Madheshi people

For the Native American people, see Madesi tribe. For other uses of "Madhesi", see Madhesi (disambiguation).

Madheshi people
Total population
13,318,705
Regions with significant populations
Predominantly southeastern Nepal
Languages
Maithili · Bhojpuri · Bajjika · Urdu
Religion
Hinduism · Islam · Christian

Madheshi people (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 language as their mother tongue, regardless of their place of birth or residence.[1]: 2  The term Madheshi became a widely recognised name for Nepali citizens with an Indian cultural background only after 1990.[2][3]

Madheshi people comprise various cultural groups such as Hindu caste groups, Muslims, Marwaris, Brahmin and Dalit people, ethnic groups like Maithils, Bhojpuri, Awadhi and Bajjika speaking people and indigenous people of the Terai.[4][5]: 68 [6] Many of these groups share cultural traditions, educational and family ties with people living south of the international border in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.[6][7]: 131  Tharu people and Pahari people living in the Terai do not consider themselves as Madheshi.[8]

  1. ^ International Crisis Group (2007). Nepal's Troubled Terai Region (PDF). Asia Report N°136. Kathmandu, Brussels: International Crisis Group.
  2. ^ Adhikari, K. P. & Gellner, D. N. (2016). "New Identity Politics and the 2012 Collapse of Nepal's Constituent Assembly: When the dominant becomes 'other'". Modern Asian Studies. 50 (6): 2009–2040. doi:10.1017/S0026749X15000438. S2CID 146986746.
  3. ^ Gellner, D. N. (2019). "Masters of hybridity: how activists reconstructed Nepali society". Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. 25 (2): 265–284. doi:10.1111/1467-9655.13025.
  4. ^ Savada, A. M. (1991). "Caste and Ethnicity". Nepal and Bhutan : country studies. Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. pp. 74–81.
  5. ^ Whelpton, J. (1997). "Political Identity in Nepal: State, Nation and Community". In Gellner, D. N.; Pfaff-Czarnecka, J.; Whelpton, J. (eds.). Nationalism and ethnicity in a Hindu kingdom: The politics of culture in contemporary Nepal. London, New York: Routledge. pp. 39–78. ISBN 9789057020896.
  6. ^ a b Gellner, D. N. (2007). "Caste, Ethnicity and Inequality in Nepal". Economic and Political Weekly. 42 (20): 1823–1828. JSTOR 4419601.
  7. ^ Dahal, D. R. (2008). "The 'Madhesi' People: Issues and Challenges of Democracy in the Nepal Terai". In Gellner, D.; Hachhethu, K. (eds.). Local Democracy in South Asia: Microprocesses of democratization in Nepal and its neighbours. New Delhi, Los Angeles, London, Singapore: Sage Publications. pp. 128–149. ISBN 9788132100164.
  8. ^ Kabir 2013, p. 10.