Background

Historians today are convinced that a widespread cultural conflict took place in the eastern Himalayan region between the indigenous inhabitants – called the Kirat – and the Tibetan migrant population, reaching a climax during the 18th and 19th centuries. Another wave of political and cultural conflict, between Gorkhali
GorkhaliGorkhali was a Nepali language-language weekly newspaper published in Varanasi, India. It began publication in 1919. Devi Prasad Sapkota was the editor of the newspaper.... and Kirat ideals, surfaced in the Kirat region of present-day Nepal during the last quarter of the 18th century. A collection of manuscripts from the 18th and 19th centuries, till now unpublished and unstudied by historians, have made possible a new understanding of this conflict. These historical sources are among those collected by Brian Houghton Hodgson
Brian Houghton HodgsonBrian Houghton Hodgson was an earlynatural history and ethnologist working in British India and Nepal where hewas an England civil servant.... – a British diplomat and self-trained Orientalist appointed to the Kathmandu
KathmanduKathmandu is the Capital and the largest metropolis city of Nepal. The city is situated in Kathmandu Valley that also contains two other cities - Patan, Nepal and Bhaktapur.... court during the second quarter of the 19th century – and his principal research aide, the Newar
NewarThe Newa are the Indigenous peoples of Asia people of Nepal Kathmandu Valley. Newars are a linguistic community with Tibeto-Burman and Indo ethnictiy/race, bound together by a common language.... scholar Khardar Jitmohan.For over two millennia, a large portion of the eastern Himalaya has been identified as the home of the Kirat people, of which the majority are known today as Rai
Rai (ethnic group)The Rai, also known as the Khambu , is one of Nepal's most ancient indigenous ethnolinguistic groups. The Rai belong to the Kirati group or the Kirat confederation that includes the Limbu people, the Sunuwar, Yakkha Dhimal, Koche, Meche, Jirel, Hayu ethnic groups...., Limbu
LimbuLimbu may refer to:Limbu people*Limbu people a Mongoloid ethnic group in Asia, an indigenous ethnic group of Nepal.*Limbu language*Limbu script..., Yakha and Lepcha
LepchaLepcha may refer to:*Lepcha people*Lepcha language*Lepcha script.... In ancient times, the entire Himalayan region was known as the kimpurusha desha, a phrase derived from a Sanskrit term used to identify people of Kirat origin. These people were also known as nep, to which the name nepala is believed to have an etymological link. The earliest references to the Kirat as principal inhabitants of the Himalayan region are found in the texts of Atharvashirsha and Mahabharata
MahabharataThe is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetrys of History of India, the other being the '. The epic is part of the Hindu itihasa , and forms an important part of Hindu mythology...., believed to date to before the 9th century BC. For over a millennium, the Kirat had also inhabited the Kathmandu Valley
Kathmandu ValleyThe Kathmandu Valley , located in the Nepal, lies at the crossroads of ancient civilizations of Asia, and has at least 130 important monuments, including several places of pilgrimage for the Hindus and the Buddhists...., where they installed their own ruling dynasty.This Kirat population in the valley, along with original Australoids and Austro-Asiatic speakers form the base for later Newar population. As time passed, however, those Kirat, now known as the Limbu
LimbuLimbu may refer to:Limbu people*Limbu people a Mongoloid ethnic group in Asia, an indigenous ethnic group of Nepal.*Limbu language*Limbu script... settled mostly in the Koshi region of present-day eastern Nepal and Sikkim
SikkimSikkim is a landlocked States and territories of India nestled in the Himalayas. It is the least populous state in India, and the second-smallest in area after Goa.....From around the 8th century, areas on the northern frontier of the Kirat region began to fall under the domination of migrant people of Tibetan origin. This flux of migration brought about the domination by Tibetan religious and cultural practices over ancient Kirat traditions. This influence first imposed shamanistic Bön
BönB?n is the oldest spiritual tradition of Tibet. Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama, has recently recognized the B?n tradition as the fifth principal spiritual school of Tibet, along with the Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and Gelug schools of Buddhism, despite the long historical competition of influences between the Bon tradtition and Buddhis... practices, which in turn were later replaced by the oldest form of Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan BuddhismTibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhism religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India ..... The early influx of Bön culture to the peripheral Himalayan regions occurred only after the advent of the Nyingma
NyingmaThe Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as the "school of the ancient translations" or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan language, in the eighth century...., the oldest Buddhist order in Lhasa
LhasaLhasa, sometimes spelled Lasa, is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China. Lhasa is located at the foot of Mount Gephel.... and Central Tibet, which led followers of the older religion to flee to the Kirat areas for survival. The Tibetan cultural influx ultimately laid the foundation for a Tibetan politico-religious order in the Kirat regions, and this led to the emergence of two major Tibetan Buddhist dynasties: in Sikkim and Bhutan
BhutanThe Kingdom of Bhutan is a landlocked nation in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalaya Mountains and is bordered to the south, east and west by India and to the north by the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China..... The early political order of the Kingdom of Bhutan had been established under the political and spiritual leadership of the lama Zhabs-drung Ngawang Namgyal. Consequently, Bhutan used to be known in the Himalayan region as the ‘kingdom of [Buddhist] spiritual rule’ (in old Nepali
Nepali languageNepali is a language in the Indo-Aryan languages of the Indo-European languages.It is the lingua-franca of Nepal and is also spoken in Bhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar ...., dharmaako desh). The Tibetan rulers of Sikkim were also known as Chögyal, or spiritual rulers.Both of these kingdoms adopted policies of suppression of indigenous practices, replacing them with those of Tibetan Buddhism. Bhutan's religious rulers established a tradition of appointing religious missions to other Himalayan kingdoms and areas, through which they were able to establish extensive influence in the region. Bhutan's ambitious missions were sent as far west as Ladakh
LadakhLadakh is a region in the Indian Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir between the Kunlun Mountains mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryans and Tibetan people descent..... Even before the founding of modern Nepal by Prithvi Narayan Shah
Prithvi Narayan ShahPrithvi Narayan Shah, King of Nepal was a Nepali nobleman. He was the ninth generation descendant of Dravya Shah , the founder of the ruling house of Prithbinarayan.... of Gorkha
GorkhaGorkha can mean:* Another name for Prithbhinarayan, a Nepali city* Gorkha District, a district of Nepal* The name of those regiments of the modern Indian Army, successors of the Gurkhas of Britain's imperial Indian Army.... in 1769, Bhutan's rulers were able to establish spiritual centres in several parts of what was to become the former's territories, including Kathmandu
KathmanduKathmandu is the Capital and the largest metropolis city of Nepal. The city is situated in Kathmandu Valley that also contains two other cities - Patan, Nepal and Bhaktapur...., Bhaktapur
BhaktapurBhaktapur , also Bhadgaon or Khwopa is an ancient Newar town in the east corner of the Kathmandu valley, Nepal. It is located in Bhaktapur District in the Bagmati Zone...., Gorkha
GorkhaGorkha can mean:* Another name for Prithbhinarayan, a Nepali city* Gorkha District, a district of Nepal* The name of those regiments of the modern Indian Army, successors of the Gurkhas of Britain's imperial Indian Army.... and Vijayapur in the midhills, and Mustang
Mustang (kingdom)Mustang is from Tibetan language Mun Tan which denotes fertile plain. Mustang, , is part of Nepal and one of its districts of Nepal , in the north-east of that country, bordering China on the Central Asian plateau between the Nepalese provinces of Dolpo and Manang...., north of the central Himalayan range.Sikkim had long been home to Lepcha Kirat people and culture. Under the guidance of Tibetan Buddhist lamas, however, their self-rule and cultural independence was suddenly taken away. Sikkim kings were even able to subdue the entire far-eastern part of the Kirat region – historically known as Limbuwan
Limbuwan?????? ?????Limbuwan was made up of 10 limbu kingdoms, all are now part of Nepal.It is a historical country of Limbu Nationality.Literally, Limbuwan means "abode of the Limbu people" or "Land of the Limbus".... – for at least a short period of time. Here, the new rulers adopted policies of religious and cultural subjugation, encouraging Sikkim lamas to travel to places of strategic importance in order to establish monastic centres. But the indigenous population did not easily surrender themselves to this cultural invasion. Limbu
LimbuLimbu may refer to:Limbu people*Limbu people a Mongoloid ethnic group in Asia, an indigenous ethnic group of Nepal.*Limbu language*Limbu script... and Lepcha
LepchaLepcha may refer to:*Lepcha people*Lepcha language*Lepcha script... manuscripts collected by Brian Houghton Hodgson
Brian Houghton HodgsonBrian Houghton Hodgson was an earlynatural history and ethnologist working in British India and Nepal where hewas an England civil servant.... in Darjeeling
DarjeelingDarjeeling is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal.It is the headquarters of Darjeeling district, in the Siwalik Hills on the lower range of the Himalaya, at an average elevation of .... indicate significant resistance by the Kirat against Tibetan Buddhist rule and cultural domination. While much of this struggle consisted of attempts to strengthen cultural awareness, there were also violent engagements between Kirat communities and their new rulers.
Te-Ongsi Xing SiriJunga Thebe and Kirat revival Limbu
LimbuLimbu may refer to:Limbu people*Limbu people a Mongoloid ethnic group in Asia, an indigenous ethnic group of Nepal.*Limbu language*Limbu script... society's first known literary figure and reformer was a talented young man from Tellok
TellokTellok is a Village Development Committee in the Himalayas of Taplejung District in the Mechi Zone of north-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 2296 people residing in 387 individual households...., in present-day Taplejung
TaplejungTaplejung is the headquarters of Taplejung District in the Mechi Zone of Nepal. It is located at 27?21'0N 87?40'0E with an altitude of 1441 metres .... District of far-eastern Nepal. Born around 1704, he was formally known as Sirichongba, but his more popular name was and remains Sirijanga. A Limbu-language instruction book found in the collection reveals Sirijanga's real name: Rupihaang. The haang part of the name is a common Kirat term indicating a family of high or royal origin. Sirijanga had accepted his Lepcha
LepchaLepcha may refer to:*Lepcha people*Lepcha language*Lepcha script... nickname by claiming to be the incarnation of a legendary figure also called Sirijanga. It has been widely believed that it was this supposedly 9th century hero who preserved and revived the ancient Kirat script; but many now feel that the Sirijanga legend was most likely created by the 18th century Sirijanga himself, with the intention of making the Limbu
LimbuLimbu may refer to:Limbu people*Limbu people a Mongoloid ethnic group in Asia, an indigenous ethnic group of Nepal.*Limbu language*Limbu script... and Lepcha
LepchaLepcha may refer to:*Lepcha people*Lepcha language*Lepcha script... people more ready to believe and follow his teachings. Sirijanga Singthebe revived the old Kirat script, today mistakenly known as Sirijanga. With the use of his newly revived script he collected, composed and copied huge amounts of Kirat literature pertaining to history and cultural traditions. He traveled extensively through remote regions, attempting to amass sources of Limbu knowledge and culture. Eventually, he began going from village to village, publicising his findings and establishing centres of Kirati learning. In doing all of this, Sirijanga laid the foundation for a Kirat ethnic revival, and contributed significantly to the resistance against Tibetan Buddhist cultural domination. Sirijanga preached that acquiring broad cultural knowledge and experience was the key to the revival and enrichment of a community. In an attempt to trace the sources of his culture, he at first studied with local Tibetan Buddhist lama
LamaLama is a title for a Tibetan teacher of the Dharma. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term guru . The title can be used as an honorific title conferred on a monk, nun or advanced tantric practitioner to designate a level of spiritual attainment and authority to teach, or may be part of a title such as Dalai Lama or Panchen Lama a...s, who at the time were the only means in the region of connecting to a learned tradition. Sirijanga was also witness to the influx of the Hindu-based Khas
KhasOriginally the Khas were the mountain dwellers living in the south shadow of the Himalayan range from Kashmir to Bhutan, but mostly in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nepal, North Bengal, Sikkim and Bhutan, .... culture from the western hill districts of today's Nepal. As such, along with his preliminary studies under the local lamas, he also practiced reading and writing in contemporary Khas, now known as Nepali
Nepali languageNepali is a language in the Indo-Aryan languages of the Indo-European languages.It is the lingua-franca of Nepal and is also spoken in Bhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar ..... In order to better understand the dynamics at play in the region and to gather support for his movement, Sirijanga traveled far and wide to establish contact with rulers and powerful personalities. In one of these adventures, it seems that he had either contacted or met King Jayaprakash Malla
Jayaprakash MallaJayaprakash Malla was the last Monarch of Yen or Kantipur . He contributed to the literature of Nepal Bhasa as well.... of Kathmandu
KathmanduKathmandu is the Capital and the largest metropolis city of Nepal. The city is situated in Kathmandu Valley that also contains two other cities - Patan, Nepal and Bhaktapur..... This multi-lingual and multi-cultural exposure to Buddhist and Hindu standards enabled Sirijanga to grasp the fundamentals of both of the region's dominant cultures. During Sirijanga's life, the Bhutani and Sikkimi quest for greater control over the eastern Himalaya led to many wars between Limbu
LimbuLimbu may refer to:Limbu people*Limbu people a Mongoloid ethnic group in Asia, an indigenous ethnic group of Nepal.*Limbu language*Limbu script... and Sikkimi Bhotiya
BhotiyaThe Bhotiya are an ethno-linguistic group of people living in the trans-Himalayan region that divides India from Tibet. They are closely related to the Tibetan people and their name, Bhotiya, derives from the word Bod , which is the Classical Tibetan name for Tibet.... (Bhotiya indicating Tibetan origin) authorities. In due time, the lamas of Sikkim were able to extend their monastic centres into the northern areas of that part of Limbuwan
Limbuwan?????? ?????Limbuwan was made up of 10 limbu kingdoms, all are now part of Nepal.It is a historical country of Limbu Nationality.Literally, Limbuwan means "abode of the Limbu people" or "Land of the Limbus".... that now lies in Nepal. After a time, this cultural encroachment enabled the Bhotiya rulers to repeatedly subdue and take control of the entire Kirat territory.The root of this state of conflict can be seen to lie in the politics of culture and knowledge at play in the region. Sikkimi Tibetan rulers and Buddhist spiritual leaders were able to subjugate the entire far-eastern Kirat region by means of their hold over the established learned traditions and the systematic spiritual culture of Buddhism. It was realisation of this that led Sirijanga to emphasise the necessity of a peaceful, knowledge-based movement. In present-day terms, Sirijanga's ethnic movement can be said to be one of Kirat empowerment through education. Sirijanga's movement came to represent a significant threat in particular to the Sikkimi Bhotiya rulers and their spiritual gurus. The man's writings and teachings, his Kirati alphabet and the literary texts he collected, attracted significant numbers of Limbus
LimbusLimbus may refer to:* Limbu people, a ethnic group in Asia, an indigenous ethnic group of Nepal.* Corneal limbus* Limbus , a Swedish punk rock band... and Lepchas, and led to the start of an ethnic awakening. Sirijanga was able to establish centres of Kirat cultural and religious learning in many places throughout the eastern Himalayan hills. The Sikkimi authorities felt enough under threat to want Sirijanga eliminated. He was killed in 1741, somewhere near the Pemiyongchi Monastery in Sikkim
SikkimSikkim is a landlocked States and territories of India nestled in the Himalayas. It is the least populous state in India, and the second-smallest in area after Goa..... The Kirat learning centres were subsequently destroyed, and Sirijanga's disciples murdered or brutally suppressed.
History of Limbuwan
History of LimbuwanHistory of Limbuwan is characterised by its close interaction with its neighbours; independent and semi independent rule characterized by autonomy for most of its part....:Kirant People of Limbu Nationality History of Limbuwan shows the history and political development of the people of Limbuwan
Limbuwan?????? ?????Limbuwan was made up of 10 limbu kingdoms, all are now part of Nepal.It is a historical country of Limbu Nationality.Literally, Limbuwan means "abode of the Limbu people" or "Land of the Limbus".... until their Unification with the Kingdom of Gorkha
GorkhaGorkha can mean:* Another name for Prithbhinarayan, a Nepali city* Gorkha District, a district of Nepal* The name of those regiments of the modern Indian Army, successors of the Gurkhas of Britain's imperial Indian Army.... in 1774 AD. During King Prithivi Narayan Shah's unification of Nepal
NepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and is the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by India...., the present day Nepal east of Arun and Koshi River was known as Pallo Kirant Limbuwan. It was divided into ten Limbu
LimbuLimbu may refer to:Limbu people*Limbu people a Mongoloid ethnic group in Asia, an indigenous ethnic group of Nepal.*Limbu language*Limbu script... Kingdoms of which Morang Kingdom was the most powerful and had the central government, the Capital of Morang Kingdom of Limbuwan was Bijaypur, now Dharan. After the Limbuwan-Gorkha War and seeing the threat of the rising power of British East India Company
British East India CompanyThe East India Company was an early England joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the Indies, but that ended up trading with the Indian subcontinent and China...., Kings and ministers of all the ten Limbu Kingdoms of Limbuwan gathered in Bijaypur, present day Dharan to agree upon Limbuwan-Gorkha treaty. This Treaty formally united ten Limbu
LimbuLimbu may refer to:Limbu people*Limbu people a Mongoloid ethnic group in Asia, an indigenous ethnic group of Nepal.*Limbu language*Limbu script... Kingdoms into Gorkha Kingdom, but it also gave Limbuwan a full autonomy under Limbuwan Kipat System.