Tracing the origins of Gurung ( Origin of Magars of Nepal - V )

This valuable article published in www.thekathmandupost.com by Mahendra P Lama. 

"One of the most far-reaching initiatives has come from the Gurungs, who have always been at loggerheads with the ‘forced’ induction of their genealogy from the south and inclusion of their clans in the orthodox caste-based structure of char jata as ‘upper caste’ and Sora jata as ‘lower caste’. This Hindu hierarchical genealogy was imposed by the Shah rulers in the 15th century. Gurungs constitute 2 percent of Nepal’s population. In a doctoral degree thesis entitled Understanding the Ethnic History of Nepal: A Case Study of the Gurungs recently submitted to Sichuan University in China, Tek Bahadur Gurung fascinatingly finds the triangular zone consisting of the Kokonor and upper reaches of the Yellow River, Lokha area and southwest China as the actual place of origin of the Tamu Mai Gurungs in Nepal. These three angles had people with 26.63 percent Mongolian DNA; 14.9 percent Tibetan DNA and 34.3 percent Naxi/Yi DNA respectively.

Tek Gurung totally discards the wilful manipulation of the historico-geographical origin of Gurungs and the mythification of their history by artificially injecting a ‘divisive hierarchical genealogy’. This was made part of Tharagotrapravaravali in 1855 just one year after the implementation of Muluki Ain. His protracted efforts to substantiate archaeological investigation done in Nepal that provided valuable evidence for a northerly origin of Gurungs bore fruit only after he conducted sound scientific supporting evidence like DNA testing. He found the ‘Tibetan-Yi Corridor as a significant framework of migration for Gurungs as one of the Tibeto-Burman peoples’.

Gurung did something that social science scholars would generally hesitate to venture. He carried out a DNA analysis of eight Gurung persons for their ancestry compositions and then overlay these DNA results on the Tibetan-Yi Corridor to scientifically understand migratory origin of Gurungs. He concluded that 'their original village is most likely located around Kokonor which their mythology remember as Koko li mahrshyo'.

Oral traditions

Tracing the route of the migration, he concluded that 'their primaeval ancestors migrated southwards from the upper reaches of the Yellow River around eight thousand years ago. They reached the Yunnan area about six thousand years ago. Apparently, they reached the Tibet or Lhoka (shannan) area before one hundred BC. Finally, they reached the present parts of Nepal more than two thousand years ago and it seems most likely that they were already there at Kohla before the beginning of AD'. Tek Gurung traverses a continuum of discourse and formidable frontiers of interpretations and scholarly research. The oral traditions of Gurungs Pe Da Lhu Da and cosmological and cultural belief systems as collected in the Kerlo are very richly captured.

This new research finding will have definite repercussions on the collective repositioning of various indigenous ethnic communities in Nepal. Its cross-border connections in the entire Himalayan belt including Bhutan, Darjeeling, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and the north-eastern region of India will be of both local and regional significance. This will be a vital breakthrough instrument for the Gurungs in India who have been a highly potential and deserving community to be in the list of Scheduled Tribes. Both the offices of the Anthropological Survey and the Registrar General in India could use this new finding as determining input to show the medieval migratory character of this tribal group. For indigenous scholars in the Himalaya, Tej Gurung’s innovative research methodology and imaginative interpretation should bring a fresh puff of air in interdisciplinary research."

If you guys go through the article, researchers have tried to find out the origins of Gurung via DNA analysis. Since, Gurungs are very close to Magars this hold true for Magars too. 

Though, till now I couldn't find any article related to Magars of this kind. Hope someday some researchers might do DNA analysis on Magars too. 

But, it's also emphasis on the same thing which I have thought with my own analysis & which I have mentioned in earlier parts of "Origins of Magars of Nepal".

Though, we Magars might have migrated little before than Gurung, which is evident with the nomenclature of places, rivers etc. 

Finally, this chapter of "Magar Origin" seems almost close now, only a final stamp of DNA analysis will be a formality.