Tharu
The Tharu (Nepali: थारू, Thārū) are a people in the Terai in Nepal and in northern India . The majority of the Tharu live in Nepal, where they make up 13.5% of the population and are officially recognized as a minority.
The Tharu refer to themselves as people of the forest. For a long time they lived in isolation, mostly in the primeval forests in the border area between India and Nepal, where they developed a relatively independent culture. They are known for their ceramic and wall painting.
Apart from Nepali , the common national language that not all speak, there is no common language of the Tharu. Some speak various endemic Tharu languages; in western Nepal and bordering India they speak Urdu and Awadhi , in middle Terai they speak a variant of Bhojpuri and in eastern Terai Maithili .
The Tharu already lived in the Terai before the arrival of the Indo-Europeans .
According to the 2001 census, 97.63% of the Tharu are Hindus and 1.95% Buddhists .
Subgroups
The Tharu are divided into several endogamous subgroups:
- Rana Tharu , in Nepal in the Nepali districts of Kailali and Kanchanpur and in India in the districts of Nainital in Uttarakhand and Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh . The Rana Tharu consider themselves descendants of the Rajputs .
- Kathoriya Tharu , mainly in Nepal in the Kailali district and in India.
- Sonha , in Nepal in the Surkhet district ,
- Dangaura Tharu , in the western Terai of Nepal in the districts of Dang Deukhuri , Banke and Bardiya
- Paschuhan (Western Tharu) , in the Rupandehi and Nawalparasi districts
- Rautar Tharu , in Nepal in the Rupandehi and Nawalparasi districts
- Purbaha Tharu , in Nepal in the Rupandehi and Kapilbastu districts
- Aarkutwa or Chitwania Tharu , in the middle Terai of Nepal in the Sindhuli , Chitwan and Nawalparasi districts
- Kochila Tharu , in the eastern Terai in Nepal in the districts of Saptari , Bara , Parsa , Rautahat , Sarlahi , Mahottari and Udayapur
- Danuwar , in the eastern Terai in Nepal in the districts of Udayapur , Saptari and Morang .
- Lamputchwa Tharu , in the eastern Terai of Nepal in the Morang district
Smaller groups of Tharu live in adjacent Indian districts.
Resistance to malaria
The Tharu habitat was highly malaria-infested until the 1960s. The Tharu are believed to have a degree of resistance to malaria . Research found that neighboring races are seven times more susceptible to malaria than the Tharu. Because of these striking differences, researchers suspect a genetic disposition rather than certain behaviors or eating habits.
Web links
- After slavery, unshackling potential . Retrieved November 17, 2011.
- Tharu Nepal - NGO promoting cultural exchange via community projects . Retrieved April 11, 2011.
- (April 2008). Slide-show documentary about child slavery among Tharu . PBS. April 11, 2011.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rajaure, DP in Kailash "Tharus of Dang: The people and the social context".., Vol 8, Issue 3/4, Kathmandu, 1981, pp 155-185
- ↑ Statistical Year Book of Nepal 2009, Government of Nepal, Central Bureau of Statistics 2009
- ↑ Terrenato, L. et al.: Decreased Malaria Morbidity in the Tharu People Compared to Sympatric Populations in Nepal in: Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Vol. 82, Issue 1, 1988, pp. 1-11