1988 Thakalis of North Western Nepal by Von Der Heide s

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THE TH K LIS

OF

NORTH

WESTERN

NEP L

y

Susanne vo der eide



tblished y

Ratna Pustak

Bhandar

Bhotahity Kathmandu

Nepal

usanne von der Heide 1988

in ted by

Shivaahankar Presad

DEEP K

PRESS

S 7 272 Nadeshar Varanasi

Ph. 42894.



For

Reena Gauchan and Pushpa

V.

Tulachan

and to the people

Thak Khola Panchgaon and

Baragaon some of the most

beautiful areas in the world

to my wa y of thinking





The present study is based in the main on field research I undertook from 1981

19 82 during nine m onths among the Thakalis of Thak Khola an d those who have migrate

elsewhere.

This was preceded by prepara tory stays in the years from 19 78 t o 1980;

I

w

most recently in Nepal in the spring of

1984.

The knowledge gained in G erm any fro

y readings

I

was able to expand an d deepen thanks to the supp ort of Dr. Ho rst Brin

haus of the Nepal Research Cen tre where source material unav ailable to me previous

was accessible.

Personal contacts with Prof. C Von Fuerer-Haimendorf Prof. D or Bahad ur Bis

of Kathm andu and the Danish anthropologist Dr. Michael Vinding opened up further roa d

of thought for me into the matter at ha nd . The good offices of Prof.

B.

Koelver of Ki

made possible a period o f study in the subjects of anthrop ology an d sociology at Trib huv a

University in Kirtipu r/Kath ma ndu un der the supervision of D r. C. Mishra. Further though

was stimulated by conv ersations with various experts active in th e field in particular tho s

with the American anthropolo gist William Fisher the English anthrop ologist Charle

Ramble the Ge rman ethnologist Rein hard Greve and tbe journalist Lud milla Tue ting.

also obtained im por tan t inform ation from the staff of the Un ited Natio ns Developm en

Program.

Information obtained from selected

members of the various Thakali gro ups which

taped or wrote dow n and which later m ade a preliminary appraisa l of in the Nep

Research Cen tre was indispensable fo r my studies. I should particularly like to ma k

inention of Pushpa V Tulachan Reena Gauchan Basanta Bhattachan and Krish n

Bhattachan from K.athmandu Krishna Lal Thakaali from Jom osom with whom Micha

Vinding worked together successfully Shailendra Tha kaali from Jom osom as well as In dr

Jworchan from Marp ha.

I have adopted for my study ethnographic and geographic terms that ar e in comm o

use in Nepal.

My

thanks go to all who supported me during m y research wit11 help and suggestions

And special thanks

owe to the Am erican Philip Pierce who was so kind in helping t

translate this book into English.



LIST

O

ILLUSTR TIONS

1. Kobang and Dhaulagir i mo untain ranges

2. The Kali Ga nda ki River carving out its way through the valley a t Larjung/Kobang.

3

The village of Marpha in ~h ul ng a/P an ch ga on

4.

Th e village of Jo m os om divided int o its several qu art ers . Th e airstri p is seen in th

middle.

5.

Migrated Tam aog Thakalis and Ma watan s in Bhairawa discussing on the occasion o

desh puja

the town organization of Bhairawa.

6. The agriculture village of Taglung.

On the outs kirts to the right are seen the outcast

settlements.

7. Lete like Taglung is located within the region of Kan g-cchi-M aarpo. Here wome

winnowing.

8 . Tukuche the old center of the salt trade route.

9.

The main road through Tukuche.

10.

A

palatial inner courtyard of the type found in houses of rich traders from Tukuche.

I 1

A

partial view of the brandy distillery on the Marpha horticultural farm.

12.

The tightly packed city of Marpha.

1 3 . The main road throu gh M arph a one of the largest towns in Mu staog District.

14. The view from Chimaog towa rds M arpha a nd Jomosom to the nortb.

1 5 . The village of Syang with a gompa on the left-hand side.

16. Old Jomosom with some apple orchards. PHO TO razob Tulacban

17.

Yak milking below Nilgiri.

18. A yak herdsman and his sister in his shelter up in the

pasture lands. PHO TO Prazol

Tulchan.

19.

A

yak herdsm an during preparation of butter an d butterm ilk PH OTO Prazole Tulcha

20 A yak in fron t of the bac kdro p of the Dhaulagiri ranges. PH OT O Prazole Tulachan

21. Herdsman in the act of catching

a

yak.

22.

Horses and goats are used besides mules for trading

23. A meeting of the 1 3

mukhya

of Thak Khola in Kobang.

24.

A

damai woman winnowing. Outcastes are not allowed to enter Thakali houses.

25 Women from Marpha harvesting apricots.

26. A mukhya family in Chirnang.



27. A

Tamang Thakali household in Tukuche.

2 8 .

The figures, made from

ua

barley and water, of four guardian dem ons for the fou

Tamang Thakali clan deities, on the occasioo of the shyopen

laws

(boys initiation rite)

I Sher karwa Tib .), fur the Sherchan clan, is spattered white an d is later carried to

the east;

2 Hilo sarwa ( Tib .), for the Tulachan clan, is here yellow (tho ugh in the ory blue-green

and is later carried to the south;

3 Nub marwa (Tib.), for the Gauchan clan, is red and is carried to the west;

4. Chigiaag

nagpa (Tib.), representing the Bh attacha n clan, is black an d is later carried

to the north.

29 ,

A Gauchall lady from Tukuche.

30. A T a in a ~ g haka li f rom Naphrungkhung .

3 1.

Tam ang Thak ali lady in the original dress of Tam ang Thakalis,

no kon cholo,

stan

diog in front of the ancestral altar,

phuyung,

in a room of the house used fo r sacra

purposes. Cookiog may be done in the fireplace in the foregro und only fo r ance stor

duriog the appropriate festivals.

3 2

A Marphali lady in her peach orchard.

33, An aya lama family Thini.

34.

A

k rn in the fields around Naphrungkhot.

3 5 .

T he a re a betw een ~ o b a n g l ~ a r j u o gnd Naphrungkhot.

Kimi

can be seen on the flelds.

36 .

A

lama from the Sherchan lineage in the act of ma king

torma.

37. A nunnery in Kobang during the morning ritual.

3 8 .

A jhankri carrying out a ceremony to co untera ct the evil influences of a witch. The strin

in the foreground hangs from the ceiling and is cut once the witch is felt to be defeated

39. Tamang Thak ali men receive the sltyopen boys and lamas during the slqgopen

lawa

festival in Larjung.

4 0 , The first day of the shyopen ceremony lama and shyopen boys circle the fire po t in

which the demons, who were able to attack the initiates during the ceremony, are burned

4

1 Prep arations of the Sherchan lamas for the first day of the

shyopen

ceremony. There ar

seen two large dcm ons, male an d female, their army (Tib, ngarl i , consisting of 2

rorma

made of

ua

flour mixed with water, and the

4

guardian demons of the clan deities

who arc also surrounded by an arm y of 5 torrna along with special

kantu,

guard

meant to represent the four cardinal

directions and the center. Also to be seen ar e

ungo i

e. light containers, and

25

chortens formed from clay (previously

1 8

of each)



The armies and the dem ons are late r burned in the fire po t in the background, wh

the guardians of the clan deities are carried by the shyopen boys in the various cardin

directions and shattered. The chortens are preserved.

42. nun from Kobango.

43. Kitchen pottery foun d at digs at a troglodyte site.

44.

Lha thau temple above Larjung, in which the masks of the deities

of the Tulach an a

Shercban clans are located.

45.

Members of the Tulachan clan during the 12-year

festival yre lo in Tukuche. They a

wearing turban s of Tulachan clan colors blue an d green. T o the side is the image

the Tulachan deity Lha chhyuring gyalmo,

46.

47.

Maw atans during the yak ph l festival in Aug ust in M arp ha . An old legend of t

Bhattachan yak deity is p artially incorp orated into the ceremony. PH OT O Prazo

Tulachan.

48. The male population of Ko bang and Larjung celebrating during the shyopen festiv

which nowadays lasts fou r days form erly eleven). Du ring this time they carry tho

branches in their hands to protect against demons.

49. Thakali lady from Jomosom with a lady from Baragaon.

50

Tamang Thakali farmer in his kitchen.

51. Statue of Nari Jhowa in Narsang G om pa above Ko bang, dressed by the villagers w

precious jewellery, clothes and spectacles.

52 meeting of the thirteen mukhy of Th ak K hol a. During this meeting they bring o

their old weapons, which are seen in the picture.



CONTENTS

age

Foreword

List of Illustrations

1. Geographic Factors

1 1

Climatic Features 2

1.2

Demographic Conditions 3

2

Economy and Society

3

2 1 Village Layout and Farmlands 3

2 2

Stockbreeding I8

2 3

Trade 22

2 4

Tourism 2 8

2 5 Organization of Labor

3 2

2 5 1 The organization of labor among the Tamang Thakalis

3 4

2 5 2 The organization of labor among the Mawatans

3

6

2 5 3

The organization o labor among the Thakalis of Thini Syang and Chiman g 38

2 5 4

The organization of labor among Thakali women

3

9

2 5 5 Further forms of organization 4 0

2 5 6 The dhikuri system 4 1

2 6

The Structure of the Household among the Thakalis

4 4

2 6 1 The household 4

4

2 6 2 Th e ord er of residence 4 4

2 6 3 Types of household 4 6

2 6 4 The cycle of developn~ent 4 7

2 7 Clan Organization 50

2 7 1

General remarks 5

2 7 2

Tamang Thakalis 5 1

2 7 3

Mawatans 55



The Yhulkasummis

Hereditary Succession

Marriage

Death

Religion

History

The

History a s Docum ented up to the 8th Century

Myths and Legends

History after 18 and the Rise of the Subbhas

Concluding Remarks

Bibliography

Appendix

Illustrations

Map



1.

GEOGR PHIC

F CTORS

25 0 kilometers northwest of Ka thm and u, the capital of Nepal, in inner H imalaya, li

the homeland of the Thakalis, in M ustan g District near the Tibe tan bo rder, in the Th a

Khola Valley (Nep

:

fhak =T hak ali, khola=v alley). The Thak alis engage there in stoc

breeding and farm ing but are distinguished chiefly as merchants.

The number of Thakalis is estimated today to be approxim ately 10,0 00 person

though this is difficult to confirm given the fact that a portion of them have emigrated fro

Thak Khola in to more southern areas of Nepal

:

to Kathm andu, the c i ties of Pokhara an

Baglung or those, such as Bhairawa and Butwal, near or across the Indian border.

The Thak Khola Valley, situated within the 29 th north ern parallel between 83 5

and

84O

longitude east, stretches out over

3

kilometers along an old trade rou te betwee

India and Tibet.

Whereas the valley is open at the south towards Pokh ara and at the no rth toward

Tibet, it is bound in east an d west

by

some of the highest mountains of the world,

Dhaul

agiri

1

(8 172

m )

and Annapurna

I

(80 80 m). From the north the Kali Gand aki, r is ing i

the Tibetan plateau, fiows through the valley.

Between the towns of Ghas a and Tuku che in Thak Kh ola (see m ap ) a geographicall

prominent bend has been formed through which the Kali Gand aki winds its way. Here on

is in the presence of on e of the world s deepest water gaps. On the west side the easter

flank of Dhaulgiri rises abruptly from 2500 m to 8 1 7 2 m (valley

bottom at Larjung : e

ma p), an d o n the east side, on the inside of the bend , zones of more or less level alpin

pasture lie in fro nt of the west cliffs of the Nilgiris An nap urna massif at an altitu de o

4000

rn

Along this meteorological line of demarcation,

at Larjung, the riverbed is unusually

broad and the valley wide and open. The distance between the A nnapu rna massif and Dh au

lagiri is here

5

kilometers.

T h a k Khola is subdivided into the regions of Panchagaon (Nep

:

ive villages), called

Yhulnga in Thakali, and Thak Satsae (Nep

:

he 700 houses), or in Thakali Tbasang.

The territory of Panchagaon begins not far outside

the town of Tuku che (see map

and stretches to a short distance behind Jomo som, the district capital a small town in

relative terms). A mong the villages of this region are Chimang, Chhairo, M arp ha, Bhu mpa

Syang and Thini.



THE TH K LIS OF NORTH WESTERN NEP L

The stretch of land fro m Tuku che to G has a, generally termed Thasang , is furth

subdivided by the Thakalis living there he land bordering on Chh aktha ng see ma p

called Kin g-c hh i-M irpo (Thak hose living dow nhill), a s it l ies lower than the rest of th

Tb ak Kh ola region. Along with th e tow ns lying on the old tra de route-Lete, Kalopa

and Ghasa-there are to be found in this region the villages of Taglung, Chhay o, Lharky

and Dhampu, which subsist principally from agriculture.

In the region bordering Kang-chhi-MZrpo to the north ar e located, among other

the well-known trading center Tukuche an d the relatively large towns of Kh anti, Kobao

Larjung, Nakung, Souru and Naphrungkhung.

The population south of Gh asa tow ards Pok ha ra is called M hon by the Thakalis an

is presumably related to th e M agars. T he T hak alis call the area they live in Rhong.

On the other side of the Th ak Kh ola Valley north of Jomo som begins Baragao

(N ep welve villages). Th e residen t pop ulation, though often called T ibetan, is in fact n

so. They spea k their own langu age, which, like Tha kali, is related to Tibetan. They a

called To was by the Thakalis, o r, in dep recation , Bh otyas , The latter term is mostly use

in reference

to

people who em igrated from Tibet hund reds of years ago and who now liv

in northern Nepal.

T o the north of Baragaon begins the form erly independent kingdom of Mustan

also called Lo (Tib.). Tibetan culture has succeeded in preserving itself here up to th

prese nt. The region is so-called restricted area, and as such is not accessible for foreigner

this on account of border complications with China.

Adm inistratively, the Tha kalis belong to Mustan g District with its capital Jomosom

The district is a part of Dhaulagiri Zone with its capital Baglung,

Inner Himalaya is settled at various densities depending upon altitud e and access

the outside world. W hereas regions at 4 0 0 0 m altitu de , having few villages, are qui

sparsely inhabited (Mus tang), along the main trade routes are found in Tha k Khola larg

villages with higher con centra tions of population. In altitudes from 19 00 m-2700

towns have grown up possessing to a certain extent the characteristics of cities (Tukuch

M arph a). The fact that for a long time the Thaka lis had a monopoly on the salt trade

the Kali Ga nda ki Valley favored the growth of these comm ercial cen ters along the rout

from India to Tibet. Following the closing o f th e Chinese-Tibetan border in 1959 man

Thakalis migrated into the areas of Nepal mentioned above.

1 1

limatic

Features

Above the gorge at G hasa runs the line of demarcation between the moist south side





Map of Thisang and Vhulnghd

wlth tho maln v~llsgos



GEORAPH lC FACTORS

the Himalaya and the drier north side. The Himalaya here separates the continental climat

of Central Asia from the monsoon climate of the Indian subcontinent.

On the south slope of the mountain range yearly precipitation surpasses 6000 mm

in Lumle near Pokhara 6170 mm according to Kleinert, recooding period 1970171 ). Th

valleys of Inner Himalaya such as Thak Khola, on the other hand, already lie under th

rain shield of the mountains. The region from the upper Kali Gandaki westwards exhibit

a dry, arid climate. In Jomosom Kleinert measured an average yearly precipation of onl

270 mm, of which only

19

falls during the monsoon period). A moderately humid trans

ition zone stretches, in the so-called knee, from Ghasa to Larjung, Kobang and Tukuche

Here the northern limit of rainfall irrigation is reached.

For reasons of exposition there are as many as four vegetations zones up to Tukuche

As to vegetation, the area lies within the zone of juniper forests. But there are also extensiv

conifer forests, which are succeeded at 38 m under the timber line by a clearly identifiabl

subalpine forest zone with birch and rhododendron. Because of the steep cliffs aroun

Tukuche, these zones are found together within a limited terrain, The regions lying furthe

to the north (Marpha, Syang, Chimang and Jomosom), conditioned by the arid climate

exhibit a pure oasis habitat.

If, therefore, the south side of the Himalaya is covered with luxuriant tropical an

subtropical deciduous forests, in the north, from Ghasa on, are found pure coniferou

forests, alpine steppes and, in the northern part of the valley, a semidesert, the latter due t

low precipitation and a high rate of evaporation caused by the constant wind blowin

through the valley.

These different climatic zones give rise to different ways

in which the land is cultiva

ted in individual Thakali villages.

Whereas in Ghasa, Taglung and Chhayo, for example, the cropland, irrigated by rai

water, is typically used for the cultivation of wheat, barley, millet and maize.

The further up the Kali Gandaki Valley one goes, the colder and windier it gct

There the winters are long and cold, while summers are short and relatively warm. Her

then, the Himalaya forms a clear-cut climatic and vegetational boundary line.

1

Demographic

onditions

:

Up until a s ho~ t umber of years ago it was not even known that the Thakalis shou

be considered as being divided into three different and separale endogamovs groups.

W

owe this finding to research of the Danish anthropologist Michael Vinding, who lived an

worked in Thak Khola in 1972 and 1975-78 and who has often returned there up to th



4 T H E T H A K A L IS O F N O R T H W E S T E R N N E P AL

pre sen t. Before this e thnolo gists had referred to the so-called Tam ang Thakalis fro

Thak Satsae as the only rightful bearers of the name.

Du e to their domina nt econom ic an d political influence in Nepal, built up in the p

and maintained and expanded up to the present,

the Tam ang Tha kalis were very concern

to see tha t they alone be called Thakali, since the nam e is endowed with correspondi

prestige.

This led to the Thakalis who went

under the name of

M aw atans (Thak. hose w

come from M arpha), o r Mhow as, an d the third gr ou p of Thintan, Syangtan, Chimtan Thak

lis (I 'hak. those who com e from Thini, Syang and Chim ang) being labelled by the Tama

Thakalis a s epigones of their nam e who meant t o use the term 'Thakali ' to upgrade th

respective groups in the eyes of others.

Fo r a long time th e Ta m ang T ha kalis had success with th is claim; even in their writt

tradition stress is laid o n their exclusive right t o the nam e, an d they go so far as to attem

to veil parts of their history (cf. the chapter on history).

The Ma watans, or Mhowas, are also called m h i or mhar-che in the local Thak

dialect (Vinding 1977 98 , leading one to conclude tha t the name of the place was ori

nally M ha. Th e Tam ang Tha kalis disparagingly refer to these people as ''puntan

punnel, meaning lepers Valleix 1974). The Maw atans consist a t present of fou r pat

lineal, exogam ous clans (see the cha pte r on clan organ ization).

Apart from Marpha,

number of families have also settled in the town of Jomosom.

Valleix

(1974

271) make s mention of 6 24 pe rson s, of whom 530 are Mawatans-

58 males and 272 females-with th e rest being made up of 43 diimiii 33

k m

and I8 fro

Baragaon an d Mustang.

According t o data sup plied by V inding (1979180) and my own investigations 19811

in 1979 there were abou t 154 households in M arpha and Jomosom , of which 48 were settl

there a s permanents, 63 households in which one or more members moved south for t

winter-so-called se a so n a 1 s a n d

4

house holds which ma intained a second place of re

dence outside Marpha-so-called semi-permannts (for greater detail see He ide, Susan

voo der, Himalayan Cu lture , vol.

5

no. 1, 1987).

At the time there were 43 househol

which had moved comp letely away from M arp ha after the bord er was closed in 1959-th

permanen t ou t category.

These da ta account fo r 197 households, allowing one to set the approximate numb

of persons at

1

M aw atans (like Vinding, I assume there are a n average of five perso

per household).



GEOR PHIC F CTORS

Alongside only a minim al rise in pop ulation , by 1981 the si tuation was such tha

according to my informants, the num ber of households which had moved completely awa

from M arph a had risen to 80. Accordingly, the num ber of those which maintained a res

dence both in M arp ha and somewhere else ("semi-permanets") had sunk to 30. Season

migration, too, had declined from

63

to households.

51

households maintained perm

nent residence in M arph a.

Th e information provided by my informants concerning th

number of households which had moved away completely was contradictory.

This has to

with the fact that they consider

it to a certain extent

as a loss in prestige when M aw ata

migrate irrevocably to the south.

There is, in fact, really no reason for such migration,

the Nepalese government, apart from the well-known "horticulture farm," has taken a

interest in cultivating the area around M arph a. Along these lines, furthe r projects ha

been planned for the future or alread y partially comp leted, such as greenhouses an d stora

facilities. The region fr om Kob ang to Jomosom has been supplied with electricity since

198

Besides in Tukuche an d Jomo som, there are also storehouses in M arph a, built under t

United Nations Development Program . According to the latest info rm atio n received foll

wing my most recent stay in Nepal in 1984, moreov er, an agreement between th e Nepale

government and China was signed according to which in the near futur e

a

road betwe

Pokh ara and Baglung is to be constructed, to be followed by a further link to Th ak Kh ol

through Mustang and on u p t o the Chinese border.

In all probability, this

road would ru

along the old salt trade route, passing through M arph a, amo ng other places, though leavin

the Yhulkasummi region untouched.

This will surely enhance the attractiveness and prestige

of the place and thereby dra

former residents back to Marpha.

One may cooclude froin these data that there is a tendency among the so-called ' sem

permanents'.' an d "seasonals" t o move out of Marp ha.

The preferred destination is Pokha

and vicinity, a city of trade conveniently located alon g route s to India an d K ath m an d

From it o11c may easily

re ch

M arph a via a flight to Jom oso m (small, propellered aircraf

or go by foot in 4-5 days.

A

furthe r gro up of Thakalis is called, in accordance with the towns they hail from

Thin, Syangtan and Chinitan Thakalis, or, as Vinding provisionally designates them, Yhulka

summis. Yhulngha is the Thakali name fo r the territory the Yhu lkasumm is inhabit.

Apa

from the three towns mentioned , a num ber of househo lds have settled in Ch hairo an d

Jomosom.

I n 1979

there were, according to Vinding

1979/80

32 ,

approximately

230

hous

holds of this group, corresponding to a population

of about l S (taking an average of

family members per household).



T H E TH K L IS

OF

NORT

WESTERN

N EP L

Three years later, in 1982, the

figure had risen

to above 260 , of which 164 lived

their place of residence perm anen tly

(79 households in Thini, 5 5 households in Syang,

households in Ch iman g), with the rem aining mig rating seasonally (for the most part th

spend the winter in warm er regions, such as Pok hara, there ope ning up small teashop

so-called bhrrrri, o r carr ying on trade with mule caravans; often only one of the fami

members migrates, so that the information supplied by the info rm an ts should not be take

as being exact).

According to my informa nts only six

house holds ca n be designated as semi-perm

nent, that is hou seho lds which ma intain a residence bo th in Yhulngha an d in the sou

(generally in Pokhara).

During their absence they lease their property in Yhulngha.

Only ab ou t 10 families have moved away for good from Thak Khola to the sou

( permanen t outw)-either t o Po kh ara o r along the road link to India-, this with the i

tention of ope ning sma ll hote ls o r bha ttis. They sold their entire landed property

Yhulngha.

Interestingly enou gh, almost all these cases, ap ar t from two exceptions, invol

households which having, deviated from the social norm , wo uld have been exposed to pro

lems an d forfeited their in tegration int o village com mu nity life had they remained longer

Th ak K ho la (for such reasons as illegitimate children, marriage t o a non-Thakali-so-called

intercaste marriagew-, divorce in the case of woman o r, more seldom, for simply being

widow, as these are held responsible for the death of their husband).

Wh at is striking here, in co nt ras t to the M awa tans, is the low numb er of perso

who have decided to migrate perman ently out of Yh ulngh a but who, when they do So, a

in response to social pressures.

The number of persons who mig rate seasonally in the winter is greater in compariso

to the Maw atans. Th is ha s to do, am ong other reasons, with the fact tha t the Thinta

Chim tan an d Syangtan have continued u p to the present to restrict themselves to cultivati

the land and raising livestock. Th e Maw atans an d Tam ang Thakalis, in part because of the

history, are significantly more mobile as far as their econom ic activities are concerne

having tapped greater com me rcial possibilities for themselves, an d to a certain extent th

migrated much earlier. The lates t rep or ts collected in

1984

show th at the seasonal wint

periods in which the Yhulkasum mi move

int o the lower regions, have, over the past tw

years, been getting longer. This is due to the fact tha t Tha k Kh ola has become more expe

sive (electricity, tourism , plans fo r a new road to China), and the Y hulkasumm i Thakali w

live in lodges an d bh attis over the winter along the larger roads can in comp arison ea

more there. T he usual winter period of three t o four m onths is extended to some five to s

months. Generally the Tha kali only return to Th ak Knola for the two harverting time



G EO R PH IC F C T O R S

Here the women remain from the end of

M ay until November for harvesting an d sowing

while at other times they concentrate

on looking after the bhattis an d lodges. These assert

on s lead on t o draw the conclusion th at fo r 1984 there is a movem ent away from seasonal

migration to semi permanen t migration, which disagrees with

m y

prognoses from 198

(Heide, Susanne von der, Himalayan Culture, vol.

5

no. 1, 1987).

The Tamang Thakali grou p is settled in the regoins from Gh asa to Tukuche. They ar

subdivided into fou r patrilineal, exogamous clans. Am ong themselves,

the Tamang Thakal

from Thak Khola distinguish those who come from Thasang and those who come from, a

it is called, K ang -ch hi-M irp o. As explained to me, however, this distinction is still m ad

only by a few of the older Thakalis. Th e region is called Kan g.chh i-M arpo (Thak. : thos

living dow nhill) from ChhHkthang south, since there the land lies lower than the rest of th

Thak Khola region.

Alongside the towns lying on the old trad e route-Lete, Ka lopao i an

Ghasa-villages subsisting chiefly from agriculture ar e also foun d here-Taglung, Ch hay

Dham pu and Chha. Th is division comes from informan ts an d is not to be found in literatur

From times

imm emorial people living principally

fro m the salt trad e have settled

Thisang, as the old trade route passed

through their towns. In their function as middleme

who, apart from salt from Tibet, could also collect duty on good s fro m India, these Tama n

Thakalis from

Thiisang in time attained greater influence and power, an d placed value o

being distinguished from the Thakalis from Kang-chhi-Marpho.

Of the four clans one lineages in particu lar understood how to cash in politically an

economically on the influence they had won. And it was this branch, too, from which th

efforts came to set themselves apart from the Mawatans,

the Yhulkasummis and even the

kinsmen in Kiing-chhi-Marpo.

According to Iijima 1977 : 73 ) the

total num ber of Thak ali speakers in Nepal

reflected in the 1961 census was 4134, som e of whom were registered in the midw este

Terai this figure, however, does not reveal how many were Tam ang Thakalis, M aw ata

or Yhulkasutnmis

).

According to

Manzardo 1978 : 275

),

in 1967 Corncille Jest made

tally of the Tam ang Thakalis in Bhuji Kho la, cou nting 81 househo lds there and a fur th

135 in the district of Myagdi. This cou nt, however, has long been ou tda ted .

Manzardo him

self, in 1954, cou nted

20

households with 80

family members in Pokhara. Between 1951 a

1971 they were, to go by his assertions, the fourth largest imm igran t gro up there. In 19

he counted 300

Th akalis, and in 1974, 83 househo lds, but the rest of his da ta on oth

places is incomplete.

M anza rdo mentions a total o f 7000 Thakalis in the whole of Nepal

the year 1975.

In Thak Satsne, according to its own chronicle for the year, there existed in 19



T H E T H A K A L I S OF NORTH WESTERN NEPAL

about 22 1 households of Tam ang Thakalis. Un der the assumption o f an average of

fi

persons per household, tha t comes to approximately 1 105 person s. Added to these are

households in Jomosom and Chhairo, that is, a further 125 persons.

As a comparison

I

would poin t to Michael Viqding 1979180, who proceeds on

th

assumption of

255

households in all of Th ak Kho la. In M yagdi District, where a number

Ta ma ng Thakali families immigrated more than 2 years ago, there were 224 househo

with around 1103 persons according t o the Thakali Chronicle. Fo r Myagdi District see th

latest studies of

W.

Fisher,

who told me person ally tha t he estimated there were abo ut

300

Tamang Thakalis in Myagdi in 1983 ).

I n

the districts of Baglung, Parb at, K aski Pok hara ), Gulmi, Syangja, Palpa an

Rup andeh i (Butwal, Bhairawa), fo r the m ost par t regions crossed by im po rtan t trade route

there were in 1979 a tota l of 4 4 6 hou seho lds in residence, which corresponds to

a

popu

lation of

2 2 3 0

Ta m an g Thakalis. In the remo ter districts of Yu mla, Do lpo , Rukum an

M ana ng 19 households-95 persons-were cou nted .

85

households with

425

Thakalis wer

living in th e Ka thm and u Valley. Th at gives altogether a figure of 1066 households wit

5330 Tamang Thakalis in Nepal.

Reflecting a grow th rate in the population of 2% per year, th e figure would hav

r isen to approximate ly 5 55 0 T ama ng

Th aka lis by 1981. Still left to be counted,

moreove

are further Thakli families located abroad-in India, Jap an, England, Brunei and Czecho

lovakia.

n

th e autho rity of inform ants this numb er rose considerably in 1984, though

is impossible to say to what level.

According to my studies of 1981182 the num ber of households in Kathmand

increased from

85

in the year

1 9 7 9

to 10 8 in the year 1981 182, and those in Pok hara from

a consistent 83 throughout the years

197 4- 1979 to

100 1

19

in 198

1.

The reason the dat

vary is because i t was often difficult fo r the person qu es tio ~~ edo decide whether he wa

talking about his main or temporary place of residence.

The number of household in Bhairawa

declined from 45 household in

1979 to 9 i

1981, while in an d aroun d the near vicinity of Butwal the number remained ap pr ox im afe

the same. There, both in 1979 and in 1981, there were aroun d 6 households, of whic

live directly in Rutwal,

18

from Th ak Kb ola and 1 5 from My agdi, with the remainink

families living scattered outside Butwal and on th e Indian b order. Another 7 families which

were not yet listed in the Thakali Chronicle of 1979 had in the mean time settlcd on th

Indian border in Nepalganj.

According to my rcoults, in 1981/82 there existed

28

households in

Thak

Satsae (2

of them in Tuk uchs, but prefer to treat Tukuc he saparately since there, d ue to its expose



Western

hill

d i s t r l c l s o f

epal with

m in villager

towns a n d r e g r o n s

G E N E R L

M PS





GEOR PHIC F CTORS

location, other patterns are to be found ). Of these about 64 households had, unchange

from 1979 to 1982, land and dwellings in Thak Satsae as well as second place of residenc

on the outside semi-permanent ).

27

households had moved permanently out of Tha

Satsae over the course of

the previous five years

i. e. no change from 1979 to 1982

having sold their ownership of land and house. Among the Tamang Thakalis

a

part of th

village population belongs to the so-called

kuriya

Normally each household in the villag

send one representative to the kuriya. Here one attends to village affairs, with delegate

being appointed in common session for particular tasks, for example, overseer of the fores

for more details see the chapter on organization of labor

).

Elder couples whose childre

have already married and officially started a new family-only then are they recognize

as an independent household-are generally no longer part of the kuriya, being considere

not up to the assigned tasks. They are assigned to the so-called phadke, to which als

belong migrants from the outside, such as Bhotyas and members of the Hindu caste

Members of the damai, kiimi and

s rk

castes have immigrated and work as tailors, black

smiths and cobblers for the Thakalis. They have settled down for the most part outsid

the village. ) In my inquiries and in those of Krishna La1 Thakali, who worked togethe

with Vinding in

979

and helped draw up his figures, the attempt has been made to encom

pass the Thakali household in their entirety. This means, therefore, that household of th

kuriya and the phadke were counted but not those of immigrants in the kuriyi- a

occasionaly occurs-- nor the usually large number of households of immigrants in th

phadke

).

After 1959, and in part even prior

to

that, many Thakali families migrated from

Tukuche, formerly the main center of activity in Thak Satsae, to Bhairawa, then still

settlement on the Indian border,

to Kathmandu and to Pokhara. They retained, howev

their property in Tukuche and had their former employees, mostly Bhotyas, oversee an

cultivate it see also Fuerer-Haimendorf 1981

77 f ).

For years they neglected thei

old holdings, either because the land seemed not to be worth anything or because the effor

to make something of it were too great in comparison to other, more lucrative ventures.

Following the emergence of tourism in Thak Khola in recent years the Jomosom

trek, a favorite with foreigners, passes through. here

)

and the successful attempt to cultivat

fruits and vegetables plots, many of old owners or their children returned to their property

which, though previously held to be worthless, had in

the meantime become capital.

addition, the Nepalese government passed a land reform

measure, though it had no effe

upon the region around Thak Satsae, see Fuerer-Haimendorf 1981 : 178 ) For this reason

i n the case

of

almost all Tanlang Thakali families there, with four exceptions where th



1

THE THAKALIS OF NORTH WESTERN NEPAL

concerned sold all their landed prope rty a nd m igrated permane ntly, one may properly spea

of semipermanent households prope rty in Tuk uche an d elsewhere ).

In

1982

informants told me

that still close to

5 hou seholds held proper ty in Tuk

che. From 1979 to 1982 the number of Thakali who returned to Tukuche f o r length

periods rose f rom between

8

and

17

households to

28

households. Th e disparity in the fig

res for 1979 is no ab ou t due to the fact that the lower was arrived at by the Taman

Tha kalis themselves in spring , the higher by K rishn a La1 Th aka li in autu mn . Since the pos

monsoon period, and thereby the wave of tourists and fruit harvest, begins in autumn, som

of the families were probably late in moving t o Tukuche.

In 1979 according to wh at th

inform ants said, 6 of the 17 house holds were represented in the kuria, an d the remaining

the phadke. In

1982

all

28

hous eholds were said to belong to the kuriya. As thes

statements derive from Tamang Thakalis from Tukuche, with other informants being unabl

to supply exact information,

I

have reason to dou bt their accuracy. Single persons incl

din8 3 widows and

3

nuns, consituted 26 of the 28 household.

W hat is interesting in the case of Tukuche is the fact tha t m ore families belonging

other groups are set t led there than Tamang

Thak ali households, whereas in othe r Taman

Tha kali villages the relationsh ip is generally the oth er way round . M any of these out-of

towners consist of employees of the Thak alis who have come t o be overseers of the

form er master's prope rty, draw ing in the process relatives an d

friends after them to Tuku

che. Fo r the most pa rt they come from Baragaon an d Mustang. They were and still a

called by the Thak alis, somew hat condescendingly Arungsi karongsi which in Th aka li is

much as to say someone out to get a job Fuerer-Haimendorf

1981 178 .

Their fam

lies migrated from Mustang and Baragaon to Tukuche in search cf employment in ric

men's house generations ago.

Once th at m ost of the Tam ang Thaka lis left the place, however, the Arangsi karang

began t o acquire a large measure of independ ence for themselves. They cultivated land the

themselves had come by an d laid ou t plo ts of fruit trees. To day most of the small touri

hotels there are in their hands.

When the Tamang Thakalis got wind of the fact that it was again worthw hile inve

ting in Tuk uche, they returned and began to lay out principally apple orchards, and trie

to restore the village to their ownership. Opposition of a sort thereupon arose among th

Arangsi, mixed with adver sarial feelings deriving from their form er employee status. Fo

the Tamang Thakalis from Tukuohe the topic is taboo people don't l ike to

t lk

about it.

Ap art from the Tha kali households* in

1982

1 counted

a

total of

64

0 t h household

in the village : 4 Sherpa familie., 12 hou,eholdr of occupational Hindu castes, 1 chet

household, 38 families from Mustang and Baragaon, I from Yhulngha and 4 from Marphn



In Thak Khola live along with the Thakalis, who make up

70

of the populatio

there, such minority group s as the previously mentioned so-called 'doccupational castesu-

Hindu castes such as diimai,

kami and sarki, who work for the Thakalis but ar e generall

excluded from the fabric of their social life. On e is m os t likely t o find mem bers of thes

castes in areas where agricultu re is engaged in on a large scale, as the re their services ar

more called for (e. g. in Taglung and Chimang).

Moreover, a small number of Magar and Gur ung families ar e t o be found in Th a

Khola. (Only Mag ars have settled in Lhark yo see map.) The previously mentione

Arangsi karangsi, who come from Baragaon and Mustang and so are Tibetan by backgroun

constitute a further population group. Much to the displeasure of the true bearers o f th

name, the Tam ang Thakalis, they also call themselves now Tamang Th akalis. An d, in fac

it is difficult to distinguish them from Thakalis from Thini, Syang an d Chim ang, since, apa

from outward similarities and many identical habits, their surname also has the same form

Thakali

Finally, a few Tibetan refugee families also live in Thak Khola.

From 1959 on the

fled in great numbers into the region, but only a few remained there.

In conclusion,

I

should like to provide

a

general picture of the entire Thakali popu

lation in Nepal (those living abroad are also included).

According to Michael Vinding en

Krishna La1 Thakali, and th e Tam ang Thak ali Chronicle, in 1979 there were in Nepal

1 154 households of Tamang Thakalis,

197 households of Mawatan Thakalis,

179 households of Yhulkasummi Thakalis,

In

198 1 82

these figures increased to

1196

households of Tamang Thakalis,

202

households of Mawatan Thakalis,

297 households of Yl~ulkasummiThakalis.

For 1979 that adds up t o a tota l of

1630

Thakali households with around

8150

mem

bers, and for

1982

a total of

1677

households with

8385

Thakali members.

From the general tabulation it cou ld be seen tha t the assignment to the categorie

Iseasonal, semi-permanent and permanent out brought out the differing customs and

life styles of the three Thakali groups,

I should emphasize once mo re tha t this survey is relatively inexac t; as previously

mentioned, in

1975

Man zardo had already counted

7000

Tam ang Thakalis alone. As a

comparison, the new Tam ang Thakali Chronicle f o r 1984 compiled but no t yet published,



2

TH THAKALIS

OF

NORTH W ST RNNEPAL

provides a figure of ar oun d

10 000

Taman g Thakalis Heide,

Susan ne von der , Himalaya

Culture, vol. 5. no.

1

1987).

Nor was I able in my surveys to specify exactly

how ma ny of the Thak alis counte

were members who had m arried into the gro up fro m the outside, and how many of the

offspring were from o ther ethnic group s, such as G ur un g or Thama ng. This fails, likewis

to be shown in the statistics o f Vinding an d Kr ishn a La1 Th ak ali. As described abov

such intercaste marriag es play a role, fo r example, am ong the Yhulkasumm is heir choic

of residency can depend on it,

In contrast, I obtained fairly exact inform ation on the intercaste marriages amon

Maw atans. This perhaps has to d o with the fact that, even outside of M arp ha, they main

tain very close contact w ith o ne ano the r a n d continue to be well organized. Thu s I was tol

that there have been 24 marriages between M awa tans and women of other ethnic group

usually with Tha man g, New ar an d G ur un g women. I have included these families in

tabulations. Not included were the 27 Mawatan women who have married, above al

Tha man g, Brahmin and G uru ng men. According to inform ants the first intercaste marriag

among the Mawatans goes back

on y

two generations.

Th e exact num ber of intercaste marriag e am ong the Tam ang Tha kalis could not b

determined. Howev er, in

984

I learned-all those question ed were unanimous- th at is

steadily increasing tendency to intercaste ma rriage on th e pa rt of the younger Taman

Thak alis, especially those fro m Kath ma nd u and the Nepal-Indian border region.

Fu rther realignments am ong the popu lation will surely ensue if a road connectin

Baglung and the Tibeto-Chinese border via Thak Khola is constructed.



2 ECONOMY ND

SOCIETY

2 1

Village Layout and Farmlands

:

As mentioned previously Tha k Khola may be subdivided in to three climatic zone

each bearing upon the Thakalis way of life an d meth ods o f farmin g.

Villages such as Taglung and Chhayo which are exposed t o the Indian mo nsoo

climate- and so to heavy rains- and also lie at a high altitude are ab le than ks to th

sufficient ainfall to engage in subsistence produ ction without the need of irrigation.

Since the population there lives almo st exclusively from the yields of their h usban dr

it is imperative that the village be confined to within as narrow boun ds as possible so th

accordingly more land can be put to use for agricultu re. In Ch asa and Lote too depen

dence of tillage land totally upon ra in is typical.

A pa rt from wheat barely an d mille

enough maize is cultivated in this region Kiing-chhi-Marpo ) that part of i t can be se

on to villages in Baragaon and Lo to the north.

The neighboring villages

in

Thasang suc

as Larjung Koban g Naurikot Naphrungkh ung an d Khanti are located in the transitio

zone between a monsoon and an arid highland climate. Here too houses are nestled close

to one another on terraced levels in ord er to gain as much space as possible for cultivatio

As was the case in the neighboring villages agriculture represen ts their means of livelihoo

income through tourism is the exception

.

There wheat barley and oats are planted as winter grains and buckwheat as th

summer grain with variously maize millet an d potatoes . No furt her foodstuffs are impo

ted apa rt from rice sugar salt tea and spices which ar e bought up on mule caravans.

As the summ er rains are still nloderately heavy in this transition zone tw o harves

can be brought in without need of irrigation. The winter crops sown in Novem ber ar

harvested at th e end of May The strain of barley jaon is especially esteemed as fod de

for mules while the people then~ selvesprefer to eat the strain uva. Following that the field

ar e turned under evenly a task reserved for the men.

A t the beginning of the monsoon i

the middle of June during the warm part of the year buckwheat light an d red papar )

sown to be harvested in Novem ber.

Sowing is thereby generally the job of women Pota

toes are planted between March and April and are harvested in September. At the beginnin

of Ju ne such vegetables as cabbage cauliflower carrots an d spinach star t growing and i

October they are ripe.



4 TH TH K LIS OF NORTH WESTERN NEP L

T o irrigate the fields, the Th akalis lay cond uits from the nearb y m ountain streams o

Dh aulag iri down to the Villages.

Th ese con dui ts consist of hallow ed-ou t boles leadin

down to an artificial reservoir.

It is interesting how th e Tha kalis, mean s of livelihood , i. e. ag ricu lture , affects th

architec ture an d layout of villages

:

O ne com es acro ss com pac t terra ced villages whos

houses are so closely built next to each other that for long stretches the way leading throug

the village runs under the houses.

In the sam e fashion , living un its are constru cted on th

side facing the valley and sto rero om s on the side facing the mo untain see cross sectio

and ground plans by Kleinert : 973; see under Thakalihaus, Thakalidorf

:

55, 60, 67, 7

78, 81, 82, 83, 84

).

Within the Thakali house, stalls are usually found on the ground floor, living quarter

frequently with an inner cour tya rd, lie abo ve them, an d on the flat roof there is generally

storero om stretching along the full breadth of th e ho use . The houses are either spaciou

o r small and narrow according to the external conditions,

In T ukuc he, the Thaka li house

those not in a state of collapse unfortunately

)-

are built like fortresses,

very roomy an

artfully constructed. Here, too, there are mo re storerooms than elsewhere. Du e to its open

unprotected position the village is very exposed

to the wind, This is surely the reason why

all the houses here are built as atrium houses, around large inner courtyards.

Manzardo 1978 :

2)

places the village climatically within th e third zone, while Kle

nert

1973

: 72)

would have it th at Tukuche lies in th e zone

between the transitional an

arid climates. Ag riculture ha s been much neglected on accou nt of the village's importance a

trading emporium . The Thakalis cleared the forests of th e surrou nding slopes for the

palatial edifices,

so that the slopes now appear desolate.

Many fields on the terraces abov

the village ar e used now only as pasture, and are no longer cultivated. ' 'The lack of water,

consequence of the clearing of the forests lying abov e the tillage are as, is probably the mai

reason for the present situation (Kleinert 973

: 73).

Ac cording to Klein ert these field

ar e n o longe r cultivated because they were n o longer used after the exodus of many familie

from Tukuche. Conversely, following the decline of the golden age of trad e, the dea rth o

arab le land which had since arisen may have been the very reason for the exodus; once bus

iness dried up and the fields were again needed for agriculture, the encroachment practise

upon th e land's own system of house-keeping could no longer be undo ne.

His assum ption is sup por ted by the cultivation of new fields on the east side of th

valley (good climatic conditions) leeward exposure, s a c i e n t ground and air humidity, and

moderately humid conifero us zone. They provid e good harvests, in con trast to the previo

usly me ntioned fields on the dry terraces abov e Tuku che. Potato es, wheat, millet, barley







E O N O M Y

AND SO IETY

rape, turnips and buckw heat thrive in the imm ediate vicinity of the village. In recent years

on the model of M arp ha , apples, apricots and peach trees have been cultivated in Tukuche.

Credit fo r the success of this cultivation goes to the agriculture experts M adh an R a

and Pasang Sherpa, the latter sent by the government in

1967

to the well organized comm

unity of Marpha in order to set up an experimental agricultural farm . Th e Marphalis, o

Maw atans, supported this project. an d so cam e ab ou t unde r their supervision the loca

cultivation of fruit

and vegetables. Today in Marpha,

along with apple, peach an d aprico

trees, there are even growing alm ond and walnut trees the young trees were imp orted from

Kashm ir). With the newly acqu ired skills, mo reove r, cauliflower, carr ots, beans , radishes

tomatoes, and onions have been planted along with the regular types of vegetables see m a

Valeix

1974

272).

Harvests are already so plentiful tha t portion s of them are transpo rted

by mule to Pokhara , where fruit and vegetables from T hak Khola ar e especially esteemed.

Pasang Sherpa has by now achieved such large harvests that he has been ab le to

build a distillery, where the diverse types of fruit ar e processed into the po pu lar

rak h

local brandy, usually distilled from grains). He passes on his knowledge to the villag

population, an d so it is that the entire economic structure of M arpha has been greatly on

the upswing since 1967

If one pauses to consider

tha t M arph a belongs to the 3rd climati

zone, i.e., to the arid region poor in vegetation and shielded from rains by the ma in chain

of the Himalaya, and where cultivation is possible only with the help of irrigation, then on

can measure the work and discipline invested bere.

Most Marphalis now-a-days have a small vegetable garde n an d fruit orcha rd of thei

own outside the village.

These garde ns are sign of the favora ble microclimatic cond ition

obtainin g in the trough in which M arp ha lies nestled;

opened to the southe ast, it is largely

protected from the strong valley wind. The densely built-up are a of the village fills up the

trough with a carpet-like plaiting of adjacently constructed houses, growing terrace by terrace

up the steep slopes of the surrounding mountains.

The alternation of cold winters and wa rm; dry summ ers ha s a favora ble effect upon

the orchards. Since summers are relatively free of cloud s, the trees are guara nteed sufficien

sun during ripening. Added to this is the fact that a t this altitude insect pests hardly eve

cause problems. The principal water channels are located in the vicinity of the orchards, so

tha t provisions fo r sufficient irrigation have becn made . Th e water is broug ht by cond uit

from a branch of

t h e

Kali Gan daki to the village and made to flow in a stonew ork chann e

through the town along the asphalted main street.

The same types r grain are cultivated n Marplia as i n Tukuche, but, thank to the

good care and attentio n shown the fields, the harvests tlierc ar e larger tha n

in

the latte



6

THE TH K LIS

OF

NORTH WESTERN NEP L

village. (Th is also has to do , of cou rse, with the governm ent s having invested there.)

von Fuerer-Haimendorf (1981 : 184-185) reports that in

1976

the Mawatans had a very go

grain harvest, while still living on wh at had been

reaped in

1974,

mean ing that the 19

harvest had not even been touched.

The supply of grains is partly stored in Djhong, the Mar ph a of old,

300

m above

pre sen t village. D jhon g is also used as a filial village fo r sto res of wo od, which are tran

ported to the main village as needed. In Marpha itself, the storage facilities are built terrac

styled up the slope. (As in Tuk uch e, large pieces of wood a re piled up o n the edges of ro

as parapets an d windb reaks. W ood is here considerably scarcer than in the lower

ly

villages.)

A Tarnang Th akali explained to me tha t such large am ou nts of wood are stored

the roofs also as a

precautionary measure,

as years ago there was a very cold winter,

w

villages being snowed in an d cut off fro m the outside world; it was clear to see that t

wood would not hold out, and duriog that time large numbers of livestock died.

In order to raise productivity in agriculture

an d in the cultivation of frui t and veg

tables in M arp ba , the Napalese go vernmen t is plan ning fu rth er aid projects there in comin

Years.

Fue rer-H aim end orf ma de mention a s early as 1981 of a plan t o construct win

powered pu mps fo r the new irrigation pr0jects . l

)

Between Tu kuc he an d M ar ph a is fou nd th e village of Chirnang , which lies, howeve

away from the trade route. It is located on

a

terrace un de r Nilgiri on the east side of th

valley, where land is less cleared.

D ue to th e limited space available fo r cultivation, the

houses of the village are so close to one another that one can easily wander over the whole

of it by passing from one roof to the next.

Th oug h the construc tion of the houses corre

po nd s to tha t found in Tu kuc he, they are on the whole much sm aller. As is the case in th

othe r Thakali villages, the inner courty ard, which is here qu ite sm all tho ug h, is the focu

o f work an d domestic activity. As a result of the Ch im tan s, having specialized in farmin

the norm al three-storey cons tmctio n of houses is

sup plemented by special enclosed space

for livestock o r for the spreading out of the harvest. This is common for the entire region

of the upper Kali Gan dak i Valley-Marpha, Syang, Jomo som, T hi ni , Chairo see Kleiner

973 :

90 .

In ord er t o irrigate the farm lan d, a water condu it was laid down from the branch

valleys, and in the dry period in the summ er it is directed into the fields or through

f

village as necessary. stone wo rk chan nel transect the who le of the village a long ihe mai

lan e, as in M arph a. Barley, wheat and oa ts ar e planted in Chirnang as winter grains,

an

ar e sown in Nov ember. In July, afte r the harvest, the earth is immediately turned under

in



L o o a t n a QU RTER

IN SY NO

stor ge y rde %% courty ~ds

o

houses

~ivestock nd

stor ge

LODOING QU RTER

IN JOMOSOM

Lodglng Quarters In Syang and Jomorom

fter Klelhert 973

A





Tukuche pPE

STOR Y

Projection

o

caves

ctobrr

969

5 cm throughout

asonry

Tamang Thekeli House

After Klelnerl 973





E C O N O M Y A N D S O CI ET Y

order to be able to sow buckwheat, which is harvested in October. Near the houses ar

found a few fields reserved fo r gro win g potatoes.

Syang, Thini and Ch ha iro have also specialized almo st completely in land cultivatio

and stockbreeding. Like Chimang, they are not located on the main trade route but abov

it to the left and right. All land in Syang accessible to irrigation is used exclusively fo

laying ou t fields. Th e main village lies above on t h e ba rren terrain of a bank ed terrace

The groups of houses are divided from one a no the r by narrow alleys, with the small square

at the crossing of the various paths being marked by small chortens, on to p of which praye

flags flutter or the horn s of yaks an d wild sheep are attache d. These min iatu re tower-like

structures are also found at one corner of most houses. Fro m M arph a on one come s in

creasingly across such village scenes

see the chap ter Religion ).

As in other Thakal

villages, all places of dwelling, ap ar t from the gom pa, ar e painted white.

The houses in

Thini, as in Syang and Chima ng, are closely clustered together, and the large inner court

yards common t o Jomosom and Tuk uche are missing.

Whereas, then, the Yhulkasumm i Thakalis are chiefly a farming population, in Jom o

som the picture is mixed.

He re live, besides Yhulkasum mi Tha kalis, rich Tam ang Tha kal

merchant families as well as M arpha lis, who have atta ined with th e years great affluence

One likewise finds in Jomosom families from Baragao n an d Lo.

The village, moreover, i

a garrison town, meaniog that- as the last large pop ulation center b efore the Tibeta n

border- a batallion of the Nepalese arm y is statio ne d there, in a ca m p outside the town

itself, and also tha t there is an airp ort. Jom osom leaves t he impression of being large

caravansary Kleinert 1973 : 99

).

' 'The houses are larger than in Syang a nd Thini

Large enclosed spaces for livestock and the storage of goo ds and provisions adjoin the

living chambers of the large atrium houses with their typical Tha kali floor pl an , Entire

caravans can take up quarters in these interconnected inclosed spaces as well as seek

protection from the constan t valley wind, which is here particularly strong. Klein ert

1973 : 99 ). Besides in M arp ha, fruit growing is carried on in the above m entioned

villages. However, since the area is limited fo r reasons already given ) the orchards are

usually planted outside the residential area s, near strea m s in the branch valleys o r Nilgiri

or the Dhaulagiri massif.

One m y note that, as a whole, what stan ds out with respect t o the villages of Th ak

Khola which subsist completely from form ing and not, as in Tukuche, from trad e, is the

overall favou iable condition of their layout and that of their adjoining forests an d fields

This is partici~larlyevident in M arp ha , though the agricultural boom there is helped along



8

THE THAKALIS

OF

NORTH WESTERN NEPAL

by add itional factors, e. g , village org an iza tion , which I sh al l dea l with in the followin

chapters.

One anecdote to close concerns Tuk uch e, where in the autum n of 1981 I had a con

versation with the head of ond of the influential trading families,

It cas ts light on th

relation, adverted to earlier, of the Tam ang Thakalis to the M awatans, In response to

provocatively taken q uestion a s to whether he saw an y con nec tion between the activities o

Pasang Sherpa's e xperimen tal farm an d the econom ic surge of Ma watans in recent years,

h

asserted tha t he had begun planting apple trees

20

yea rs before, when there was no talk

o

such things in Marpha, and that , furthermore,

he

owned the largest apple orchard around.

2 2

Stockbreeding

Stockbreeding doe s not have the significance f o r the Thaka lis tha t it does, for exampl

for the population of Bara gao n, L o and Do lpo. but still it constitutes an indispensable pa

of their economic base.

Th e frequent rains in the higher altitudes provide the Tha kalis and their norther

neigh bors with huge reserves of pa stu re land. In the high-lying pasture s ar e tended herd

of yak, goa ts an d sheep, a s well as the so-called

dzo

a hyb rid between yak and cattl

Furth er, the Tha kalis keep donkey s, horses called the

cars

of

M us tan g by the loc

population an d above all mules, which ar e pressed int o service as pack animals during th

harvest an d fo r transpo rting goods to the no rth and south. Amazingly enough, one eve

finds water buffaloes as fa r up as Taglung.

Yak herds live at altitudes where farming can no longer be

practised an d only gras

and herbs grow-from

4000

m, to

5000

m. Every two or

three m on ths the yak herdsme

descend in to the valley t o restoc k u p on provisions; there is hardly a more solitary life tha

tha t of a yak he rdsm an , who generally lives alone with his herd.

Fro m yaks the Thakal

obtain milk, butter, cheese, meat and hides.

Thread

is

spu n from the hairs of the animal

and from it coarse but very warm

blank ets ar e woven. In au tum n, when the meat of th

anim als is especially nu tritio us the herbs being particu larly flavorful due to the intens

sunlight and periodic rains ), families possessing yaks slaughter on e or two of their animal

from whose en trails sausages ar e mad e, an d whose flesh is processed into dried meat fo

the winter. Wh ereas the Tha kalis from Syang, Th ini an d Chimang , as well a s from Marph

take great pleasure in eating yak mea t, very man y Tarnang Tha kalis refuse to partake of

as a consequence of their Hinduization see the chapter Religion

).

Since most Taman

Tha kalis have officially emb raced Hin duism , an d since yaks are counted anlong the bovin



E C O N O M Y A N D S O C IE T Y

family, the Hindu dietary tabu which prohibits the consumption of beef therefore applies t

them. Persons from all thre e Thakali grou ps who are native to the area told me, how eve

tha t the Ta ma ngs only officially-in the presence of foreigne rs fo r prestige see History

observe this custom, while inofficially ther e is noth ing they w ould rath er eat more. Th us t h

head o f one family from Tuk uche, to my question a s to why he did not eat yak meat, res

ponded with a wrinkle to his nose that the meat had no taste.

Otherwise sheep and goat meat is eaten. Th e wool of the sheep, shorn a t the end o

June, as well as their furs and skins are

employed by the Thakalis for their own purposes

not for trade.

Wool used to trade

with formerly came from Tibet. Mules an d donkeys ar

not used in the winter for transporting goods northward to Baragaon an d Le; instead

dzoppa are called in to service.

The herds of livestock tended by Guru ng herdsmen o r herdsmen from M ustang spen

the months from AprilIMay to October on pasture land

between 48 m . a n d 55 m. an

leave as soon as the first snow has fallen. T hey descend to lower lying region s, often t

fallow fields in the vicinity of villages. Sheep an d goats are sheltered in stal ls Valeix

1974

273;

Fort

974:289

).

Manazardo reports 978 : 6 ) that the

areas south of Thak Khola have enoug

winter pasture but to little summ er pasture. F o r the reason some farmers ren t summ e

pasture from the Thakalis who have more than they need. It is also im po rtan t th at thi

pasture land be able to be used for grazing pack

a l ~ i m a l sdurin g the year. W ithout it large

scale trading would not be possible, particularly for the M arphalis, the reason being tha

in Thak Khola it is cheaper to use pack

animals than p orters ,

the normal means of trans

port in Nepal, to convey goods south to Pok hara o r nor th to Lo . Since mule fod der is very

scarce along the way and the pastures are quickly depleted, som e anim als are laden with

fodder. One sees the imp ortance, in the connection, of the barley strain jaon which i

used exclusively as fodder

being cultivated in Thak K hola as a winter grain.

As a conse

quence of the Chinese takeover of power in Tibet and the concomitant closing of the Tibeto-

Chinese border, a great Inany Tibetans fled in 19 59 and 196 to among other places, Dolpo

Mu stang, Baragaon and Thak Khola. In particular, Tibetan nom ads called K ham pas

crossed the border on this occasion with large herds of sheep, goats and yaks.

The consequence fo r these areas was a catastroph ic overgrazing of the high-lying

pastures, which led to the starvation of many anim als, particularly yaks, belonging both

to the Tibetans and to the local population.

D ue to the overgrazing the pastures turned to



2

THE

TH K L IS

OF NORTH WESTERN NEP L

steppe land to such an extent tha t even today traces from that time can be seen, and Ame

rican experts are presently engaged i n developing new, resistence type s of grass for plantin

there. Each village is able to su pp ort on ly a certain limited num ber of animals corre

ponding to the amount of pasture land.

Co nsid eratio n mu st therefore be given to whethe

the pastures should be rented out or used for private purposes.

After tradin g on a large scale cam e to a n end, an d the m erch ant families in an

around Tukuche migra ted to other place in Ne pal, the Tam ang Thaka lis naturally had n

need of yaks and dzoppa, which are

otherwise very suitable as pack animals

in high alt

tudes, to the extent they did formerly. In 1976, how ever, Fuerer-H aimen dorf found that th

herding of yaks had increased 198 1 : 180

)

as a result of the fact th at , though farmin

supplied them with a suffic ient livelihood, the Ta man g Tha kalis who remaine d in Tba

Khola could no longer expand their cultivating

activ ities aft er land capacities had been

ex

hausted. Tending yaks held o u t the prom ise of add ition al incom e. Fuerer-Haimendor

1981 180 ) reports that a person who own s 30-40 yaks ca n garn er between 3000 an

4000 rupees profit from selling yak butter and

calves to Do lpo west of Thak Kho la. Th

calves are used in D o lp o for breeding an d as draf t animals. In exchange for them tb

Thakalis obtain grow n anim als, which they fo r their pa rt sell to Baragaon fo r slaughte

In Marpha, Fuerer-Haimeodorf found that in 1976, 4 yaks were being ten de d, whereas

1962 he had counted only 70. In 19 69 Valeix made a count of 102 yaks 1974 : 274 ). I

before 1959, the Tam ang Thakalis had recourse to the mule and horse caravans of th

Ma watan s to tra ns po rt goods, after the closing of the border this ceased to be a source o

income for the latter Fuerer-H aimen dorf found over 32 mules and 2 2 0 horses in 1962

).

In M arp ha too, then, as the figures show, a

turnin g to the breeding of yaks appa

rently occurred, with some of the anim als, fo r which pa stu re land was unavailable, having

to be taken to othe r, rented lands for grazing. The earnings from keeping yaks appea

therefore, to have been high enough to ma ke it possible t o pay the additional price of ren

for pasture land.

In 197 6, furthermore, Fuerer-Haimendor f found in M arph a only 6 horses being

kept, as opposed to the 220 in 196 2. He concludes from this that the Mawatans h

switched from horses as the most im por tant pack anim als to the use of mules Valeix : 1969

unfo rtun ately fails to distinguish between horses and mu les, providing f or both species tog

ther a figure of 335 ), parti cular ly in view o f the fact th at m ules are mo re su itably employed

t han horses for trans por t purp ose s along the traditional routes up an d down the Kal

Ga nda ki as well a s for othe r uses, as, for exa mp le, building and road construction

i



ECONOMY

ND

SOCIETY

Pok hara and the Middle Ranges. Such utilization in turn added up to a new source of i

come for the Mawatans whose animals meet a large portion of th e market demand. T

Thakalis from Thini Syang an d Chimang also own mo re mules than horses with the mul

likewise being pressed in to service for ro ad cons truction.

The number of dzoppa to o has according to Fu erer-Haimendo rf decreased fro

89

animals in the year

1562

t o

35

in

1976

Valeix came up with a figure of

131

in

1969

a trend which can be traced back to a shift from high altitud e trad e routes such as throug

Do lpo and Mustang to paths lying in lower regions which can no t be traversed by t

animals Like the yak they are unable to tolerate the milder climate. All these cases sho

what changes the collapse of trade broug ht ab out in stockbreeding as well as the im portan

the raising of livestock and mules attained to in Thak Khola afterwards.

Marpha 1962 and 976

Yaks Mules Dzo GoatslSheep Horses

1962 7 0 3 2 89 2 2 0

1976 40 0 35 0

35

490 60

from Fuerer-Haimendorf

198 1 : 8

0-1

84 )

Cows and dzoppa counted together; Fu erer- Haimen dorf doe s not differentia

between the two.

Marpha

969

Yaks Cows/Dzoppa SheeplGo ats Horses/Mules

Mdkatans

10

1

131

Outsider

7

Occupational

castes

Total

102 138 35 1 36 6

from Valeix who subdivides into Maw atans outsiders am ong the

village popula tion e.

Mustangis or Baragaonlis ) and occupational castes such as dama i and kami

1974 : 274



T H E T H K L I S O F N O R T H W E S T E R N NE P L

2.3 Trades

s has already been noted, the Tam ang Thak alis are one of the most influential and

well-known trad ing com mu nities o r gro up s in Nepal. Originally the trading center of th

Thakalis was Tukuche, or Tukche, which at

the time was the largest town in Thak Khola

with big storehouses and palace-like dwellings.

U p unt il the

1959

upheaval in Tibet, Tha kali merch ants imp orted from that countr

and from the northern high plateau Dolpo, Mustang ) she ep, go ats , yaks, dzo ppa, horses

mules, wo ol, furs, hides, bu tter, cheese, medicinal herbs an d , natu rally , salt in exchange fo

products from India and Nepal, such a s rice, wheat, barley, maize, dha l (pulses), buckwhea

oil, tea , hot peppers, spices, paper, cott on , cott on clothing , metal utensils, sugar, firearm

gunpowder a nd later, cigarettes, razors an d batteries. Certainly the

mo st im po rtan t was th

trad e in livestock, wool, grains an d salt. In M usta ng District itself which besides Mustan

includes Thak Khola and Baragaon

)

local barley,

particularly from Pancbgaon and Bara

gao n, was exchanged for Tibetan salt. I t is interesting to note in this connection that th

Thakalis fro m Th ak Satsae also sold barley to Tibet, though not because, like the Mawatan

or Yh ulkasumm is, they had prod uced a su rplu s of it, bu t because they preferred the consump

ion of rice to barley. The salt bartered from the Tibetans was re-exchanged later for rice. The

Tamang Thakalis were suficiently well off to be able to afford this 'bluxury .

T t e role o f the T ama ng Thakalis was to a large extent that of middlemen who bartere

o r bought goo ds an d provided facilities fo r their storage. relationship of trus t general

developed between the individual trading partners, so that it was customary to a dvanc

credit or to postpone actually receiving the bartered wares until the next meeting.

M oreov er, than ks to a far-flung network of addition al middlemen generally relative

of the Tamang Thakalis

)

in the M iddle Ranges an d in D ol po and M usta ng , the Thakalis wer

able to set up in

widely

separated villages interme diate stations

often bhattis ) for thei

relatives form

Thak

Khola,

an d thaoks to a transpo rt system constistiog of

pack

horses o

mules either in their own possesion or in that of the Maw atans and Yhulkasummi ~ ha k al

by means of which goods might be conveyed, from 1928 onwards the Tamang Thakalis wer

in a position to despatch the goods directly to their receiver o r to pick them up from the

source.

Before this network was established, a few Tam ang Thakali

families had the tradin

mon opoly firmly in their con trol.

At the end of the 19th century and during the fir

decades of the 20th. u p until 1928 these families, of fsp rin g of the Sherch an clan, wer

active a s, amo ng other things, middlemen in the salt trade, an d at the same time controlle



ECONOMY

AND

SOCIETY

the imp ortan t po st of district magistrate responsible fo r collecting custom duties; the pos

corresponds to the title of subba in

Nepal which is conferred by the governm ent

,

a situ

ation which led to their accumulating money an d goods. It was only in 1928 th at th

customs policy was terminated by the government an d trade was opened to other Thaka

families with the governm ent collecting direct levies N ep.

:

okaa bhaar

)

from each me

chant. Alongside the still dom inant subba families the Tam ang Thakalis as a whole no

began to build up the extensive

tradin g network. As a comp arison : subba families o

that period had an annual turnover of around 12 0 muri other Tam ang Thakalis an annu

turnover of 60-80 mu ri. muri

2.4

bushels

) .

Fuerer-Haimendorf

1 9 7 8 : 346 )

reports on the effects of tbe measures to summ a

rize his remarks

)

: The considerable am oun t of capital tha t had

by then been amassed b

the Thakali merchant pu t them in the pleasant position of not having any longer to bothe

themselves with small trad e which involved tedious trips on foot or on the back of a hors

and being able to engage in larger transac tions in grains salt clothing an d cigarettes fro

their houses

i n

Thak Satsae. In

1962

the annual turnover of an average merchant amou nte

to between 2 5 0 0 0 and 50 000 rupees. F o r example there was at the time a business i

Kobang with 25 000 rupees and a horse dealer with 30 00 0 rupees in annual turno ve

Men who went to Kalimpong and

other place in India to acquire goods for sale in Th a

Khola made a profit

~ f

000 rupees on an investment of 15 000 rupees.

The influence o f the subb a families is based on historical an d political events whic

I shall go into in detail in the section on history.

They enjoyed mo reover the benefit of

very advantageou s geographical location on one of the easiest trad e rou tes to negotiat

betwcen Tibet and India.

The passes between Lo

Mustang

)

and Tibet a re comparatively low an d can b

crossed by all types o f pack animals. Tdey lead so uth to Pok hara and the Terai th

Nepalese flat lands

),

avoiding narrow gorges and path s tbat are too steep such as prohibi

the use of cheap pack animals elsewhere in N epal. Tna k Satsae an d mo re particularl

Tuku che lies at a point along this route which is very well suited fo r being a center o

trade. Tibetans as well as Bhotyas from Do lpo Baragaon an d M ustang can make their wa

to it without exposing themseves and their anim als to the insufferable heat of the lowe

regions the region lies high enough a s described previously in a zone cut off fr om th

Indian subc ontin ental climate by the

Himalaya

),

On the other hand the way to Th a

Satsae a par t from the three winter mon ths an d the monsoon season was easily neg otiabl

by

merchants from the flat lands and the M iddle Ranges. Th e monsoon period when th

paths from Thak Kllola into the lower lying south became unpassable for porte rs and pac



4


animals, was precisely the best time to

undertake treks from Mustang, Dolpo and Tibet

Thak Satsae; the weather was at its mildest, since in the high regions of Tibet the col

naturally lingers longer, and time is required

for the rivers and streams to subside after th

snow has melted and for the paths to become passable. Thus trading caravans from th

flat lands showed up either in the autumn period between the monsoon and winter or

the presummer season after the winter

months and before the monsoon, whereas the car

vans from the north arrived in Thak during the monsoon, which did not affect them.

The need naturally arose, therefore, for a place to store goods from the north

n

south on the border between

these two geographically

different zones-in this case in th

transitional zone of Thak Satsae.

The Thakalis have exploited this need.

In their functio

as middlemen, they bought or stored goods from the north destined for the south an

vice versa.

But even before political conflicts in Tibet led to the closing of the border, the

sha

of the border trade in the hands of the subba Thakali families had considerably decline

from 1928 on, as described abovv

).

Losses resulting from the annulment of custom

however, affected the subba families but little. The wealth and success they had attianed

in the years they had an absolute monopoly in Thak Khola allowed them to function later

pure middlemen who could afford to delegate to

Bhotyas from Mustang and Baragaon th

task of transporting goods to Thak Satsae, having them work either for a commission or

a means of paying off their often considerable debts to the subbas see section on history

In the meantime they were busy establishing trading relations in other parts of Nepal, which

allowed them to become independent of the trade in Thak Satsae.

In these years before the definitive collapse of trans-Himalayan trade, which cam

to a complete standstill after

1962,

the Tamang Thakalis split up into two population

:

on the one hand were the subba families with their relatives, who had, as mentioned abov

built up contacts in the south and were able to depend upon a network of people

w

distributed the goods under the supervision of Thakalis in the Middle Ranges.

2

As OPP

sed to this group of modern thinking Thakalis who saw their chances for the future an

adapted themselves quite well to the new areas of settlement, to include the matter

Hinduization see the chapter on religion

),

there existed at the same time, on the ofh

hand, a very traditionally oriented group of Tamang Thakalis in Thak Satsae.

Thanks to their capital the first group was in a position to buy land or houses, fo

example, in the infrastructurally developing Terai or in Kathmandu and to start new live

for themselves as the basis for an expanding future trade. If trade relations with Tibet an

India had been preeminent up until then, this situation changed

in

favor of thenew possib



llustration No







lllustration

No. 7



4 ECONOMY ND SOCIETY

2

lities in the Terai, due, first o f all, to their accum ulation of capital and , secondly,

and no

in the least, to the sweeping measures on the part of th e governm ent to wipe out malar

in the southern region^.^

The third benefit enjoyed by the subb as was the fact that, after their fall from pow

at the hands of King Tribhuvan in

1951,

many Ra na families which had ruled Nepal U

until then were forced to divest themselves of som e of their wealth, above all land an d house

Since the subb as were generally able to pay in cash, they cam e away with ch eap ne

property. At the beginning they settled in Pokhara and Kathmandu, but later started up ne

lives in Butwal in the Terai and NaudandaIBhairawa

(

Naud anda is located on the India

and Bhairawa on the Nepali side of the border ), They naturally drew other Thakali famili

?

ng in their wake; these settled abov e all in Po kha ra, with which they were most familia

The farm s they set up there can be cou nted am ong the technically most developed in Nepal

In 1953 an airport was opened in Pokhara, simplifying the transport of goods betwee

Bhairawa, Pokhara and Kathm andu. M oreover, road s connecting the cities were bein

planned.

The new government also ma nda ted that schools be opened fo r everyone who cou

pay for their education. Under the Ranas the right to attend schools was granted only to th

Ranas themselves an d their Chosen favorites ( am ong whom were the subba families

The Thakalis, who were generally able to com e up with the need ed mon ey, placed gre

value upon insuring a good education for their childre n. By their farsightedness they we

recognized what possibilities thereby opened up for them in the future.

Even though a considerable num ber of Th akalis had migrated out

of

Thak Khol

they kept up contact with their relatives who remained in Th ak Satsae, an d turne d up fo

festivals and ceremon ies. Th e large majority, mo reov er, still possessed landed prop ert

there, administered by tbe Arangsi karangsi,

Followig tried and true precedent, the second gro up in Thak Satsae carried on trad

with Tibet and India. Since the opening up of trad e in

1928

many of them, as describe

Previously, attaind to considerable wealth an d were able h eneforth to live from their incom

as middlemen alon e. They con tinued to thrive in Th ak Satsae, an d income flowed in fo

which no special investmen t was necessary as formerly. Man zardo describes this quite to th

poiot 1978:42) : The Thak alis became increasiogly sedentary, for there was no longer an

PulTose in setting out on dangerou s trips to Tibet, since their agen ts, both hired men , workin

for commission and bond servants, could d o the jo b as well**. describe in the section o



THE TH K LIS OF NO RT H WESTERN NEP L

history how th e Ta m an g T hak alis bu ilt u p this system of depen dent workers and slaves:

namely, as always, at the initiative of the subbas,

~ a a z a r d oecounts, again to the point, why the second group of traditionally oriente

Thakalis, those attached to the soil, were compelled to m igrate to othe r parts of Nepal, an

how, in connection with this, traditional trade in Thak Khola came to a standstill after 196

Concerning the circumstances l e a d i ~ g o this he

remarks (1978:44) that between 19

and 195 9-6 0 there was a fund am enta l difference in the ideas an d outlook on life on the part

the Ta m ang s fro m Tha k Satsae and of those Thak alis who had settled in the south. Und

norm al circumstances thes e differ ent interest group s would have furt her split up into a rur

and a semi-urban or u rban orga nization . (In the south the Thakalis set up a credit system

their ow n, ind epe nde nt of Th ak Khola-dhikuri-, found their own social organization, an

made changes in various customs, such as marriage

rites etc. but things did not develop

this way.

In 1959 -60, 60,000 Tibetan refugees crossed the bor der in flight from the Chines

This mass movement brought abo ut an overpopulation of the valleys of Mustang Distric

including Th ak K hola an d, due to the lack of sufficient grazing land for rufugee and nativ

livestock, and food and grain for everyone, led to supply problems and even calamity. I n th

Tibetan refugee cam p in Chha iro, built in 1961 by th e Swiss, 11% of the population died. I

ord er to alleviate the problem o f overg razing an d to be able to live somehow, the refuge

sold their herds of cattle, yaks, dzoppa, sheep and goats. But since both the Bhotyas and th

Thak alis (all three gro ups ) als o engaged in livestock trading, this selling of animals di

cheap m ean t gre at financial loss fo r them , assuming their own anim als had not themselv

fallen prey to the catastrophe. A dded to this was the fact tha t the Chinese, by their closu

of the bor der , prevented new herds fro m being acquired once the old ones had been so

off. Th us the old stock could no longer be replenished, an d a considerable source of trad

income was lost.

Ab out this time. too, the first roads from the Terai up to the mountains-to Pokha

and Kathmandu--were constructed (~ ri b h u v a nRajpa th and Sonauli Ra jpat h), so that th

M iddle Ranges could mo re easily an d with less cos t be supplied with salt and other good

from India than from Thak Satsae. This development naturally undermined the entire trad

there.

Another complicating factor was the increased lack of security in Thak Khola. Amon

the re fu~eeswas a gro up of ma rtial Tibetan nomads, called Kha m pas , who had provide

the Dalai Lama with protective escort.

They were said to have been suppo rted by th

CIA

as early

s

1956 M anz ard o 1978

46 ,

and between 1960 and

1971

the American



E C O N O M Y A N D SOCIETY

helped them to form a regular contingent of

2000

men in M ustang in order to be able t

carry out attacks in Tibe t. On e of the reasons fo r their failure however is said to hav

been the provisioning an d financial sup por t which function ed to slow ly an d this in a regio

which was overpopulated and underproductive. Tbis led t o th e Kh am pas attackin g an

robbing the rich Thakalis of the region as well as the trading caravans tha t still remained

though they seemed to be highly respected by less well-to-do inhabitan ts of th at are a.

According to Iijirna

1977

: 73-82 ) this menacing development induced the subb

Hitman Sherchan to persuade the Tam ang T hakali population still in Tha k to migrate t

the more secure lower lying regions of Pok har a the Middle R anges Ka thm and u an d th

Terai. Ap art from security his mo tivations were als o naturally the econom ic interests h

was thereby pursuing.

The farflung trading network proved of course useful now to the Tha kalis. Some o

them followed the example of the subba s and settled in Bhairawa/Butw al. H itm an Shercha

set up a rice mill an d oil press in Bhairawa as a family enterprise . Ind ram an Sherc han

after having resided at first in Pokhara

settled down in Kath ma ndu. A wave of migratio

ensued among the Thakalis who struck ro ot s in all of the larger population centers abov

all near towns on the newly constructed road s e. g. Muglin ). According to data supplie

by inform ants as early as

1967

only

20

of the population of Tuk uche were still Tam an

Thakali.

In the whole of Nepal there is

no small gro up equivalent in terms of numbers t

the Tamang Thakalis which has managed to turn the changing social and economic situatio

to their advantage as they have done and d one

in such a radical way as to be led to leav

the region of their ancestral origins. This they had to do in order to maintain their standar

of living. Inhab itants of villages in Tha k Khola oriented chiefly tow ards farming on th

other hand were less dependent u pon t rad e than the me rchants from Tukuche. They survive

the decline of the salt trade without having to reorder their infrastructure greatly

These to o profited later from the expansion of Pokh ara as a marketing center an

from the roads between Pokhara and Kathmandu.

The mule carava ns were now employe

chiefly by the Marphalis and Yhulkasumm is in order to supply Pokh ara with potatoes

cabbage caro ts cauliflower and fruits par ticul arly apples whereas they had previousl

often been rented by the rich Tamang Thakalis ). In this conn ection the significance of th

vegetable and fruit farm established in Marpha in 1 9 6 7 by the government under the supe

vision of Pasang Sherpa should once again be emphasized Fuerer-H aim endorf 1981

200

201 ).



28

T H E T H A K A L IS OF N O R T H W E S T E R N N E PA L

Tra de in vegetables an d fruit ha s by now become so imp ortan t that in

1983, unde

the guidan ce of the United Nations Development Program , storehouses were built

Tuk uche , M arp ha and Jom osom , the latter, if only because of its airpo rt, the present tr

ding center in Mu stang D istrict.

2 4

ourism

Since the opening u p of Nepal following th e assum ption of state power by King Tribh

van in 1951, outside world h as beco m e mo re and more interested in the world's only Hind

kingdom with its old cultures (those of the Licchavis [400 A

D.]

the Thakurs [around 75

A. D.] the M allas [I2001 an d the G urk has [1768], its scenic natu ral beauty an d its manifo

religious life. Nepal became exposed to international tourism.

Th e co un try being in need of foreign exchange, the governmen t began to consciousl

prom ote tourism (the Tou rist Developmen t Com mittee an d Dep artmen t of Tourism wer

established). In 1972, with German support,

a

so-called To uris t Master plan was devised

~ c c o r d i n go statistics, in 1962 exactly 6179 toursis ts visited Nepal, in 1966 as many a s 12,00

an d by 1976 this figure had climbed to a respectable 105,108 tourists. T o round out th

picture,

I

should here like to cite unpublished data in the possession of the journalist

L

Tueting , who put them at my disposal. According to the se data , of the more than 100,00

tourists in 1976; 85,769 were non-Indians, with the rem aind er being Indians, a nd in partic

ular only such as were registered upon entry at the airp ort data from the Immigratio

office). On e can therefore get a n idea of how many add itiona l Indians entered in

buse

without being registered. In 1983

a

total of 179,405 tour ists ar e said to have visited Nepa

of which 129,30 3 persons were non-Ind ian (again only Ind ians who came by ai r counted

Approximately 4000 trekkers applied

fo r a trekking permit (necessary in Nepal for hikin

in the mountains) in 1971, whereas in 1977 the

figure had climbed to 17,231 permits.

1978

the figure increased by

anoth er 30%. According to data from L ueting, in 198

27,460 perm its were issued, in 1981 29,500 and in 1983 as many as

3

1,298 treaking permit

were given out, though it must be mentioned that some visitors to Nepal apply for a trekking

permit without eve r going on a trek, since the issuing of such a permit is cheaper than th

cost of extending one's stay in Nepal. Each year between

20

and 3 0 expeditions into th

Himalaya are approved, and the peaks are generally booked many years in advance.

1 have placed the= data a t the head of this section in order to provide a picture o

the steadily growing tour ist trade, especially trekking tou rism, which has naturally also in

fluenced Thak Kho la, the Jomosom trek, which goes through there, being the most frequ

ently made one in Nepal.



E ONOMY ND

SOCIETY

From Pokhara, this well-known trek in part proceeds directly along the old trad e rout e

passing through Tatopani, Ghasa, Lete, Kalopani, Larjung, Tukuche, Marpha on the way to

Jomosom and, still further, Muktinath, a town in Baragaon which is sacred both to Buddhi-

sts and to Hindus. Entering M ustan g, the region beyond M uktin ath an d Kag beni, is forbi

dden to foreigners. Fro m the beginning of 1974 to

1976

treks could only g o aa far as

a short distance beyond T ato pa ni, the Nepalese government having sen t soldiers to Jomosom

and Mustang in order, from ther e, to proceed against the Kham pas and bring them under

control (in Jomosom are located a training area and barracks fo r troops). Rum ors are stil

floating around concerning this period. The region is said to have been at the time quite

dangerous for trekk ers, an d for this reason was declared a restricted area.

By now the Jom osom tre k has become, along with the trip to M oun t Everest, one o

the most overrun in Nepal, for reasons not the least of which are its scenic attrac tions one

wanders through various terrains and climatic zones

).

Before reaching the ancestral land

of the Thakalis, moreover, one crosses regions inhabited by Gu rung and Mag ars. Tourists

like to go to Thak K hola particularly in the autum n, when the harvest of apples is taken in

Unfortunately, there are only very inexact figures concerning the number of trekkers

in this region.

In 1980, according to Tueting, who obtained her figures from the Im migration O ffice

as many as 14,332 persons are purported to have been on the neighboring Jom oso m, Anna

puma and M anang treks, 10,109 of whom fall within the Jom osom trek. In applying fo

one of these treks , one automatically receives a permit for the othe r two. All along the

hiking routes there are checkposts which verify whether persons are in possession of a permi

and then make a record of the same.

One can therefore later make an approxim ate tally

of how many persons were on the individual treks.

)

In 198 1 thi s figure increased to 17,05

visitors for all three route s, with 14,435 falling within the Jom oso m tre k alone.

In 198

there were 21,119 tourists on the three treks as a whole, though exact data for the Jomosom

trek is still forthcoming. As a comparison, give the figures for the so-called Everest lre k

n

1980, 58

6

and in 1983, 6732 persons traversed the route.

For several villages in Thak Satsae

am able to provide more detailed data concern

ing the number of visitors in lodges small hote ls

)

dur ing the years 1981182; these may

make the picture cleare r.

Since the Thakalia, in their role and me rcha nts, had already accustom ed themselve

to providing overnight lodging facilities, a nd often con struc ted bhat tis for their tradin g

partners small huts where

a

person can drink tea and distilled liquor and, in certain cases



3

TH T H A K A L IS O F NORTH

W E S T E R N

N E P A L

can stay the night , it was no big problem f or them t o mak e the switch to tourists. Man

bha ttis were put to this new use, an d, in additi on, a fair number of Thakali families, onc

they discovered this new source of incom e, opened small hotels an d restaurants.

ne

should n ot, however, thin k of these as establishm ents in the nor ma l sense of the word; suc

an edifice is some times not even identfied as such. Fo r iostance, one may inquire about

restaurant an d then pe rh ap s be requested to eat with the family in question for a few

rupees. Du rlng th e last five years, th oug h, such arr ang em ents have become more seldom. Th

business has become commercialized. Th e ope ning of new facilities has increased with th

increase of tour ists. Now tha t the region is und er intensive cultivation and the fruit an

vegetable far m s are producin g good harvests, the tourists, too , can be better victualed. An

the guests are glad to com e, since the Thaka lis are fam ous for their tasty an d relativel

diversified cuisine, an d ar e also known for their very clean houses.

Th e Thakalis from Syang, Thini and Chim ang come into hardly any contact wit

tourism , a s these villages lie off the trekking ro utes. In 1981 a few Yholkasumlni families

Jom oso m, when asked to, took in tourists. The num ber of hotels in Jom osom is, moreove

rising, especially around the small air po rt. Tourists

must often wait days on end to catch

flight to Pokha ra or Kathm andu: either the weather does not want t o cooperate and th

flight is cacelled o r, since the small machines a re in gen eral regularly booked o ut in advanc

on e mu st sufficiently ap ply one's persuasive powers-a large deno min ation rupee bankno

may be thc only recourse-in orde r to secure one of the two government seats from th

distric t chief. Prices in Jo mosom are in tune with the waiting time s of the trekkers an

soldiers stationed there, i.e. very high.

In Marpha, there were, as of

1981,

exactly th re e lodges; I have been told that th

number has risen since then. There were,

in any case, m ore priva te lodgings, i.e. hous

where one could by asking obtain bed and board.

Tuk uch e boasted in 1981 of eight hotels, a fairly large num ber. At the time,

contrast to Kobang and Larjung, an annual tax of

5-15

of the profit had to be paid

Tukuche and Marpha (according to an informant an official comes once a year from Pokhar

or Baglung to Thak Kho la). In Kob ang are located three hotels with facilities for 10-

persons per house each night. Fo r Larjung my informo tion was more detailed. The

are two lodges. One of the two proprietresses said that

2

trekk ers might put up each nig

duri ng the regular season, whereas in the off sea son, by co ntr ast , the average is tw

tourists. T he second lodge ha d been in existence for only ten mon ths and provided boardin

fo r abo ut 10 persons a night during the regular season. The owner of

the

first hotel told m



ECONOMY ND SOCIETY

that more trekkers come every year, so that she could live very well on what she took in b

this trade. Fro m these earnings she was able to finance the edu cation of three brothers,

In Kalopani there were

three hotels in

1981,

in Lete Khola one

restaurant and on

hotel, an d in Lete itself there was one hotel. T h e own er had sold his yak herd , which

compared to the tourist trade, did no t general enough profit. According to his own accoun

he made an an nu al profit of 40,0 00 rupees

including the profit from his farm

,

20,00

rupees of which she

spen t o n himself an d his family, with the remainder being invested i

dhikuri or , lent ou t on interest. H e kept three employees in the hotel Arangsi Karangsi

Formerly the lodge had been a bhatti.

In Ghasa there were at tha t time fou r hotels, 40-5

tourist are said to have put up each night in the whole of Gh asa du ring the regular season

the most renowned hotel there has been in existence fo r 16 years, the newest is only on

year old, and the othet two have been arou nd for 10 years. On e of the owners told m

that they make

5-6

rupees profit per tourist per day. H e was planning to build a new

house, since he could no longer handle the rush.

also obtained information from Tatopan i, which lies o n the other side of th

climatic bo rde r,

on the southern, subcon tinental side, M any Thak alis migrated there i

winter during the days of the salt trad e, as the climate there is very mild. M oreo ver, th

village also attra cts visitors, including of cou rse tourists, by virtue of its hot sulph ur sp ring

In 198 there were seven lodges in the village, four of which belonged to Tam ang Thak alis

One of them was patronized by about 2 5 guests per day durin g the regular season, eac

accounting for a turno ver of 20-25 rupees. Th e owner told me th at his ann ual prof

amounted to approximately 50,000 rupees, while on the side he tended a small piece of land

It would surely be interesting to know how many hostels are to be found today i

Thak Kho la. Already in 198 1 an d 1983,

a s the figures show, the flow of tourists was enor

mous. So far only minor criminal delicts have been comm itted on the Jom oso m trek

generally they originate with the trekk ers themselves, who leave w ithout having paid o

make off with bed linen o r lamps, as one hotel prop rietress comp lained , Nevertheless, thre

cases of tourists being murdered were registered up to 198 1.

Now that Thak Lhola has again acquired some drawing cards with tourism and agri

culture, the Tam ang Thakalis are beginning to migrate back. It is difficult to app rais

what effect the planned co nstruc tion of a roa d throu gh

Mu stang to Tibet see the chapte

Demography

)

will have on tou rism . Jom oso n; will surely gain influence, and busines

will probably shift with the tourists to L o M antan g M ustan g , which ha s been a for

bidden land

u p

t now. On account of its high-alpine tourism, however, Th ak Kho la wi

surely continue to draw many visitors Dh aulag iri-An nap urna massif .



3

THE THAKALIS

O F NORT

WESTERN NEPAL

2 5

Organization of

Labor

The homogeneity of the Thakalis, particularly the Ta m ang Thakalis and Marphali

has been constan tly emphasized by ethnolo gists. Ap art fro m th e clan structure, it result

above all from the very tightknit fo rm of organiza tion o bta inin g within b oth groups, whic

diffe r from each oth er individually, be it in clan stru ctur e, the social bonds engendere

therefrom or , fo r example, in the historical role of the subb a families in the salt trade.

The form s of labor organization among the Tarnang Thak alis can largely be trace

back to the influ ence of the subba s. W ithout a description of their influence various organ

zational form s am ong the Ta m ang Tha kalis, above all in the administrative sector, woul

be difficult to understand.

D o r Bahadur Bista writes with reference to the first influential subba,

Bal Bir She

chan

(

1 9 7 1

: 56

The suhba w ished t o mak e su re that t he sta tus he had acquired woul

rem ain with his family even af ter his lifetime. H e th us tho ugh t t o gain official recognitio

for his sons.

This he attained by making each year his

official co nt ra ct t o collect duty o

the salt tra de over in the nam e of ano ther of his grown sons, so tha t each received th

lucrative title of subba , By this artifice statu s an d prestng e were transferred to the ma

mem bers of the family in a n alm ost hereditary fashion , bringing them the respected tit

of subba saheb.

But by means of their of6cial statu s the subba s were also able to look after th

interests of the Tam an g Thak alis. Un der their leadersb ip the latter enjoyed the possbility

engaging in trade and, connected with this,

of exploiting other group s, so that the Taman

Thakalis were collectively better off than the other ethnic groups in and around Thak Khol

This endowed In turn the entire gro up of Tarna ng Thakalis with status and prestige. At

th

same time that the subtras were busy strengthe ning their position an d reputation outsi

Thak K ho la, they were bringing about internally new reforms and reorganizations of

communal system Good foreign policy must be supported by a firm internal order

W ithin this reorgan ization, they established

a

so-salled J oin t Cou ncil, consisting

thirteen

ukhiya

(leaders) from various places in Thak Khola (Dor Bahadur Bista

1971:58

Each year, in rota tion , one of these tbirteen was elected the new chairman. The origin

Intention was for the thirteen mukbiyas to be reelected each year by direct vote. In practic

1::ch mu khiya, once elected, tried with his charisma and influence to bold on to the post f

lfc

and if possible, to transfer it to his son. Thus , with the years, this institution becam

hereditary,

Several mem bers of the subba families were naturally also counted among

th

rnuthiya s. La ter , when the su bba s exte nde d their apherc of influence nucceasively into re



llustration

No



llustration

No





l~lltrntlimNo 4



ECONOMY A N D SOCIETY

ons such as Dolpo an d Mu stang, they were n o longer entitled simply mukhiya. Th e mukh

yas for their part began to take their cue mo re and more fro m mem bers of the subbh

families, who acqu ired the special leaders hip title of Chikep even amo ng the Tibeta

population in the north . D o r Bah adu r Bista 1971:58) repo rts tha t the eldest mem bers o

subbha families held the chairmanship a t sessions of the com mun ity council meetings o

the 13 muk hiyas), whereas durin g special events, festivals and ceremonies, a s in media

ting between conflicting parties, it was th e young er sub bha mem bers, th at is sons of th

particular subbhas, who assumed the leadership role. Ap art fro m the usual tasks tradit

onally under the responsibility of village heads in Ne pal, th e muk hiyas of Th ak K hol

consolidated their influence by a variety

of means, Th us they developed a secret organiza

tion whose existence could no t be divulged und er penalty of breach of oath, an d the

introduced their own jurisdiction, binding for all Thak alis. Any one who went again

this and turned, for instance, to the court set up by the Ran as in Da na between Tato pan

and Ghasa) was forced to pay a

fine Fuerer-Haim endorf reports tha t after 1962 only thos

disputes which could not be settled by the muk hiyas were referred to the co urt in Da na

1975 146). M oreo ver, the muk hiyas established a system by which every sale of land o

other transaction had to be registered, until

then the task of the governmentally institute

District Land Registration offices.

Since all these measures had the

force of law, infractio ns against them were severe

punished.

A pa rt from its legislative function, the Co mm unity Cou ncil amalgam ated withi

itself all administrative activities of the Thak Khola region, Mustang and Dolpo.

A system to control crime and gambling was even set up. Un der the guiding han

of the

subbhas o r their go-betweens, the mukhiyas, the Sanskritization of the Tam an

Thakalis was also

pressed forward with. If their culture had previously been und er Tibe ta

and 1.amaist influence, now it was forbidden to wear Tib etan cloth es, t o eat beef, i.e

including yak mea t, and to drink rakshi priva tely distilled liquor). La m as were no longe

allowed to carry out rituals

within househo lds, and the previously ma nda tory consecratio

of the second son t o a life of celibacy was done away with D or Bah adur Bista 1971:59).

The tradition al marriage practice of abducting

the bride was ab and oned in favor o

Hindu rituals. Thakalis were even forced to disown their own language once they go

outside Thak K hola. In additio n, the subbhas spread the legend tha t the Th akalis originall

descended from a king from the west of Nepal, Jumla, who is said to have belonged to th

high Hindu caste of the Tha kuris . Therefore, so the claim, th e Thakalis shou ld really b

called Thakuris and so were mem bers of Hindu society.

By this means the subbhas gaine

access to trading relationships of im po rtan ce to them with established Hin du castes. Th i



4

T H E T H A K A L IS

OF

N O R T H W E S T E R N N E P AL

would never have been possible as Budhists or Bhotyas, whom the Ranas looked down upo

as underprivileged.

As a result of the upw ard

revaluation as

ethnic gro up tha t the Tamang Thakal

underw ent, and from the social an d econom ic advantag es they were able to derive from

this, many of them turned, oftell unconsciously, into faithful vassals of the subbhas. Th

Subbh as atte m pte d, f or exam ple, t o ope n up better educationa l opportunities for the

folk, with children from the more well-to-do families being sent to Kathm andu, India an

later even in to cou ntries outs ide Asia, som ethin g extreme ly difficult during the period o

the R anas , who allowed the privilege of a good e ducation only to special favorites of their

(Fuerer Haimendorf 1975 147, 148).

Th e intern al council of the mukliiyas ha s continued up to the present to exercise

relatively larg e influence on decision s affecting th e Ta m an g Tha kalis (e. g. building bridge

laying road s). S o it is tha t the Arangsi KarHogsi in Tukuche, for example, even though i

th e majo rity there after m any Ta m an g Thakalis left the town after 196 2, did not manag

t o gain control of the top positions of the pan cha yat system instituted in 1951 Fuere

Haimendorf 1981 178 ). Of the eleven seats in the Local Coun cil they hold eight, bu

Ta m an g Thakalis of the old a nd wealthy families still retain the titles of chairman and vice

chairman, In the Kob ang panc hayat, t o which Larjung also belongs, only Tamang Thakl

are represented, even though more ~ r a n g s i arZngsi than Thakalis l ive in Larjung.

One may conclude that with the years, by means

of skilled tactics combined with

policy of conforming t o Hindu ideas, the subbha s have managed to bring about an inte

twining of legislature, adm inistr ation a nd judicial authority. This nexus of power may eve

at times have supported the efforts of the subbhas after 1 9 2 5 to found an autonomou

state; bu t the matte r was not debated publicly, as this would naturally no t have been to

lerated by the Nepalese governm ent (D or Bahad ur Bista 1971 56).

(The subbh as at th

time perh aps made this m ove in ord er to direct attention away from internal problems and

so achieve unity. have difficulty imagining th at the Rana regime would not have defen

ded

itself against such

a

proc lam ation with a show of force.) One sees , in summ ary, th

extent to which Tamang Thakali society was dependent upon the subbhas.

2 5

1 The organization of labor among the Tamang Thakalis

According to statements by Tamang Thakalis and informants, though somewhat

cant

radictory, pa rt of the village com mun ity belongs t o the so-called kur y (Nep. household)

No rmally each househo ld sends a represen tative to the kuriyii, where, in their own mutua

interest, agreem ents are reached concernin g comm on affairs of the village, such as the orga



ECONOMY ND

SOCIETY

nization of the irrigation system and the superin tenden ce of wood land s,

Kleinert, i

referring to the village of Tag lung, rem ark s One ma n app oint ed by the village com mu nit

is responsible fo r the water supply system. H e keeps watch over the c ondition of th

system and is authorized t o employ villagers fo r necessary repair work

(1973

62). F o

this purpose each household m ust, in general, m ake available on e laborer or pay a cas

compensation.

The same system is

also employed fo r the other comm unal services, suc

as improving lanes and bridges or repairing or constructing mills.

The

marr ied couples, whose children have already married a nd officially starte

their own families, and ar e consequently indepe ndent households, are generally exclude

from the kuriya, since they are considered too old and

feeble to put their labor into com

munity affairs. They belong to the so-called phadke group, as do immigrants, such

Bhoytas from Baragaon and

M ustang , a s well as the occupational Hindu castes of th

dim ai, sarki and ka m i, who work for the Thakalis a s tailors, cobblers and blacksmiths. I

Kobang, two Tarnang Thakali couples who had imm igrated from L arjung and Nap hrungko

also belonged to it; they had first to establish themselves over a period of years befo

taking up responsibilities within the kuriya.

Since, unlike the Maw atans, the Tam ang Thakalis have not introduced a so-calle

pension age (see Cha pte r 2.

6. , families generally keep sending on e laborer to the kuriy

until one of the

sons assumes responsibility fo r the household, an d the parents, retirin

into the phadke, a re no longer compelled to discharge such obligations.

If the parents ar

unable to reach an agreement with the sons, then they are forced either themselves t

provide the kuriya with labor or to find someone to take their place.

But whether a house

hold of Tam ang Thakalis belongs to the phad ke or the kuriya, it is always able to m ake i

views known during town meetings. received reports from Koban g t o the effect tha

even members of the phadke, such as damai, sarki and kami, supply laborers to the villag

communily, even though they d o no t belong to the kuriya. In Kalo pani an d Taglung

members of both the kuriya and phad ka must provide laborers to the comm unity, bu

members of the phad ke who do not own fields need not do so. In Larju ng, in contras

even a household of the phadke which owns no land must d o work for the comm unity

In Lete, according to statements by informants,

bhatti and botel owners pay 3-50 rupees t

the comm unity; normally e ach household pays taxes to the Jill; Panc hayat in Jom osom .

The kuriyi meets in general twice

a

year, after the harvests, and consists in Kalo

pani, by way of an example, of a mukbiya (usually a hereditary post),

four assistants, wh

are called locobar one of whom is appointed yearly to share leadership with the mukhiya ,

general secretary (N ep , bahidar an d two so-called kund al (overseers).

The job of th



6

T H E T H A K A L I S OF N O R T H W E S T E R N N EP AL

kund al is to watch over th e irrigation of fields an d to mon itor the felling of trees,

If a

inha bitan t of the village inten ds t o ch op wood, he must ask permission from a locobar

otherwise be prep ared t o pay a fine. Norm ally house holds are obligated to drive bir

from the fields f they fail to d o so they mu st again face paying a fine to one of th

locobars.

Th e semi-m igrants am on g the Ta m an g Thak alis, even though having landed proper

in Th ak, need no longer send a represen tative to the kuriyii. In Kalop ani, however, the

mus t send a kun dal if the lot falls t o them; if they fail to d o so they must pay fines of u

t o 200 300 rupees.

2 5. 2

The organization of labor among the Mawatans

In M arp ha, in spite of the panch ayat system instituted by King Ma hend ra in 19

(M ar ph a Syang an d Ch hair o belong t o one gaon pan chaya t), the traditional village organ

zation was for the most par t retained. It

is based o n a system of elected village represen

atives from the four clans rsho, Fuerer-Haimendorf 1981 18 ; in Michael Vinding

c

1981 211) int o which the Maw atans are subdivided.

Once a Year, during a meeting (hyul jompa) of the village assembly, a leader, the s

called thumi, is elected for one year from each of the four clans, After the year is up he ma

be reelected. There a re contra dicto ry statem ents in Vinding and Fuerer-Haimendorf concer

ing the function of the four thumis. The latter reports (198

1

182) One of the four thum

is chosen a s ch airm an, now known by the N epali ter m m ukhiya. His position is not attractiv

for the inukhiya is under the obligation to

st ay through out the year in Marpha, while oth

thum i may go o n trad ing journey s dur ing winter when the majority of the villagers ha

left for the middle ranges or lowland s. Th e thum i and particularly the mukhiya supervi

the work of eight othe r village officials known as utshow a , who act a s messengers an

guardians of public order.

Two of the tshowa are described as

tsilowa , an d on e of the

acts as village accou ntant while the othe r organ izes the work of the remaining tshowa. The

take turns in the discharge of these duties, one tshowa working every eighth day. The tshow

are appointed in

rotation from the landowning inha bitan ts of M arpha (kuria), and an

tshowa who leaves the village when his term of duty comes must provide a substitu te or P

a fine. Michael Vinding describes the thum i in the following way (1981 212 ) ''No

the headm en function accord ing to a rotatin g system, so that each sits for forty-five da

during the winter an d for forty-five days during the sum me r as the village headman.

arrangement has been made so that the headmen have a chance of going to the south fo

business du rin g the winter. Th e headm en are assisted by ten village workers (chow a). =be



E C O N O M Y A N D SOCIETY

3

also see that the village law is respected especially th at stray anim als in the flelds ar e caugh

and their owners punished. The schowa sit fo r on e year an d the dut y is taken in turn b

the villagers.

The term

rnltichen

also turns up in Vinding; it refers to eight experienced and respecte

members of the community who are appointed as mediators by the fo ur thumis from the

respective clans. The eight m edia tors mh ichen

)

sit fo r a period of one year and serve i

case of conflict, give the headmen advice on important matters and check the accounts whe

the headmen rotate Vinding 98

2 2

).

I

was told in

1981

in M arpha still an other version, namely tha t, in rotation, two clan

send to chowas each and the oth er two clans three chowas each t o the village

council-i.e.

altogzther ten chowas. The meeting a re held in the village house o r in anoth er public place

One of ten chow as is elected by the counc il as org aniz er of the chow as the so-calle

ming r

),

and two are appointed

chilawa

in Fuerer-Haimendrof tsilow

) ,

a kind of gene

ral secretary who, apart from finances,

sees to the collection of outstan ding fines as a

example an owner must pay a fine when he fails to

notice that

his livestock is damagin

other's fields o r seed

).

I was further told that one delega te from each household must b

present at the village meeting as

represen tative of his cla n. This meeting takes place twic

a year, in August and in November,

What is particularly striking in M arp ha, as compared to the Tam ang T hakalis an

Yhulkusummis, is how fused cla n, household and village organization are. The re a house

hold bas certain rights an d duties vis-a-vis the com mu nity, as , for exam ple, the obligatio

to send a delegate to the com munal

meeting, and the dut y to perform work for the villag

organization

such as the repair of irrigation canals ). These rights and duties depend

among other things, upon the individual social statu s of the households

and upon whethe

they own land. M oreove r, only households with a t least one male mem ber aged between

1

and 6 1 may send a representative to the village meeting.

Strict regulations of this sort ar

found only am ong the Maw atans,

At

the age of

61

I

was told, the head of a household in M ar ph a, generally the fathe

must divide his property between him self an d his sons. He goes officially in to retireme n

and no longer needs to furnish his services to the com munity. His son s, however, w ho unt

then had offically belonged to their father's hou seh old , mu st now officially st ar t new house

holds of their own hence the division of property ). If one son, usually the youn ges

remains behind with the parents, he need not provide service to the Co uncil villag

Community or village assembly

),

since hc is engaged in taking care of his par ent s unt

their death.

In this case the father

remains the head of the household, with the son assu



8

THE TH K LIS OF NO RTH WESTERN NEP L

ming this function a fter his demise. If , fo r example, a fa the r has four sons after his retir

ment a t

61

who are old enough, three of them must provide services to the village assembl

an d one remains with the parents. W ere the son remaining with the parents to break awa

officially from the household i. e, start a new one of his own , then he too would hav

t o furnish his services to the Council. In this way the division of a household, apart fro

the care of the elderly, also serves the village org aniz ation , wbich gains a working forc

from i t .

Th e gr ou p of sem i-migrants, tha t is, who still hold pro per ty in M ar ph a, must ful

lheir duties towards

the coun cil by providing labor. Th us they either send paid workers

come up to Marpha themselves

from their new residence. Thos e without prope rty or poss

ssions-who have migrated permanently-no longer have any obligations towards th

community.

2. 5 3 The organization

of

labour among

the

Thakalis of Thini Syaeg and Chirnang

T he Thak alis from Syang, Thini an d Ch ima ng each have a differently organiz

village assembly, though charge d with tasks similar to those found among the Mawatan

Since the Yhulkasummis have ten clans an d lineages with various subdivisions (often cont

ining only a few mem bers), in Thini and Syang it seemed advisable to form two organiz

tional gro ups of patrilineal descent : the phajan thowa ( ~ i b . thowa=big) and phaja

cyangpa (Thak cya ngp a=s ma ll). Phajan thowa of Syang includes syantan phobe (clan

pasin thowa phobe an d pasin cyang pa phob e, while phajan cyangpa includes saker phob

jhisin phobe, che phobe, and phobe and mhacya parpa phobe. Phajan thowa of Thin include

born phobe, gam sone phob e, scrane phobe, chuku

phobe and the lineage gampa dampa

gyabcan phob e, while ph aj ln cyangpa inclubes jhisin phobe, pai san te pho be, cham dhorc

pho be, ga m kemi phob e, pal phob e an d the liceage gam sone phobe of gyabcan phobe

(Vinding 1981

:

21

6 .

Forme rly an an nu al assem bly (hyul jompa) was held in Thini dur ing wbich a villa

head (gam pa ), his representative (thyumi) an d eigh t me diato rs (mhichen) were electe

Fu rth er, fou r village servan ts (chowa) were elected from each phajan. But this tradition

political system has now been replaced by the national political panchayat system.

In Syang, the traditio nal village organization exists side by side with the panchay

system . T he village assem bly (hyul jompa) meets in the middle of Aug ust, an d the membe

of phajan towa nominate

a village head (thyumi) for two years from the phajan cyangp

and vice versa. Th e thyumis are con sulted, for example, in cases of divorce and when prob

lems arise in dividing up property , but there were only two such cases dur ing the last



E C O N O M Y A N D S O C IE T Y

years. Moreover, thre e village serv ants chowa) each are appointed from the phajan; the

attend-in rota tion fo r the period of a year,

as in the case of the Mawatan-to such thing

as irrigation, the protection of fields from animals etc. I was told that each household sends

representative to the village assembly who, in case of need , must put his time a t its dispos

to do work on rep airs an d th e like.

It

is only Syang fo r which I am aw are that a person ther

who officially sta rts a new

household need not assum e any duties in the village assembly o

stand for election as chow a, The adva nta ge of this is that on e can devote himself exclusive

to improving his economic status and to stabilizing his new household.

The political village organization in Chim ang differs fro m that in Thin i an d Syan

Since there are only two clans in Chimang , namely kya phobe, th e clan of the ayalam

(see chapter Religion1')-i.e. the prie sts an d gyalgi pho be, the village head (the thyum

is elected from the latte r clan , as priests are not in general supposed to have anything t

do

with political decisions.

But as

I

have been told , there has not officially been any thyum i in Chim ang sinc

the national panchayat system was introduced by King Mahendra.

The village, which is sma ller than the o ther tw o, still continu es,

however, to delega

authority to three village servants c h o ~ v a )who are elected in rotatio n from each household

Along with their norm al duties, they see to it tha t the villagers ar e kept inform ed of th

panchayat; they also impose monetary fines in cases where village regulations ar e tran s

gressed, e. g. cutting down trees without notice or permission. Due to the influence of nearb

Tukuche and to the fact tha t it belongs to the Tukuche gaon panchayat, the chowas ar

often called, as they are anlong the Tamang Thakalis, kundals.

Chimang also has the regulation that the head of a

household must retire a t age

61

The ceremony is performed by the village

assembly and is called in Tha kali rhar chgung

Here, however, there is nothing compelling the grown-up sons officially to star t their ow

households afterw ards in ord er fo r the village assembly to be able to recruit new representa

tives, as is the practice amon g the Maw atans. Gro wn -up sons are still able t o remain in th

house of the fath er, i.e. to form

a

single joint househ old,

which has only to supply on

laborer to the community.

2 5

4 The organization of laboar among Thakali women

Comm on to all three group s of Thakalis are women's organizations.

A

distinction mus

be made between the so-called political organizations an d associatio ns of a m ore privat

nature. The latter are called weyme a Thak ali word meaning old women.'' Th e

women of

village come together for these more or less obligatory meetinge, held principally in the sprin



8

THE TH K LIS O NORTH WESTERN NEP L

ming this function after his demise. If , fo r example, a fathe r has fou r sons after his retire

ment a t 61 who are old enough, three of them must provide services to the village assembl

an d one rema ins with the parents. W ere the son remaining with the parents to break awa

officially from the household i. e, sta rt a new on e of his ow n

,

then he too would hav

to furnish his services to the Council. In this way the division of a household, apart from

the care of the elderly, also serves the village organ izatio n, wbich gains a working forc

from it.

Th e group of semiamigrants, tha t is,

who still hold prop ert y in M ar ph a, must fulf

their duties towards

the council by providing lab or, Th us they either send paid workers

come up to M arpha themselves

from the ir new residence. Th ose without prop erty or poss

ssions-who have migrated permanently-no longer have an y obligations towards th

community.

2.

5

3

Th e organization of labour among the Thakalis of Thini Syang and Chimang

Th e Thak alis from Syang, Thini an d Chim ang ezc h have a differently organiz

village assembly, though charge d with tasks similar to those found among the Mawatan

Since the Yhu lkasummis have ten clan s an d lineages with various subdivisions (often cont

ining only a few mem bers), ia Thini an d Syang it seemed advisable to form two organiz

tional gro ups of patrilineal descent : the phajan thowa (Tib.

:

thowa=big) and phaja

cyangpa (Thak yang pa=sm all). Phajan thowa of Syang includes syantan phobe (clan

pasin thowa phobe and pasin cyang pa phob e, while phajan cyaogpa includes saker phob

jhisin phobe, che phobe, and phobe and mhacya parpa phobe. Phajan thowa of Thin include

bom phobe, gam sone phobe,

scrane phobe, chuku phob e an d the lineage gam pa dampa

gyabcan phobe, while p h a j ~ n yaogpa inclubes jhisin phobe, pai sante phob e, cham dhorc

phob e, ga m kemi phobe, pal phobe an d the liceage gam sone pho be of gyabcan phobe

(Vinding 1981 216).

Forme rly an an nu al assem bly (hyul jompa) was held in Thini dur ing wbich a villag

head (gam pa ), his representative (thyumi) an d eigh t me diato rs (mllichen) were electe

Fu rth er , four village serv ants (chorva) were elected from each ph aja n, But this tradition

political system has now been replaced by the national political panchayat system.

In Syang, the traditional village organization exists side by side with the panchay

system. Th e village assembly (hyul jompa)

meets in the midd le of August, an d the membe

of phajan towa nom inate a village head (thyumi) fo r two years from the phajan cyangp

and vice versa. Th e thyumis are consulted, for example, in cases of divorce and when pro

lems arise in dividing up proper ty, but there were only two such cases dur ing the last tw



E C O N O M Y N D S O C IE T Y

years. Moreover, thre e village serv ants chowa) each are appointed from the phajan; the

atteod-in rota tion fo r the period of a year, as in the case of the Maw atan-to such thing

as irrigation, the protection of fields from animals etc. I was told that each household sends

representative to the village assembly who, in case of nee d, mu st p ut his time a t its dispos

to do work on repairs and the like. I t is only Syang for which I am awa re that a person the

who officially sta rts a new

household need not assum e any duties in the village assembly o

stand for

election as chowa. Th e advan tage of this is that on e can devote himself exclusive

to improving his economic status and to stabilizing his new household.

The political village organization in Ch iman g differs fro m that in Thin i an d Syan

Since there are only two clans in Chimang , namely kya phobe, th e clan of the ayalam

(see chapter Religion1')-i.e. the priests an d gyalgi pho be, the village head (the thyum

is elected from the latter clan, as priests ar e not in genera l supposed to have anythin g t

do with political decisions.

But as

I

have been told,

there has not officially been any thyum i in Chim ang sinc

the national panchayat system was introduced by King Mahendra.

The village, which is smaller than the o the r two, still continu es,

however, to delega

authority to three village servants cho~va)who are elected in rotation from each household

Along with their norm al duties, they see to it that the villagers ar e kept informed of th

panchayat; they also impose monetary fines in cases where village regulations ar e tran

gressed, e. g. cutting down trees w ithout notice o r permission. D ue to th e influence of nearb

Tukuche and to the fact th at it belongs to the Tukuche gao n panchayat, the chowas ar

often called, as they are anlong the Tamang Thakalis, kundals.

Chimang also has the regulation that the head of a

household must retire a t age

61

The ceremony is perform ed by the village assembly and is called in Tha kali thar chgung

Here, however, there is nothing compelling the grown-up sons officially to start their ow

households afterwards in order f or the village assembly to be able to recruit new representa

tives, as is the practice am ong the Maw atans. Gro wn -up sons are still able to remain in th

house of the fa the r, i.e. to form a

single joint household, which has only to supply on

laborer to the community.

2.

5 4 The organization of laboar among Thakali women

Comm on to all three group s of Thakalis are women's organizations. distinction mu s

b t made between the so-called political organizations an d associatio ns of a m ore privat

nature. The latter are called weyme a Thakali word meaning old women. Th e women o f

village come together for these more or less obligatory meetings, held principally in the sprin



4

THE THAKALIS OF NO RTH WESTERN NEPAL

an d au tum n, in a different friend s hou se eacb tim e, in order t o discuss together village an

family affairs, to spin and weave together an d t o enjoy good food and drink. Usually th

hostess is presented with s ma ll gifts, In eac b case it i s th e eldest wom an of a household wh

takes part in the weyme.

In additio n, according to stat em en ts by inf orm an ts, wom en s organizations have bee

in existence in the individual villages since 1979; called mahila sangathan in Nepali, they a

concerned with public affairs, above all with

tak ing a stan d again st gambling with dice an

card s, during which the men often lose huge sum s of money an d belongings. One of

m

informa nts ascribed the foun ding of these organizations t o the influence of a nd contact

wi

Hin du society. Interestingly enough , the w omen s organizations am ong the Tam ang Thakal

in Tukuche, Kobang and Chimang though the statements were contradictory

,

as oppose

to those in Marpha, Thini, Syang and am ong the Tamang Thakalis from K i n g chhi Mirp

were not able to put a sto p to play. It is only permitted to play d uring Tihar, as in the re

of Nepal, but not during the imp ortan t holidays of To ren Lh a and Dasain.6 If someon

violates this proh ibitio n, in Syang he is put in jail, in M arph a he must pay 500 rupees

fin

and in Kalopani the household where play took place must pay 300 rupe es, an d each partic

pant

90

rupees fine. It is particularly in Tuku che that th e passion fo r gam bling is prevale

amo ng the male population, which may be explained, am ong othe r reasons, from the fa

that they have enough free time having in general

sufficient money a t the ir disposal, the

let others d o their work for them.@

2 5 5

orther

forms of organization

Apart from the above-mentioned ones there are further forms of cooperation

i n

a

three groups. Among these is the so-called

gusari

Under the gusari system sheep, goats, yak

and mules from various households are brought together into herds and kept as commo

prop erty. Th e participa ting househo lds divide up pro fit from th e sale of wool and milk an

com pensate for dam age caused by the herds in accordanc e

with the number of animals the

have contributed to the gusari.

A

new-born animal is regarded as common property, and th

death of an an im al affec ts all m emb ers of the gusari. It is usually brothers and clos

relatives who form such an association.

Ano ther form of cooperative arises from the possibility of having a herdsman ten

the animals of various households, not as

com m on property but as continuing to belong

t

their own ers. Un der this form of gusari cominon co sts , such as the herdsm an s wages

are apportioned according to one s share of livestock. Profits from the sale of milk

or

woo

are entered in the records

by

household and not in common.



llustntSonNo

5







flastrationNo 2



6

E C O N O M Y A N D S OC IE TY

A

special form of labor organization exists among young Mawatan and Yhulkasumm

women, and more seldom am ong Ta m an g Thakali wom en. It is similar t o the gusari. Eac

year during the winter a considerable num ber of young women journey to the M iddle Ran

ges south of Thak Kho la, where they run sm all restau rants a nd hotels (bhattis) for , in som

cases, as long as half a year. Some of these women are the only female migrato rs of thei

households to go sou th. They run these hotels usually with a close friend o r relative. Profit

and expences ar e share d evenly. They live fro m the mo ney they make in com mon . Vindin

(1979180

38) reports concerning the wornen the w omen in these tem pora ry, joint ente

rprises share all work and all expenses, Th e women like the people takiog pa rt in gusari

are usually relatives. For example, the husbands of two sisters had a herd of mules together

as gusari, while one of the sister s ope rated

a

bha tti together with her sister's husband '

sister.

A

further organizational form are the temporary labor groups formed in most Thakal

villages at harvest tim e. On e or two me mb ers fro'm vario us hou seho lds (usually women

come together, working in comm on in the fields of the individual mem bers of th e gro up b

turns uotil each field has been harvested.

Finally, should like once more to emp hasize the significance of the form s of poli

tical and economic organization described abo ve, which make clear the differences of the

three Thakali grou ps, Surely one of the reasons, fo r example, why the governme nt set up a

fruit and

vegetable farm in Marpha was

the model tightknit organization there, whereas in

the region around Tukuche a certain am oun t of lethargy and disregard fo r the existing

organizations set in following the emigration of the influential families after 1962. A t presen

there is less known concerning the exact form s of cooperation in Thini, Syang and Chiniang

than am ong the Maw atans and Talnang Thakalis.

Thus one looks forward to further infor

mation about these villages from Michael Vinding, who has spent a long time in the region.

2.5.6 he dhikuri system

A Dhiku r is a type of nonkin rotating credit association forme d among friends and

acquaintances who have similar financial needs an d interests. Tho ugh the Th akali s claim

that the dhikuri system, or dhuku ti system, originated with them, according to Messersch-

midt, this is doubtful.

The systetn was p robably introduced by Bhotyas o r Tibetans.

Its

etymology,

in

any case, is to be sought in Tibetan Tib bru- sko r-ba, pro nou nced like

dru-k' or-ba, from which the old Thakali term for dhik ur, namely dhu khor, is derived ;

grain rotating tur n by turn, Messerscbmidt 973

155

.

Informants state that the first dhikuri systems centered on wheat and barley, and that



42

TH E TH A K A LIS

OF

N O R T H WESTER N N EPAL

t

was only later, after trade in kind had fallen off, that monetary dhikuris developed. Thes

la t ter

could be found in Thak Khola

from the end of the 19th century.

Nevertheless, th

grain and stock dhikuris have continued to exist up to the present.

It was among the Tamang Thakalis, above all, that the dhikuris were built up into an

imp orta nt economic com pone nt of their social system, M anz ard o describes the importanc

the dhikuri principle had in cons olidating the trad ing netw ork of migrated Tamang Thakali

in Nepal

1 9 7 8

9 8 ) 'The settlement of the Thak alis in Po kha ra and the movements from

there to Ka thm and u an d Bhairawa in the Ta rai in the early 19 60 's represents the final an

most complex stage in the crea tion o f the T hakalis' business empire in Nepal an d presents a

examples of how social lineages through dhikur are used both financially and organizationll

to increase Thakali cooperation and profits.

Th e m igration t o P okh ara an d the presence o

dhikur there has enabled many Thak Sat Sae Thakalis to recover from

their losses after th

close of the salt trade.

Basically, the dhik ur represents a system of credit

consisting of a num ber of shar

holders who at a certain predetermined point in time bring together into a com lnon fund

certain predeterm ined a m ou nt of m oney, grain o r livestock, depe nding up on the form agree

upon in advanc e, Th e person who called th e dhiku ri into being is the one who first receiv

this fund, since he generally needs the reserves fro m th e fu nd a s investment capital. H

need no t pay any money into tbe fund, as he is the first person to receive it. No mo

than he do any of the following fund takers pay the predetermined sum.

The shareholders of a dhik uri dra w up exactly form ulate d articles on how muc

money each person has to pay in and over what period of time the dhikuri is to contin

in existence.

Th e idea behind the system is to provide its mem bers with investment aid, as, f

example, in starting a new business , F or this reason the dhik ur system is of particul

impo rtance fo r the migrated Thakalis.

In order for the system to be fair for

the following an d final sha reho lders who ha

a right to the dhikuri fu nd , with each new round a predetermined

additional sum must b

paid into the fund.

shall illustrate this by mea ns of a n example It was agreed amo

eleven shareh olders who meet once a year that each had to pay 1 0 0 rupees into the fun

10 rupees was fixed in advance as th e additional yearly increm ental sum for the comi

fu nd s. At the first meeting, therefore, ten shareholde rs pay in 1 rupees each, produci

a total of

1 9

rupees, which is turned over to the ,hareholder (and f oun der of the dhiku

who did not p y 1 0 0 rupees into the fund this time round fund taker . After one Ye

the eleven shareho lders meet again, an d the first fund taker an d nine othe r members ea



ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

4

pay 100 rupees an d 1 0 rupe es increment-i. e. 1 1 0 rupe es - nto the fund . This yields a

together 1 100 rupees, which is handed over to the second fund taker.

In the third yea

ten shareholders each pay 1 10 rupees plus 1 0 rupees increment; the third fund taker rece

ves the amou nt of 1 2 0 0 rupe es.

After ten years, therefore, the last dhikuri shareholders-

the eleventh fund taker-receives 2 00 0 rupees, an d with that the dhik ur is term inated .

In the ab ov e example the fund was paid out yearly, but the shareholders

could hav

chosen a different time spa n, e,g . twice a year, as is custo ma ry am on g the Th akalis.

Th

final fund take r enjoys, on t he who le, financ ial benefits : he receives more than he pays in

but the time he had to wait is correspondingly long, and this is his reward.

N o r ~ i ~ a l l yhe f irs t fund takers are

always the money borrowers, an d the last fun

takers the mo ney lenders.

The norm al case is fo r a dhiku r to consist of 20 to 3 0 members Messerschmidt ha

also discovered dhikuris with

63

and 105 members ). The largest sum realized up to presen

was over 52,000 rupees, though

a

dhikuri with 100,000 rupe es starting capital is in th

planning stages to be op era ted by rich Tam ang Th akali merchants .

Both men and women may participate

in

th e dhikuri. Women who are not well o

financially often acqu ire a sponso r who lends them th e necessary capital, Social an d eco

nomic responsibility are criteria which ten ded to limit mem bership to adults, but particip a

tion by young people is not ruled out;

a

father may spo nso r his child, o r a n elder brothe

his youoger sibling M esserschmidt 19 73

:

1 4 4

) .

An administrator and

a

secretary, generally perso ns enjoying the trus t of all share

holders, are appointed during the formation of the dhikuri.

They see that the meeting fixe

in advance proceed in an orderly ma nn er and tha t the sums are paid ou t to the dh ikur

members. M ost dhikuris-excepting sma ll associations-lay down th e co ndition th at eac

Person taking pa rt in them must supply a gua rantor to step in fo r him in case he is no

able to pay himself.

The actual course of a dhikuri and the rotation of the shareholders is fixed in advance

either the fund is paid out according to the needs an d economic statu s of the individua

members, or lots are drawn or dice cast.

The Thakalis have elaborated different variations of the dhikuri system, as , for exam

ple, the so-called slti u o r

the social fund, which Messerschmidt 1 9 7 3

: 15

f.

)

and

Vinding

1 9 8 4 :

86 9

)

have described in detail.

According to what I have been told, the migrated Tha kalis began initiating dhik uri

With increasing frequency, even with me m be rs of ot he r ethn ic gro up s, som ething tha t had



44

THE THAKALIS OF N OR TH W ESTERN NEPAL

occurred in Thak Khola only seldom. In Pokhara,

the decis ion has since been made by th

local Tam ang Thak ali organ ization not t o sta rt up officially any m ore dhikuris, since

recent years som e of the sha reholde rs have app aren tly often committed themselves beyon

their means and become unable to pay. Th is is in pa rt due t o the practice some Thakal

have of participating in many dhikuris at one time.

2 6

The Structure of the Household among the Thakalis

2 6 1 The household

The household Th ak. mohme ) among Thakalis is the place where househol

memb ers reside, work an d e at, a nd where the fruits o f labo r an d property of individual hous

hold membrs are gathered in order to

satisfy their ma terial needs. M em brs of household

mo reover, represent the mo st im po rta nt gr ou p of property o wner s in Thak ali society. Lan

animals, capital and labor are controlled by the household. In comparison, religious organiza

tions, i.e. Bud dhist mo nasteries an d temples, kin gro ups such as the patrilineal descen

groups, the

n i

mah syah an d th e village organization see the chapter on labo r and villag

organization ) ar e in possess ion of a relatively sm all po rtio n of the land an d capital Vindin

terms the mohm e the

most important social economic group of the Thakali society

1980 2 1

).

Prope rty channeled into the household continues to be in the legal possession of

th

individuals who add ed it to the household, Any income from such prope rty o r possession

however, is divided in common among the members of the household.'

A

household is gove

ned by the head of the household,

usually the father. W hat is imp orta nt is the fact th

decisions conce rning the use contributed pro per ty is pu t to can only be made with th

consent of other adult members of the household. ne case is known of a Thakali man wh

sold for 8 rupees the house inhe rited fro m his fathe r, an d in which he an d his fami

lived, without informing his wife of the

transaction. She was justifiab ly very angry, main

because she would bave asked much more for the house . She let the buyer know of h

inten tion t o bring the case before the village head in orde r to nullify her husband's decisio

for reasons of his having acted without her knowledge or consent. But were the buyer to Pa

an additional 1 rupees he could have the house. This sum he decided to pay.

In gen eral, Thaka lis only conclude con tracts when they know that their opposite h

discussed the transaction with the adult members of his household.

2 6 2 The

order of residence

Ma nzardo notes concerning the choice residence am ong Thakalis 1977

68

) Th

Byanshi d o retain some of the features noted

in both Thak ali and Sherp a society,

name



E C O N O M Y A N D

SOCIETY 4

the nebulous freedom from joint fa mily control as nuclear families are form ed at marriag

through neolocal marriage pattern . ....

Vinding con fron ted him with his results, publishe

in 1979180, conce rning th e choice of residence ma de by newly marrie d Th aka li couples

Starting from the fact that M anzard o's statem ents concern ing the neolocal ordering o

residency

(

oriented towards Murdock

[

1949

6

]

are that newlyweds choose their plac

of residence independently of the pa ren ts of either of them , V inding shows, with reference t

85

Thakali couples from Th ak Kho la, tha t afte r their ma rriage 94 of them set up house i

the household the husband was a member of before the marriage took place. This percentag

comes to 80 couples from all three groups of Thakalis.

Residence Pattern

Yhulkasummi Tantang Mawatan Tota

The couple stayed, one month after their

Wedding, in

The Husband s Former Household 2 6

4 0 1 4 8

husband's father's household

husband's own household

husband's own household including husband's

first wife

1

0

husband's e lder brother's h ousehold

1

Own Separate Household in Husband s Village

0 1 1

Own Separate Household in Wife s Village

0

Their Natal ~o~seho1d.v

2 0

Total

2

9 4 5 8

-

* From Vinding 1979180.

In

55

cases the couple settled down in the household of the father of the husband

In cases the wife moved into the househ old of the husba nd, which the latte r had set up

before his ma rriage independen tly of his fath er.

These cases involve

only seldom divorce

persons or widowers.

The husbands were either already old or had founded the new house

hold in their younger years aft er the death o f their fath er, an d had only ma rried afterwards

In one case the newly ma rried couple settled down in the household of th e husba nd's e lde

brother, and in another case the husband already had a first wife, so that the second wif

he had just married was integrated into the already existing household.

Only three coup les set up a completely new household, that is, one where the hus

band was not previously a mem ber.

As an example, Vinding cites the case of a coupl



6

THE THAKALIS OF NO RT H WESTERN NEPAL

which settled dow n in the village where the wife had previously lived with her parents, b

which started their ow n household instead o f moving in with the wife's pa ren ts. This coup

represents an exception, in th at no rm ally a c ouple does no t reside in the village of the wife

paren ts but in th at o f the husb and 's. This rule is obviously interconnected with the pa

rilineal inheritance system . I t will be interesting in th e fu tur e to see if a change in th

inheritan ce system enab ling daughter s also to get a sha re of the land is associated with th

change in the residence pattern an d the household forms (Vinding

1979180 : 33).

Vinding discovered two cases am on g th e Yhulkasum mis in which even after the

marriage the husband and wife each lived in

the household o f his o r her own parents an

only later lived together,

T his setu p is based on the custom of the Yhulkasummis to da

their da ug hte rs d o work in their own house cfte r marriage. This custom has since be

officially bann ed. In

1974

the Yhulkasum mis reached an agre em ent tha t anyone violatin

this ban would be fined

5 0

rupees.

2 6 3 Types of household

In what follows

I

wish to set fo rth the re sults of an investigation by Vinding concer

ing the various types of household am on g the three gro up s of Thakalis. These result8

collected between 1972 and 1978.

I

was able

t o conv ince myself of the accuracy of h

findings during my later visits t o Th ak Kh ola. Un til then no other ethnologist had dea

with this topic so exhaustively as he had.

He counted in the whole of Thak Khola a total of

6 4 0

Thakali households of all thre

grou ps, an d included every fifth household within his study.

As the table shows, Vindin

subdivides the households into

four different main categories

:

single , nuclear , join

an d ''special cases, with nuclear and joint hoaseho lds unde rgoing fur ther subdivision

Distribution of Household Types*

Yhulkasummi Tamang Mawatan Total

Single Households

7 (15.2 )

5

9'8 )

8(33.3 ) 20(16*5 )

Ntrclear Household 2 8 (60.9 )

34 (66.7 )

12(50e0 ) 74(6 1.2 )

Nuclear

18 2 8

8

5

4

Broken nuclear

1

6

4 2 0

Joint Household

6 (13 '0 ) 9 (17.6 ) 4(16.7 ) 19(15.7 )

Lineal joint

2 5 2 9

Broken lineal joint

4

3 2 9

Collateral joint

0 1 0 1

Special Cases

5 (10 '9 ) 3 5.9 ) 0 8(6'6 )

Total 46 1 00.0 ) 5 1 1 00.0 ) 24(10 0.0 )

12

1(100'0

..

+from Vinding 1979180.



ECONOMY ND SOCIETY

The most frequently occurring type is tha t of the nuclear family, represented by

7

households, 20 of which ar e so-called deviating

forms of the norm:

6

households consist o

married couples without childre n, 5 households of m arried couples whose ch ildren hav

already left the household Vinding does not say whether they have started a new househol

of their own or are away a t school or work an d therefore d o not belong to the household

)

5

households of widowers with unmarried children,

2

households of widows with unmarrie

children, 1 household of a divorced m an with children a n d, finally,

1

household of a divorce

woman with children.

Of the households consisting of single perso ns single ),

7

are represented by widows

by a widower, 6 by unmarried men,

2

by unm arried women and

4

by divorced women

As the Mawatans informed me, Vinding's figure of

8

single householdstin Marpha leads to

Percentage giving a false impression of the general frequency of single households in Marpha

According to their statem ents these

8

single households are the only ones in the whol

of Marpha.

Furthermore, 9 households of the

exam ples investigated ar e so-called join t familie

Vinding does no t distinguish here between exten ded a n d jo int families. U nd er his term

joint fall additionally such family configurations which oth er anthropologists tak e as bein

extended Vivelo 198 1 247 253 ).

Of the 19 households, 9 households consist of one

married cou ple and their marrie

son and his wife lineal join t

), I

household of married couple, their children and

Younger broth er who is still unm arried collate ral joint ) , a n d

9 families of a widower or

widow with a ma rried son an d his wife broke n line al joint ).

Comprising the 8 special cases are unusual household configurations, as , for exampl

that of an unm arried woman with her illegitimate child, the household of a divorced ma n

with his widowed mo ther an d his u nm arried broth er a mo nk

),

the household of thre

brothers, one of whom is divorced a n d two unmarrie d, toge ther with their unma rried siste

the household of a widower with his three grand childre n, the household of a widow er wit

his uumarried brothe r monk

)

and his unmarried son etc.

Statistically, apart from small

deviations see table

),

the frequency an d distributio

of the various types of household am ong thc three Thaknli gro up s are in ag reem ent wit

one another.

2 6 4

The

cyc le of development

According to Vinding

1979/80:34 )

the cycle of development of

a

Thakali household

connected with the preference for certain

types of household, reflects the fact tha t Th aka



8

THE TH K LIS OF NORTH WESTERN NEP L

group s have traditionally favored nuclear families: The Thak a]i themselves say that the

prefer to have nuclear family households

rather

than joint

family households, since th

latter are bound to lead to conflicts.

It is against this backgroun d, in my opinion , that one shou ld view the custom amon

the Tnakalis whereby a son who has just married normally lives with his wife in the house

o

his parents as part of a joint household only for a

short period of

time. Most couples

le v

the joint household within the next five years and sta rt a new household, A few couple

remain f or a longer period with the parents, bu t the latest they move away and set up a

ne

househ old is when the husban d is the young est or only son . In th at case, afte r his marriag

he generally lives with his wife in the

house of his

par ent s until his father retires from

h

official duties (o ne cou ld say s pensioned o ff ) or dies (see the ch ap te r on hereditar

succession). Then the youngest son takes over the household.

Th e assertion of T hak alis th at they would prefer th e nuc lear fam ily to the joint famil

is com prehen sible against the bac kgroun d of conflicts well known from Hind u society t

exist between members living in joint families,

bo th in linea l colla teral joint and collater

joint families. In lineal joint families, this conflict usually cen ters on the relationship

mother-in-law to daugh ter-in-law, as my info rm ants attes ted. She (daughter-in-law) mu

wo rk hard er than any m ember of the household inc luding her hosba nd's younger sisters. Sh

mu st no t ea t to o much because th at does not look good . She ca nn ot serve her old friend

a cu p af tea witho ut her mother-in-law's permission . (Vinding 1979 80

34).

Thakal is a

also of the opinio n, however, tha t suc h joint househ olds function where man and wife ar

first-order cousins (cross cousins). As one woman informant attested, in such cases the daugh

ter-in-law has already known her parents-in-law and her husband's sisters for many Years-

lineal coll ater al joint families, conflicts freq uen tly arise between the wives of th

married brothers. ......the wives often feel th at they, their husb ands an d their children a

not treated properly and that they do not benefit as much from th e joint enterprise as do th

other brothers and their wives and

children . (Vind ing 1979 80:

34).

Th akalis seem to b

aw are of these problem s; during my interviews was con stan tly apprised of the dange

inherent in joint families.

The rerson why lineal joint

families are formed is

that some one has to look after th

parents as they grow old,

and once working

in

the field has become to o di5c ult for them

Th e Thaka lis have the following ways of dealing with this problem On e possibility is that th

parents divide their property am ong their son s, live separately-usually in a room

n

th

house of the youngest so n, which is generally the house in which they had formerly

tained their own household-and have the ir needs seen to by all their sons. This arrangeme



Illustration No





E CONOMY

ND

SOCIETY

is the one preferred by the Yhu lkasumm is. As a second possibility, foun d predom inantl

among the T am ang Thakalis,

the parents normally retain a portio n of their possessions an

live together in the same household as their youngest son and his wife.

Vinding discovered that in 1 5 cases of the 18 househo lds designated by him as line

joint families, the son living with his wife at the house of his parents was either the younges

or only son (1979180:

35) .

In Thak Khola there are only

two cases of line al collateral joint families, that is

family consisting of the parents and two or more married sons and their wives in one house

hold. Interestingly enou gh, some of the su bbh a families for a long time form ed such a linea

collateral joint family. Th e fa th er was a widower and lived togeth er with several sons, the

wives and children, He was formerly one of the biggest of the big businessmen involved in th

grain and salt trade in Thak Khola,

and during his career had built up a large trading ne

work in Nepal; amo ng othe r things, he held a

mon o,~oly on cigarettes an d ow ned a timbe

business and rice mill. He was,

in fact,

among the richest men of Nepal. Both father an

sons were also politically active, at first in Thak Khola and later at the national level. Ther

were various reason s why the so ns did no t leave their parents' househo ld to form their ow

following the marriage of the youngest broth er. The father an d his sons were influence

by Hindu values and had no intention of following the Thak ali tradition, if there was n o goo

reason to do so.

n

the other ba nd , there were several reason s to stay together. Investment

had been made in many distan t places and the

father had problem s in finding trustworthy

managers other than his sons. Fu rthe rm ore the family was involved in a conflict with th

father's elder brother a nd his sons, especially concerning the econom ic an d political leader

ship

n hak

Khola an d the surroun ding area (Vinding 1979180: 35).

Principally economic an d political con sideratio ns, therefore, led to the for m alio n o

such a type of househo ld. But mu tual conflicts were already pre ord ain ed ; it was only th

authority of the father which held the joint household together, but after his death the group

fell apa rt, and the sons began to qua rrel over money. By now five in dep end ent househo ld

have been formed, and

t

is only the rice mill which is still ope rated in comm on an d whose

profits are shared am ong one ano ther.

In similar case of lineal collateral joint household amo ng the Maw atans-here, too

t

is ao influential, well-to-do family-no conflict am on g the brothers and their wives ha s

occurred up to now, since the wives are sisters.

This was a very impo rtant fact in the eyes

o informants, and they view it as the main reason why the household has continued in

existence,



5 TH E TH A K A LIS O F N O R T H WESTER N N EPAL

Am ong the Maw atans, however, there is a rule prescrib ing th at men who reach th

age of 61 are to retire from public life.

I f a Mawatan has more

th an on e grown son ove

8 years of age, the latter have to form

their own household

once he retire s, which is th

same as saying that from that time on they have to provide labor services to the community

see the chapter on labour organization

).

Formerly they were counted among the member

of the father's household, and only one laborer was furnished to the community.

The youn

gest son is the only one who need no t provide services to the village. In the case of th

previously described fam ily from M ar ph a, therefore , the lineal collateral joint family wi

have to split up once the father turns 61

All this means, in other words, that local village manners and customs partially dete

mine the fo rm household types take This is one reas on, am on g others, why there are s

few lineal collateral joint families in M arp ha . Michael Vinding draws from his inves

gations the conclusion tha t the preference Tha kalis have for the nuclear family shows th

social considerations are more importlint in ther eyes

th an eco nom ic ones. It will be int

resting, against this background, to study in

grea ter deta il the hou seh olds of the migrate

Thakalis. .c

2 7

Clan organization

2 7 1 General remarks

In spite of contac ts -especially a m ong the Ta m ang Thakalis-with the social

an

religious ideas of Hi ndu , caste-oriented society,

the Thakalis in Th ak Kh ola have up to th

present largely been able to preserve their close-kn it, self-contained endogamous group

The Tarnang Tha kalis an d M aw atan s have even managed to ma intain their own econom

base within the contex t of Hind u society in spite of internal change , something which is

fact un us uil in Neoal am ong ethnic gro up s that have been exposed to such social an

cultural upheavals. In genera l, ethnic minorities are more likely to be absorb ed into th

Hindu caste system.

Such

a

homogeneity of th e group s leads one to posit a compact social structu

among the Thakalis Unlike many of the

groups in

N epa l, the Th aka lis seem to thrive

on social change.

Instead of causing a loss of identity o r social brea kd ow n, the Thaka

reaction to change is unified and involves cooperation between members of the entire grou

to permit orderly changes in social behavior M anz ard o 978 62

).

Manzardo, w

has concerned himself with the Tam ang Th aka lis, notes further th at the cobesion may

explainad by, am ong other things, the fact that the gro up has remained relatively small

n



E C O N O M Y

A N D S O C ~ E ~ Y 51

bounded, and above all, by the worship of the four ance stors and fou r go ds representative

of the four clans of Tamang Thakalis.

Fuerer-Haimendorf has the following to say on the cohesion of the Tamang Thakalis

'#Thefundamental equality of the Tha kalis in both pa rts of the Thaksatsae

i

e , T h ak

Satsae and KZng cchi Marpo

)

derives from the fact that mem bers of the same clans ar e

found

in

all thirteen villages, and an insistence on

basis statu s distinction with reference to

locality would strike at the roo t of clan solidarity

1981 ).

Both Fuerer-Haimendor

and Manzardo remark how intertwined the division of the Ta m an g Thaka lis into fou

exogamous partilineal clans is with their mythology an d preserved history. M anza rdo note

1978 : 6 ) 'it will also

become app arent th at entry into this grou p brings with it a

great many benefits which have led other

closely related Tha k Kh ola groups such as th

Marphalis an d Pancbg aonlis i. e. Yhulkasunlmis ) to attem pt l o make claims based o

certain historical evidence, fo r their being included w ithin th is gro up , So far none of thes

claims has been recognized by the

Thaka lis i. e. Ta m an g Thakali

),

and these group

remain excluded,

Of the other Thakalis, as can be gathered fro m what M ichael Vinding wrote in 198 1

and as

I

myself can confirm, it is particularly the Ma watans, but also the Yhulkasumm

Thakalis, who manifest a very noticeable group cohesion, based on a close-knit clan system

clearly set-off from the outside world.

2 7.2

Tamang T hakalis

Fuerer-Haimendorf

characterizes

the internal structure of Tam ang Thakali society a

being of a simple and very sy~nmetricalmold not often foun d in societies with such

a

hig

material standard of development.

As

already mentioned, there are four exogamous patrilineal clans among the Taman

Thakalis, an d they ar e called

: cyogi

Nep.

: gaucan/gauc/zan

),

salgi

Nep.

: tulacan

tubchav ), dhi~nchan Nep. hercanlshcrchan ) and bburgi Nep.

:

hhattacan/b/rat:achnn )

According to Vindiog

1981

:

2 8

)

the ending

i

is a shortened fo rn ~ f

glzyu

which i

related to the Tibetan word

hrgyud

mean ing lineage line

).

The Nepali names were introduced

at the beginning of the century by the subb has

as

I

was told, in orde r to conceal from Hindu society, in particu lar th e Ra na s

i n

Kath

mandu, the fact that their names

were of Tibe tan origin. Since Bhotyas groups Tibeta

in origin ) were looked down upon i n the society of the time, the subbhas did away with an

hint of their true past. Even their language, Thak ali, was not allowed to be spoken ou tsid



TH E TH A K A LlS

O F

N O R TH WESTER N N EPAL

Thak Khola,

or inside it ,

fo r that m atter, in the presence of mem bers of the Hindu caste

This

has contributed to the curre nt dying ou t of the language. Th e younger generation ha

only a limited mastery of Th aka lLB

The clans can now

no longe r be precisely localized, but one has come to assume th

the cyogi has its origins in Nak hung or Naphrungkhun g, the salgi in Dhojo or Bhujungko

both of which are today deserted villages, the dhimcan in the Kobang of old, and the bhurg

in the Khanit of old,

then called

Narsang. Each of

the four clans consists of a number

subclans o r lineage gro up s identifiable by nam e (Vinding 1981 209 ), wbich are in tu

subdivided into two or more lineages.

Am ong Tam ang Thak alis, according to Vinding, th

lineage groups bear the nam e phobelphori-ai or ghyuwa. Their names are derived, for examp

from ancestors , status (e. g. kin g= po m pa r) or a place (Ihakhang dung i-near a temple).

Fuerer-Hairnendorf also

subdivides the fo ur clan s int o several lineages, an d these

turn into subgroups, for which,

however, he is no m ore ab le than M ichael Vinding to find

term . Fuerer-Haim endo rf mentions, with reservations , the terms powe fo r clan and gyuba f

lineage (1981 11).

The term for clan in Manzardo is gyu and he calls the subdivisions

the clans patrilineages or, in Thakali, phobhe.

These three anthropologists as well as C. Jes t made a record du rin g their stay amon

the Tamang Thakalis of all names of the

various lineages they were able to obtain (Fuere

Haimendorf 1981 7 , 8; Vioding 1981 209; Ma nzardo and Jest 197 8 6 6 .

Each of the four clans originally had a

subclan called d l~y ata n hobe. Since the dhy

tan pho bhe of the dhimchan clan has since died ou t, only three dhyatan phobhes still ex

today. According to Vinding (1981

2G9

and statements by my informants these phobh

were form ed by the youngest broth ers of the original clans. The mem bers of the four dhy

tan phobhes are not allowed to intermarry, Thus Tamang Thakali society is not only divide

by the fou r patrilineal clans into four exogamous gro ups , but patrilineal descent is also t

basis for a further exogamous group.

This is all the more interesting in light of the fact tha t Fuerer-H aimend orf (1981

sees the regulation of ma rriage as being the main function of Tam ang Thaka li clans. O

ought at this point to go into incest tabu s, but that would be to go beyond the scope

this study. Clan-m emb ership determ ines a person's marriage to the extent of excludi

abou t one qu arter of all Thak alis [he has appare ntly failed to consider the dhy atan phobe

from the ranks of potential marriage par tners , and

I

bave never heard of a case where th

restriction was flaunted. Even illicit sexual relations between clan-members were as inconcei



E C b N O M y A N D SOCIETY 53

able to my Thakali inform ant s a s brothe r-sister-inc est, an d I had n o m eans to ascertain whe

ther they ever occurred in secret.

Thanks to VindingJs intensive studies one is now aware of cases am ong Ta m ang

Thakalis of splitting off an d reform ing within the lineages 1981 209 ). Thus the tancan

phobhe originally acqu ired five sublineages fro m the cyogi clan ar a ph obh e, saicyang

phobe, bhuicyang pho bhe, sank e dhorche phobhe an d ghera phobh e. The ghera phob he spli

off from the other fo ur subgroups (sublineages) and formed a n independen t lineage, the gher

phobhe, while the others continued to function under the name tancang or lara phobhe.

One is also able to tell from the lineage nam e who the religious specialists of th

clans are.

Thus the bom po lama of the so-called white Bon sect (Tib. bon dka r), which

n Thak Satsae, can only be fou nd in Nap hrun gkhu ng, comes from the lam phob he o

the cyogic clan. Spe cialists calling them selves dliom and representing a pre-Budhisti

religious orientation,

come from the dho m phobhe and the balamtem phobhe of the cyog

clan and the two dhom phobes of the dbimcan clan. In add ition , there are the religiou

mediators between the village inhabitants an d their tutelary gods wbo also com e fro m

specific phobes; for exam ple, the me diator between tbe inh abi tant s of Tag lung a n d thei

god mhan cham pra comes from the mhatasi phob he of the cyogi clan, and the mediato

between the Th akalis of Thasang an d their tutelary god nari jhowa com es fro m the

dhom phobhe of the dbim chan clan Vinding

1 9 8 1 2

1 0

).

The organization of the various lineages differs only slightly one from the next, an d

has been descr ibed in detail by Fu ere r-H aim end orf

198 9

) and Vinding (1

9 8 210)

Accordingly, each lineage has one leader or head, called gampa, who administers the group's

money and docu me nts an d arran ges fo r general meetings. Sho uld conflicts arise within

the lineage or with someon e on the outside, i t is his job to act a s me diator between the

opposing par ties.

The gro up head is nominated by the me mb ers of the lineage in question

this personage is a t the sa m e time often the eldest man of tbe lineage, an d is generally

notable for his special charism a togethe r with a good nam e, intelligence an d a n au tho ri-

tative personality. The mem bers of the lineage appe ar to assume tha t his sons also share

these properties, as after the dea th of the head his son is usually elected to the vacant

Post, which may therefore almost be term ed hereditary. If the mem bers of the lineage

happen t o be unsatisfied with his perfo rm ance, they can remove him from his post befor e

his death or retirem ent.

Supporting the gam pa is an assistant, called gundul in Thakali, who sees to it tha

the lineage mc ctings go witho ut hitch. Suc h mee tings generally tak e place in his house



5

THE THAKALIS

OF

NORTH WESTERN NEPAL

Th is post is relinquished at the end of a year in ro tatio n to a no the r member of the lineage

living permanently in Thak Khola.

The most im por tant m eeting or festival of the lineage, the so-called

j o chawa,

take

place in SeptemberjO ctober.

F o r thr ee days the memb ers meet nnd exchange news, and

eat and drink with one anothe r Vinding

1 9 8 1

:

2

1

).

A new gu nd al is elected, and

th

gam pa delivers a repo rt giving an accou nt of money taken into and expended from

th

common fund. T he fund is lent out, usually at intere st, t o needy members of the

line

age. Th e surp lus accruin g fro m this inte rest is used to cover the cost of m eetings

Fu rthe r, old docu me nts by im por tan t ancestors, who upon occasion wrote down how

th

me mb ers of the gr ou p were to behave tow ard s one another-not to fight, not to comm

frau d, to help out one ano the r etc.-, are broug ht out and read aloud from.

On the thir

an d last day of this festival the lioeage generally extend s invitations to the woman

wh

have left the lineage to ma rry in to an oth er gro up an d to their husbands. This enlarge

group n mah syah o r nemyang syah may ma inta in a fund of its own in order to be ab

to cover costs for this special get-together.

Th us the person s included in a lineage are 1 the patrilineally related men,

wh

constitute the core

of the pho bh e, an d to whom th e word phob he applies in the stricte

sense;

2.

the unma rried woman Thak

:

helli

)

who are patrilineally related to the

me

of the phobhe , and 3

the dayusya, or dasyu, tha t is,

the wom en m arr ied to the men

the phobhe. This gro up is not a patrilineally de scent g rou p in the narrow sense of the term

precisely because it includes the woman who have married into it The members of t

patr iline al descen t gro up , namely the phobh e an d the chelli, have no general meetings

fun ctio ns of their own , so tha t, accordin g to Vind ing, they do no t represen t true soci

gro ups but rat he r merely exoga mo us uni ts. M em ber s of the lineage also meet in Cases

death or marriage for more details see the chapte rs Death and Marriage .

W hat distinguishes the Tam ang Tha kalis from the other two Tbakali groups

are

t

four ancestors and fou nders of the four clans, taken from Tamang Thakali legend, and

t

fo u r clan deities, also a pa rt of the Tb aka li mythology. Th us each clan has a specific anc

st or and a specific deity. Vinding an d Gau cha n have tran slate d an d provided a commentar

on the Tam ang Thakali legend which contain s th e4 na m es of the ancestors and deiti

(GauchanlVinding

1977

: 97-184 ,

Besides the previously me ntioned religious specialists, each of the four clans

furth er specialist (called in Th aka li pare) who acts exclusively as the mediator between h

clan and its corresponding deity. These four pares come from very specific lineages. The pa



E ONOMY A N D SO IETY

65

of the cyogi clan comes fro m the pare phobhe of the cyogi clan, the salgi pa re comes from

the pare phobhe of the salgi clan, the dhimcan pare is f ~ o mhe lhakhang dungi phobhe of

the dhirnchan clan, an d the bhurgi pare com es f ro m the pa re ghyuwa phobhe) of the

bhurgi clan.

Every twelve years, in the year of the monkey Thak.

pr

Iho),

the biggest festiva

of the Tam ang Thakalis takes place, celebrated in ho no r of the fou r deities Tha k. ha

phelva, meaning the epiphany of the gods). For this occasion the masks of the gods are taken

from their temples. Th e fo ur god s ar e also worshipped du ring the so-called shoi shoi-lawa

festival, which is celebrated every nine years, D ur in g bo th of these festivals the fo ur pa res

recite the four clan legends Th ak . rhab), which describ e the passag e of the fo ur ancestors

and four gods from the west to Thak Khola.

Whereas no differen ce in status is norma lly mad e alllong the clans, during these

festivals the pare o f the cyogi clan gauchan) is given prece denc e, followed by the pa re

of the salgi clan, that of the dhim can cla n a n d , finally,

the pare of the bhurgi clan. This is

only meant, however, to exemplify the kin relationships among the gods.

Each clan is headed by a gam pa, All four gam pas plan in com mo n the Iha phe wa

festival and ma intain respective co ntro l of the fu nd s which serve to finance the festival. As

is the case with lineage heads, here too the post is open in principle to every mem ber of the

clan, though in fact the father usually passes it on t o his son.

He re again the head may be

relieved of his o ffice f o r malfeasance.

2 7 3 Mawatans

As opposed to the Talliang Thakalis, the M awatans do not pay reverence to any

particular ancestors au d gods correspoding to their clans. Fo ur exogam ous patrilinea

clans are, however, fou nd here, and play an im po rtan t role in the political organ ization 1

of Marpha.

The clan names are : rlioren phoblie Nep. lalcan/lalchan), m eanin g ruby; pu la phobhe

Nep. hiracan/ltircrchan), mean ing diam on d; gum li fhorva phobhe

Nep.

uharcan/jukarchan),

meaning jewel; an d g u r? ~ liyungpn pkobhe

N

ep. pannacanlpannachan), meaning emerald.

Since the gumIi thowa pho bhe tlio~va =

ig )

and

th

gululi cyangpa phobhe cyngpa

=small

)

are the separate p arts of a formerly com mon clan, their members cannot

intermarry.

For two or three decades now the Ma watans, like their neighbors the Tam ang

Thakalis, have been assum ing Nepa li nam es instead of their original ones, providing the



6

THE TH K LIS O NO RTH WESTERN NEP L

occasion fo r those Ta ma ng Thak alis with sh arp tongues to claim that the Mawatans

imitating them in or der to pull alongside in status.

Th e village organiza tion in M ar ph a is orien ted toward s the clans.

Thus the Mawa

tans are

subdivided into fou r groups,

with each clan originally con stituting one of the

group s a group is termed

cho

see the cha pter on labour organization

).

But since t

gum li cyang pa phob he is very small, the lineage ducen nhu rbu of the puta phobhe w

assimilated int o its cho. Vinding takes explicit note jf the fact that the ducen nhurbu lin

age is a pa rt of the gumli cyangp a phobhe-cho-only in a political context.

Members o

the ducen nhu rbu lineage can therefore marry mem bers of the gumli cy angpa phobhe.

have already, in the previous cbap ter , gone into the duties of each cho an d of the villag

organization.

Th e fou r clans are made up of a total of 18 subclans/lineages, a s Vinding ca

them, represen ting the most im por tant patrilineal descent group am on g the Mawatans. On

a few of these lineages are known by name.

The form and function of

the lineages is on the whole similar to what is found

amon

the Tamang Thakalis.

Th e Maw atans, too, have a head Thak.

hyumi ),

an assista

Thak.

himp

) and a common fund.

Here, to o, religious specialists ar e recruited fro m specific lineages. Th us , fo r examp

the dho m from Ma rpha originally comes from the lam phobhe.

As is the case among

t

Tam ang Th aka lis, lineage mem bership is closely associated amo ng the

Mawatans wi

certain festivals.

At the end of Ma y or the begining of Jun e,

upon the occasion of th

phobhe p thungp Thak.

:

p thungp

=

drink beer

),

the lineages met up until recent

in old M arp ha , Dz ong , a village located on a plateau abo ve the present-day one and s

to be the actual place of origin of the Mawatans .

The members remained together for

t e

days, exchanged news, ate and dra nk, and perform ed a small play Thak. : Iha new

in which one man appea red as a god and two other men IS goddesses. These festiva

have since, however, been do ne away with. One of the reasons

I

heard fo r this

a

that the costs for the long festivities were very high, and that work was neglected.

Another festival, namely the

m ne

p

rhungpn

Thak.

mane =

reliquary stone wall

has taken on that much more impo rtance, Th e mani walls , a s they are called in commo

parlance, run in long rows

along the pa ths which lead into the village.

The festival take

place in the middle of July , with the m embers of the lineage groups mee ting for three day

in the house of the current a ssistant, scene of a joint celebration.

Formerly small



llustration

No 6





8

E C O N O M Y A N D S O C IE T Y 5

monies were condu cted in honor of th e ancestor s who were

heads of the lineage, an d wh

had built such a wall,

o r mane, Since

1977,

however, by com mo n conse nt of the inhab

tants, the mani walls are worshipped in common during one ceremony.

As is the case among the Tamang Thakalis,

o n the third a nd last day of this festiv

the women who have married into ano ther clan ar e invited to come with their h usban d

from their respective villages.

This gr ou p may also have a fund of its own to finance suc

a get-together.

As all three

Thakali groups are known for their bouts of eating and drinking, alway

a part of any festivity an d a very big dra in on money, one gets some idea of how eno

mous the expences for

the phob he pa thung pa must have been for

them to go so far as t

abolish this festival.

Some lineages have a place of their own for religious getherings Thak . : Ihakhan

or a so-called book house Th ak .

:

chekhang where Buddhist writings are stored. Thes

groups meet separately on special occasion s, dur ing which the writings are read from

Finally, the lineage mem bers also natu rally c ome toge ther a t someone's death or marriage.

am not aware of an y subdivision of the lineage into furth er subgro ups, such a

oceurs among the Taman g Tha kalis. This is probably due to the restricted size of the entir

group. It will be interesting to draw upon as a comparision the forthcoming studies Barbar

Parker carried out in

1 982 .

2.7.4 he Yholkasummis

:

The clan structu re of the Yhulkasumm is and that of their lineages/subclans is n

longer as clear as in the case of the Tam aog Thakalis and Maw atans.

Vinding, after man

Years of study-he himself lived in Syang-, cam e up with an ord erin g of clans, whos

relation one to ano ther he posited in the following table. (Table rom Vindiog

1981:214

kya phobe

gyalgi phobe ....gy algi sam tu pho be .... huku phobe

....gy

abcan phobe

.,,,pal phobe

...,........ ........ .... ....... ..,

...

. .... ... .... ...

ancan phobe

.... arsang pho be

....p ai sonte phobe

.....

ham dhorche phobe

....g am kemi phobe

....g am sone phobe

.................

...........

,,,... .................

....haki sonam phobe



T H E T H A K A L I S

O F

N O R T H W E S T E R N N E PA L

8

jhisin phobe

che phobe

sakar phobc

born phobe

.,

jhisin pho be Thin

)

....*..***...*.........................*......

...............

....

hisin phob e Syang )

.... yodo syang phobe

.... isim pal phobe

............

-

che phobe Chairo )

...............................................

..................................................................

he phob e Syang

)

blite sonam phobe

............................................................

...................................................................

isi cheta phobe

srane phobe

nameless phobe

...........................................................

kewa pai angyal phobe

..........................................................

...........................

.....................................

ampa phobe

san phobe

syangtan phob e

................................................................

haki ghyuwa

....................................................

...... nhltl ghyuwa

................................... -.

...............

p

alten ghyuwa

pasin phobe

................................................................asin thowu phobe

.............................................................asin cyangpa phobe

.......................................................hacya parpa phobe

The partilineal descent group s among the Thin Syangtan and Cimtan Thakal

Actual social groups are in italics.

[

Tab.

:

from Vinding 198 1 14

Th e Th in Syangtan and Ch imtan Tha kalis have a whole series of exogamous pat

lineal clans and lineages

:

gyalgi phobhe kya phobhe jhisia phobhe che phobhe sok ar phobh

sr ne

phob hc born phobhe son phobhe syangtan phobhe an d pasin or paca i phobhe. Of thes

the phobhe and srane phobhe are lineages

whereas all others are clans

Vinding does n

say what the reason for this is ).

Sakar pbob he sran e phob he bom phobhe san pbobb

syangtan phob he an d pasin phob he are found only in one village each forming a soc

gro up. Gyalgi phobhe kya pho bhe jhisin phobhe and che phobhe are found in more tha

on e village and constitute exogamous units

Each of the clans an d lineages mentioned above ap ar t from the san pho bh e and t

sran e pho bhe cons ists of a num ber of subgroups-lineage subgroups-each with a nam

of its own see table ), Gy algi phob he is com posed of the lineage gyalgi sarntu phobh

from Thini and the lineage daocan phobhe from Chim ang

Gyalgi sam tu phobh e consis



E O N O M Y A N D SO IETY

9

in turn of three subgroups

:

chuku phobhe,

gyabcan p ho bh e a n d pal phobhe. K Y ~

ho h he

is said to have originally been compo sed of the sarti ph ob he, tbe bh arti pho bhe and the

namti phobhe, But the sarti phobhe has since died out, and the nam ti pho bhe bas only

one member, who was adopted by th e b hart i pho bhe. Bha rti phobh e consists of the

lineages lhaki sonam pho bhe in Chim ang an d karsang pho bhe from Thini.

The latte

karsang ) is itself composed of four subgroups pai sonte phobh e, cham dhorche hobh he

gam kemi phobhe an d gam sone phobbe. Jhisin p hobhe cons ists of two lineages, bo th bea

ring the name of the clan , tho ugh represen ted in different villages one lineage called jhisin

phobhe from Thini an d ano ther called jhisin pho bhe from Syang; the latter has two sub

groups : kyodo syang pho bhe and kisim pal phobh e. Even though there are only two familie

left

in it, the che pho bhe still exists, with each family constitu ting a sep arate lineage o

clan.

This means, therefore, that there

is

one che phobhe

lineage in Syang and one ch

phobhe lineage in Chhairo. Saka r pho bhe comes from syang and consists o f th e subclan

Mite sonam phobhe an d yisi cheta phobhe. Sra ne phobhe, located in Jom osom , is labelled

a lineage by Vitlding an d is not fu rth er subdivided, The born pho bhe com es from Thin

and has three subclan grou ps one without a nam e, on e called kewa pai angyal phobh e and

another called gamba phobhe. San pho bhe from Syang, according to Vinding, is a cla

group, and is not further subdivided. Th e syangtan pho bhe is located in Syang an d con

sists of the lineages lhaki ghyuw a, nh iti ghyuw a an d palten ghyuwa. From Syang, too, i

the pasin phobhe, subdivided into the lineages

pasin thowa phobhe, pasin changpa phobh

and mhacya parpa phobhe.

Vinding comes to the conclusion that there are two types of patrilineal descent group

among the Yhulkasummis. He calls the gyalgi sam tu phobh e, karsang phobe, sak ar pho bhe

born phobhe, syangtan pho bhe and pasim pho bhe so-called high level gro up s, because at

lower level they have segments which ar e actu al social groups Vinding

1 9 8

: 2 5 ). Th

others, those grou ps on the righthand side of the table, he calls correspo ndin gly low leve

~roups. since they do not split up further in to social gro up s. 18

of

these low level group

are segments of high level groups, while 9 are not Vinding 198 : 2 15

).

He is of the opinion that the high-level grou ps of the Yhulkasum mis are com parabl

with the clans of the Tam ang Tha kalis and M awatans, whereas the low-level gro up s corres

pond to their lineages/subclans,

As in the case of the Tamang Thakalis

and M awatans, the lineage names are coined

after ancestors (c. g, blite son am ), pos itio l~ s gyalai

=

ing) or specific place (syangtan).

Certain clans and grou ps may no t interm arry. Previously, for example, the gyalg

ho h he could not marry into three lineages which since have died out :

the bompo phobhe



6

T H E T H K L I S O F N O R T H W E S T E R N N E P L

rachan phob he and th e nhaken phob he. Hard ly an y info rm ation is still available concernin

these three lineages; the only thing know n is th at tbe religious specialist from Thini, th

Bompo La ma , was form erly recruited from the bornpo phobhe. Moreover, it is forbidde

for the memb ers of the kya ph obh e, jhisin ph obhe,

che pho bhe , sak ar phobhe and srang

phobhe to intermarry Th e sam e applies to me mbe rs of the syangtan and pasin phobhe

though a few years ago this prohibition

was infringed by these two clans. After some con

flict, however, the ma rriage was accepted by society. Whereas syangtan pho bhe, san phobh

and pasin ph ob he originally com e from the vicinity of Sya ng, the oth er clans have the

origins in the village of Thini.

As was true of Marpha, in the present case, too,

the cla n groups play an importan

function in the political organization of

the villages

for more details see the chapter o

labor organization ).

The low-level gro ups of the Y hulkasummis, as was the case amo ng the Taman

Thakalis an d Maw atans, have a leader gya,

thyumi

),

an assistant dhimpa ) and a fun

for financing common gatherings.

In

addition, there is a so-called syangpa, who brews bee

for the festivals. San phob he, yisi cheta phob he an d mhacya pa rp a phob he in Syaog an

dancan phobhe and lhaki sonam phobhe in

Chim ang have their own houses in Thich the

meetings are held.

The other lineages meet in the house of the current assistant.

The most important general festival for the low-level groups is

jho

cawa

which is hel

along with the ceremonies for the mani walls and the worship of ancestors.

As is custo

mary in the two othe r

Thakali groups,

du ring this festival, which las ts several days, th

women w ho have married out of the lineage groups ar e invited to com e with their husband

on the last day of the jho cawa ni mak syah

).

Again; as in the case among the Mawatan

and Tam ang Thak alis, they may maintain their own fund to cover the costs.

Amon

the low-level gro ups there are also gatherings when one of the gro up s mem bers marri

o r dies,

The high-level group s have their own organiza tions, own funds an d own meeting

They norm ally come together once a year or, more seldom , for jho cawa.

Though th

group s normally msct in private house s, the bom p hobh e an d syangtan phobhe have speci

meeting houses. He re , again, on the last day of the jho cawa the women who have marrie

into other groups are invited to come with their husbands.

When onc o f their mem bers dics or ma rries , the members of the corresponding high

level group

a r e

not obligated to com e together. Still, it is usually cus tom ary for the head



ECONOMY

ND

SOCIETY 61

of other lineage grou ps belonging to the same clan gro up to be invited t o marriag e ceremo

nies and burials of a member from one's own group.

Some of the high-level gro up s poss ess, as in M arp ha , their own religious meetin

houses or ''book houses T ib . :

he

khang , where Bud dhist writings are collected an d

at special meetings, recited.

Finally, I should like once again to em pha size how im po rtan t patrilinea l descent i

for the social structure of all three Thakali groups.

I t binds the group members to one an

other by, for examp le, various duties or festivals, an d this leads to a particularly stron

feeling of solidarity.

Patrilineal descent is also important for women,

but their situation differs from tha

of their brothers in that,

once they marry, their clan membership shifts

from that of thei

husband. Stron g bonds, however, still exist w ith form er clansm en, as is app aren t, f o

example, from the iuv itatio n fo r the final da y of the jho cawa. Should a woman divorc

her husband or become a widow, she can retu rn to her fathe r's clan. Th e father's clan als

plays a large role during m arriage an d burial ceremonies.

If a woman has a conflict wit

her husband, she receives the full support of her paternal clan relatives.

With the passage of time the lineage grou p associations are losing more an d m ore o

their significance, a fact which, particularly in th e case of the Tlimang Tha kalis an d M awa

tans, can be traced to their migration to various parts of Nepal in the past decades. (Lineage

festivals, for examp le, ar e no longer attended by all mem bers, since the trip to Tb ak K hol

is too arduous

)

Surprisingly, their lineages have

not further split up into new subgroup

to correspond to the new villages and towns they have mig rated to .

A

Thakali, no matte

whether he lives in Thak Khola or soruewhere else, is still a member of his group.

2. 8

ereditary Succession

In all three groups

the ma jor portion of what belongs to the household comes from

the husband's side of the family (often the house itself, fields, hou seho ld an d field too ls

kitchenware). Fr om this it may be assumed that the husbdnd's prop erty has been handed

down from father to son for generations.

A Thakali may transfer his possessions to his sons even before his death. This he ca

do at their marriage or at the time of his retirement. Vinding

1979/80

25) writes i

regard

:

' 'Thaka li men retire politically at the age of 6 jharche-th ). This mean

that they no longer represent their hou seho lds in for m al political orga nization s an d n

longer carry out political duties in the com mu nity. Property m ay als o be divided before



6

TH THAKAL IS OF NORT W ST RN NEPAL

man becomes 61 yea rs ol d, if he s o desires. V in di rg was not sure wh ether a Thakali

r

compelled to distribute his possessions among his sons upon reaching the age of 6 1 or not.

According

to statem en ts of my info rm an ts this is the case only in Marpha, But i n

M ar ph a all sons except the one w ho rem ains in his father's h ouse in order to look after

the

parents in their old age are obligated, assuming they are at least

18

years old, to start a

new

household. This in tu rn im plies the obligation to furnish lab or services to the community.

Am ong the Yhulkasum mis in C himang, too , there is an ordinan ce ( jural rule )

pres.

cribiag the retirement from public life a t 61 (Tib.

rhar chyang ,

but this is not at the

same

time associated with the distribution of inheritance o r property

am on g the sons. Nor

need

the lat ter , as they do in Ma rpha,

officially sepa rat e from the father's household in order

to

set up one of their own.

Among the Tamang Thakalis there is, as

I

have been told, n o custom of retiring

at

the age of

6

1

The first step in

distributing prop erty is laying aside a portion for each

son

who marries or s tar ts

his own household.

So m e fam ilies, fo r this purpo se, give the sons

a

sm all portion of the inhe ritance, with the rema inder du e to them being turned over after

the

death of their father.

Th is portion is called by the Tha kalis mana

thi

chuwa or, especially

among the Yhulkasummis, pho cho bo cho Each son g enerally receives as mana thi chuwa

on e to two fields, occu pation al an d kitchen utensils, money an d perh aps a house and animals

Next a portion of the prop erty is laid aside for the dau ghters who marry-the

dauo

Traditionally the daijo includes grain, money,

kitchenware and, in very rare cases, a

field

Due to the influence of Hin du so ciety, particu larly am on g the migrated T hak alis, the shar

going for this dowry has much increased in recent years.

F or the rem ain de r of the prop ert y, finally, the re are two possibilities when it come

to dividing it

1

It may be

split up

into as many even parts as there are sons,

w i t h

ex tra po rtion fo r the pare nts . Th is latte r includes the house. After the prop erty has been

divided u p on ce and fo r all, the paren ts live in a joint household together with their you n~

son , who is now the head of the house ho ld. Th e paren t's s ha re is fixed in writing, and

later used to co ve r expenses fo r their burial ceremo ny. Normally not very much of

t h i s

left over fo r the so ns to divide up am on g themselves. Th e youngest son usually receiv

somewhat more for having lived with the parents until their death.

2 The patrim ony may also be divided up in an oth er way. The Yhulkasummis m k

pred om inant use of this. Th e prop erty is split up into a s man y parts as there are sons;

th

Pare nts do not receive an extra sha re, retainin g instead only the most necessary items, su



ECONOMY AND SOCIETY 6

as clothes and jewels. Th h patrim ony is divided evenly am ong the sons, but the younges

one, who generally lives with the parents the longest, receives a somewhat larger share. After

this property is

divided the parents

live in a sep arate pa rt of the house of their younges

son. The sons ar e now together obligated to furnish their pa ren ts with food, firewood and

other necessary items. They also defray in com mo n th e expenses fo r their funeral services.

A widow does not

have con trol over the pro per ty her husband has left behind, bu

rhe does have use of it; she ca n, th at is, either live in her own household in the house o

her youngest son and h ave her needs seen t o

by her sons,

o r she ean receive a portion o

the property and remain in the joint household together with her youngest son, or she ca n

live by herself, with her needs being provided by her children,

She may also return to her parental household. In such cases her status corresp ond

to that of a divorced woman. Vinding 1979 80:26

:

The Thakalis say that in both situ

ations the woman retur ns to the soil of the syang syang sa re yewa o r syang sa yan yew

t );

a woman's syang refers to the male memb ers of her family of procrea tion, especiall

her brothers .

In both situations,

a s a widow who returns to her pare ntal household o r that of he

Brothers, or as a divorcee , the woman transfers her mem bership in the patrilineal descen

@oup of her former husband to tha t of he r father. A widow has the right to take all the

Possessions she brought with her into the marriage back to the household of her father o

brothers. Such word ing is, to be sure , very vague. Supp ose tbat the wife's daijo con

sisted of money that

has since been spen t; she can no longer, of course, take it back with

her; that is, the transfer is no longer reversible. ) The advantage of such

a

recourse is tha

a woman can remarry and need no longer work in the house she has left.

In doing so, however, sh e forfeits her right to bring up her children from the forme

marriage.

Fo r this reason it is normally only young or childless women who retu rn to the

household of their father.

According to Thakali custom daughters have no right to the property of their fathers.

I I

Here the Thakali tradition agrees with Nepalese law. In recent years, especially in conne

ction with the International Women's Year

1975

thexe have been inner changes, concern ing

women's right to inherit. These changes, however, have had little effect. A married woman

h s still no right to ancestral prope rty if she has any brothers Vinding 1979 80:27

Property

of

a Thakali man who has died

without leaving behind an) s ons is tradition-

ally vmred on to tho clo rcr t mem ber, of hi8 lineage

s k

). Among these a re reckoned



6

TH E TH K L lS OF N O R TH WESTER N N EP L

fo r examp le, his bro ther s and th eir sons. Pa rt of the patrim ony in such a case, however,

expected to be given to the dau ghte rs of the deceased if they have taken care of him durin

his life especially when the so ns of th e deceased's bro thers have d one nothing for him ,

Thak alis hav e particularly divergent opin ions conce rning the inheritance righta o

daug hters. Ma ny sur rend er a por tion of their pro perty to their daug hters or pay out

sizable daijo to them. Som e fathers even go behind the backs of their sons and siki t

give their daug hters a just share . Fath ers may pu t this down in writing, but this does no

guarantee that after

their d ea th the deceased's siki will no t raise a claim to this portion o

the inheritance.

In such case and , in general, whenever conflicts arise over inheritance th

village cou ncil is usually called

in a s mediator. Of cour se, a decision according to Nepales

law can be sought, but Thakalis prefer local channels.

2 9

Marriage

Ma rriage continues to be the major basis fo r organ izing interfamila alliances of

m ore perm anent na tur e, and is conceived largely in term s of a political or business allianc

between families M an za rd o

1 9 7 8

:

74

. In all three Thakali g roups

I

heard many

reports of pa st cap tur e marriages, alongside of which exists the form in which the paren

ar ran ge the marriage-the arrange d marriage-, still the fo rm commo nly observed. Th

captu re ma rriage is only very seldom met with du e to the influence o f Hindu society.

only heard one report , out of Kalopani Tamang Thakali

,

of a capture marriage whic

has taken place recently. Th e pa ren ts were usually quite well informed of their children'

inten tion to stage a captu re marriage. Since, with captu re marriages, the complex an

C O S ~ ~ Yerem onie s of a normal ma rriage were do ne away with, this method of marryin

was generally agreeable to the parents.

In theory, all three Th aka li group s ar e endo gam ous, but, particularly among th

Ta m an g Thaka lis, so-called intercas te marriages have alr eady taken place in the past. In th

day s before the salt tra de cam e to a standstill, Thak ali trade rs, who did, after all, 8

arou nd a lo t, often too k a seco nd wife alongside their Thaka li wives. Usually the secon

wife belonged to a different ethn ic grou p and lived in a dif fer en t geographical region. Th

trade r did n ot have the same du ties and restrictions to atten d to vis-a-vis the relatives of h

second wife a s those of his first. By m eans of this second marriage, moreover, he enjoye

the adv antage of having created new tradin g relation with anoth er ethnic community.

Th

wives thus functioned as local business partenerg, The children of such an intercaste marrial

were and are regarded as Tbakalis; they generally extend their father's trade relations an

thus, ap art from the expansion of business, also contribute to the build-up of a trading ne

work throughout Nepal.







Illostration No 3



Illartration No



9

E C O N O M Y A N D

SOCIETY 6

Wheh trade with Tibet had t o be discontinued, many Ta m ang Thakalia settled i

places outside Thak Kh ola an d set u p new businesses there. Fo r those Thak alis, wh

settled in bazaars, polygyny became less freq uen t, for a single ho m e relationship s betwee

several wives are difficult,

especiallp$f. those wives belong to separate ethn ic groups. Tber

was no profit in setting up tw o 'wives in sep ara te houses in the sa m e baz aar, a s they woul

con~petewith oa e another M anzard o 1978

:

7 5 ). Polygyny decreased am on g thes

Thakalih but it continued to exist

am ong those who, in their function as traders, visite

many v81ages. The ethnologist

W.

Fisher attested to the truth of this for me with particula

regard to the Thakalis from the re

pf

Myagdi.

oreover, Nepalese law has since begun supporting inonogamous marriages cxcept i

cases when the marria ge has continue d ten years witho ut issue. Several cases ar e known t

me among the Thakalis in which, because no child

has been born, tw o wives live togethe

ii the household, either two Thak ali wives or one Thak ali wife together with a woman

belonging to anothe r ethnic gro up (in one case even with an American wo ma n; but suc

cases are rare). I am not aw are of there being of polyandry amo ng the thre e Thak ali groups

According to Manzardo 1 9

78

7 5 an intercaste marriage may be of such a natu r

that a Thakali takes a wife from a completely different ethnic group.

This is not allowed

in

theory, but exceptions have already been registered in th'e pas t am ong well-to-do Tha kal

traders. Things have since changed, moreover, inasmuch as older mem bers of Thak ali soci

ety, while gelletally nbt condoning intercaste marriage, a t least do not try to prevcnt

it

i

such is the express wish of their son-or daughter-, especially when th e prospective husban d

comes from wealthy family. Chara cteristically, it is m cm bers of the sub bha families who

first married their daugh ters to mem bers of oth er ethnic group s, such of them a s were, again

well-to-do.

Intercaste marriage of men and wom en is not so widespread yet amo ng the Mawa tans

as it is among the Tamalig Tbakalis (and in t h e e s e of the

latter they occur, in general

mor

among those who have mig rated). As for the Yhulkasummis, this form of marria ge

appears only sporadically.

Interestingly enoug h, amo ng the Tam ang Thakalis there are cases in which influentia

men or famous lam as from oth er ethnic group s have been accorded the stat us of a Tam ang

Thaksli by virtue of having brell(&eceived into the grou p, They were able to m arry Taman g

Thakali wo men , and th e children o f suclr a union were regarded a s Thak alis. Men accepted

into the group in this manner w r e generally esteemed, qui te well off and able to exercise

considerable influence in the s m oun din g region.



66

TH E TH A K A LIS OF N O R T H WESTER N N EPAL

The clans of th e three T hak ali gr ou ps are generally exogamou s (for more details see

the cha pter "Clan Org aniz atio n"). Perferen ce is given t o matrila tera l cross-cousin marriage

"The preferenc e fo r the m atr ila ter al cro ss cousin may be seen as recognition that such

nlarriages provide a mea ns fo r a co nt inu ing alliance between two lineages" (Manzard

19 '8

76 ;

he co nti nu es "But Th ak ali s als o recognize th at lineages may be linked by

patrilateral cros s cousin marria ge a nd bro ther-sister exchange marriages. In any case, all o

the possibilities described here occur among the three Thakali groups."

Th e "exchange" ma rriage is particularly favored am ong the subbh a families of th

Tam ang Th akalis. They belong t o the lang a dhungi lineage of the Sh erchan clan and marry

preferentially, members of the dhyatan lineage of the Tulachan clan, This marriage exchang

is said to have first occurred d uring the flowering of the s alt tra de between Tibet and Indi

A genuine aristocracy arose am ong the Tam ang Thakalis from this preferred marriage bond

Money and goods flowed between the two lineages, and the Tulachan/dhyatan thereby acqui

red a share of the subbba's wealth.

Several years ago the Council of Thirteen Hea dm en of thc Ta m ang Thakalis consid

red replacing the

four-clan system by

a

lineage

system built up along the lines of the

hig

castes of Nepal. U nd er i t lineage mem bers would have been able to interm arry, so that, fo

exa m ple, a mem ber of a G auc han lineage could have married a mem ber o f another Gaucha

lineage.

Th is reorientatio n would have had tw o advantages Th e first would have been greate

prestige within Hindu cast e society; the second , the enlarging of the gro up of possib

ma rriage par tner s (the Sherc hans ar e the largest gr ou p, followed by the Gaucbans, Tul

cha ns an d Bhattachans). But this idea was strongly resisted on the groun ds

of

being to

incestuou s. ''The sugges tion was felt t o dange rously with the incest rule so the idea w

strongly opposed aod is seldom spoken of today" (M anzard o 19 78 9

1).

Vinding, du rin g his stay in Th ak Khola. fou nd several significant differences amon

the

thre e Thak ali group s a s to their preference for specific form s of marriage.

f 5

Tamaog

Thakali marriage in Thak Kbola,

13

26%) were cross cousins o f the first gener

tion 7 FZS-MBD marriage,

6

MBS-FZD marria ges), 2 1 ( 4 2 % ) marriages were betwee

Th aka lis who were not rela ted at all an d 16 ma rriages were between relatively close rel

t on; marriages

(4%)

were inte rcas te marria ges between Thak ali men an d, respectively,

woman from Baragaon and a Magar woman (Vindiog 1979/80b:329).

of

Maw atan marriages, only one

(5%)

was between firs t degree cross cousin

(FZS-MBD marriage),

7

marriages

33

) were between unrelate d Maw atans, and

13

mar



E C O N O M Y A N D SOCIETY 67

ages

(62%)

were between relatively closely related Maw atan s; 1 marriage occurred between

a Mawatan man and a Ta m ang Tha kali wom an.

Of

40

Yhulkasum mi Th akali marriages, 6 o f t h e m

(15 )

occurred between first-

degree cross cousins

4 FZS-MBD

marriages,

2

MBS FZD marriages), 7 marriages (1 8 )

between unrelated couples , an d

27

marriages between relatively closely related ones (68%);

2

marriages were intercast m arriages w ith a woman from L o and a Tam ang Thakali woman

respectively.

Finally, the frequency of marriag es betwezn couples of the same village amoun ted

to only 26% among the Taman g Th aka lis, but

85%

among the Yhulkasummis and 9 0 %

among the Mawatans.

As opposed to M anz ard o, Viading is of the opinion that the Thakalis show no

preference fo r the one o r the ot he r form of cross-cousin marriage. B u t there is a saying

according to which the daug hter of the mo ther's broth er is the prim ary cross cousin , One

informant said that mo thers generally prefer to see their son s married to the daug hters of

their brothers, whereas fathers to see married to the daughter s of their sisters. It is

interesting to hear tbe various op inio ns of Tha kalis in appraising the cross-cou sin m arriage

Some approve of this kind of ma rriage,

since the spou ses have known on e ano the r wel

since childhood, and this is tru e of the parent s. And the relationsh ip of the daughter-in-law

to the mother-in-law

and

t o the younger sisters of her husband is also good. Othe rs voice

the opinion that extreme enm ity could result between

two such closely relatcd families i

differences arose in tbe marriage.

One argument I beard was that such a union could prove

fateful as regards the transm ission of genetic materia l, but the info rm ant conceded that this

was incomprehensible to the old Thakalis.

I

myself know of one case where bodily defects

have cropped up among Tamang Thakalis over a period of several generations.

2-10

Death

When a Thakali

man dies both the

mem bers of his family an d lineage and those o

in-laws' family

assemble,

and the case is the same with wom en, though in reversed order.

t is above all else im portallt th e tha t sons-in-law of the deceased be pres ent.

The tradi

tional death ceremony as a whole serves to crystalize re lationsh ip between Thak alis

Although basically

a

ceremony involving the family an d ultimately the lineage, it requires

the Presence of one 's aflin es when the know ledge of conling death is certain, regardless o

location of [heir respective homes (M an zar do 1978:7 1 .

From my own experience

know,

for example, that the relatives of a Tamang Thakali woman who lay d ying in Thak



8

T H E THAKALIS OF

N O R T H

WESTERN

NEPAL

Kh ola travelled fro m widespread pa rts of Nep al to the bedside of their dying grandmother

mother, mother-in-law an d au nt .

The three Thakali groups have slightly varying burial and death rites.

In the case o

the Tam ang Th aka lis, for example, the relatives assemble, as descrived abov e, and erect

surrogate of the deceased person made of wood or bam boo Thak.

:

mendo ). It is usually

covered with the latter's clothes. If the deceased is a m an, a c ap top i

)

is placed on the

surrogate's head, and, if a women, a chain ( Nep. : mala ) is put on the mendo. A shaman

called

hom

by the Tha kalis, is sum mo ned , an d durin g the succeeding ceremony he sing

an d beats his drum in accom panim ent. On the evening following the death, or the nex

mo rning in cases where the dea th occurred a t nigh t, the body of the deceased is cremate

on pyre built alongside the river and ignited by

the eldest son.

A cerem ony takes plac

du ring this. On following day s, to o , various rites tak e place, durin g which each kin rank

from am on g those relatives taking par t has its specific fun ctio n. On the third day, fo

example, saksum tak es place, du ring the cou rse of which the sons-in-law go down to th

river, retrieve one of the deceased's bones and place it next to the surrogate described adove

A b.lnquet is held on this da y for all close relatives. On the sixth day following the death

cerem ony again takes place, an d aga in the relatives ar e given a meal. The most importan

ceremony takes place on the thirteenth ddy

:

the mang raji

or

rnhang rahwa

(According to

V~ndiog

rnhang is

a

sup erna tura l being responsible for having killed the deceased.)

Man

zardo

( 1 9 7 8

:

86)

rollowcd the course o f this cerem ony amo ng Tamang Thakalis from

Pok hara. T here it took place o n th e thirteenth day a fte r death. Vinding f or his part describe

this ceremony am on g the inh abi tants of Syang, wheie it was cond ucted on the third day

after death 1982 : 3 3 3 .

According to Waddell ( 1

885)

thc m aking o f likenesses or su rrog ates of a dead perso

is a l'lbetan custom originating in the bonpo rites (see the chapter

Religion

).

Thus on

may assume that n relation exists bctween the sham anistic ideas of the Th aka lis and thos

of Bon belief in Tibet.

Manzardo writes concerning this ceremony : ....the reb irth status of the dead will

discovered

(19

78 : 72). On the 45th day following thc

a ceremony fo r close relative

again takes place. If the deceased was a wom an, all o f her female friends meet on th

oc-sioo;

if

the deceased was a man, all of his male frien ds assemble. Finally, at the end

a Year last ceremony with lineage members and friends takes place, and with that the Year

o

mourning is officially over.



E C O N O M Y N D S O C IE T Y

In the case of the Tamang Thaka lis there are special lineage burial grounds, calle

kimi, where the mo rtal remains-the ashe s of tbe cremated body or a bone-are stored. Eac

Tamang Thakali lineage has its own kim i, which, like the othe rs, is located on the height

above Kobaog, where the first Tarn ang T haka li village is said to h ave origirlally stoo d. Bist

describes the grave as follows ,T h e kimi shrine is built of ston e an d m ud , usually ab ou

three feet square and four feet high, with a little hollow inside, In the hollow must be placed

piece of bone of each family member on his dea th (In

:

Manzardo

1978 8 9 .

Accordii~g o statem ents by

my informants a num ber of kimis ar e also located in

the vicinity of Tag lung , an ot he r indicatio n of the significance and auto no m y of the Tam ang

Thakalis from

Kaog

chhi M ar Po , The kimis in question are those of the ghera phobhe

mhatasi phobhe aod chyupa ghyuwa

=

phobhe).

The kimis are newly whitewashed

i n

a special ceremo ny each year at the time of th

lineage gathering of jho cha wa . Som e Ta m an g Thak alis have so-called mane, or mani walls

built as a rem em bran ce for themselves. The ir descendants every year perform a smal

ceremony, called mane ramdcrz, in ho no r of the foun ders of these reliquary walls. Each

Person who passes the wall during the ceremony is offered chaog (beer).

These ceremo nies again have the purpose of bringing together all relatives and to

reinforce the bonds of the various lineages. In th is way, to o, the Ta m an g Thakalis who hi ve

remained in Thak

Khola can keep in con tact with the migrated Thakalis, who go UP

to

Thak Khola for this ceremony.

The Maw atans d o no t have suah burial grao und s, They cremate their dead on Con~mo

burning grou nd s, called

clla

near the Ka )i Gan daki.

Forn ~er ly each patr il ineal de ~c en

group had its own burning gro un ds in the vicinity of old Ma rph a, Djbong.

But transport-

ing the dead up the steep path to Djhon g proved to be to o laborious, an d the community

decided in tavor of crem ation site.

As described previously, the Ma wa tans also worship , in a big cerem ony in the village

those desce nda nts who had man j walls built. In former times a ritual was per-

formed fo r each wall, but (his practice was suspended n

977

by the com munity to Cut

back on costs.

The

Yhulkasummis, finally, have both burning groun ds for the individual kin grou ps

and

kimis, in w hich the bones o f the deceased mem bers of the grou p ar e deposited.

These

kimis, however, do not look like those of the Tam ang Thakalis, -being, rath er, mo re like

chortens votive reliquary shr ine s

).



7

THE

THAKALIS

OF NORTH WESTERN NEPAL

In the vicinity of Thini are found

the burning grounds of the gyalgi phobhe, bompo

phobhe, jisin phobhe, born phobhe and kya phobhe, in Chimang those of the dancan phobhe

and kya phobhe, and in Syang those of the syangtan phobhe, san phobhe, pasin phobhe

che phobhe, blite sonam phobhe, yisi cheta phobhe, khyodo syang phobhe and kisim

pal phobhe.

The Thakalis in Thak Khola believe predominantly that the soul of the deceased goe

to heaven. Conceptions of life in heaven differ, but everyone is convinced that they

w

meet deceased ~e la tives here after their death. For some the way to heaven has been

blocked. This is supposed to happen to those who carry arround unfulfilled wisbes, or t

those whose relatives have performed the death rites incorrectly, If the latter occurs

th

souls of these dead return to the

village and inhabit some other person Thak.

: mhan

maiwa

.

In such cases a ritual specialist

dhom

aya lama;

see the chapter on religion

must be consulted to perform the necessary ceremonies on the possessed person in order fo

the soul to attain a state of rest.

If the deceased has died by his own hand or at the hand of another,

or while givin

birth, if, that is, he has died a violent death,

then his soul will linger about as a sinti an

there is no possibility for these souls to go to heaven.

They chiefly haunt the area aroun

the burning grounds. Thakalis are horribly afraid of these sintis.

Some Thakalis assume that alongside heaven there is also a hell, where it is eith

frightfully hot or cold.

Dead persons who have

led

a

good life go to heaven, and thos

whose life has been bad to bell.

Still others assume that persons whose conduct in life h

been bad are reborn as animals after death, but such ideas are the exception.

On the whole, Thakalis in Thak Khola tend not to believe in rebirth after death. Th

Buddhism of the Thakalis differs in many respects so much from orthodox Buddhism tb

one might even be inclined to suppose that the Thakalis are not Buddhists. But Vindin

for one believes that this is a matter of definition 1982 :

315

) If we choose a str

definition which includes the belief in the endless cycle of rebirths, then the Thakalis gen

rally speaking cannot be said to be Buddhist.

A

better approach, however, is to use

broader definition and define a Buddhist as one who regards himself/herself as a follower

the Buddha; one may then proceed to describe and analyse the various forms of Buddhis

f we choose this broader definition then most Thakalis of Thak Khola are 0uddhiet8

For details see the chapter Religion.

)



3

RELIGION

Thak Khola is located in the zone where Tibetan cultural influences from the north

come into contac t with H ind u cultu ral influences from th e sou th.

Thus a mixture of native

cultural elements with elements broug ht in an d assimilated from the outside can be wit-

nessed. This syncretism is above all reflected in religion, which is here a com bination of ani-

mistic, pre-Buddhistic elements joined with Buddhist an d Hind u ones. A dh ere nts of Ca tho

licism are now found among the migrated Thakalis, and some young Thakalis in Kathmandu

even call themselves atheists.

Thakalis in Thak Khola generally refer to themselves as Buddhists, though the Tamang

Thakalis, abo ve all tho se from Thak Satsae, have become more and more exposed in the

last forty years to the process of Hind uization an d Sanskritization see the ch apt er

o Trade ).

The groups of Ma watan, Thin , Syangtan and Chimtan Thakalis who are engaged

n

farming and

stockbreeding fall within the sway of the Lam aist Nyin ma-pa sect, which is

related to the Tibetan tradition of ' 'White Bon Kv aerne 197 2 2 2 f.

),

as opposed to

the pre-Buddhistic Black Bon tradi tio n.

The oldest tradition is that of the so-callad dhom, a

kind of medicine man and triba

priest in on e, furnished with sha m anis t att rib ute s an d havin g ties with the pre-Buddhistic

Black Bon tradition of Tibet Stein 1 9 7 2 , Tucci 1980 ). In Marpha and among the Tamang

Thakalis these specialists are called dhom , W hereas among the Ybulkasum mis their name is

aYa

lama

There still exists a practising dho m am ong the Tam ang Thakalis, whereas in Ma r-

pba there are no more now. Six aya lamas are found among the Yhulkasummis.

Tbakalis are furthermo re acqu ainted w ith the So-called jhakri, medicine men or faith

healers who, in Th ak Kho la, belong to the tailor cas te of H ind us. Th e jhakris have either

emigrated from the Middle Ranges or the south of Nepal to Thak Kbola, or else they go up

to

Tbak Khola from time to time to offer their services

as

healers on the Subject of jhakri

~ f

itchcock and Jones) eds.

1976 ).

Both -dhom and jhakri-attem pt by the use o f sham anist practices, illvolving all so rts

of

rites and cerem onies, to cu re the local inh abit ants who have been po sscssed by evil po \\e rs

and supernatural beings. However, the dhom differs from the jhakri in that

1

his status is

U P

with specific patrilineal descent gro up s see tbe ch apte r Clan orgaization

); 2.

he

does not, as opposed to the jhakri, fall into a trance; and 3. he perform s the obsequies

the jhakri does not do Jest

1966,

1969, 1976; Vinding 1982 291).



72

TH T H A K A L IS

OF

N O R T H

W ST RNNE P AL

Since, alo ng with his sham anist traits sham anism as defined according to Shiroko

or of f 19 25

),

the dho m assum es the ch arac ter of a tribal priest, his activities invite compa

rison with those of the Hindu B rahmans a nd Buddhistic lamas.

The priest-shaman dichot

om y is only a theoretical one-for the purpo se of def init ion in practice the fine distinction

ar e lost by the cou ntless variation s an d local form s of religious traditions (Greve 1984:2)

Greve ma de the att em pt t o classify an d define the terms shaman and priest withi

Tibeto-Burman traditions, taking the Thakali dhom as his model.

Tibetan Buddhism,

o r Lam aism , began to mak e itself felt in Th ak Kho la, accordin

to David Snellgrove (1

961,

196 9, 1979), the 1 h or 1 2t h centu ry, an d from then on be

came ever more influential. Temples and monasteries were built, the Tibetan script was intro

duced, an d the second son of each fam ily could expect to become a mon k. Dor Bahadu

Wsta says in this connection

(1

9 7 1

54)

' 'They [the Thakalis]

practised a t the time o

their rise t o f?.rne a primitive tribal religion involving sham anism a nd anim al sacrifice an

rem ained ecologically ou tside the bo un dar ies of M ust ang . Nevertheless in o rde r to civiliz

themselves the Thak alis turned towards the n orth [i. e. tow ards the inhabitants of Mustan

who are related cultura lly, linguistically and ethnically with the Tibe tans, an d whose roya

family

maintains close ties with the aristocracy in Lhasa]

...

The Th akl is built Tibetan-sty

Budd hist G om pa temples in every conven ient place and established a few monasteries wit

learned La m as an d disciples. They even laid it

dow n th at the second son of every famil

should live in

celibacy an d stu dy t o be a disciple in the Tibetan style. They also establishe

nunnery for the women and made similar rules.

But in sp ite of all efforts by the Tam ang T hak alis to a da pt themselves to their neigh

bo rs, a strategy which ap pe ars to have been an econom ic necessity, the Mustangis did no

regard them very highly. According to Bista, the Tam ang Th akalis ar e said to have mixe

the sham anist ceremonies an d rites with their native tribal religion There four clan

a s~ e m b le d to worsh ip all the god s jointly. Large feasts lasting several days were given o

such occassions a nd a t o ther times as, fo r instance, on the initiation of boys every five years

1971

54 .

Th e influence of eac h of the clan an d v illage head s grew constan tly during th

time, as did the pow er of the priests, since the m ore successful the trading business of th

Tamang Thakalis was, tha t much more

money they had to spend on festivals and cerem

nies. Fu rt he rm or e, a rivalry arose am on g the various religious specialists. All of these dev

lopmen ts were based on the econom ic success of the rich trad ers, who, with their mone

were able to m ake themselves felt within their preferred religious persuasion. Several son8 o

these rich traders-often subbhas-became imp ortan t abb ots o f large mo nasteriesi

Mustang and Tibet, and this brought the Tamang Thakalis great prestige.



llu~twtfon

o 5



Illustration

No



llustrationNo

9





10 RELIGION

7

At the end of the 18 th century Thak Khola, like the rest of Nepal, came under th

rule of the Shah dynasty. These orth od ox Hin du kings looked down upon the Thakalis a

Bhotyas who pa rtoo k of the meat of yaks, and therefore of cattle. As has already bee

described, the Thakalis, especially the Ta m an g Thakalis,

thereupon made changes in thei

image by, fo r example, officially renouncin g the cons um ption of beef an d taking on Hi nd

rites and customs. This is still visible today,

especially am ong the migrated Thakalis. Thes

changes originated with the subbha families.

Today the situation continues to be one in which there is greater conformity to Hind

customs, views and ceremonies am on g Th akalis living in Kath man du an d on the Indian

Nepal border than,

for example, those in Pokh ara,

where both the Tamang Thakalis an

the migrated Mawatans and Yhulkasummis tend to be Buddhist oriented.

Taken as a whole, however, Buddhism has lost ground am ong the Thakalis. TW

temples, fo r examp le, have closed down in Th ak Satsae, an d three in Th ini. Even today

however, I would still tend t o call the Ma wa tans an d Yhu lkasumm is Bud dhists, whereas th

Tamang Thakalis have taken o n H indu traditions (fo r example, they often have a Brahm a

come to Th ak K hola, an d ofte n, to o, they celebrate their weddings according to

Hindu rite).

It is d i5 cu lt to describe the religious views of the Th akalis in a general way: thei

religion contains so many elements of the most varied tradition s. M oreo ver, the Tha kali

are a very complex an d heterogeneous ethn ic group.

mentioned above, for example, that the Thakalis, contrary to Buddhist doctrine, d

not believe in the rebirth of souls. All along the line, in fact, the Buddhism practiscd by them

has taken on a charac ter of its own : The kind of Tibetan Buddhism foun d in Th ak Khola

could be called the Little Trad ition (or Folk T radition ) of Tibetan Bu ddhism in con trast o

the great tradition o f Tibetan Buddhism found in the religious centers of the Tibetan culture

area (Vinding

1982:312 .

There is no large monastery in Thak Khola; the single monastery

community is located in Sya ng an d was established only recently. Few mon ks live in Th ak

but, n

recompense, a relatively largc num ber of nuns and ma rried village lamas (dhom or

Ya

lama) do . Th is large selection of religious and ritual specialists am ong the Thak alis leads

to unmitigated rivalry-who goes to whom

In general, it may be said that elder s usua lly first consu lt the tribal priest-dhom , aYa

lama and jhakri

-,

the middle generation frequently goes to Buddhist lamas, and You nger

persons, always open to the new and strange, prefer Western medicine when ill.



7

T H E T H A K A L I S OF N O R T H W E S T E R N N E P AL

''The real essence of disease in th e eyes of the Tha kal is is an o bstruc tion in the harm

ony between the world of men an d tha t of the gods an d spirits Certain diseases

ar

regarded by the Thakalis as being necessary and belonging to the natura l order of things

accepted as a trial or punishment. Thus the powers of heaven or the middle world, Lha and

Cban, intzrvene, shooting the arrow of disease (nam khi nasa

=

sky disease Tib.,

k

ban= arrow of heaven Nep.) at the person in question. On the other hand, evil powe

too, try to distu rb the harm onious equ ilib ~i um between good and evil forces Morta

witches, black magicians, spirit witches and evil spirits attack the

m n

and try to harm him

Greve 982:4 ). Th e task of the trad itional heal:r, then, is to restore a balanced relatio

ehip between good a nd evil'' an d so to create harm ony anew.



4 1

The History

as

Documented up to the 18th Century

There are, unfortu nately, only very few written docum ents making referenc e to th

past of the three Th aka li gro up s, In 1978 Jac kso n published the tran slatio n of d ocu m ents

composed in Tib etan sc ript, which he discove red, however, not in Th ak K hola , but in oth e

districts of Nepal an d Tibet. He learned fro m them that a people , whose land was calle

Serib, must have form erly existed in the upp er Thak Kh ola region, the first indication s o

whom go back to the 7th century

A D

With the aid of oth er docum ents which Vinding an

Thakali discovered in Thin i, Jac kso n form ed a pictu re of the tim e, in which Tbini mu s

still have been an influential tow n with the foretr ess Ga -rab Dz on g, to day only recognizabl

from its ruins.

Backing this up are num ero us local legends of the Tha kalis in which there ar

constant references to the mighty fortress, from which at one time the whole of Panchagaon

to name one region, was ruled over ( ~ h a n ch ag a o n Yh ulngh a). The Yhulkasummis claim

today that their ancestors, who lived in this region, were the original Thakali-speaking group

n one version of the Ta m ang Thakali myths there

figures a princess , the daug hter of th

king of Thini, who marries Hansa Raja , the putative comm on ancestor of all Tam an

Thakalis. One part of this legend is reco unte d in the mo dern version of the Dh imch a

Rhab, the clan history of the Tam ang Thaka lis (see the chapter Myths aud Legends ).

Legends dealing with other past rulers an d further accounts centered on Thini an

vicinity are also worth mentioning. They were published in

1978 by Vinding. U p until the

they had remained alive only through oral tradition. Un til the documen ts in Thini wer

discovered there was no referznce, not even in the Tam ang Th aka li accou nt, to the ruler

of the fort. Only the above-mentioned new version as found in the Dh imch an/She rchan cla

history makes reference to Thin i. The ora l legends were authen ticated by what Vinding an

Thakali discovered.

Neither of the two texts clan, acc ord ing to Ja ck so n, be old er than the 17 th century

ince they mention the D ar , Idan-ph o-brang governm ent of Tib et, which was ertablishe

i n 642

(1978:209). An even older text on the history of Thin i s reported to exist, but

has not been discovered up to now.



76

T H E T H A K A L IS

OF

N O R T H WEST ER N N EPAL

Both of the texts discovered by Vinding ar e concerned princip ally with the founde

of the ruling lineage of the for tres s Ga-ra b-D zon g, the king Gyal-dong-mig-jen, From th

texts

on e learns w ho was trib uta ry to the kingdom of Thini: am ong othe rs, Baragaon an

Panchgaon.

Jacks on the refore po sits th at Thini may on ce have been the political center of Se-ri

but tbis cannot be

de fini tely pro ved Ne ve rthe less, the existence of the kingdom of Se-r

and i ts one t ime rule from Ga-rab Dzong may

acc ou nt fo r the special high statu s accorde

to the resid ents of Thini in the social orde r of upper T hak Kh ola. There persists among th

people of Barag aon , fo r example, the o pinio n tha t the people of Th ini are the equals of the

highest social group 1978 210).

There are indications that, from the 13th o r 14th century, Se-rib an d Thak Kho

increasingly let their political pow er slip away from them . Oth er ruling houses put pressur

on them from various sides Jum la from the west and Gun g-thang fro m the north-east. I

succeeding years the two co nst ant ly traded power in Se-rib an d Thak K ho la back and forth

In

13

70

for example, the Malla kings (from Jumla) lost their edge of supremacy, and Gun

t h a n g ruled the following years over Se-rib. Under them Lo (Mustang) was conquered in th

final decades of th e 14 th century. L ater th e kings of L o, who had made themselves indepe

de nt, too k over the rulership of Se-rib. Althoug h the for m er position of Se-rib as a leadin

power was severely reduced, Thak Khola continued to remain economically and strategicall

im po rtan t. The K ali G and ak i valley was alrcady o ne of the main trade rou tes between Tib

an d western Nepal. Fo r centu ries the lower limit of Tlb etan cultu re in Th ak Kho la has bee

near Ko ban g, sou th of Tuk uche. Th ere is a temple in that area aptly named in Tibeta

Temple of the Bottom

(smad kyi Iha K han g) which Ti be tan Buddh ists still consider th

bou nda ry of their own religion and culture (Jackson 197 8 217). Th e temple may, accordin

to Jackson, have marked the place where caravans and

m erch ant s did most of their tradin

duriog the 1 5 t h and 16 th centuries.

In the

1

6th century the kingdo m of L o lost its influence in Thak Khola and cam

itself und er the rule of Lada kh , while Th ak Kh ola ag ain fell into the h and s of Jumla. In th

final deca des of tha t centu ry Jum la succeeded in bringing Lo, too , within its sphere of

i

fluence. It was only in the early 18th centu ry th at, b y me ans of diverse marriages, LO an

Lad akh could renew th eir ties; Ju m la still con trolled only Th ak Kho la and the upp

Ga nda ki. Supp licatory prayers on copper plates from Junlla lor the sacred town of Muk

nath have been preserved from this period

1

720 .

La ter , afte r Ju m la was conquered by t

Gorkhas under Prithvi Narayan Shah, Lo became once again autonomous. The Shah dynant



HISTORY 7

made Kath ma ndu its capital, and Jum la lost its form er political power. ...the shifting o

the centre of political power t o

Ka thm andu created at first a situation in which the peopl

of Thak Khola enjoyed almo st complete autonomy (Fuere r-Haim endo rf 975 : 139 .

Concerning the rise of the Ta m ang Tha kalis, which may be date d to the followlo

period (Fuerer-Haimendorf 974 : 1 4 0 ), and their dom ination of the most imp ortant tradin

relations in Th ak K hola, one has recourse on ly to conjecture : We have no way of asce

taining in what manner the Thakalis

succeeded in joining their dom inan t position through

out Thak Kho la, an d whether they displaced an earlier pop ulat ion. The gap between th

mythical accoun t of the origin of the Th akalis' clan anc esto rs an d historical da ta in th

narrow sense is bridged only inadequ ately by the testimo ny of religious m onu m ents an

some references in Tibetan records unfortunately largely undated.

4.2 Myths

and

Legends

The history of the fou r clans of Tam ang Thakalis was written down in the

Chyo

Rhab Thak History of the Cbyo ki/Gauchan

.

in the iilki Rhab Tha k, History o

the Salki/Tulachan

),

in the Dhimchan Rhab Th ak.

:

Histo ry of the Dhim cban/Sherchan

and in the Bhurki Rhab Th ak . : History of the BhurkiIBhattachan ),

and these are amon

the most important of Tamang Thakali documents.

The conten ts of this clan mythology allow conclusions to be draw n concerning th

roots and beginnings of the Tam ang Thakalis, and ar e the source of lively debate , not onl

among ethnologists but among the Thakalis themselves.

The four rhabs were

or ig ina l ly ~r i t t enn the Thak ali language but in Tibeta n scrip

due to the fact that no Tha kali script was ever devised Vinding

977

02 ).

Th

legends were actu ally written on single long paper scrolls, but aro un d one hundre d year

ago new copies of the Chyoki Rhab, the Salk i Rhab an d the Dkimchan Rhab were prepared

by a Tam ang Th ak ali , The Tibetan script was replaced in the act by Devana gari script

which may be taken as a display of reverence towords Hindu society. Only the Bhurki Rha

was not copied at the time, for uuexplained reason s, a n d has remained uncharged up to

the present.

The four rhab s are read out loud and explained during 1/10 phewa, or trelo epiphan y

of the gods ), which take s place in Tha k Khola every twelve years on ha phewa see Jes

964 and 1974, and Somlai 1982 .

Fo ur masks, which are kept in four small temples Iha thau

)

above Kobang/Larjung



78


symbolize the

four deities

of the fou r clans. Each clan designates a so-called

pande (

see

the chapter on clan organization to keep the rh ab in his house and t o watch over the mask

of the deity in the temple. He is also the one who recites the next during Iha phewa.

Th e rha b of the Sherchan clan, significantly en oug h, is said to have been destroyed

by a fire several

decades ago , an d no one knows for sure whether anothe r copy exists or

not. Some Thakalis claim, probably not entirely without reason , tha t the original

w s

destroyed in ord er t o wipe ou t any traces suggestive of the true origin s of the Sherchan

Dhimchan clan.

To Narendra Gauchan goes the credit for seeing to it that, in spite of this, the history

of the Sherchans can con tinue to the handed dow n; he questioned ol d Thakalis on the

con tents of the missing rhab ao d recorded his findings. Nevertheless, one must bear

n

mind that the majority of Tha kali inform ants, consciously or unconsciously, probably had

an interest

in

adapting the legend to Hindu views,

Surendra Gauchan and V in d i~ granslated the fou r ma nus cripts an d published them

in 1977. Jest had already published fragm ents of these rhab s in 1964. Hari and Maibaum

have dealt with the alki Rhab (1 970) .

A description of the ance stors of the Tam ang Th akalis settiog off east

to Dhaulagir

from the region around Jumla/Sinja

(Sinja was a capital city of the M alla kingdom)

given

in

the four rhabs. Sincc they could not m ake it ove r the passes they stopped for som

time in Dolpo . But the climate there mu st have seemed to the four ancestors to be to

bleak, and the stand ard of living of the local pop ulation to be to o low, for they waendere

on and came to the present-day Thak k hola Valley. Here they settled in the region aroun

Khan ti, Kobang, Sa uru , Naprun gkhu ng, Nakh ung and Dhocbo; this region is called Tha

ong kor in the rhab. According to Gau chao gtlV indin g Th aton gko r is said to have also bee

called Thasang 1977:

16 .

On their way there the four ancestors had numerou s adv entu res to go through wit

the help of the gods, whose journey to

Thak

K ho la was likewise filled with many exper

ences. Ou t of a sandalwo od tree in the

vicinity o f S inja having only four branches the

arose fou r birds, each of a different color, which proceeded to be incarnated in variou

beings, until finally they too k on the for m s of the four clan deities. Fo r example, the go

of the Bh urki/B hattach an clan-his name is Lha Hyawa-Rhangjyung-is born to a nu

after she had swallowed three hailstones, a9 a piece of flesh o f the male sex

....

(Gaucban

Vinding

1 9 7 7

: 150 ). Later he assumes the form of yak. Before he reaches Thato



ISTORY

gkhor and becomes the protec tor of Kh e Dh am chi Dh am ru, the original ancestor of th

Bhurki clan, the god goes through several adventures in Tibet.

The color assigned to him

black, bis element is the air, and he is called the younger brother of the three other deities

The original ancestor of the Chyo ki/Ga ucha n clan is Kh e Ani Airan, whose protecto

is the god Lha Langbk Nh urb u Tib.

:

jewel elephant god

),

who is the eldest of the fo

deities, and is therefo re called elder brothe r,

His color is red, and his element fire,

Khe Samledhen Samlechyang is the

original ancestor of the Salki/Tulachan cla

whose protectress is the goddess Lha Chhyuring Gya lm o Ti

b

: the sea-monster queen

She is called elder sister. T o her ar e assigned the colors bluelgreen an d the elemen

water.

The original ancestor of the

Dhimchan/Sherchan clan is K he D h ik p a Ghyalsan

whose protectress is the goddess Lha G ha ng la Singi Kar po Tib. : the wbite lioness of th

glacier

). She is called younger sister , her assigned color being white, an d her elemen

the earth,

The four gods of the five elements ordered the four Khe to gather at the meetin

place [ in Thatongkor

]

even though they could not gather at the birth place [ Sinja

1.

Th

four gods of the five elements orde red them to increase the villages of Thaatongko r. Th

four gods of th e five elements orde red tha t they should earn fame in Thaatongko r

GauchanlVinding 197

7

: 6

8

).

As mentioned previously, all four ancestors are said to

have come from the region o

Sinja in Hum la District-from Nhub chan. Kh e Aani Airan was bo rn in Nhub chan as

member of the Chan family Gau chan lVinding 1977 :

0

.

Chan is supposed to b

either the name of a family or that

of a clan. Some Tam ang Thakalis claim that Chan i

identical with the Thakuri Chan clan, and they trace back to it their own lineage and status

which would then be equivalent to tha t of the Thak uris in Hindu caste hierarch y,

Of

inte

rest, furthermore, is the fact tha t, after the four ance stors settled in Th a Tba tongk or )

the name Chan became ' 'Thachan the Chan from Th a

),

which was later transformed

into Tamhaang/Tamang, the name the group still goes by today.

As mentioned previously, the

Dhimchan

Rhab was newly set down in writing by N

Gauchan ; in it two views cu rren t amo ng Tam ang Th akalis as to their origin find expression

Thc majority of Tamang Thakalis hold to the

view that their ancestors originally emigrated

rom Sinja to T h a t Khola. A second narrat ive tells of a prince or king, called ~ a n s a aja



8

TH

T H K L I S

O

NORTH

W ST RN

NEP L

who fled from Sinja it is not said why

)

and cam e t o Thasan g, where he married Nhim

RZini, the da ug hte r of the k ing Thin i

Thin Ga-rab Dzong ). Sh e received as dowry th

region from M arp ha to Ghasa. Th e Tam ang Thakalis, then, are said to be the offspring o

this couple. Th e othe r trad ition, as noted , refers only to the fou r anc esto rs and their god

from Sinja; the names Hansa R aj a and Nhima Rani do not app ea r in it. In his version o

the Dhimchan Rbab N. Gauchan tried to

take and combine b o th traditions, but he is

o

certa in whether th e sto ry of Han sa RZija was ever in the missing origin al version of th

Dhimchan Rhab a t all .

The second

version Ha nsa Raja-Nhima Ra ni

),

however,

is admirably suited to th

purpo ses of the rich Sherchan families, in tha t it allow s them to trace back their roots

nobles from JumlalSinja and so to prove that they, as an ethnic group, are of no

Tibetan origin.

Other Thak alis claim tha t one por tion of the fou r clan s may have emigrated from

Jum la/Sinja t o Th ak Kn ola, whereas the othe r half came from T ibet, an d this is seen from

the fact that the origin of the Bhattachao god can no t be traced b ack in the legend to Sinj

his story dealing, rather, principally with events in Tibet Gau chao /Vinding

1977

149

Further conclusions concerning the

pa st can probably be reached only if more doc

ments are found and translated.

In

1978,

more over, Vinding, with the help of Kr ishn a La1 Thak aali, transferred

writing the oral history of Marpha.

According to it the original ancestors of the Maw atans are said to have been She

R aj a and Monnarchya-kom o. N o referen ce to eithe r, however, exists in any historical sourc

though their names do occur in old, traditional Thakali songs.

Th is version makes Sheli RZja the bro ther of Ha nsa Ra ja, Both emigl.ated fro

Jumla to Thak Khola.

There strife arose between the brothers,

and Sheli Raja afterward

settled in Djhon g old M arp ha ) ,

The latter was able , by means of trickery, to flig

Hansa RGja's soldiers, who wanted to atta ck him Vinding

1978: 192

).

Sheli Rgja

had

daug hter, whom he gave in marriag e to th e son o f Gyal-tan-me-chen, th e ruler in Thini

se

o

Jackson under Gyal-dong-mig-jen

).

F o r a dowry she received from her father, amon

other things, a basket full of gold. She heraelf bore a daughter, who was married to a princ

from Jumla, since their parents were friends.

Ma ny inform ants believe that the present three endogamous Thakali groups could

one time intermarry , an d this is ruggested, for example, by the marriage of Sheli

Raja



llustration

No

4

llustration No 4





Illurtration No

5





1 HISTORY 8

daughter from M arp ha

with the son of the king of Thini or by the marriage of Hansa Ra

with Nhima

RZni. The split between the three group s may have come ab ou t following th

death of the king of Thin i, Gyal-dong-mig-jen. In ord er to settle the border trouble seve

men of Thini, seven men of M ar ph a an d seven men of Tha k Satsae met near th e prese

border. The men of T ha k Satsae were under the supervision of Ngima Rani

[

daughter

the deseased king and wife of Hansa RSja 1. The first round of negotiations failed,

but a

agreement was reached du rin g a secon d rou nd of negotiation s (Vinding 1978 1 9 3

).

The divisions agreed to at that tim e correspon d to the present regions associated wit

the three different Thakali groups.

4.3 History after

18

and the Rise of the Subbhas

Even though the

ruling house of G ork ha had

political co ~ lt ro l over Thak Khola i

name, the econom ic influence of Tib et was still in

18

dominant. This state of affai

changed dramatically in 1846 when Jan g Bahadur Rana, on e of the generals of the Sha

dynasty, seized power in a coup, named himself prim e minister an d made the farm er kin

a puppet to his own purposes. Although the Royal Gov ernm ent before the rise o f th

Ranas were content to receive their tribute from the M ustang R aja an d ignore for the mo s

Part the situation outside of K athm and u, Jang Bahadur R ana , who led the coup against th

king, proved a man of greater amb ition M anzard o 1978 21 ).

In 1854 Jan g Babadur Ran a assembled troops in ord er to protect the w estern district

of Nepal from incursio ns by the Tibetans. He was principally concerned with guaranteein

the safety of the Yari and M ukt inat h passes, strategically imp ortant points

on

the trad

route through the Kali Gandaki Valley.

A Tamang Tbakali from Ko bang named Kalu Ram Dhimchan later Sherchan ) wa

a big help to Ja ng Bah adur during this period. As he bad a com ma nd of both Tibeta

and Nepali, he was taken along as an interpreter fo r negotiations and offensives i nt

regions influenced by tbe Tib etan s, Info rm ants told me that Kalu Ram , who knew the

manners and custom s o f Tibeta ns well, informed the Nepalese arm y when a festival would

be celebrated, whereup011 an attac k against the Tibetans was carried out. Th at Kalu Ram

knew Nepali shows, accord ing to M anz ard o, that the Ta m ang Thakalis bad appare ntly

already established trad e conne ctions to a small extent between the region in the sou th

under the cultural influence of Hindus and that of the Tibetans in the north, thereby creating

for themselves an advantage vis-a-vis thc groups from Yhulnga and Baragaon

The Thakalis put the influence that Kalu R am had gained over Jang Bahadur R ana t o

use, sending in 1862 a delegation to Kath ma ndu to ask fo r a decrease of taxes in Tha k



8

TH E TH K L IS OF N O R T H WESTER N N EP L

Kb ola, On e of their argu m ents was th at , because of the high impo sts, 216 families had

already left Th ak Kh ola an d settled in Kask i, Lam jung an d M yagdi. According to an

order sanad ) issued by Ja ng Ba ha du r in 18 62 , a deputation of Tha kalis had requested a

reduction in the land revenue of

R

12 ,50 0 w hich un til then had been paid by the 700

households of Thaksa tsae The gov ernm ent did not gra nt the requested reduction of

tax,

but offered the Thaka lis a choice between the

st tus

quo

nte

an d the payment of land

revenue and o ther tnxes according t o the ru les then applying to the Hum la region of Jumla

district Furer-Haimendorf 19 75 142 -143

) .

I n 6 paragraphs the

proc edu re was laid dow n acco rding to which Thakalis were to

pay taxes in the future. T he most significant chan ge und er this Hum la model1' was the

regulation imposing

du tie s on the sa lt an d grain trade ; previously free trade had prevailed

for these comm odities. In addition,

the Tha kalis were enjoine d to set u p a customs pos

in Ran a. The mo st im port ant provision, however, was the monopoly on the salt trade

which,

accordiog to the sana d, was t o be enjoyed by the on e in possession of the custom

contract.

Th is co ntr ac t was drawn up for a period of three yea rs, Whoever made the bes

offer to the government won the contract and the right to collect duties.

f som eon e, for exam ple, offered 1 0,0 00 rupees an d this was not bettered by anyon

then he received the co ntr act . Within t he next thr ee years, then, he had to pay the govern

me nt 10 ,0 00 rupees. Th e difference between the sum an d the dutie s he collected on sa

an d grain was bis profit. Th e ho lde r of this position was accorded the title of subbha se

the cha pter Trade ). Since Th ak Kh ola was a t that time a remo te area far from th

cen ter of Power the su bbh a was the h ighest ran king local official an d th us empow ered to ac

a8 the local magistrate. He therefore w ielded political autho rity, as well as having enormou

power Manzardo 19 78 :24 ) .

It is odd that it was a Ch etri, not a Tha kali, who was first granted this post in 1862

Either the Thakalis had not offered the governm ent enough or they may have appeared t

be Tibetan to Jan g Bahad ur Ran a. But by 1869 , accordiog to written sources, Kalu

am

Dh imc han , who now was called Balbir on acco unt of his successes an d physical prowes

was in possession of the title of su bb ha . He was not, however, without his competition

Patiram Sahu the Rich

)

of La rju ng sto od sure ty for his son-in-law Ram Prasad Gaucban

so tha t the latter obta ined the custo ms con tract in 1884, In the succeeding period bot

families competed with one anothe r frequently. After Balbir's descenda nts had once

and fo

all cbta ined rights t o the contract, they moved the tradin g cen ter, previously located

D an a, to Tukuche and built their houses there.

b because

the trail between Dana and

Oha



ISTORY

8

was bad, however, D an a continued to rem ain a secondary entre pot until quite recently

Manzardo

1978

28 ).

Manzardo is led to believe that the few well-to-do Tha kali trad ers of that time, inclu

ding the families of Balbir and Patiram as well as a

few others,

having once realized th a

the mutual competition for the pos t of sub bh a had pushed the cost of the contrac t up s

much that it was causing them m ore losses tha n profits, agreed in common to make

over t

one family from ainong their numbzrs the title of subbha.

Profit from the duties was suppo

sed to be divided am ong all. As M anzard o recoun ts, though , the descen dants of Balbir'

family, which was chosen by comm on consent to put forw ard subbh as, managed in th

period which followed to con solid ate their influence to such an extent that they were abl

to deprive th e other wealthy merchant families of theirs.

Since all salt had to be sold to the subb has or their agents, the Tha kalis very nearl

controlled the priczs of all commodities and had to d o little

more than

live

o

the margi

between the cost of salt and grain minus what they owed the Central Government each year

Otherwise hey could just sit in their houses while their profits co ntinued to accrue

Manzardo

1 9 7 8 8

). By this means the subbhas and their relatives accumulate

enormous capital in a fairly sh or t period of time. Mo reover, tha nks to their accom odatio

to the Hiad u social order, which they rightly set great store by, the Tam ang Tha kalis ha

n

the meantime advanced to become the nliddlemen of Ranas in Kathmandu responsible fo

collecting taxes in regions nort h of Thak Khola. The trips, for example, to D olp o were to

arduous for the Hiad u district governors from Baglung, an d so they passed their job ou t

the subbhas of the Tamang Thakalis, whom they most trusted.

The subbhas for their par t deputed surroga tes to undertake

the strenuous journey t

those regions and at the same time to make business deals with the popu lation in the

name. Ap art from their economic influence,

the subbhas also attained enormous politica

influence in these regions.

Thanks to their good relations with Kathm andu, and by reaso

of

their moneylending, they made the King o f Mustang, anlong oth ers, dependent upo

themselves.

One of the relatives of

the subbha

Hitrnan Sherchan became secretary to th

Mustang king and took charge of all his important business.

The clause was also written at the time into the agreement with Jan g Bah adur Ran

that the holder of the cus tom s con tract and his nearest relatives should be empow ered t

recruit laborers from the surr oun ding villages for their fields at harvest time. The Subb ha

never summoned Tam ang Tha kalis to their holdings for this work, but only those wh



8

THE THAKALIS OF NO RT H WESTERN NEPAL

were native to M arp ha , Thini, Syang, Chim ang a nd o ther villages in Baragnan. Apart from

this corvee labor, many inhab itants of Yhulnga, Baragao n and M ustang were made out

and out serfs of the subbh as Th e sub bh as having lent out money at a high rate of interes

those who could no t pa y back were forced to send on e of their relatives to do service for

them ; they had to remain in their households until the debt was paid off, something, how

ever, which as a rule did not ever occur,

since the interest

grew steadily, ''In this way the

Tha kalis gained contro l of the resou rces of man y othe r villages lan d, animals and labour

and were able to exploit them to increase their own profit M anza rdo 1978:33

).

Some

Tarn ang Tb akalis had no t fewer tha n 80 bond serv an ts looking afte r their yaks, horse

and lands or

functioning as their porters .

Even though the Ra na prime minister Chandra

Shumsher officially abolished

slavery in Ne pal in 1920, the system of bonded servitud

continued to exist, since it was not considered as being slavery (Bista 1971:58).

Th e inferior position on e hu nd red years earlier of the Th akali merchants relative to

t h e Tibetans had

in the me antim e reverse d itself, It was now the Tha kalis who controlle

tbc entire region in and around the Kali Gandaki politically and economically

Interestingly enough, at the beginning of the 20th century the Rana rulers transferre

the customs contract for Th ak Khola to a Gurung from Ghan pokhara, making him there

by the subbha.

M anlal Gu run g offered the Ran a 50% more than Thakali subbhas, namely

75 ,0 00 rupees. M anlal was already the one who had the contract for Bhot Khola in i

l a nd .

Since

he

could not pay the entire sum all in one lump, the Ra nas granted

him

t h

privilege of paying

o

he am ou nt in instalm ents. Th is special financial arrangement led

M an zard o to believe tha t the Ra na s had proba bly called into qu estio ns the loyalty toward

them of the Th aka li sub bb as, who had become very pow erful, and that they tried with thi

one stroke to put a stop to their jockeying for position.

But in the long run Manlal was not equal to the ill will and influence of the aman

Th akalis, all the mo re fo r finding himself in a region he was not familiar with. Th

influence o f the subbhas from Thak Khola had simply become too great for Manlal to

b

able to hold nut fo r long. Building the custom s house a new thre e miles no rth of Tukuch

in Ts ero k, he tried to gathe r ab ou t him loyal subo rdinates an d, from his base there, t

redirect the trade route over Muktinath pass to Bhot Khola and the Marsyandi River.

In 19 19 Ganesh man She rchan , B db ir's grand son, succeeded in driving the Son

o

Maolal Gurung, who had been in possersion of the customs contract since

1917,

from ha

Khola. Thereafter Gaaeshman himself became subbha, and, following him, his offspring*



HISTORY 8

By now no on e in Th ok Kh ola could any longer co mp ete with the rich Shercha

subbhas. ' 'It is unlikely that the actual profits were smaller, fo r business was still boomin

but although the Thakali subbha had begun paying the Ra nas more regularly, in an attem p

to regain their fav our , it appea rs th at he was paying them a sm aller sha re of the profi

In

tbis way, the Thakali subbha and his circle grew mo re independent of Kath ma ndu, an

this was probably one of the major con tribu ting fac tors to the Ranas' declaring an en

to the monopoly in 1928

Manzardo 1978:37 . Along with slavery, Cha ndra Sham sh

repealed laws regulating custom s on salt an d grain trad e in Th ak Kh ola . Trade was agai

free. The only thing to remain untouched was a single cus tom s post near the Tibeta

border, but it continu ed to be of no significance Th e Ta m ang T hak alis, who until then ha

o opportunities to establish trading relations, now began to set up their own businesses an

engage in trade-on a small scale, to be su re, but neverthe less with grea t success. Bu

when, in

1959,

the Tibeto-Nepalese border was closed and the salt trade thereby came t

a halt, many of them

began to migrate to other regions of Nepal, particulary to Pokhar

but also to the Nepal-Indian border and to Ka thm andu .

Even before the first grea t wav

of migration the sub bha s had established themselves an d built up trading rela tion s

in

thes

placcs for mor: details see the ch ap ter Trade

.



5 CONCLUDING REM RKS

Even thou gh the title of su bb ha has been abolished, family descendants still enjo

prestige an d privileges, both am ong the Tam ang Thak alis and amon g the Mawatans an

Yhulkasumm is. As I have described in the stu dy , the family of the subbhas continue

to be very well off . Its me mb ers own facto ries, rice mills, sawmills and big hotels; eve

discotheks , the first in Nep al fo r tour ists, were opened by them. They also occupy hi

adm inistrative posts an d con tinue t o be considered the de facto aristocracy of the Thakali

they themselves see them selve s as hav ing assu me d this role. Even today they still hol

impo rtant positions in the various organizations o f the migrated Thakalis or example,

adm inistra tors in large dhikuri associations o r a s heads of the municipal Tamang Thaka

organ izations in Bha irwa, P ok ha ra, Butwal an d Ka thm and u; o r they are called upon t

intercede io cases of the dispute. The subb ha s, to the extent tha t their position has no

been called into question, have always endeav ored to fu rth er the interests of the Taman

Thaka lis, abo ve al l economically, while also pur suing the goal, which could not help bu

serve their own purpo ses, of building up an as closely knit trading network in Nepal a

possible.

In the me antim e, the Maw atan s in Po kha ra have also founded their own mun

cipal organization.

I n Bhairaw a, two M aw atan families belong t o the organization of th

Tamang Thakalis

.

Th e Yhulkasummis have n ot created any com parable associations ou

side of Th ak Kho la, probably because thos e concerntd are for the most part social cases.

Du ring my last visit to Nepal, however, I observed th at m:my young Tam ang Thakali

an d in some cases M aw atan s an d Yhulkasumrnis as well, were beginning to go their ow

ways, separatin g themselves from the strictly organized fam ily, clan an d gro up association

The various organizational

fo rm s were heatedly discussed. On e may therefore assume th

chinks in the ethnic gro up struc ture, specially am ong the Tam ang Thakalis, will appea

in the future,

1 In

1984 I

was told that a windmill was construc ted in Jom oso m. After a short time

however, the wind, which is funneled throug h the Kali Ga nda ki Valley with prodi~ io

force, blew it down. Since then no reconstruction has been undertaken.

2 On e anecdote recoun ted by Iijima 1977:80 ) bears witness to the almost panic fea

among Thakalis o f venturing into the Terai : Around the year 1930 Subbha Anangama



ON LUSION 8

Sherchan was sent by the governnlent as a treasury officer into the Terai, the land o

aulo malaria

),

as it was called by the

Tha kalis of the time. His family too k leav

of him in tears , since none of them supposed they would ever see him again . Afte

some time, contrary to expectations, Anang aman again turned up an d reported tha

the Terai was not as dan gerou s as they had been led to believe. The Malaria Erad

cation Program started up in 19 5 1 an d only after that the Thakalis lost fo r goo

their fear of the south.

3 Besides from Tibet, sal t also came from Mustang, where one of the Tamang ~ h a k a

subbhas had salt mined.

4. Re Tukuche On account of the good growing con ditions an d the lucrative tourist trad

migration back to the region has since set in.

5

Toren Lha

(

name of the particular mon th in Th ak .

)

is a three-day festival tha t Occu

annually am ong the Tbakalis. On these days the clans pay reverence in comm on t

their ancestors and exchange the latest news.

I n

the afternoo ns various game s are hel

including com ptitions w ith the bow and arrow.

Dasain occurs in the autumn,

stretching over a period of abo ut

5 days.

I t is one o

the most important

Hindu festivals,

and is celebrated throug hou t Nepal. Fam ily tie

are renewed on the occasion, an d presents are exchanged. Seldom a re so man

animals-goats, sheep and chickens-sacrificed as they are for this festival. On each o

the 1 5 days of the festival special ritual acts are performed. Da sain is celebrated i

honor of the goddess Durga. It is now also observed in Thak Khola.

Tihar, the festival of lights, is celebrated shortly after D asain in ho no r of the goddes

Laxmi and the god of de ath, Ya m a, an d lasts for five days. Especially significant i

the ceremony of the last day of the festival, in which sisters hono r their brothe rs.

6 .

In Tukuche, in the winter of 198 1 I saw for myself that dicing was much more impor

tant to one

of

the old subbha traders than his appo intme nt to meet

a

powerful tradio

partner, who roamed a round Tukuche cursing in search of him. He finally found him

but even that bad little cffect.

7 .

Apart from labor services supplied by individual family memb ers to a household , wha

is counted as prope rty am ong Thakali Inen is, for example, the so-called mana t h

chuwa, or pho cho bo c l q a share of money , fields, utensils, kitchenware, anim als an

sometimes even a house which sons receive from their parents in setting up a new house

hold of their own,



THE TH K LIS

OF

NORTH WESTERN NEP L

Traditionally pa ren ts provided their dau gh ters with gra in kitchen and garde

equipment and in more

seldom cases money an d gold

a t the birth of the first chil

Wealthy families might have been able to af fo rd to give their daugh ters a field but the

generally did this only when the husba nd was fro m the sam e village as his wife Th

property is called

daiju

or among the Yhulkasummis

)

daisa

though nowadays it i

given almost exclusively at the time of marriage.

The property which a woman already owned prior

to her m arriage is called

pew

Connected with it particularly am on g

the Maw atan s aad Yhulkasumm is is the institu

tion of

su

n r

sawa. According t o this cus tom the dau ghte r receives for exampl

each year the ha rvest of a certain field which she may se ll with the profit going to he

In oth er cases she may receive the milk supplied by a certa in goat which she ca

dispose of as sh e wishes. Th e su nar sawa norm ally con tinues to be in effect eve

after the mnrriage

A Thakali woman may

channel the income from it into her house

hold but it is normal for her parents to manage the

su

n r

sawa further.

Thus a wi

can receive an income independent of her household.

8.

In recent years the Tam ang Th aka li youths of Ka thm and u have made the attempt t

learn Th aka li on their own .

After an initial phase of enthusiasm however most o

them lost their zeal and gave up their plans

On the Thakali language see A

Hari and A Maibaum 1970



llustration No 9





llustration

No 5



~lnstr tion

o

5



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1957.

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A

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J.

Glover

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C A

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:

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vol. 6 no.

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1978

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A.

M.

:

The Household Dim ension of the Family in India.

A Field Study i

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i n

Pers

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:

Nepali Culture and Society : A Histor ical Perspective. In Contribu

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:

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Tw o 12 Year Festivals in the Thaak K hola. In

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Kailash, vol.

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:

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1978.

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APPENDIX

The Tamang Thakali kinship terminology

yangkhe FFF

yangmom FFM

akhe khe) FF , FFB , MF, MFB,

H F , H F B

m o m F M , FMZ, M M , M M Z,

H M , H M Z

awa aba) F

athowa

FeB, FFBS e,

t

F

),

F M ZS

e.

t. F

kaka FyB, FFBS y. t. F ),

FMZS y.

t.

F)) HyB

agu aku) MZ H

mam a MB, MFBS, MM ZS

aguma FZH

ken WF , WFB

ama M

amthowa anthowa) FeBW, FFBSW FFBs

e.

t

F) , FMZSW FMzS

Y

t . F

acyangma FyBW, FFBSW FFBS

y.

t.

F , FMZSW FMzs

Y t F )

aphi

MeZ, M FB D e.

t.

M ) ,

M M Z D

e.

t

M j,

WeZ

acyang

MYZ, MFB D y. t . M ) ,

MMZD y . t. M), WyZ

ngeren F ez , FFB D e. t. F ),

F M Z D e. t. F , HeZ

P ~ U P ~ FyZ

F F B D

y.

t.

F

FMZD y . t . F), HyZ

maijyu

syungme

acyo

ale

ana

picyang

soltisya

syangbo syangwo)

acyumah

mah

nguc

MBW, MFBSW,

MM

SW

WM, WMZ

eB, FBS e), FEBSS

e

MZS e), MFBDS e

MMZDS e), HeZH

YB , FBS Y), FFBSS Y

FMZSS y), MZS Y

MFBDS y), MMZM

Y),H Y Z H

oZ, FBD

e) ,

FFBS

e) , FM ZS D e), MZD

e), MFBDD e), MM

Z D D e), HeB W

yZ, FBD y) , FFBSD

Y ) ,FMZSD y), MZD

Y), MFBDD y), MM

Z D D Y),

H YB W

MBS, MFBSS, MMZSS

FZS, FFBDS, FMZDS

MBD, MFBSD, MM

ZDS, FZD, FFBDD

FMZDD

WB

Z H f. s.), FBDH f.

s.)

M Z D H

f.

s.

ZH

m .

s . ) , FBDH

m.

s . ) , MZ H

m.

a

DH , BDH

m.

s.) , SDH

eBW, FBSW

FBS

e.

t



T H E T A M A N G T H A K A LI K I N S H I P T E R M I N O L O G Y

9

ego), MZSW MZ S e. t.

ego)

cang

yBW, FBSW FBS y ,

t.

ego), MZSW MZ S y. t.

ego), SW, SSW

apren He

chawa WHZ

ca S, BS m. s. ), FBSS

m. s ), MZSS m. s . ) ,

WZS, ZS

f.

s . ) , FBDS

f.

s . ) , MZDS f. s ),

H

BS

came D , BD

m.

.), FBSD

m .

s . ) , MZSD m. s.),

W Z D , Z D f. s.), FB D

f.

s . ) , MZDD f. 8

HBD

k o n c a

SS, DS, ZS

m.

s.), F

D S

m.

s.

),

MZD

m. .), WBS,

S

f. s

FBSS f. s. ), MZS

f.

s.), HZS

ko ime

S D , D D , Z D m.

FB D D m. s . ) , MZD

m .

s.), WBD , BD

f.

s

FBSD

f.

s.

),

MZS

From Vinding 1979



THE YHULKASUMMI

THAKALI KINSHIP

TERMINOLOGY

khyopen

moman

awa aba)

athowa

F F, M F

F M , M M

F

ani

syungme

mom

Pan

MBW

WM, WMZ

HM, HMZ

FestB , FFBS est.t.

F)

FM ZS est. t . F)

FelB, FRB S el. t . F)

FMZS el.

t.

F )

FyB, FFBS y t F) ,

FM ZS {y. t . F)

estB, FBS cst), FFBSS

est), FMZSS est)

aphowa

elB, FBS el), FFBSS

el) , FMZSS el)

acyo

acyaogba

Y B f . ~ . ) ,FBS f .~ , ,Y

FFBS S f. s., y), FMZ

f. s., Y)

mayung

agu aku)

asyang

aguma

ken

k h e

M Z H

MB, MFBS, MM ZS

F Z H , H Z H

WF, WFB

cyon

y).

FFBSS

m.

y) ,

FMZSS m. s., y), yZ

H F , H F B

f. s.), FBD

f.

s. , Y

FFBSD

f.

s., y) , FMZ

M Z , M F BD , M M ZD ,

WZ

WZ

111

acyam

yZ

m.

s.) , FBD

m.

s.

Y ) , W B S D m. . , Y

FMZSD a . s , y)

WyBW

eZ , FBD e), FFBSD

e) FMZSD e)

HeBW

WeBW

srin

FestBW, FFBSW FFBS

est. t. F.) FMZSW FM

ZS est. t. F)

amphowa

ana

FelBW, FFBSW FFBS

el. t. F ) , FMZSW FM-

ZS el t

F

MZS, MFBDS, MMZD

hiwa

chima

FyBW, FFBSW FFB S

y. t. F ) , F M Z S b F M ZS

Y.

t.

F)

MZD, MFBDD,

MM-

Z D D

MBS, MFBSS,

MMZSS

FZS , FFB DS , FMZDS

eZ

f .

s.), FBDH f. s.

FBD e. t. ego), MZDH

f.

s . , MZD

e. t.

ego)

MBD , MFBSD, MMZS

FZD , FFBDD,

FMZDD

udung

ge kl;en

FestZ, FF BD est. t. F )

FMZD es t ,

t . F ) ,

HestZ

FelZ, FFBD el. t . F ) ,

FMZD est . t. F), HelZ

olyang

YZ, FFBD y. t . F),

F M Z D y. t . F) , HyZ



syangbo WB came D, BD m. s.) , FBS

mah

chawo

akben

aten

acyang

n

ankhen

amten

amcyang

Z H m. s.), FBD H

m . ~ . ) , H , M ZD H r n.s

BDH m. s . ) , SDH

yZH

f.

s.), FB D H f.

s., FB D y. t ego , MZ-

konca

DH f. s. , MZD y. t.

ego),

WZH

BW, FBSW, MZSW ,

SW , BSW m .s.), SSW

HestB

koime

HclB

HyB

WBW

HestBW

HelBW

HyBW

S,

BS

m. s. ,

FBSS

m. s. ,

M Z Q S m.

s. ,

WZS, ZS f. s. , FBDS

m. .), MZDS f.

s. ,

HBS

f. s . , MZSD [ m .

WZD, ZD

f.

s.), FBD

f. s. ,

MZDS f .

s

HBD

SS,

DS, Z m . s .

F B D S m. s.), MZ

D S m. .), WBS,

B

f .

s.), FBSS

f.

s.

MZSS

f.

s . ) , HZS

SD,

DD, ZD m,

FBDD

m. .),

MZDD

m.

. ) , WBD , BD

s.) FBSD f. s.), MZ

SD f. s .) , H ZD

From

Vinding

19 7 9



THE

M W T N TH K LI KINSHIP TERMINOLOGY

awa aba)

akhen

kaka

kbicyang

asyang

akhama

kkn

ama

acyarna acyema)

ankhe

ancyang

ngekhen

ngicyang

ni

syungme

acyo

F F , F F B , M F , M F B ,

H F , H F B

F M , F M Z , M M , M M Z ,

H M , H M Z

F

FeB, FFBS e. t . F ),

FMZS e.

t

F),

HeB

FyB, FFB S y. t.

F ),

F M ZS

y. t

F), HyB

M Z H

MC, MFBS, MMZS

F Z H

W F , WF B

M

M Z , M F B D , M M Z D

FeBW, FFBSW FFBS

e. t. F), FM ZS W FM ZS

e. t .

F), HeBW

FyBW, FFBSW FFBS

y. t. E), FMZSW FMZS

y. t. F), HyBW

F e z , F F B D e.

t.

F )

F M Z D e.

t .

F), H e 2

FyZ , FF BD y, t.

F ),

FMZD y.

t. F),

HyZ

MBW, WBW

WM , WM Z

eB, FBS e), FFBSS e),

FMZ SS e). MZ S e),

MFBDS

e),

MMZDS

Y )

ale cyon)

ana

rnicyang srinca)

nui

solti

nuilyang soltisya)

syangbo syaogwo)

chumo

chawo

YB , FBS Y ), FFBSS y

FM ZSS , Y ), MZS y

MFBDS Y), MMZDS

e)

eZ, FBD e), FFBSD e

FMZSD e), MZD e

MFBDD e), MMZDD

e)

yZ, FBD y),

FFBSD

Y), FMZSD Y), MZ

Y), MFBDD Y),MM

Z D D Y )

MBS, MFBSS, MMZSS

FZS , FF BD S, FMZDS

eZH, FBDH FBD e.

ego), MZDH MZD

t ego)

MB S, MFBSS, MMZS

FZS , FFBD S, FMZDS

MBD, MFBSD, MMZ

SD , FZD , FFBDD

F M Z D D

WB

WZ, WFZ

yZH f. s.), FBDH,

s., FBD y. t. ego

M ZD H f. s.), MZD

t. ego), WZH

yZH m. .), FBDH

*

s.,

FBD y. t . ego

)I

MZDH

m. s., M Z D



came

TH

MAVVATAN THAKALI K INSHIP TERM INOLO GY

1

t ego),

D H ,

BDH

m.

s.),

SDH

BW, FBSW,

MZSW

SW, BSW, SSW

S , BS

m.

s.), FBSS m.

s.) , MZSS nl. s.), WZS,

ZS f. s .) , FBDS f . s . ) ,

MZDS f . s.) HBS,

l

D m . s. ), FBSD

m. s.) MZSD

m .

s . ) ,

WZD, ZD f . s . ) , FBDD

f . 4 MZ DD f. s ),

HBD

konca

SS, DS, ZS m. .

FBDS

m. s. ,

MZD

m. s ), WBS, BS f,

s

FBSS f. s.), MZSS

s. ,

HZS

koime SD, D D , ZD

m.

FBDD m. s .) , MZ D

m.s .) ,WBD , BD f .~

FBSD f.

s. ,

MZSD

s. ,

HZ D

rom :Vinding 1979



V ; I I O ~ ~

;~h more Ihon

1

houses

YHULNGHAA

Villopt 4 t h less lhon to houseg

Q

Plocenomr

M I L E S

THAASAANG

hOOrshyoanp Kyu

or~lheOhOnp

Uh 1 Kyu Chhichoong Dhong

Lh 1Ry

fter :

VindingIGauchan 1977



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1988 Thakalis of North Western Nepal by Von Der Heide s

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