History of gurungs
The Gurung people are an ethnic
group who migrated from Tibet in the 6th century to the central region of
Nepal. Gurung, Sherpa, Tamang, Thakali, Manaaggi, Mustaaggi, Walunggi and many
east Asian featured people of Nepal are the indigenous people of Nepal’s
mountainous valleys. Their ancestors practiced Tibetan Buddhism and Bön
(shamanism). According to the recent 2007 surveys, most Gurung people are
Buddhist. They live primarily in north west Nepal in Gandaki zone, specifically
Lamjung, Kaski, Mustang, Dolpa, Tanahu, Gorkha, Parbat and Syangja districts as
well as the Manang district around the Annapurna mountain range. Some live in
the Baglung, Okhaldhunga and Taplejung districts and Machhapuchhre as well.
Small numbers are believed to be living in Sikkim, Bhutan and India’s West
Bengal.
There
are 686,000 Gurung (Τamu) (0.39% of Nepal’s total population) of which 338,925
speak the Gurung language. Their ancestors, culture and traditions are traced
back to Tibet. Though, Tibet is called “Bhot” in Nepali language, the word
“Botay” is consider derogatory to refer to Asian featured Nepalis. They coexist
well with other ethnic groups of Nepal such as Madhesi and Khas. Khas and
Madhesi people are Hindu, Indo-Aryan group who have migrated to Nepal after
12th century and brought with them the Hindu caste system. Most Gurung and
other indigenous Nepalese of Asian features are Buddhist and so they are not
bound by the Hindu caste system. Nepali of Asian appearance refer themselves as
Mongoloid. Sometime, the term Mongoloid gets mistaken by youngsters and they
think their ancestors originated from Mongolia. No study findings have pointed
Gurungs origin to Mongolia. Instead, many studies and historians had confirmed
their origin to Tibet.
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