Bhotiyas of Uttarakhand

Bhotiyas are people of presumed Tibetan heritage that live along the Indo-Tibetan border in the upper reaches of the Great Himalayas, at elevations ranging from 6,500 feet (2,000 m) to 13,000 feet (4,000 m). In Uttarakhand, they inhabit seven river valleys, three in the Garhwal division (Jadh, Mana and Niti) and four in the Kumaon division (Johar, Darma, Byans and Chaudans). Their main traditional occupation is Indo-Tibetan trade, with limited amounts of agriculture and pastoralism.[1] They follow Hinduism and Buddhism and traditionally speak West Himalayish languages, which are slowly getting replaced by the predominant Indo-Aryan languages of the region.[2]

Bhot Pradesh of Garhwal
Bhot Pradesh of Kumaon

Etymology

The name, Bhotiya (also spelt "Bhotia"), derives from the word Bod (བོད་), which is the Classical Tibetan name for Tibet.[3] It was the term used by the British to refer to them, owing to a presumed resemblance to Tibetans. The Government of India continues use the term.[4]

Bhotiyas themselves self-describe as Rung. Possible etymologies of the term include the Byangko word for mountain and the Tibetan term for valley (Rang-skad = valley language).[5]

The Kumaonis refer to them as Shauka which means 'money' or 'rich'.[5]

Ethnic groups

Groups within the Bhotiya of Uttarakhand include:

Rangkas

The isolated Rangkas (Rang, Rung) tribe has a population of 600 and is found in the outskirts of the Mahakali valley. According to Ethnologue, the Rangkas are ethnically related or are of the Johar tribe.[6]

Byansis

The religion practised by the Byansis leans towards BΓΆn-Animism, with influences from Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism.[7]

Social status

As of 2001, the Uttarakhandi Bhotiyas were classified as a Scheduled Tribe under the Indian government's reservation program of positive discrimination.[8]

Population

As per the 2011 Census, there were a total of 39,106 Bhotia in Uttarakhand with ST status. Of them, 37,873 were Hindu and 1,100 were Buddhist. The most popular languages among the Bhotia are Kumauni (13,150 speakers), Garhwali (5,765), Hindi (5,809), Bhotia (7,592), Halam (5,300) and Rongpa (481).

There were a total of 510 births in 2010, corresponding to a birth rate of 13.04 per 1,000.

See also

References
  1. Chatterjee, The Bhotias of Uttarakhand (1976), p. 3.
  2. Van Driem, George. "Trans-Himalayan", Trans-Himalayan Linguistics 266 (2014): 11-40.
  3. J. Murray (1851). The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London. Royal Geographical Society. p. 84.
  4. Oko, A Grammar of Darma (2019), pp. 7–8.
  5. Oko, A Grammar of Darma (2019), p. 7.
  6. Ethnologue profile - Rangkas
  7. Heiko Schrader (1988). Trading Patterns in the Nepal Himalayas. Breitenbach. p. 108. ISBN 3-88156-405-5.
  8. "List of Scheduled Tribes". Census of India: Government of India. 7 March 2007. Archived from the original on 5 June 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2012.

Further reading
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