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| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 13,397 (2011)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Nepal and India | |
| Nepal | 13,397 (2011)[1] |
| Languages | |
| Ladakhi,Sherpa,Standard Tibetan and otherTibetic languages,[2] alsoNepali andHindi | |
| Religion | |
| Buddhism 98.32% (2011),Hinduism 1% (2011),Christianity 0,5% (2011)[1] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Bhutia,Sherpa,Ladakhis,Tibetan,Uttarakhand Bhotiya,Ngalop,Tshangla people | |
Bhotiya orBhot (Nepali:भोटिया,Bhotiyā) is an Indian and Nepali exonym lumping together various ethnic groups speakingTibetic languages, as well as some groups speaking otherTibeto-Burman languages living in theTranshimalayan region that dividesIndia fromTibet. The wordBhotiya comes from theclassical Tibetan name forTibet,བོད,bod. The Bhotiya speak numerous languages includingLadakhi,Drejongke,Yolmo andSherpa. The Indian recognition of such language is Bhoti / Bhotia having Tibetan scripts and it lies in the Parliament of India to become one of the official languages through Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
The Bhotiyas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand identify asRaghuvanshiRajput and prefer to be referred asThakur orRajvanshi. The Bhotiya may be the original immigrants to northOudh in the period ofNawabAsaf-Ud-Dowlah (1775 to 1797).[3]
The Bhotiya people are closely related to several other groups and ethnic boundaries are porous.[4]: 56 One group is theBhutia, the main ethnolinguistic group of the northern part of the Indian state ofSikkim. A second is theUttarakhand Bhotiya of the upperHimalayan valleys of theKumaon and theGarhwal divisions ofUttarakhand. These include theShauka tribe of Kumaon, theTolchhas and theMarchhas of Garhwal, Gyagar Khampa of Khimling, Bhidang. A third related group are theDzongkha speakingNgalop people, the main ethnolinguistic group ofBhutan. The Bhotiya are also related to several dispersed groups inNepal and the adjacent areas ofIndia including theTibetans andSherpas.
In Nepal, Bhotiya is 0.1 percent of the population. They live in villages throughout the Himalayas.[4]: 377
The language of the Bhotiya people is called "Bhoti" or "Bhotia", but is in fact a cover term for a wide variety ofTibeto-Burman languages spoken in India. It is usually written in theTibetan script.[5] Bhoti and Bhotia is spoken inHimachal Pradesh,Sikkim,Uttarakhand,Arunachal Pradesh,Bhutan,Nepal,Tibet, and parts ofPakistan andWest Bengal.[citation needed] Bhoti is not included in thelanguages with official status in India.
The Bhotiya, tribe people are native (indigenous) people belonging to Himalayan Belt. In Nepal they live in the northern and eastern regions ofNepal, where they and otherTibetans are the region's autochthonous (indigenous) people.[6] By the 2001 census of Nepal, they number 27,230.[7][nb 1]The Bhotiya also live in theIndian states ofJammu and Kashmir,Himachal Pradesh,Uttarakhand,Uttar Pradesh,West Bengal,Sikkim,Assam,Arunachal Pradesh andTripura. InUttar Pradesh, the Bhotiya live in theBahraich,Gonda,Lakhimpur,Lucknow,Barabanki,Kanpur Nagar,Kanpur Dehat, andKheri districts.
Bhotiya have six recognizable sub-groups: theBhot, Bhotiya, theBhutia ofSikkim, the Tibbati (of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh), the Bhut, the Gyakar Khampa of Khimling, Bhidang of Uttarakhand.
In the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh, the Bhotiya people haveScheduled Tribe status.
In Uttarakhand, the Bhotiya are a Scheduled Tribe under the "Schedule caste order 1950, the constitutional Scheduled tribe (Uttar Pradesh) 1967 SC/ST." TheConstitution of India recognizes the Bhotiya.
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Bhotiya marriages are similar toHindu weddings. When the bride'spalanquin arrives at her husband's house, gods are worshipped and then she is admitted to the house. Rice, silver or gold is put in the hands of the bridegroom, which he passes on to the bride. She places them in awinnowing fan, and hands them as a present to the wife of thebarber. This ceremony is known asKarj Bharna. A man may have not more than three wives. The first wife is the head wife, and she inherits an additional one tenth of the husband's estate.
The Bhotiyas have distinctive funerary traditions. Young children who die ofcholera or snakebite are buried while others are cremated. There is no fixed burial ground, and no ceremonies are performed at the time of burial. The wealthy keep the ashes forlowal to several streams, while others bury them. After cremation, a stalk ofkusha (grass) is fixed in the ground near a tank of water andsesamum is poured on it for ten days. This makes it a refuge for the deceased's spirit until the rites are completed.
InUttarakhand, particularlyChamoli,Pithoragarh andUttarkashi, the Bhotiya are semi-nomadic, migratory pastoralists, moving about the border lands betweenIndia andTibet.[8]
They are also traders in the Himilayas for products such as cereal, wool, and salt. Now, some are farmers and others are merchants of stones, gems, and herbs.[6]
The Bhotiya are experienced in the use of medicinal plants.[9] The localfermented beverages arejan (a local beer), anddaru. A local fermented food stuff issez. The traditional catalyzing agent used in the preparation of fermented foods and beverages is calledbalam in theKumaon Division andbalma inGarhwal Division.[10]
A cottage wool industry employs many Bhotiya. Women weavepattu, a coarse woolen serge. Plants are collected to make natural dyes for coloring the wool.[11]
TheCentral Bureau of Statistics of Nepal classifies the Bhotiya (called Bhote in the Nepal census) as a subgroup within the broader social group of Mountain/Hill Janajati.[12] At the time of the2011 Nepal census, 13,397 people (0.1% of the population of Nepal) were Bhotiya. The frequency of Bhotiya people by province was as follows:
The frequency of Bhotiya people was higher than national average (0.1%) in the following districts:[13]
| Sino-Tibetan (Trans-Himalayan) |
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indo-Aryan |
| ||||||||
| Indo-Aryan of adistinct origin | |||||||||
| Other peoples (M,D,i) ofIndus-Ganga |
| ||||||||
| Immigrants and expatriates |
| ||||||||
| Other basis |
| ||||||||
