Tamang
The Tamang (also Murmi or Bhotiya ) are an ethnic group of Tibetan Burman origin living in Nepal . The main settlement area of the people is in ethnic islands north, west and (south) east of the Newar around the Kathmandu valley . With 1,540,000 members, they make up a good five percent of the population of Nepal, a little more than the Newar.
There is a relationship between the Tamang languages and Tibetan , the Newar and Sherpa languages . However, mutual intelligibility no longer exists. The Tamang languages actually represent a dialect cluster that knows three main clusters, some of which are also very difficult to understand among each other.
The name Tamang means something like horse traders in Tibetan, which suggests that the Tamang originally came from the north and traded horses with the Newar. Later (about 1000 years ago) people probably settled there and the two peoples began to mix.
The main source of income for the majority of the inhabitants of the Tamang villages is in the agricultural sector, which is often only subsistence farming . However, there is a tradition of porter employment for local traders (mostly Newar or Gurung ) for young members of the community.
The social status within Nepalese society is low. Until the 1960s they were forbidden to accept government posts.
Like some of the Sherpa, some of the Tamang are good mountaineers and guides; many members of the people earn their living today as porters in the trekking business . Some Tamang are also recruited to serve in the British-Indian Gurkha regiments.
The Tamang belong to the Tibetan form of Buddhism and Lamaism , mixed with elements from pre-Buddhist Bon . Because of their proximity to the Newar, a slight Hindu influence can also be seen in their rituals.
In many villages there is a jhankri (shaman) who mainly fulfills the function of a healer (especially those caused by local superstition in demons , often mental illnesses as well), while a lama acts as a practitioner of the Buddhist rites and as a Buddhist teacher.
Many Tamang clans prohibit the marriage of members of any other people; others only allow marriages to Gurung, Magar , Newar and Chhettri . Even marrying members of your own clan or certain other clans within the Tamang is sometimes taboo according to complex rules. Your inheritance system is patrilinear .
Members of the Tamang
Mountain village of the Tamang
Students at a primary school in Tistung in the Tamang area
Tamang Buddhist Lama
