Numerically & Culturally

Numerically & Culturally 

Both numerically and culturally, the Rajbanshi is the predominant ethnic group and the Rajbanshi boli or bhasa (dialect or language) is also the dominant language. More or less every ethnic and caste group can communicate with their language. The Tajpuriya and Gangais have no their own mother tongue and speak Rajbanshi language with minor differences in some words. The Rajbanshis worship thakur, brahmani and hanuman as their kul devatas (clan deities). The abodes or shrine are always located outside usually northeastern corner of the house. They do not erect any shrines or abodes for God and goddess inside their houses. Besides, they worship village ditties known as maharaj with very care and respect. All the other groups including plain castes Hindus except Mahato or Nuniya and Brahmins worship the same Good and goddess as their kul devata. This clearly indicates that the Rajbanshis are not only numerically but also culturally dominant group within society.

The Rajbansis are a jati of mixed origin some being descended from Koches, while other are of Dravidian (Chaudhury, 1962:141) Whatever may be their origin, they used to have a separate kingdom called Koch country, which according to Hodgson, ‘included the western half of Assam (India) on the one side and eastern half of Morang (Nepal) on the other with all intervening country’ (1880:107). The British in India conquered this Koch State, while in Nepal, King Prithvi Narayan Shah in 1774 (Bista, 1987:134) annexed them. Under the Hindu influence, the Koch sanskritised and took the name Rajbanshi, and they are today a no-alcohol-drinking jati(a relatively high caste group in the sense of jat) mostly inhabiting in Jhapa and Morang districts within Nepal (Bhattarai, 1996:55). They are primarily cultivators and some also deal in grain and other articles. As a group they are very true to their words, simple and straightforward..

Their claim of both the jat and jati at a time indicates the ambiguity of their cultural and social identity. As a jat they claim to be an offshoot of the Rajput clan but they do not wear the sacred thread, nor do they observe menstruation as ritual pollution. In addition, they bury their dead; practice of widow marriage was prevalent among them (they renounced the practice few decades ago); the fathers or the brothers of prospective brides take high price from would-be bridegroom before they consent to the marriage (which they have started to renounce these days). As a result their claim to kindred with Rajput is, however, untenable. As an evident, the Rajputs of plains and Chhetris of the hill both do not accept them as their equivalent. In the context of conceptualization, the distribution of cultural sub-traditions within a population as different streams, the Rajbanshis thus participate in many such streams, which are also shared by the members of other groups. There are, however, some typical social and cultural features or traditions, which both Rajbanshis and others recognize exclusively as Rajbanshis. For instance, they speak their own language, have strong sense of hospitality towards their guest, their practices of head shaving on 12th days of death, abandonment of sacred thread and bhai pooja (worshipping of brothers) during tihar(festivals of light) and their typical dresses and settlement patterns....