Magar is a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group of Nepal and northern India whose homeland extends from the western and southern edges of the Dhaulagiri section of the high Himalayas range south to the prominent Mahabharat foothill range and eastward into the Gandaki basin. According to Nepal’s 2001 census, 1,622,421 people identified themselves as belonging to the Magar ethnolinguistic group, representing 7.14% of Nepal’s population and making them the largest indigenous ethnic group in the country. According to the census figure, almost all of Magar are Buddhists whereas only a handful are considered to be non Buddhist Hindu..
History
The Kham Magar who live in the rugged highlands of Rukum, Salyan, Rolpa and Pyuthan districts in Rapti Zone are thought to have migrated from Siberia. This southward migration is evident in various shamanistic practices and other cultural features. They claim to occupy the original Magar homeland in Nepal from whence migration to the south and east proceeded.
Until the rise of Shah dynasty Magar were the ruling class in whole of Nepal. Some historians even believe that Shah dynasty are the direct descendants of Magar. Other histororians, however, believe this to be a undeniable part of history that has been supressed so not to elevate the community's collective ego. History of Nepal is largely written by people of Bahun ethnicity, considered to be master in playing with the truth. Perhaps a learned non Bahun and non Hindu historian has no hesitation in accepting these claims.
Just like any other Nepali, some members of the Magar community fought in the Nepalese Civil War.
Language
Main article: Magar language
Of the 1,622,421 Magar people in Nepal,770,116 speak a Magar language as their mother tongue. The Kham Magar of Rapti Zone speak Kham language. In Dolpa District, the Magar speak Tarali or Kaike language. The Magar languages are rooted in the Bodic branch of the Tibeto-Burman family.
Religion
In addition to shamanistic practices possibly brought from Siberia, the northern Magar practice Tibetan Buddhism in which their priest is known as Bhusal. The social process of Sanskritization has drawn only small numbers of southern Magar populations to develop a syncretic form of Hinduism that combines animist and Buddhist rituals.
Generally speaking, Buddhist and Hindu practices are best developed among Magars living in contact with Tibetan Buddhists and Indo-Aryan Hindus respectively. They are less evident in Kham hinterlands particularly in rugged 3-4,000 meter ranges along the boundary between Rukum and Pyuthan-Rolpa districts. These hinterlands are geographically and therefore culturally isolated from the beaten tracks of transhimalayan trade routes and from rice-growing lowlands colonized by Hindu Indo-Aryans.
Occupations
The Magar traditionally engage in subsistence agriculture, pastoralism, craftsmanship and day labor. The Magar are prominently represented in Nepal’s military, as well as in the British and Indian Gurkha regiments, along with the Limbu, Rai, and other martial ethnic groups from the hills of Nepal. Today, members of the Magar community are also employed as professionals in the fields of medicine, education, government service, law, journalism, development, and aviation.
The Kham Magar who live in the rugged highlands of Rukum, Salyan, Rolpa and Pyuthan districts in Rapti Zone are thought to have migrated from Siberia. This southward migration is evident in various shamanistic practices and other cultural features. They claim to occupy the original Magar homeland in Nepal from whence migration to the south and east proceeded.
Until the rise of Shah dynasty Magar were the ruling class in whole of Nepal. Some historians even believe that Shah dynasty are the direct descendants of Magar. Other histororians, however, believe this to be a undeniable part of history that has been supressed so not to elevate the community's collective ego. History of Nepal is largely written by people of Bahun ethnicity, considered to be master in playing with the truth. Perhaps a learned non Bahun and non Hindu historian has no hesitation in accepting these claims.
Just like any other Nepali, some members of the Magar community fought in the Nepalese Civil War.
Language
Main article: Magar language
Of the 1,622,421 Magar people in Nepal,770,116 speak a Magar language as their mother tongue. The Kham Magar of Rapti Zone speak Kham language. In Dolpa District, the Magar speak Tarali or Kaike language. The Magar languages are rooted in the Bodic branch of the Tibeto-Burman family.
Religion
In addition to shamanistic practices possibly brought from Siberia, the northern Magar practice Tibetan Buddhism in which their priest is known as Bhusal. The social process of Sanskritization has drawn only small numbers of southern Magar populations to develop a syncretic form of Hinduism that combines animist and Buddhist rituals.
Generally speaking, Buddhist and Hindu practices are best developed among Magars living in contact with Tibetan Buddhists and Indo-Aryan Hindus respectively. They are less evident in Kham hinterlands particularly in rugged 3-4,000 meter ranges along the boundary between Rukum and Pyuthan-Rolpa districts. These hinterlands are geographically and therefore culturally isolated from the beaten tracks of transhimalayan trade routes and from rice-growing lowlands colonized by Hindu Indo-Aryans.
Occupations
The Magar traditionally engage in subsistence agriculture, pastoralism, craftsmanship and day labor. The Magar are prominently represented in Nepal’s military, as well as in the British and Indian Gurkha regiments, along with the Limbu, Rai, and other martial ethnic groups from the hills of Nepal. Today, members of the Magar community are also employed as professionals in the fields of medicine, education, government service, law, journalism, development, and aviation.
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