Peoples of Nepal

Nepal’s steep mountains, isolated valleys and fertile lowlands preserve a complex mix of ethnic groups. This is the result of centuries of intermingling of two main groups: Indo-Aryans from the south and west and Mongoloid peoples from the north, which roughly translates as Hindu rice growers and Buddhist herders and barley farmers. Along the northern and southern borders this distinction is well preserved, in the middle of the country they have met and mixed.
Nepali society is based on the Indian caste system, but ethnic diversity has molded it into a form of its own. Caste is both social and religious and, as taboos loosen, reflects political and economic status.

Hindu Caste Groups
These constitute 80% of the population of the middle hills, particularly in western Nepal.
Brahmans are at the top. Traditionally they served as priests and moneylenders, today they are found in government, education and commerce. Chhetri are the largest Hindu caste specializing in military and political affairs. The royal family belongs to this caste.
The traditional middle-castes are absent in Nepal, filled instead by ethnic groups. At the bottom are the occupational castes – blacksmiths, cobblers, tailors etc. and at the very bottom, the Outcaste sweepers and butchers.

Terai Ethnic Groups
Approximately 25% of Nepal’s population belong to the Indo-Aryan groups of the Terai. The Maithili comprise Nepal’s largest single ethnic group. The Tharu are an indigenous tribal people based in the Midwestern Terai.

Hill Ethnic Groups
Newar are the indigenous inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley. Originally Buddhist the majority are now Hindu or a tangled mixture of the two beliefs. Newari society is divided into 64 occupational castes, the largest being the Jyapu, peasant farmers.
The Tamang are one of the largest ethnic groups whose homeland is central and eastern Nepal. To a greater extent than the Newars they have retained their Buddhist belief, blended with animist traditions. Tamangs generally work as farmers, porters and craftsmen.
Gurung inhabit the foothills of the Lamjung and Annapurna Himal. There, intensively farmed hillsides surround neat villages of stone houses, linked by a network of trails paved with precisely cut and fitted stone blocks. They speak an unwritten Tibeto-Burman language and, at higher altitudes, retain Buddhist traditions whilst in lower regions they have generally become Hindu.
Magar people inhabit roughly the same region as the Gurung, but farm the lower slopes. Originally followers of an animistic folk religion with a Buddhist veneer, most are now Hindu. Along with Gurungs, Magar’s make up the bulk of the Gurkha and Nepalese armed forces.
Thakali, natives of the Thak Khola region near Annapurna are known as shrewd and aggressive traders who enjoyed a profitable position as middlemen in the salt trade between Tibet and lowland Nepal. Originally a mix of Tibetan Buddhist and Shamanist, many have converted to Hinduism.
The Kirati Rai and Limbu can trace their history at least 2,300 years when they were mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. Said to have once ruled the Kathmandu Valley they have now resettled in the eastern hills following a mixture of animist, Buddhist and Hindu beliefs.

Mountain Ethnic Groups
Bhotia is the term used throughout the subcontinent to describe the northern mountain peoples with close ties to Tibet. They speak a variety of Tibetan-based dialects and are followers of Vajrayana Buddhism with Shamanist Bon influences. Inhabiting the high valleys they live by a mixture of farming, herding and trade. There are dozens of Bhotia groups including the Dolpo-pa, Lo-pa, Manang-pa and the famous Sher-pa of the Solu-Khumbu region. Although the name sherpa has become synonymous with ‘porter’, properly speaking the Sher-pa are a group tracing their origins to eastern Tibet from where they immigrated about 400 years ago.