Magar (ethnicity)

The Magar ( Nepali : मगर जाति , magar jāti ) are an ethnic group in Nepal . Their settlement area is mainly in central Nepal in the area of Dhaulagiri and middle Kali Gandaki . According to the 2001 census, the approx. 1.7 million Magar made up 7.14% of the total population of the country; about three quarters are Hindus and a quarter are Buddhists .

history

The Magar belong to the Tibeto-Burmese peoples of Nepal and, like the Gurung, probably immigrated from Tibet . They were first mentioned in writing around 1100, when the Magar king of Palpa and Butwal, Mukunda Sen, conquered the Kathmandu valley. It is assumed, however, that their actual settlement area after the immigration from Tibet was in Palpa. This area is known to be divided into 12 districts called Barah (Nepali for 12), the twelve Magarant, or twelve Thams .

In the 17th and early 18th centuries, during the 22nd and 24th Rajya principalities, there was a Magar kingdom in the area of ​​today's Palpa district, one of the most powerful in western Nepal. It can be assumed that all of the rulers of the 24 Rajya principalities were Magar. The future king of Nepal, Prithvi Narayan Shah also stated that he was a Magar.

Traditionally, the Magar and the Gurung make up a large part of the recruitment of the Gurkhas .

Subgroups and languages

The Magar are divided into seven main groups: Pun, Rana, Thapa, Ale, Budhathoki, Roka, and Gharti. Even though there is a Magar language, Magarkura, some subgroups also speak Kham , Tarali or Kaike . Magarkura belongs to the Bodic branch of the Tibeto-Burmese languages.

Culture

The Magar practice a form of matrilateral marriage alliances in which the woman moves to the place of residence of the husband and the choice of partner is ideally based on the type of cross-cousin marriage . Traditional healers ( rammā ) use a shaman's drum ( re or regor ) in the form of a frame drum covered with goat skin , the membrane painting of which is similar to the Siberian drums.

Magar kings

• Shintu Sati Sheng , Kangwachan, Sikkim and Nepal, before the Lichhabi rule in Nepal.
• Aramudi , Nepaladesyasya Raja , Kali Gandaki region, 8th century
• Jeetu Magar , Chha-Bisa Kot, Rolpa , gave his son-in-law what is now the Dang Deukhuri district .
• Bali Hang Rana Magar , Baldeng Gadhi stretched from Pokhara to Gorakhpur, 12th century, west of Palpa .
• Mukunda Sen , Tansen- Palpa and Butwal , 11th century
• Gajalaxman Singh , Makawanpur Gadhi.
• Micha Khan , Nuwakot- Syangja
• Khancha , Dhor
• Dalsur Ghale Magar , Lig Lig Kot (Gorkha) 1548–1559
• Mansingh Khadka Magar , Gorkha, until 1559
• Tulu Paija Magar , Pakhapani

literature

• Michael Oppitz : Woman for Fron. The triple alliance among the Magar of West Nepal. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / Main 1988
• Michael Oppitz: The male arrow through female jewelry. The winter solstice festival and the myth of the honey harvest among the Magar of West Nepal. In: Anthropos, Volume 83, Issue 1/3, 1988, pp. 1-16
• Dor Bahadur Bista: People of Nepal . Ratna Pustak Bhandar, Kathmandu 1972
• Harsha Bahadur Budha Magar: Kirat Vansha ra Magar haru . Unnati Bohora, Kathmandu 1992
• Balaram Gharti Magar: Roots . Taranath Sharma (Tr.), Balaram Gharti Magar, Lalitpur 1999
• BK Rana: Sanchhipta Magar Itihas . (A Concise History of Magars) 2003

Web links

• Magar Studies Center
•  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ), a community social website

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rajesh Gautam, Asoke K. Thapa Magar: Tribal Ethnography of Nepal . Vol. II
2. ↑ Eden Vansittart: The Gurkhas. Anmol Publications, New Delhi 1993, p. 21
3. ^ W. Brook Northey, CJ Morris: The Gurkhas. Their Manners, Customs and Country . Cosmo Publications, Delhi 1927, pp. 122-125
4. ^ Dor Bahadur Bista: People of Nepal. Ratna Pustak Bhandar
5. ↑ Eden Vansittart: The Gurkhas, Kathmandu 1972, p. 62, (new edition: Anmol Publications, New Delhi 1993, p. 82)
6. ^ Rishikesh Shaha: An Introduction of Nepal . Ratna Pustak Bhandar, Kathmandu 1975, p. 38
7. ↑ Michael Oppitz: Drawings on Shamanic Drums: In: RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, No. 22, Fall 1992, pp. 62-81
8. ↑ Subedi, Rajaram. Magar Jati ko Nalibeli . Archived copy ( memento of the original from August 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
9. ↑ BK Rana, Sanchhipta Magar Itihas , 2003, p 25, p 96 Kalhana's Rajatarangini. Op cit. "Kashmiretihas, Hanuman Prasad Shastri Acharya", 1968, New Delhi, India.
10. ↑ Nar Bahadur 'Naru Thapa'. 2067 BS. Kiraat Magar Itihas. Kathmandu: Nirantar Prakashan.
11. ↑ Nar Bahadur 'Naru Thapa'. ibid.