Madhesi people

Madheshi People

Total population
6.1 Million (2011 census)
Regions with significant populations
Nepal	6.1 Million
India	23000
Languages
Maithili, Rajbanshi, Bhojpuri, etc.
Religion
Hinduism, Islam, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Indian people

The Madhesi people inhabit the flat southern region of Nepal known as the Madhesh. According to the population census in 2011, Terai occupies 17% of the total area of Nepal and has 51% of the Nepalese Population. Of the total population of Nepal, in Terai, 22% are Madhesis while 29% are Non-Madhesis i.e. people from hills migrated to Terai. The region they inhabit is historically separate from Nepal.

Area and population

The total land area of the Madhes is less than 34,109 square kilometres (13,170 sq mi) and comprises 20 districts which account for 23.1% of the country's total area. In 2001, 47.79 of the country's total population of 23.2 million lived in Terai districts with a density of 329 persons/km². While in 2011 more than 50% of the total population was reported to be living in the Madhes. The people living in southern terai comprises about 35.9% country's population, of which 18% are Madhesis, particularly the Maithils. The other major ethnic minority in the Madhes of Nepal are the autochthonous Tharu people.

Etymology

The word Madhes derives from the Sanskrit term Madhyadēśa "middle country", referring to the ancient kingdoms of Nepal and Awadh, in what is nowadays modern-day India.

Indigenous Madhesi

The "indigenous Madhesi" (Nepali: आदिवासी मधेशी) are the inhabitants of Terai-Madhesh such as the Maithali. They are native to Nepal and not the migrants from neighbouring countries especially Bihar of India.

Language

The Maithili is the most spoken language of Madhesi people at around 53% of them which is around 12% of the total population. The Tharu languages, the language of the indigenous Terai people, ranks second. Other significant mother tongue languages include the Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Hindustani and Bajika and although the lingua franca is Nepali, in Terai particularly and among Madhesi people, it is Maithili. Hindustani was the lingua franca mainly of Newar Muslims.

History

In the ancient times, the region of that Madhesis inhabited belonged to the Mithila. It was historically separate from Nepal until it gifted to them by the British Raj in 1860.

Cuisine

Food in Madhesh refers to mirror cuisines such as Maithali cuisine which is completely similar to that of Maithil. in the eastern Madhesh, and Tharu cuisine in the western Terai. west, there is Mughlai-influenced Awadhi cuisine—particularly eaten by the substantial Nepali Muslims population around Nepalganj. Madhesi diets can be more varied than in the Middle Hills because of greater variety of crops grown locally plus cash crops imported from cooler microclimates in nearby hill regions, as well as from different parts of Greater Nepal. Fruit commonly grown in the Terai include mango (aap), litchi, papaya (armewa/mewa), banana (kera/kela) and jackfruit (katahar/katahal).

Nepal has seven low elevation Inner Terai valleys enclosed by the Sivalik and Mahabharat ranges. Historically these valleys were populated mainly by Tharu people who had genetic resistance to malaria. Since the valleys were isolated from one another, different enclaves spoke different dialects and had different customs. They may have had different cuisines, although this has not been very well studied. Nevertheless, they historically obtained a varied diet through hunting and gathering as well as shifting agriculture and animal husbandry. This contrasted with diets of other Hindus that were predominantly agricultural and utilized only a few sources of animal protein because of religious or caste prohibitions. In the 1950s when Nepal opened its borders to foreigners and foreign aid missions, malaria suppression programs in the Terai finally made it possible for people without genetic resistance to survive there, so they faced an influx of people from Bihar in Madhesh. Conversion of forest and grassland to cropland and prohibitions on hunting shifted them in east and west away from land-based hunting and gathering, toward greater utilization of fish, freshwater crab, prawns and snails from rivers and ponds. They also raised chickens and are reported to employ dogs to hunt rats in rice paddies and then roast them whole on sticks. Mutton may be obtained from nomadic hill people such as Kham Magar who take herds of sheep and goats up to sub-alpine pastures bordering the high Himalaya in summer, and down to Inner Terai valleys in winter. Increasing competition for land forces them away from shifting cultivation toward sedentary agriculture, so the national custom of eating rice with lentils gains headway. Nevertheless, they also have unique ways of preparing these staples, such as rice and lentil dumplings called bagiya or dhikri and immature rice is used to make a kind of gruel maar. Taro root is an important crop in the region. The leaves and roots are eaten. Sidhara is a mixture of taro root, dried fish and turmeric that is formed into cakes and dried for preservation. The cakes are broken up and cooked with radish, chili, garlic and other spices to accompany boiled rice. Snails are cleansed, boiled and spiced to make ghonghi.

Political parties

• MJF Nepal.☆Nepal sadbhawana party

Notable people

The following are notable people from Madhesh.

• Sita, wife of Rama.
• Seeradhwaj Raja Janaka, king of Videha
• Ram Baran Yadav, President and Head of State of Nepal.
• Udit Narayan, playback singer, now a bona fide and proud Indian citizen.
• Mehboob Alam, Nepalese cricketer
• Anil Mandal, Nepalese cricketer
• Bishow Sharma, actor
• Rajeev Jha, Central commit member of Nepal Sadbhavan Party

See also

• Demographics of Nepal

Further reading

• Deepak Chaudhary. 2011. Tarai/Madhesh of Nepal; An Anthropological Study. Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar.