Bahun

Nepali Brahmins of Khas descent

Khas Bahun
Bahun
Regions with significant populations
   Nepal3,292,373 (11.2% of Nepal's population) (2021)[1]
Languages
Nepali (Khas-Kura)
Religion
Hinduism 99.56% (2011), Christianity 0.31% (2011)[2]
Related ethnic groups
Chhetri, Thakuri and other Khas people

Bahun (Nepali: बाहुन), also known as Hill Brahmins,[3] are a Brahmin varna among the Khas of Nepal. They are Sub caste of the Kanyakubja Brahmin[4][5][6] while their origins are from Kannauj[7] and the Himalayan belt of South Asia. According to the 2011 Nepal census, Bahun is the second most populous group after Chhetri.[8]

According to 1854 Muluki Ain (Nepalese Legal Code), Bahuns were regarded as caste among sacred thread bearers (Tagadhari) and twice-born Hindus.[9]

Origin

Traditionally, Bahuns were members of the Khas community together Chhetris.[10] Possibly due to political power of the Khasa Malla kingdom, Khas Brahmins and Khas Kshatriyas[11] had high social status in the present-day western Nepal.[10] Bahuns, regarded as upper class Khas group together with Chhetris, were associated mostly with the Gorkha Kingdom and its expansion.[12][12][13]

Demography

According to the 2011 Nepal census, Bahuns (referred as Hill-Brahmin) are the second most populous group after Khas Chhetri with 12.2% of Nepal's population (or 3,226,903 people).[14] Bahun are the second largest Hindu group in Nepal with a population of 3,212,704 (99.6% of Bahuns).[14] Bahuns are the largest group in 15 districts in Nepal: Jhapa, Morang, Kathmandu, Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Kaski, Syangja, Parbat, Gulmi and Arghakhanchi. Among these, Bahuns in Parbat (35.7%), Arghakhanchi (32.8%), Dhading (30.9%), Chitwan (28.6%), Kaski (27.8%) and Gulmi (25.2%) consist more than 25% of the district population. Kathmandu has largest Bahun population with 410,126 people (23.5%).[14]

Bahuns have the highest civil service representation with 39.2% of Nepal's bureaucracy while having only 12.1% of Nepal's total population. The civil service representation to population ratio is 3.2 times for Bahuns which is fourth in Nepal. khas/Chhetris represent 1.6 times in civil services to their percentage of population, which is the highest in Nepal.[15] As per the Public Service Commission, Brahmins (33.3%) and Chhetris (20.01%) were two largest caste group to obtain governmental jobs in F.Y. 2017-18 even though 45% governmental seats are reserved for women, indigenous and ethnic minorities, Madhesis, dalits, people with disability and those from the backward regions.[16] Similarly, in the fiscal 2018–19, Bahuns (24.87%) and Chhetris (9.63%) maintained 35% of their proportion in civil service as per Public Service Commission.[17]

Geographic distribution

According to the 2021 Nepal census, 3,292,373 people (11.29%) of the population of Nepal are Bahun (Hill Brahmins).[18] The frequency of Bahun (Hill Brahmins) by province was as follows:

The frequency of Bahun (Hill Brahmins) was higher than national average (12.2%) in the following districts:

Notable people

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Other notables

See also

References

  1. ^ National Statistics Office (2021). National Population and Housing Census 2021, Caste/Ethnicity Report. Government of Nepal (Report).
  2. ^ Central Bureau of Statistics (2014). Population monograph of Nepal (PDF) (Report). Vol. II. Government of Nepal.
  3. ^ Oberst, Robert (27 April 2018). Government and Politics in South Asia, Student Economy Edition. Routledge. p. 284. ISBN 978-0-429-97340-6.
  4. ^ Declan Quigley, David Gellner (2017). Contested Hierarchies: A Collaborative Ethnography of Caste Among the Newars of Kathmandu. edited by David Gellner & Declan Quigley. Macmillan and Company limited. p. 199.
  5. ^ Chaturvedi, Shyam lal (1945). In Fraternity with Nepal, An Account of the Activities Under the Auspices of the Wider Life Movement for the Furtherance and Consolidation of the Indo-Nepalese Cultural Fellowship. p. 65.
  6. ^ Hachhethu, Krishna (2023). Nation-Building and Federalism in Nepal. p. 40.
  7. ^ Hachhethu, Krishna (2023). Nation-Building and Federalism in Nepal. p. 40.
  8. ^ "Nepal Census 2011" (PDF).
  9. ^ Sherchan 2001, p. 14.
  10. ^ a b John T Hitchcock 1978, pp. 116–119.
  11. ^ John T Hitchcock 1978, p. 116.
  12. ^ a b Whelpton 2005, p. 31.
  13. ^ "Nepal -".
  14. ^ a b c "Nepal Census 2011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  15. ^ Dhakal, Amit (11 June 2014). "निजामती सेवामा सबैभन्दा बढी प्रतिनिधित्व राजपूत, कायस्थ र तराई ब्राम्हण". Setopati.
  16. ^ "Brahmins and Chhetris land most government jobs". kathmandupost.com.
  17. ^ "Brahmins and Chhetris continue to dominate entry into civil service". kathmandupost.com.
  18. ^ National Statistics Office (2021). National Population and Housing Census 2021, Caste/Ethnicity Report. Government of Nepal (Report).
  19. ^ Chabilal Upadhyaya - Wikipedia
  20. ^ Raj, Prakash A. (2006). Dancing Democracy: The power of a Third Eye. Rupa & Company. ISBN 9788129109460.
  21. ^ a b c d "Girija Prasad Koirala: The architect of democracy in Nepal". Dawn. 23 March 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  22. ^ Westminster legacies. UNSW Press. 2005. ISBN 978-0-86840-848-4. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  23. ^ "Flight of a free bird". My Republica. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  24. ^ Goldenberg, Suzanne (4 May 1999). "Man Mohan Adhikari". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  25. ^ "CPN Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal elected as 39th Prime Minister of Nepal". Xinhuanet. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  26. ^ "Prachanda elected Prime Minister of Nepal". The Hindu. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  27. ^ "CPN-UML Comrades Apart". Spotlight Nepal Magazine. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  28. ^ "Caste no bar". Nepali Times. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2018.

Bibliography

  • Dor Bahadur Bista (1991). Fatalism and Development: Nepal's Struggle for Modernization. Orient Blackswan. ISBN 978-81-250-0188-1.
  • Subba, Tanka Bahadur (1989). Dynamics of a hill society: Nepalis in Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas. Mittal Publications. ISBN 9788173041143.
  • John T Hitchcock (1978). "An Additional Perspective on the Nepali Caste System". In James F. Fisher (ed.). Himalayan Anthropology: The Indo-Tibetan Interface. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-90-279-7700-7.
  • Richard Burghart (1984). "The Formation of the Concept of Nation-State in Nepal". The Journal of Asian Studies. 44 (1): 101–125. doi:10.2307/2056748. JSTOR 2056748. S2CID 154584368.
  • Whelpton, John (2005). A History of Nepal. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521804707.
  • Sherchan, Sanjay (2001). Democracy, pluralism and Change: An Inquiry into Nepalese context. Chhye Pahhuppe. ISBN 9789993354390.
  • Nepala Rajakiya Pragya Pratisthana (2001). Journal of Nepalese Literature, Art and Culture. Vol. 4. Nepal: Royal Nepal Academy.
  • Witzel, Michael (1993). "Toward a History of the Brahmins". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 113 (2): 264–268. doi:10.2307/603031. ISSN 0003-0279. JSTOR 603031.
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