Tibeto-Burmans, Indo-Europeans, Austronesians and Dravidians
I grew up in the foothills of the Langtang Mountain Ranges, not very far from the southern part of Listikot in Sindhupalchok. From what I’ve read, Bhairav Kunda and Tatopani regions around Listikot were once a battleground during the 1790s between Nepali and Chinese-Tibetan forces during the time of Bahadur Shah. The conflict also extended to nearby Khasa and Kerung, Kuti in western Nepal. In August 1792, Tibet launched an attack on Nepal, overwhelming the country within three days. A second attack occurred in September 1792 near the fort at the Betrawati River, where the Gorkhalis put up a strong defense. However, lacking the strength to advance on Kathmandu, Tibet eventually agreed to Nepal’s terms, culminating in the Treaty of Betrawati on 1792.
This rich history is well-known to those familiar with Sindhupalchok, where people are often familiar with the ह्योल्मो (योल्मो) and तामांग communities, the distinction between the तमु and ताम्सालिंग, and the vast expanse of the Langtang Mountain Range that dominates the district.
My rural village, पुरानोगाउँ, was surrounded by many Tamang communities, creating a vibrant mix of cultures. Many of my uncles and cousins spoke Tamang, and sharing a drink of छ्यांग was a common tradition between the two communities – whether among the uni-browed Aryans like us or the squinty-eyed Mongols who were the indigenous population of that part of the district. I might have been one of the few who didn’t understand a word of the Tamang language, something I deeply regret. To remedy this, I’ve even bought a Tamang dictionary with the hope of learning. As a child, I remember groups of people who would visit our village once a year, bringing potatoes and fapar to exchange with grains from our warmer hills. These individuals, who spoke little Nepali, looked similar to the Tamang friends I had in the village but were fairer, dressed in colorful and unique attire. Later, I learned that these were the Hyolmo people from the Helambu and Listikot regions. They shared more cultural similarities with the Tibetans than with the पाहाडे people like us.
But enough about this history – this blog post is about all our oldest friends (i.e. indigenous population of Nepal), not just Tamangs and Hyolmos, but all other natives of the Nepal across flatlands (terai), hills (hills and lower mountains), and beyond (mountains and beyond). It’s just a humble attempt to celebrate the ancient and enduring connections of Nepal’s indigenous communities, honoring the wisdom, resilience, and rich heritage of the oldest native populations across the diverse landscapes of the Terai, hills, and mountains.
It’s about the indigenous communities of Nepal, which have generally been categorized into four main groups:
Tibeto-Burmans भोटबर्मेली परिवार (42)
कुसुन्डा Kusunda, गुरुङ Gurung, चिम्तन Chimtan, चेपाङ (प्रजा) Chepang (Praja), छन्त्याल Chantyal, छैरोतन Chairotan, जिरेल Jirel, ठिन्तन Thingtan, डोल्पो Dolpo, ताङवे Tangbe, तामाङ Tamang, तोप्केगोला Topkegola, थकाली Thakali, थामी Thami, थुदाम (भोटे) Thudam (Bhote), दनुवार Danuwar, दुरा Dura, नेवार Newar, बराम Baram, बाह्रगाउँले Barhagaunle, बोटे Bote, भुजेल (घर्ती) Bhujel (Gharti), भोटे Bhote, मगर Magar, मनाङ्गे Manage, मार्फाली Marfali, मुगाली Mugali, राई Rai, राउटे Raute, लार्के Larke, लिम्बू Limbu, लेप्चा Lepcha, ल्होपा Lhwopa, ल्होमी (सिङसाबा) Lhwomi (Singababa), वालुङ Walung, सियार (चुम्बा) Siyar (Chumba), सुनुवार Sunuwar, सुरेल Surel, सेर्पा Sherpa, स्याङतन Syangtan, हायु Hayu, ह्योल्मो (योल्मो) Hyomlo (Yomlo)
Indo-European भारोपेली परिवार (17)
किसान Kisan, कुमाल Kumal, कुशबाडिया Kushbadiya, गनगाई Ganagai, ताजपुरिया Tajpuriya, थारू Tharu, दरै Darai, धानुक (मण्डल) Dhanuk (Mandal), धिमाल Dhimal, पहरी Pahari, फ्री Fri, बनकरिया Bankariya, ब्यासी Vyasi, माझी Majhi, मेचे Meche, राजवंशी (कोचे) Rajbanshi (Koche), राजी Raji
Austronesians आस्ट्रिच परिवार (1)
सतार Satar
Dravidians द्रविण परिवार (1)
झाँगड Jhangad
Indigenous Population of Nepal
Who doesn’t love anthropology? I enjoy learning about it, even if it’s just to know that Gyalpo Lhosar belongs to Sherpas, Sonam Lhosar to Tamangs, and Tamu Lhosar to Gurungs, even if I don’t fully grasp the deeper meaning of it. But that’s too basic an example.
Let’s dive into a bit of history regarding the recognition of Nepal’s indigenous population. The term “indigenous” can carry multiple meanings, but in this context, it refers to the native peoples of Nepal, or at least those who have inhabited the land from its earliest times. During the Panchayat era, the government officially recognized seven ethnic groups – Sherpa, Tamang, Magar, Gurung, Rai, Limbu, and later Tharu – as indigenous peoples. However, after the restoration of democracy, the government expanded this recognition to 61 ethnic groups, partly due to a lack of thorough research and the pressure exerted by indigenous groups advocating for such a classification. In making this declaration, the government overlooked a key principle: the categorization of indigenous groups should not be based merely on regional distinctions. Nevertheless, the government officially recognized 61 ethnic groups as indigenous. These groups are:
किसान Kisan, कुमाल Kumal, कुशबाडिया Kushbadiya, कुसुन्डा Kusunda, गनगाई Ganagai, गुरुङ Gurung, चिम्तन Chimtan, चेपाङ (प्रजा) Chepang (Praja), छन्त्याल Chantyal, छैरोतन Chairotan, जिरेल Jirel, झाँगड Jhangad, ठिन्तन Thingtan, डोल्पो Dolpo, ताङवे Tangbe, ताजपुरिया Tajpuriya, तामाङ Tamang, तोप्केगोला Topkegola, थकाली Thakali, थामी Thami, थारू Tharu, थुदाम (भोटे) Thudam (Bhote), दनुवार Danuwar, दरै Darai, दुरा Dura, धानुक (मण्डल) Dhanuk (Mandal), धिमाल Dhimal, नेवार Newar, पहरी Pahari, फ्री Fri, बनकरिया Bankariya, बराम Baram, बाह्रगाउँले Barhagaunle, बोटे Bote, ब्यासी Vyasi, भुजेल (घर्ती) Bhujel (Gharti), भोटे Bhote, मगर Magar, मनाङ्गे Manage, माझी Majhi, मार्फाली Marfali, मुगाली Mugali, मेचे Meche, राई Rai, राउटे Raute, राजवंशी (कोचे) Rajbanshi (Koche), राजी Raji, लेप्चा Lepcha, लार्के Larke, लिम्बू Limbu, ल्होपा Lhwopa, ल्होमी (सिङसाबा) Lhwomi (Singababa), सतार Satar, सियार (चुम्बा) Siyar (Chumba), सुनुवार Sunuwar, सुरेल Surel, सेर्पा Sherpa, स्याङतन Syangtan, वालुङ Walung, हायु Hayu, ह्योल्मो (योल्मो) Hyomlo (Yomlo)
Among the listed 61 groups, Newars were removed from the list following protests from the Newari community, and the Mananges were also excluded, as they are considered part of the Gurung community. As a result, 59 ethnic groups are now officially listed as indigenous.
Charting Indigenous population using GeoJson
Which district in Nepal is home to which indigenous population? To answer this, we’ll use the geojson data of Nepal’s districts and pair the district coordinates with information about which indigenous population resides in each district. I collected this data and the details in the following paragraph from the book नेपालका जनजातिहरू by Madhusudhan Pandey, published by Pairavi Prakashan. It was a meticulous process, but here is the final dataset I compiled. This code generates an interactive map of Nepal, allowing you to hover over different districts to view: The district’s name and The indigenous population of that district (if available)
Links:
Google Colab Link
Click here to see the result in a separate HTML file: Indigenous Population Centers Plotted District Wise
Sprinkle HTML and JS to dive into details
This HTML page displays a list of tribes from an Excel file, showing their names as clickable items. When a user clicks on a tribe name, a popup appears with detailed information about that tribe, such as its characteristics and other related data. The page also includes animations for a smooth transition, a responsive layout for different screen sizes, and a dark overlay for the popup. The data is loaded dynamically from an online Excel file, and the popup can be closed by clicking a button or pressing the Escape key.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>Tribe Information</title>
<style>
:root {
--primary-color: #2c5282;
--secondary-color: #4299e1;
--background-color: #f7fafc;
--text-color: #2d3748;
--card-shadow: 0 4px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
--popup-shadow: 0 10px 25px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);
}
body {
font-family: 'Segoe UI', system-ui, -apple-system, sans-serif;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
background-color: var(--background-color);
color: var(--text-color);
}
#tribe-list {
display: grid;
grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(200px, 1fr));
gap: 24px;
margin: 32px;
padding: 0;
animation: fadeIn 0.5s ease-out;
}
.tribe-item {
background: linear-gradient(135deg, var(--primary-color), var(--secondary-color));
color: white;
padding: 16px;
border-radius: 12px;
cursor: pointer;
text-align: center;
transition: all 0.3s ease;
box-shadow: var(--card-shadow);
font-size: 1.1em;
border: 2px solid transparent;
}
.tribe-item:hover {
transform: translateY(-5px);
box-shadow: 0 6px 12px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15);
border-color: white;
}
.popup {
display: none;
position: fixed;
top: 50%;
left: 50%;
transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
background-color: white;
border: none;
padding: 24px;
border-radius: 16px;
box-shadow: var(--popup-shadow);
z-index: 1000;
width: 90%;
max-width: 1000px;
max-height: 85vh;
box-sizing: border-box;
}
.popup-header {
font-size: 2em;
text-align: center;
margin-bottom: 24px;
color: var(--primary-color);
font-weight: 600;
padding: 16px;
position: sticky;
top: 0;
background: white;
z-index: 2;
border-bottom: 2px solid #e2e8f0;
}
.popup-content {
overflow-y: auto;
max-height: calc(85vh - 140px);
padding: 0 16px;
}
.popup-table {
display: grid;
grid-template-columns: minmax(200px, 1fr) 2fr;
gap: 16px;
margin-bottom: 24px;
}
.popup-table div {
padding: 12px;
border-bottom: 1px solid #e2e8f0;
line-height: 1.6;
}
.characteristic {
font-weight: 600;
color: var(--primary-color);
background-color: #f8fafc;
border-radius: 8px;
padding: 12px 16px !important;
}
.detail {
color: var(--text-color);
}
.close-btn {
position: fixed;
top: 24px;
right: 24px;
background-color: #e53e3e;
color: white;
padding: 12px 24px;
border: none;
cursor: pointer;
border-radius: 8px;
font-weight: 600;
transition: all 0.2s ease;
z-index: 3;
box-shadow: 0 2px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
}
.close-btn:hover {
background-color: #c53030;
transform: scale(1.05);
}
/* Overlay for popup */
.overlay {
display: none;
position: fixed;
top: 0;
left: 0;
right: 0;
bottom: 0;
background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);
z-index: 999;
backdrop-filter: blur(4px);
}
/* Animations */
@keyframes fadeIn {
from { opacity: 0; transform: translateY(20px); }
to { opacity: 1; transform: translateY(0); }
}
/* Responsive Design */
@media (max-width: 768px) {
#tribe-list {
grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(150px, 1fr));
margin: 16px;
gap: 16px;
}
.popup {
width: 95%;
max-height: 90vh;
}
.popup-table {
grid-template-columns: 1fr 2fr;
}
.popup-header {
font-size: 1.5em;
padding: 12px;
}
.close-btn {
padding: 8px 16px;
top: 16px;
right: 16px;
}
}
@media (max-width: 480px) {
.popup-table {
grid-template-columns: 1fr;
}
.characteristic {
border-bottom: none;
padding: 8px 12px !important;
}
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="overlay" id="overlay"></div>
<div id="tribe-list"></div>
<div id="popup" class="popup">
<button class="close-btn" onclick="closePopup()">Close</button>
<div class="popup-header" id="popup-header">Tribe Details</div>
<div class="popup-content">
<div class="popup-table" id="popup-table"></div>
</div>
</div>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/xlsx/0.17.1/xlsx.full.min.js"></script>
<script>
function loadExcelFromUrl(url) {
fetch(url)
.then(response => response.arrayBuffer())
.then(data => {
const workbook = XLSX.read(data, { type: 'array' });
const sheetName = workbook.SheetNames[0];
const sheet = workbook.Sheets[sheetName];
const jsonData = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_json(sheet);
const tribeListContainer = document.getElementById("tribe-list");
tribeListContainer.innerHTML = ''; // Clear existing content
jsonData.forEach((row, index) => {
const tribeItem = document.createElement("div");
tribeItem.classList.add("tribe-item");
tribeItem.textContent = row["जनजाती"];
tribeItem.style.animationDelay = `${index * 0.1}s`;
tribeItem.onclick = () => showTribeDetails(row["जनजाती"], jsonData);
tribeListContainer.appendChild(tribeItem);
});
})
.catch(error => {
console.error("Error loading the Excel file: ", error);
});
}
function showTribeDetails(tribeName, data) {
const tribeData = data.find(row => row["जनजाती"] === tribeName);
const popupTable = document.getElementById("popup-table");
const popupHeader = document.getElementById("popup-header");
const overlay = document.getElementById("overlay");
popupTable.innerHTML = "";
popupHeader.textContent = tribeName;
Object.entries(tribeData).forEach(([key, value]) => {
if (key !== "जनजाती") {
const row = document.createElement("div");
row.style.display = "contents";
const characteristic = document.createElement("div");
characteristic.classList.add("characteristic");
characteristic.textContent = key;
const detail = document.createElement("div");
detail.classList.add("detail");
detail.textContent = value;
row.appendChild(characteristic);
row.appendChild(detail);
popupTable.appendChild(row);
}
});
document.getElementById("popup").style.display = "block";
overlay.style.display = "block";
}
function closePopup() {
document.getElementById("popup").style.display = "none";
document.getElementById("overlay").style.display = "none";
}
window.addEventListener('keydown', function(event) {
if (event.key === "Escape") {
closePopup();
}
});
const fileUrl = "https://sushilparajuli.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/janajatiwp.xlsx";
loadExcelFromUrl(fileUrl);
</script>
</body>
</html>
Reference: Book on नेपालका जनजातिहरू by Madhusudhan Pandey