Kirat vs Hinduism IV

There is an excellent article by "Windy Doniger" in her book "The Hindus - An alternative story' on Lord Shiva

This article itself says lot of things.

"                                 THE RISE OF SECTARIAN HINDUISM

Despite (or because of) the rise of Buddhism in this period, both Vedic sacrificers and
members of the evolving Hindu sects of Vaishnavas and Shaivas (worshipers of Vishnu and
Shiva) found new sponsors among the ruling families and court circles.20 The keystone for the Brahmin establishment was the new economic power of temple cities.21 From about 500 BCE, kings still performed Vedic sacrifices to legitimize their kingship,22 but the sectarian worship of particular deities began partially to replace Vedic sacrifice.23 As the gods of the Vedic pantheon (Indra, Soma, Agni) faded into the background, Vishnu and Rudra/Shiva, who had played small roles in the Vedas, attracted more and more worshipers. Throughout the Ramayana and Mahabharata, we encounter people who say they worship a particular god, which is the start of sects and therefore of sectarianism.

Pilgrimage and puja are the main forms of worship at this time. Pilgrimage is described at
length in the Mahabharata, particularly but not only in the “Tour of the Sacred Tirthas”
(3.80-140). Sacred fords (tirthas) are shrines where one can simultaneously cross over (which is what tirtha means) the river and the perils of the world of rebirth. As in Ashoka’s edicts, the “conquest of the four corners of the earth” (dig-vijaya), originally a martial image, is now applied to a grand tour of pilgrimage to many shrines, circling the world (India), always to the right. Puja (from the Dravidian pu [“flower”])24 consisted of making an offering to an image of a god (flowers, fruits, sometimes rice), and/or moving a lamp through the air in a circular pattern, walking around the god, and reciting prayers, such as a litany of the names of the god. Krishna in the Bhagavad Gitafa says that pious people offer him a leaf or flower or fruit or water (9.26). Sometimes the image of the god is bathed and dressed, and often the remains of the food that has been offered to the god is then distributed to the worshipers as the god’s “favor” or “grace” (prasada), a relic of the leftovers (ucchishta) from the Vedic sacrifice.

There is rich evidence of the rise of the sectarian gods. The Mahabharata includes a
Hymn of the Thousand Names of Shiva (13.17), and in 150 BCE Patanjali, the author of the
highly influential Yoga Sutras, foundational for the Yoga school of philosophy, mentions a
worshiper of Shiva who wore animal skins and carried an iron lance. Gold coins from this same period depict Shiva holding a trident and standing in front of a massive bull, presumably the bull that is Shiva’s usual vehicle. In the first century BCE, under the Shungas, artisans produced what is generally regarded as the earliest depiction of the god Shiva: a linga just under five feet high, in Gudimallam, in southeastern Andhra Pradesh. (See page 22.) Its anatomical detail, apart from its size, is highly naturalistic, but on the shaft is carved the figure of Shiva, two-armed and also naturalistic, holding an ax in one hand and the body of a small antelope in the other. His thin garment reveals his own sexual organ (not erect), his hair is matted, and he wears large earrings. He stands upon a dwarf. A frieze from the first or second century CE suggests how such a linga might have been worshiped; it depicts a linga shrine under a tree, surrounded by a railing, just like the actual railing that was discovered beneath the floor in which the image was embedded.25
The Mahabharata tells a story about the circumstances under which Shiva came to be
worshiped: SHIVA DESTROYS DAKSHA’S VEDIC SACRIFICEOnce upon a time, when Shiva was living on Mount Meru with his wife, Parvati, the daughter of the mountain Himalaya, all the gods and demigods thronged to him and paid him homage. The Lord of Creatures named Daksha began to perform a horse sacrifice in the ancient manner, which Indra and the gods attended with Shiva’s permission. Seeing this, Parvati asked Shiva where the gods were going, and Shiva explained it to her, adding that the gods had decided long ago not to give him any share in the sacrifice. But Parvati was so unhappy about this that Shiva took his great bow and went with his band of fierce servants to destroy the sacrifice. Some put out the sacrificial fires by dousing them with blood; others began to eat the sacrificial assistants. The sacrifice took the form of a wild animal and fled to the skies, and Shiva pursued it with bow and arrow. The gods, terrified, fled, and the very earth began to tremble. Brahma begged Shiva to desist, promising him a share of the sacrificial offerings forever after, and Shiva smiled and accepted that share (12.274.2-58). This important myth, retold in various transformations several times in the Mahabharata 26 and in other texts through the ages, is in part a historical narrative of what did happen in the history of Hinduism: Shiva was not part of the Vedic sacrifice, and then he became part of the
Hindu sacrifice. The gods, particularly Daksha (a creator, mentioned in the Rig Veda hymn of Aditi [10.72.1-5]), exclude Shiva from their sacrifice because Shiva is the outsider, the Other, the god to whom Vedic sacrifice is not offered; he is not a member of the club of gods that sacrifice to the gods.27 He appears to Arjuna, in a pivotal episode of the Mahabharata, in the form of a naked Kirata, a tribal hunter (3.40.1-5). The myth of Daksha’s sacrifice verifies Shiva’s otherness but modifies it so that Shiva is in fact given a share in some sacrifices, still not part of  the Vedic world but the supreme god of the post-Vedic world, at least in the eyes of the Shaivas who tell this myth. In the Ramayana, the god Rama is on his way to becoming one of the great gods of sectarian Hinduism. The god Krishna too now enters the world of Sanskrit texts, in the Mahabharata. The grammarian Panini, in the fifth century BCE, mentions a Vasudevaka, whom he defines as a devotee (bhakta) of the son of Vasudeva (Krishna), an avatar of Vishnu. This was the time of the beginning of the Bhagavata sects, the worship of Bhagavan, the Lord, a name of Vishnu or Shiva. In 115 BCE, Heliodorus, the son of a Greek from Taxila and himself the Greek ambassador to one of the Shungas,29 set up a pillar in Besnagar in Madhya Pradesh (not far from
the Buddhist stupas at Sanchi), topped by an image of Vishnu’s eagle (the Garuda bird) and an inscription. Heliodorus said he had done this in honor of the son of Vasudeva and that he himself was a Bhagavata.30 This is significant evidence of the conversion of a non-Indian not to Buddhism but to a new form of Hinduism. These are the early stirrings of communal sects that were beginning to supplement, sometimes to replace, the royal and domestic worship of the
Vedic gods."

The Hindu: An alternative History

This is an excellent book by "Windy Doniger", where she has tried to explore the history of Hinduism. A must read book for all who are interested in the subject or History".

Here is a few paragraph from the book which try to mention that how Hinduism is evolved.

"          AN ALTERNATIVE ANSWER: FUSION AND BRICOLAGE

It is therefore unlikely that both the Vedas and Harappa were “a product of the

civilization of these two peoples,” but it is more than likely that later Hinduism was a product

of both of them, a linguistic and cultural combination of Vedic words and Indus images, as well

as other contributions from other cultures. In some areas this combination was a fusion, a

melting pot, a hybrid, while in others the elements kept their original shape and behaved more

like a tossed salad, a multiplicity. This is of course quite different from saying that the Veda was

composed in the Indus Valley cities. But even if the languages and cultures were distinct, as

surely they were, people from the two cultures must have met. Ideas already current in India

before the entry of the Vedic people or arising outside the Vedic world after that entry may have

eventually filtered into Vedic and then post-Vedic Sanskrit literature.55 (These ideas may have

come not only from the IVC but also from the so-called Adivisis or “Original Inhabitants” of

India, or from the Munda speakers and Dravidian speakers whose words are already incorporated

in the Rig Veda, though that is another story.) Survivors of the Indus cities may have taught

something of their culture to the descendants of the poets who composed the Vedas. The people

of Harappa may have migrated south, so that their culture could have found its way into the

strand of Hinduism that arose there. Some elements of pre-Vedic Indo-European civilization

may have been taken up by the last inhabitants of the Indus Valley. Some elements of the Indus

civilization may have been adopted by the authors of later Vedic literature. Some combination of

all of the above seems extremely likely.

A good example of this possible fusion is the case of bricks. The authors of the Rig Veda

did not know about bricks; their rituals required only small mud altars, not large brick altars. But

later, around 600 BCE, when the Vedic people had moved down into the Ganges Valley and

their rituals had become more elaborate, they began to build large brick altars. The size of the

mud bricks was a multiple or fraction of the height of the patron of the sacrifice, and a fairly

sophisticated geometry was developed to work out the proportions. We know that the Indus

people had mastered the art of calculating the precise size of bricks, within a system of uniform

and proportionate measurement. The use of bricks and the calculations in the Vedic ritual may

therefore have come from a Harappan tradition, bypassed the Rig Vedic period, and resurfaced

later. This hypothesis must be qualified by the realization that kiln-fired (in contrast with

sun-fired) brickwork does not reappear until the last centuries BCE, a long time for that secret

to lie dormant. But other aspects of brickmaking, and other ideas, may have been transmitted

earlier.

Though the Vedic people told the story of their early life in India, and their descendants

controlled the narrative for a very long time, most of what Hindus have written about and talked

about and done, from the Mahabharata on, has not come from the Veda. In part because of the

intertextuality and interpracticality of Hinduism, one text or ritual building on another through

the centuries, right back to the Veda, scholars looking at the history of transmission have

assumed that the Veda was the base onto which other things were added in the course of Indian

history, just as Central Asia was the base that absorbed the impact of that interloping piece of

Africa so long ago. And in the textual tradition, at least, this is true enough of the form in which

the ideas were preserved, the chain of memorized texts. But from the standpoint of the ideas

themselves, it was quite the opposite: The Veda was the newcomer that, like the African island

fusing onto a preexisting continental base, combined with a preexisting cultural world consisting

perhaps of the Indus Valley, perhaps of any of several other, more widely dispersed non-Vedic

cultures.

The non-Veda is the fons et origo of Hinduism; new ideas, new narratives, new practices

arose in the non-Sanskrit world, found their way into the Sanskrit world, and, often, left it again,

to have a second or third or fourth life among the great vernacular traditions of India. These new

narratives and practices fitted into the interstices between the plot lines of the great Sanskrit

texts, as stories told in response to the protagonists’ questions about places encountered on their

travels or to illustrate a relevant moral point, or any other reason why. The non-Veda is not one

thing but so many things. We have noted, briefly, and can rank in the order that their records

appear in history, the existence of at least five cultures: (1) Stone Age cultures in India long

before the Indus are the foundation on which all later cultures built. (2) At some point,

impossible to fit into a chronology or even an archaeology, come the Adivasis, the “Original

Inhabitants” of India, who spoke a variety of languages and contributed words and practices to

various strands of Hinduism. Many of them were there long before the IVC and may have been a

part of it; many of them have never been assimilated to Hinduism. Next come (3) the Indus

civilization and (4) the village traditions that preceded, accompanied, and followed it, and after

that (5) the culture of the Vedic people. Along the way, other language groups too, such as (6)

the Tamils and other Dravidian speakers,60 who may or may not have been a part of the IVC,

added pieces to the puzzle.

Hinduism, like all cultures, is a bricoleur, a rag-and-bones man, building new things out

of the scraps of other things. We’ve seen how the British used the stones of Mohenjo-Daro as

ballast for their railway before (and after) they realized what those stones were and that a

Buddhist stupa stands over some of the ruins there. So too Hindus built their temples on (and out

of) Buddhist stupas as well as on other Hindu temples, and Muslims their mosques on Hindu

temples (and Buddhist stupas), often reusing the original stones, new wine in old bottles,

palimpsest architecture. In the realm of ideas as well as things, one religion would take up a

word or image from another religion as a kind of objet trouvé. There are no copyrights there; all

is in the public domain. This is not the hodgepodge that the Hindus and the early Orientalists

regarded as dirt, matter out of place, evidence of an inferior status but, rather, the interaction of

various different strains that is an inevitable factor in all cultures and traditions, and a Good

Thing."

Source:  The Hindu: an alternatgive history by Windy Doniger

Influence of Magar language in Nepali language -II

" The Khas language, originating in Jumla and the Sinja Valley, influenced Nepali language which incorporated words from Sanskrit and Magar language . Many Magar words are used even today, especially location names. Some are:^[27]

• Dhaulagiri (Dhaula-difficult, gi-following down, ri-water)
• Chomolungma (cracked peak)
• Lhotse (a cone-shaped container made of corn-cob cover)
• Sisne Himal (a fallen head)
• Kanchanjunga (clear peak)
• Koshi (deep), Kali Gandaki/Kali Gandi (dirty water)
• Bheri/Bhiri (river rolling down from a cliff)
• Karnali (curved), {(di = water Cf. Sanskrit nadi (na+di)= river}
• Budhi Gandaki/Budi Gan + di (Having a lot of water)
• Bagmati/Bangmadi (Bang-meadow suitable for human settlement; madi-river)
• Marsyangdi (serpentine river)
• Kot/Koi (place where government administration is conducted)
• Patan (meadow filled with short grass and small bushes)
• Dhorpatan (Dhor-extended and wide)
• Sinja (sin-wood; ja-pot)
• Galkot/Galkoi (Gal-brave)
• Musikot (musi-a place in the shadow)
• Gorkha/Garkhakoi (a small village)
• Gaam (a big village)
• Ligligkot (a high Kot)
• Rupandehi/Rupadihi (rupa-silver; dihi-field)
• Lumbini/Lungbingi (lung-stone; bingi-without)
• Chitwan/Chidvan (chid-dense; van-jungle)
• Dang (long)
• Salyan (paved platform for rest)
• Sindhuli/Singdhuli (a heap of ashes)
• Tilaurakot/Tilawakoi (place selling sesame seed)
• Jhapa (a land full of soil)
• Tansen/Tansing (Tan-straight; sing-wood/timber)
• Baglung/banglung (lung-a - stony)
• Kushma (a confluence)
• Dhankuta (place above a cliff)
• Hile (a place that comes immediately after you climb an uphill path)
• Mechi (low flat land)

Some scholars opine the amount of Magar words in Nepali indicates that Magarat (historic Magar lands) were larger than generally believed, extending from Dhading to Doti.,^[28] that the place suffix Kot indicates a place from which Magar kings formerly ruled. "


Source : http://mireinrothablogspotcom-mirein.blogspot.in/2012/06/blog-post_4428.html

Magar Empire

"Magar Empire

Magar is a warrior and martial people that first established it's kingdom in present day western Nepal. They were animistic and shamanic in their religious practices. The Kham Magar of upper Karnali basin and their brethren of mid hills of Nepal had a flourishing and empirical kingdoms. Much archaeological proof of their existence can be found in the western mid hills of Nepal.

Magar have a strong military and warrior traditions. However, their hospitality and concern for the fellow human being is also legendary. The two waves of immigrants became the undoing for Magar empire.

Firstly, the Khasas were welcomed and assimilated within Magar empire. Secondly, following the rout of fundamentalist Brahmin Hindus of the Gangetic plains of India by the advancing Mugal forces, the traditionalist Brahmin Hindus entered Magar empire as refugees. They brought with them Hindu religion.

It is the misfortune of Magar empire and the whole Magar people that these two groups were given sanctuary in Magar empire. The latter group of refugees started to impose their fundamentalist view of Hindu religion upon Magars in Magar kingdoms whereas the former group were given the status of Chettri by the latter group in accordance to their fundamentalist view of Hindu religion.

This left the Magar people to be boxed into the third tier of their own kingdoms. (The first being the fundamentalist refugee Brahmin, the second being newly elevated Chettri, previously the Khasas)

This meant that the once rulers of the Nepali mid hills became the ruled upon. Thus starts the degradation of Magar empire. The introduction of Hinduism in itself became the cataclysmic event in the undoing of the Magar empire."


Source: http://pastnepal.blogspot.in/2008/10/magar-empire.html

From "The Magars: Their History, Language and Culture"

This is a beautiful article from Facebook group "The Magars: Their History, Language and Culture"

" प्रधानमन्त्री भीमसेन थापाले आफुलाई 'वर्मा क्षेत्री' भनेपछि …।
___________________________________________

प्रधानमन्त्री भीमसेन थापाले आफु 'वर्मा क्षेत्री' भएको कुरा एउटा शिलालेखमा लेखाएर काठमाडौँको विष्णुमती पूलमा राखिसकेपछि उनलाई 'वर्मा थापा क्षेत्री' होईन भन्न मिल्दैन । प्रधानमन्त्री भीमसेन थापा 'वर्मा क्षेत्री' भन्नै पर्ने हुन्छ ।

उनले आफुलाई जे भने उनी त्यही हुन। यसमा बीचका अरुहरुले यसो र त्यसो भन्नुको कुनै माने हुदैन । उनी 'वर्मा थापा क्षेत्री' नभएर अर्थात् तल भनिएझै भएर पनि त्यसले आजको मगर समाजलाई के लाभ हुन्छ त ? केही पनि हुदैन । बरु यस्ता कुराहरुको पछि नलागेर कसरी अघि बढ्ने भन्ने सोच बनाउनु राम्रो हुन्छ । त्यस निम्ति सबभन्दा पहिलो कुरो पर्यो - 'शिक्षा' ।

र ,आजको युग अनुसारको उपयोगी शिक्षा कसरी हासिल गर्ने ? त्यतातिर सबैको ध्यान जानु पर्यो । "


Source: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Magars-Their-History-Language-and-Culture/171605959649718

Magars History - IV ( By my friend Babs)

" The origin of Mangar tribe as mentioned in Kirat chronology is a place in the north called Shin. From there, a group of people under the leadership of two leaders came to the south. The names of the leaders were Shing Mangar and Chitu Mangar. The people of the southern country called them Tangsang Thapa which means the people came from the far away north. Later on, these Mangar tribes multiplied and were divided into 12 groups under twelve leaders and called themselves Barah Mangars.

The names of the twelve Mangars were Shinjali Thapa, Hongjali Thapa, Hungchun Thapa, Chhodey Thapa, Pudkey Thapa, Mundey Thapa, Udhro Thapa, Bairong Thapa, Ishar Thapa, Barahi Thapa, Hangyung Thapa and Hangshe Thapa.

When they came to Sikkim they settled there permanently. They built Jongs or Forts or castles, wherever they settled and called them Mangar Jong or the fort of Mangars or the castle of Mangars.

Pandit Sarad Chandra Das proves the existence of Mangars in Sikkim and Eastern Nepal.
"The legend which he heard of the Mangar tribe and the ruins of their forts and towns in the valley of Kangbachhan river in the East Nepal is very interesting; people said that the account is correct and true."

"The upper valley of Kangbachhan river was occupied by the people of Tibetan stock and the lower valley was occupied by the Mangar tribe whose king was called Sintusati Sen. The Mangar king attacked the Tibetan people and ruled over them. He extracted a heavy tax from them."

"His deputies always oppressed the people to squeeze out money from them, so the Tibetan people started to conspire against the Mangar king. One day when the Mangar chief had gone to visit the Tibetan village with many followers, they were surrounded and killed by the Bhutias. When the Mangar queen heard this sad news of her husband, she planned to take revenge on the Bhutia subjects.

"She, therefore, ordered for a grand funeral in the honour of the departed soul. The funeral was fixed to take place six miles up the river, midway between the two great
villages of the Kangbachhan valley, so that all the villagers might assemble there.
After the queen's followers had finished drinking, poisoned wine was given plentifully to the Bhutia villagers, who suspecting nothing, drank freely and all died. In this way, nearly one thousand men and women died. The infants in arms were taken away by the queen's followers. The place where this foul deed was committed was now called 'Tongsong Phug' or the place which witnessed one thousand corpses. As a result of this, a Tibetan army invaded several Jongs belonging to the Mangar queen. She had no preparation to fight the enemy, so she shut herself in one of her castles or Jongs and her soldiers defended the castle for three months.

"This Tibetan soldiers then tried to compel the Mangars to surrender by depriving them of water. At last, the queen, aware of this intention, threw all the water she had in store towards the camp. The Tibetan soldiers thinking that she had abundence of water inside the castle raised the seize and went to a distance to watch the movement of the Mangar people. She immediately collected her soldiers and pursued the enemy. When a skirmish took place, she fell fighting nobly. The rest of Mangars left their place of Kangbachhan valley and migrated towards south west direction and reached as far west as Simang Garh situated about six miles east of present Birganj of central Nepal. When their number multiplied they were divided into two groups under the leadership of Phalemi Khan and Yomchhammi Khan and spread towards eastern and western directions. Phalemi Khan led his horde towards West Nepal and settled in Palpa. Yomchhammi Khan returned to Limbuwan in the east and settled in Shanpur of Chainpur and intermingled with Limbu nationals and became Limbus of Sinjali Thapa, Rana, Aley and Pun clans.

Those who settled in Palpa of West Nepal were divided into Thapa, Aley, Pun, Burathoki, Rana, Gharti, Bohra, Roka, Chohan, Konwar, Uchai and Roho tribes and called themselves Magar, instead of the original name Mangar.
In the East Nepal and Sikkim, the Mangars are so called because they were the children of Mang or Mong or Mongol people. The Chinese and Burmese people people call Mang or Mong for Mongolians; and ar or arui means children. So, Mangar means the children of Mongols. Most probably, it can be correct interpretation, because their complexion proves that they are no other than scattered Mongolians although before the 12th century AD there were no tribes in Central Asia called the Mongolians. There were many nomadic tribes called Kin, Kir, Kirait, Karatai,, Karakhitai, Khitai, Uigur or Hor, Monchu, Mongku, Tungut, Seljuk, Karluk, Turk, Burun, Sak, Kushan, Hun, Abar, Uichi, Kajak, Chin, Khas, Thak, Gyarung and Mangyak. They were all nomads except China. They used to live in tents and had no permanent inhabitants. Frequent antagonism and plundering among themselves were their main object. There was no such name as Mongol in the world upto the 12th century AD.

It was in the 12th century AD, when Chengiz Khan called a meeting of all the above mentioned tribes and when all the tribes unanimously elected him to be their Gurkhan or the Khan of Khans or the King of Kings, he proposed that a common name for all the separate tribes of Central Asia should be Mongol. Then all the tribes unanimously agreed and from that time only the people of Central Asia began to call themselves Mongol. Chengiz Khan himself belonged to the Mong Ku tribe and Chinese people used to call them Mong Ku Tata. A branch of this race settled in Hungary in Europe and called themselves Magiar tribe.

It appears that long before the adoption of such name of Mongol in Asia, a branch of Manchu and Tungut migrated to Korea and Japan and made their permanent home there, Similarly, a branch of Kirait, Uigur and Mongku tribes also spread towards Suchuwang or Kham, Unam, Burma, East India and Nepal. They did neither hear the name Mongol nor they claim it to be their origin.

Therefore, the Mangar tribe of Nepal must be from the composite group of Kirait and Mongku, who came to Sikkim and bacame Mangar. There are certain Lapcha tribes called Mongormu. It appears that some of the Mangar tribes might have mixed with the Lapcha tribe of Sikkim and became a Lapcha Kirat people. Further, there is a folklore among Nepalese that Mangars are a sect of Kirat people who brought sweet potatoes into Sikkim and Nepal. Specially, the Lapcha tribe called it Mangorbook or the potatoes introduced by Mangar tribe.
There is another proof of the affinity of the Mangar and Lapcha tribe in counting numbers. The Mangar tribe counts one, two,three, four,five as kat, net or nis, sam,buli,banga and the Lapcha tribe says kat,net,sam,fali,fungu. These are the evidences of the residence of Mangar Kirat people in Sikkim. Not only that, but the Mangar chiefs were so active in Sikkim that they kept on fighting with the Sikkimese chiefs upto the 18th century AD. Sikkim history mentions that the Sikkimese chiefs tried their best to bring the Mangar chief under their power by keeping matrimonial connection with them. Chhangzat Karwang, the Chief Minister of Sikkim married the daughter of one of the Mangar chiefs of Sikkim and wanted to keep friendly relation with them, but the Mangars were never influenced by the Buddhist Kings and Ministers of Sikkim. When the Mangar Chief of Sikkim understood that nothing could be expected from the Buddhist King of Sikkim they totally neglected the Sikkimese relation and the Sikkimese also dropped all the records of Mangar people from the history of Sikkim.

Still there are many places in Sikkim and East Nepal called Mangar jong or the Fort of Mangar tribe.

On the contrary, the Mangars of West Nepal prospered so much so that they formed a league of twelve Khans and established a state and called it Barah Mangrat, the central government of which was at Bhirkot. Khan means king in Magar language. Now, I write the word Magar as pronounced by Nepalese people.
According to Brian Hodgson and Captain T. Smith the league of Twelve Magars consisted of Satahung, Payahung, Bhirkot, Dhor, Garahung, Rising, Ghiring, Gulmi, Argha, Khachi, Musikot and Isma.
Each of these twelve districts had its own Khan or King, though they had agreed by common consent to regard the Khan of Bhirkot as their Overlord.
But in later period, this system of government was ceased as the Kings of Palpa, Rising, Ghiring and Rajarkot claimed independent Kings with the title of Shan Hang. Thus, they were broken into two prominent Kings of Khan dynasty and Shan dynasty. They had their own language and culture. Dhami was their religious priest. Long before the coming of the Hindu influence into their kingdoms, there was a Kirat King called Bali Hang, who had an extensive Kingdom from Pokhra to Gorakhpur and the Magars had spread from the hilly region to the Terai region.

As time passed on, the Shan Kings extended their Kingdom towards south and east of Palpa and the Khan Kings extended their kingdom towards north and east of Bhirkot.
When the Hindu missionaries began to spread Hinduism in the Western Nepal, the Shah King of Palpa was the first to be converted into Hinduism and became a Hindu Rajput King and claimed his descent from Sen family of India. His name was Chilla Rai. Similarly, when Hindu missionaries approached the Chief of Bhirkot, who was of Khan family, for conversion, he refused them and remained a pure Magar King. His name was Khan Chha Khan which means the King's Son King.

The Hindu missionaries then approached the second prince whose name was Mechha Khan or the youngest son king. The missionaries assured that he would also be a king like his elder brother if he would accept Hinduism. So, he gave his consent to them to convert him into Hinduism. Thus, the second prince of Bhirkot also became a Hindu Rajput and his religious priests made him the King of Nuwakot of Barah Mangrat. He was succeeded by Jaya Khan, Micha Khan, Bichitra Khan, Jagdeo Khan and Kulmandan Khan. From the time of this king, he changed his family title from Khan to Shah which carries the same meaning as king. The descendants of King Khanchha Khan of Bhirkot, though refused to accept Hinduism and agreed to abide by their own tribal culture, yet he with all his subjects were so much influenced by Hinduism that all the Magar tribes ceased to follow the teaching of their own tribal priest and followed the doctrine of Hindu priests with respect to birth, marriage and death ceremonies and those officials of the courts of Shan Kings and Khan Kings of Palpa and Bhirkot who could afford for conversion into Hinduism became Hindu Rajputs and called themselves Kshatris. In this way, the Magar Kings and their officials were converted into Hindu civilization. Yet in the middle of 18th century AD, King Prithvi Narayan Shah was very proud of calling himself the King of Mangrat. He has said in his Divya Updesh, "Mangrat of Raja mai hun", "I am the King of Mangrat". Lt. Col. E. Vansitart has also mentioned in his book called Gurkhas, that "the famous Prime Minister Bhimsen Thapa was the descendant of Magar Thapa family, as was also General Amar Singh Thapa".146 It is a known fact that the late Great King Prithvi Narayan Shan of Gurkha State had extended his Kingdom east and west by the strength of these Magar army.
The Magars or Mangars are divided into twelve tribes called Thapa, Rana, Ale, Pun, Burathoki, Gharti, Bohra, Roka, Chauhan, Konwar, Uchai and Jhakri and each tribe is subdivided into many clans.

Among them Thapa tribes are more in number. The Rana class of Magar tribes belonged to the same stock of Thapa but, when they were separated from their original group and lost for three generations, they settled in a place called Gurkha and called themselves by the name of Rana which mens chief. Thus, the habitants of Rana Magar became the Gurkha village. Later on, the Khas people came from Kumaon and Garhwal and mixed with the Magars and became one with them till they were not converted into Hinduism.

Although all Magars follow Hinduism, the Pun Magars of Tibetan frontier are still practice Buddhist religion and follow their tribal rites at their birth, marriage and death ceremonies.
Some of the Magar clans are as follows:
Thapa Magars
Baral, Balami, Baraghari, Sinjali, Bagale, Thapa consists of Atghari, Satgahari, Palungi, Darlam, Punwar, Setu, Singe, Roshala and Kala.

Gaha Thapa consists of Badchha, Chidi, Gora, Khan and Malangi.
Reshmi Thapa consists of Dangale, Gore and Thapa.
Saru Thapa consists of Jaurup, Japarluk, Jhenri and Paneti. Besides these, Gurbachan, Purbachan, Tangbachhan, Simai, Pithakote, Singali, Uchai, Pulami, Marunchan, Ramjali, Lamchhaney and Kalikotey.
Rana Magars
Assami, Arsami, Aslami, Bangling, Chumi, Charmi, Gharmi, Gyangmi, Kharka, Eyapchaki, Lungeli, Makkim, Pali, Panti, Rilami, Ruchal, Chitorey are famous.
Pun Magars
Birkali, Baijali, Phungali, Namjali, Balali, Tajali, Thakali, Sain, Sanangi, Sothi are famous.
Burathoki Magars
Balkoti, Deobal, Gamal, Karal, Ulange, Karmani, Pahari, Jujali, Pojonge, Thami, Ranju are famous.
Ale Magars
Argheli, Bili, Changi, Hiski, Hungchen, Lamjel, Limial, Roho, Rimal, Rakhal, Suyal, Sirpali, Sarangi are famous.
Gharti Magars
Baima, Banjali, Bulami, Dagami, Galami, Gamal, Kalikote, Masrangi, Pahari or Panre, Para, Phagami, Rangu, Rawal, Rijal, Same, Sawangi, Sene, Surai, Sinjapati, Talaji, There, Tirukia, Ulange and Wale are famous.

In my (the author’s) opinion the Magars had advanced much and had divided into two groups of higher and lower social standing and those who were of higher circle followed Hinduism and became themselves Thakurs or Kshetris and observed the strict formalities of Brahmanism whereas the people of lower circle were quite satisfied with their own familiar culture and did not mind to follow such strict rules of Hinduism and remained Magars, such as the Koch Kirat of Assam and North Bengal who were also converted into Hinduism and became themselves Rajbansi Kshetri and the people of lower circle remained Mech and Koch tribes."

"From my friend Babs who has shared this me in Orkut."

Sen Magar

" nice to know about this site, i was curious know the origin of magars , but still its doubt and complex,i guess , our origin was mixed with times with intruders. I feel these a very close link of some magar language with tibetian and other noprthern language, but still plenty magars are appear over eastern nepals and further east,was is that magars moved east wards while gaining infantry of soldiers by Prithivi narayan shah?? if it is so why plenty magars in high hills of myagdi and rolpa and Rukum which are semi mountain region, is that they took the title for becomong magars ? or they were the original magars ? but cant speak magars, why ?and i can guess there is strong language link between kaike and kham magars and kham magars with central magars. It is no doubt that sen are magars because i have my fren who is magar, Sen magar. he can speak Palpali magar,and as i am pun stil i cant.
any way we have to go minute research for the origin of magars.for this we have to make a group of people who is devoted for this kind of interests. To run this group we have to make donations and charities so that research goes on for success."

Source:  Magar Association Hong Kong - On Magar and Mukunda Sen of Palpa.htm

The reason I have choose this article to publish on my blog is that, author clearly established that Sen titles are also found in Magars.

Which is pretty interesting for me.

Ethnologue report for Magar

"

Language Family Trees

Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Himalayish, Mahakiranti, Kham-Magar-Chepang-Sunwari, Magar

Sino-Tibetan  (365) Tibeto-Burman  (351) Himalayish  (144) Mahakiranti  (51) Kham-Magar-Chepang-Sunwari  (14) Magar (3) MAGAR, EASTERN  [MGP] (Nepal) MAGAR, WESTERN  [MRD] (Nepal) RAJI  [RJI] (Nepal)

"

Source: Ethnologue report for Magar.htm

Kirat Vs Hinduism III

" Connexion of Mongolia and Kirat in Nepal Revealing the Mystery of Origin of Phallus Stone Worship. Now Kirat are very ancient tribe in history. They are the foremost settlers in the Himalayas region which was called "Kirat Desh" or "land of Kirat" in Veda and other ancient Hindu texts. Actually nobody knows when they came into Nepal because these people are mentioned in ancient religion book of Hindu like Veda, Puranas, and Ramayana and Mahabharata Epics. These people are also mentioned in ancient Greek history, Chinese history and Holy book of Sikh Guru Nanak. Kiratas are first mentioned in the Yajurveda (Shukla XXX.16; Krisha III.4,12,1), and in the Atharvaveda (X.4,14). These people are described in the ancient texts as indigenous people of Mongolian race, "gold-like", i.e, yellow in skin color with stout and short stature, high cheekbones, flat noses, narrow black eyes and thin mustaches and beards. They were brave and doughty warriors and very deft archers as described in the following verse; "Kairatam vesam asthaya kancana-druma-sannibham" Taking up a Kirata resemblance, like unto a tree of gold (IV,35,2); The Vedas, Ramayana and Mahabharata viewed them as fearful and terrible highlanders. The Ramayana describes: "Kiratasca tiksna-cudasca hemabhah priya-darsanah, antar-jala-cara ghora nara-vyaghra iti srutah" upon translation is The Kiratas, with hair done in pointed top-knots, pleasant to look upon, shining like gold, able to move under water, terrible, veritable tiger-men, so are they famed. The Greeks known the Kirats by the name of Kirhadai. The last remnant of the ancient Kiratite or Cherethite tribe was found recorded in the book of 2 Samuel, 15 - 18. They were a martial tribe during the reign of the Syrian King David in 1049 BC. Then think again who were living in the Harappan civilization? 1.The Manusmriti identifies the Kiratas as one of the eleven tribes who inhabited the Indus-Saraswoti region.(Tiwari, 2002) 2. Kiratas first appear in the Yajur Veda (Shukla XXX.16; Krisha III.4,12,1) and in the Atharva Veda (X.4,14), 1400 B.C- 1000 B.C 3.The Kiratas were forced to move away from their homeland, Indus-Saraswoti region and into the Himalayas.(Tiwari, 2002) 4. Kirat came to the Himalayas including Nepal in about 700 B.C. (Baburam Acharya) Hence it is not surprising that crude(origin )form of phallus stone worship(shivaism) is found to be in practice among present day Kiratis. So did the practice of phallus stone worship felled into the hands of vedic Aryans?" 

Source:Connexion of Mongolia-KiratRevealing the Mystery of Origin of Phallus Stone Worship - from Youtube(c).htm

The first half of the article is pretty interesting and has tried lot to find the root of Kirats. But the latter half clearly shows that authors like Tiwari and Baburam are trying to manipulate some facts. This article itself says to contradictory things like. First he said kirats had mangolian features and yellow skin, however in second half its says that kirats were forced to move away from Indus - Saraswati region. Pretty strange.

 I feel Tiwari and Baburam Acharya needs to check their logic, again.
  

"Thapa" - Meaning - in Nepali

"The Magars: Their History, Language and Culture

थापा मगरहरूबारे संक्षिप्त चर्चा
_____________________

'थापा' अर्थात् 'थापा मगरहरु'लाई "नेपालको मगरातमा प्रचलित एक प्रसिद्ध थर" भनेर मगर भाषाको प्रसिद्ध कोशकार अर्थात् "मगर (ढूट) - खस-अंग्रेजी शव्दकोश" (प्रथम संस्करण असार २०६६ तदनुसार जून २००९ ) का प्रधान सम्पादक श्री हिरासिंह थापा (सोमसेन मगर) ले सो शव्दकोषको पृष्ठ ४२७ मा लेख्नु भएको छ ।

यसकुरालाई अरु स्पष्ट गर्दै उहाले "पूर्व मध्यकालतिर मगराँतको सिंजासाम्राज्यमा, महासामन्त सम्मको पदवी (नेपाली इतिहासकारहरुको मत), लोकको स्वामी" समेत भनेर लेख्नु भएको छ ।

उहाले यो 'थापा' शव्दको वर्णविन्यास यसरी गर्नु भएको छ : 'ठापा' > 'टापा' = 'टा' > घोडा + 'पा' > 'स्थान' वा 'ठाउँ' = 'घोडा हुने ठाउँ ' भ्रंश हुदै 'ठापा' > 'थापा' ।

यस 'थापा' शव्दलाई उहाले 'ठाहापा' पनि लेख्नु भएको छ । 'ठाहापा'लाई कालान्तरमा 'ज्ञानको मन्त्रणा गर्ने मन्त्री (वा) उत्तर-मध्यकालको काजी' भनेर पनि लेख्नु भएको छ ।

तर, हाम्रो भनाई अलिक फरक छ । त्यो के हो भने यो 'थापा' शव्द भोट-बर्मेली परिवारको हो । यसको अर्थ यसरी लगाउनु उपयुक्त हुन्छ : 'था' > सीमाना + 'पा'> 'मानिस', 'मान्छे' = अर्थात् 'मुलुकको रक्षा गर्ने, रक्षक, शूरवीर, प्रशासक' इत्यादि ।

अन्य मगरहरुको थर बारे बिस्तारै पोष्ट गरिनेछ ।

झोरा । "

 

Source: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Magars-Their-History-Language-and-Culture/171605959649718?hc_location=stream

EDIT - 19th September, 2025: In my opinion there is one more possibility of the origin of the word 'Thapa'. It could possibly come from one Khatri community surname called 'Thapar'. 

So there are two possibilities here if the surname has come from Khas language than Thapar & Thapa must have a common origin. Another, possibility is Thapar surname itself could have derived from Thapa surname of Nepal which in turn actually comes from Magar community. I will update here if I come to know anything related to the topic in the future.