Dynamics of a hill society : the Nepalis in Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas

170 Pages·1989·3.848 MB·English

by  Tanka Bahadur Subba

DYNAMICS OF A HILL
SOCIETY
(The Nepalis in Darjeeling and
Sikkim Himalayas)
TANKA B SUBBA
Foreword
N C CHOUDHURY
MITTAL PUBLICATIONS
DELHI-110035 (INDIA)
First Edition, 1989
© Tanka B. Subba
Published by
K. M. Mittal
Mittal Publications,
4528/12, Jai Mata Market, Trinagar
Delhi-110033 (INDIA)
Phone: [phone]
Printed by
AnkurComposer at Sunil Printers,
New Delhi-110028 . .
To
My Parents
who patiently bore
with me without even knowing
what I was doing, and who stimulated
my sometimes-sagging spirits silently but surely.

Foreword
This book though based on the doctoral dissertation of
Dr. T. B. Subba, a highly acclaimed piece of work, contains
substantial improvements in the light of recent developments
that have engulfed the Nepali society. In one sense it is an
unusual book. Being himself a Nepali Dr. Subba could go
deeper into the problem of class and agrarian relations in the
Nepali society with a fresh approach which deviates from fitting
the data into the strait jacket of a theoretical model. He was in
a better position to sense the mood of the people, their hopes
and frustration. This book is a modern example of a purposive
ethnography in which the author instead of analysing the Nepali
society in a static institutional framework has tried to under­
stand the dynamics of the changing social relations of the hill
community.
This book contains a wealth of information on the early
history of the Nepalis, their migration and subsequent settle­
ment in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalayas, changes in the caste
organization in the background of its traditional structure,
nature of the agrarian system and the caste-class nexus, and,
lastly, an incisive analysis of the emerging class structure and
its role in shaping the destiny of the people. The study based
on intensive field-work carried out in the well chosen five
villages in Sikkim and Darjeeling has been amply supplemented
by the use of old historical records, interviews with people from
all walks of life and author’s own perception about the dynamics
of Nepali society and politics.
The first three chapters of the book give an excellent account
of the geo-physical characteristics of the region, the migrational
0 9 0 Dynamics of A Hill Society
VIJI
history of the Nepalis, the theoretical framework of the study
and the origin and social organization of the various castes and
tribes subsumed under the term Nepali. The fourth chapter is
mainly confined to a discussion of the nature of the emerging
pattern of intercaste relationship, particularly the commensal
and marital relations between the various Nepali castes/tribes
and also the non*Nepali communities. A continuity with the
past exists in the caste organization but the rigid commensal
and marital prescriptions seem to have lost much of their
importance, at least to the middle-range castes. In the fifth
and sixth chapters Dr. Subba presents a detailed agrarian
history of the region, the changing structure of the agrarian
relations, and how the caste system had adapted to it. The
caste-class configurations show that there is absence of a caste-
class overlap, commonly observed elsewhere in India and Nepal.
This has been explained in terms of migration and ecological
characteristics of the region. The earlier settlers, for instance,
uniformly found in the upper agrarian categories irrespective of
their caste background. However, the upper castes seem to be
making fast inroads in the agrarian system by settling themselves
in ecologically more favourable areas.
The final chapter assesses the dynamics of the Nepali
society in the region. It concludes that caste relations have by
and large become lax and a dominant middle class comprising
of all the Nepali and non-Nepali castes and tribes has emerged.
The absence of a conspicuous upper class has led to a binary
division—a dominant middle class and a large, but unorganized
working class—in the class relations of the Nepali society. This
middle class has monopolised not only the service sector but
also a host of other fields like art and literature, higher educa­
tion and politics. Dr. Subba rightly forsees a further accentua­
tion in the role of the middle class in shaping the future course
of events in the Nepali society.
I regard this book as a major contribution towards under­
standing the social dynamics of the vibrant Nepali community
in the trans-Himalayan region.
N. C. CHOUDHURY
Professor of Sociology & Social Anthropology
University of North Bengal
District: Darjeeling-734430
Preface
This book is substantially based on my dissertation entitled
“Caste, Class and Agrarian Relations in the Nepalese Society
of Darjeeling and Sikkim” accepted by the North Bengal
University for the award of Ph. D. in 1986.
The present study would not have been taken up and com­
pleted but for the assistance from many persons and institutions.
First of all, I owe my gratitude for the financial aid given by
the Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society,
Bangalore. Richard W. Taylor and Dr. Saral K. Chatterjee of
this Institute inspired me immensely. The University Grants
Commission saw me through till completion of this work
th e
by providing a fellowship through the Centre for Himalayan
Studies, University of North Bengal. I must acknowledge the
kind cooperation and guidance extended by the ex-director of
this Centre, Prof. S. K. Chaube, who is currently teaching in
Delhi University. The authorities of North Bengal University
were also always helpful.
I should like to put on record the encouragement given by
Late Dr. Paras Mani Pradhan of Kalimpong and Dr. R. Keith
Sp’ igg, formerly of London University. Prof. Chie Nakane of
Japanese Research Foundation, Tokyo, also provided me with
some useful suggestions. I thank specially Prof. D. N.
Dhanagare of Poona University, Pune, for his valuable com­
ments and suggestions.
I must not forget to mention here the cooperation given by
the staff and authorities of National Library, Asiatic Society
Library and American Center Library in Calcutta and
Deshbandhu District Library in Darjeeling. Gratitude is due
X Dynamics of A Hill Society
also to the many government officials in Sikkim and West
Bengal for different kinds of help.
I should also like to express my gratitude for their warm
response to all the villagers of Tanek, Purbong, Rangbull,
Takuthang and Chuchen. Among them, I should like to make a
special mention of Sri Deb Kiran Moktan of Rangbull, who
despite his limp, guided me through the ups and downs of a hill
village. Sri Jyoti Pradhan of the same village, and Sri Indra
Kumar Chhetri and Sri Chitra Dhar Rai of Takuthang were
equally obliging.
For drawing the map Sri Debi Prasad Boot and for making
my language less inelegant Sri Prem Kumar Poddar, are lovingly
remembered.
Now, a person to whom I owe a lot more than I can ever
repay is my Ph. D. supervisor, Prof. N. C. Choudhury of the
Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, University
of North Bengal. His wife, Mrs. Namita Choudhury, also has
a claim to be acknowledged here for her help at various stages
of my work.
Finally, I owe a lot to my friends, specially my wife,
Roshina, without whose all-round help this book would not
have been completed so early.
TANKA B SUBBA
Contents
FOREWORD VJl
ix
PREFACE
• •
LIST OF TABLES XU
xiv
LIST OF CHARTS
xiv
LIST OF MAPS
GLOSSARY XV
Introduction 1
1. The Region and the Villages 11
2. The Nepali Castes 29
3. The Caste Structure 51
4. The Agrarian Structure 73
5. Landownership, Income and Indebtedness 91
6. Education, Occupation and Spatial Mobility 111
Conclusion 133
139
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
145
INDEX
151-157
MAPS
List of Tables
1. Decennial Population Growth in Darjeeling 12
2. Places of Origin and Population in Darjeeling, 1931 13
3. Distribution of Communities in Darjeeling, 1931 13
4. Land Utilization in Darjeeling, 1974 15
5. Caste/Community and Population in Sikkim, 1981 17
6. Districtwise Population Distribution in Sikkim, 1981 18
7. Land Utilization in Sikkim, 1977 20
8. Caste and Order of Preference for Marriage 66
9. Caste and Marriage Classification 67
10. Agrarian Hierarchies of Tanek and Purbong, 1980 78
11. Agrarian Hierarchy in Rangbull, 1981 79
12. Agrarian Hierarchies of Takuthang and Chuchen,
1981 80
13. Periodic increase in the Wages at the SPSMC,
Rangbull 85
14. Caste/Community and Land in Five Villages, 1981 94
15. Caste/Community and Landholding Size, 1981 95
16. Caste/Community and Landownership Ranking,
1981 97
17. Caste/Community and Income, 1981 101
18. Caste/Community and Income Ranking, 1981 101
19. Middle Castes and Income in Purbong, 1981 102
20. Caste/Community and Indebtedness, 1981 106