Mythologies of the Madhesi Tribe
Tht Madheshi tribe (Nepali: मधेशी) is a term used for several ethnic groups in Nepal living in the Terai region of Nepal. It has also been used as a political pejorative term by the Pahari people of Nepal to refer to Nepalis with a non-Nepali languageas their mother tongue, regardless of their place of birth or residence. The term Madheshi became a widely recognised name for Nepali citizens with an Indian cultural background only after 1990. Madheshi people comprise various cultural groups such as Hindu caste groups, Muslims, Marwaris, Brahmin and Dalitpeople, ethnic groups like Maithils, Bhojpuri, Awadhi and Bajjika speaking people and indigenous people of the Terai. Many of these groups share cultural traditions, educational and family ties with people living south of the international border in the Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradeshand West Bengal. Tharu people and Pahari people living in the Terai do not consider themselves as Madheshi. The word madhesh is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit madhya desh (मध्य देश), literally the middle country, which refers to "the central region, the country lying between the Himalaya and the Vindhya Range". However, in the context of Nepal, Madhesh refers to the Madhesh Province in the Nepal Terai located south of the Siwalik Hills.
The Madheshi are an ethnolinguistic nation primarily residing in the Terai region of southern Nepal, along the border with India. This diverse cultural identity includes Maithil, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, and other linguistic communities who have deep historical roots in the plains. Traditionally agrarian, the Madheshi maintain strong familial, cultural, and economic ties across the India-Nepal border. Despite being long-established residents of Nepal, they have often been portrayed as outsiders in national narratives, a framing that has fueled political marginalization. For decades, the Madheshi have faced systemic exclusion in Nepal’s political, bureaucratic, and military institutions. Discriminatory citizenship laws have particularly impacted Madheshi women who marry Indian nationals, limiting rights for their children. Electoral boundaries have historically been drawn to dilute Madheshi political representation, while state policies and media often stereotype the community as disloyal or foreign. These injustices culminated in major protests following Nepal’s 2015 constitution, which was criticized for failing to address Madheshi demands for federal autonomy and equal rights.
The Madhesi community comprise over two-thirds of Nepal’s total population. It’s a diverse ethnic group as there are over five languages – Maithili, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Urdu, Hindi – spoken in the Terai region, and Madhesi are identified by the language they speak as their mother tongue, not by the geographical location where they were born in or where they live in the country. Similarly, they constitute Hindus, Sikha, indigenous Janjati ethnic groups, other native tribes and Muslims. Humans create borders and boundaries, and initially, they were used to delimit the territorial possessions of sovereign states. So, borders played a crucial role in forming the nationalist agenda and developing nation-states. However, international borders cannot divide the culture (ethnicity, language, and religion). Borderland communities of southern Nepal and Northern India are the perfect examples of this unity. However, this shared ethnicity has been the core reason for the social exclusion of Nepal’s Madhesi community, who have been treated as outsiders in their own country. Therefore, while discussing the borders, we also need to reflect on the invisible soft borders created based on language, culture, gender, and race… in our societies and how crucial these invisible borders play in social marginalization and exclusion of certain groups over others.
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