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Chhetri, hakuri, Janajati, Madhesi and other Dalit castes. Badis who migrated from Salyan to Dang share this opinion. hey think that there are similarities
between them and the Banjaras of India. Singing and dancing is the traditional occupation of Badis. Music players are called
baadak and dances are called patra or
patri in Sanskrit. Badi leaders assume that the current words Badi and Patar are corruptions of these words. Nowadays the word
Patar means a prostitute, but in the past all Badi women were called
Patar prostitute.
2.3 History of Migration
According to a 40 year old Badi woman in Rakam VDC, ward no. 2, Surkhet, her ancestors came here from Jajarkot. She considers herself an ofspring of
a Budhathoki man, who came here about seven generations ago. In Jajarkot, one of her forefathers married a Badi woman. At that time, if a man married a
woman of low caste, his caste would be downgraded. As it was believed that if a person wanted to gain merit for the after life, they should expel such couples
to the other side of the Kaligandaki River, the woman’s forefather and his wife were expelled and came to Rukum. Later adopted the culture, occupation, and
lifestyle of the Badis. hey began to make
maadal, and danced to entertain. hey also started ishing. he Badis came to Salyan in the process of begging from
one village to the other. heir ancestors stayed for three generations in a place called Kafalpani. Here they learnt ishing and
maadal making. hey survived by singing and dancing at rich people’s homes. When property was distributed,
the woman’s grandfather got Rakam village. Because it was diicult to travel between Salyan and Rakam, her father migrated here. A major reason for
migration of Badis is inter-caste marriage. Badis of Surkhet and Dang reported that many of their ancestors were expelled from their villages because of this.
Finding ways of earning a living is another major reason for their migration.
Many Badis did not know the origin of their caste, history and ancestry, and their deities. Many reported that they were not told anything about these things.
Badis of Dang had migrated mostly from Malta, Sangkot, and Bhaluwang of Salyan. Although it cannot be deinitely said from where the Badis of Rakam
had migrated, it seems that they migrated from Jiktipur, Dhaiya, and Musikot of Jajarkot because they were driven away by villagers after high-caste men
married them. Badis of Dang consider Salyan their ancestral home and India Vaishali,
Lucknow, Gadwal as their place of origin, but Badis of Surkhet consider India as their place of origin. hey do not consider Salyan as ancestral territory. Badis
used to live six months in the hills and six months in the Terai, when some migrated due to fear of elites. = hey called the place they settled in the “new
territory.” Badis are known and named by others according to their place of origin. For example, a man who migrates from Kafalpani will be known to
others as Kafal Pani dai, one who has migrated from Dhaiya in Jajarkot as Dhaiyal, and one who has migrated from Gharigaon of Rukum as Gharigaunle.
heir settlements
toles are also named according to their place of origin. Most Badis consider their place of origin in Nepal as Salyan and Musikot. According
to a Badi scholar, who has been studying them, they are indigenous people and are descendants of angels of heaven.
2.4 House Types of Badi
