Historical accounts show that the Tamang ethnic group originated in Tibet. The word ta in the Classical Tibetan means 'horse', and mang means 'traders';[a] hence, their original way of life evolved around horses and trade.[10] The Tamangs, who have lived on hills outside the Kathmandu Valley to the southern slopes of Langtang, Ganesh, Jugal Himal and Rolwaling probably since prehistoric times, have been mentioned in various Nepalese and colonial historical records under a variety of names, such as Bhote, Lama, Murmi and Sain, some of which terms erroneously conflate the Tamangs with Uighurs.[10] The Tibetans called them Rongpa.[11]
Various Gorkha rulers led campaigns against the indigenous Tamangs. The Gorkha Vamsavali provides details of battles with the Bhotyas of a variety of principalities between 1806 and 1862. In 1739, a ruler named Ghale-Botya attacked Narabhupal Shah as he was marching towards Nuwakot, and Narabhupal Shah also fought several battles against Golma Ghale (Gyalpo). In 1762, Prithvi Narayan Shah attacked the Tamangs in Temal, the Tamang cultural heartland. Tamang oral history says that the local chief, Rinjen Dorje, was killed by the Gorkhas. Gorkhali forces had hidden their weapons in the sand on the Sunkoshi riverbank in order to attack the Tamang forces. Afterwards, the Gorkhas washed their weapons in springs at Dapcha Kuwapani, and this is why the modern-day Tamangs do not drink there. Similar stories appear in oral histories throughout the region.[12]
After the attack on the Tamang region, their traditional homeland area, known as kipat to the Gorkhas, was granted to Gorkha generals or government officials who had pleased the king in some way, displacing the Tamangs from kipat lands. Previously, Tamang landholdings had been divided up by clan. Tamangs also had various forced labor obligations, both in times of peace and war, that differed significantly from other regions of Nepal. One reason is the proximity of the Tamang homeland to the center of royal administration at Kathmandu.[12]
Tamangs were also involved in the Sino-Nepalese War (1788 to 1792). (Nepali: नेपाल-चीन युद्ध), also known as the Sino-Gorkha war and in Chinese the Campaign of Gorkha (Chinese: 廓爾喀之役).The war was initially fought between Nepalese Gorkhas and Tibetan armies over a trade dispute related to a long-standing problem of low-quality coins manufactured by Nepal for Tibet. A few hundred eventually settled in Tibet; they are known as Daman people in China. Previously stateless, since 2003 the Chinese government has classified them as ethnic Tibetans.[13][14][15]
Culture
Tamang tradition and culture include a distinct language, culture, dress, and social structure. They have over 100 sub-clans. About 87 % of the Tamang people are Buddhist[4] and around 3% are Christians and 8% are Hindu.[4] Their language, Tamang, comes from Tamangic branch of the Tibeto-Burman language family, and is closely related to Gurung. They follow the Chinese lunar calendar of the 12-year cycle. Colorful printed Buddhist mantra cloths are put up in various places in villages and towns.[5]
Their typical song and dance style is known as Tamang Selo, and includes songs representing humor, satire, joy and sorrow. It has a brisk movement and rhythmic beat specific to the Tamangs.[7] A distinctive musical instrument is the damphu, a small, round drum covered with goatskin. Traditional Tamang songs are known as Hwai. Sung by Tamang genealogists callTamba, Hwai songs are ritualistic and hold tremendous importance in Tamang rituals.[16]
People dancing in Sonam Lhosar (Tamang New Year) celebration
Festivals
Sonam Lhosar is the main festival of the Tamangs and is celebrated in the month of Magh (February–March).[17] It is celebrated to welcome the Tamang new year.
Tamang girl in Sonam Lhosar Festival
Another significant festival is the Saga Dawa, a religious festival based on birthday of Gautam Buddha.[9]
Tamang is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken predominantly in Nepal, with significant communities in Sikkim and West Bengal, India. It encompasses several dialects, including Eastern, Western, Southwestern, Northwestern, and Eastern Gorkha Tamang, with varying degrees of mutual intelligibility. For instance, Eastern and Western Tamang are mutually unintelligible.[18] The language employs both the Tamyig script, similar to Tibetan, and Devanagari for writing. Grammatically, Tamang follows a subject-object-verb (SOV) order and utilizes postpositions.[19] It is tonal and exhibits ergative-absolutive alignment. Despite being the fifth most spoken language in Nepal, Tamang faces challenges due to the dominance of Nepali, leading to concerns about language preservation.[20]
Distribution of Tamang in Nepal
The 2011 Nepal census classifies the Tamang people within the broader social group of Mountain–Hill Janajati.[4] At the time of the Nepal census of 2011, 1,539,830 people (5.8% of the population of Nepal) were Tamang. The percentage of Tamang people by province was as follows:
^Another theory says Tamang may have been derived from the Tibetan word tamang, where ta means 'horse' and mak means 'warrior' in Tibetan.[9][better source needed]
^ abcdPopulation monograph of Nepal(PDF). Vol. II (Social Demography). Kathmandu: Government of Nepal, National Planning Commission Secretariat, Central Bureau of Statistics. 2014. ISBN978-9937-2-8972-6. Archived(PDF) from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
^"西藏达曼人：从居无定所到发"边贸财"吃"旅游饭"". People's Daily Online (in Chinese (China)). 25 July 2014. Archived from the original on 5 November 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
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