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Rai people
The Rai (Kirati: also known as Jimee or Khambu, Rāi; Devanagari: राई) are an ethnolinguistic group belonging to the Kirat family and primarily Sino-Tibetan linguistic ethnicity. They are indigenous to the eastern parts of Nepal, the Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal (predominantly Darjeeling and Kalimpong Hills) and in southwestern Bhutan.
The Rai, as a set of groups, are one of the oldest tribes of Nepal. They inhabited the area between the Dudh Koshi and Tamur River in Nepal.. Rai are also known as "Khambu" in some places. They are known for worshipping nature and ancestral spirits. Rai are one of the tribes of the Kirati group. They are popularly believed to have offered a stiff resistance to the invasion of the Gorkhas. Kiranti Rai are hill tribes who once possessed considerable power and territory but were reduced to submission by Prithvi Narayan Shah after his conquest of Nepal. Kirati rule in the eastern hills of Nepal ended after the conquest of the Gorkha Kingdom in 1772–1773.
Numbering about 750,000 , the Rai people mainly inhabit the eastern part of Nepal. Linguists have identified up to 28 different Rai languages, most of them mutually unintelligible.
Rai traditionally Inhabited districts of Eastern Nepal by linguistic groups are:
2011 Nepal census classifies the Rai people within the broader social group of Mountain/Hill Janajati. At the time of the Nepal census of 2011, 620,004 people (2.3% of the population of Nepal) were Rai. The frequency of Rai people by province was as follows:
The frequency of Rai people was higher than national average (2.3%) in the following districts:
Rai predominate in the Indian states of Sikkim, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Mirik and Dooars of West Bengal. Rai is the single largest ethnic community in Sikkim. Rai population is mostly found in the south, west and east of Sikkim. Large number of Rai people are also found living in Assam and other northeastern states of India, the Kingdom of Bhutan, while some have recently migrated to the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, the United States and other countries.
Rai tradition relates that the first of the ancestral Kirati entered Nepal's eastern hills through the Barahachhetra gorge of the Kosi Valley the natural gateway into the region through the Mahabharat Range, which separates the hilly hinterland from the plains. According to the Mundum, in oral history, Kirati ancestors came out of the "Khuwalung" and then followed the small river of the Saptakoshi. They journeyed through the Arun, Dudh Koshi, Sun Koshi and Tama Koshi and finally settled down in the Bhote Koshi valley.
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Rai people
The Rai (Kirati: also known as Jimee or Khambu, Rāi; Devanagari: राई) are an ethnolinguistic group belonging to the Kirat family and primarily Sino-Tibetan linguistic ethnicity. They are indigenous to the eastern parts of Nepal, the Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal (predominantly Darjeeling and Kalimpong Hills) and in southwestern Bhutan.
The Rai, as a set of groups, are one of the oldest tribes of Nepal. They inhabited the area between the Dudh Koshi and Tamur River in Nepal.. Rai are also known as "Khambu" in some places. They are known for worshipping nature and ancestral spirits. Rai are one of the tribes of the Kirati group. They are popularly believed to have offered a stiff resistance to the invasion of the Gorkhas. Kiranti Rai are hill tribes who once possessed considerable power and territory but were reduced to submission by Prithvi Narayan Shah after his conquest of Nepal. Kirati rule in the eastern hills of Nepal ended after the conquest of the Gorkha Kingdom in 1772–1773.
Numbering about 750,000 , the Rai people mainly inhabit the eastern part of Nepal. Linguists have identified up to 28 different Rai languages, most of them mutually unintelligible.
Rai traditionally Inhabited districts of Eastern Nepal by linguistic groups are:
2011 Nepal census classifies the Rai people within the broader social group of Mountain/Hill Janajati. At the time of the Nepal census of 2011, 620,004 people (2.3% of the population of Nepal) were Rai. The frequency of Rai people by province was as follows:
The frequency of Rai people was higher than national average (2.3%) in the following districts:
Rai predominate in the Indian states of Sikkim, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Mirik and Dooars of West Bengal. Rai is the single largest ethnic community in Sikkim. Rai population is mostly found in the south, west and east of Sikkim. Large number of Rai people are also found living in Assam and other northeastern states of India, the Kingdom of Bhutan, while some have recently migrated to the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, the United States and other countries.
Rai tradition relates that the first of the ancestral Kirati entered Nepal's eastern hills through the Barahachhetra gorge of the Kosi Valley the natural gateway into the region through the Mahabharat Range, which separates the hilly hinterland from the plains. According to the Mundum, in oral history, Kirati ancestors came out of the "Khuwalung" and then followed the small river of the Saptakoshi. They journeyed through the Arun, Dudh Koshi, Sun Koshi and Tama Koshi and finally settled down in the Bhote Koshi valley.