Friday, May 31, 2013

Getting the facts straight on origin of Tharus

Tharus have been living in the Terai for centuries. Yet, they have not been able to establish their claim on their ancestral land. Different conspiracy theories have marauded their culture, tradition and language. They have been robbed of their rights and still they have not been able to put forward a convincing claim on their origin.

The below article written by Kurt Meyer in Himal throws some light on different theories presented by researchers on the origin of the Tharus.

Republished from Himal

The origin of the Tharu
By K.W. Meyer

More research is the need of the moment to unravel the truth
about the origin of Tharus.
The extraction of the Tharu is veiled in the haze of undocumented history. It is true that life is not permanent and history is not destiny but it is nevertheless useful to ask, who are the Tharu?

People everywhere have an insatiable desire to identify their roots, and the rharu are no exceptions. They, too, want to know about their tribe’s past travails and triumphs. In response, many theories have come up to shed light on the early history of Tharus. It has, however, been a difficult task, for semi-nomadic peoples leave few tracks behind; maybe some coins, some pottery shards.

When studying the history of great civilisations, we can fall back upon written texts and contemporary writings. Unfortunately, it is not so with the Tharu, in whose case we have had to remain content with analysing tid bits of information located at random. Archaeologists have a hard time looking for clues: thatch-covered bamboo and mud structures leave no trace when abandoned. They literally revert back to earth.

Some of the theories that are put forth are based on word-of-mouth recitals by old tribesmen, a type of oral history which certainly cannot be overlooked and needs to find its proper place in search of Tharu history. Other sources can be found in the early writings, often by British explorers or civil servants. Some are of recent origin, based on more current evaluations by scholars.

Jungle Halt
Besides R.H. Neville and Ramanand Prasad Singh, many more legends can be found in references by others. In the Census of India (1961), R.C. Sharma quotes Tharus in the village of Rajderwa (northeast of Lucknow, just by the Nepal border) claiming to be Rajputs who had migrated from Dang, "but their features are Mongoloid". Writes Sharma, "The Tharu are a jungle tribe. According to some, the word Tharu is derived from the Hindi word ‘Thahrey’, halted, because they are said to have halted after the alleged flight into the forest. The origin is also traced to the Hindi word ‘tarhua’, wet, an allusion to the swampy land they live in. Some say the name simply means ‘resident of the tarai’".

J.C. Nesfield wrote in the Calcutta Review (1885): "The origin is the word ‘thar’, which in the lowest colloquial language (but not in books) signifies ‘a man of the forest’, a name which correctly describes the status of the tribe, considering the name as sprung from the language of the tribe itself, which is now for the most part obsolete. An aboriginal name derived from Sanskrit is the fit appellative of an aboriginal, casteless, un-Brahmanized tribe whose customs have been only slightly modified by contact with those of the Aryan invaders."

Nesfield continues, "Another tradition is that after the fall of the Buddhist dynasty of Kannauj, the Tharu descended from the hills and occupied Ayodhya (only to be driven out by Raj a Sri Chandra from Srinagar)."

In his book Eastern India, Buchnan refuted the often-heard claim that Tharus are descendants of Rajputs who were evicted from Rajasthan by Moslem invaders. "No Moslem historian has made the slightest allusion to the Tharus in connection with these events (expulsion by Moslems). The fiction of having migrated from Rajputana into the Tarai, therefore, must have been invented by some of the clans merely to raise themselves in their own and their neighbour’s estimation."

An analysis, titled "The Tharus and Their Blood Group", is found in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal (1942), the writer, D.N. Majumdar, found that the Tharu are definitely a Mongoloid tribe. "They cannot be placed in any other constellation of tribes and castes of the Province, Indo-Aryan or Australoid. Also the Rajput origin is not supported on the basis of serology. Thus it is concluded, on the basis of the evidence, that the Tharus are a Mongoloid people, or predominantly so, who have successfully assimilated non-Mongoloid physical features as well."

As we wish, therefore, we can accept that the Tharu are a Mongoloid tribe which has assimilated non-Mongoloid features—or that they are of Aryan background and have incorporated Mongoloid features. Incidentally, Majumdar is the only researcher who begins to use scientific tools to answer our question, tools available in 1942. Today, far more advanced techniques are available, such as research based on comparative DNA studies.

Push and Pull
Having travelled the Nepal tarai east to west, from the banks of the Mechi to those of the Mahakali, over the last two years, visiting about 150 Tharu villages, this writer was impressed not only with the richness of Tharu culture, but the extraordinary diversity found amongst all these people who are called ‘Tharu’. Indeed, it is a whole lot easier to see the differences between the various Tharu cultures than it is to find similarities.

This, then, immediately begs the question: are they really one tribe or are they several tribes brought together over a thousand years or more by common fate? Let us set free our memory and let it roam through history and recall in our mind’s eye Tharus as we have encountered them and postulate these thoughts.

The ‘Forest People’ are comprised of more than one tribe and they may well have come from many regions at different times, thus contributing the diversity of culture, facial features and customs found in today’s population; the environment then moulded them over a very long period of time into a special group of people, the Tharu, a people who, therefore, not surprisingly, are comprised of many sub-groups, such as the Rana, Dangaura, Kochila and others.

And suddenly it all comes together. There are many events in the history of human behaviour which help us understand this set of circumstances. Most indigenous people around the world, when faced with similar circumstances, when in a similar environment, develop parallel lifestyles and cultures. Thus, when the ancestors of the Tharu moved into the forests of the tarai region at different times, coming from different places, this adjustment process began to take place.

Forest dwellers all around the world become skilled hunters and gatherers, and build houses out of available materials such as trees, branches, grass. When living conditions change for the worse, people move to new locations, and when settled in the new environment, they often also adopt some of the ways of their new neighbours, for the sake of social acceptance as well as to add new spiritual powers to their own lives. These new deities just might prevent a repetition of the tragedies that made them migrate in the first place.

To assure good karma, they also keep alive many of the mythologies and beliefs that they grew up with, the beliefs of their parents and grand-parents, and of their guthiar clansmen. This, then, is a straight forward explanation for the differences found in the belief systems and practices among the Tharu across the Nepal tarai. And why did various groups move into the forest in the first place? History the world over shows that people pull up the stakes for many different reasons: the search for fresh fertile land; to escape violence, destruction and war; a prolonged drought; overpopulation. In response to these push and pull factors, some people migrate voluntarily, others involuntarily.

The Dark People
After the Aryan invasion destroyed the Indus civilisation, one verse in the Rig Veda states, "Through fear of you the dark people went away, not giving battle, leaving behind their possessions, when, O Vaisvanara, burning brightly for Puru, and destroying the cities, you did shine." And in another context it is written, "The people to whom these ruined sites, lacking posts, formerly belonged, these many settlements widely distributed, they, O Vaisvanara, having been expelled by thee, have migrated to another land."

Did Ashoka’s empire-building affect the composition of the people of the tarai, and did it lead to shifting of populations? How much damage did the Huna warlords do when they terrorised western India, and was there a flight towards the east and north? What was the status of the indigenous population of the tarai during the rule of the Guptas in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal, circa 400 AD? Likewise, how many Tibetans and the Han moved into Nepal around 700 AD? Did Mongolian tribes indeed enter the tarai around 1200 AD, coming along the southern Himalayan foothills all the way from Assam? And how about the Sultanate of Delhi and Babur, and did they have a role in changing the population mix of the faraway tarai region? What, indeed, of the Dravidians?

So many questions, so much uncertainty, so few records, so many possibilities. The ‘Forest People’ came from many regions at different times to seek the peace and shelter of the jungle; the environment then moulded them, over a very long period of time, into groups of special people, all of them called the Tharu.

Read the original post
http://www.himalmag.com/component/content/article/2929-The-origin-on-the-tharu.html

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Some amazing pictures of Tharu women wearing tattoos

Wearing tattoos was not an option but a compulsion for Tharu women. An interesting post by Queen Enigma in Behance

Republished from Behance

Disappearing tattoo culture among Tharu Women

And all of these old Tharu women said getting tattoo was compulsory then, in order to get married. Else, no one from her husband family would eat what she'd cook for them. So every old women in the village have tattoo on their hands and legs. Interestingly, women just after that generation don't have any of it and were allowed to get married without getting inked ! Here are some of the pictures I took of these tharu women. Probably the last last faces of this disappearing tattoo culture.

Also this post contains some glimpses of Terai region.

Click below the link to read the original post.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Disappearing-tattoo-culture-among-Tharu-Women/7821287

Book Review - The Great Sons of the Tharus: Sakyamuni Buddha and Emperor Asoka

The book review of The Great Sons of the Tharus: Sakyamuni Buddha and Emperor Asoka published by The Sunday Tribune throws light on the plight of the Tharus highlighted by the book. Thanks go to Sudeshna Sarkar of the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) who has meticulously reviewed the book.

Republished from The Tribune

No light for caste away Tharus
Sudeshna Sarkar

Ashoka Pillar in Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha
In The Great Sons of the Tharus: Sakyamuni Buddha and Emperor Asoka, Nepali author Subodh Kumar Singh, contends that the Buddha belonged to a community that is today living as bonded labourers.

He belonged to a clan of kings and founded one of the most vibrant religions in the world—and yet, the descendants of the Buddha have become outcasts in Nepal, a new book says.

The Great Sons of the Tharus: Sakyamuni Buddha and Emperor Asoka, written by Nepali author Subodh Kumar Singh, contends that the Buddha, who lived and propagated his religion of non-violence and moderation between the fifth and fourth century BC, belonged to a community that today is at the bottom of the social hierarchy in Nepal, living as bonded labourers.

Born as Prince Siddhartha in the kingdom of Kapilavastu in southern Nepal, the Buddha is one of Nepal’s most cherished national icons. While Buddhists all over the world make pilgrimages to Nepal to visit its Buddhist shrines, the Tharu community, now predominantly found in the midwestern districts, live a life of abject misery, dogged by poverty, illiteracy and lack of land.

Singh, himself a Tharu, says the Buddha as well as one of his greatest followers and rulers of ancient India, Emperor Asoka, came from the Tharu community. "The word Tharu comes from Sthabir in Sanskrit, meaning monk or the Buddha," Singh says. "The Tharus are therefore the Buddha’s people." The book quotes Indian scholar Gauri Shankar Dubedi, who says after the Buddha attained enlightenment, he returned to his homeland when people flocked to him to become monks. But to ensure that society would not collapse, some were told to stay back and became known as Tharus.

A succession of invasions by the Rajput kings, who were Hindus, eroded the influence of the Tharus, Singh says. "In 1854 A.D., Jung Bahadur Rana, the first Rana prime minister of Nepal, promulgated the Mulki Ain – Nepal’s indigenous legal system. Society was divided into castes like in India and Brahmins and the Kshatriyas, the scholars and the warriors, were placed on top, while Tharus were at the bottom of the social hierarchy. The land they owned in the terai plains was distributed among army generals and government officials, uprooting the community and making them landless." In the 1950s, the Nepal government helped by the World Health Organisation (WHO) conducted a successful malaria eradication campaign in the terai. It made people from northern Nepal and India rush to stake a claim to the fertile land. "Squashed between the two, the marginalisation of the Tharus was complete," says Singh.

They became slaves of the new landowners, giving rise to the infamous kamaiya system—bonded labour in which families for generations worked more than 18 hours without wages.

Singh, an analyst at the American embassy in Kathmandu, had his interest in his community’s history whetted by an earlier research by his father, Ramanand Prasad Singh, a former attorney general of Nepal. "Historical records were written mostly by the Brahmins, who ignored the Buddha and his descendants," he says. "Look at the Ramayana and the Mahabharat. They write about the Shudras, the lowest rung of Hindu society, but ignore the Buddha. I thought it was time someone tried to set the record straight." In his book, Singh points out various rites that were observed by the different clans of the Buddha and are still preserved by the Tharus.

While the Buddha preached non-violence, since the 1990s when the Maoist guerrillas began their People’s War in Nepal, pledging to bring social equality, Tharus joined the armed uprising in masses. They were also mercilessly hunted down by the security forces.

Singh’s book, while hailed by the Tharus, has been received with disbelief and scepticism by conservative Nepali society, he says. "They do not like to think the Buddha was a Tharu," he says. "They prefer to believe the myth that he was a Shakya. But Shakya is only a title, not a community." — IANS

Weblink
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060827/spectrum/book8.htm

Another review by DNA

'Buddha's sons reduced to outcasts in Nepal'

He belonged to a clan of kings and founded one of the most vibrant religions in the world - and yet, the descendants of the Buddha have become outcasts in Nepal.

KATHMANDU: He belonged to a clan of kings and founded one of the most vibrant religions in the world - and yet, the descendants of the Buddha have become outcasts in Nepal, a new book says.

"The Great Sons of the Tharus: Sakyamuni Buddha and Emperor Asoka", written by Nepali author Subodh Kumar Singh, contends that the Buddha, who lived and propagated his religion of non-violence and moderation between the fifth and fourth century BC, belonged to a community that today is at the bottom of the social hierarchy in Nepal, living as bonded labourers.

Born as Prince Siddhartha in the kingdom of Kapilavastu in southern Nepal, the Buddha is one of Nepal's most cherished national icons. While Buddhists all over the world make pilgrimages to Nepal to visit its Buddhist shrines, the Tharu community, now predominantly found in the midwestern districts, live a life of abject misery, dogged by poverty, illiteracy and lack of land.

Singh, himself a Tharu, says the Buddha as well as one of his greatest followers and rulers of ancient India, Emperor Asoka, came from the Tharu community.

"The word Tharu comes from Sthabir in Sanskrit, meaning monk or the Buddha," Singh says. "The Tharus are therefore the Buddha's people."

The book quotes Indian scholar Gauri Shankar Dubedi, who says after the Buddha attained enlightenment, he returned to his homeland when people flocked to him to become monks. But to ensure that society would not collapse, some were told to stay back and became known as Tharus.

A succession of invasions by the Rajput kings, who were Hindus, eroded the influence of the Tharus, Singh says.

"In 1854 AD, Jung Bahadur Rana, the first Rana prime minister of Nepal, promulgated the Mulki Ain - Nepal's indigenous legal system. Society was divided into castes like in India and Brahmins and the Kshatriyas, the scholars and the warriors, were placed on top, while Tharus were at the bottom of the social hierarchy. The land they owned in the terai plains was distributed among army generals and government officials, uprooting the community and making them landless."

In the 1950s, the Nepal government helped by the World Health Organisation (WHO) conducted a successful malaria eradication campaign in the terai. It made people from northern Nepal and India rush to stake a claim to the fertile land.

"Squashed between the two, the marginalisation of the Tharus was complete," says Singh.

They became slaves of the new landowners, giving rise to the infamous kamaiya system - bonded labour in which families for generations worked more than 18 hours without wages.

Singh, an analyst at the American embassy in Kathmandu, had his interest in his community's history whetted by an earlier research by his father, Ramanand Prasad Singh, a former attorney general of Nepal.

Weblink
http://www.dnaindia.com/world/1048100/report-buddha-s-sons-reduced-to-outcasts-in-nepal

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Fishing and the Tharus

I love fish and fishing. Whenever I am in Terai, I bend the spring of a ball-pen into a fishing hook, tie it to a strong string, add a pulli (float made out of santhi, the jute stem), tie a yard long string to a bamboo stick – and my fishing rod is ready. I knead a handful of wheat flour for the bait. It looks clean and I can catch small pothi fish (Puntius sophore). 
A decent catch of pothi fish
(c) Bharat Bandhu Thapa/onlinekhabar
Earlier, my granny used to buy fishing hooks for me from the weekly haat (local market) before I was there for my winter vacation. Earthworms used to be the regular bait as they easily attract fishes like garai and chenga (Chana gachua). I used to catch a handful of fish within hours. However, now I hate piercing the slimy earthworms into the hook, and instead put lumps of wheat flour which is much cleaner. Though the catch is small, the experience is much pleasurable.

You can imagine the fascination for fishing. It has always been a favourite pastime for Tharus. Apart from cultivating rice, wheat, and cereals, they have been fishing using different equipment and methods.

Fishing equipment and methods
The most common and easiest method is fishing by hand in muddy water. Children and women search for fish in paddy fields and ditches as the water level lowers. During the rainy season, when the fields are full with water, dhasha, chachh, and koniya are fixed between two adjacent fields. The traps are woven out of bamboo culms or sunn stalks (Crotolaria juncea). The fishes get trapped in them while swimming along the current of water.   
Dhasha (c) Chandra Kishore Kalyan
Dhasha and chachh are rectangular, envelope-like in shape and can be folded when not in use, while koniya is a conical trap. A rectangular basket like trap called dharya with several openings is still used by Tharus, but it is a rare sight these days. 
Koniya (c) Chandra Kishore Kalyan
Dharya (Dhimri in far-west) (c) Chandra Kishore Kalyan
From east to west, the Tharus have been using different types of net traps like the hoop net (helka), small square net with handle (tapi), casting net (jal) for fishing. The casting nets depending upon thier sizes are called khauki jal, feki jal, and mahjal.       
Khauki jal (c) Chandra Kishore Kalyan
Fishing net used by indigenous people in Three Gorges (China)
Khauki jal is a small square shaped net tied to two bamboo straps and it is easy to handle in ponds, ditches, and rivers with low water level. I have seen this trap in many parts of Nepal and India, but it was surprising to see the same being used by indigenous people in the Three Gorges of Hubei Province in China. The Rana Tharus use thathi which is similar to a khauki jal. Small fishes like pothi and dedhwa (Esomus danricus) can easily be caught with this net.
Thathi
A handy fishing net used by Rana Tharus
Feki jal is the most common net, used by all fishing communities. Mahjal is the largest one, used to fish in ponds and lakes. They are huge enough to cover the whole pond.

While fishing, small fish holder called deli (called kanjalo by Rana Tharus) is tied around the waist. It is usually made of bamboo culms or sunn stalks.
Deli (called Kanjalo in the far-west)
While Tharus enjoy fishing, the old ones still remember the stories about fish and their ancestors, told by their fathers and grandfathers. Among many interesting stories, the one narrated by Somla Mahato of Chitwan tells how gullible the Tharus are and how the Almighty helps the honest.

An interesting story on how fish came into existence
A long time ago a barber (hajam) was going about his work during jitiya parab (women's festival). As he was going from house to house to cut the nails of women, he suddenly saw a strikingly beautiful woman named Chanawa. She and her husband Lori Amir were new to the village. When the hajam caught sight of Chanawa, he lost consciousness. Then he ate soil seven times, pissed seven times and shat seven times.

When he came to, he got the idea to go to the king of the village, Raja Mahore, in order to tell him of Chanawa's beauty, and to suggest that he might kill the woman's husband and then take Chanawa as a wife. When the king heard the plan he said that the woman's husband was very strong. The hajam proposed to the king that he should write a letter to the king of Maranpur (Murder City) for Lori to deliver. In this letter the king would write that Lori was to be killed in Maranpur. The king was pleased with this proposal, and he wrote the letter: 'Head of Lori, sword of Maranpur'.

Lori was summoned, and the letter handed to him with the instruction to take it to the king of Maranpur. Lori did not see through the king's plan: he thought that he simply had to deliver an important letter. Lori was unable to read and write, but his wife Chanawa could. The woman asked permission from her husband to read the letter. When she had read the words, she understood that her husband was to be killed in Maranpur. She proceeded to alter the letter by switching the words head and sword: 'Head of Maranpur, sword of Lori'. She advised her husband to return to the village of King Mahore and ask him for a horse to convey him more quickly to Maranpur, the way being long. Lori went to the king and asked for a horse. When the hajam heard this, he got a new idea of how Lori could be killed without being sent to Maranpur.

A horse named Mangal had been stuck for 12 years in the swamp of Pokhara Sagar (ocean). It was a very wild horse, one that only let its master ride it. The horse had belonged to Lori's grandfather, which Lori, however, did not know. The hajam now suggested that the king charge Lori with retrieving this horse from the ocean. The horse would kill Lori as soon as he approached it. The king, therefore, directed Lori to fetch the horse Mangal. When Lori approached the horse, it became very happy, for it smelled that the grandson of his own master had come. The horse neighed with delight!

The hajam heard the neighing and thought that now Lori would be killed. But Lori freed the horse from the sagar and took it first to Pokhari Tal (lake), the horse being very dirty. In the feet of the horse were living many worms and maggots which caused the horse much pain. Lori began to remove the worms. The worms swam about in the water, not knowing what was happening to them. Then they went up to God and complained of their fate. God decided: You will become fish of various types and sizes, according to your present size. Humans will eat you during Kalijug (the current age). There have been fish since that time!

Taken from “The History of Fish (and Women) (narrated by Somla Mahato)”: an excerpt from “The Voices from Chitwan: Some Examples of the Tharus’ Oral Tradition” by Ulrike Muller-Boker, University of Zurich.

If you want to know more about the Tharus’ way of fishing, read “A Marshland Culture: Fishing and Trapping among a Farming People of the Terai” by Gisele Krauskopff of CNRS-Universite de Paris X, Paris.