| Selected ethnic groups of Nepal: Bhotia, Sherpa, Thakali, Gurung, Kiranti, Rai, Limbu, Newari, Pahari, Tamang | ||||||
| Total population | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27,230 (Nepal 2001)[1][nb 1] | ||||||
| Regions with significant populations | ||||||
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| Languages | ||||||
| Religion | ||||||
| Related ethnic groups | ||||||
The Bhotiya (also called Bhotia, Bhot, Bot, Bhutiya, Bhutia) are groups of ethno-linguistically Tibetan people living in the trans-Himalayan region that divides India from the People's Republic of China, and were originally a hill tribe. Their name, Bhotiya, derives from the word Bod (Bodyul), which is the Classical Tibetan name for Tibet.[3] The language of Bhotiyas people is Boti.
The Bhotiya are closely related to the Sikkimese Bhutia, the main ethno-linguistic group of Northern Sikkim that speaks the Sikkimese (Bhutia) language. They are also closely related to the Uttarakhand Bhotiya, several groups in the upper Himalayan valleys of the Kumaon and Garhwal of Uttarakhand Himalayas. These include the Shaukas of Kumaon and Tolchhas and Marchhas of Garhwal. The Bhotiya are also related to the Ngalop, the main ethno-linguistic group of Bhutan speaking Dzongkha, as well as several dispersed groups in Nepal and adjacent areas of India including Tibetans proper, Sherpa, and many others.
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The Bhotiya live in much of the northern and eastern regions of Nepal, where they and other Tibetan peoples are region's autochthonous inhabitants.[4]
The Bot people are also spread over the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim, and Tripura. They have Mongoloid Features as Himalayan People have the Mongloid feature mainly known as Hilly people or Pahari, and those living in Uttarakhand are generally referred to as Uttarakhand Bhotia, Bhutia and Bhotia are all same meaning of different terminology as bhot, more commonly Bhutia means the related people of Sikkim. In Uttar Pradesh, Bots are found in the Bahraich, Gonda, Lakhimpur, and Kheri Districts. The Bot are divided into six sub-groups, the Bhot, Bhotia, Bhutia, Tibbeti (Sikkim & Arunachal) Butt, Buttola.
In Jammu, Himachal-Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal-Pradesh, etc. Bots have scheduled tribe status, unlike other states of India. In Uttarkhand, Bhotia are scheduled tribe under {Schedule caste order 1950, the constitutional Scheduled tribe (Uttar Pradesh)1967 SC/ST}. As Uttarakhand was former Uttar- Pradesh.
The Indian constitution recognizes them as Bhotia, It is believed that Bot people are "Raghuvanshi Rajput,". As they prefer to be called as Thakurs or Rajwanshi. Its said that Bots emigrated into north Oudh in the period of Nawab Asaf-Ud-Dowlah (1775-1797).[5]
The Bhotiya employ Brahmans or lamas as priests. Some are Buddhist and some are Hindus in religion practice. where as the word Bhotiya has been derived from the word bhot meaning Buddha. Their chief object of worship is Devi, to whom goats are sacrificed. Young pigs are also used occasionally used to her. The worshipers make the sacrifice and consume the meat themselves. They observed the usual festivals. On the barsiti flaws, on the fifteenth of jeth, women worship a banyan tree by walking round it and tying a thread round the trunk. This they do to increase the life of their husbands. Women fast on tija or third day of bhaddon. At the godiya on the fifth of thik, they worship the dragon Nag Devta, and girls other to Devi and Mahadeva. They eat the goats, sheep, hare, water bird, and fish. They will not eat monkey, cow, owl, crocodile, lizard, rat, or other vermin. Liquors are forbidden, bhang and ganja are used.
Most Bhotiya marriages are celebrated with Hindu weddings, when the bride palanquin arrives at the house of her husband god are worship and then she is admitted into the house. Some rice, silver or gold is put in the hands of bridegroom, which he passes on to the bride. She places them in winnowing fan, and makes them over a present to the wife of the barber. This ceremony known as "karj bharna." A man may have three wives and no more. The first wife is the head wife, and she received by inheritance a share one tenth excess of that given to the other wives.
The Bhotiya have distinctive funerary traditions. Those who die of chlorea, of snakebites, and young children are buried; others are cremated. There is no fixed bunal-ground, and no ceremonies are performed at time of burial. Richer people keep the ashes for lowal to some several stream, while others bury them. After the mation a stalk of kusa grass is fixed in the ground near a tank of water and sesamum is poured upon it for ten days so as to continued it into a refuge for the spirit until the rides are completed.
The Bhotia people or tribe of Uttarakhand use to stay at the borders of India and Tibet which was former UP (United Province) during British time, which was not a country but a border land. These people are the border staying people whose main occupation was nomadic pastoralism and apart from this some used to trade Wool and Salt, etc between Tibet and India. Today, some of them has settled as farmers and other few are involved in selling or trading stones, gems and herbs in and around uttarkhand state. [4]
The Bot people's educational standards are very low in rural as well as urban areas in comparison to other population of people in those areas. Most Bots do not believe in studying, as they prefer family business or plan to work in agriculture.