Draft:Brahmin (Bahun) communities
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2020) |
Brahmin/Bahun | |
|---|---|
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Nepal | 3,292,373 (11.2% of Nepal's population) (2021)[1] |
| Languages | |
| Nepali (Khas-Kura) | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism 99.56% (2011), Christianity 0.31% (2011), Agnostic Less than 0.1% (estimated), Atheist Less than 0.1% (estimated) [2] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Chhetri, Thakuri and other Khas people | |
Bahun (Nepali: बाहुन), also known as Hill Brahmins,[3] are a Brahmin varna among the Khas of Nepal. They are Sub caste of the Kanyakubja Brahmin[4][5][6] while their origins are from Kannauj[7] and the Himalayan belt of South Asia. According to the 2011 Nepal census, Bahun is the second most populous group after Chhetri.[8]
According to 1854 Muluki Ain, the first Nepalese civil code, Bahuns were regarded as caste among sacred thread bearers (Tagadhari) and twice-born Hindus.[9]
Origin
[edit]Traditionally, Bahuns were members of the Khas community together Chhetris.[10] Possibly due to political power of the Khasa Malla kingdom, Khas Brahmins and Khas Kshatriyas[11] had high social status in the present-day western Nepal.[10] Bahuns, regarded as upper class Khas group together with Chhetris, were associated mostly with the Gorkha Kingdom and its expansion.[12][12][13]
Demography
[edit]According to the 2011 Nepal census, Bahuns (referred as Hill-Brahmin) are the second most populous group after Khas Chhetri with 12.2% of Nepal's population (or 3,226,903 people).[14] Bahun are the second largest Hindu group in Nepal with a population of 3,212,704 (99.6% of Bahuns).[14] Bahuns are the largest group in 15 districts in Nepal: Jhapa, Morang, Kathmandu, Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Kaski, Syangja, Parbat, Gulmi and Arghakhanchi. Among these, Bahuns in Parbat (35.7%), Arghakhanchi (32.8%), Dhading (30.9%), Chitwan (28.6%), Kaski (27.8%) and Gulmi (25.2%) consist more than 25% of the district population. Kathmandu has largest Bahun population with 410,126 people (23.5%).[14]
Bahuns have the highest civil service representation with 39.2% of Nepal's bureaucracy while having only 12.1% of Nepal's total population. The civil service representation to population ratio is 3.2 times for Bahuns which is fourth in Nepal. khas/Chhetris represent 1.6 times in civil services to their percentage of population, which is the highest in Nepal.[15] As per the Public Service Commission, Brahmins (33.3%) and Chhetris (20.01
%) constitute the majority of civil servants in Nepal.[16]
Culture
[edit]Bahun are traditional practitioners of Hinduism. They perform traditional ceremonies and practices of Hinduism, including Upanayana. Traditionally, Bahuns are responsible for performing rituals related to Hindu festivals and ceremonies. Traditionally, they have practiced endogamy within their caste.[17]
References
[edit]- ^ National Statistics Office (2021). National Population and Housing Census 2021, Caste/Ethnicity Report. Government of Nepal (Report).
- ^ Central Bureau of Statistics (2014). Population monograph of Nepal (PDF) (Report). Vol. II. Government of Nepal.
- ^ Oberst, Robert (27 April 2018). Government and Politics in South Asia, Student Economy Edition. Routledge. p. 284. ISBN 978-0-429-97340-6.
- ^ Declan Quigley, David Gellner (2017). Contested Hierarchies: A Collaborative Ethnography of Caste Among the Newars of Kathmandu. edited by David Gellner & Declan Quigley. Macmillan and Company limited. p. 199.
- ^ Chaturvedi, Shyam lal (1945). In Fraternity with Nepal, An Account of the Activities Under the Auspices of the Wider Life Movement for the Furtherance and Consolidation of the Indo-Nepalese Cultural Fellowship. p. 65.
- ^ Hachhethu, Krishna (2023). Nation-Building and Federalism in Nepal. Oxford University Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-19-887291-7.
- ^ Hachhethu, Krishna (2023). Nation-Building and Federalism in Nepal. Oxford University Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-19-887291-7.
- ^ "Nepal Census 2011" (PDF).
- ^ Sherchan 2001, p. 14.
- ^ a b John T Hitchcock 1978, pp. 116–119.
- ^ John T Hitchcock 1978, p. 116.
- ^ a b Whelpton 2005, p. 31.
- ^ "Nepal -".
- ^ a b c "Nepal Census 2011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
- ^ Dhakal, Amit (11 June 2014). "निजामती सेवामा सबैभन्दा बढी प्रतिनिधित्व राजपूत, कायस्थ र तराई ब्राम्हण". Setopati.
- ^ "Public Service Commission Nepal".
- ^ "A Book of the Socially Oriented Hinduism". Retrieved 10 August 2023.