09/04/2023
The Kirati people, also spelled as Kirant or Kiranti, are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group. They believe they are indigenous aboriginals of Eastern Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, extending eastward from Nepal to India. " Kira" Means Lion and Ti Means People "Kirati" People of Lion Hearted 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. According to Bista, the Kirata ("Kirat," "Kirata," and "Kiranti") 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
Kirātas (Sanskrit: किरात) are mentioned in early Sanskrit literature as hunter tribes from the Himalayas. They are first mentioned in the Yajurveda (Shukla ###.16; Krisha III.4,12,1) and in the Atharvaveda (X.4,14), 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 (Of Arjuna and the Kirata) 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 [laid] 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 (a British diplomat and self-trained orientalist appointed to the Kathmandu court during the second quarter of the 19th century) 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 (also, Kirata Pradesh), 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 (800 BCE–300 CE). 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. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, however, there were
modern Kirata Kingdoms which were subjugated in 1641 by the
Namgyal dynasty in Sikkim and in 1774 in Nepal by King
Prithivinarayan Shah. From those times, persecution, exploitation and
discrimination against the Kiratas have continued relentlessly. The
main villains of the piece are the Hindu, non-Mongoloid Tagadharis
who exercise hegemony over the Kiratas, and the Nepali government
which has continually practised a policy of oppression, passing inter
alia legislations alienating the Kiratas' agricultural land from them.
The Kiratas practise animism but also observe certain Hindu festi-
vals such as Maghe Sankranti and Tihar (Diwali). The Kiratas are in-
digenous people whereas both the Tagadharis and other non-
Mongoloids are relative newcomers to these areas. The author con-
tends that this indigenous population has been rendered a minority in
Nepal due to the influx of outsiders. He has offered evidence to show
that Kiratas have been subjects of State-sponsored ethnocide, which
can be translated as cultural genocide—not actually killing of people
but applying force to prevent a culture from flourish THE STRUCTURE OF THE NARRATION
P.K. Visvesvaran
intermittently punctuate the narration. In the first and introductory
chapter, the author presents his central idea that the (Nepali) State has
become intolerant of cultural diversity and has emerged as the un-
abashed supporter of the dominant groups at the cost of the minorities.
The author has also explained the methodology of his study, which
consists of a random selection of about 300 families from three differ-
ent regions. These households belonged to minority communities as
well as dominant groups, and the author has collected 'census' infor-
mation from all of these households. (My own comments on the au-
thor's methodology will be presented at a later stage.)
The second chapter provides a narration regarding the history of
the Kiratas and the Kiratas of the yester eras. The chapter concludes
with the statement that the available literature provides only limited
knowledge about the Kirata dynasty.
The reader is sure to find the third chapter specially interesting.
Titled 'Delineation of the Kirata World', it is partly an extension of
the previous chapter, which provides some additional information
on the history of Kiratas. It also explains the Kipat system of
communal-cum-individual land ownership. Additionally, it points
to the deprivation of adequate politico-economic status to large sec-
tions of the population. This has resulted in dominant groups, who
constitute less than a fourth of the population, occupying nearly 93
per cent of all high status government jobs. The linguistic status of
the minorities is the most depressing of all, the Nepali government
having used force to discourage schools from teaching minority lan-
guages.
The fourth chapter, a relatively short one, deals with the political
and economic organisations of the Kiratas. In the Kirata political set
up, the Chumlung (tribal council) played an important role in the mak-
ing of democratic decisions by the local administrators. S***a was
the title allotted to one such administrator. The Kipat system played
an important role in the economic organisation of the Kiratas, which
has since declined. Today, the Kiratas' economic life is no longer
family or clan-centred; it has become broad-based and is presently
characterised by a spirit of functional interdependence with other
neighbourhood groups.
The fifth chapter deals with the Kiratas' social organisation with
special emphasis on family life and kinship groupings. Extended fam-
ilies are a functional necessity especially for mutual assistance as the
menfolk are, in many cases, away for reasons of employment. The
Book Review Essay 281
women folk make major decisions besides performing customary
family duties.
The sixth chapter deals with the Kiratas' relationships with the
Hindu and relatively high caste Tagadharis, the untouchables,1 who
are of course lower in the hierarchy, and other Mongoloid groups that
are culturally distinct. Characteristics such as educational attainments
and spheres of employment are also compared. Compared to the
untouchables, the Kirata literacy rate is higher, and the extent of fal-
low and unusable land in their possession is also greater. On the other
hand, the other Mongoloid groups are more literate and possess more
fertile land. The Hindu Tagadharis are, of course, better off than any
other group. Their literacy rate is the highest and they possess the
most fertile land.
In chapter seven, the author goes on to say that the foundations are
definitely shaky. The religious and linguistic grounds for Kirata unity
have already been dealt with in the opening paragraphs of the review.
The author concludes saying that 'the Kirata efforts at imagining (ital-
ics mine) their nationalism should perhaps concentrate more on emo-
tional, attitudinal or psychological unity rather than on rebuilding
their culture, language and religion'.
Chapter eight addresses the core issue, namely the 'politics of
Kirata Culture'. The activities of the various Kirata political and cul-
tural associations are discussed. On the one hand, they are trying to
forge unity and alliances among the various Kirata sub-groups and
factions, and on the other hand, they are also trying to represent their
grievances collectively to the governmental authorities. Groups in
Sikkim almost succeeded in bringing some groups under the OBC
category, but its implementation has been put on hold. There are, as
can be expected in such cases, mutual suspicions, accusations and
mud-slinging among the sub-groups. Among the charges traded are
that some groups are actually the stooges of the upper caste categories
and secret agents of the oppressive government itself!
The ninth and last chapter sees the author summing up his observa-
tions. The Kiratas are trying to 'reinvent' their traditions—that is, re-
viving cultural practices long forgotten. This may take at least two
distinct and related forms: purism and cultural reinterpretation. An
example of the Kirata purism is the tendency to give their children
purely and exclusively Kirata names, scrupulously avoiding the
Hindu and A***n nomenclature. On the other hand, cultural reinter-
pretation may consist in persuading the fellow Kiratas to believe that
282 P.K. Visvesvaran
Sankranti and Diwali originated among Kiratas in the ancient times
rather than among the Hindu groups. The author also points to two
other outcomes of the Kiratas' struggle for recognition. The first of
these is the tragic possibility of an outbreak of violence resulting in
the undermining of human values all around. The second is the reli-
gious conversion of the Kiratas as some of them have started feeling
that staying within the tribal and Hindu fold has only earned them un-
just treatment and discrimination and it is better to get away from it all
by embracing a new faith.
IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY AND ITS OUTCOME
As a fascinating narration of the myriad reactions of a suppressed and
oppressed group, the book under review could serve both academic
and practical purposes.
The Academic Angle
Students of social work and social work practitioners are always
interested in the problems of the weaker and marginalised sections of
the society. The Kiratas' nativistic struggles offer proof that minority
problems, both in India and Nepal, share common features as well as
some notable differences. For example, the author repeatedly says
that ethnic Kiratas in India (that is, in Sikkim and Darjeeling) are far
better off in political and socioeconomic terms than their counterparts
in Nepal. The scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, as well as the
other backward classes in India are beneficiaries of the government
policy of protective discrimination. No such special provisions exist
in Nepal, says the author. He further says that most of agitating Nepali
Kirata groups would be willing to accept constitutional guarantees
and protection akin to what is available in India and would stop their
agitational activities once this objective is achieved. Students will
benefit from a comparative analysis of the historical, political and so-
cial factors that have played a role in the adoption and non-adoption of
policies benefiting the backward groups in the two countries. This
will certainly prove to be a useful academic exercise or assignment.
The Practical Angle
The author has methodically enumerated the problems of the
Kiratas. Among them is alcoholism and drunkenness which have
Book Review Essay 283
earned them the pejorative nickname of 'Matwalis'. The other hard-
ships faced by them are:
1. Indigenous groups have been rendered demographically as
minority communities mainly due to push and pull factors that
make people migrate to areas once dominated by the Kiratas.
However, the author adduces no evidence for a demographi-
cally stronger status that allegedly characterised the Kirata
population in the former times.
2. Proficiency in one's own native tongue is declining because of
the government's repressive measures.
3. Water, fodder and firewood are in short supply and these re-
sources are steadily dwindling.
In the light of the above, students of social work in India could dis-
cuss the strategies for bringing the above (including the problem of al-
coholism) to the awareness of the concerned government and for
seeking specific remedies. Students may be able to see that joint and
cooperative efforts in this regard by all weaker and backward sections
(including the untouchables), working together might yield better re-
sults than fighting for Kiratas' rights alone.
An objective and sustained discussion on the Kiratas' problems
by the students will eventually lead them to the consideration of the
other problems of the Nepali populace that does not find a place in
this volume. For example, the maternal mortality rate (MMR) in Ne-
pal is one of the highest in the world—a shocking 1,500 per 1,00,000
live births (Population Reference Bureau, 1997). Is the common hu-
man being aware of this fact? Are the minorities, including the
Kiratas, aware of this? What is the MMR for the Kirata community it-
self—is it higher or lower than the national average? What could ordi-
nary citizens and groups do to alleviate the situation? Is it due to
illiteracy, poor maternal health, deliveries of babies taking place
within the home, or non-availability of a systematically organised and
efficient maternity care services? Or is it combination of all these fac-
tors? Will it not be possible for the Kirata leaders to mobilise the na-
scent spirit of Kirata nationalism and pride in one's own community
to prevent their women from dying like flies following delivery of
children? Should this not be their priority area of concern rather than
expending their energies in trying to find out whether the Tihar festi-
val originated among the A***ns or among the ancient Kiratas?
, It is not contended here that others should impose their values such
as good health and longevity on the Kirata community. However,
284 P.K. Visvesvaran
someone (possibly the better educated and enlightened among the
Kiratas themselves) ought to bring such issues and possibilities to the
awareness of the beleaguered Kirata group.
Such awareness is all the more crucial since the UN-sponsored
World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna, 1993 has made it
incumbent on the member nations to ensure, under Article 12, 'appro-
priate services (to women) in connection with pregnancy, confine-
ment and the post-natal period'(United Nations, 1993).
The Nepali government's alleged use of force to crush local lan-
guages, referred to by the author, can be discussed by students of So-
cial Work along the same lines.
The Human Rights Angle
It is quite surprising that nowhere in the book has the author used
the concept of human rights or placed the human rights perspective
on the problems of the Kiratas and other minorities in Nepal,
though he uses the term ethnocide to describe the phenomenon in
one place. The state-sponsored suppression, by brute force, of the
minority languages is a clear violation of minority human rights
and is deserving of international attention being drawn to it. Is the
world community aware of this outrage? Is it not a clear violation
of Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, 1966, which guarantees freedom to every ethnic group 'to
enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion,
and to use their own language'? Have the Kiratas taken steps to
make the international community become aware of the Nepali
government's repressive action? Should not the Nepali govern-
ment be asked by the United Nations to mend its ways or be black-
listed as a nation where denial of basic human rights is rampant? Is
not some such punitive action indicated?
COMMENTS
Methodology
The author has collected primary data from a randomly selected sample
of nearly 300 household located in three different districts of Nepal. It is
obvious that he has placed extensive reliance on a mass of secondary
data as well, which include some of his own earlier works. That the au-
thor has tried to maintain a high degree of scientific objectivity in his
study is amply clear. In each of the three villages selected by him, he
Book Review Essay 285
has taken a random sample not only of the Kirata families, but of caste
Hindus, other Mongoloid groups and the untouchables as well.
Interviews with several non-Kirata households (besides Kirata
families) have indeed helped the author to view complex issues from
the proper perspective. Any researcher desiring to study minority
groups would do well do take a leaf out of the author's book.
One may perhaps mention here that a couple of snap shots of Kirata
men and women, the non-Kirata Mongoloids and of the Hindu
Tagadharis could have been included in the book so that the reader
would know just how they look. This is because the book is sure to
evoke in the reader curiosity about and interest in various aspects of
the subject matter including the Kiratas' physical appearance.
The Nature of Jobs held by Kirata Men
In one place (p.66), the author has stated that the nature of the men's
employment keep them away from their families for long periods. But
he has not given examples of such avocations. Is it sentry work akin to
that of the Gurkhas? Alas, there is no way of knowing!
The 'Imagined' Community
'Invention', 'construction', 'recreating the Kirata nation' and 'imag-
ined community' are terms that occur often in the book. The fre-
quency of their usage makes one wonder at the socio-psychological
compulsion behind the same. Do the Kiratas feel pushed to the wall so
that there is no escape for them except into a resurrected past? It will
probably be not an exaggeration to say that this phenomenon has a
close resemblance to the 'pseudo-community' mentally constructed
by men who are obsessed with pathological suspicions (Coleman,
1982).
It is quite obvious that these two mental phenomena—
pseudo-community and imagined community—are both products of
the imagination of men under severe stress. Hence, these could be stud-
ied in depth and with profit through the inter-disciplinary mode.
Statistical Tables
Tables 10 and 11 (pages 42 and 43) have some special features that re-
quire elaboration. Table 10 presents demographic details concerning
three districts of Nepal (from which the author has chosen his sam-
ples) as well as Sikkim and Darjeeling. Table 11 presents district-wise
K. Visvesvaran
population details of the two principal Kirata groups in Nepal, namely
the Rais and the Limbus as of the year 1971.
A Surprising Conclusion
That the Kiratas are not a majority group in any of the 15 districts
listed out by the author is clear enough. What is not convincing is the
author's theory of marginalisation, namely that outsiders through
their in migration have reduced the Kiratas to a pitiable, numerically
weak minority status. This might very well be true but it gives rise to
the following question: Does the author contend that an in-migration
of outsiders has taken place on a massive scale? Nothing less than an
influx of huge, even mind-boggling, proportions could have rendered
the indigenous population of Kiratas a minority. The non-Kiratas
form 50-74 per cent of the population in four districts; 75-89 per cent
in seven districts; and 90 per cent in four other districts!2 One also
wonders wherefrom such huge numbers have come and what were the
push and pull factors.
Also, the settlement patterns of the in-migrants show some inter-
esting variety and the possible reasons for the same need elucida-
tion. For example, in the village of Yangnam (Panchatar District),
Kiratas form 87.3 per cent of the population (Table 3, p. 11)and in
Chinnamakhu (Bhojupur District), they constitute 61 per cent of the
population (Table 6, p. 14). In Madi Mulkharka (Sankhuwa Sabha
District), however, they are a small minority, with just 16.5 per cent
of the population being Kiratas (Table 9, p. 18). In other words, there
are still pockets where Kiratas remain a comfortable, numerical ma-
jority and even outnumber the other groups. What factors decided
the differential settlement patterns of the non-Kirata in-migrants?
Why did they spread themselves thin in some places and quite thick
in others?
In the absence of suitable and convincing answers, the author's
marginalisation theory will remain a weak spot in what is otherwise a
scholarly exposition.
FINAL REMARKS
The title of the book under review refers to the fact that different
groups in Nepal, notably the upper castes and the Mongoloid Kirata
groups are each trying to make a political capital out of their cultural
peculiarities, the former using them to put down groups different from
Book Review Essay 287
themselves and the latter to organise themselves on the basis of their
common cultural traits to resist and oppose discrimination and to as-
sert their rights.
A situation of confrontation is shaping up, warns the author, in the
closing pages of the book. This should indeed cause concern. While
dire poverty and frustration may provide the backdrop for the poten-
tial conflict, one hopes that rapid development will provide the neces-
sary correctives and render the confrontation needless. Incidentally,
rapid development is the only solution for appalling problems such as
an unconscionably high rate of MMR. The true sign of a mature civili-
sation cannot be the compulsion to make a political capital out of cul-
tural differences or peculiarities. The true sign of civilisation is a pride
in all of one's cultural heritage, not of the small group alone to which
one may belong.
Nowhere in the book has the author given a clue as to the exact per-
centage that Kiratas form in the total Nepali population of 23 Million
(Manorama Year Book, 2000). A rough calculation based on the vari-
ous figures supplied by the author himself in the book under review
makes it possible to hazard the guess that the total Kirata population
may be about 7 lakhs or about 3 per cent of the Nepali population. This
is a liberal estimate. Kirata's true number may be far less than this.
An implication of the above fact is that the revival of a Kirata
homeland in Nepal seems almost a hopeless task. Forming political
and cultural alliances with other similarly placed groups may prove to
be a more effective option for them.
Be that as it may, the book will have a special appeal to those
interested in sociology, anthropology, public administration, cross-
cultural studies, social work, ethnic relations, minorities, cultural dif-
fusion, migration, multi-culturalism, demography, Indo-Nepal rela-
tion, weaker sections, group conflicts, social movements and history.
Every reader is sure to find something interesting and useful in it to
peruse and to mull over.
NOTES
1. The term untouchable is used in this review to refer to a particular group des-
ignated as such by the author. The responsibility for the use of the term is the
author's and not that of the reviewer.
288 P.K. Visvesvaran
2.
These figures are derived from the numerical data given by the author him-
self in Table 11.
REFERENCES
Horton, P. and
Sociology, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Hunt, C.E.
1964
Apte, V.S. (Compiler)
The Student's Sanskrit—English Dictionary, Delhi:
1988
Motilal Banarasidas, Delhi.
Population Reference
World Population Data Sheet, Washington, DC
Bureau
1997
United Nations
Human Rights, Discrimination Against Women: The
1993
Convention and the Committee, Fact Sheet No. 22.
Coleman, J.C.
Abnormal Psychology and Modern Times, Bombay:
1982
Taraporevala Sons and Company Limited.
THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK Volume 62, Issue 2,April 2001
