Mythologies of the Bahun Tribe
Kumain Bahun (Nepali: कुमाइँ बाहुन) or Kumai Bahun is the subcaste of the Nepali Khas Brahmins who had origins in Kumaon region of present day Uttarakhand state in India. Kumain Bahuns literally derive from the Kumaon region meaning residents of Kumaon. The terminology "Kumai" or "Kumain" is a direct derivative of adjective "Kumaoni", meaning residents of Kumaon region. Bahuns were divided into two subcastes based on their location. The Bahun people who lived to the west of the Mahakali river and had origins in the Kumaon region were known as Kumain Bahun. The Bahun people who lived to the east of the Mahakali river were known as Purbiya (or Purbia) Bahun meaning "Eastern Bahun". Later Kumain Bahuns were found to have migrated into the territory of the Karnali region. However, the Bahuns are divided into three subcastes in terms of practice; the three groups are "Purbiya", "Kumain" and "Jaisi".
Bahun (Khas Brahmin) (Nepali: बाहुन) are group of people belonging to Brahmin caste in Khas group, an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group. Generally, the Parvate/Pahari (hilly) Brahmins are called as Bahuns or Khas Bahuns. Bahuns mainly served as priests, teachers and astrologers as per their caste. Bahuns were able to hold government offices, administration and politics. According to 1854 Muluki Ain (Legal Code) of Nepal, Bahuns belong to sacred thread bearers (Yagyopavit) and twice born (Dvija) Hindus.
Bahuns or hill brahmins originated from the Indo-Aryan Khasa tribe of Nepal and South Asia. Bahuns were members of the Khas community together with Chhetris and Hill Dalits. Due to the political power of the Khasa Malla kingdom, Khas Bahun and Khas Rajput had high social status like plain Brahmins and Rajputs in present-day western Nepal. So let us know more about the caste and the people who have dominated Nepalese politics for so long and are both respected and hated by the Nepalese population.
Bahuns were divided into two clans on the basis of residency. The Bahun residents east of Mahakali river were known as Purbiya Bahun and west of the river were known as Kumain Bahun Kumain is a direct derivative of Kumaoni, meaning residents of Kumaon. Some of the surnames of Bahun are Adhikari, Dahal, Kafle, Prasai, Panta, Koirala, Oli, Acharya, Khanal, Bhattarai, Rijal, Ghimire, etc. Bahuns have the highest civil service representation with 39.2% of Nepal's bureaucracy while having only 12.1% of Nepal's total population. The civil service representation to population ratio is 3.2 times for Bahuns which is fourth in Nepal. Kshetris represent 5.6 times in civil services to their percentage of population, which is the highest in Nepal. As per the Public Service Commission of Nepal, Brahmins (33.3%) and Chhetris (20.01%) were two largest caste group to obtain governmental jobs in the fiscal year 2017-18 even though 45% governmental seats are reserved for women, Madhesis, lower caste and tribes, people with disability and those from the backward regions. Similarly, in the fiscal 2018-19, Bahuns (34.87%) and Chhetris (19.63%) maintained 55% of their proportion in civil service as per Public Service Commission.
Bahun is a colloquial Nepali term for a member of the Pahari or "hill" Brahmin (ब्राह्मण) caste, who are traditionally educators, scholars and priests of Hinduism. They are also known as Barmu in Newari. Brahmins are the second largest caste group in Nepal (31% of the population), with the Chhetri (Kshatriya) being the first (42%). Brahmins were inhabitants of Nepal in prehistoric times. The Brahmin community is the major part of the indigenous Khas community of Nepal. They moved eastward along Xinjiang province of China, Western Tibet, the Himalayan foothills from Kashmir and Kumao/Garwal. They settled first in the Karnali River basin, then the Gandaki and finally the Kosi basin and into Sikkim and Bhutan. Very often, Khas Bahuns can be identified by their middle names being Dev (देव), Nath (नाथ), Mani (मणि), Raj (राज), Prasad (प्रसाद), Devi (देवी) or Kumari (कुमारी). They never use bahadur (बहादुर) in their names because it is associated mainly with Chhetris (Kshatriya) and "martial tribes".
Certainly, the Bahuns of Nepal have no monopoly on saintliness, despite their claims to religiosity and higher learning. Likemembers of any other group,Bahuns have their share of ills and shortcomings along the lines of which they have been stereotyped. While this stereotyping, too, in itself is not unexpected, the increasingly shrill anti-Bahun pronouncements by some in the ethnic leadership can have far-reaching implications, including the undermining of the very concept of the Nepali State, its unity and integrity. If this process of uncritical lambasting continues toits natural denouement, today´s Bahun-bashing—for what it means to the notion of Nepal — will harm all population groups of the country, regardless of class, place of origin, religion or ethnicity.
According to the 2011 Nepal census, Bahuns (referred as Hill-Brahmin) are the second most populous group after Khas Chhetri with 12.2% of Nepal's population (or 3,226,903 people). Bahun are the second largest Hindu group in Nepal with a population of 3,212,704 (99.6% of Bahuns). Bahuns are the largest group in 15 districts in Nepal: Jhapa, Morang, Kathmandu, Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Kaski, Syangja, Parbat, Gulmi and Arghakhanchi. Among these, Bahuns in Parbat (35.7%), Arghakhanchi (32.8%), Dhading (30.9%), Chitwan (28.6%), Kaski (27.8%) and Gulmi (25.2%) consist more than 25% of the district population. Kathmandu has largest Bahun population with 410,126 people (23.5%). Bahuns have the highest civil service representation with 39.2% of Nepal's bureaucracy while having only 12.1% of Nepal's total population. The civil service representation to population ratio is 3.2 times for Bahuns which is fourth in Nepal. khas/Chhetris represent 1.6 times in civil services to their percentage of population, which is the highest in Nepal. As per the Public Service Commission, Brahmins (33.3%) and Chhetris (15.01%) were two largest caste group to obtain governmental jobs in F.Y. 2017-18 even though 45% governmental seats are reserved for women, Madhesis, other caste and Tibetan tribes, people with disability and those from the backward regions. Similarly, in the fiscal 2018–19, Bahuns (24.87%) and Chhetris (9.63%) maintained 35% of their proportion in civil service as per Public Service Commission.
Bahun (बाहुन) is one of the ethnic group in Nepal. The word Bahun is a colloquial word for Nepali hills Brahmana (ब्राह्मण). Its translated as Brahmin in English. In Nepal, there are also two other small Brahman groups. Newar and Madheshi people also have their own Brahmin caste. Literally, Sanskrit world Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) means the ultimate reality which does not change at and beyond the world. Whereas Brahmin (ब्राह्मण) is a person who understands ultimate reality and the god. It is said that in the ancient Hindu Varna System (हिन्दू वर्ण व्यवस्था) people used to be categorized into different caste according to their personal characteristics, conduct, and spiritual development. Brahmins were expected to be intellectual, civilized, and elegant. All intellectuals, teachers, priests, scientists, philosophers who have such qualities used to be categorized as Brahmin. But when Verna System changed into Caste System (जति प्रथा) everything messed up. In the caste system, people are categorized according to their birth, not by their character.
In a small Bahun village in Gorkha district, West Nepal, in only one generation, there has been a huge shift to educating young women and including them in modernity. Ideologies of ‘gender equality’ in education that are promoted in development programs and discourse, and in Maoist rhetoric, have been powerful drivers behind this. In this paper I highlight the gender and generational dynamics of the changing relationship of women to education in Nepal. I argue that the move to educating women is not a simple one, nor is it necessarily a development success story. The importance placed on educating the younger generation, including women, is also very much tied to local Bahun culture, marriage values and status. Bahun villagers of Ludigaun place great importance on both education and marriage. When combined, I argue, education has in fact become dowry. While there have been transformations in education and other modernising processes, as well as in dowry practices, in this paper I show that they have come to maintain traditional hierarchies and to support the status making of the educated Bahun man.
Bahun (Nepali: बाहुन) or Khas Brahmin (Nepali: खस ब्राह्मण) is a caste (Varna) among Khas people of Nepal. Their origins are from the Indo-Aryan Khasa tribe of Nepal and South Asia. According to the 2011 Nepal census, Bahun is the second most populous group after Chhetri, another Varna within the hill Hindus in Nepal. According to 1854 Muluki Ain (Nepalese Legal Code), Bahuns were regarded as caste among sacred thread bearers (Tagadhari) and twice-born Hindus.
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