Posted by: shiva_linga July 4, 2016
छु नेवाः एकता धत्थें दु?
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@ nepalibabuktm,
1.jayasthiti mallas manav nyayashastra was written somewhere in 14-15th century but it was the first standardised law code in nepali hills.and it was applicable not just for newars but also for khas and terai caste people.(division of khas people into 64 castes was done in this code of law).the hinduism in nepali hills out of ktm was totally different than that of today. there were thakuri rulers(mostly) who were basically a mix of khas and magar and so a real demarcation of varna as we know now didnt exist. the animistic traditions were practised and buddhism was state religion in karnali region till the 12th century.the social ranking was the king/priests/dhami/lama/ghyabring at the top and 'khando bhirna jaat' ie, khas ,magar and gurung after them.in the east the en thakuri ruled with the kirati elites like rai,dewan,subba and these were the social elites .here too ,hinduism had influence in some ways but they principally practised their animistic religions .
2.the caste system as coded in varna vyabasta came to nepal in lichhivi period .since the newars are the first orthodox hindus (in present sense)there was no such system in nepal before lichhivis.the mallas standardised these rules further.
3.yes,newar is basically a lingustic community sharing a common historical political identity.like there wer khas people in the valley since the invasion of jitari malla centuries before pn shah but since these people preferred speaking nepali to newa bhasa,they are not considered newars,whereas a lot of high caste maithil people(like rajopadhyayas) who came as/were married to the noblemen and ministers of ktm became newars with time.
4.ya the caste system of magars,gurungs,kiratis and tamangs are not rigid like that of khas,newars or terai people. but it is also possible that the economical hardship in those villages forced them to assimilitate in history.or being a minority gave them a sense of unity among different social ranks.also, newars and khas have this social ranking only since the past 1000 years at most(newars earlier than khas).the example of pradhan not marrying pode just because of jaat is also valid in magar, gurung or kirati higher castes but in a lesser extent. go to pokhara and u ll see family feuds for generations for just mrrying a lowere caste gurung/magar.
5. i am not saying that jbr or jayasthiti malla did something right,i am trying to thell the historical events as they were.
and in muluki ain the pahadi bahun, terai brahmin,khas high caste,thakuri ,newar brahmin and shresthas were all put under tagadhari .he also put the terai rajputs in tagadhari.actually jbr was so impressed with the terai rajputs that he changed his surname to kunwar rana and later only rana and told his brothers to do so.he also introduced the term kshatriya/chettri to khas people and thusstarted a whole new caste. he started noce again the marital relation with indian rajputs which is continued till this dat in rana and shah families. so saying he didnt put terai rajputs in same social order as his is not true. would he let his son or daughter marry a lower caste then??
shrestha newars were always with other tagadharis in muluki ain. actually ,with the fall of other gorkhali bhardar families(thapa,pande,rana magar,basnyat,bhandari) and resulting rise of kunwar(rana)family ,the high caste newars of ktm became big players in nepal durbar.bhardars and kajis of guvaju,shrestha,joshi,singh etc were given big and important posts outside nepal valleyas well as they counseled the generals and PM in matters of governance.when all other revolutionaries were hanged,ganeshman was put to jail just because he was grandson of some kaji who used his power to soften his sentence.
also, apart from royal pandit family and rana relatives, the valley high caste newars were the ones who recieved big birta lands in terai and the jamindari there.so u can meet big andowner jaminders with joshi,shrestha or pradhan castes in almost every nepali terai citiy.

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