Kirati people
The Kirati people, also spelled as Kirant or Kiranti, are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group. They believe they are indigenous aboriginals of the Himalayas, mostly Eastern Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, extending eastward from Nepal to India.
Etymology
The word Kirata is a derivation from Kirati or Kiranti to name the group of people in Eastern Nepal and Northeast India.One school of thought says that it comes from the Sanskrit word Kirata found in the Yajurveda; they are described as the "handsome" mountain people and hunters in the forests. They are described as "Kiratas" in the Mahabharata and Kirtarjuniya.
History
According to Bista, the Kirata are an ancient people who have been associated with the history of Nepal for thousands of years. The mention of the Kirats, the ancient inhabitants of Nepal, in the Vedas and their involvement in the battles of Mahabharat indicate the historical relation and population movement between India and Nepal. Some legendary sources from the Kathmandu Valley describe the Kiratas as early rulers there, taking over from earlier Gopals or Abhiras, both of whom may have been cowherding tribes.Kirati in Mahabharata
s are mentioned in early Sanskrit literature as hunter tribes from the Himalayas. They are first mentioned in the Yajurveda and in the Atharvaveda, which dates back to 16th century BC. They are often mentioned along with the Cinas "Chinese". A Sanskrit Dictionary gives the meaning of 'Kirat' as a 'degraded, mountainous tribe, a savage and barbarian' while other scholars attribute more respectable meanings to this term and say that it denotes people with the lion's character, or mountain dwellers.The Sanskrit kavya titled Kiratarjuniya mentions that Arjuna adopted the name, nationality, and guise of a Kirata for a period to learn archery and the use of other arms from Shiva, who was considered as the deity of the Kirata.
Hindu myth has many incidents where the god Shiva imitates a married Kirati girl who later become Parvati. In Yoga Vasistha 1.15.5, Rama speaks of kirāteneva vāgurā "a trap by Kiratas", so about 10th century BCE, they were thought of as jungle trappers, the ones who dug pits to capture roving deer. The same text speaks of King Suraghu, the head of the Kiratas who is a friend of the Persian King, Parigha.
Modern scholarship
Contemporary historians widely agree that widespread cultural exchange and intermarriage took place in the eastern Himalayan region between the indigenous inhabitants — called the Kirat — and the Tibetan migrant population, reaching a climax during the 8th and 9th centuries.Another wave of political and cultural conflict between Khas and Kirat ideals surfaced in the Kirat region of present-day Nepal during the last quarter of the 18th century. A collection of manuscripts from the 18th and 19th centuries, till now unpublished and unstudied by historians, have made possible a new understanding of this conflict. These historical sources are among those collected by Brian Houghton Hodgson and his principal research aide, the scholar Khardar Jitmohan.
For over two millennia, a large portion of the eastern Himalaya has been identified as the home of the Kirat people, of which the majority are known today as Rai, Limbu, Lepcha, Sunuwar and Yakkha. In ancient times, the entire Himalayan region was known as the Kimpurusha Desha Kimpurusha Kingdom, Kirata Kingdom a phrase derived from a Sanskrit term used to identify people of Kirat origin. The earliest references to the Kirat as principal inhabitants of the Himalayan region are found in the texts of Atharvashirsha and Mahabharata, believed to date to before the 9th century BC.
For over a millennium, the Kirat had inhabited the Kathmandu Valley, where they installed their own ruling dynasty. According to the history of Nepal, the Kirats ruled for about 1,225 years. Their reign had 29 kings. The Kirat population in the valley along with original Australoids and Austro-Asiatic speakers form the base for later Newar population. As time passed, other Kirat groups, now known as Rai, Limbu, Lepcha and Sunuwar settled mostly in the Koshi region of present-day eastern Nepal and Sikkim, Darjeeling. The Limbu people have their own distinct form of Kirat Mundhum, known as Yuma Sammang or Yumaism; they venerate a supreme goddess called Tagera Ningwaphumang.
In addition to ancestor worship, Kirati people also worship Mother Nature.
From around the 8th century, areas on the northern frontier of the Kirat region began to fall under the domination of migrant people of Tibetan origin. This flux of migration brought about the domination by Tibetan religious and cultural practices over ancient Kirat traditions. This influence first introduced shamanistic Bön practices, which in turn were later replaced by the oldest form of Tibetan Buddhism. The early influx of Bön culture to the peripheral Himalayan regions occurred only after the advent of Nyingma, the oldest Buddhist order in Lhasa and Central Tibet, which led followers of the older religion to flee to the Kirat areas for survival. The Tibetan cultural influx ultimately laid the foundation for a Tibetan politico-religious order in the Kirat regions, and this led to the emergence of two major Tibetan Buddhist dynasties, one in Sikkim and another in Bhutan. The early political order of the Kingdom of Bhutan had been established under the political and spiritual leadership of the lama Zhabs-drung Ngawang Namgyal.
Te-ongsi Sirijunga Xin Thebe
was an 18th-century Kirat scholar, teacher, educator, historian, and philosopher of Pallo Kirat and Sikkim. Sirijanga researched and taught the Kirat script, language and religion of the Limbu's in various part of Pallo Kirat and Sikkim. He revived the old Kirat script that was developed during Kirat reign.History of Limbuwan: Kirat people of Limbu nationality
had a distinct history and political establishment until its unification with the kingdom of Gorkha in 1774 AD. During King Prithvi Narayan Shah's unification of Nepal, the present-day Nepal east of Arun and Koshi rivers was known as Pallo Kirat Limbuwan. It was divided into 10 Limbu kingdoms; Morang kingdom was the most powerful and had a central government. The capital of Morang kingdom was Bijaypur. After the Limbuwan Gorkha War and seeing the threat of the rising power of the British East India Company, the kings and ministers of all the some Yakthung laje kingdoms of Limbuwan gathered in Bijaypur, and they agreed upon the Limbuwan-Gorkha Treaty. This treaty formally merged the 10 Limbu kingdoms into the Gorkha kingdom but it also had a provision for autonomy of Limbuwan under the "kipat" system.Kiratology
Kiratology is the study of Veda of Kirats the Mundhum along with history, cultures, languages and litaretures of Kirat ethnic people in Nepal, Darjeeling, Sikkim, Assam, Myanmar, China and so on. The Mundhum is the book of knowledge on origin, history, culture, occupation and traditions of Kirati people. Noted scholars on Kiratology so far is Imansing Chemjong who did ground breaking contributions on kirat Mundhum, history, cultures, and languages. After Chemjong, PS Muringla, BB Muringla and Bairagi Kainla also contributed towards Kiratology.Gorkhali hegemony
After the completion of the conquest of the Kathmandu Valley in 1769, the Gorkhali army marched east towards the Kirat territory. The Sen rulers of Limbuwan, known as Hindupati, had established a weak rule in the Kirat region by adopting a policy of mutual understanding with the local Kirat leaders. The topless bamboo tree of Budha Subba Temple of Dharan, Nepal is believed to be grown from bows and arrows left by the last Limbu king of Morang Budhhi Karna Raya Khewang when he was unable to kill an elephant with a single strike of arrow from his bow.After the end of Rana Regime in 2007 BS, when power came back to Shah dynasty the autonomous power given to Limbu was reduced. King Tribhuwan demolished title of Haang to Subba. When King Mahendra ascended the throne he banished the law which prohibits other tribes right to buy land without permission of Subba of particular area as well as levy and taxes to Subba in 1979.
32 Kirat Kings who ruled in Kathmandu Valley
According to Mahabharata, chronicle of Bansawali William Kirk Patrick and Daniel Wright, the Kirata kings of the Nepal Valley were:- King Shree Yalamba 90years/ राजा श्री यलम्बर - ९० वर्ष
- King Shree Palamba - 81years/राजा श्री पलाम्बा- ८१ वर्ष
- King Shree Melam - 89 years/राजा श्री मेलं - ८९ वर्ष
- King Shree Changming - 42 years/राजा श्री चंमिं - ४२ वर्ष
- King Shree Dhakang - 37 years/राजा श्री धस्कं - ३७ वर्ष
- King Shree Walangcha - 31 years 6 months/राजा श्री वलंच - ३१ वर्ष ६ महिना
- King Shree Jite Dasti - 40 years 8 months/राजा श्री जिते दस्ति - ४० वर्ष ८ mahina
- King Shree Hoorma - 50 years/राजा श्री हुरमा - ५० वर्ष
- King Shree Tooske - 41 years 8 months/राजा श्री तुस्के - ४१ वर्ष ८ महिना
- King Shree Prasaphung - 38 years 6 months/राजा श्री प्रसफुं - ३८ वर्ष ६ महिना
- King Shree Pawa: - 46 years/राजा श्री पवः - ४६ वर्ष
- King Shree Daasti - 40 years/राजा श्री दास्ती - ४० वर्ष
- King Shree Chamba - 71 years/राजा श्री चम्ब - ७१ वर्ष
- King Shree Stungko - 54 years/राजा श्री स्तुङको - ५४ वर्ष
- King Shree Swananda - 40 years 6 months/राजा श्री स्वनन्द - ४० वर्ष ६ महिना
- King Shree Phukong - 58 years/राजा श्री फुकों - ५८ वर्ष
- King Shree Singhu - 49 years 6 months/राजा श्री शिंघु - ४९ वर्ष ६ महिना
- King Shree Joolam - 73 years 3 months/राजा श्री जुलम् - ७३ वर्ष ३ महिना
- King Pagan Min - 40 years/राजा श्री लुकं - ४० वर्ष
- King Shree Thoram - 71 years/राजा श्री थोरम् - ७१ वर्ष
- King Shree Angsu Barmma - 73 years 6 months/राजा श्री अंशु वर्म्म - ७३ वर्ष ६ महिना
- King Shree Thuko - 83 years/राजा श्री थुको - ८३ वर्ष
- King Shree Gunjong - 72 years 7 months/राजा श्री गुंजं ७२ वर्ष ७ महिना
- King Shree Pushka - 81 years/राजा श्री पुस्क - ८१ वर्ष
- King Shree Tyapamee - 54 years/राजा श्री त्यपमि - ५४ वर्ष
- King Shree Moogmam - 58 years/राजा श्री मुगमम् - ५८ वर्ष
- King Shree Shasaru - 63 years/राजा श्री शसरू - ६३ वर्ष
- King Shree Goongoong - 74 years/राजा श्री गंणं - ७४ वर्ष
- King Shree Khimbung - 76 years/राजा श्री खिम्बुं - ७६ वर्ष
- King Shree Girijung - 81 years/राजा श्री गिरीजं - ८१ वर्ष
- King Shree Khurangja - 78 years/राजा श्री खुरांज - ७८ वर्ष
- King Shree khigu - 85 years/राजा श्री खिगु - ८५ वर्ष
Modern ethnic groups
In academic literature, the earliest recorded groups of the Kirati are today divided into two groups — the Rai and Limbu. When the Shah kings conquered, they established the headman and jindars as local rulers and give title the Khambu as Rai, Limbu as Subba, the Sunuwar as Mukhiya Yakkha as Dewan and The Dhimal.The Kirat groups that today identify themselves using the nomenclature 'Kirat' include the
Rai, Limbu, Sunuwar, Yakkha and few segments of the Rai people like Bahing, Kulung and speakers of Khaling, Bantawa, Chamling, Thulung, Jerung, and other related ethnic groups. The tripartition of the Kirat region in Eastern Nepal documented by Hodgson, divided into three region are Wallo Kirat, Majh Kirat and Pallo Kirat. The region Wallo Kirat, Majh Kirat were predominant by Rai Kirat and Pallo Kirat were preponderance by Limbu Kirat as known as Limbuwan. The Rai, Limbu and Yakha are different from one another and yet they all sit under one umbrella in many respects.
The Kirati people and Kiranti languages between the rivers Likhu and Arun, including some small groups east of the Arun, are usually referred to as the Rai people, which is a geographic grouping rather than a genetic grouping. The Sunuwars inhabit the region westward of River Sun Koshi.
Other groups who claim descent from Kirat
The Kirat were among the earliest inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley and a large percentage of the Newar population is believed to have descended from them. The continuity of Newar society from the pre-Licchavi period has been discussed by many historians and anthropologists. The language of the Newars, Nepalbhasa, a Sino-Tibetan language, is classified as a Kirati language. Similarly, the over 200 non-Sanskritic place names found in the Sanskrit inscriptions of the Licchavi period of the first millennium C.E. are acknowledged to belong to the proto-Newar language; modern variants of many of these words are still used by the Newars today to refer to geographical locations in and around Kathmandu valley. Although the 14th century text Gopalarajavamsavali states that the descendants of the Kirata clan that ruled Nepal before the Licchavis resided in the region of the Tamarkoshi river, a number of Newar caste and sub-caste groups and clans also claim descent from the erstwhile Kirat royal lineage.Even though most modern Newars are either Hindu or Buddhist or a mixture of the two as a result of at least two millennia of Sanskritization and practice a complicated, ritualistic religious life, vestigal non-Sanskritic elements can be seen in some of their practices that have similarities with the cultures of other Mongoloid groups in the north-east region of India. Sudarshan Tiwari of Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University, in his essay 'The Temples of the Kirata Nepal' argues that the Newar temple technology based on brick and timber usage and the rectangular temple design used for 'Tantric' Aju and Ajima deities are pre-Licchavi in origin and reflect Newar religious values and geometrical aesthetics from the Kirati period.
Dhimal, Hayu, Koch, Thami, Tharu, Chepang, and Surel ethnic groups also consider themselves to be of Kirati descent.
The original inhabitants of the Dooars region of Assam and North Bengal, are the Koch Rajbongshi, Mech and the Austro-Dravidian Kaibarta ethnicities. The Koch and the Mech among them claim to be Kiratis as do the Bodo-Kachari people tribes of Assam. They derive their titles from the original place of their dwelling, "Koch" from the Koshi river, "Mech" from the Mechi River and "Kachari" is derived from Kachar, which means "river basin". Dhimal, Hayu, Koch, Thami, Tharu, Chepang, and Surel ethnic groups also consider themselves to be of Kirati descent. The basis of these claims relies on the fact that they are Mongoloids.
Religion
The Himalayan Kirat people practice Kirat Mundhum, calling it "Kirat religion". In early Kirat Kingdom, Mundhum was the only law of state. Kirati people worshiped nature and their ancestors, practice shamanism. Kirat Limbus people believe in a supreme god called Tagera Ningwaphuma, who is worshipped in earthy form as the Goddess 'Yuma Sammang' and her male counterpart 'Theba Sammang'.The Kirat Limbu ancestor Yuma Sammang and god of war Theba Sammang are the second most important deities. The Limbus festivals are Chasok Tangnam, Yokwa, Limbu New Year's Day, Ke Lang, Limbu Cultural Day, Sirijanga Birthday Anniversary. Kirat Rai worship are their cultural and religious practices. The names of some of their festivals are Sakela, Sakle, Tashi, Sakewa, Saleladi Bhunmidev, and Folsyandar. They have two main festivals: Sakela/Sakewa Ubhauli during planting season and Sakela/Sakewa Udhauli during the time of harvest.