- Basanta Bhujel
Apart from the Kathmandu Valley, no history has been written so far regarding the civilization of other regions of Nepal. In terms of history, Palpa (Tansen) was the second city in Nepal after the capital Kathmandu Valley until the end of the Rana rule. Palpa was the most popular place in terms of human habitation. Just as the Kathmandu Valley is associated with the Newar civilization, so is the Palpa with the Magar civilization.
Because it is the Newari civilization that made the capital Kathmandu Valley flourish, just as it is the Magar civilization that made Palpa flourish. But the state has not shown much interest in researching the history of the Magar civilization. There are special reasons why the state is not interested in the history of the Magar civilization. The main reason is – ‘The ruling Magars were transformed into Thakuri by the Aryans who came from outside. Those who became Thakuri from Magar were under the illusion that they belonged to the so-called upper caste. When the real history of the crocodile came out, the rulers concluded that the Raitis could not be kept under the illusion that they were the upper caste.
Historian Bal Krishna Pokhrel and anthropologist Dor Bahadur Bista have largely brought out this reality. The Magars ruled over a large area of the Gandaki region for about a thousand years, based on the lower reaches of the Gandaki region. Now the Sens have found themselves in the status of Thakuri. Similarly, the Shah dynasty kings who had the last unification of Nepal and left after the Jana Andolan 2062-2063 were also Magars. In the Magar language, Khincha means the eldest and Mincha means the youngest. Kulmandan Shah was the son of Mincha Khan. Alam Devi of Syangja is a witness to understand this reality. Alamdevi is the total temple of Shah Banshi kings. Where there are still Magar priests, pigs are sacrificed.
It is not a new thing to stumble upon a crocodile while searching for the petals of the thakuris. Similarly, historian Bal Krishna Pokhrel has presented evidence in his book titled History of the Khasjati that some of the present-day Brahmins will also fall into the Magar caste. In particular, he has presented the genealogy as an example of Pokhrel and Koirala’s ancestral crocodile. But even though the physical constitution and culture of the Magar and Thakuri are similar, the physical constitution of the Magar and the Brahmins is very different, and the culture is not very similar. Therefore, in the opinion of this columnist, everyone living in Nepal may be called Nepali, just as everyone living in the Magarat region may be called a Magar.
According to the 2068 census, the Magar population is just over 8 percent, or about 2.5 million. This is a very large population. In other words, after Chhetri and Brahmin, the largest population in Nepal is Magar. But unlike other tribes, the Magar community is not densely populated in certain areas. First of all, the Magar community reached as far as the expansion of the Sen kingdom. Due to their active participation in the unification of Nepal, the Magar community spread to all parts of unified Nepal. Therefore, not only in 77 districts of the country but also in India, Bhutan, Burma and other countries, the population of crocodiles is significant. In the process of administratively dividing Nepal geographically, the densely populated area of the Magar community was divided into several districts.
The densely populated areas of the Magar community are Kaligandaki, Badhigarh, and Sani Bheri and the confluence of the Rapti river. But this area was divided into 10 districts including Tanahu, Nawalparasi, Palpa, Syangja, Gulmi, Baglung, Myagdi, Rukum, Rolpa, and Dolpa. Eighty percent of the country’s 2.5 million crocodiles live in these 10 districts. Except for one or two of these ten districts, the population of the Magar community in other districts is not more than 50 percent. Due to which the Magar community is not able to have political representation in proportion to the population.
Apart from Kaligandaki, Badigad, and Sani Bheri and the Rapti river basin, the language and culture of the Magar community living in other places have almost deteriorated. They have become immersed in the language and culture of the Chhetri Brahmins. The ethnic existence of the Magars living in other places except for the tributaries of Kaligandaki, Badigad, and Sani Bheri rivers is in crisis due to their similarity with the Chhetri and Brahmins. As far as the catchment areas of Kaligandaki, Badigad, and Sani Bheri rivers are concerned, they are the backbone of the Magar caste and language and culture. But the Magar community in the region also has three distinct languages and cultures. The language, religion, and culture of the Magar community living in Dolpa are similar to that of Tibet. The language, religion, and culture of the Magars living in the Sani Bheri and Rapti Praswan areas directly south of Dolpa are original. The language of the Magar community living in the Kaligandaki and Badigad areas,
When focusing on the Palpa
Magar civilization, it is important to keep the Palpa district at the center. The famous Italian scholar and historian Prof. Joseph Tucci says. According to him, the word ‘Valva’ in the Magar language has become Palpa. It means skill, art, and Kaligarh. Similarly, in the Magar language, Valpa means strong fort. ‘Palpa from Walpa’ may have been made. Similarly, Tansen, the headquarters of Palpa, is also a word in the Magar language. In the Magar language, ‘tangsing’, ‘tang’ means ‘loom’ and ‘horn’ means ‘wood’ (tree).
In the Magar language, a type of pine species is called ‘Tangsing’. There was a looming tree around Tangsing and the custom of making looms and weaving (cloth) was made during the Magarat period. That is why its name is derived from Tangsing in the Magar language and became Tansen through Tansin. Domestic tensions still exist here. In the Magar language, some say that tan means big and horn means settlement. Some say that Tansen is named after him. According to the census of 2068 BS, the population of the district is 261,180. Of which 52 percent are Magars. But the Magar-speaking population is only 33 percent. The Magars of West Palpa use the Nepali language, but in some villages of East Palpa, even those who do not know the Magar language find it difficult to find a place to live.
The Shaktipiths of the Gandaki Praswan area seem to be inspired by Magar culture. Which the Khas Aryans have adopted. Based on Magarati or Magarat religion philosophy or doctrine, the Magarat state had established Magar Shakti Peeths, Kots, and Dewals in different places and arranged for Magar priests. The Magar priests developed their tantra mantras. There are still Magar priests of Maski Rana, Saru, Thapa, Aslami, Pulami Thar in those Shakti Peeths and devotees of all castes like Brahmins, Chhetri Newars are still receiving Tika Prasad from the hands of Magar priests.
Alamdevi, Manakamana, Gorkha Durbar, Kaski Kot, Budasubba Dharan, Lamjungkot, Musikot, Bhirkot, etc. There are twenty-five places with Shakti Peeths, Kots, or Dewals based on the natural religion philosophy of the Magars since ancient times. Devotees of all castes and ethnicities have had a deep faith in Magar priests and their mantras since ancient times. This order is still the same today. This is a precedent for the Magar community reaching the pinnacle of civilization in ancient times. There have been many invasions, encroachments, repressions, but the religion and culture of the indigenous Magar tribes have not been completely eradicated by any system of government or state power. Could not be eliminated
Culture Diversity
Magar is the third largest ethnic group in Nepal in terms of the ethnic population. In addition to the seventy-seven districts of Nepal, the Magars, who have spread across the border to Dehradun, Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Bhutan, are culturally endowed with internal diversity.
Scholars have mentioned that the Nagavanshi people hunted and raised animals around the reservoir when the Kathmandu Valley was inundated. The mention of the Magar people as Nagavanshi by scholars including Keshav Man Shakya (2011: 9-10) shows that the Magar people are associated with the development of civilization in the Kathmandu Valley.
Historians have mentioned that there were 220 Magar kingdoms in Gandaki Prashravankshetra and later it was limited to 12 Magar kingdoms. Anthropologist Dorbahadur Visit (2001), historian Suryamani Adhikari (2061), Eden Vensitart (1906), b. H. Scholars, including Hudson (1874), have argued that the kings of the twenty-fourth kingdom were transformed into crocodiles. Therefore, it is understood that the Magarat civilization was flourishing in the Rapti-Gandaki catchment area till the middle of Nepali history.
In Magar society, the rites from birth to death are determined by who or how to perform the rites based on the relationship formed by the marriage system. The traditional mamacheli marriage system establishes a three-house sign network (Cheliveti, Maiti, and Bhai Khalak group) of a permanent nature. The Cheliveti (nephew) group within their network has played the role of a traditional puritan in performing life cycle rituals. In this way, the Cheliveti or nephew group regulates the life cycle system, while the three-dimensional relationship cycle based on mamacheli marriage promotes the structural function of the society as a whole. The original culture of Magarat is represented by cults based on animism or nature-worshipping ancestry, jhankriism, and cheliveti.
The original culture of Magarat seems to be continuing in the Rapti catchment area i.e. Rukum, Rolpa, Pyuthan as well as in the western Waglung and Myagdi areas. Therefore, geographically, Rapteli Magar culture can be defined as ‘original culture’ or ‘culture center’.
The Magar community of Dolpa, which borders Tibet to the north, is influenced by the Tibetan Lamaism sect of Buddhism. James F. According to Fischer (1987), the Dolpali Magars influenced Tibetan culture through a barter trade with the vote. Before the Chinese took control of Tibet in 1950-51, the Dolpali Magars used to come to Tibet for traditional barter trade. Therefore, the traditional culture of the Magarat civilization and the Tibetan Buddhist culture merged in the Dolpali Magar society.
Geographically, Hindu culture seems to have influenced the Magar society east of Waglung. According to the 2058 census, 74.6 percent of the Magars practice Hinduism. However, the Magars of this region have brought Hindu culture and Magarat culture into practice. According to Hindu tradition, they perform the ritual of purification on the eleventh day of birth and death on the thirteenth day, but according to the Magarat culture, they maintain the Cheliveti tradition in rituals.
In this cultural group, the traditions of animism or nature worship, patriarchal worship, jhankriism, and sacrifice worship are also continuing. Famous national and international shrines Manakamana, Alam Devi, Budhasubba, Chhabdivarahi, Gorakhkali, Hanumandhoka Dasai Ghar, Kaskikot, Lamjungkot, Salyakot, Baldhengadhi, Varse-Arkulkot, Rautamai, Satyavati, Rainadevi etc. are also the main priests of Gandakeli Magar cultural group. Starting from the Tantric patriarchal tradition, pigs are also sacrificed in these temples. Therefore, the Gandakeli Magar culture has important foundations of a mixed and coordinated Nepali national culture.
There are three cultural subgroups (Rapteli, Dolpali, and Gandakeli) in the Magar caste. The totality of the Rapteli Magar culture, which represents the original philosophy of the Magar civilization, the Dolpali Magar culture, which represents the Buddhist Mahayana sect, and the Gandakeli Magar culture, which represents the mixed beliefs of Hindu and Magarat civilization, is the basis of the present Magar culture.
