Nepali Muslims

Islam in Nepal

Total population
971,056[1]
Regions with significant populations
Nepal
Languages
Bhojpuri • Awadhi • Urdu •Maithili • Hindi • Nepali • Newari • Arabic
Religion
• Islam 100% •
Related ethnic groups
• Indian Muslims

Nepali Muslims, while they are mainly barelvi, constitute a heterogeneous group. Their ancestors arrived in Nepal from different parts of South Asia and Tibet during different epochs, and have since lived amidst the numerically dominant Hindus. About 97% of the Muslim community live in the Terai region, while the other 3% are found mainly in the city of Kathmandu and the western hills. The community numbers 971,056, about 4.2% of the total population of Nepal. Districts with large Muslim population include Rautahat (17.2%), Bara (11.9%), and Parsa (17.3%) in the central Terai bordering the state of Bihar, Kapilbastu (16.8%) and Banke (16%) in the western Terai and Sirahi (7%) and Sansari (10%) in eastern Terai.^[2]

Muslims have lived Nepal for long period of time and have shared common historical experiences with the Hindu majority, and as such have developed a stronger identification with the Nepali state. However, the Terai Muslims, on the other hand, like other Terai communities, also continue to have strong ties -across the border and receive cultural sustenance from the larger Muslim population of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

History

The history of the Muslim community in Nepal is in fact the history of four distinct groupings, the Tibetans, Kashmiris, the Chaurate and the Madhesi.^[3]

The Madhesi Muslims

While the smaller groups provide diversity, the largest community of Islam adherents, more than 97 percent—of the Muslims are found in the Terai region, a narrow plain lying between the lower hills of the Himalaya and the border with India. Concentrated in the Terai districts of Banke, Kapilvastu, Rupandehi, Parsa, Bara and Rauthat, some of the Terai Muslims were present here at the time of Nepal´s unification while others migrated from British India from the 19th century onwards as wage labourers. While most are small-time proprietor farmers, a substantial number still work as tenants and agricultural labourers. At home they do speak Urdu, but also Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Maithili depending on whether they are of the Western or Central or Eastern Terai.^[4]

The Muslim society in the Terai region is organized along the principles of caste, but differs in many respects from the caste system found among the Madhesi Hindus. Although Muslim groupings are endogamous, and there are elements of hierarchy, there are no religious and ideological principles providing a foundation for the concept of caste. For example, there is no question of ritual pollution by touch or restriction on interdining. But each grouping does maintain a separate and distinct identity, especially with regard to intermarriage. Below is a brief description of the larger groupings:^[5]

The Kashmiris

According to the Vamshavalis, Kashmiri Muslims arrived in Kathmandu during the reign of King Rama Malla (1484-1520 AD). They built a mosque, the Kashmiri Takia, and engaged in different occupations such as scribes to correspond with the Delhi Sultanate, and as scent manufacturers, musicians and bangle suppliers. Some were admitted as courtiers to the Malla durbar, and many traded with Tibet. The descendants of these migrants live in Kathmandu, numbering about two thousand. They tend to be well-educated and speak a mixture of Nepali and Urdu at home rather than Kashmiri. Many Kashmiri Muslims of Kathmandu are also fluent in Newari. While many work as petty businessmen, some have joined government service or entered politics.

Then there are the Kashmiri merchants who first arrived in the 1970s to set up curio shops in Kathmandu´s tourist quarters. There has been a spurt in arrivals from Srinagar since the political turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir escalated in 1990. Many shopkeepers arrived with their stocks of handicrafts, rugs and furs. These recent arrivals have little or no interaction with the older Muslim residents, and most do not even know that there is an old Kashmiri Muslim stock in Kathmandu.^[6]

The Chaurate

Another group of Muslims to settle in Nepal came from different parts of northern India during the 16th and 17th centuries, invited by hill rulers to manufacture military armament (including canons). They remained in the hills as makers of agricultural implements, utensils and ornaments. Though the descendants of these migrants are known as the Churaute, or bangle-sellers, a majority survive as farmers. There is a fair sprinkling of these hill Muslims in Nepal´s central and western districts of Gorkha, Tanahu, Kaski, Syangja, Palpa, Arga-khanchi, Pyuthan and Dailekh.

The Churaute hill Muslims have been greatly influenced by the Hindu hill milieu. Although they follow Islamic customs such as circumcision of and ritual burial of the dead, but other Islamic practises like nihth (bride price) and zakat (charity collected during religious festivals) are unequally observed. The Churaute speak Nepali and in their dress, food habits and some customs the Churaute are indistinguishable from their Bahun and Chhetri neighbors.^[7]

Tibetan Muslims

Muslim migrants of Tibetan origin include both Ladakhis and those from Tibet proper. The latter arrived mostly after the Chinese takeover in 1959, and in their language and dress these Tibetan Muslims are indistinguishable from their Tibetan Buddhist counterparts. Today, many are engaged in the trade of Chinese consumer durables and selling curios. On the whole, this groups tends to be more affluent than the other Muslim communities.^[8]

The story of the Tibetan Muslims is that of a unique community, that has blended different cultural strains to forge a distinct identity, that has been kept alive even in the face of adversity. According to the community,s traditions, Islam arrived almost a thousand years ago in Tibet, a region that has always been synonymous with a monolithic Buddhist culture. Sometime in the 12th century, it is believed, a group of Muslim traders from Kashmir and Ladakh came to Tibet as merchants. Many of these traders settled in Tibet and married Tibetan women, who later converted to the religion of their husbands. Author Thomas Arnold, in his book, The Preaching of Islam says that gradually, marriages and social interactions led to an increase in the Tibetan Muslim population until a sizable community came up around Lhasa, Tibet’s capital.^[9]

The Muslim society in the Terai region is organized along the principles of caste, but differs in many respects from the caste system found among the Madhesi Hindus. Although Muslim groupings are endogamous, and there are elements of hierarchy, there is no religious and ideological principles providing foundation for the concept of caste. For example, there is no question of ritual pollution by touch or restriction on interdinning. But each grouping does maintain a separate and distinct identity, especially with regards intermarriage. Below is a brief description of the larger groupings:^[10]

See also

• Islam in Nepal
• Newar Islam

References