Magars


The Magars, also spelled Mangar and Mongar, are the Tibeto-Burman ethnic group native to Nepal and Northeast India, representing 6.9% of Nepal's total population according to the 2021 Nepal census. They are one of the main Gurkha tribes.
The first home of the Magars was to the west of the Gandaki River and, roughly speaking, consisted of that portion of Nepal which lies between and around about Gulmi, Arghakhanchi, and Palpa.
This part of the country was divided into twelve districts known as Bahra Magarat, which included the following regions of that period: Argha, Khanchi, Bhirkot, Dhor, Garhung, Ghiring, Gulmi, Isma, Musikot, Rising, Satung, and Pyung.
During the medieval period, the whole area from Palpa to Rukum Rolpa was called the Magarat, a place settled and inhabited by Magars.
Another confederation of eighteen Magar kingdoms, known as Athara Magarat, also existed and was originally inhabited by Kham Magars.

Geographical distribution

Nepal

At the time of the 2021 Nepal census, 2,013,498 people identified as Magar. The frequency of Magar people by province was as follows:
The frequency of Magar people was higher than national average in the following districts:
Magars are scattered throughout the cities of India in Darjeeling, Sikkim, Assam and many others. The Gurkha recruitment in the Indian Gorkha Regiment, British Gurkha Regiment and the Gurkha Contingent of Singapore Police gave a huge opportunity to the hard working Magars of the hills to work and live abroad in countries like the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, India and Myanmar. A significant number of Magar population can also be found in countries like the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United States of America and South Korea.

Origin

There are several mythical stories describing the origins of the Magars.
The Magar of the Bahra Magarat east of the Kali Gandaki River are said to have originated in the land of Seem. Two brothers, Seem Magar and Chintoo Magar, fought, and one remained in Seem, while the other left, ending up in Kangwachen, southern Sikkim. The Bhutia people lived at the northern end of this region. Over time, the Magars became very powerful and made the northern Bhutia their vassals. Sintoo Sati Sheng ruled in a very despotic manner, and the Bhutia conspired to assassinate him. Sheng's queen took revenge and poisoned 1,000 Bhutia people at a place now called Tong Song Fong, meaning "where a thousand were murdered". The Bhutia later drove the Magars out, forcing them to again migrate further south. As part of this migration, one group migrated to Simrongadh, one group moved towards the Okhaldhunga region, and another group seems to have returned to the east. No dates are given.
The origins of the Kaike Magars end up with the mystical tales told and retold by local people. According to one of these stories, the Kaike Magars were the sons of a woman who had fled from an unspecified village of Kalyal kingdom. She subsequently gave birth to her child, a son. The boy, when he grew up, captured an angel while she was bathing with her friends. As time went by, the son and his angel bride had three sons. These sons were the ancestors of the Buddha, Roka, and Gharti clans. The origin of the fourth major clan is different. One of the three sons was a shepherd who kept losing the same female goat every day, so one day he followed her when she wandered away from the rest of the herd. He discovered that she was giving her milk to a baby boy living in the hollow part of a bamboo tree. He brought the baby home. This boy grew up and became the ancestor of the Jhankri clan. The language was called "Kaike," meaning "language of the Gods."

History

The first written history about the Magar people dates as far back as 1100 CE. The Magars are one of the oldest known tribes in Nepal. Their ancient homeland was known as Magwar Bisaya, later called Magarat.
Magarat bordered from Marsyangdi river to the Pyuthan area during that time. The Magars prospered at such a level during that period that this part of the country was divided into twelve kingdoms/thams —each under its own ruler—the members of each supposedly being of common extraction in the male line. Some records show these twelve areas as being Arghak, Khachi, Gulmi, Isma, Musikot, Ghiring, Rising, Bhirkot, Payung, Garhung, Dhor and Satung. Among them, the most powerful kings were those of Gulmi, Argha, Khachi. Broadly speaking, the twelve Magarat consisted of present-day Argha, Khanchi, Gulmi, Isma, Musikot, Ghiring, Baldengadhi, Rudrapurgadhi, Deuchuli, Tanahang/Tanu-hyula, Kanhu, Ligligkot, Gorkhakot,, Targhakot, and Makawanpur areas. Similarly, Athara Magarat consisted of the following regions: Dhurkoi, Gharkoi, Paiya, Sinkhang, Narikoi, Balungbang, Jangkoi, Rukumkoi, Chhilikoi, Bhaba, Borekoi, Tarakoi, Timarkoi, Jural, Bunkot, Bahrakot, Lu Nanya and Ru-pal.
The Magars of the middle and western regions also played an important role in Nepal's formative history. Their kingdom was one of the strongest of west Nepal in and around Palpa District during the time of the 22 Baisi Rajya and 24 Chaubisi Rajya principalities . In the 16th century, Palpa ruler Mukunda Sen briefly invaded the Kathmandu valley. King Dalsur Ghale Magar was a king of Liglig-Kot until Dravya Shah captured LigligKot and became the king. Ganga Ram Rana Magar also helped Drabya Shah. Ligligkot is also considered the foundation of the Gorkha Kingdom and the foundation of our nation. After Dravya Shah captured LigligKot from Magar King Dalsur Ghale Magar, he captured Gorkhakot, the last Magarat area, from the Magar King, Mansingh Khadka Magar in BS 1616 Bhadra 25. In the kingdoms of Gorkha and Musikot, the Magars even seem to have taken part in their own initial defeat, revealing both the weakness of their ethnic solidarity at that time and the presence of clan rivalries. As mentioned in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal founded by Sir William Jones in 1784, the city of Gorkha was originally the residence of Chitoria Magars, and the city was built by them. To this day, large numbers of Chitoria/Chitorey Magars are found in the Gorkha District. Additionally, in the Manakamana Temple located in Gorkha, it is mandatory for a priest to be a Magar; specifically, the priest must be a descendant of Saint Lakhan Thapa Magar, who is described as a spiritual guide for Ram Shah, and he had a very close relationship with the queen, who was considered an incarnation of the Goddess. Interestingly, the main priests of Kalika, the goddess protecting the kingdoms of Lamjung and Gorkha, were also Bohara Magars; it is striking to note how the Magars have been in charge of the religious functions linked to the very source of Thakuri power.
The 18th-century king, Prithvi Narayan Shah, the founder of the modern Kingdom of Nepal announced and loved to call himself ' the King of Magarat' or 'the King of Magar country'. According to Marie Lecomte-Tilouine, a senior researcher in Social Anthropology at the French National Center for Scientific Research, Prithvi Narayan Shah narrated in his autobiography about praying to a goddess whom he described as 'the daughter of Rana . During the time of King Prithvi Narayan, Rana Magars were one of the six-member courtiers. Prithvi Narayan Shah in his memories also recalls his Magar dada—the man who looked after him during his childhood.
The Scottish contemporary writer, Francis Buchanan-Hamilton, contends in his journal that the Shah dynasty was derived from the Magar tribe. He argues that:
He further contended on Shah family that:
Many prominent historians of Nepal have claimed that Aramudi, an eighth-century ruler of the Kali Gandaki region, was a Magar King. "Aramudi" derives from the word for 'river' in the Magar language. 'Ari' – 'Source of Water' + 'Modi'– 'River' = 'Arimodi' or 'Aramudi', thus the literal meaning of Aramudi is a source of river. But due to the lack of historical evidence, there are some conflicting ideas among the historians.
Sen dynasty of Palpa were Magar Kings as per the hand-written treatise 'Naradsmriti' and history books written in Sikkim. In a palm-leaf manuscript kept in the Kaiser Library, dated 1567 VS, Mukunda Sen is described as a Magar king of Palpa who invaded the Kathmandu Valley in 1581 VS. Thus, in the 17th century, Malla kings of Kathmandu valley were united to fight back the invasion of Magars from Palpa. One of Mukunda Sen's wives was also the daughter of the Magar King of Parkogha: Mahadevi Suvarnamala, and she had four sons: Manishya Sen, Imbarsen, Kuvar and Lohang Sen. Similarly, Gajalaxman Singh, Magar King of Makvanpur, whose daughter Kantivati was married to Abhaya Sen of Palpa. From her was born the great king of kings Bhattarajadeva. Around 1700, the ruler of Baldeng was overthrown by Palpa and other chaubisi'' states, and he was supposedly a Magar king.

Subdivisions

Magars are divided into the following Eight tribes listed here in an alphabetical order: Ale, Budha/Budhathoki, Chitorey/Chitaurey, Gharti, Pun, Rana, Roka, Thapa. These tribes all intermarry with each other, have the same customs, and are in every way equal as regards to social standing. Each tribe is subdivided into many sub-clans.