BraydenBeeby640 at 01:43, 29 November 2025

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[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 135-S-10-04-32, Tibetexpedition, Karawane vor Chomolhari.jpg|thumb|A caravan crossing the Tuna Plain in Tibet, Mt. Chomolhari in background.]]
{{Location map many | China
| AlternativeMap = China edcp relief location map.jpg
| width = 300
| caption = Map of Asia showing the trade network of the Lhasa Newars.
| float = right
| label = Kathmandu
| pos = bottom
| marksize = 8
| lat_deg = 27.7
| lon_deg = 85.33
| label2 = Lhasa
| pos2 = right
| mark2size = 8
| lat2_deg = 29.65
| lon2_deg = 91.11
| label3 = Kolkata
| pos3 = bottom
| mark3size = 8
| lat3_deg = 22.56
| lon3_deg = 88.36
| label4 = Ladakh
| pos4 = right
| mark4size = 8
| lat4_deg = 34.17
| lon4_deg = 77.58
}}
'''Lhasa Newar''' (or '''Lhasa Newah'''; {{Langx|new|ल्हासा नेवा}}) were the expatriate [[Newar]] traders and artisans who traveled between the [[Kathmandu Valley]] and [[Tibet]] from centuries ago. These [[Nepalis|Nepalese]] merchants conducted trade between [[Nepal]], Tibet and [[Bengal]], [[India]] over the [[Silk Road]], and acted as a bridge for economic and cultural exchanges between [[South Asia]] and [[Central Asia]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Lewis|first=Todd T|title=Buddhism, Himalayan Trade, and Newar Merchants|url=http://buddhim.20m.com/8-4.htm/|accessdate=31 October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Turin|first=Mark|title=Banjas along the Barkhor|url=http://www.nepalitimes.com/issue/34/Review/9639|accessdate=19 September 2012|newspaper=Nepali Times|date=16 March 2001}}</ref>

Along with the merchants, there were colonies of artisans in various parts of Tibet who were engaged in creating [[Buddhist]] art. They were major players in the exchange of art styles across the [[Himalaya]].<ref>{{cite journal | last = Lo Bue| first = Erberto F| title = Cultural Exchange and Social Interaction between Tibetans and Newars from the Seventh to the Twentieth Century| journal =International Folklore Review| year=1988}} Pages 86-114.</ref><ref>{{cite web | last =Huc| first =M| url = http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/3/2/6/33269/33269-h/33269-h.htm| title =Travels in Tartary, Thibet and China during the Years 1844-5-6. Volume 2| publisher =London: Office of the National Illustrated Library | accessdate = 31 October 2011}} Page 147.</ref>

The thousand-year-old Lhasa Newar tradition came to an end after the caravan route linking India and Tibet through [[Sikkim]] was shut down by the [[Sino-Indian War]] in 1962. Subsequently, the merchants and craftsmen based in Tibet closed up shop and returned home to Nepal for the last time.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/2013/06/2013623123438887107.html |title = Renewed Nepali trade route draws regional ire |last = Kaye|first = Melati |date = 29 June 2013 |website = Al Jazeera |accessdate= 7 July 2013}}</ref>

==History==
According to folklore, [[Singha Sartha Aju]] was the first merchant to travel to Tibet. The history of the Lhasa Newars officially dates from the seventh century with the marriage of Nepalese Princess [[Bhrikuti]] with Tibetan King [[Songtsän Gampo]]. The traders and artisans who accompanied Bhrikuti to Lhasa as part of her retinue established commercial and cultural ties between Nepal and Tibet.

In the 1640s, a treaty was negotiated under which Newar merchants were allowed to establish 32 business houses in Lhasa. It was also agreed that Nepal would mint coins for Tibet.<ref>Rose, Leo E. (1971) ''Nepal: Strategy for Survival.'' University of California Press, Berkeley. {{ISBN|978-0-520-01643-9}}. Page 14.</ref> By this time, the number of traders had risen considerably. Eighteenth-century traveller [[Ippolito Desideri]] noted that merchants of Nepal were "numerous" in Lhasá.<ref>Desideri, Ippolito and De Filippi, Filippo (reprinted 1996), ''An Account of Tibet: The Travels of Ippolito Desideri, 1712-1727'', Asian Educational Services. {{ISBN|978-81-206-1019-4}}. Pages 133, 136.</ref>

The Newars were also organized into "pala" ({{Langx|new|पाला}}) societies which arranged the celebration of festivals and provided a place for get-togethers. The merchants celebrated [[Mohani]] and other feasts like they did in Kathmandu. There were 10 "palas" originally in Lhasa, and seven remained active until recent times—Chyatangya, Chhusingsyar, Ghorasyar, Jhwala, Lhakam, Kun and Tarunsyar. The Newars in Shigatse and other places in Tibet had their own "palas". Returning merchants and craftsmen were called "Lhasa Newars". Most of them were Buddhist Newars like the [[Uray (caste group)|Uray]], [[Bajracharya]], [[Shakya]] and Dhakhwa. There were also many [[Shrestha]]s and [[Maharjan]]s among them.

==Trade==
[[File:Nepalese picnic lhasa.jpg|thumb|Newar traders listening to the gramophone and playing Chinese dominoes (bha), Lhasa, 1921.]]
[[File:Ghorashar letterhead 1958.jpg|thumb|Letterhead of Ghorashar business house dated 1958.]]
Newar traders exported finished products from Nepal and India to Tibet and brought back goods from Tibet and other parts of [[Central Asia]]. Metal utensils, sacred statues and rice from Nepal, and textiles and other factory products from India were the main exports to Tibet. The Lhasa Newars brought back gold dust, wool, musk pods, pelts and yak tails which were forwarded to Kolkata. The older generation in the village of [[Sankhu]] also regularly play [[Mahjong]] brought from Tibet.

Mule, donkey and yak caravans transported the trade goods over the Himalaya and across the Tibetan Plateau. In Nepal, porters carried the loads over the mountains on their backs.<ref>{{cite web | last = Hodgson| first = Brian Houghton| url = https://archive.org/details/essaysonlanguage00hodg| title = Essays on the Languages, Literature, and Religion of Nepál and Tibet | publisher = London: Trubner & Co| year=1874| accessdate = 1 November 2011}} Page 97.</ref>

The trade route connecting India and Tibet goes over the Himalaya. The Lhasa Newars used the '''[[Zongga|Gyirong]]''' (Kyirong, [[Nepali language|Nepali]]: {{lang|ne|केरुङ}}, {{Transliteration|ne|''kerung''}}) and ''Kuti'' ([[Nepali language|Nepali]]: {{lang|ne|कुती}}) ('''[[Nyalam Tong La]]''') passes to the north of Kathmandu to travel to Lhasa. From the 1930s, a new caravan route over the lower [[Nathu La]] and [[Jelep La]] passes on the border between Sikkim and Tibet became more popular. These passes were approached through [[Gangtok]] in Sikkim and [[Kalimpong]] in [[West Bengal]], India.

The Lhasa Newars lived in [[Lhasa]], [[Shigatse]] and [[Gyantse]] in Tibet and in [[Kolkata]] and Kalimpong in India for years at a time.<ref>Bell, Sir Charles (1992), ''Tibet Past & Present'', Motilal Banarsidass Publ. {{ISBN|978-81-208-1048-8}}. Page 233.</ref><ref>{{cite web | last = Candler | first = Edmund | url = http://www.gutenberg.org/files/33359/33359-h/33359-h.htm#CHAPTER_XIV | title = The Unveiling of Lhasa | publisher = London: Edward Arnold | year=1905| accessdate = 24 October 2012}} Page 273.</ref> Lhasa, as a center on the Silk Road, attracted merchant caravans from across Central Asia with whom the Lhasa Newars engaged in trade. A few business houses also maintained shops in [[Leh]], [[Ladakh]] which lies on the caravan route to [[Kashgar]] in Chinese Central Asia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Tuladhar|first=Kamal Ratna|title=Long ago in Ladakh|url=http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2012/03/09/features/the-first-word--long-ago-in-ladakh/232460.html|accessdate=14 March 2012|newspaper=The Kathmandu Post|date=10 March 2012}}</ref> Kolkata was a center of wholesale trade.

==Art==
[[File:Kumbum eyes.jpg|thumb|Painted eyes and writing in Nepalese script below on the Kumbum Stupa in Gyantse.]]
Lhasa Newar artisans created statues, painted [[paubha]]s and frescoes and built temples in Tibet and other parts of Central Asia,<ref>{{cite web| last = Lo Bue| first = Erberto| url = https://www.scribd.com/doc/33444121/Newar-Sculptors-and-Tibetan-Patrons-in-the-20th-Century| title = Newar Sculptors and Tibetan Patrons in the 20th Century| publisher = Scribd| year = 2011| accessdate = 1 November 2011| archive-date = 5 March 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305153250/https://www.scribd.com/doc/33444121/Newar-Sculptors-and-Tibetan-Patrons-in-the-20th-Century| url-status = dead}}</ref> and were instrumental in the spread and development of Buddhist art throughout the region.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lieberman|first=Marcia R.|title=The Artistry of the Newars|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/09/travel/the-artistry-of-the-newars.html|accessdate=1 November 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=9 April 1995}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.tibetanart.com/NewarArt.asp| title =What is Newar Art?| work = Tibetan Buddhist & Newar Tantric Art| accessdate = 31 October 2011}}</ref> The [[Jokhang]] Temple in Lhasa and the [[Kumbum]] Stupa in Gyantse are examples of their artistic legacy in Tibet.<ref>{{cite web | last =Slusser| first =Mary Shepherd|author-link=Mary Shepherd Slusser| url = http://www.asianart.com/articles/jokhang/index.html| title =The Lhasa gTsug lag khang ("Jokhang")| publisher =Asianart.com| date=7 February 2006| accessdate = 31 October 2011}}</ref> The White Dagoba in [[Beijing]], [[China]], built by [[Arniko]] in the 13th century, is another specimen of the artistry of the Lhasa Newars.

Newar artists were the most sought after among the foreign artists living in Tibet. French missionary traveller [[Évariste Régis Huc]] has written that it is they who construct for the Buddhist temples those fine roofs of gilt plates, which resist all the inclemencies of the seasons and always retain a marvellous freshness and glitter. They are so skilful at this class of work that they are sent to the very interior of Tartary to decorate the Lamaseries.<ref>Évariste Régis Huc, Gabet (reprinted 2004), ''Travels in Tartary, Thibet and China, 1844-1846, Volume 2'', Routledge. {{ISBN|978-0-415-34484-5}}. Page 182.</ref>

Newar artists gained importance after the destruction of Indian Buddhism in 1203 as they were the only remaining experts in traditional Buddhist art. Tibetan artists thus turned to them for inspiration and learned the Newar style, or Beri as it is now known. The style prevailed for more than four centuries, and reached its peak from 1360 to 1460 when it was adopted as Tibet's universal painting style.<ref>{{cite web| url =http://rmanyc.org/exhibitions/view/682| title =The Nepalese Legacy in Tibetan Painting| publisher =Rubin Museum of Art| accessdate =16 November 2011| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20111120102024/http://www.rmanyc.org/exhibitions/view/682| archive-date =20 November 2011}}</ref>

The period from the 14th to the 16th centuries is considered a golden age of Nepalese art. During this time, Newar artists travelled widely and left their mark on the artistic styles of Tibet, Bhutan, [[China]] and Mongolia.<ref>{{cite web| url =http://www.newarkmuseum.org/museum_pages.aspx?id=12506| archive-url =https://archive.today/20120904184128/http://www.newarkmuseum.org/museum_pages.aspx?id=12506| url-status =dead| archive-date =4 September 2012| title =From the Sacred Realm| publisher =Newark Museum| year =2011| accessdate =16 November 2011}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
Lhasa Newars have been the subject of ballads, epic poetry and novels in [[Nepal Bhasa]] and other languages, mostly on the theme of loneliness and couples forced to endure long periods of separation.

* The best known epic is [[Ji Waya La Lachhi Maduni (song)|Ji Waya La Lachhi Maduni]] ("It hasn't been a month since I came"), written in the late 18th century, about a trader who leaves for Tibet despite the pleas of his newly wedded wife. One day, a false message arrives that he has died in Tibet, and the wife burns herself on the funeral pyre in grief. Years later, the husband returns. Upon being told of her death, he goes away and becomes an ascetic.<ref>Lienhard, Siegfried (1992). ''Songs of Nepal: An Anthology of Nevar Folksongs and Hymns.'' New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas. {{ISBN|81-208-0963-7}}. Page 84.</ref> This poem was the source of "[[Muna Madan]]", a short epic story in the [[Nepali language]] composed by [[Laxmi Prasad Devkota]] in 1936.<ref>Hutt, Michael (1991). ''Himalayan Voices: An Introduction to Modern Nepali Literature.'' University of California Press. {{ISBN|9780520070486}}. Page 41.</ref><ref>{{cite web| last = Von Bohlen| first = Dominik| url = http://ecs.com.np/feature_detail.php?f_id=571| title = Muna Madan| publisher = ECS Nepal| date = December 2012| accessdate = 5 February 2013| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121226055408/http://ecs.com.np/feature_detail.php?f_id=571| archive-date = 26 December 2012}}</ref>
* In the song "My beloved has gone abroad", a wife longs for her husband who has gone to Tibet on business. One day, she is elated to receive a message from Tibet, however, the message contains news of his death.<ref>Lienhard, Siegfried (1992). ''Songs of Nepal: An Anthology of Nevar Folksongs and Hymns.'' New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas. {{ISBN|81-208-0963-7}}. Page 59.</ref>
* Another song, "Oh husband, how shall I live" was written towards the end of the 19th century. In this song, a woman expresses her sadness as her husband leaves for Tibet soon after their marriage.<ref>Lienhard, Siegfried (1992). ''Songs of Nepal: An Anthology of Nevar Folksongs and Hymns.'' New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas. {{ISBN|81-208-0963-7}}. Page 60.</ref>
* ''Bhrikuti'', a novel by [[Dharma Ratna Yami]], was awarded the Shrestha Sirapa in 1959. Another novel ''Ang Lhamo'' recounts the saga of a Tibetan girl amid a backdrop of the Chinese entry into Tibet. The first edition, published in 1970 by Pasa Muna, was banned by the Nepalese government. A second edition appeared in 1992, published by Paleswan Pithana, Kathmandu.
* ''Mimmanahpau'' ("Unburnt Letter") by [[Chittadhar Hridaya]] is a novel in the form of a letter from a merchant in Lhasa to his wife in Kathmandu. The husband misses home so much that he regrets the life of a trader. Published in 1968, the novel has been translated into English by [[Kesar Lall]].<ref>Lall, Kesar (2002). ''Mimmanahpau: Letter from a Lhasa Merchant to his Wife by Chittadhar Hridaya.'' New Delhi: Robin Books. {{ISBN|81-87138-55-6}}.</ref>
* In the novel ''The Oriental Casebook of [[Sherlock Holmes]]'', the famed detective befriends Gorashar, a Newar merchant in Lhasa, and travels with him to Kathmandu during the course of his journeys in Asia to unravel varied mysteries.<ref>Riccardi, Ted (2003). ''The Oriental Casebook of Sherlock Holmes.'' Random House. {{ISBN|978-1-4000-6065-8}}.</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 135-KA-06-085, Tibetexpedition, Marktplatz in Lhasa.jpg|<div align ="center">Barkhor market in Lhasa, 1938.</div>
File:Nepalese Chamber1943.jpg|<div align ="center">Nepalese Chamber of Commerce, Lhasa, 1947.</div>
File:Kmt and krt on bsa.jpg|<div align ="center">Merchants on a BSA Bantam in Lhasa, 1952.</div>
File:Lhasa newar merchants.jpg|<div align ="center">Newar traders in Tibetan and Western wear, 1945.</div>
File:Sarbagya man tuladhar.jpg|<div align ="center">Trader wearing a [[Mauser]] pistol, Lhasa, 1946.</div>
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 135-S-12-35-20, Tibetexpedition, Lhasa, Markt.jpg|<div align ="center">A Lhasa Newar (far left) on the Barkhor, 1938.</div>
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 135-S-18-10-26, Tibetexpedition, Gyantse, Chörten.jpg|<div align ="center">Kumbum Stupa (left) in Gyantse, 1938.</div>
File:Miaoyingsi baita.jpg|<div align ="center">[[Miaoying Temple]] in [[Beijing]], China, 13th century.</div>
File:Newar caravan in tibet.jpg|<div align ="center">Mule caravan of Newar merchants, 1943.</div>
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 135-BB-082-12, Tibetexpedition, Floß bei Chagsam.jpg|<div align ="center">Yak hide boat on the Yarlung Tsangpo, 1938.</div>
File:Nepalese mohar 816.jpg|<div align ="center">Nepalese coin of Bhupatindra Malla, 1696.</div>
File:Tibet-6048 - Largest Sitting Maitreya Buddha.jpg|<div align ="center">Maitreya Buddha at [[Tashilhunpo Monastery]].</div>
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Nepalese Chamber of Commerce, Lhasa]]
*[[Newa people]]
*[[Singha Sartha Aju]] (legendary trader)
*[[Uray (caste group)]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* Hilker, DS Kansakar (2005), ''Syamukapu: The Lhasa Newars of Kalimpong and Kathmandu'', Kathmandu: Vajra Publications. {{ISBN|99946-644-6-8}}.
* Lall, Kesar (2007), ''The Newar Merchants of Lhasa'', Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar. {{ISBN|99933-0-187-6}}.
* Tuladhar, Kamal Ratna (second edition 2011), ''[[Caravan to Lhasa|Caravan to Lhasa: A Merchant of Kathmandu in Traditional Tibet]]'', Kathmandu: Lijala and Tisa. {{ISBN|99946-58-91-3}}.

{{Trade route 2}}

[[Category:Buddhist culture]]
[[Category:Himalayas]]
[[Category:History of international trade]]
[[Category:Lhasa]]
[[Category:Nepalese merchants]]
[[Category:Newar]]
[[Category:Silk Road]]
[[Category:History of Tibet]]
[[Category:Trade routes]]

Lhasa Newar - Revision history

BraydenBeeby640 at 01:43, 29 November 2025