Mythologies of the Kami Tribe

Kami is an Indo-Aryan Nepali speaking group that primarily worked as metalsmiths. Later Nepal abolished its grading system The tribal designation of Khas is given in some contexts. the Government of Nepal legally abolished the caste-system and criminalized any caste-based discrimination, including "untouchability" (the ostracism of a specific caste) - in the year 1963 A.D. With Nepal's step towards freedom and equality, Nepal, previously ruled by a Hindu monarchy was a Hindu nation which has now become a secular state, and on 28 May 2008, it was declared a republic, ending it as the Hindu Kingdom. In spite of being the important occupational caste and ethnic group whose metal craving arts are globally recognized but still struggling to be recognized as it is considered as the serving occupation.The most people of this caste group are in absolute poverty to raise the voice and educate themselves to be in a good position to find the history. So they are compelled to face the inhuman discrimination of society.Even though it is illegal to discriminate people based on their caste, these people are widely discriminated in Nepal. A large portion of people still discriminate Kami and other being suppressed castes. This problem is faced on rural areas as well in cities when it comes to marriage and building relation.Although it is not absolute truth as problems related to caste based discrimination are slowly coming to improvisation. The level in educated youth is not as same as before (case scenario of few decades ago) as many educated and thoughtful youth are fully aware that these problems are rooted not only in tradition and culture, but also religion. Caste based discrimination and violence are a grim reality of Nepali society with numerous people losing their lives due to racially motivated mobs. Both the Government and many other INGO are working hand-in-hand in order to uproot the problem by targeting grassroot issues such as education, awareness and employment.

The Kamis live mainly in Nepal, but also Bhutan, and the Indian states of West Bengal and Sikkim. A smaller number are scattered throughout other parts of India. The Kamis are a rural people known for metal working. They are divided into two groups: black smiths and gold, silver, and copper smiths. They supplement smithing with agricultural work. Many are bilingual, also speaking Hindi. In those areas, they engage in agriculture. Others serve as curers, who favor traditional medicines over the use of modern medicine. As a rule, Kamis are Hindus. They worship different Hindu deities, and they go on pilgrimage to Hindu sacred sites in Darjeeling, a region of West Bengal. Some have converted to Buddhism and other religions including Christianity. Many of these conversions are probably an attempt to escape discrimination brought on by Hinduism. Only about a third are literate in Nepali, their main language. They need better schools and medical facilities.

Kami are Indo-Aryan language speaking Hindu socio-ethnic caste group from Gorkha community mostly confined to the sub-Himalayan region in the state of West Bengal, and sporadically to the other states of India. They are essentially artisans involved in metalwork and makers of famous ‘Khukuri’ knives used by the Gorkha army. Besides, they are also involved in making traditional Nepali drum called ‘Madal’ and exponent of ‘Maruni Nritya’, a traditional folk dance. They are mostly monogamous however; polygamy was also evident in the past. Kami are classified into 54 exogamous clans and the marriage among the different clans is a common phenomenon [7]. However, the marriage with other populations within and outside the Gorkha community is rare. According to 2011 census Kami population is about 52,178 in West Bengal. Very little is known about the origin of Kami population. However, it has been mentioned that predecessors of Kami have emigrated from different places of India such as Punjab, Rajputana, Kashmir and neighbouring places between 10th and 15th Centuries AD to Nepal. The 158 individuals belonging to Kami population were recruited from Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri district of sub-Himalayan West Bengal, India. After explaining the study procedure, written consent was taken from the individuals for voluntarily donating their blood samples and participation in the study. The three-generation pedigree charts were prepared for each individual to assure their unrelatedness, and those having the history of inter-caste marriage within the studied pedigree were excluded.

Kamma is a largely Hindu caste from South India. The community of Kammas is believed to have originated from agriculturists of the Kammanadu region of the erstwhile Guntur district and Ongole division in Andhra Pradesh. Propelled by their military activity in the Vijayanagara Empire, Kammas are believed to have spread out from the region during the Vijayanagara period, followed by some in-migration during the British period and out-migration again during the twentieth century. Today they are regarded as the richest group in Andhra Prades and are a dominant caste from Coastal Andhra with socio-economic and political prominence throughout the Telugu-speaking regions of India (the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana). They also have a notable, albeit smaller, presence in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. In recent times, a sizeable number of Kammas have migrated to the United States. As the people of the region migrated to other parts, they were often referred to as the Kamma community (kamma-kula). Terms such as kamma-brahmana, kamma-komati, kamma-sreshti and kamma-kapu are attested in inscriptions as descriptions of people. The migration was apparently quite extensive, and was made by possible by the Kammanadu's strategic location with access to the Deccan plateau as well as to the regions in the south and southwest. By 1872, only one-fourth of their total population was living in the original region. But the migrants retained links to the homeland and returned to it whenever the situation was favourable.