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Som Bahadur Dhimal

The Dhimals are according to genetic classification of Grierson and Konow one of the Complex Pronominalised Himalayan Languages of the Tibeto, Burmese family. Shafer includes it is the Bodic division of Sino-Tibetan family.S.K. Chatterjee describes it as one of Himalayan Group of Tibeto-Burmese. Paul K. Benedict quotes it as Abor-Miri- Dafla (Mirish) languages of Tibeto-Burmese Branch belonging to the Sino-Tibetan family.(Dhimal Folk life Study, Royal Nepal Academy,1972/73)

They have small population popularly known as one of the oldest indigenous caste of Terai Region. Since the very ancient time, the Dhimal has been coming living west up to Koshi River to east Mechi River along the Mahendra Highway nearby. Especially the study done by professor Tulasi Diwas in his " Dhimal Folklife, Religion and Culture" published by Royal Nepal Academy in 1982 AD on the auspicious occasion of Silver Jubilee clearly states that the Dhimals were living in 14 VDC Panchayats of Morang district and 13 VDC Panchayats of Jhapa district in that time. Among them they used to live in Haraicha, Kaseni, Dangihat, Bahuni, Keraun, Bayarban, Amardaha, Rajghat, Letang, Madhumalla, Babiyabirta, Gobindapur,etc of Morang and Damak, Gauradaha, Topgachhi, Parakhopi, Anarmani, Sanishware, Dhaijan, Duhagadhi, Shantinagar, Nakalbanda, Bahundangi, Jyamirgadhi, Dhulabari etc of Jhapa district village panchayats.They have been distinctly separated east of the Kankai Mai River as the Eastern Dhimal and west of that river living in Jhapa and Morang districts as the Western Dhimal in Nepal since past to at this time.

The Dhimals are mostly found in eastern part of Nepal, densely in Morang and Jhapa, then a few populations in Ilam, Sunsari, and Kathmandu districts. A few Dhimal people have migrated across the borders in West Bengal and they are still settling down in Malabari, Patajot, Bandarbasti, Chengadhari, Chokhujot villages in west Bengal to Assam permanently.

According to the record of 1921 AD taken by British Sub-continent, the Dhimals population was found 505. According to the census taken by Nepal Government on the basis of Mother Tongue in 2009 B.S., the population of the Dhimals was 5671,according to the census taken in 2018 B.S. on the basis of mother tongues, it had 4659 in Morang and 3529 in Jhapa and altogether 8188 in Nepal.According to the Members of the Folk-Life Study Team(1972/73 AD) , they mentioned the population of the Dhimals was nearly twenty thousand in that time only in Morang 12,315 and rest in Jhapa district. They assumed that by 2034 B.S. the population of the Dhimals would be between forty to fifty thousand in Nepal.

Our Dhimal's claim is that our population is 30 thousand and above but the government census of 1991AD cites a much smaller figure of only 16,781 populations. This caste has its own language, religion, custom, culture and rituals that have clearly distinguished Dhimal from other castes in the scenario of the world. It has unique features in dresses, language, culture and religion in arts that are quite distinctive than other indigenous and races in Nepal. Dhimal peoples mostly speak their own language in village areas which is called Dhimal Language. They had no any script in past. They used to use devanagarik script but recently Mr.Dayaram Dhimal has tried his attempt to discover 'Dham Script' for Dhimal Language but still the dhimal big organization 'Dhimal Caste Development Center,Nepal' has not accepted it yet.

The main origin abode of the Dhimal caste till present study indicates'Rajarani Pond' which is located at Bhogetani VDC in Morang district. Dhimal dhura,Nagaraduba, Letang are some historical places of the Dhimals. Rajarani and Letang are aborigine places of the Dhimals from where the Dhimals gradually moved for hunting hither and thither in many places in past.

The Dhimals still love to live in traditional villages, mainly thirty to forty houses clustered together.Though they live in thatched roofed houses, like to keep neat and well broomed on yards, clean around the houses. They love to make a garden to the south direction. The traditional occupations of the Dhimals are hunting, farming and fishing. They rear pigs, chicken, dogs, and cows and keep a couple of oxen for ploughing. Due to changed environment and situation, they are now involved in cash crops, animal husbandry and business, too.

The Dhimal women are much richer in traditional arts and crafts in weaving traditional clothes in looms, such as red-striped in black ground called BONAS in Dhimal and bed sheets of cotton clothes.The Dhimal females wear bonas and cholo, tie with a white shawl on the waist. Men have arts of making ploughs, weaving and fishing nets, creels and making Dhols, a big beating drum etc. The Dhimals are fat, strong, brave and giant in physiques. They are honest, helpful, hard working and jolly by nature. They have typical costumes of males and females. Women wears are four types of bonas i.e. Samuthi, Patalai, Itangi and Dabona which are wrapped around the chest and extend down to the ankles. They wear traditional Dhimal ornaments and keep their own hair styles. Male's wears are Tepana, Aaskot, Ganji, Lokhan,cheuka dhari in Dhimal language.

The Dhimals have their own food items. They steam rice and call it chichiri. They steam flour and call it bhaka. Bagiya, seli, babar, mun, lawa, kurung, kalai, sar, kurung gunda, sikauti sar, haya, bihya, sidla, chhena, sidla sar, gora, ghingsing gora, tarabamba, musar, etc are some varieties of the Dhimal food items.

The Dhimal people are very rich in festivals. They celebrate Parva (Tihar), Sirijat, Nwangi, Jatri mela, miling puja, bhakar puja, siruwa, Faguwa, Holi, sankranti, etc in the communities.
The Dhimal peoples have their own typical dances and folk songs. They have their own traditional ways of life.They are rich in traditional songs.They follow Dhimal Dharma or 'Natural Religion' and worship the new harvested crops, new fruits of the forests , moon , Sun , rivers, jungles, stones, soil, dead spirit, Budha Thakur Warang, Laxmi Berang, Maharaja and so on.They have different traditional beliefs. But now some peoples are Hindus and Christians, too. Within the Dhimals, there are fourteen surnames namely: Donge, Ding, Talipa, Hardiya, Nuniya, Lengbang, Bangalaiti, Teghre, Tharu, Rathum, Later, Kashyar,Muling, Jogi and some have their sub-surnames. They do marriage within different sub-surnames but don't have marriage within the same surnames. But due to the change social context and environment, education and awareness; nowadays they are doing inter-caste marriage, too.

The Dhimals are mostly poor. They are landless more at this time. They are backward in education. They have only forty percent literacy rate. In schooling level, school going students seems big but once fails in test or SLC; school leaving number goes very high. Campus or University going number is still very a few. According to government of Nepal record, no Dhimals are gazetted officers and in respected high posts in government civil servants.

The Dhimal people have an umbrella organization. That is "Dhimal Caste Development Center, Nepal" which was established in 1990 AD to unite all Dhimal people, maintain rights, save religion, costumes. language, culture, social customs then enhance and impart knowledge, experiences, environmental knowledge and public awareness to uplift the organization in a better planned way. It was legally registered in 1993 AD from the government of Nepal, CDO Office, Jhapa and Regd. No.2087 from social welfare council in 1994 AD in Kathmandu. The organization got 6.80 hectors or 10 bigaha land in 2000 AD from the government of Nepal to manage offices and department for the welfare and development of this organization at Mangalbare in Morang.The Dhimal peoples have declared " Rajarani Gram Than" as a sacred abode, mukti kshetri of this caste. It has extended its many sisterhood organizations in Toles, Villages and in district levels. The Dhimal organization is seeking helping hands to fulfill its objectives within the nation and internationally.

Some objectives of the Dhimal organization are:

1. To enhance and promote educational awareness by identifying the needs of the Dhimal communities.
2. To provide proper safeguard on the religion, costumes, language and cultural of the Dhimal people and eradicate ill-cultures, social evil practices, manners and negative aspects of custom and ritual to bring unity, similarity in forms and prosperity.
3. To mobilize the local sources and man powers of the Dhimal communities to run effective organizational economic self-help programmes.
4. To participate the Dhimal males and females equally in social economic handicraft, orientation, trainings, and in educational activities.
5. To extend the relationship with government, NGOs, INGOs as well as with international organizations to develop and increase the ability of the Dhimal communities and the peoples.
6. To run afforestation, village sanitation and drinking water programmes to conserve the environmental and public health communities smoothly.
7. To run animal husbandry, gardening, farming, cash crops, fishing and poultry farm programs to increase and support economic income sources to develop the traditional cottage industries and handicraft to extend co-operatives or job oriented programs.
8. To run child and female education, adult education and literary classes, to increase literacy rate, awareness and abilities in works.
9. To involve people in environmental, informal and technological studies to strengthen the organization and its branches.
10. To combat incessantly to achieve equality, fair, justice, human rights and rights of indigenous people,UN declarations and ILO No.169 indigenous rights against racism, discrimination and anarchism.
11. To conserve and develop the language, arts, skills, literature, history, religion and culture.
12. To develop primary level text books in mother tongue of the Dhimal.
13. To develop the leadership in national level from villages, districts, zones and regional levels.
14. To empower the Dhimals in education, communication, job, health and prepare the able citizens as time and situational change in local scenario to the world.
15. To conduct research studies on the identities, different problems, and necessities in language, religion, culture, environment and history.


Reference:
1. Diwas, Tulasi(1982): Dhimal Folk-life, Religion and Culture, published by Royal Nepal Academy, Kamaladi, Kathmandu.
2.Diwas, Tulasi(1978): Dhimal Demonstrative FolkLife, published by Royal Nepal Academy, Kathmandu.
3. Dhimal Folk Life Study, published by Royal Nepal Academy, Kathmandu.
4.Dhimal, Som Bahadur: Dhimal Bikaskendraheng Nalpalau, on Dhimal Language page, published on Gorkhapatra on Mangsir, 18, 2065x