is much restricted. A distinction between Dangora and Rana Tharu is that the Dangora eat field rat and the Rana do not.
Tharu villages generally are quite independent of one another, not mixed with outside groups, and rarely with more than one clan of Tharu. Households are large with the extended family all the sons’
families all living in one house. Average household size is about ten, but households of up to fifty are not unheard of.
Until recently the Tharu had little competition for land, filled as it was with malaria and wild animals, but since 1947 they have had increasing competition. Sikhs fleeing the Punjab arrived and
began farming in the once dense jungle. Paharis came from the north seeking more prosperous farm land, and now make up 35–40 percent of the population of Nepal’s Tarai compared to around five
percent at the turn of the century Dahal 1992:18. With their weakness for alcohol, and their inexperience at dealing with other groups, the Tharu rapidly lost their land and had nothing to show for
it. In 1967 the Indian government declared the Tharu a Scheduled Tribe, which has provided some relief for them, but still today they are widely exploited by money-lender landlords.
The exploitation of the Tharu in the western Tarai of Nepal, according to Dahal 1992:17, extends beyond landlessness to a system of bonded labor known as kamaiya, in which a man’s debt passes on to
his sons, leading to generations bonded by debt to landlords and money-lenders. These landlords are not only Bahuns Brahmins and Chhetris, but also Tharus themselves.
Dahal 1992:17 suggests that the Tarai is simmering with discontent. Three groups compete for limited resources: the original inhabitants like the Tharu must now learn to coexist with those of “Indian
origin” and the Nepali highlanders. With regard to marriage pattern, the Tharu always marry within their own clan, but generally with
someone from outside their own village. The new couple takes up residence in the village of the groom. The average age of marriage is around fifteen Singh 1988:17.
1.2.3 Subgroups of Tharu
Outsiders generally view the Tharu as one homogeneous group, and refer to them as Tharu, or Tharuwa. The Tharu, however, recognize many different subgroups distinguished by clan, region, cultural
differences, and language. There are at least eight different clans, but the exact number is not known. Most Tharus interviewed in Nainital District knew that there were different clans of Tharu living much
farther to the east, but they did not know anything about them. There is little interaction between clans.
The main clans of Tharu are: 1 Rana, mostly in Nainital District; 2 Buksa Bukas, Bhuksa, Buxa, recognized as a separate Scheduled Tribe by the government of India, almost exclusively in Nainital
District; 3 Dangora Dangoria, Dangaria, Dangwaria, Dangra, probably the most numerically dominant clan, mostly in southwestern Nepal; 4 Kathoriya Tharu Katharya, Kateria, in the same general area as
the Dangora, but much smaller numerically; 5 Dang Tharu, in Dang-Deokri District of Nepal; and 6 Sunha, Kutchia, and Thakur, whose exact location in southwestern Nepal is not known.
Dangora and Kathoriya are closely related clans, reportedly divided on the fact that Dangora eat pork and Kathoriya do not Government of India 1878:502. Even today the Kathoriya will not allow the
Dangora to enter their kitchens.
1.2.4 Population
India The number of Tharu of all clans living in northern Uttar Pradesh is just over 115,000. Of these, an
estimated 20,000 are Buksa in Nainital and Bijnor Districts. Nearly 54,000 mostly Rana Tharu live in
Nainital District; approximately another 10,000 Rana are in Kheri and Pilibhit Districts. The remaining 31,000 Tharu in Uttar Pradesh. are mostly Dangora, but mixed with Kathoriya and possibly other clans.
3
Table 1 summarizes Tharu population by district in India. Literacy rates inclusive of all age groups are also included Government of India 1981.
Table 1. Population and literacy among Tharu in India District
Total Male
Female Male literacy Female literacy
Gonda 11,457
5,871 5,586
12.2 0.3
Kheri 17,789
9,301 8,488
8.6 0.7
Nainital 73,998
37,549 36,448
31.6 6.1
Pilibhit 273
138 135
1.1 0.7
Bahraich 6,340
3,270 3,070
7.9 0.6
Gorakhpur 2,303
1,230 1,073
43.3 7.7
Bijnor 3,647
1,968 1,679
19.5 1.8
Nepal Tharus naming Tharu as their mother tongue are listed in the Census of Nepal for 1981. No subdivisions
of Tharu are given. The Tharu-speaking population in the Western Tarai was 333,755 in 1981. Tharu- speaking populations east of Kapilbastu District most likely speak substantially different varieties of
Tharu and are not included in this number. The total Tharu-speaking population in Nepal in 1981 was 545,685, comprising 3.6 percent of the total national population. Because of immigration by other
groups, the Tharus are fast becoming a minority in an ethnically diverse Tarai; however, in districts like Kailali 47 percent, Bardiya 37 percent, and Dang 32 percent Tharus still comprise a significant
proportion of the population Government of Nepal 1984a, and Rajaure 1992:37. Map 4 shows the distribution of Tharu in Nepal according to the 1981 census.
1.3 Language
