Misplaced Pages

Madheshi people

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
#396603

119-864: Madheshi people ( Nepali : मधेशी ) is a term used for several ethnic groups in Nepal living in the Terai region of Nepal . It has also been used as a political pejorative term by the Pahari people of Nepal to refer to Nepalis with a non- Nepali language as their mother tongue , regardless of their place of birth or residence. The term Madheshi became a widely recognised name for Nepali citizens with an Indian cultural background only after 1990. Madheshi people comprise various cultural groups such as Hindu caste groups, Muslims , Marwaris , Brahmin and Dalit people, ethnic groups like Maithils , Bhojpuri , Awadhi and Bajjika speaking people and indigenous people of

238-554: A lingua franca . Nepali has official status in the Indian state of Sikkim and in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration of West Bengal . It is spoken by about a quarter of Bhutan 's population. Nepali also has a significant number of speakers in the states of Arunachal Pradesh , Assam , Himachal Pradesh , Manipur , Meghalaya , Mizoram and Uttarakhand . In Myanmar it is spoken by

357-551: A Sheikh priestly lineage assigned to the tribe. Pre-Islamic Sassanid society was immensely complex, with separate systems of social organisation governing numerous different groups within the empire. Historians believe society comprised four social classes , which linguistic analysis indicates may have been referred to collectively as "pistras". The classes, from highest to lowest status, were priests ( Asravan ), warriors ( Arteshtaran ), secretaries ( Dabiran ), and commoners ( Vastryoshan ). In Yemen there exists

476-506: A hereditary caste, the African -descended Al-Akhdam who are kept as perennial manual workers. Estimates put their number at over 3.5 million residents who are discriminated, out of a total Yemeni population of around 22 million. Various sociologists have reported caste systems in Africa. The specifics of the caste systems have varied in ethnically and culturally diverse Africa; however,

595-530: A higher caste if the terms of the marriage did not imply equality. However, men are systematically shielded from the negative implications of the agreement. Geographical factors also determine adherence to the caste system. Many Northern villages are more likely to participate in exogamous marriage, due to a lack of eligible suitors within the same caste. Women in North India have been found to be less likely to leave or divorce their husbands since they are of

714-606: A later volume by Dena Freeman writing with Pankhurst. In a review published in 1977, Todd reports that numerous scholars report a system of social stratification in different parts of Africa that resembles some or all aspects of caste system. Examples of such caste systems, he claims, are to be found in Ethiopia in communities such as the Gurage and Konso . He then presents the Dime of Southwestern Ethiopia, amongst whom there operates

833-695: A manner similar to castas in Spanish colonies such as Mexico , and caste system studies in British colonies such as India. In the Philippines, pre-colonial societies do not have a single social structure. The class structures can be roughly categorised into four types: During the period of the Yuan dynasty , ruler Kublai Khan enforced a Four Class System , which was a legal caste system. The order of four classes of people in descending order were: There

952-534: A member of the samurai class to marry a peasant, craftsman, or merchant, but this was done through a loophole in which a person from a lower class was adopted into the samurai class and then married. Since there was an economic advantage for a poor samurai class person to marry a wealthy merchant or peasant class woman, they would adopt a merchant or peasant class woman into the samurai class as an adopted daughter and then marry her. Japan had its own untouchable caste, shunned and ostracised, historically referred to by

1071-732: A passport to travel to Kathmandu , a requirement in place until 1958. In the 1950s, the regional political party Nepal Terai Congress advocated more autonomy for the Terai, recognition of Hindi as a national language and increasing employment opportunities for Madheshi people. During 1961 to 1990, the Panchayat government enforced a policy of assimilating diverse cultural groups into a pan-Nepali identity. Legal directives made it an offense to address inequality and discrimination of ethnic groups. The complexities of ethnopolitical conflicts between immigrants, caste groups and indigenous groups living in

1190-560: A pre-modern orthography. Few changes including changing Kari (करि) to Gari (गरि) and merging Hunu (हुनु) with cha (छ) to create huncha (हुन्छ) were done. The most prominent work written during this time was Bhanubhakta Acharya 's Bhanubhakta Ramayana , a translation of the epic Ramayana from Sanskrit to Nepali for the first time. Acharya's work led to which some describe as "cultural, emotional and linguistic unification" of Nepal, comparatively to Prithvi Narayan Shah who unified Nepal. The modern period of Nepali begins in

1309-464: A relatively lower caste system, and have higher restrictions on their freedoms. On the other hand, Pahari women, of the northern mountains, have much more freedom to leave their husbands without stigma. This often leads to better husbandry as his actions are not protected by social expectations. Chiefly among the factors influencing the rise of exogamy is the rapid urbanisation in India experienced over

SECTION 10

#1732783240397

1428-404: A result of new sub-lineages arising and number of clans increasing over time due to division as Yazidis settled in different places and countries. Division could occur in one family, if there were a few brothers in one clan, each of them could become the founder of their own Pîr sub-clan ( Kurdish : ber ). Mirîds are the lay caste and are divided into tribes , who are each affiliated to a Pîr and

1547-494: A review of social stratification systems in Africa, Richter reports that the term caste has been used by French and American scholars to many groups of West African artisans. These groups have been described as inferior, deprived of all political power, have a specific occupation, are hereditary and sometimes despised by others. Richter illustrates caste system in Ivory Coast , with six sub-caste categories. Unlike other parts of

1666-778: A separate, untouchable category in Varna classifications. Scholars believe that the Varnas system was never truly operational in society and there is no evidence of it ever being a reality in Indian history. The practical division of the society had always been in terms of Jatis (birth groups), which are not based on any specific religious principle but could vary from ethnic origins to occupations to geographic areas. The Jātis have been endogamous social groups without any fixed hierarchy but subject to vague notions of rank articulated over time based on lifestyle and social, political, or economic status. Many of India's major empires and dynasties like

1785-528: A series of subsidies granted to new settlers. In the 1770s to 1780s, famine-stricken Bihari farmers migrated to the Nepal Terai following a severe flood of the Koshi River and subsequent drought. To promote the economic development of the Nepal Terai, people from the hills were invited to settle, but only a few moved to the Terai. Between the 1860s and 1951, people from India immigrated and settled in

1904-597: A short period of a hundred years in the 19th century. This literary explosion was fuelled by Adhyatma Ramayana ; Sundarananda Bara (1833); Birsikka, an anonymous collection of folk tales; and a version of the ancient Indian epic Ramayana by Bhanubhakta Acharya (d. 1868). The contribution of trio-laureates Lekhnath Paudyal , Laxmi Prasad Devkota , and Balkrishna Sama took Nepali to the level of other world languages. The contribution of expatriate writers outside Nepal, especially in Darjeeling and Varanasi in India,

2023-517: A social classification. Marriage between certain classes was generally prohibited. In particular, marriage between daimyo and court nobles was forbidden by the Tokugawa shogunate because it could lead to political maneuvering. For the same reason, marriages between daimyo and high-ranking hatamoto of the samurai class required the approval of the Tokugawa shogunate. It was also forbidden for

2142-581: A supposedly 'egalitarian' ancient Tibetan society. In Japan's history, social strata based on inherited position rather than personal merit, were rigid and highly formalised in a system called mibunsei (身分制). At the top were the Emperor and Court nobles ( kuge ), together with the Shōgun and daimyō . Older scholars believed that there were Shi-nō-kō-shō ( 士農工商 , four classes ) of "samurai, peasants ( hyakushō ), craftsmen, and merchants ( chōnin )" under

2261-428: A system which Todd claims can be unequivocally labelled as caste system. The Dime have seven castes whose size varies considerably. Each broad caste level is a hierarchical order that is based on notions of purity, non-purity and impurity. It uses the concepts of defilement to limit contacts between caste categories and to preserve the purity of the upper castes. These caste categories have been exclusionary, endogamous and

2380-493: Is a theoretical four-part division, jāti (community) refers to the thousands of actual endogamous social groups prevalent across the subcontinent. The classical authors scarcely speak of anything other than the varnas , as it provided a convenient shorthand; but a problem arises when colonial Indologists sometimes confuse the two. Upon independence from Britain, the Indian Constitution listed 1,108 Jatis across

2499-405: Is also a separate highest level honorific, which was used to refer to members of the royal family, and by the royals among themselves. Like all modern Indo-Aryan languages, Nepali grammar has syncretised heavily, losing much of the complex declensional system present in the older languages. Instead, it relies heavily on periphrasis , a marginal verbal feature of older Indo-Aryan languages. Nepali

SECTION 20

#1732783240397

2618-564: Is also applied to morphological groupings in eusocial insects such as ants , bees , and termites . The paradigmatic ethnographic example of caste is the division of India's Hindu society into rigid social groups. Its roots lie in South Asia's ancient history and it still exists; however, the economic significance of the caste system in India has been declining as a result of urbanisation and affirmative action programs. A subject of much scholarship by sociologists and anthropologists,

2737-671: Is also notable. Nepali-language speakers are rapidly migrating around the globe in last a couple of decades and many books of Nepali language literature are published from different corners of the world. Diasporic literature has developed new ways of thinking and created a new branch in Nepali language literature. Dialects of Nepali include Acchami, Baitadeli, Bajhangi, Bajurali, Bheri, Dadeldhuri, Dailekhi, Darchulali, Darchuli, Gandakeli, Humli, Purbeli, and Soradi. These dialects can be distinct from Standard Nepali. Mutual intelligibility between Baitadeli, Bajhangi, Bajurali (Bajura), Humli and Acchami

2856-524: Is assigned a heredity-based class and socio-political rank over which the individual exercises no control but which determines all aspects of his or her life." Called Songbun , Barbara Demick describes this "class structure" as an updating of the hereditary "caste system", a combination of Confucianism and Communism . It originated in 1946 and was entrenched by the 1960s, and consisted of 53 categories ranging across three classes: loyal, wavering, and impure. The privileged "loyal" class included members of

2975-461: Is born within a particular system of social stratification : a caste system . Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste ( endogamy ), follow lifestyles often linked to a particular occupation, hold a ritual status observed within a hierarchy, and interact with others based on cultural notions of exclusion , with certain castes considered as either more pure or more polluted than others. The term "caste"

3094-595: Is considered to be a Golden Age for the language. In West Bengal , Nepali language was recognised by West Bengal Government in 1961 as the official language for the Darjeeling district , and Kalimpong and Kurseong . The Nepali Language Movement took place in India around 1980s to include Nepali language in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India . In 1977, Nepali was officially accepted by Sahitya Academy , an organisation dedicated to

3213-416: Is currently known as Sajha Prakashan . Conversely, the term Gorkhali in the former national anthem entitled " Shriman Gambhir " was changed to Nepali in 1951. However, the term Nepali was used before the official adoption notably by Jaya Prithvi Bahadur Singh , now considered one of the national heroes of Nepal , who advocated for the embracement of the term. The initial name of Nepali language

3332-773: Is generally written in Devanagari script. In certain regions, the Tibetan script was also used in regions with predominantly Tibetic population, with common Tibetan expressions and pronunciation. In the section below Nepali is represented in Latin transliteration using the IAST scheme and IPA . The chief features are: subscript dots for retroflex consonants ; macrons for etymologically, contrastively long vowels ; h denoting aspirated plosives . Tildes denote nasalised vowels . Nepali developed significant literature within

3451-606: Is largely based on the experience of being discriminated by the country's ruling elites. The Nepal Sadbhawana Party is the oldest Madheshi party, which started lobbying for socio-cultural, linguistic and political rights of Madheshi people in the 1990s. The discussions on rights and demands of Madheshi people increased after the end of the Nepalese Civil War , in particular among Madheshi intellectuals and political elites. The political parties Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha and Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum, Nepal advocated

3570-626: Is low. The dialect of the Nepali language spoken in Karnali Province is not mutually intelligible with Standard Nepali. The language is known by its old name as Khas Bhasa in Karnali. The following is a sample text in Nepali, of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , with a transliteration (IAST) and transcription ( IPA ). Caste A caste is a fixed social group into which an individual

3689-765: Is not based on the principle of pollution and purity, but on occupation. Both Muslim and Hindu Madheshi parents place more emphasis on the education of boys than of girls. Despite an increase of schools and primary education being compulsory and free of cost, more boys than girls are enrolled. Girls are expected to look after younger siblings and do household chores. Many rural Madheshi girls are married at an age of 14 to 16 years. Madheshi people speak Maithili , Bhojpuri , Bajjika , Urdu and Awadhi languages. The National Population and Housing Census of 2011 knows of 123 languages spoken in all of Nepal and lists: Muslim Madheshis speak Urdu primarily, but also Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Bajjika and Maithili, depending on whether they live in

Madheshi people - Misplaced Pages Continue

3808-824: Is often in free variation with [õ]. Nepali has ten diphthongs : /ui̯/, /iu̯/, /ei̯/, /eu̯/, /oi̯/, /ou̯/, /ʌi̯/, /ʌu̯/, /ai̯/, and /au̯/. [j] and [w] are nonsyllabic allophones of [i] and [u], respectively. Every consonant except [j], [w], and /ɦ/ has a geminate counterpart between vowels. /ɳ/ and /ʃ/ also exist in some loanwords such as /baɳ/ बाण "arrow" and /nareʃ/ नरेश "king", but these sounds are sometimes replaced with native Nepali phonemes. The murmured stops may lose their breathy-voice between vowels and word-finally. Non-geminate aspirated and murmured stops may also become fricatives, with /pʰ/ as [ ɸ ], /bʱ/ as [ β ], /kʰ/ as [ x ], and /ɡʱ/ as [ ɣ ]. Examples of this are /sʌpʰa/ 'clean' becoming [sʌɸa] and /ʌɡʱaɖi/ 'before' becoming [ʌɣaɽi]. Typically, sounds transcribed with

3927-405: Is persistence of caste in Indian politics . Caste associations have evolved into caste-based political parties. Political parties and the state perceive caste as an important factor for mobilisation of people and policy development. Studies by Bhatt and Beteille have shown changes in status, openness, mobility in the social aspects of Indian society. As a result of modern socio-economic changes in

4046-528: Is significant controversy over the social classes of Tibet , especially with regards to the serfdom in Tibet controversy . Heidi Fjeld has put forth the argument that pre-1950s Tibetan society was functionally a caste system, in contrast to previous scholars who defined the Tibetan social class system as similar to European feudal serfdom , as well as non-scholarly western accounts which seek to romanticise

4165-445: Is still a common practice in India and Hindu culture. Men are expected to marry within their caste, or one below, with no social repercussions. If a woman marries into a higher caste, then her children will take the status of their father. If she marries down, her family is reduced to the social status of their son in law. In this case, the women are bearers of the egalitarian principle of the marriage. There would be no benefit in marrying

4284-494: Is that of butcher. It originates in the Khitan invasion of Korea in the 11th century. The defeated Khitans who surrendered were settled in isolated communities throughout Goryeo to forestall rebellion. They were valued for their skills in hunting, herding, butchering, and making of leather, common skill sets among nomads. Over time, their ethnic origin was forgotten, and they formed the bottom layer of Korean society. In 1392, with

4403-466: Is the official language of the state of Sikkim and of Gorkhaland , West Bengal . Despite being spoken by about a quarter of the population, Nepalese has no official status in Bhutan. According to the 2011 national census , 44.6% of the population of Nepal speaks Nepali as its first language . and 32.8% speak Nepali as a second language. Ethnologue reports 12,300,000 speakers within Nepal (from

4522-538: Is the second most commonly spoken language other than English. Allawah and Hurstville have third most Nepali speaking population in New South Wales . There are regular Nepali language News papers and Magazines in Australia. Vowels and consonants are outlined in the tables below. Nepali distinguishes six oral vowels and five nasal vowels . /o/ does not have a phonemic nasal counterpart, although it

4641-566: The Tira of Sudan, the exclusionary principle has been driven by evolving social factors. Among the Igbo of Nigeria – especially Enugu , Anambra , Imo , Abia , Ebonyi , Edo and Delta states of the country – scholar Elijah Obinna finds that the Osu caste system has been and continues to be a major social issue. The Osu caste is determined by one's birth into a particular family irrespective of

4760-514: The 1901 Census of India led by colonial administrator Herbert Hope Risley, all the jātis were grouped under the theoretical varnas categories. According to political scientist Lloyd Rudolph , Risley believed that varna , however ancient, could be applied to all the modern castes found in India, and "[he] meant to identify and place several hundred million Indians within it." The terms varna (conceptual classification based on occupation) and jāti (groups) are two distinct concepts: while varna

4879-473: The 2015 Nepal blockade , India tried to dominate Nepal's internal politics and foment the conflict in the Nepal Terai. Nepali language Nepali ( English: / n ɪ ˈ p ɔː l i / ; Devanagari : नेपाली , [ˈnepali] ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Himalayas region of South Asia . It is the official, and most widely spoken, language of Nepal , where it also serves as

Madheshi people - Misplaced Pages Continue

4998-713: The Burmese Gurkhas . The Nepali diaspora in the Middle East , Brunei , Australia and worldwide also use the language. Nepali is spoken by approximately 19 million native speakers and another 14 million as a second language . Nepali is commonly classified within the Eastern Pahari group of the Northern zone of Indo-Aryan. The language originated from the Sinja Valley , Karnali Province then

5117-468: The Gandaki basin. During the times of Sena dynasty , who ruled a vast area in Terai and central hills of Nepal, Nepali language became influenced by the Indian languages including Awadhi , Bhojpuri , Braj Bhasha and Maithili . Nepali speakers and Senas had a close connect, subsequently, the language became the lingua franca in the area. As a result, the grammar became simplified, vocabulary

5236-669: The Gupta Empire . From 1901 onwards, for the purposes of the Decennial Census , the British colonial authorities arbitrarily and incorrectly forced all Jātis into the four Varna categories as described in ancient texts. Herbert Hope Risley , the Census Commissioner, noted that "The principle suggested as a basis was that of classification by social precedence as recognized by native public opinion at

5355-734: The John Minsheu 's Spanish dictionary (1569), means "race, lineage, tribe or breed". When the Spanish colonised the New World , they used the word to mean a 'clan or lineage'. It was, however, the Portuguese who first employed casta in the primary modern sense of the English word 'caste' when they applied it to the thousands of endogamous, hereditary Indian social groups they encountered upon their arrival in India in 1498. The use of

5474-529: The Korean Workers' Party and Korean People's Army officers' corps, the wavering class included peasants, and the impure class included collaborators with Imperial Japan and landowners . She claims that a bad family background is called "tainted blood", and that by law this "tainted blood" lasts three generations. There are three hereditary groups, often called castes, in Yazidism . Membership in

5593-526: The Sunjata epic, led to the formation of blacksmith and bard castes among the people that ultimately became the Mali empire. As West Africa evolved over time, sub-castes emerged that acquired secondary specialisations or changed occupations. Endogamy was prevalent within a caste or among a limited number of castes, yet castes did not form demographic isolates according to Tamari. Social status according to caste

5712-619: The Tukulor , Songhay , Dogon , Senufo , Minianka , Moors, Manding , Soninke , Wolof , Serer , Fulani , and Tuareg . Castes appeared among the Malinke people no later than 14th century, and was present among the Wolof and Soninke , as well as some Songhay and Fulani populations, no later than 16th century. Tamari claims that wars, such as the Sosso-Malinke war described in

5831-666: The capital city of the Khasa Kingdom around the 10th and 14th centuries. It developed proximity to a number of Indo-Aryan languages , most significantly to other Pahari languages . Nepali was originally spoken by the Khas people , an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the Himalayan region of South Asia . The earliest inscription in the Nepali language is believed to be an inscription in Dullu , Dailekh District which

5950-483: The jonow slaves as inferior. Similarly, the Wolof in Senegal is divided into three main groups, the geer (freeborn/nobles), jaam (slaves and slave descendants) and the underclass neeno . In various parts of West Africa, Fulani societies also have class divisions. Other castes include Griots , Forgerons , and Cordonniers . Tamari has described endogamous castes of over fifteen West African peoples, including

6069-402: The sangmin ( 상민-常民 : literally 'commoner'), farmers working their own fields. Korea also had a serf population known as the nobi . The nobi population could fluctuate up to about one third of the population, but on average the nobi made up about 10% of the total population. In 1801, the vast majority of government nobi were emancipated, and by 1858 the nobi population stood at about 1.5% of

SECTION 50

#1732783240397

6188-443: The "Osus" people as "owned by deities" and outcasts. The Songhai economy was based on a caste system. The most common were metalworkers, fishermen, and carpenters. Lower caste participants consisted of mostly non-farm working immigrants, who at times were provided special privileges and held high positions in society. At the top were noblemen and direct descendants of the original Songhai people, followed by freemen and traders. In

6307-567: The 1991 census. Of these, 16% belonged to various Hindu castes, 9% belonged to other ethnic groups, including 6.5% Tharu people. The culture of Madeshi people is complex and diverse. The Muslim and indigenous peoples speak their own languages and have distinct cultural traditions that differ from the Hindu caste groups. Latter comprise at least 43 distinct groups. Caste groups include Bania , Brahman , Dhobi , Kalawar , Kewat , Kshatriya , Kumhar , Kurmi , Kushwaha and Teli . Muslim people in

6426-491: The 2011 census). It is spoken by 20,250,952, about 77.20% of the population, as their first language and second language . Total number of Nepali speakers in India by state (2011 census) According to the 2011 census of India , there were a total of 2,926,168 Nepali language speakers in India. In Bhutan , native Nepali speakers, known as Lhotshampa , are estimated at 35% of the population. This number includes displaced Bhutanese refugees , with unofficial estimates of

6545-478: The Hindu caste system is sometimes used as an analogical basis for the study of caste-like social divisions existing outside Hinduism and India. In colonial Spanish America , mixed-race castas were a category within the Hispanic sector but the social order was otherwise fluid. The English word caste ( / k ɑː s t , k æ s t / ) derives from the Spanish and Portuguese casta , which, according to

6664-579: The Latin American casta system and South Asian caste systems (the former giving its name to the latter), it is controversial to what extent the two phenomena are really comparable. Modern India's caste system is based on the superimposition of an old four-fold theoretical classification called varna on the social ethnic grouping called jāti . The Vedic period conceptualised a society as consisting of four types of varnas , or categories: Brahmin , Kshatriya , Vaishya and Shudra , according to

6783-524: The Madhesh for at least five years or married to native Madhesis. The Citizenship Act of 1963 entitled immigrants to receive Nepali citizenship if they were able to read and write Nepali and engaged in business. In 1981, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimated that about 3.2 million people of Indian origin lived in Nepal, of which about 2.4 million had received Nepali citizenship. In 2006,

6902-694: The Manjo were commonly referred to as hunters, given the lowest status equal only to slaves." The Borana Oromo of southern Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa also have a class system, wherein the Wata, an acculturated hunter-gatherer group, represent the lowest class. Though the Wata today speak the Oromo language , they have traditions of having previously spoken another language before adopting Oromo. The traditionally nomadic Somali people are divided into clans, wherein

7021-683: The Mauryas, Shalivahanas, Chalukyas, Kakatiyas among many others, were founded by people who would have been classified as Shudras, under the Varnas system, as interpreted by the British rulers. It is well established that by the 9th century, kings from all the four Varnas, including Brahmins and Vaishyas, had occupied the highest seat in the monarchical system in Hindu India, contrary to the Varna theory. In many instances, as in Bengal, historically

7140-472: The Nepal Citizenship Act was amended to the effect that people born before 1990 and residing permanently in the country obtained the right to Nepali citizenship. About 2.3 million people received citizenship certificates. The Constitution of Nepal 2015 contains provisions for a Nepali citizenship by naturalisation , which can be acquired by: With 33,998.8 km (13,127.0 sq mi),

7259-416: The Nepal Terai constitutes 23.1% of Nepal's land area. As of 2001, about 48.5% of Nepal's population lived in the Terai, which had a population density of 330.78/km (856.7/sq mi), the highest in the country. As of June 2011, the Nepal Terai's human population totaled 13,318,705 people comprising more than 120 different ethnic groups and castes. The Madheshi people constituted 32% of Nepal's population by

SECTION 60

#1732783240397

7378-763: The Nepali language is believed to have started with the Shah kings of Gorkha Kingdom , in the modern day Gorkha District of Nepal. Following the Unification of Nepal , the language moved to the court of the Kingdom of Nepal in the 18th century, where it became the state language. One of the earliest works in the Middile Nepali is written during the reign of Ram Shah , King of Gorkha, a book by unknown writer called Ram Shah ko Jivani (A Biography of Ram Shah). Prithvi Narayan Shah 's Divyopadesh , written toward

7497-564: The Terai are either from India, or were trained in India and Saudi Arabia. Many Muslim Madheshis practise endogamy . In 1989, a study on food consumption patterns was conducted with 108 people in a village in Chitwan district . Results of this study showed that the people consumed seven food items on average. Rice constituted almost half of their daily food intake, supplemented by vegetables, potatoes, milk and dairy products. Less frequently they consumed meat, fish, eggs and fruit. About 13.7% of

7616-471: The Terai constitute about 96% of all Muslims in the country. Their cultural traditions are interlinked with those of Muslim people in northern India; popular destinations for their ziyarat pilgrimage are the shrines of Ajmer Sharif Dargah and Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, respectively. They are influenced by the hierarchy of the Hindu caste system, with the difference that it

7735-677: The Terai were not addressed. After the Panchayat regime was abolished following the People's Movement in spring 1990, disadvanted groups demanded a more equitable share of political resources such as admittance to civil service. Madheshi people are disadvantaged in regards to access to education; literacy rate among Madheshi people is lower than among other groups in Nepal, and lowest among Madheshi Dalits . They are also disappointed to have been excluded from participation in bureaucracy, Nepal Army and political parties in Nepal . Madheshi identity

7854-454: The Terai. In 2013, more than 24 Madheshi political parties were registered for the Constituent Assembly of Nepal election. Madheshi parties gained 50 of 575 seats in the Constituent Assembly. After the 2008 Nepalese Constituent Assembly election , Indian politicians kept on trying to secure strategic interests in the Nepal Terai, such as over hydropower energy, development projects, business and trade. It has been alleged that by supporting

7973-438: The Terai. Many of these groups share cultural traditions, educational and family ties with people living south of the international border in Bihar , Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal . Tharu people and Pahari people living in the Terai do not consider themselves as Madheshi. The word madhesh is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit madhya desh (मध्य देश), literally the middle country, which refers to "the central region,

8092-537: The Yazidi society and a caste is conferred by birth. Pîrs and Sheikhs are the priestly castes , which are represented by many sacred lineages ( Kurdish : Ocax ). Sheikhs are in charge of both religious and administrative functions and are divided into three endogamous houses, Şemsanî, Adanî and Qatanî who are in turn divided into lineages. The Pîrs are in charge of purely religious functions and traditionally consist of 40 lineages or clans, but approximately 90 appellations of Pîr lineages have been found, which may have been

8211-485: The antiquated system of arranged endogamy. India has also implemented a form of Affirmative Action, locally known as "reservation groups". Quota system jobs, as well as placements in publicly funded colleges, hold spots for the 8% of India's minority, and underprivileged groups. As a result, in states such as Tamil Nadu or those in the north-east , where underprivileged populations predominate, over 80% of government jobs are set aside in quotas. In education, colleges lower

8330-497: The colloquial flavour of its language, its religious sincerity, and its realistic natural descriptions". The term Nepali derived from Nepal was officially adopted by the Government of Nepal in 1933, when Gorkha Bhasa Prakashini Samiti (Gorkha Language Publishing Committee), a government institution established in 1913 ( B.S. 1970) for advancement of Gorkha Bhasa, renamed itself as Nepali Bhasa Prakashini Samiti (Nepali Language Publishing Committee) in 1933 (B.S. 1990), which

8449-406: The complex declensional system present in the older languages. Nepali developed significant literature within a short period of a hundred years in the 19th century. Around 1830, several Nepali poets wrote on themes from the Sanskrit epics Ramayana and the Bhagavata Purana , which was followed by Bhanubhakta Acharya translating the Ramayana in Nepali which received "great popularity for

8568-425: The country as Scheduled Castes in 1950, for positive discrimination . This constitution would also ban discrimination of the basis of the caste, though its practice in India remained intact. The Untouchable communities are sometimes called Scheduled Castes , Dalit or Harijan in contemporary literature. In 2001, Dalits were 16.2% of India's population. Most of the 15 million bonded child workers are from

8687-638: The country lying between the Himalaya and the Vindhya mountains ". However, in the context of Nepal, Madhesh refers to the Madhesh Province in the Nepal Terai located south of the Siwalik Hills . Since the late 18th century, the Shah rulers of Nepal promoted conversion of forests in the Terai to agricultural land and encouraged people from northern India to settle in this region through

8806-426: The country, India is experiencing significant changes in the dynamics and the economics of its social sphere. While arranged marriages are still the most common practice in India, the internet has provided a network for younger Indians to take control of their relationships through the use of dating apps. This remains isolated to informal terms, as marriage is not often achieved through the use of these apps. Hypergamy

8925-553: The current-day Nepal and Uttarakhand, making Nepali the lingua franca . Nepali is a highly fusional language with a relatively free word order , although the dominant arrangement is subject–object–verb word order (SOV). There are three major levels or gradations of honorific : low, medium and high. Low honorific is used where no respect is due, medium honorific is used to signify equal status or neutrality, and high honorific signifies respect. Like all modern Indo-Aryan languages, Nepali grammar has syncretised heavily, losing much of

9044-403: The daimyo, with 80% of peasants under the 5% samurai class, followed by craftsmen and merchants. However, various studies have revealed since about 1995 that the classes of peasants, craftsmen, and merchants under the samurai are equal, and the old hierarchy chart has been removed from Japanese history textbooks. In other words, peasants, craftsmen, and merchants are not a social pecking order, but

9163-531: The decline of the Khasa Kingdom, it was divided into Baise Rajya (22 principalities) in Karnali - Bheri region and Chaubise rajya (24 principalities) in Gandaki region. The currently popular variant of Nepali is believed to have originated around 500 years ago with the mass migration of a branch of Khas people from the Karnali - Bheri - Seti eastward to settle in lower valleys of the Karnali and

9282-567: The early 20th century. During this time the ruling Rana dynasty made various attempts to make Nepali the language of education, notably, by Dev Shumsher and Chandra Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana , who established Gorkhapatra , and the Gorkha Bhasa Prakashini Samiti respectively. At this time, Nepali had limited literature compared to Hindi and Bengali languages , a movement notably in Banaras , and Darjeeling

9401-554: The end of his life, around 1774–75, contains old Nepali dialect of the era, is considered as the first work of essay of Nepali literature. During this time Nepali developed a standardised prose in the Lal mohar (royal charter)—documents related to the Nepalese Kingdom dealing with diplomatic writings, tax, and administrative records. The language of the Lal mohar is nearly modern with some minor differences in grammar and with

9520-668: The ethnic Bhutanese refugee population as high as 30 to 40%, constituting a majority in the south (about 242,000 people). Nepali is the third-most spoken language in the Australian state of Tasmania , where it is spoken by 1.3% of its population, and fifth-most spoken language in the Northern Territory , Australia, spoken by 1.3% of its population. Nepali is the most spoken language other than English in Rockdale and Kogarah . In Granville , Campsie and Ashfield it

9639-485: The final schwa: Note: Schwas are often retained in music and poetry to add extra syllables when needed. Nepali is a highly fusional language with relatively free word order , although the dominant arrangement is SOV (subject–object–verb). There are three major levels or gradations of honorifics : low, medium and high. Low honorific is used where no respect is due, medium honorific is used to signify equal status or neutrality, and high honorific signifies respect. There

9758-509: The following features are common – it has been a closed system of social stratification, the social status is inherited, the castes are hierarchical, certain castes are shunned while others are merely endogamous and exclusionary. In some cases, concepts of purity and impurity by birth have been prevalent in Africa. In other cases, such as the Nupe of Nigeria, the Beni Amer of East Africa, and

9877-636: The foundation of the Confucian Joseon dynasty , Korea systemised its own native class system. At the top were the two official classes, the Yangban , which literally means "two classes". It was composed of scholars ( munban ) and warriors ( muban ). Scholars had a significant social advantage over the warriors. Below were the jung-in ( 중인-中人 : literally "middle people"). This was a small class of specialised professions such as medicine, accounting, translators, regional bureaucrats, etc. Below that were

9996-503: The grazing of cattle on pastures during dry seasons. In the mid 19th century, Muslim people from the Awadh region were invited to settle in the far-western Nepal Terai, where they received large forested areas for conversion to agriculture. People of at least 21 Indian ethnic groups immigrated between 1933 and 1966. In 1952, a Nepal Citizenship Act was passed that entitled all those immigrants to obtain Nepali citizenship who had stayed in

10115-403: The idea of an autonomous Madhes province stretching all over the Terai and organised violent demonstrations in 2007 to enforce their demands. The United Democratic Madhesi Front formed by Madheshi organizations pressured the government to accept this concept of autonomy under the motto "One Madhes One Pradesh". Several ethnic and religious groups in the Terai opposed and resisted this policy under

10234-579: The insulting term eta , now called burakumin . While modern law has officially abolished the class hierarchy, there are reports of discrimination against the buraku or burakumin underclasses. The burakumin are regarded as "ostracised". The burakumin are one of the main minority groups in Japan , along with the Ainu of Hokkaidō and those of Korean or Chinese descent. The baekjeong ( 백정 ) were an "untouchable" outcaste of Korea. The meaning today

10353-551: The kings and rulers had been called upon, when required, to mediate on the ranks of Jātis , which might number in thousands all over the subcontinent and vary by region. In practice, the jātis may or may not fit into the Varna classes and many prominent Jatis , for example the Jats and Yadavs, straddled two Varnas i.e. Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, and the Varna status of Jātis itself was subject to articulation over time. Starting with

10472-443: The last century. It is well known that urban centers tend to be less reliant on agriculture and are more progressive as a whole. As India's cities boomed in population, the job market grew to keep pace. Prosperity and stability were now more easily attained by an individual, and the anxiety to marry quickly and effectively was reduced. Thus, younger, more progressive generations of urban Indians are less likely than ever to participate in

10591-748: The leadership of Madheshi parties, foremost Tharu and Muslim people. The Tharu people were initially comfortable with the Madheshi identity in the eastern part of the Terai as of 2007, but in the central part, they claim a distinct Tharu identity. In 2009, they disassociated themselves from being identified as Madheshi and demanded their own province. Armed groups like Terai Army, Madhesi National Liberation Front, Terai Cobras and Madhesh Mukti Tigers pursued this aim of autonomy using violent means. Some members of these organisations were responsible for acts of terrorism including bombings and murders. The Alliance for Independent Madhesh also demands independence of

10710-408: The lowest castes. Independent India has witnessed caste-related violence . In 2005, government recorded approximately 110,000 cases of reported violent acts, including rape and murder, against Dalits. The socio-economic limitations of the caste system are reduced due to urbanisation and affirmative action . Nevertheless, the caste system still exists in endogamy and patrimony , and thrives in

10829-561: The marks necessary for the Dalits to enter. The Nepali caste system resembles in some respects the Indian jāti system, with numerous jāti divisions with a varna system superimposed. Inscriptions attest the beginnings of a caste system during the Licchavi period. Jayasthiti Malla (1382–1395) categorised Newars into 64 castes (Gellner 2001). A similar exercise was made during the reign of Mahindra Malla (1506–1575). The Hindu social code

10948-469: The more numerous Hutu and the least numerous Twa regarded, by birth, as respectively, second and third in the hierarchy of Rwandese society. These groups were largely endogamous, exclusionary and with limited mobility. In Ethiopia, there have been a number of studies of castes. Broad studies of castes have been written by Alula Pankhurst has published a study of caste groups in SW Ethiopia . and

11067-528: The most common surname and its bongwan in the local area. Along with this example, activists within and outside the Korean government had based their visions of a new relationship between the government and people through the concept of citizenship, employing the term inmin ("people") and later, kungmin ("citizen"). The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea reported that "Every North Korean citizen

11186-501: The nature of the work of its members. Varna was not an inherited category and the occupation determined the varna. However, a person's Jati is determined at birth and makes them take up that Jati's occupation; members could and did change their occupation based on personal strengths as well as economic, social and political factors. A 2016 study based on the DNA analysis of unrelated Indians determined that endogamous jatis originated during

11305-593: The old registration system signified household members according to their hierarchical social status, the new system called for an occupation. While most Koreans by then had surnames and even bongwan , although still substantial number of cheonmin , mostly consisted of serfs and slaves, and untouchables did not. According to the new system, they were then required to fill in the blanks for surname in order to be registered as constituting separate households. Instead of creating their own family name, some cheonmins appropriated their masters' surname, while others simply took

11424-507: The politics of democracy, where caste provides ready made constituencies to politicians. The globalisation and economic opportunities from foreign businesses has influenced the growth of India's middle-class population. Some members of the Chhattisgarh Potter Caste Community (CPCC) are middle-class urban professionals and no longer potters unlike the remaining majority of traditional rural potter members. There

11543-495: The present day, and manifesting itself in the facts that particular castes are supposed to be the modern representatives of one or other of the castes of the theoretical Indian system." Varna , as mentioned in ancient Hindu texts, describes society as divided into four categories: Brahmins (scholars and yajna priests), Kshatriyas (rulers and warriors), Vaishyas (farmers, merchants and artisans) and Shudras (workmen/service providers). The texts do not mention any hierarchy or

11662-711: The promotion of Indian literature . After Sikkim was annexed by India, the Sikkim Official Languages Act, 1977, made Nepali as one of the official languages of state. On 20 August 1992, the Lok Sabha passed a motion to add the Nepali language to the Eighth Schedule. Nepali written in the Devanagari script is the official language of Nepal. On 31 August 1992, Nepali was added to the list of scheduled languages of India . Nepali

11781-516: The region. Immigration of Indian farmers and labourers was particularly high during the rule of the Rana dynasty between 1846 and 1950. They settled foremost in the Terai together with already present native Terai peoples like Tharus , Rajbanshis and Dhimals . This increased immigration facilitated the expansion of cultivated land, which provided revenue for the state in the form of taxes by farmers, duties for felling and export of timber, and fees for

11900-487: The religion practised by the individual. Once born into Osu caste, this Nigerian person is an outcast, shunned and ostracised, with limited opportunities or acceptance, regardless of his or her ability or merit. Obinna discusses how this caste system-related identity and power is deployed within government, Church and indigenous communities. The osu class systems of eastern Nigeria and southern Cameroon are derived from indigenous religious beliefs and discriminate against

12019-445: The retroflex symbols ⟨ ʈ , ʈʰ, ɖ , ɖʱ, ɽ, ɳ, ɽ̃⟩ are not purely retroflex [ ʈ , ʈʰ, ɖ , ɖʱ, ɽ , ɳ , ɽ̃] but apical postalveolar [ t̠ , t̠ʰ, d̠ , d̠ʱ, ɾ̠ , n̠ , ɾ̠̃]. Some speakers may use purely retroflex sounds after /u/ and /a/, but other speakers use the apical articulation in all positions. Final schwas may or may not be preserved in speech. The following rules can be followed to figure out whether or not Nepali words retain

12138-470: The same time, the baekjeong began to resist open social discrimination. They focused on social and economic injustices affecting them, hoping to create an egalitarian Korean society. Their efforts included attacking social discrimination by upper class, authorities, and "commoners", and the use of degrading language against children in public schools. With the Gabo reform of 1896, the class system of Korea

12257-597: The social identity inherited. Among the Kafa , there were also traditionally groups labelled as castes. "Based on research done before the Derg regime, these studies generally presume the existence of a social hierarchy similar to the caste system. At the top of this hierarchy were the Kafa, followed by occupational groups including blacksmiths (Qemmo), weavers (Shammano), bards (Shatto), potters, and tanners (Manno). In this hierarchy,

12376-426: The spelling caste , with this latter meaning, is first attested in English in 1613. In the Latin American context, the term caste is sometimes used to describe the casta system of racial classification, based on whether a person was of pure European, Indigenous or African descent, or some mix thereof, with the different groups being placed in a racial hierarchy; however, despite the etymological connection between

12495-538: The textbook jāti system found in India. Ancient Sri Lankan texts such as the Pujavaliya, Sadharmaratnavaliya and Yogaratnakaraya and inscriptional evidence show that the above hierarchy prevailed throughout the feudal period. The repetition of the same caste hierarchy even as recently as the 18th century, in the Kandyan-period Kadayimpoth – Boundary books as well indicates the continuation of

12614-406: The total food intake of men was alcohol, whereas females consumed far less alcohol. Fruit commonly grown in the Terai include mango , lychee , papaya , guava , banana and jackfruit . Since the late 1940s, the term 'Madhes' was used by politicians in the Nepal Terai to differentiate between the interests of the people of the Terai and of the hills. At the time, Indian and Madheshi people needed

12733-741: The total population of Korea. The hereditary nobi system was officially abolished around 1886–87 and the rest of the nobi system was abolished with the Gabo Reform of 1894, but traces remained until 1930. The opening of Korea to foreign Christian missionary activity in the late 19th century saw some improvement in the status of the baekjeong . However, everyone was not equal under the Christian congregation, and even so protests erupted when missionaries tried to integrate baekjeong into worship, with non- baekjeong finding this attempt insensitive to traditional notions of hierarchical advantage. Around

12852-469: The tradition right up to the end of Sri Lanka's monarchy. Balinese caste structure has been described as being based either on three categories—the noble triwangsa (thrice born), the middle class of dwijāti (twice born), and the lower class of ekajāti (once born), much similar to the traditional Indian BKVS social stratification — or on four castes The Brahmana caste was further subdivided by Dutch ethnographers into two: Siwa and Buda. The Siwa caste

12971-607: The western, central or eastern Terai. The following religions are practised in the Terai according to the National Population and Housing Census of 2011: The religious practices of the majority of Madheshi people are a mixture of orthodox Hinduism and animism . Muslim Madheshis practise the traditional nikah marriage, which is recognised by law. The largest and oldest madrasa is located in Krishnanagar . Mawlawis teaching Quran and Hadith at madrasas in

13090-603: The world, mobility is sometimes possible within sub-castes, but not across caste lines. Farmers and artisans have been, claims Richter, distinct castes. Certain sub-castes are shunned more than others. For example, exogamy is rare for women born into families of woodcarvers. Similarly, the Mandé societies in Gambia , Ghana , Guinea , Ivory Coast , Liberia , Senegal and Sierra Leone have social stratification systems that divide society by ethnic ties. The Mande class system regards

13209-473: Was " Khas Kura " ( खस कुरा ), meaning language or speech of the Khas people , who are descended from the ancient Khasas of Mahabharata , as the language developed during the rule of the Khasa Kingdom in the western Nepal . Following the Unification of Nepal led by Shah dynasty 's Prithvi Narayan Shah , Nepali language became known as Gorakhā Bhāṣā ( गोरखा भाषा ; language of the Gorkhas ) as it

13328-571: Was expanded, and its phonology was softened, after it was syncretised, Nepali lost much of the complex declensional system present in the older languages. In the Kathmandu Valley (then known as Nepal Mandala ), Nepali language inscriptions can be seen during the reigns of Lakshmi Narasimha Malla and Pratap Malla , which indicates the significant increment of Nepali speakers in Kathmandu Valley. The institutionalisation of

13447-611: Was inherited by off-springs automatically; but this inheritance was paternal. That is, children of higher caste men and lower caste or slave concubines would have the caste status of the father. Ethel M. Albert in 1960 claimed that the societies in Central Africa were caste-like social stratification systems. Similarly, in 1961, Maquet notes that the society in Rwanda and Burundi can be best described as castes. The Tutsi , noted Maquet, considered themselves as superior, with

13566-614: Was later set up in the Gorkha Kingdom by Ram Shah (1603–1636). McKim Marriott claims a social stratification that is hierarchical, closed, endogamous and hereditary is widely prevalent, particularly in western parts of Pakistan. Frederik Barth in his review of this system of social stratification in Pakistan suggested that these are castes. The caste system in Sri Lanka is a division of society into strata, influenced by

13685-530: Was officially abolished. Following the collapse of the Gabo government , the new cabinet, which became the Gwangmu government after the establishment of the Korean Empire , introduced systematic measures for abolishing the traditional class system. One measure was the new household registration system, reflecting the goals of formal social equality , which was implemented by the loyalists' cabinet. Whereas

13804-618: Was spoken by Gorkhas . The people living in the Pahad or the hilly region, where it does not generally contain snow, called the language Parvate Kurā ( पर्वते कुरा ), meaning "the speech of the hills". Early forms of present-day Nepali developed from the Middle Indo-Aryan apabhraṃśa Vernaculars of present-day western Nepal in the 10th–14th centuries, during the times of the Khasa Kingdom . The language evolved from Sanskrit , Prakrit , and Apabhraṃśa . Following

13923-467: Was started to create uniformed Nepali identity, which was later adopted in Nepal following the 1951 Nepalese revolution and during the Panchayat system. In 1957, Royal Nepal Academy was established with the objectives of developing and promoting Nepali literature, culture, art and science. During Panchayat, Nepal adopted a " One King, One Dress, One Language, One Nation " ideology, which promoted Nepali language as basis for Nepali nationalism, this time

14042-411: Was subdivided into five: Kemenuh, Keniten, Mas, Manuba and Petapan. This classification was to accommodate the observed marriage between higher-caste Brahmana men with lower-caste women. The other castes were similarly further sub-classified by 19th-century and early-20th-century ethnographers based on numerous criteria ranging from profession, endogamy or exogamy or polygamy, and a host of other factors in

14161-435: Was written around the reign of King Bhupal Damupal around the year 981. The institutionalisation of the Nepali language arose during the rule of the Kingdom of Gorkha (later became known as the Kingdom of Nepal ) in the 16th century. Over the centuries, different dialects of the Nepali language with distinct influences from Sanskrit , Maithili , Hindi , and Bengali are believed to have emerged across different regions of

#396603