Bahun

Bahun (Nepali: बाहुन) or Khas Brahmin[2] (Nepali: खस ब्राह्मण) is a caste (Varna) among Khas people, whose origins are from Indo-Aryans of Nepal. According to the 2011 Nepal census, Bahun is the second most populous group after Chhetri in Nepal.[1]

Bahun/Khas Brahmin

बाहुन/खस ब्राह्मण
Total population
3,226,903 (12.2% of Nepal's population)[1] (2011, census)
Regions with significant populations
Nepal
Languages
Nepali (Khas Kura)
Religion
Hinduism (approx. all)
Related ethnic groups
Khas people, Chhetri, Kumaoni people, Garhwali people

According to 1854 Muluki Ain (Nepalese Legal Code), Bahuns were regarded as caste among sacred thread bearers (Tagadhari) and twice-born Hindus.[3]

A Bahun (Brahmin) man at the Bratabandha ceremony in Nepal

Origin[4]

Traditionally, Bahuns were members of the Khas community together with Chhetris (Khas Kshatriyas).[2] Possibly due to political power of the Khasa Malla kingdom, Khas Bahun and Khas Rajput (Chhetris) had high social status as indigenous plain Brahmins and Rajputs in the present-day western Nepal.[2] Bahuns, regarded as upper class Khas group together with Chhetri, were associated mostly with the Gorkha Kingdom.[5] Bahun (with Chhetri) are referred with tribal designation of Khas in most of the context than lower occupational castes like Kami, Sarki etc.[5]

Clans and surnames

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 Kumai Bahun.[6] Kumai or Kumain is a direct derivative of Kumaoni, meaning residents of Kumaon.[6] Some of the surnames of Bahun are Acharya, Adhikari, Bhandari, Bhatta, Bhattarai, Chalise, Chaulagain, Chapagain, Devkota, Dhakal, Dhungana, Dhungel, Ghimire, Guragain, Gyawali, Kafle, Katuwal, Khatiwada, Khanal, Koirala, Lamichhane, Lohani, Mainali, Nepal, Neupane, Niraula, Pandey, Panta, Parajuli, Pathak, Pokharel, Poudel, Prasai, Regmi, Rijal, Sapkota, Sigdel, Silwal, Sitaula, Subedi, Timilsina and Upreti.

Demography

According to the 2011 Nepal census, Bahuns (referred as Hill-Brahmin) are the second most populous group after Chhetri with 12.2% of Nepal's population (or 32,26,903 people).[7] Bahun are the second largest Hindu group with a population of 3,212,704 (99.6% of Bahuns).[7] 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%), Syangja (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%).[7]

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. Chhetris represent 5.6 times in civil services to their percentage of population, which is the highest in Nepal.[8] As per the Public Service Commission, Brahmins (33.3%) and Chhetris (20.01%) were two largest caste group to obtain governmental jobs in F.Y. 2017-18 even though 45% governmental seats are reserved for women, Madhesis, lower caste and tribes, people with disability and those from the backward regions.[9] 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.[10]

Brahmanbaad

Bahunbaad along with Bahun-Chhetri phenomenon has been dubbed as sociopolitical dominance of Khas-Pahades in Nepal. This dominance has emerged a critical condition for Bahun and Chhetri males for depriving of opportunities due to quota and reservation for other castes.[11] Former Prime Minister of Nepal, Baburam Bhattarai, also a Bahun, had argued that Khas Arya dominate 80% institutions in Nepal and meritocratic system should not be introduced in Nepal. Opposingly, it is widely known that the Bahun-Chhetri dominance was based on formal legal system and the guilt of state capture is targeted by quota-reservation supporters.[12] The European Union mission in Kathmandu also suggested the Nepalese government to deny Khas Aryas their proportional representation election quota.[13]

Notable people

• Ranga Nath Poudyal[14]
• Krishna Prasad Koirala and Koirala family[15]
• Matrika Prasad Koirala[15]
• Tanka Prasad Acharya[16]
• Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala[15]
• Girija Prasad Koirala[15]
• Krishna Prasad Bhattarai[17]
• Man Mohan Adhikari[18]
• Prachanda[19][20]
• Madhav Kumar Nepal[21]
• Baburam Bhattarai[22]
• Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli[23][24]
• Nikhil Upreti

See also

• Caste system in Nepal
• Varna (Hinduism)

References

1. "Nepal Census 2011" (PDF).
2. John T Hitchcock 1978, pp. 116-119.
3. Sherchan 2001, p. 14.
4. https://www.britannica.com/place/Nepal/The-people
5. Whelpton 2005, p. 31.
6. Subba 1989, p. 30. sfn error: no target: CITEREFSubba1989 (help)
7. "Nepal Census 2011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-09-18. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
8. Dhakal, Amit (11 June 2014). "निजामती सेवामा सबैभन्दा बढी प्रतिनिधित्व राजपूत, कायस्थ र तराई ब्राम्हण". Setopati. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
9. https://kathmandupost.com/miscellaneous/2018/10/16/brahmins-and-chhetris-land-most-government-jobs
10. https://kathmandupost.com/national/2019/11/12/brahmins-and-chhetris-continue-to-dominate-entry-into-civil-service
11. Aryal, Trailokya Raj (24 May 2017). "The Bahun narrative". Myrepublica. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
12. Khadka, Suman (25 Feb 2015). "Drawing caste lines". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
13. "The Kathmandu Post -PM briefs international community". kathmandupost.ekantipur.com. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
14. Raj, Prakash A. (2006). Dancing Democracy: The power of a Third Eye. Rupa & Company. ISBN 9788129109460.
15. "Girija Prasad Koirala: The architect of democracy in Nepal". Dawn. 23 March 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
16. Westminster legacies. UNSW Press. 2005. ISBN 978-0-86840-848-4. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
17. "Flight of a free bird". My Republica. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
18. Goldenberg, Suzanne (4 May 1999). "Man Mohan Adhikari". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
19. "CPN Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal elected as 39th Prime Minister of Nepal". Xinhuanet. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
20. "Prachanda elected Prime Minister of Nepal". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
21. "CPN-UML Comrades Apart". Spotlight Nepal Magazine. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
22. "Caste no bar". Nepali Times. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
23. "The Original Maoist". Nepali Times. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
24. "KP Sharma Oli-why Nepal's new PM isn't the right man for the job". catchnews.com. Retrieved 2017-12-13.

Bibliography

• Dor Bahadur Bista (1991). Fatalism and Development: Nepal's Struggle for Modernization. Orient Blackswan. ISBN 978-81-250-0188-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Subba, Tanka Bahadur (1989). Dynamics of a hill society: Nepalis in Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas. Mittal Publications. ISBN 9788173041143.
• John T Hitchcock (1978). "An Additional Perspective on the Nepali Caste System". In James F. Fisher (ed.). Himalayan Anthropology: The Indo-Tibetan Interface. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-90-279-7700-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Richard Burghart (1984). "The Formation of the Concept of Nation-State in Nepal". The Journal of Asian Studies. 44 (1): 101–125. doi:10.2307/2056748. JSTOR 2056748.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Whelpton, John (2005). A History of Nepal. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521804707.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Sherchan, Sanjay (2001). Democracy, pluralism and Change: An Inquiry into Nepalese context. Chhye Pahhuppe. ISBN 9789993354390.
• Nepala Rajakiya Pragya Pratisthana (2001). Journal of Nepalese Literature, Art and Culture. 4. Nepal: Royal Nepal Academy.