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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
he houses of Badis in Jamune Bazaar are organized in a cluster. A Badi man says that the clustered pattern is needed for deepening social relationships. At
times of sorrow or joy, at marriage or death, Badis need the company of their relatives. Badis were migratory in the past, and because they needed to settle by
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House of Badi.
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building huts or camping, they needed to be together. Another reason is that, others do not allow Badis to settle near them because of fear of their children
getting spoilt. hey also fear that the Badis will steal their fruits and vegetables. So Badis live near river or in caves together. In both Surkhet and Dang districts,
Badi houses face east. Badis consider east as an auspicious direction, while the west is considered the direction where funeral proceeds, the north is where the
demon opens his mouth. hey may, however, place the front door facing south.
2.5 Household Amenities
Badis are a very poor community. Most houses are made of stone and mud, with the roofs also made of mud. Some houses have tin roof or are roofed
with concrete, and some are thatched. A well-to-do Badi builds a big two-story rectangular house of brick and concrete. Most Badi houses are small and square
in shape. he height of the house is usually low. he height seems to depend on the number of family members and the economic condition. Due to migration,
Badis make houses often. An old Badi man who is fed-up with building houses, says he has lived in various places from caves to huts. He has seen his hut with
thatched roof burned to ashes. He has also made a house of stones and mud. He had roofed his house with tin plate, but last year the storm blew it away, and
now he has roofed it with slate.
Inside, the house is smeared and plastered with cow dung and mud. he walls are plastered with mud. here is no decoration whatsoever inside the house,
Household items of Badi.
whether the person is rich or poor. But on the day of Nag Puja, they paste a picture of a snake above the front door.
However small a house may be, it is usually two-storied. Usually, there are four rooms. One is a kitchen, one is a bedroom for the senior couple, one is room
for the son, and one is a cow shed for cattle. here is no distinction between a kitchen and a bedroom. Only a few utensils are seen in the square kitchen, and
there is not enough room for even two people to sit to eat.
hey have no blankets or beds in the bedrooms, which are very small. Most sleep on the loor. Sons get to sleep in a separate room. However, when guests come, the
son moves to his friend’s house to make room for them. he small size of the house is due to lack of land.
In some houses, Badis have placed religious lags and wooden idols in the eastern corner of the kitchen. Other houses do not have a shrine or altar.. Because Badis
were migratory, there dwellings did not have a room for worship. Even if they don’t workshop on a regular basis they believe in gods and goddesses. Badis do
not plant the
tulsi tree because they were not allowed to touch it. Nowadays as Badis have begun to settle permanently, they build a separate worship room in
their houses. Badi women who are married to high caste men worship tulsi but
they do not seem to have planted it. Table 2: Household Amenities
Ownership of house
Self-owned 3.95
No. of rooms used 3.94
Rooing
Cardboard 4.61 Cement 1.32 Tin 56.58 Tile 15.79 Thatched 21.71
materials
Plasic Zinc
Slate grass
Cooking
Electricity 0.00 LP Gas 0.66 Kerosene 0.00 Firewood 98.03 Straw 1.32
fuel
grass etc.
Source of Lighing Electricity 32.89 Solar 21.05
Kerosene 19.08 Batery lamp 20.39
Diyalo 6.58 Others 0.00
Household Assets
TV 24.34 Landline Telephone 0.00 Mobile Telephone 73.68 Motorbike 2.63 Carbustractortruck 0.00
Cycle 17.76 Computer 1.32
RickshawTanga 0.66
Animal ownership
CowOxOxenCalf 12269 Bufalos 35778 Pigs 7173
and approximate
ChickenDucks 1818 Yak 0.00 Goats 10471 Horse 50000
values Rs.
Source: NSIS Survey, 2012.
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CHAPTER III
History, Society and Culture
According to survey data, overall, only four percent of Badis own a house and four percent have been using separate rooms within the house. Most Badis
56.58 use tileslate on their roofs, whereas 21.71 percent use thatchgrass, and 4.61 use cardboardplastic. Regarding the use of cooking fuel, 98 percent of
Badis depend on irewood and only 0.66 percent use LP Gas. Similarly, only 33 percent of Badis use electricity as a source of lighting and 6.58 percent remain
dependant on
diyalo wood of pine tree. Around 24 percent have a TV, 73 percent have mobile phones, but most do not own means of transportation.
Concerning the ownership on domestic animals, Badis own all types of animals except for Yaks. Interestingly they possess horses more than other animals.
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3.1 History and Myth of the Origination of Badi
