# Bhotiya > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bhotiya > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bhotiya.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhotiya > Source revision: 1355761967 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Tibetic peoples of the Transhimalayan region}} {{more citations needed|date= January 2017}} {{Infobox ethnic group | group = Bhotiya | image = Bhotiya family.jpg | caption = A Bhotiya family | population = 13,397 (2011){{cite report |date=2014 |title=Population monograph of Nepal |volume=II |author=Central Bureau of Statistics |publisher=Government of Nepal |url=https://nepal.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Population%20Monograph%20V02.pdf}} | popplace = {{flagcountry| Nepal}} and {{flagcountry|India}} | region1 = {{flagcountry|Nepal}} | pop1 = 13,397 (2011) | region2 = {{flag|India}} | region3 = {{flag|Bhutan}} | region4 = {{flag|Pakistan}} | region6 = {{flag|China}} | langs = [Ladakhi](/source/Ladakhi_language), [Sherpa](/source/Sherpa_language), [Standard Tibetan](/source/Standard_Tibetan) and other [Tibetic languages](/source/Tibetic_languages),{{cite news|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=sip |title=Sikkimese |editor=Lewis, M. Paul |year=2009 |work=[Ethnologue](/source/Ethnologue): Languages of the World |edition=16 |location=[Dallas, Texas](/source/Dallas%2C_Texas) |publisher=[SIL International](/source/SIL_International) |access-date=2011-04-16| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110514060819/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=sip| archive-date= 14 May 2011 | url-status= live}}, ''identifying several language communities as "Bhotiya" and similarly'' also [Nepali](/source/Nepali_language) and [Hindi](/source/Hindi) | rels = [Buddhism](/source/Buddhism), [Hinduism](/source/Hinduism) (2011), [Christianity](/source/Christianity) • [Islam](/source/Islam){{Cite web |last=ORGI |title=Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/SCST-Series/ST14.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114034625/https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/SCST-Series/ST14.html |archive-date=2019-11-14 |access-date=2026-05-16 |website=censusindia.gov.in}} | related = [Bhutia](/source/Bhutia), [Sherpa](/source/Sherpa_people), [Ladakhis](/source/Ladakhis), [Tibetan](/source/Tibetan_people), [Uttarakhand Bhotiya](/source/Uttarakhand_Bhotiya), [Ngalop](/source/Ngalop_people), [Tshangla people](/source/Sharchops) }} [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 135-S-02-17-37, Tibetexpedition, Buthiawürdenträger.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A senior official in [Sikkim](/source/Sikkim), ethnic Bhotiya, 1938]] '''Bhotiya''' or '''Bhot''' ({{langx|ne|भोटिया}}, {{transliteration|ne|Bhotiyā}}), {{transliteration|ne|Bhotiyā}}) is an Indian and Nepali exonym used to refer to various ethnic groups speaking [Tibetic languages](/source/Tibetic_languages), as well as some groups speaking other [Tibeto-Burman languages](/source/Tibeto-Burman_languages) living in the [Transhimalaya](/source/Transhimalaya)n region that divides [India](/source/India) from [Tibet](/source/Tibet). The word ''Bhotiya'' comes from the [classical Tibetan](/source/classical_Tibetan) [local name](/source/local_name) for [Tibet](/source/Tibet), {{lang|bo|བོད}}, {{transliteration|bo|bod}}. The Bhotiya speak numerous languages including [Ladakhi](/source/Ladakhi_language), [Drejongke](/source/Bhutia_language), [Yolmo](/source/Yolmo_language) and [Sherpa](/source/Sherpa_language). 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. ==Background== thumb|right|250px|Bhotia, trans-Himalayan, Sikhim The Bhotiyas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand identify as [Raghuvanshi](/source/Raghuvanshi) [Rajput](/source/Rajput) and prefer to be referred as ''Thakur'' or ''Rajvanshi''. The Bhotiya may be the original immigrants to north [Oudh](/source/Oudh) in the period of [Nawab](/source/Nawab) [Asaf-Ud-Dowlah](/source/Asaf-Ud-Dowlah) (1775 to 1797).{{Cn|date=January 2026}} The Bhotiya people are closely related to several other groups and ethnic boundaries are porous.{{rp|page=56}} One group is the [Bhutia](/source/Bhutia), the main ethnolinguistic group of the northern part of the Indian state of [Sikkim](/source/Sikkim). A second is the [Uttarakhand Bhotiya](/source/Uttarakhand_Bhotiya) of the upper [Himalaya](/source/Himalaya)n valleys of the [Kumaon](/source/Kumaon_division) and the [Garhwal](/source/Garhwal_division) divisions of [Uttarakhand](/source/Uttarakhand). These include the [Shauka tribe](/source/Shauka_tribe) of Kumaon, the [Tolchha](/source/Tolchha)s and the [Marchha](/source/Marchha)s of Garhwal, Gyagar Khampa of Khimling, Bhidang. A third related group are the [Dzongkha](/source/Dzongkha) speaking [Ngalop people](/source/Ngalop_people), the main ethnolinguistic group of [Bhutan](/source/Bhutan). The Bhotiya are also related to several dispersed groups in [Nepal](/source/Nepal) and the adjacent areas of [India](/source/India) including the [Tibet](/source/Tibet)ans and [Sherpa](/source/Sherpa_people)s. In Nepal, Bhotiya is 0.1 percent of the population. They live in villages throughout the Himalayas.Gellner D. et al. (ed.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=n4FQMEiZcrIC&q=bhotiya "Nationalism and Ethnicity in a Hindu Kingdom: The Politics and Culture of Contemporary Nepal."] Routledge, 2012 {{ISBN|1136649565}}, 9781136649561. Accessed at Google Books 23 November 2015.{{rp|page=377}} ==Language== The language of the Bhotiya people is called "Bhoti" or "Bhotia", but is in fact a cover term for a wide variety of [Tibeto-Burman languages](/source/Tibeto-Burman_languages) spoken in India. It is usually written in the [Tibetan script](/source/Tibetan_script).{{cite journal|last1=Gohain|first1=Swargajyoti|title= Mobilising language, imagining region:Use of Bhoti in West Arunachal Pradesh|journal=Contributions to Indian Sociology|date=2012|volume= 46|issue=3|pages=337–363|doi=10.1177/006996671204600304|url=https://www.academia.edu/3365452|access-date=October 6, 2014|citeseerx=10.1.1.1028.3538|s2cid=143169828}} Bhoti and Bhotia is spoken in [Himachal Pradesh](/source/Himachal_Pradesh), [Sikkim](/source/Sikkim), [Uttarakhand](/source/Uttarakhand), [Arunachal Pradesh](/source/Arunachal_Pradesh), [Bhutan](/source/Bhutan), [Nepal](/source/Nepal), [Tibet](/source/Tibet), and parts of [Pakistan](/source/Pakistan) and [West Bengal](/source/West_Bengal).{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} Bhoti is not included in the [languages with official status in India](/source/languages_with_official_status_in_India). ==Population== The Bhotiya, tribe people are native (indigenous) people belonging to Himalayan Belt. In Nepal they live in the northern and eastern regions of [Nepal](/source/Nepal), where they and other [Tibetans](/source/Tibetan_people) are the region's autochthonous (indigenous) people. By the 2001 census of Nepal, they number 27,230.{{cite book|title=The Unmaking of Nepal |first=R. S. N. |last=Singh |pages=145–146 |publisher=[Lancer](/source/Lancer_Publishers) |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-935501-28-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Iyp0NO3RmV4C}}Includes ''Bhote'' (19,261) and ''Bote'' (7,969). The Bhotiya also live in the [India](/source/India)n states of [Jammu and Kashmir](/source/Jammu_and_Kashmir_(union_territory)), [Himachal Pradesh](/source/Himachal_Pradesh), [Uttarakhand](/source/Uttarakhand), [Uttar Pradesh](/source/Uttar_Pradesh), [West Bengal](/source/West_Bengal), [Sikkim](/source/Sikkim), [Assam](/source/Assam), [Arunachal Pradesh](/source/Arunachal_Pradesh) and [Tripura](/source/Tripura). In [Uttar Pradesh](/source/Uttar_Pradesh), the Bhotiya live in the [Bahraich](/source/Bahraich_District), [Gonda](/source/Gonda_District), [Lakhimpur](/source/Lakhimpur%2C_Uttar_Pradesh), [Lucknow](/source/Lucknow_District), [Barabanki](/source/Barabanki_District), [Kanpur Nagar](/source/Kanpur_Nagar), [Kanpur Dehat](/source/Kanpur_Dehat), and [Kheri](/source/Kheri_District) districts. Bhotiya have six recognizable sub-groups: the [Bhot](/source/Bhot), Bhotiya, the [Bhutia](/source/Bhutia) of [Sikkim](/source/Sikkim), the Tibbati (of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh), the Bhut, the Gyakar Khampa of Khimling, Bhidang of Uttarakhand.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}} In the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh, the Bhotiya people have [Scheduled Tribe](/source/Scheduled_Tribe) status.{{Cn|date=January 2026}} In Uttarakhand, the Bhotiya are a Scheduled Tribe under the "Schedule caste order 1950, the constitutional Scheduled tribe (Uttar Pradesh) 1967 SC/ST." The [Constitution of India](/source/Constitution_of_India) recognizes the Bhotiya.{{Cn|date=January 2026}} ==Traditions== {{unreferenced section|date=December 2023}} === Weddings === Bhotiya marriages are similar to [Hindu wedding](/source/Hindu_wedding)s. When the bride's [palanquin](/source/palanquin) 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 a [winnowing fan](/source/winnowing_fan), and hands them as a present to the wife of the [barber](/source/barber). This ceremony is known as ''Karj 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. === Funerals === The Bhotiyas have distinctive funerary traditions. Young children who die of [cholera](/source/cholera) 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 for ''lowal'' to several streams, while others bury them. After cremation, a stalk of ''kusha'' (grass) is fixed in the ground near a tank of water and [sesamum](/source/sesamum) is poured on it for ten days. This makes it a refuge for the deceased's spirit until the rites are completed. ==Economy== In [Uttarakhand](/source/Uttarakhand), particularly [Chamoli](/source/Chamoli_District), [Pithoragarh](/source/Pithoragarh_District) and [Uttarkashi](/source/Uttarkashi_District), the Bhotiya are semi-nomadic, migratory pastoralists, moving about the border lands between [India](/source/India) and [Tibet](/source/Tibet).[https://books.google.com/books?id=dcXNpmsxSn0C&dq=bhotiya&pg=PA218 "The Social Economy of the Himalayans: Based on a Survey in the Kumaon Himalayas."] Mittal Publications 1988 p51 Accessed at Google Books 23 November 2015. They are also traders in the Himalayas for products such as cereal, wool, and salt. Now, some are farmers and others are merchants of stones, gems, and herbs.{{cite book|title=Nepal and Bangladesh: a global studies handbook |series=Global Studies Handbooks |first=Nanda R. |last=Shrestha |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-57607-285-1}} The Bhotiya are experienced in the use of medicinal plants.{{cite journal|last=Kala|first=C. P.|title=Local preferences of ethnobotanical species in the Indian Himalaya: Implications for environmental conservation|journal=Current Science|year=2007|volume=93|issue=12|pages=1828–1834}} The local [fermented beverage](/source/fermented_beverage)s are ''jan'' (a local beer), and ''daru''. A local fermented food stuff is ''sez''. The traditional catalyzing agent used in the preparation of fermented foods and beverages is called ''balam'' in the [Kumaon Division](/source/Kumaon_Division) and ''balma'' in [Garhwal Division](/source/Garhwal_Division).{{cite book|last=Kala|first=C.P.|title=Biodiversity, Communities and Climate Change|year=2012|publisher=TERI Publications|location=New Delhi|page=358}} A cottage wool industry employs many Bhotiya. Women weave ''pattu'', a coarse woolen serge. Plants are collected to make natural dyes for coloring the wool.{{cite journal|last=Kala|first=C.P.|title=Indigenous knowledge of Bhotiya tribal community on wool dyeing and its present status in the Garhwal Himalaya, India|journal=Current Science|year=2002|volume=83|issue=7|pages=814–817}} ==In Nepal== The [Central Bureau of Statistics](/source/Central_Bureau_of_Statistics_(Nepal)) of Nepal classifies the Bhotiya (called Bhote in the Nepal census) as a subgroup within the broader social group of Mountain/Hill Janajati.[https://nepal.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Population%20Monograph%20V02.pdf Population Monograph of Nepal, Volume II] At the time of the [2011 Nepal census](/source/2011_Nepal_census), 13,397 people (0.1% of the population of Nepal) were Bhotiya. The frequency of Bhotiya people by province was as follows: * [Karnali Province](/source/Karnali_Province) (0.1%) * [Koshi Province](/source/Koshi_Province) (0.1%) * [Sudurpashchim Province](/source/Sudurpashchim_Province) (0.1%) * [Bagmati Province](/source/Bagmati_Province) (0.0%) * [Gandaki Province](/source/Gandaki_Province) (0.0%) * [Lumbini Province](/source/Lumbini_Province) (0.0%) * [Madhesh Province](/source/Madhesh_Province) (0.0%) The frequency of Bhotiya people was higher than national average (0.1%) in the following districts:{{Cite web |url=https://cbs.gov.np/wp-content/upLoads/2018/12/Volume05Part02.pdf |title=2011 Nepal Census, District Level Detail Report |access-date=2023-04-12 |archive-date=2023-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314170005/https://cbs.gov.np/wp-content/upLoads/2018/12/Volume05Part02.pdf |url-status=dead }} * [Manang](/source/Manang_District) (6.9%) * [Sankhuwasabha](/source/Sankhuwasabha_District) (2.2%) * [Bajura](/source/Bajura_District) (1.0%) * [Dolpa](/source/Dolpa_District) (0.7%) * [Mugu](/source/Mugu_District) (0.6%) * [Taplejung](/source/Taplejung_District) (0.4%) ==Notes== {{Reflist|group=nb}} ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Ethnic groups in Nepal|state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}} Category:Ethnic groups in Bhutan Category:Ethnic groups in India Category:Ethnic groups in Nepal Category:Buddhist communities of Bhutan Category:Buddhist communities of India Category:Buddhist communities of Nepal --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bhotiya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhotiya) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhotiya?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.