Hidden Treasures of the Lowland Nepal (Set of 2 Volumes)

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

The author began his academic careers as a Head Master at Shree Shanti Vidhyasram Lalitpur He continued his career by working a Lecturer at Mahendra Multiple Campus, Dang. He has been a chief Editor of Gonchali an Annual Magazine on Tharu Language. Subsequently, the author began his career as a writer with his literary creation. His books on collection of Tharu folksongs are as Mangar, Gurubabak Jalmauti Badkimar and Jhumra. The author's next publication was a poetic drama titled Chara. In addition to this the author carried out his research works on Socio-linguistic studies on Tharu Language. The author's published book is "Nepal ko Tarai tatha yesko Bhumi putraharu". His other book in titled "Sthaveer Haruko Prachin Itihas" is under publication. He has been the State Minister for Local Development in 1997 and now he is the member of the Constituent Assembly, nominated by the Nepal Government. Acknowledging the author's long, entiring selfless contribution to the Nepalese Society, he was offered a letter of appreciation by poet iaurate Laxmi Prasad Devkota Diamond Jublee Celebration Committee.

Similarly another letter of appreciation and prize was offered to him by Nepal Government, Ministry of Federal Affairs, and constituent Assembly Parliamentary system. To sum up, the author's contribution to Nepalese Literary Society in general and Tharu Society in particular, are beyond measure.

The idea of transforming Nepal Tarai into Hindu region 'Aryavarta'(Madhes) resembles like the story of Emperor's New Clothes. The aborigines called 'Asura' have been inhabited the land of Tarai since pre-historic period. Nepalese history avails no proofs stating Tarai as 'Aryavarta' and it will be a day dream to anticipate the same in future. It was only after Nepal unification especially when malaria was eradicated in Nepal Tarai, people from the Indian states of Bihar and U.P. started immigrating to this region. These Madhesi people, being inspired by their dream of segregating Tarai from the whole nation, have come up with a new strategy following Manusmriti Hindu Code that emphasizes on classification of castes (Brahmin, Kshetri, Vaisya and Sudra and untouchability). The efforts of Madhes based political parties to establish a caste based Hindu society seems totally against the re-structuring process of the state and the circumstances of the 21'1 century.

The eminent three writers viz. Dr. R.C. Majumdar, Dr. H.C. Raychaudhary and Dr. Kalikinkar Datta have published a joint literary production "An Advanced History of India" and have stated that India proper excluding its outlying dependencies is divided primarily into four distinct regions viz. i) the hilly, country of the north, styled Parvatasravin in the Puranas, stretching from the swampy jungles of the Tarai to the crest of the Himalayas, and affording space for the upland territories of Kashmir, Kangra, Tehri, Kurnaun, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. It was the time when the fourth Glacial Age named 'Worm' ended 10,000 years ago and the earth was in warming stage. In the time of Mahajanapads or the time of Buddhas whole Nepal was under the Himalaya region and Southern part of it was Madhyadesa/Madhes. The word Himalaya comes from the Sanskrit hymnal snow and alaya = abode. In other words, Himalaya stands for the Abode of the Snows. 2) the great northern plain embracing the flat wheat-producing valleys of the Indus and its tributaries, the sandy deserts of Sind and Rajputana as well as the fertile tracts watered by the Ganges, the Jumna and the Brahmaputra; (3) the plateau of South Central India arid the Deccan stretching south of the Gangetic plain and shut in from the rest of the peninsula by the main range of the Paripatra, roughly the Western Vindhyas, the Vindhyas proper, the Sahvadri or the Western Ghats and the Mahendra or the Eastern Ghats; and (4) the long and narrow maritime plains of the south extending from the Ghats to the sea and containing the rich ports of the Konkan and Malabar, as well as the fertile deltas of the Godavari, the Krishna and the Kaveri.

These territorial compartments marked by the hand of nature do not exactly coincide with the traditional divisions of the country known to antiquity. In ancient literature we have reference to a fivefold division of India. In the centre of the Indo-Gangetic plain was the Madhyadesa stretching, according to the Brahmanical accounts, from the river Sarasvati, which flowed past Thanesar and Pehoa {ancient Prithodaka}, to Allahabad and Benares, and, according to the early records of the Buddhists, to the Rajmahal Hills. The western part of this area was known as the Brahrnarshi-desa, and the entire region was roughly equivalent to Aryavarta as described in the grammar of Patanjali. But, the denotation of the latter term is wider in some law-books which take it to mean the whole of the vast territory lying between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas and extending from sea to sea. To the north of the Madhva-desa, beyond Pehoa, lay Utiariipatho or Udachya {North-west India}, to its west Aparanta or Pratichya {western India}, to its south Dokshinaoatho or the Deccan, and to its east Purvatiesa or Prachya, the Prasa of Alexander's historians. The term Uttarapatha was at times applied to the whole of Northern India, and Dakshinapatho was in some ancient works restricted to the upper Deccan north of the Krishna, the far south being termed Tamilakam or the Tamil country, while Purvadesa in early times included the eastern part of the "middle region" beyond the Antarvedi or the Gangetic Doda, To the five primary divisions the Puranas sometimes add two others, viz., the Parvasrayin or Himalayan tract, and the Vindhyan region."

Eastern Nepal is well-known as the Land of Kiratas from its inception. The Khambus, Limbus, Yakha, Tharu, Magar, Sunuwar, Gurung and Bhujel of Nepal and Sikkim constitute very important section of Kirata communities. Limbuwan is one of the major groups among the Kirata-ethnic groups in the eastern hills of Nepal. On the basis of the four Vamshavali and the Mundhum, the Jirel and Sunuwars all entered eastern nepal through Simangharh or Simraungarh and Kashi dynasty of Rais migrated from Kashi. The so-called ten Thars (denoting the subdivision of the tribe on the basis of clan kinship, etc) comprised Jirel, Surel, Krelu, Mohira, Pahari, Suinu, Suname, Thanu and Wangdi. Here Thar means clan and the word related with Tharus. G.P.Singh (2008) mentions - Limbu, Khambu,Yakthumba and Thadu form major ethnic groups of eastern Nepal. P. Corhegy (1984) refers Thadu to Tharu, a group of Tarai whereas Limbu, Khambu and Yakthumba are hill people. In the past, there was Limbuwan state in the hill region and Tharuwan state in the Tarai. Both the words Limbuwan and Tharuwan were synonymous. Tharuwan state was the part of Videh/Mithila civilization, followed by the Tharu civilization. On the other hand, Magars of western Nepal and Tharus had very keen relationship with each other. Magar state was called Magarat in the hill region and Tharu state Tharuhat was in the Tarai. Both Videha/ Mithila and Lumbini civilization belonged to Tharu community. These civilizations portray the real identity of aborigine Tharu community.

Bihar District Gazetteers, Champaran (1960) Raychoudhary, Special Officer of Gazetters mentions about the Tharus, Mr. H.H. Risley in Volume II of his "Tribes and Castes in Bengal (1891)" and John Nesfield in an article in Calcutta Review in Janaury, 1885, had indicated that the Tharus were essentially an aborigine tribe. They held that this aboriginal tribe was slowly pushed out from the Sub-Himalavan forests by the Aryan community and made scattered settlements in the border areas of India adjoining Nepal. Risley felt that the Tharus belonged to the Dravidian or Kolarian aboriginal races and his conclusion was largely based on the peculiar dialect the Tharus spoke. Both Nesfield and Risley rejected the claim of the Tharus as originally coming from the region of the Thar Desert of Rajputana. Risley described the religions of the Tharus as a compound of Animism and nature worship and some popular elements borrowed from Hinduism."

Book's Contents and Sample Pages