The Raji people are a community found in Uttarakhand, India and some parts of western Nepal. As of 2001 [update] , the Raji people are classified as a Scheduled Tribe under the Indian government's reservation program of positive discrimination. [1]
They call themselves Bot Tho. Others also call them Forest Raji (Ban Raji) and Forest Rawat (Ban Rawat). They traditionally hunt for a living, especially porcupine and bats, and dig wild yams (Dioscorea spp.) and other forest foods. Some families have a trade agreement with local traders (Bhotiya) to sell their handmade wooden bowls while others have branched out into carpentry, selling other woodenwares such as plowshares and house building planks.
Raji women have also been employed as rock crushers for construction projects. Households who were forcibly settled by the Government of India in the last generation mostly have subsistence-size garden plots and a few cattle as well.
Raji speak a Tibeto-Burman language which they call Bat-Kha among communities in the Pithoragarh region and Bot-Kha in the Champawat region of Uttarakhand. It is classified by linguists as Rawat (ISO 639-3 jnl; Glottocode Rawa1264). [2] [3] It is in the same language sub-group with the languages named Raji spoken in Nepal (ISO 639-3 rji; Glottocode Raji1240) and Raute (ISO 639-3 rau; Glottocode Raut1239) which is also spoken in Nepal. The three languages are currently classified in their own Sino-Tibetan language sub-group called Raji-Raute. This language sub-group shows some affinity to areal Mahakiranti group Himalayish languages such as Kham Magar and Dhut Magar.
The Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal classifies the Raji as a subgroup within the broader social group of Mountain/Hill Janajati. [4] At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, 4,235 people (0.0% of the population of Nepal) were Raji. The frequency of Raji people by province was as follows:
The frequency of Raji people was higher than national average (0.0%) in the following districts: [5]
The Chepang, also known as Chewang, are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group from the rugged ridges of the Mahabharat mountain range of central Nepal.
The Northern Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Pahāṛi languages, are a proposed group of Indo-Aryan languages spoken in the lower ranges of the Himalayas, from Nepal in the east, through the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab was coined by G. A. Grierson.
Bisht is a surname found in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and country Nepal. The term "Bisht" originally referred to someone who held a land grant from the government. The Bisht families in Uttarakhand were chiefly Thokdars(Zamindars) of Thuljat origin. In Uttrakhand, Bishts are generally Kshatriya Rajputs. In Nepal, Bisht was adopted as a surname by Raute and Raji people. Bishta, as Bista, was also used as a surname used by Khas people, group under the caste Chhetri.
Bhotiya or Bhot is an Indian and Nepali exonym lumping together various ethnic groups speaking Tibetic languages, as well as some groups speaking other Tibeto-Burman languages living in the Transhimalayan region that divides India from Tibet. The word Bhotiya comes from the classical Tibetan name for Tibet, བོད, bod. The Bhotiya speak numerous languages including Ladakhi. The Indian recognition of such language is Bhoti / Bhotia having Tibetan scripts and it lies in the Parliament of India to become one of the official languages through Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
Kailali District, a part of Sudurpashchim Province in Terai plain, is one of the 77 districts of Nepal. The district, with Dhangadhi as its district headquarters, covers an area of 3,235 square kilometres (1,249 sq mi) and has a population 911,155 and, .
The Banrawats are a native endangered ethnic minority group, originating and living in Uttarakhand, India. They are distributed in the districts of Pithoragarh, Champawat and Udham Singh Nagar and in a small area confined to Western Nepal. They are the smallest Himalayan tribal group related to a larger ethno-linguistic group of Raji people. They are basically nomadic hunter-gatherers, but also work as agriculture and forest labourers. They are mainly dependent on forests, and also practice shifting cultivation. Their existence is threatened by developmental and wild life related projects. They were placed in forced settlements by the Government of India beginning in the 1980s. Many continue to move in semi-nomadic camps, but most are now settled into villages along the Mahakali River area straddling India.
The Kham Magars, also known in scholarship as the Northern Magars, are a Tibeto-Burman language-speaking indigenous ethnic tribal community native to Nepal. In general, Kham Magars refer to themselves using their clan name and the ethnic identity of Magar. Kham Magar clan names include Budha, Gharti, Pun, and Rokha. The language of the Kham Magars is call Magar Kham among other glottonyms. It is estimated that about 71,000 Kham Magars live in the Middle Hills of mid-western Nepal, in the districts of Rukum, Rolpa, and Baglung. Scattered communities also live in Jajarkot, Dailekh, Kalikot, Achham, and Doti districts as well as in the capital city of Kathmandu.
Magar Dhut is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken mainly in Nepal, southern Bhutan, and in Darjeeling and Sikkim, India, by the Magar people. It is divided into two groups and further dialect divisions give distinct tribal identity. In Nepal 788,530 people speak the language.
Raute are a nomadic traveling ethnic group officially recognized by the Government of Nepal. They are known for subsistence hunting of langur and macaque monkeys. They gather wild forest tubers, fruits, and greens on a regular basis. To obtain grain (rice), iron, cloth, and jewelry, they carve wooden bowls and boxes to trade for goods from local farmers. They do not sell other forest products, bushmeat, or forest medicinal plants. Raute do not share their language, hunting strategies and worship practices to the villagers to maintain their cultural purity. These days, they are accepting gifts and allowances from the government and non-government organizations in regular basis.
The Dhimal or Dhemal are an Kirati ethnic group residing in the eastern Terai of Nepal. They are a Sino-Tibetan-speaking ethnic group of the eastern Terai. They mainly reside in Morang and Jhapa districts of Nepal and Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India. They are respected as the "First Citizens" of Damak municipality.
Languages of Nepal, referred to as Nepalese languages in the country's constitution, are the languages having at least an ancient history or origin inside the sovereign territory of Nepal spoken by Nepalis. The 2011 national census listed 123 languages spoken as a mother tongue in Nepal. Most belong to the Indo-Aryan and Sino-Tibetan language families.
Raji–Raute is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family that includes the three closely related languages, namely Raji, Raute, and Rawat. They are spoken by small hunter-gatherer communities in the Terai region of Nepal and in neighboring Uttarakhand, India.
The Magar languages are a small proposed family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Nepal, notably including Magar and Kham. (Ethnologue considers each to be a cluster of languages.) They are often classified as part of the Mahakiranti family, and Van Driem (2001) proposes that they are close relatives of Mahakiranti.
The Chepangic languages, Chepang and Bhujel, are Sino-Tibetan languages of uncertain affiliation spoken in Nepal. They are often classified as part of the Mahakiranti or Magaric families.
The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non-Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people speak Tibeto-Burman languages. The name derives from the most widely spoken of these languages, Burmese and the Tibetic languages, which also have extensive literary traditions, dating from the 12th and 7th centuries respectively. Most of the other languages are spoken by much smaller communities, and many of them have not been described in detail.
The Jino language constitutes a pair of Loloish language varieties spoken by the Jino people of Yunnan, China.
Rawat (Raute), or "Jangali" (Jungle), is a small Sino-Tibetan language of India. It is spoken in 9 villages north of Askot in Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand, India (Ethnologue) as well as in several villages in Dadeldhura District, Nepal and Darchula District, Nepal.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Uttarakhand:
The "Thakuri" is a royal tribe of Nepal. It constitutes the historical ruling class and is composed of the descendants of the Great Khasa Malla kingdom rulers in Baisi and the descendants of Magarat in Chaubisi principalities. The Shah royal family of Nepal also belonged to the Chaubisi principalities.
Humla Tibetan, also known as Humla Bhotiya, and Humli Tamang, is the Sino-Tibetan language of the Tibetan people of Humla district in Nepal.