayat, headed by an absolute monarch, engaged in a project to modernize Nepal and attain national integration through homogenization. The Constitution of Nepal 1963, for the first time, declared Nepal as a Hindu Kingdom. During the Panchayat regime, debates and efforts pertaining to ethnicity and culture other than national culture fashioned in line with the high caste Hindu ways was discouraged as communal and anti-national. National development was modelled in evolutionary framework, in which the Parbatiya Brahman/Chhetri was placed at the apex of the evolutionary chain while the indigenous nationalities in general were perceived as backward. Assimilation oriented development programmes largely controlled by the high caste elites stigmatized and pauperized the indigenous nationalities. Advent of multiparty democracy and associated freedom of expression in 1990, provided an opportunity for articulating the pains of historical injustice and long standing grievances of the indigenous nationalities in Nepal. Restoration of democracy through the Peoples movement and subsequent installation of the new Constitution which recognize the country as multi-ethnic and multi lingual symbolized a victory in itself on the part of the people.

Nepal went through fatal armed conflict after the Maoist started Peoples War from 1996 to 2006. Conflict studies suggested that the main causes of the conflict are political, economic and social exclusion and discrimination based on caste, ethnicity and language.

1.2: Definitions and main features of Indigenous People and Dalits Communities of Nepal

Definitions: National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities (NFDIN) Act 2002 defines Adibasi Janajati as those o tribes or communities as mentioned in the schedule who have their own mother tongue and traditional customs, distinct cultural identity, distinct social structure and written or oral history of their own. International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 169 defines the indigenous and tribal peoples as those peoples:

whose social, cultural and economic conditions distinguish them from other sections of the national community and whose status is regulated wholly or partially by their own customs or traditions or by special laws and regulations; and who are regarded as indigenous on account of their descent from the populations which inhabited the country or a geographical region to which the country belongs, at the time of the conquest or colonization or the establishment of present state boundaries and who, irrespective of their legal status, retain some or all of their own social, economic, cultural and political institutions.

Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN, 1994), defined Indigenous Peoples or Indigenous Nationalities in the context of Nepal based on following principles: i. which possess their own distinct tradition and original linguistic and cultural traditions and whose religious faith is based on ancient animism (worshiper of ancestors, land, season, nature), or who do not claim "Hinduism" enforced by the state, as their traditional and original religion. those existing descendants of the peoples whose ancestors had established themselves as the first settlers or principal inhabitants of the present territory of Nepal at the time when persons of different culture or ethnic origin arrived there and who have their own history (written or oral) and historical continuity. those communities which have been displaced from their own land since the past four centuries, particularly during the expansion and establishment of modern Hindu nation state and have been deprived of their traditional rights to own the natural resources (Kipat communal land, cultivable land, water, minerals, trading points etc.). who have been subjugated in the State's political power set-up (decision-making process), whose ancient culture, language and religion are non-dominant and social values neglected and humiliated; whose society is traditionally erected on the principle of equality rather than of hierarchy of the Indo-Aryan caste system and gender equality or rather women enjoying more advantaged positions) rather than social, economic and religious subordination of woman, but whose social norms and values have been slighted by the state;

ii.

iii.

iv.

v.

vi. Dalits:

who formally or informally admit or claim to be "the indigenous peoples of Nepal" on the basis of the aforementioned characteristics.

Dalits- as people at the very bottom of Nepal's caste hierarchy- continue to be a source of discomfort to educated bureaucrats, who in their formal roles regard caste system as outdated and inconsistent with the goal of developing Nepal into a "modern" state, but who informally are still very much products of their caste-conscious upbringings. Even now government and many development/ aid organizations use euphemisms such as "occupational castes," "oppressed castes," "backward caste," "depressed castes," "deprived castes," "marginalized," and "disadvantaged groups," instead of speaking dalits.
NATIONALITIES OF NEPALMOUNTAINHILL1Bara Gaunle10Mugali1Bankaria13Lepcha2Bhote11Sherpa2Baramo14Limbu3Byansi12Siyar3Bhujel/Gharti15Magar 4Chhairotan13Tangbe4Chepang16Newar5Dolpo14Thakali5Chhantyal17Pahari6Larke15Thudam6Dura18Phree7 Lhomi (Shingsawa)16Tingaunle Thakali 7Gurung19Rai8Lhopa17Topkegola8Hayu20Sunuwar9Marphali Thakali18Wallung9Hyolmo21Surel 10Jirel22Tamang 11Kushbadia23Thami 12Kusunda24YakkhaINNER TERAITERAI1Bote5Majhi1Dhanuk (Rajbanshi)6Meche2Danuwar6Raji2Dhimal7Rajbanshi (Koch)3Darai7Raute3Gangai8Satar/ Santhal4Kumal 4Jhangad9Tajpuria 5Kisan10TharuSource: National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities Act 2002. INDIGENOUS

Different Definitions of Dalit Sub-Castes Local Government, 1997Dahal et. al, 2002Jha, 2004National Dalit Commission, 20031. LoharH i l l1. KamiHill1. Gaindharva (Gaine)1. Bishwakarma: Kamai, Sunar, Lohar, Tatma, Chunara, Aod 2. Sunar2. Damai2. Pariyar (Damai, Darji, Suchikar, Nagarch, Dholi, Hudke)3. Kami3. Sarki3. Badi4. Dmai4. Badi4. Biswakarma ( Kamai, Lohar, Sunar, Oda, Chunara, Parki, Tatma)2. Darji: Damai, Pariyar, Hudke, Dohobi5. Sarki5. Gaine5. Sarki (Mijar, Charmakar, Bhool)3. Sarki: Mijhar, Charmakar6. BadiTerai6. TatamaTerai6. Kalar4. Badi7. Gaine7. Khatwe7. Kakihaya5. Gaine (Gandharva)8. Kasai8. Chamar8. Kori6. Kapali9. Kusule9. Dushadh9. Khatik7. Khadgi,10. Kuche10. Mushar10. Khatwe (Mandal, Khang)8. Deula11. Cyame11. Batar11. Chamar (Ram, Mochi, Harijan, Rabidas9. Kuche12. Pode12. Dhobi12. Chidimar10. Tatma13. Chamr13. Dom13. Dom11. Dushadh: Paswan, Hajara14. Dhobi14. Halkhor14. Tatma (Tanti, Das)12. Dhobi (Rajak)15. PaswanNewar15. Kusule15. Dushadh13. Dom16. Tatma16. Kasai (Khadgi)16. Dhobi (Rajak)14. Batar17. Dom17. Pode17. Pattharkatta15. Khatwe18. Batar18. Chyame18. Pasi16. Mushar19. Khatwe19. Halahulu19. Batar17. Halkhor20. Mushar20. Mushar18. Pattharkatta21. Santhal21. Mestar (Halkhor)19. Chamar22. Satar22. Sarbhang (Sarbariya)23. HalkhorNewar23. Chyame24. Kasai25. Kuche26. Kusule27. Pode Features: Approximately 37.2 percent of the population living in Nepal has been designated as Adibasi/ Janajati or Indigenous Nationalities. The term Adibasi and Janajati is generally used interchangeably in Nepal. The word Adibasi is derived from Sanskrit and means indigenous peoples or original inhabitants- temporal dimension.

The term "Janajati," roughly translated as people, tribe or nationality has been widely adopted to collectively identify socially and culturally distinctive groups. Indigenous Nationalities possess horizontal social structure with egalitarian value system and distinct social, cultural, and linguistic identities. Although the indigenous peoples are found across the entire country, they show a higher concentration in the eastern, central and western development regions with sparse distribution in the mid and far west. About 65% of the indigenous nationalities are found in the eastern and central development regions whereas in far western region has only about 5%. Dalit word derived from Hindi literature where it has been used with a positive connotation than the negative words untouchables or Sudra of Hindu manusmrit. There are over 200 forms of commonly practiced types of caste-based discriminations. There are about 15% of Dalit caste population who are traditionally considered as untouchables, wide spread across the country.

Classification of Indigenous Nationalities of Nepal

A. EndangeredB. Highly MarginalizedC. MarginalizedD. Disadvantaged1Kusunda1Majhi1Sunuwar1Gurung2Bankaria2Siyar2Tharu2Magar3Raute3Lhomi3Tamang3Rai 4Surel4Thudam4Bhujel4Limbu5Hayu5Dhanuk5Kumal5Chhairotan6Raji6Chepang6Rajbansi6Tangbe7Kisan7S atar (Santhal)7Gangai7Tingaule Thakali8Lepcha8Jhangad8Dhimal8Bargaule9Meche9Thami9Bhote9Marphali Thakali10Kusbadiya10Bote10Darai10Sherpa 11Danuwar11Tajpuriya11Yakkha 12Baramu12Pahari12Chhantyal 13Topkegolsa13JirelE. Advantaged 14Dolpo14Byansi1Newar 15Free15Yolmo2Thakali 16Mugal 17Larke 18Lohpa 19Dura 2 0Walung Source: Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN), 2004