Newar caste system
Newar caste system is the system by which Newārs, the historical inhabitants of Kathmandu Valley, are divided into groups on the basis of Vedic varna model as well as according to their hereditary occupations. First introduced at the time of the Licchavis, the Newar caste system assumed its present shape during the medieval Malla period. The Newar caste structure resembles more closely to North India and Madheshis than that of the Khas 'Parbatiyas' in that all four Varna and untouchables are represented. The social structure of Newars is unique as it is the last remaining example of a pre-Islamic North Indic civilisation in which Buddhist elements enjoy equal status with the Brahmanic elements.
History of Assimilation
According to various historical sources, even though the presence of varna and caste had been a known element in the social structure of the Kathmandu Valley since the Licchavi period, majority of the residents of the Nepal Valley were for the first time codified into a written code only in the 14th century in the Nepalarastrasastra by king Jayasthithi Malla Jayasthithi Malla, with the aid of five Kānyakubja and Maithil Brahmins whom he invited from the Indian plains, divided the population of the valley into each of four major classes —Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra—derived from the ancient Hindu text Manusmriti and based on individual's occupational roles. The four classes varna encompassed a total of 64 castes jat within it, with the Shudras being further divided into 36 sub-castes. Various existing and immigrant population of Kathmandu Valley have assimilated among the four varnas accordingly. It is believed that most of the existing indigenous people were incorporated under the Shudra varna of farmers and working-class population. Similarly, notable examples of immigrant groups being assimilated include the Rajopadhyaya Brahmins, who are the descendants of the Kānyakubja Brahmins of Kannauj who immigrated to Kathmandu Valley as late as the 12th century CE. The dozens of noble and ruling Maithil clans who came along ruling kings or as part of their nobility were also assimilated in the Newar nation in the Kshatriya varna. The Khadgis, Dhobis, Sudhis, Kapalis/Jogis, Halwais, Rajkarnikars among other caste groups are also believed to have immigrated to Kathmandu Valley from the southern plains. The genetic diversity and the cultural ties of Newar with South Asia and East Asia, including Tibet, reflected in their DNAFour Varna-Jati within Newars
Unlike the Hindu caste systems prevalent in Khas and Madhesi societies, the existence and influence of Buddhist "ex-monks" from ancient times in the Kathmandu Valley added a "double-headed" element to the Newar caste system. While Rājopādhyāya Brahmins occupied the highest social position in the Hindu side, the Vajracharya formed the head among the Buddhists. For Hindu Newars, Brahmans had formal precedence with Kshatriyas, which included the royal family and the various groups now known as Srēṣṭha who ran the administration of the Malla courts. For Buddhist Newars, the non-celibate priestly sangha class Vajracharyas and Shakyas were provided with the highest position. In Kathmandu, they were followed by a lay patron Buddhist caste of Urāy, or Upasakas, who specialized in the trade with Tibet. Therefore, the Hindu Rajopadhyaya Brahmins and Buddhist Vajracharyas occupy the highest position in Newar society. This is followed by the Hindu Kshatriya nobility and the Vaishya merchant and traders castes. The Newar varna logic as stratified from the Hindu Brahmanic perspective place Shakya-Baré, Urāy among the Buddhists, and Pāncthariya Srēṣṭha, and other groups above the Jyapus among the Hindus among the dwija twice-born status as the core Vaishya castes of Newars who are highly specialized in trade and commerce.These three varnas and castes of either religious identity inside their respective Varna collectively form the upper-caste twice-born segment of Newar society. Their upper status is maintained by their exclusive entitlement to secret Tantric initiation rites which cannot be conducted on castes other than the three upper varnas. Along with this, their higher status also requires them to conduct additional life-cycle ceremonies like the sacred-thread wearing ceremony upanayana or the rites of baréchyégu or āchāryabhisheka. Higher castes are supposed to be 'more pure' because they celebrate more ceremonies and observe more rites of purification and because events such as births and death defile them for longer periods of time than they do Jyāpu agriculturists and other service providers. Srēṣṭhas also maintain their superior status over others with the claim that they firmly belong to the mainstream Brahmanic Aryan-Hindu lineage than the Jyāpu and others, and are in much more intimate contact with the Brahmans. Because of their high social status, these upper-level castes have also traditionally formed the core of the land-owning gentry and as patrons to all other caste groups.
The distinction between Hindu and Buddhist is largely irrelevant from the castes occupying the Shudra varna as they generally do not differentiate between the either and profess both the religions equally and with great fervour. This group include among them highly differentiated and specialized castes—agriculturalists, farmers, potters, painters, dyers, florists, butchers, tailors, cleaners, etc.—métiers needed in the daily lives of the Newars or for their cultural or ritual needs. The division into Hindu and Buddhist castes has not been regarded by Newars as a serious cleavage since both groups share the same basic values and social practices and are in close accord with their underlying religious philosophy. Majority of the Newars, in fact, participate in many of the observances of both religions.
The Newar castes, Buddhist as well as Hindu, are no less pollution-conscious than the Khas and the Madhesis. Caste endogamy, however, which has been one of the main methods of maintaining status in India, is not strictly observed in Nepal by either the Newars or the Khas. The strictest rules governing the relations between members of different castes are those pertaining to marriage and commensality. Boiled rice and dal, in particular, must not be accepted from a person of lower caste. Other rules further restrict social intermingling between the castes, but they tend to be treated more casually.
Advent of Khas/Gorkhali rulers and the Muluki Ain
The most successful attempt at imposing the caste system was made in the 19th century by Jung Bahadur Kunwar who was very keen to have his own status raised. He became the first of the Ranas and his task was to establish the legitimacy of Ranas and secure his control over the land. He succeeded in introducing the caste system to a much greater degree and rigidity than Jayasthitimalla, the Malla king had done just over five hundred years before him. With the advent of Khas domination since Nepal's unification by Prithvi Narayan Shah in 1769 A.D. the center of power shifted from the Newar noble families to these power and land hungry rural nobility whose core values were concentration of power at home and conquest abroad.After the takeover of power by the Khas rulers, Newars as a block were reduced to the status of an occupied subject race, and except for a loyal family or two, they were stripped of their social status and economic foothold. Even Newar Brahmins who had been serving as priests for Newars lost ritual status to the "Hill Brahman", the Parbate Bahuns, of the Khas people community. Even the old military-administrative caste of the Śreṣṭha was largely reduced to 'Matwali' status, and were barred from joining high military and administrative posts for a long period of time. The last Newar noble to hold some power, Kaji Tribhuvan Pradhan, was beheaded in a court intrigue in 1806 A.D. Newars were generally not admitted in the civil service until 1804 A.D, after which only a handful of Newars were admitted in the higher administration. These notable exceptions came from the Kshatriya-status Chatharīya clans like the Pradhan, Rajbhandari, Joshi, Malla/Pradhananga, among others, who did reach high administrative and military positions in the new Gorkhali administration. Even though Gorkhalis saw them as part of the 'defeated' aristocracy of the Malla kingdoms, they went on to form the core of the ruling administrative elite of the new Nepali state till the end of Rana regime in 1951 A.D.
Irrespective of the Newars' own complex and much more elaborate social stratification, the legal code "Muluki Ain", promulgated in January 1854 A.D. by the new Rana regime, classified the entire Newar community as a single "enslavable alcohol-drinking" caste. It was in 1863 A.D. that majority of the Newars were upgraded to "non-enslaveable" category, after Jung Bahadur's content at Newars' administration of public offices during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The most drastic change came only as late as 1935 A.D. during Juddha Shamsher's reign when amendments were made in the old legal code as a result of years of lobbying that granted the Rajopadhyayas the status of Upadhyaya Brahmans, and the Chatharīya Śreṣṭha the status of "pure" Kshatriya, enlisting these two Newar castes in the pan-Nepal tagadhari caste of "dwija" status.
Newars were not admitted in the army till 1951 A.D. - the year when the festival of Indra Jatra discontinued to be celebrated as "the Victory Day" — commemorating the conquest of the valley by the Gorkhali army. Economically, the position of the Newars was weakened by the diversion of Tibet trade from the Chumbi Valley route since 1850s A.D. and the competition with the Marwaris became all the stiffer since the end of the World War I. Although Jung Bahadur and his descendants were well disposed to a few clientele Newar families, the 104 years of their family rule was not a golden age of Newar social history. It was only those clientele Newar families patronized by the Ranas who succeeded in upgrading their social and economic status by imitating new norms of the Rana Durbar. The Chatharīya, for example, succeeded in producing the required social credentials to prove that the Chatharīya tharghar alone were "pure" Kshatriyas, where as similar claims by other Newar castes were not successful.
As a consequence, among the Newars, caste has become more complex and stratified than among the non-Newar group. This latter group may consider all Newar people to be equally Matwali, essentially placing all upper-caste Newars in the Vaishya varna and lower-caste Newars among the clean Shudras, but this has never been the perception of the Newars themselves, especially among high-caste Newars.