Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0038/00385.txt

Text File | 1991-06-24 | 22KB | 385 lines

$Unique_ID{COW00385}
$Pretitle{235A}
$Title{Bhutan
Chapter 3.    The People}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{George L. Harris}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{bhote
bhutanese
land
dzong
bhutan
small
india
country
power
trade}
$Date{1973}
$Log{}
Country:     Bhutan
Book:        Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, An Area Study: Bhutan
Author:      George L. Harris
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1973

Chapter 3.    The People

     The ethnic composition of the population is uncertain. It probably
includes, besides the Bhote majority and a large number of Nepalese, a few
Indians of various castes and at least two tribal groups, the Lepcha, an
indigenous people, and the Santal, whose forebears migrated from the northern
part of India's Bihar State.

     Because much of the northern area is uninhabitable, the population is
distributed mainly along the country's southern border and in the high valleys
to the north, particularly those near the western end of the east-west lateral
route (see fig. 22). In the broad mountainous region the Bhote are
predominant, where as the southern strip contains an ethnically mixed
population, among whom Nepalese settlers predominate.

     At least two-thirds of the population speaks one or another of a variety
of Tibetan dialects, among which there is presumably a high degree of mutual
intelligibility. The written language is identical with Tibetan. One of the
most widely spoken dialects-probably Den-jong-ke-is Bhutan's language of
administration and education. The only minority languages of much importance
are Nepali, spoken by the Nepalese settlers, and Bengali and Hindi near the
Indian border. The use of Rong-ke is confined to the Lepcha, and the Munda
tongue of the Santal is rarely heard. To what extent the native speakers of
any of these tongues are able to use any of the Tibetan dialects in their
limited contacts with the Bhote is not known. A number of educated Bhote have
a good knowledge of Hindi or English, both of which are taught in the schools.

     The various Bhote communities within Bhutan appear to comprise a
relatively homogeneous group, generally similar in physical type and sharing a
common heritage of culture, language and religion. They do not differ greatly
from related groups within and outside the country, although minor variations
in material culture and appearance distinguish those of the eastern and
western parts of the country; the former have their closest affinities with
the Bhote Monpa and Sherdukpen of the North East Frontier Agency, the latter
with Bhote in the Chumbi Valley of Tibet and Sikkim.

     The Nepalese minority is made up largely of Rai, Gurung and Limbu; some
are members of strongly Indian-influenced groups, such as the Dhimal and Tharu
(Mechi subgroup), and there are probably also small numbers of Pahari of the
Brahman and Chetri castes. There is little or no assimilation of this group by
the Bhote. Further Nepalese immigration has been prohibited since 1959; since
then those already settled in Bhutan, although given citizenship, have been
forbidden to move from the southern frontier area, where land has become
extremely scarce, to points farther north, a policy which they bitterly
resent.

     The communities of Bhote agriculturalists in the central mountain region
usually consist of a number of small hamlets and isolated homesteads.
Individual settlements are separated from one another by formidable barriers
of terrain, and journeys between them are always arduous and sometimes
dangerous. The distances can be covered only on foot or with pack animals on
the steep, rocky trails, which are usually narrow.

     In the ethnically mixed region along the southern border, places of
settlement are considerably more accessible to one another. The Nepalese live
in communities that are more clustered and compact than those of the Bhote,
and their homes are usually of less substantial construction than the
whitewashed masonry and solid wooden structures typical farther north.

     Regardless of their ethnic origins, virtually all Bhutanese are
patrilineally organized and, as in Sikkim, frequently found in extended family
households, although the nuclear family (a man, his wife and their children)
is the most common form.

     Among the Bhote, monogamy is the prevalent form of marriage. Formerly,
polyandry and more rarely polygyny were also found, but the Maharaja has
recently forbidden polyandry and restricted the number of wives in polygynous
marriages to a maximum of three. A man must now obtain the permission of his
first wife in order to take additional wives; if she is unwilling to accept
co-wives, she is free to seek a divorce and obtain separate maintenance or
alimony from the husband.

     Bhote marriage arrangements include both bride service and bride-price.
Since bride service must be rendered by the man to his father-in-law, he
normally moves into his wife's household for a period before establishing his
own independent household. Occasionally, the young couple may live separately
in their own household, the man going daily to work in his father-in-law's
fields. The bride-price (usually large) and a dowry are exchanged later,
usually after the couple has been living together for about a year.

Religion

     Approximately 75 percent of the population, including all the Bhote, are
Buddhists. The remainder, made up principally of Nepalese and a few Indians,
are Hindus, who may be presumed to have retained the popular beliefs and
practices of their caste or ethnic group in the area from which they trace
their origins.

     Buddhism, a dominant force in the national life, is the state religion.
Religious as well as secular authority is vested in the maharaja, and the
clergy exercises a powerful influence on national affairs. A lessening of the
power of the monasteries is almost inextricably bound up with the
modernization process, a circumstance which has caused some alarm among the
lamas. However, the pace of change has not been rapid enough as yet to bring
the clergy into serious conflict with the forward-looking elite.

     There are said to be eight major monasteries (which are also dzong) and
nearly 200 minor small shrines (gompa) scattered throughout the country. Some
of the large monasteries, Tashi Chho Dzong at Thimbu for instance, reportedly
are used exclusively as lamaseries and may house several hundred priests; the
small shrines are used for worship by lamas and lay persons living in the
surrounding area.

     The monks and clerics of Bhutan-numbering 4,000 to 5,000-belong to the
Drukpa branch of the Kagyutpa, one of the so-called "Red Hat" orders of
Tibetan Buddhism. In education they range from the many illiterates to the few
who are highly learned men.

     The popular attitude toward the clergy is one of respect. Contributions
toward their support are freely given, not only because almsgiving is one of
the most important means of gaining merit, but also because the services of
the lamas are regarded as essential in important life-cycle ceremonies,
particularly in reciting scriptural text (sutras) at weddings and conducting
funeral rites. The lamas also perform important subsidiary activities such as
treating certain types of illnesses, presiding at private religious services,
casting horoscopes, teaching the doctrine to those requesting it and
performing in the masked dances which correspond to the morality plays of
medieval Europe.

     Elements of shamanism in the Tibetan form of Bon have become deeply bound
up with popular Buddhism as it is practiced in Bhutan. Although the villager
usually sees no conflict between formal Buddhist doctrine and practice and
retained folk belief, in recent years some of the Buddhist clergy have begun
to denounce shamanistic practices particularly witchcraft, as being
essentially alien to Buddhism.

     Traditionally, the dzong have been the centers of artistic and
intellectual life and their construction, ornamentation and upkeep have
a