Terai or Tarai Hindi: तराई; Nepali: तराइ; Urdu: ترائی | |
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Ecology | |
Realm | Indomalayan realm |
Animals | gharial, mugger crocodile, king cobra |
Bird species | Bengal florican, lesser adjutant, swamp francolin, white-rumped vulture, Oriental darter, sarus crane |
Mammal species | Indian rhinoceros, Asian elephant, gaur, blackbuck, tiger, leopard, jungle cat, fishing cat, leopard cat, smooth-coated otter, large Indian civet, Asian palm civet, small Indian civet, hispid hare |
Geography | |
Countries | Nepal, India |
Elevation | 67–300 m (220–984 ft) |
Rivers | Sharda River, Karnali River, Gandaki River, Koshi River |
Climate type | tropical savanna climate |
Soil types | alluvial |
Conservation | |
Global 200 | Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands |
The Terai or Tarai is to a lowland region in parts of northern India and southern Nepal that lies to the south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterised by tall grasslands, scrub savannah, sal forests and clay rich swamps. In North India, the Terai spreads from the Yamuna River eastward across Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. The Terai is part of the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands ecoregion. [1] Nepal's Terai stretches over 33,998.8 km2 (13,127.0 sq mi), about 23.1% of Nepal's land area, and lies at an elevation of between 67 and 300 m (220 and 984 ft). The region comprises more than 50 wetlands. North of the Terai rises the Bhabar, a narrow but continuous belt of forest about 8–12 km (5.0–7.5 mi) wide. [2]
The Urdu word ترائی tarāʼī means "lands lying at the foot of a watershed" or "on the banks of a river; low ground flooded with water, valley, basin, marshy ground, marsh, swamp; meadow". [3] In Hindi, the region is called तराई 'tarāī' meaning "foot-hill". [4] In Nepali, the region is called तराइ 'tarāi' meaning "the low-lying land, plain" and especially "the low-lying land at the foot of the Himālayas". [5] [6] It has been described as "low, marshy ground". [7]
The Terai is crossed by the large perennial Himalayan rivers Yamuna, Ganges, Sarda, Karnali, Narayani and Kosi that have each built alluvial fans covering thousands of square kilometres below their exits from the hills. Medium rivers such as the Rapti rise in the Mahabharat Range. The geological structure of the region consists of old and new alluvium, both of which constitute alluvial deposits of mainly sand, clay, silt, gravels and coarse fragments. The new alluvium is renewed every year by fresh deposits brought down by active streams, which engage themselves in fluvial action. Old alluvium is found rather away from river courses, especially on uplands of the plain where silting is a rare phenomenon. [8]
A large number of small and usually seasonal rivers flow through the Terai, most of which originate in the Sivalik Hills. The soil in the Terai is alluvial and fine to medium textured. Forest cover in the Terai and hill areas has decreased at an annual rate of 1.3% between 1978 and 1979, and 2.3% between 1990 and 1991. [2] With deforestation and cultivation increasing, a permeable mixture of gravel, boulders and sand evolves, which leads to a sinking water table. But where layers consist of clay and fine sediments, the groundwater rises to the surface and heavy sediment is washed out, thus enabling frequent and massive floods during monsoon, such as the 2008 Bihar flood. [9]
In India, the Terai extends over the states of Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. These are mostly the districts of these states that are on the India–Nepal border: [1]
The Inner Terai Valleys of Nepal consists of five elongated valleys located between the lower Himalayan Range and Sivalik Hills. [14] From north-west to south-east these valleys are:
The Outer Terai begins south of the Sivalik Hills and extends to the Indo-Gangetic Plain. In the Far-Western Region, Nepal, it comprises the Kanchanpur and Kailali Districts; in the Mid-Western Region, Nepal, Bardiya and Banke Districts. Further east, the Outer Terai comprises the Kapilvastu, Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Parsa, Bara, Rautahat, Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusa, Siraha, Saptari, Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa Districts. [15]
Several protected areas were established in the Terai since the late 1950s:
Based on the Köppen–Geiger climate classification system, the Nepal Terai experiences a tropical savanna climate type with dry winters and hot summers, a mean annual temperature of 20–28 °C (68–82 °F), a mean annual rainfall of 1,600–1,800 mm (63–71 in) in the west and 2,500–3,000 mm (98–118 in) in the east. [22]
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Tharu and Dhimal people are the indigenous inhabitants of the Terai forests. [23] Several Tharu subgroups are scattered over most of the Nepal and Indian Terai. [12] [24] [25] They used to be semi-nomadic, practised shifting cultivation and collected wild fruits, vegetables and medicinal herbs. [26] They have been living in the Terai for many centuries and reputedly had an innate resistance to malaria. [27] Dhimal reside in the eastern Nepal Terai, viz Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa Districts. In the past, they lived in the fringes of the forest and conducted a semi-nomadic life to evade outbreaks of diseases. Today, they are subsistence farmers. [23]
The Bhoksa people are indigenous to the western Terai in the Indian Kumaon division. [11]
Maithils inhabit the Indian Terai in Bihar and the eastern Terai in Nepal. Bhojpuri people reside in the central and eastern Terai, and Awadhi people live in the central and western Terai. Bantawa people reside foremost in two districts of the eastern Terai in Nepal. [28]
Following the malaria eradication program using DDT in the 1960s, a large and heterogeneous non-Tharu population settled in the Nepal Terai. [27] Pahari people from the mid-hills including Bahun, Chhetri and Newar moved to the plains in search of arable land. In the rural parts of the Nepal Terai, distribution and value of land determine economic hierarchy to a large extent. High caste migrants from the hills and traditional Tharu landlords who own agriculturally productive land constitute the upper level of the economic hierarchy. The poor are the landless or near landless Terai Dalits, including the Musahar, Chamar and Mallah. [29] Several Chepang people also live in Nepal's central and eastern Terai districts. [30] [31] As of June 2011, the human population in the Nepal Terai totalled 13,318,705 people in 2,527,558 households comprising more than 120 different ethnic groups and castes such as Badi, Chamling, Ghale, Kumal, Limbu, Magar, Muslim, Rajbanshi, Teli, Thakuri, Yadav and Majhi speaking people. [32]
The Muslim invasion of northern India during the 14th century forced Hindu and Buddhist people to seek refuge from religious persecution. Rajput nobles and their entourage migrated to the Himalayan foothills and gained control over the region from Kashmir to the eastern Terai during the following three centuries. [33]
By the 16th century, the rulers of Palpa and Makwanpur controlled the mid-western Terai and extended this control to the eastern Terai by the 17th century. [34] They controlled the area of today's districts of Saptari, Siraha, Dhanusa, Mahottari and Sarlahi. [35] The rulers of Makwanpur controlled the central Terai region of present-day Nepal, and the rulers of Vijayapur controlled today's Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa Districts. [36] The Shah dynasty conquered the eastern Nepal Terai in the 1770s. [37] They also conquered land in the eastern Terai that belonged to the Kingdom of Sikkim. [38] The Tulsipur State, in the Dang Valley of Nepal's western Terai, was also an independent kingdom until it was conquered in 1785 by Bahadur Shah of Nepal during the unification of Nepal. [39] Until the mid 18th century, the Nepal Terai was divided into several smaller kingdoms, and the forests and wild places were, largely, left undisturbed. [40] Since the late 18th century, however, the Shah rulers encouraged Indians to settle in the Terai, and supported famine-stricken Bihari farmers in efforts to convert to a more productive agricultural lifestyle in the eastern Nepal Terai. [41] From at least 1786 onward, they appointed government officers in the eastern Terai districts of Parsa, Bara, Rautahat, Mahottari, Saptari and Morang to levy taxes, collect revenues and maintain civil order, as well as to hunt wild game, including Indian elephants and Indian rhinoceros, mostly for their ivory. [42] [43] At the end of the 18th century, between 200 and 300 elephants were caught annually, using snares or nooses. [44]
The far-western and mid-western regions of the Nepal Terai (called 'Naya Muluk', or ‘new country’) lay on the northern periphery of the Awadh dynasty. After Nepal lost the Anglo–Nepalese War of 1816, the British annexed these regions of the Terai when the Sugauli Treaty was ratified; as a reward for Nepal's military aid in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, they returned some of this region in 1860, namely today's districts of Kanchanpur, Kailali, Banke and Bardiya. [15] To promote economic development of the Nepal Terai, people from the hills were invited to settle in the region. Since only a few moved to the Terai, Indian people were further encouraged to settle. [45] Immigration of Indian people increased between 1846 and 1950. [41] They settled in the eastern Nepal Terai, living in close proximity with native Terai peoples. [15]
The Indian Terai remained largely uninhabited until the end of the 19th century, as it was arduous and dangerous to penetrate the dense marsh- and malaria-filled jungle with its predators. [46] Dacoit gangs retreated to the Terai jungles, and the area was considered lawless and wild by the British, who sought control of the region's valuable timber reserves. [47] The region was densely forested with stands of foremost Sal. [15]
Heavy logging began in the 1920s. Extracted timber was exported to India to collect revenues. Cleared areas were subsequently used for agriculture. [40] But still, the Terai jungles were teaming with wildlife. [48]
Inner Terai valleys historically were agriculturally productive but extremely malarial. Some parts were left forested by official decree during the Rana dynasty as a defensive perimeter called Char Kose Jhadi, meaning 'four kos forest'; one kos equals about 3 km (1.9 mi). A British observer noted, "Plainsmen and paharis generally die if they sleep in the Terai before November 1 or after June 1." British travelers to Kathmandu went as fast as possible from the border at Raxaul to reach the hills before nightfall. [15]
Malaria was eradicated using DDT in the mid-1950s, at the unfortunate expense of future generations of birds, especially vultures, which were especially sensitive to the chemical. Subsequently, people from the hills migrated to the Terai. [49] About 16,000 Tibetan refugees settled in the Nepal Terai in 1959–1960, followed by refugees of Nepali origin from Burma in 1964, from Nagaland and Mizoram in the late 1960s, and about 10,000 Bihari Muslims from Bangladesh in the 1970s. [50] Timber export continued until 1969. In 1970, King Mahendra granted land to loyal ex-army personnel in the districts of Jhapa, Sunsari, Rupandehi and Banke Districts, where seven colonies were developed for resettling about 7,000 people. They acquired property rights over uncultivated forest and 'waste' land, thus accelerating the deforestation process in the Terai. [49] Between 1961 and 1991, the annual population growth in the Terai was higher than the national average, which indicates that migration from abroad occurred at a large scale. Deforestation continued, and forest products from state-owned forest were partly smuggled to India. Community forestry was introduced in 1995. [51] Since the 1990s, migration from the Terai to urban centres is increasing and causing sociocultural changes in the region. [52]
Since the early 1950s, several political parties advocated for autonomy and independence of the Nepal Terai, such as the Nepal Terai Congress and Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha. [53] [54] Several armed groups were formed, which pursued this aim using violent means. [55] In 2013, more than 24 Madheshi political parties were registered for the Constituent Assembly of Nepal election. [56]
The most significant border dispute of the Indo-Nepal boundary in the Terai region is the Susta area. In the Susta region, 14,500 hectares of land is under dispute but recent development has manage to discuss it bilaterally. [57] [58]
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. [59] The government of Nepal has accused India of imposing an undeclared blockade in 2015 but it is not clear yet, local peoples blame Nepal administration and government. [60]
Dhurmus Suntali Foundation handed over an integrated community containing 50 houses to Musahar community of Bardibas at a cost of Rs. 63 million. [61]
The Terai is the most productive region in Nepal with the majority of the country's industries. Agriculture is the basis of the economy. [62] Major crops include rice, wheat, maize, potato, peas, lentil, mustard, sugar cane, ginger, turmeric, cardamom, garlic and chili. Fruits comprise mango, lychee, guava, papaya, banana and jackfruit. [63] The Terai is also known for beekeeping and honey production, with about 120,000 colonies of Apis cerana . [64]
In Jhapa District, tea has been cultivated since 1960; the annual production of 2005 was estimated at 10.1 million kg. [65]
The Mahendra Highway crosses the Nepal Terai from Kankarbhitta on the eastern border in Jhapa District, Province No. 1 to Mahendranagar near the western border in Kanchanpur District, Mahakali Zone. It is the only motor road spanning the country from east to west.[ citation needed ]
Tea cultivation was introduced in the Darjeeling Terai in 1862. [13]
Tourist attractions in the Terai include:
Nepal measures about 880 kilometers (547 mi) along its Himalayan axis by 150 to 250 kilometers across. It has an area of 147,516 km2 (56,956 sq mi).
The Tharu people are an ethnic group indigenous to the Terai in southern Nepal and northern India. They speak Tharu languages. They are recognized as an official nationality by the Government of Nepal. In the Indian Terai, they live foremost in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Government of India recognizes the Tharu people as a scheduled Indian tribe.
Chitwan National Park is the first national park of Nepal. It was established in 1973 as the Royal Chitwan National Park and was granted the status of a World Heritage Site in 1984. It covers an area of 952.63 km2 (367.81 sq mi) in the subtropical Inner Terai lowlands of south-central Nepal in Nawalpur, Chitwan, Makwanpur and Parsa Districts. It ranges in elevation from about 100 m (330 ft) in the river valleys to 815 m (2,674 ft) in the Sivalik Hills.
Jhapa District is a district of Koshi Province in eastern Nepal named after a Rajbanshi Surjapuri language word "Jhapa", meaning "to cover" (verb). The 2021 Nepal Census, puts the total population of the district at 994,090. The total area of the district is 1,606 square kilometres.
Morang District is located in Koshi Province in eastern Nepal. It is an Outer Terai district, which borders Jhapa to the east, Dhankuta and Panchthar to the north, Sunsari to the west, and Bihar, India, to the south. Morang has one metropolitan city (Biratnagar), eight municipalities and eight rural municipalities. The total area of the district is 1,855 km2 (716 sq mi). The lowest elevation point is 60 meters and the highest is 2,410 meters above sea level. The headquarters of Morang is connected by the Koshi National Highway to the east–west Mahendra National Highway at Itahari, Sunsari. Morang is also connected to the Hill parts of the eastern region of Nepal. Morang is the core industrial sector for the eastern region of Nepal.
Udayapur District (Nepali: उदयपुर जिल्ला, is one of the 14 districts of Koshi Province in eastern Nepal. The district, with Triyuga as its district headquarters, covers an area of 2,063 km2 and in 2001 had a population of 287,689, in 2011 of 317,532, in 2021 of 342,773
Bardiya National Park is a protected area in Nepal that was established in 1988 as Royal Bardia National Park. Covering an area of 968 km2 (374 sq mi) it is the largest and most undisturbed national park in Nepal's Terai, adjoining the eastern bank of the Karnali River and bisected by the Babai River in the Bardiya District. Its northern limits are demarcated by the crest of the Siwalik Hills. The Nepalgunj-Surkhet highway partly forms the southern boundary, but seriously disrupts the protected area. Natural boundaries for human settlements are formed in the west by the Geruwa, a branch of the Karnali River, and in the southeast by the Babai River.
Madheshi people is a term used for several ethnic groups living in the central and eastern Terai region of Nepal. It has also been used as a political pejorative term by the Pahari people of Nepal to refer to non-pahari people 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 caste groups, ethnic groups like Maithils, Bhojpuri, Awadhi and Bajjika speaking people and indigenous people of 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. In recent times, some politicians and journalists use the term for all Nepali citizens of the Terai.
Limbuwan is an area of the Himalayan region historically made up of 10 Limbu kingdoms, now part of eastern Nepal. Limbuwan means "abode of the Limbus" or "Land of the Limbus". Limbuwan was incorporated into the Kingdom of Nepal by means of a collective Gorkha-Limbuwan Treaty with the kings of the ten Limbuwan kingdoms and their ministers.
Mahendra Highway, also called East-West Highway, runs across the Terai geographical region of Nepal, from Mechinagar in the east to Bhim Datta in the west, cutting across the entire width of the country. It is the longest highway in Nepal and was constructed in cooperation with various countries. The highway is named after King Mahendra Shah.
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.
The Inner Terai Valleys of Nepal comprise several elongated river valleys in the southern lowland Terai part of the country. These tropical valleys are enclosed by the Himalayan foothills, viz the Mahabharat Range and the Sivalik Hills farther south.
The Tharu or Tharuhat languages are any of the Indo-Aryan languages spoken by the Tharu people of the Terai region in Nepal, and neighboring regions of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in India.
Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park is the ninth national park in Nepal and was established in 2002. It is located in the country's mid-hills on the northern fringe of the Kathmandu Valley and named after Shivapuri Peak at 2,732 m (8,963 ft) altitude. It covers an area of 159 km2 (61 sq mi) in the districts of Kathmandu, Nuwakot and Sindhupalchowk, adjoining 23 Village Development Committees. In the west, the protected area extends to the Dhading District.
The Dundwa Range is a subrange of the Sivalik Hills in western Nepal and northern Uttar Pradesh, India. It separates the Outer Terai of Balarampur and Shravasti districts in Uttar Pradesh from Deukhuri Valley in Nepal's Dang-Deukhuri and eastern Banke districts. The international border follows the southern edge of this range, leaving a zone of forested Bhabar inside Uttar Pradesh.
Dhimal is a Sino-Tibetan language of Nepal spoken by about 20,000 people, mainly in the Terai of Koshi Province. There is an eastern and western dialect, which are separated by the Kankai River. Most people transcribe Dhimal into Devanagari and there are standard conventions for extra phonological distinctions.
Lampucchwa Tharu or Morangiya Tharu and Rajghariya Tharu is one of the endogamous subgroups of Tharu people which are an ethnic group indigenous to the Terai, the southern foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal and India. Likewise Morangiya Tharu dwells in the Eastern plain or Terai of Nepal. They can be found mainly in the districts of Morang and Sunsari. Though found in two districts, they are called by Morangiya Tharu as those two districts were one district before 1962. Within the group, they refer to themselves as Morangiya Tharu, but people from other regions would call them Lampucchwa.
Koshi Province is the autonomous easternmost province adopted on 20 September 2015 by Constitution of Nepal. The province is rich in natural resources, tourist attractions, recreational activities, and natural beauty. The province covers an area of 25,905 km2 (10,002 sq mi), about 17.5% of the country's total area. With the industrial city of Biratnagar as its capital, the province includes major eastern towns of Birtamod, Sundar Haraincha, Damak, Dharan, Itahari, Triyuga Municipality and Mechinagar, and the Mount Everest, Kangchenjunga and Ama Dablam. Koshi River, the largest river of the nation, forms the province's western boundary. Under the First-past-the-post voting system issued by the Constituency Delimitation Commission, Nepal, the province hosts 28 parliamentary seats and 56 provincial assembly seats.
Lumbini Province is a province in western Nepal. The country's third largest province in terms of area as well as population, Lumbini is home to the World Heritage Site of Lumbini, where according to the Buddhist tradition, the founder of Buddhism, Gautama Buddha was born.
Ratuwamai is a municipality and rural town situated in south-eastern Tarai in Morang district and Koshi Province of Nepal. This municipality was formed merging six village development committee i.e. Sijuwa, Itahara, Jhurkiya, Mahadeva, Govindapur and Baradanga since March 2017. Total population is 55 thousand 3 hundred 80, area 142.15 km2 and the number of voters is 42 thousand 4 hundred. The main Occupation of this municipality is the Agriculture, most of the people earn money by farming. Sombare, Itahara, Laxmichock, Damravitta, Sijuwa, Sauntha, Shanichare, Govindapur, Kalyanpur and Jhurkiya ,Mahadewa,Mirchadangi,chhalgachi ,Pidhali are the most developing places in the Municipality. The borders are as following: East Jhapa District, West Sunawarshi Municipality and Pathari-Sanischare Municipality, North Urlabari Municipality and South Bihar State India.
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