Nepal has been aptly described as Asia´s ethnic turn-table. It is the land of interface between the oriental Kirant (Mongoloid) and occidental Khas a (Caucasoid) people. The former migrated from the east and north while the latter came from the west. The Khasa were, in turn, supplemented by high-caste Hindus from the south — a fallout of the battle of Tarain (1192 AD) in which Muhamad of Ghur defeated the Rajputs. Once the plains of Hindustan were lost, the martial Rajputs and their Brahmin consultants headed for the hills. It is significant that Garhwal and Kumaon—source of the Khasa migration to Nepal—has49to59.6percentRajputand21.6 to 23.7 per cent Brahmin as the predominant population. Their migration eastward was to greatly transform the polity and society of the then Nepal. This was epitomised in Prithvi Narayan Shah´s claim of Nepal as "Yo asil Hindustanaho," (This is the genuine Hindustan)
Nepal has been aptly described as Asia´s ethnic turn-table. It is the land of interface between the oriental Kirant (Mongoloid) and occidental Khas a (Caucasoid) people. The former migrated from the east and north while the latter came from the west. The Khasa were, in turn, supplemented by high-caste Hindus from the south — a fallout of the battle of Tarain (1192 AD) in which Muhamad of Ghur defeated the Rajputs. Once the plains of Hindustan were lost, the martial Rajputs and their Brahmin consultants headed for the hills. It is significant that Garhwal and Kumaon—source of the Khasa migration to Nepal—has49to59.6percentRajputand21.6 to 23.7 per cent Brahmin as the predominant population. Their migration eastward was to greatly transform the polity and society of the then Nepal. This was epitomised in Prithvi Narayan Shah´s claim of Nepal as "Yo asil Hindustanaho," (This is the genuine Hindustan)
and in the imposition of ib& Muhtki Ain (1854) Hindu caste code on a multi-ethnic society. Of the 212 signatories of the Am, over 70 per cent were tagadhari Brahmin, Thakuri and Chhetri. The Hindu kingdom of Nepal still considers discus sion on ethnicity as anathema and therefore no official data are available on ethnicity and caste. However, some broad cultural areas can be recognised, based on linguistic evidence. The simplified schema is as follows:
The Khasa, including the priestly upper and occupational lower strata, predominate in the West, or the old Baisi. The Central or old Chaubisi, is home to numerous tribal groups and Khasa migrants. (The terms Baisi and Chaubisi refer to the 22 and 24 principalities west of Gorkha before the consolidation of Nepal in the late 18th century). Upper Bagmati, or proto-Nepal, has Newar at the core and Tamang on the periphery. The east, or early Kirant land, has more tribal groups both in the hill and plain. A distinctive distribution pattern is the "horizontal" diversity of ethnic groups in the hills and the proliferation of "vertical" caste groups in the Tarai.