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Friday 31 January 2014
Complex Ethnography of Sikkim
Among the Indian states, Sikkim represents complex
ethnographic composition. In 1642 AD when Namgyal dynasty came into existence,
Sikkim was represented by the popular Tibetan phrase ‘Lho-Men-Tsong-Sum’, the three aboriginal people of the newly
emerged Himalayan kingdom (Chaudhury, 2006, pp. 23-26). The ‘Lho’ ‘southern’ refers to the Bhutias
who settled in the southern part of Tibet i,e. Sikkim and Bhutan, ‘Men’ ‘foothills’ refers to the Lepchas
inhabiting the lower slopes of the
eastern Himalayas and ‘Tsong’ refers
to the Limboos who are believed to have migrated originally from Tsong one of
the central province of Tibet (Sprigg, 1999, p.
VI).
According to Richard Temple
the total population of Sikkim during the seventies of the 19th
century was very small, about 5000. Out of which 2500 were Lepchas, 1500
Bhutias and 1000 Limboos (Sengupta, 1985, p. 27). But ethno-demographic
structure of Sikkim appeared to be more complex and diversified in 1890s when H
H Risley the British Officer conducted the first population census in 1891 on
Sikkim dividing the whole demography of Sikkim on the basis of caste and race.
Risley had listed more than 14 communities with the total population of 30458.
Of which 5762 were Lepchas, 4894 Bhutias, 3356 Limboos, 2921 Gurungs, 2867
Murmis, 2020 Rais Jimdar, 1963 Khambus, 1670 Kamis, 1414 Brahmins, 829
Chettris, 901 Mangers, 727 Newars, 326 Slavess, 287 Dorjis and 521
miscellaneous including troops. The table below indicates the composition of
demography of Sikkim in the early 1890s.
Linguistic and Religious Minorities of Sikkim
Linguistic
and Religious Minorities of Sikkim
Sikkim, a tiny Himalayan
state of the Indian Union, is a multi-ethnic society inhabited by different
ethnic communities belonging to different racial and linguistic groups. There
are more than 25 different tribes and communities and more than 13 different languages
belonging to different linguistic stock are spoken in the state. There is an
age-old co-existence of different religions such as Yumaism, Buddhism,
Hinduism, Christianity etc. and faith and belief system among the different
ethnic groups.
Of these different tribes and communities of Sikkim, ‘Lho-Men-Tsong-Sum’ Bhutia, Lepcha and Limboo, three indigenous
communities constitute both linguistic and religious minorities in Sikkim.
According to Thapa (2002, p.33) until 1951, there were 39397 (28.70%) Buddhist
and 15991 (11.65%) Limboo Yumanist. Rest, 81872 (59.64%) of the total
population of Sikkim were Hindus. While the census of 1981 affiliated to the
language, records 192891 (62.57%) Nepali speakers while 22391 (7.26%), 21548
(6.9%) and 17922 (5.8%) the Lepcha, Bhutia and Limboo speakers respectively
(Singh, 1993, pp. 10-11). According to the Census of India, 1991 out of 406457
total population of Sikkim, 256418 (63.08%) were the speakers of Nepali
language. Meanwhile Bhutia, Lepcha and Limboo speakers recorded only 32593
(8.01%), 29854 (7.34%) and 28174 (6.93%) respectively which constituted 36.93%.
The census of 2001 also records 390170 (72.14%) Nepali speakers of the 540851
total population of Sikkim and on the other, Bhutia, Lepcha and Limboo speakers
constituted 41825 (7.19%), 35728 (6.14%) and 34292 (5.89%) of the total
population of Sikkim respectively. On
the basis of religious and linguistic aspects; Limboo, Lepcha and Bhutia
constituted the linguistic and religious minorities of Sikkim.
Thursday 30 January 2014
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