Tharu people

Thāru
थारू
A Tharu woman in traditional dress
A Tharu woman in traditional dress
Total population
c. 1.96 million
Regions with significant populations
   Nepal1,807,124[1]
       Lumbini732,069
       Sudurpaschim397,822
       Madhesh301,038
       Koshi209,519
       Bagmati110,284
       Gandaki47,619
       Karnali8,773
 India:
       Bihar

159,939[2]
       Uttar Pradesh105,291
       Uttarakhand91,342
Languages
Tharu languages, Nepali, Hindi
Religion
Hinduism 94%, Buddhism 3.2%, Christianity 1.7%, Prakriti 0.7%, Baháʼí 0.03%[3]
Related ethnic groups

The Tharu people are an ethnic group indigenous to the Terai in southern Nepal and northern India.[4][5][6] They speak Tharu languages.[7] They are recognized as an official nationality by the Government of Nepal.[8] In the Indian Terai, they live foremost in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Government of India recognizes the Tharu people as a scheduled Indian tribe.[9][10]

  1. ^ National Statistics Office (2021). National Population and Housing Census 2021, Caste/Ethnicity Report. Government of Nepal (Report).
  2. ^ General & Census Commissioner (2011). A-11 Individual Scheduled Tribe Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India (Report). Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  3. ^ Central Bureau of Statistics (2014). Population monograph of Nepal (PDF) (Report). Vol. II. Government of Nepal.
  4. ^ Bista, D. B. (1971). "Tharu". People of Nepal (Second ed.). Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar. pp. 108–118.
  5. ^ Rajaure, D. P. (1981). "Tharus of Dang: the people and the social context" (PDF). Kailash. 8 (3/4): 155–185.
  6. ^ Krauskopff, G. (1995). "The anthropology of the Tharus: an annoted bibliography" (PDF). Kailash. 17 (3/4): 185–213.
  7. ^ Guneratne, A. (2002). Many tongues, one people: The making of Tharu identity in Nepal. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0801487285.
  8. ^ Lewis, M. P.; Simons, G. F.; Fennig, C. D., eds. (2014). "Tharu, Chitwania: a language of Nepal". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Seventeenth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.
  9. ^ Verma, S. C. (2010). "The eco-friendly Tharu tribe: A study in socio-cultural dynamics". Journal of Asia Pacific Studies. 1 (2): 177–187.
  10. ^ Raghavan, V. R., ed. (2012). "Strategic Overview". Internal Conflicts: Military Perspectives. New Delhi: Vij Books India Pvt Ltd. pp. 15–176. ISBN 9789382573401.