Posted by: JPEG May 22, 2009
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Sunuwar Nis beauty
As already noted in the Vishnu Purana that the “chatur-varna†or four class social system was absent in the lands of Kiratas in the East and the Yavanas(Greek) and Kambojas(Iranian), etc. in the West. Even after the unification of Nepal the Kirat people still maintain the practice of casteless
society. After the annexation of their land with Nepal, the migration of other group into their region slowly influence their activities.
The excerpt from one of the scholars work describes how the Kirat people who has no tradition of any varna(class) was almost brought into this system by the ruling group in Nepal through several means.
"The eastern hills, which largely comprise the Kirat area, were not hierarchized because the Bahuns did not arrive in the area until much later than their apperance in the Kathmandu Valley and the regions to the west. They began to trickle through only after the reunification of the Kirat region with the rest of Nepal. Among the Kirats of the eastern hills most influenced by the caste system because of their proximity to Kathmandu are the Sunuwars of Tamakosi valley. The Limbus are the least affected by the caste system because of their geographical distance.
The persistent strategy of the Bahuns was to attach themselves to the local aristocracy whom they wooed with concocted genealogies. But an aristocracy is not a characterisctic of the social organization in the Kirati groups in the east, which were tribal egalitarian groups, so that the Bahun were less capabale to establish any kinds of footing in Kirati society.
Through the caste system does not have any official recognition at the State level, there are quite a few people at higher levels who see benefits in maintaining the structure. In an attempt to revitalize the caste system they have been trying to use the priviledge position of the King to have the caste legitimated in an indirect way. In the coronation ceremony of his Majesty, King Birendra, in 1975, pro-caste elements contrived to have the King annointed by Bahun, Chettri, Vaishya and Shudra. For this purpose a Limbu was nominated as a Shudra, and a Shrestha as a Vaishya. This gave cause for alienation to a larger section of Shrestha and Limbu population who were insulted to be placed in a low status roles. It was a political mistake, for it may have flattered the egoes of a few orthodox pundits trying to impose caste attitudes but it did not convince the majority of the Newars and the ethnic communitities of their respectable place in Nepali society.
Subsequently, some priests initiated four boys of another Kirat group, the Rais into Chettri status is in total contradiction with the earlier act of treating Limbu, another Kirat group, as Shudra. These are some typical examples of expedient behavior by the ruling class to divide the Kirat group and bringing them into caste system." ~Fatalism and Development: Nepal's struggle for modernization
By Dor Bahadur Bista
As already noted in the Vishnu Purana that the “chatur-varna†or four class social system was absent in the lands of Kiratas in the East and the Yavanas(Greek) and Kambojas(Iranian), etc. in the West. Even after the unification of Nepal the Kirat people still maintain the practice of casteless
society. After the annexation of their land with Nepal, the migration of other group into their region slowly influence their activities.
The excerpt from one of the scholars work describes how the Kirat people who has no tradition of any varna(class) was almost brought into this system by the ruling group in Nepal through several means.
"The eastern hills, which largely comprise the Kirat area, were not hierarchized because the Bahuns did not arrive in the area until much later than their apperance in the Kathmandu Valley and the regions to the west. They began to trickle through only after the reunification of the Kirat region with the rest of Nepal. Among the Kirats of the eastern hills most influenced by the caste system because of their proximity to Kathmandu are the Sunuwars of Tamakosi valley. The Limbus are the least affected by the caste system because of their geographical distance.
The persistent strategy of the Bahuns was to attach themselves to the local aristocracy whom they wooed with concocted genealogies. But an aristocracy is not a characterisctic of the social organization in the Kirati groups in the east, which were tribal egalitarian groups, so that the Bahun were less capabale to establish any kinds of footing in Kirati society.
Through the caste system does not have any official recognition at the State level, there are quite a few people at higher levels who see benefits in maintaining the structure. In an attempt to revitalize the caste system they have been trying to use the priviledge position of the King to have the caste legitimated in an indirect way. In the coronation ceremony of his Majesty, King Birendra, in 1975, pro-caste elements contrived to have the King annointed by Bahun, Chettri, Vaishya and Shudra. For this purpose a Limbu was nominated as a Shudra, and a Shrestha as a Vaishya. This gave cause for alienation to a larger section of Shrestha and Limbu population who were insulted to be placed in a low status roles. It was a political mistake, for it may have flattered the egoes of a few orthodox pundits trying to impose caste attitudes but it did not convince the majority of the Newars and the ethnic communitities of their respectable place in Nepali society.
Subsequently, some priests initiated four boys of another Kirat group, the Rais into Chettri status is in total contradiction with the earlier act of treating Limbu, another Kirat group, as Shudra. These are some typical examples of expedient behavior by the ruling class to divide the Kirat group and bringing them into caste system." ~Fatalism and Development: Nepal's struggle for modernization
By Dor Bahadur Bista