 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Tamang people" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(March 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
तामाङ | |
|---|---|
 Tamang couple in traditional attire | |
| Total population | |
| c. 1.8 million[1][2][3] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Bhutan | N/A |
 Nepal | 1,639,866 (2021)[1] |
 India | 183,812 |
| West Bengal | 146,203 (2011)[2] |
| Sikkim | 37,609 (2011)[3] |
| Languages | |
| Tamang,Tibetan,Nepali,Hindi | |
| Religion | |
| PredominantlyBuddhism Minority:Hinduism,Christianity,Bon &Prakriti[4] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Tibetan people,Daman people,Qiang,Gurung,Sherpa,Bhotiya,Thakali | |
| Tamang people | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tibetan name | |||||
| Tibetan | རྟ་དམག | ||||
| |||||
TheTamang people (རྟ་དམག་;Devanagari: तामाङ;tāmāṅ) are anethnic group living inNepal,Northeast India and southernBhutan. In Nepal, they are concentrated in the central hilly and Himalayan regions[5] and constituted over 1.6 million people in the 2021 census.[1] In India, Tamang people live in the state ofSikkim, in theDarjeeling andKalimpong districts ofWest Bengal and inAssam. In Bhutan, they live foremost in the southern foothills includingTsirang District,Dagana District,Samtse District,Chukha District,Sarpang District andSamdrup Jongkhar District.[6] TheTamang language is the fifth most-spoken language in Nepal.[7]
Research indicates that the Tamang people are a hybrid ethnic group with an estimated 59% genetic contribution from Tibetan and 41% from Nepalese ancestries.[8]The Tamangs have been mentioned in various Nepalese and colonial historical records under a variety of names, such asBhote,Bodh,Lama,Murmi andSain, some of which terms erroneously conflate the Tamangs with Uighurs.[9] The Tibetans called themRongpa.[10]
Various Gorkha rulers led campaigns against the indigenous Tamangs. The Gorkha Vamsavali provides details of battles with theBhotyas of a variety of principalities between 1806 and 1862. In 1739, a ruler namedGhale-Botya attackedNara Bhupal Shah as he was marching towardsNuwakot, and Nara Bhupal Shah also fought several battles against Golma Ghale (Gyalpo). In 1762,Prithvi Narayan Shah attacked the Tamangs inTemal, the Tamang cultural heartland. Tamang oral history says that the local chief, Rinjen Dorje, was killed by the Gorkhas. Gorkhali forces had hidden their weapons in the sand on theSunkoshi riverbank in order to attack the Tamang forces. Afterwards, the Gorkhas washed their weapons in springs atDapcha Kuwapani, and this is why the modern-day Tamangs do not drink there. Similar stories appear in oral histories throughout the region.[11]
After the attack on the Tamang region, their traditional homeland area, known askipat to the Gorkhas, was granted to Gorkha generals or government officials who had pleased the king in some way, displacing the Tamangs fromkipat lands. Previously, Tamang landholdings had been divided up by clan. Tamangs also had various forced labor obligations, both in times of peace and war, that differed significantly from other regions of Nepal. One reason is the proximity of the Tamang homeland to the center of royal administration at Kathmandu.[11]
Tamangs were also involved in theSino-Nepalese War from 1788 to 1792, which was initially fought between Nepalese Gorkhas and Tibetan armies over a trade dispute related to a long-standing problem of low-quality coins manufactured by Nepal for Tibet. A few hundred Tamangs eventually settled in Tibet; they are known asDaman people in China. Previously stateless, since 2003 the Chinese government has classified them as ethnic Tibetans.[12][13][14]
.jpg)
Tamang tradition and culture include a distinct language, culture, dress, and social structure. They have over 100 sub-clans. About 87 % of the Tamang people are Buddhist,[15] around 3% are Christian and 8% Hindu.[15] Their language,Tamang, comes fromTamangic branch of theTibeto-Burman language family, and is closely related toGurung. They follow theChinese lunar calendar of the 12-year cycle. Colorful printed Buddhistmantra cloths are put up in various places in villages and towns.[16]
Their typical song and dance style is known asTamang Selo, and includes songs representing humor, satire, joy and sorrow. It has a brisk movement and rhythmic beat specific to the Tamangs.[6] A distinctive musical instrument is thedamphu, a small, round drum covered with goatskin. Traditional Tamang songs are known as Hwai. Sung by Tamang genealogists called Tamba, Hwai songs are ritualistic and hold tremendous importance in Tamang rituals.[17]
.jpg)
Sonam Lhosar is the main festival of the Tamangs and is celebrated in the month ofMagh (February–March).[18] It is celebrated to welcome the Tamang new year.Another significant festival is theSaga Dawa, a religious festival based on birthday ofGautam Buddha.[citation needed]
Tamang is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken predominantly in Nepal, with significant communities in Sikkim and West Bengal, India. It encompasses several dialects, including Eastern, Western, Southwestern, Northwestern, and Eastern Gorkha Tamang, with varying degrees of mutual intelligibility. For instance, Eastern and Western Tamang are mutually unintelligible.[19] It is tonal and exhibits ergative-absolutive alignment. Despite being the fifth most spoken language in Nepal, Tamang faces challenges due to the dominance of Nepali, leading to concerns about language preservation.[20]The language employs both the Tamyig script, similar to Tibetan, and Devanagari for writing. Grammatically, Tamang follows a subject-object-verb (SOV) order and utilizes postpositions.[citation needed]
The2011 Nepal census classifies the Tamang people within the broader social group of Mountain–Hill Janajati.[15] At the time of the Nepal census of 2011, 1,539,830 people (5.8% of the population of Nepal) were Tamang. The percentage of Tamang people by province was as follows:
In the following districts, the percentage of Tamang people was higher than the national average of 5.8% (2011):[21]
| Sino-Tibetan (Trans-Himalayan) |
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indo-Aryan |
| ||||||||
| Indo-Aryan of adistinct origin | |||||||||
| Other peoples (M,D,i) ofIndus-Ganga |
| ||||||||
| Other basis |
| ||||||||
| Immigrants | |||||||||
