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{{Short description|Groups of ethno-linguistically related Tibetan people living in the Trans-himalayan region}}
{{more citations needed|date= January 2017}}

{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Bhotiya
| image =
| caption =
| population =
| region1 = {{flag|Nepal}}
| region2 = {{flag|India}}
| region3 = {{flag|Bhutan}}
| region4 = {{flag|Pakistan}}
| region6 = {{flag|China}}
| langs = [[Ladakhi language|Ladakhi]], [[Sherpa language|Sherpa]], [[Standard Tibetan]] and other [[Tibetic languages]],<ref name=SIL>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=sip |title=Sikkimese |editor=Lewis, M. Paul |year=2009 |work=[[Ethnologue]]: Languages of the World |edition=16 |location=[[Dallas, Texas]] |publisher=[[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''</ref> also [[Nepali language|Nepali]] and [[Hindi]]
| rels = [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], [[Bon]]
| related = [[Bhutia]], [[Tibetan people|Tibetan]], [[Uttarakhand Bhotiya]], [[Ngalop people|Ngalop]], [[Sharchops|Tshangla people]]
}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 135-S-02-17-37, Tibetexpedition, Buthiawürdenträger.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A senior official in [[Sikkim]], ethnic Bhotiya, 1938]]

'''Bhotiya''' or '''Bhot''' ({{lang-ne|भोटिया}}, {{transl|ne|Bhotiyā}}) are groups of ethno-linguistically related [[Tibetan people]] living in the [[Transhimalaya]]n region that divides [[India]] from [[Tibet]]. The word ''Bhotiya'' comes from the [[classical Tibetan]] name for [[Tibet]], {{lang|bo|Bod}}. The Bhotiya speak numerous languages including [[Ladakhi language|Ladakhi]]. 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==
[[File:Bhotia, trans-Himalayan, Sikhim.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Bhotia, trans-Himalayan, Sikhim]]
The Bhotiya identify as [[Raghuvanshi]] [[Rajput]] and prefer to be referred as ''Thakur'' or ''Rajvanshi''. The Bhotiya may be the original immigrants to north [[Oudh]] in the period of [[Nawab]] [[Asaf-Ud-Dowlah]] (1775 to 1797).<ref name=Crooke>{{cite book|title=The Tribes and Castes of the North-western Provinces and Oudh |volume=3 |first=William |last=Crooke |publisher=Office of the superintendent of government printing |year=1896 |pages=134, 255–257}}</ref>

The Bhotiya people are closely related to several other groups and ethnic boundaries are porous.<ref name="Gellner (2012)"/>{{rp|page=56}} One group is the [[Bhutia]], the main ethnolinguistic group of the northern part of the Indian state of [[Sikkim]]. A second is the [[Uttarakhand Bhotiya]] of the upper [[Himalaya]]n valleys of the [[Kumaon division|Kumaon]] and the [[Garhwal division|Garhwal]] divisions of [[Uttarakhand]]. These include the [[Shauka tribe]] of Kumaon, the [[Tolchha]]s and the [[Marchha]]s of Garhwal, Gyagar Khampa of Khimling, Bhidang. A third related group are the [[Dzongkha]] speaking [[Ngalop people]], the main ethnolinguistic group of [[Bhutan]]. The Bhotiya are also related to several dispersed groups in [[Nepal]] and the adjacent areas of [[India]] including the [[Tibet]]ans and [[Sherpa people|Sherpa]]s.

In Nepal, Bhotiya are 0.1 percent of the population. They live in villages throughout the Himilayas.<ref name="Gellner (2012)">Gellner D. et al (ed.) [https://books.google.com.au/books?id=n4FQMEiZcrIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=bhotiya&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjb6rOo-KXJAhUBXWMKHU85CeUQ6AEIIjAB#v=onepage&q=bhotiya&f=false "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.</ref>{{rp|page=377}}

==Language of the Bhotiya people==
{{Original research section|date=January 2021}}
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]] spoken in India. It is usually written in the [[Tibetan alphabet]].<ref>{{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}}</ref> Bhoti and Bhotia is spoken in [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Sikkim]], [[Uttarakhand]], [[Arunachal Pradesh]], [[Bhutan]], [[Nepal]], [[Tibet]], and parts of [[Pakistan]] and [[West Bengal]]. Bhoti is not included in the [[languages with official status in India]]. On 27 February 2011, however, a resolution introduced by the [[Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh]], for the inclusion of the language{{which|date=January 2021}} in the [[Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India]] passed without opposition.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}

==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]], where they and other [[Tibetan people|Tibetans]] are the region's autochthonous (indigenous) people.<ref name=Handbook/> By the 2001 census of Nepal, they number 27,230.<ref name=Singh>{{cite book|title=The Unmaking of Nepal |first=R. S. N. |last=Singh |pages=145–146 |publisher=[[Lancer Publishers|Lancer]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-935501-28-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Iyp0NO3RmV4C}}</ref><ref group=nb>Includes ''Bhote'' (19,261) and ''Bote'' (7,969).</ref>
The Bhotiya also live in the [[India]]n states of [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Uttarakhand]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[West Bengal]], [[Sikkim]], [[Assam]], [[Arunachal Pradesh]] and [[Tripura]]. In [[Uttar Pradesh]], the Bhotiya live in the [[Bahraich District|Bahraich]], [[Gonda District|Gonda]], [[Lakhimpur, Uttar Pradesh|Lakhimpur]], [[Lucknow District|Lucknow]], [[Barabanki District|Barabanki]], [[Kanpur Nagar]], [[Kanpur Dehat]], and [[Kheri District|Kheri]] districts.

Bhotiya have six recognisable sub-groups: the [[Bhot]], Bhotiya, the [[Bhutia]] of [[Sikkim]], the Tibbati (of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh), the Bhut, the Gyakar Khampa of Khimling, Bhidang of Uttarakhand.

In Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, the Bhotiya people have [[Scheduled Tribe]] status.

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]] recognizes the Bhotiya.

==Traditions==

=== Weddings ===
Bhotiya marriages are similar to [[Hindu wedding]]s. When the bride's [[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 bridegroom, which he passes on to the bride. She places them in a [[winnowing fan]], and hands them as a present to the wife of the [[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]] 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]] is poured on it for ten days. This makes it a refuge for the deceased's spirit until the rites are completed.

==Religion==
Bhotiya Tribe, the natives of the Himalayan belt are maximum Buddhist followers along with followers of other religion. Though most of Bhotiya practice a combination of [[Tibetan Buddhism]] and [[Hinduism]]. (The word Bhotiya is derived from the word ''Bhot'', the ancient name for "Tibet''.) [[Ancestor worship]] is prevalent.

==Economy==
In [[Uttarakhand]], particularly [[Chamoli District|Chamoli]], [[Pithoragarh District|Pithoragarh]] and [[Uttarkashi District|Uttarkashi]], the Bhotiya are nomadic, migratory pastoralists, moving about the border lands between [[India]] and [[Tibet]].<ref>[https://books.google.com.au/books?id=dcXNpmsxSn0C&pg=PA218&dq=bhotiya&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiC4qjW-6XJAhWDpYgKHXPICsUQ6AEIKTAC#v=onepage&q=bhotiya&f=false "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.</ref>

They are also traders in the Himilayas for products such as, cereal, wool and salt. Now, some are farmers and others are merchants of stones, gems and herbs.<ref name=Handbook>{{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}}</ref>

The Bhotiya are experienced in the use of medicinal plants.<ref>{{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}}</ref> The local fermented beverages 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]] and ''balma'' in [[Garhwal Division]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Kala|first=C.P.|title=Biodiversity, Communities and Climate Change|year=2012|publisher=TERI Publications|location=New Delhi|page=358}}</ref>

A cottage wool industry employs many Bhotiya. Women weave ''pattu'', a coarse woolen serge. Plants are collected to make natural dyes for colouring the wool.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

==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]]

Bhotiya - Revision history

>Citation bot at 12:31, 5 July 2021