History of Chepangs
Chepangs are one of the most marginalised indigenous groups of 59 officially identified indigenous ethnic communities of Nepal. They are inhabitants of steep sloppy marginalised land of Dhading, Chitwan, Makwanpur and Gorkha districts of Nepal. Chepangs are ancient tribal people and it is believed that they are the first settlers in the Mahabharat (young mountain range between plains and hills stretching from East to West of Nepal) range who have their own socio-economic and cultural characteristics and are from the Mongoloid group. They are believed to be living in the area since time immemorial (Gurung, 1989). The first scholar who wrote about Chepangs is Brian Hodgson (1848) a British Resident in Colonial India, who frequently visited Nepal during his tenancy in Delhi, and who identified them as related group of Kusundas “living entirely upon wild fruits and the produce of the chase…..”. They show distinctly Mongoloid features, viz. slit eyes and prominent cheek bones, many had flat, broad noses with a deep saddle and the skin of two or three was of a very dark pigmentation (Nebesky-Wojkowitz quoted by Bista, 1967). As of physically stature, they look from Mongoloid stock with flat and short noses and round faces. They are one of the deprived, disadvantaged and marginalized groups of the indigenous people of Nepal.
They claim as the Bhumiputra (land born) inhabitants of the area (personal communication with the members of NCA, 2007). Chepangs were one of the last groups to be sedentarised and be converted to agriculture, found the best land already occupied by others and were assigned land which was both arid and stony. This has been able to provide them for their alimentary needs only for six months of the year best. This makes them one of the poorest groups of Nepal (Ribboli, 2000). According to Census (2001) total population of Chepang is 52,237.
Based on the literatures reviewed, it was widely reported that Chepangs live in a state of chronic food deficiency and have been facing severe starvation every year. Only one percent of the Chepangs have cereal food surplus and about 60% of the families have food that does not last more than six months (NCA, 2004). For rest of the time, they eat the wild food items – namely hunting wild animals, birds, fruits, yams, nettles and tubers. The serious shortage appears primarily due to small land holding and low yield of marginal unproductive land.
(Rai, 2009)
Image Source: Hodgson, B
On Chepang and Kusunda Tribes of Nepal