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The term Madheshi people (Nepali: मधेशी, also spelled Madhesi) has several interpretations. Anthropologists use the term for people of Indian ancestry residing in the Terai of Nepal and comprising various cultural groups such as Hindu caste groups, muslims, merchants and indigenous people of the Terai.^[1][2] Many of these groups share cultural traditions and marital ties with people living south of the international border in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.^[3] In recent times, some politicians and journalists have used the term for all Nepali citizens of the Terai.^[4]

Migrants to the Terai from the hills in Nepal and Tharu people do not consider themselves to be Madheshi.^[5]
Madheshi people comprise caste groups like Brahmin and Dalit as well as ethnic groups such as Maithils, Bhojpuri, Awadhi and Bajjika speaking people.^[6] Indian immigrants settled foremost in present-day eastern Nepal Terai since the late 18th century, when the rulers of Nepal encouraged deforestation and agricultural development of this region.^[7]

Etymology

The word madhesh is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit मध्य देश "madhya desh" meaning "middle country", which refers to "the central region, the country lying between the Himalayas and the Vindhya mountains".^[5][8]

History

Since the late 18th century, the Shah rulers of Nepal encouraged Indian people to settle in the eastern Terai through a series of subsidies granted to new settlers. A severe flood of the Koshi River followed by a drought caused famine-stricken Bihari farmers in the 1770s to 1780s to migrate to the Nepal Terai, where they converted forest to agricultural land. Immigration of people from neighbouring India increased between 1846 and 1950.^[7] They settled foremost in the eastern Nepal Terai together with native Terai peoples.^[9] In the mid 19th century, Muslim people from the Awadh region were invited to settle in the far-western Nepal Terai, where they received large forested areas for conversion to agriculture.^[10]

Since the late 1940s, the term 'Madhes' was used by politicians in the Nepal Terai to differentiate between interests of the people of the Terai and of the hills.^[11] In the 1950s, the regional political party Nepal Terai Congress advocated more autonomy for the Terai, recognition of Hindi as a national language and increasing employment opportunities for Madheshi people.^[12] During 1961 to 1990, the Panchayat government enforced a policy of assimilating diverse cultural groups into a pan-Nepali identity. Legal directives made it an offence to address inequality and discrimination of ethnic groups.^[11] After the Panchayat regime was abolished following the People's Movement in spring 1990, disadvanted groups demanded a more equitable share of political resources such as admittance to civil service.^[13]

The Nepal Sadbhawana Party started lobbying for socio-cultural, linguistic and political rights of Madheshi people. The discussions on rights and demands of Madheshi people increased after the end of the Nepalese Civil War, in particular among Madheshi intellectuals and political elites.^[12] The political parties Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha and Madheshi Jana Adhikar Forum advocated the idea of an autonomous Madhes province stretching all over the Terai and organised violent demonstrations in 2007 to enforce their demands.^[14] The United Democratic Madheshi Front formed by Madheshi organizations pressured the government to accept this concept of autonomy under the motto "One Madhes One Pradesh".^[11] Several ethnic and religious groups in the Terai opposed and resisted this policy under the leadership of Madheshi parties, foremost Tharu and Muslim people.^[11][12]

Conflicts remain between Madheshi people and ethnic groups indigenous to the Terai, between Madheshis and muslims, and between high caste and low caste Madheshis.^[15]

Demographics of the Nepal Terai

The Nepal Terai totals 33,998.8 km² (13,127.0 sq mi), about 23.1% of Nepal's land area. As of 2001, about 48.5% of Nepal's population lived in the Terai, which had the highest density in the country with 330.78 people per sq km.^[16] As of June 2011, the Nepal Terai's human population totalled 13,318,705 people comprising more than 120 different ethnic groups and castes.^[17]

Nepali citizenship

In 1952, a Nepal Citizenship Act was passed that entitled all those immigrants to obtain Nepali citizenship who had stayed in the country for at least five years. The Citizenship Act of 1963 entitled immigrants to receive Nepali citizenship if they were engaged in business and could read and write Nepali.^[7]

In 2006, the Nepal Citizenship Act was amended to the effect that people born before 1990 and residing permanently in the country obtained the right to Nepalese citizenship.^[12] About 2.3 million people received citizenship certificates.^[18]
The Constitution of Nepal 2015 contains provisions for a Nepali citizenship by naturalisation, which can be acquired by:^[19]

• foreign women who are married to a Nepali man;


• children of a Nepali woman and a foreign man.

Culture

The culture of Madeshi people is complex and diverse. The Muslim and indigenous peoples speak their own languages and have distinct cultural traditions that differ from the Hindu caste groups. Latter comprise at least 43 distinct groups.^[3]

Many Muslim Madheshis claim origins in India, Afghanistan, Arabia and Persia.^[20]
They are influenced by the hierarchy of the Hindu caste system, with the difference that it is not based on the principle of pollution and purity, but on occupation.^[21]

Languages

The National Population and Housing Census of 2011 knows of 123 languages spoken in all of Nepal and lists:^[17]

• 3,092,530 Maithili speaking people (11.7% of Nepal's total population), of which 3,004,245 lived in the Terai;


• 1,584,958 Bhojpuri speaking people (5.98%), of which 1,542,333 lived in the Terai;


• 1,529,875 Tharu speaking people (5.77%), including 1,479,129 in the Terai;


• 793,418 Bajjika speaking people (2.99%), including 791,737 in the Terai;


• 691,546 speak Urdu (2.61%), including 671,851 in the Terai.

Muslim Madheshis speak Urdu primarily, but also Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Nepali and Maithili, depending on whether they live in the western, central or eastern Terai.^[22]

Religions

Religions practised in the Terai according to the National Population and Housing Census of 2011 are^[17]

• 
  Hinduism with 11,308,620 followers


• 
  Islam with 1,105,533 followers


• 
  Buddhism with 472,469 followers


• 
  Kirat with 190,458 followers


• 
  Christianity with 137,723 followers


• 
  Prakriti with 63,747 followers


• 
  Jainism with 2,169 followers


• 
  Bon with 1,379 followers, less than 900 Bahá'ís and less than 500 Sikhs.

The religious practices of the majority of Madheshi people are a mixture of orthodox Hinduism and animism.^[23]

Marriage system

Muslim Madheshis practise the traditional nikah marriage, which is recognised by law.^[10] Many practise endogamy.^[24]

Cuisine

In 1989, a study on food consumption pattern was conducted with 108 people in a village in Chitwan district. Results of this study showed that the people consumed seven food items on average. Rice constituted almost half of their daily food intake, supplemented by vegetables, potatoes, milk and dairy products. Less frequently they consumed meat, fish, eggs and fruit. About 13.7% of the total food intake of men was alcohol, whereas females consumed far less alcohol.^[25]

Maithili & Bhojpuri cuisine predominates in the eastern Terai, and Tharu cuisine among the Tharu people. Further west, the Muslim people around Nepalganj prepare Mughlai-influenced Awadhi food.^[26]

Fruit commonly grown in the Terai include mango, lychee, papaya, banana and jackfruit^[27].Taro root is an important crop, of which the leaves and roots are eaten^[28]. Sidhara is a mixture of taro root, dried fish and turmeric that is formed into cakes and dried for preservation. Freshwater snails are cleansed, boiled and spiced to make ghonghi^[26]. Immature rice is used to make a kind of gruel maar. Rice and lentil dumplings are called bagiya or dhikri. The cakes are broken up and cooked with radish, chili, garlic and spices to accompany boiled rice ^[26].

Tharu culture

Many Tharu people do not consider themselves as Madheshi, instead identify themselves as indigenous people of the Terai.^[5][29] They are resistant to malaria because of inherited alpha-thalassemia.^[30][31]
They are mainly involved in farming.^[32] They decorate their houses using only natural materials like clay, mud, dung and grass.^[33]

Some Tharus practice the badghar system and elect a village chief, whose task is to work for the welfare of the village.^[34]
Rana Tharus in the far-western Terai of Nepal traditionally live in longhouses with big families of many generations and pool their labour, income and expenditures.^[35]

Politics

Although democracy has been reinstated in Nepal, the Madheshi community has called for a more inclusive democracy as they are fearful of remaining an underprivileged group.^[36] Some Madheshi people want secession from Nepal and have formed various organisations and groups to help achieve this aim. For example, the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha is a separatist organisation founded in 2004 by Jay Krishna Goit with the aim of gaining independence for the Terai region from Nepal.^[37] Organisation members have been responsible for various acts of Terrorism including bombings and murders.^[38] Other armed outfits have appeared that also demand secession through violent means including the Terai Army, Madhesh Mukti Tigers and the Tharuwan National Liberation Front.^{[citation needed]} There is also a movement that is demanding the secession of the Madhesh region led by C. K. Raut, called the Alliance for Independent Madhesh.^[39][40]

The major Madheshi national political parties are:

• Madheshi Jana Adhikar Forum, Nepal^[41]
  


• Madheshi Youth Forum


• Madheshi Janadhikar Forum Madhesh


• United Democratic Madheshi Front

Indian influence in Nepal Terai

After the Nepalese Constituent Assembly election, 2008, Indian politicians kept on trying to secure strategic interests in the Nepal Terai, such as over hydropower energy, development projects, business and trade.^[42] By supporting the people of Madhesh who led 2015 Nepal blockade, India tried to dominate Nepal's internal politics and foment the conflict in the Nepal Terai.^[43]

See also

• Demographics of Nepal

References

Further reading

• Deepak Chaudhary. 2011. Tarai/Madhesh of Nepal; An Anthropological Study. Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar.