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Madheshi people ( ne, मधेशी) is a term used for several groups of people living in the
Terai , image =Terai nepal.jpg , image_size = , image_alt = , caption =Aerial view of Terai plains near Biratnagar, Nepal , map = , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = , biogeographic_realm = Indomalayan realm , global200 = Terai-Duar savanna ...
region of Nepal, literally meaning the people of ''Madhesh''. It has also been used as a political pejorative term by the Pahari people of Nepal to refer to non-pahari people with a non-
Nepali language Nepali (; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Himalayas region of South Asia. It is the official, and most widely spoken, language of Nepal, where it also serves as a ''lingua franca''. Nepali has official status in the Indian stat ...
as their
mother tongue A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...
, regardless of their place of birth or residence. The term ''Madheshi'' became a widely recognised name for Nepali citizens with an Indian cultural background only after 1990. Madheshi people comprise various cultural groups such as Hindu caste groups,
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
s,
Marwaris The Marwari or Marwadi (Hindi: मारवाड़ी, Urdu: مارواڑی) are an Indian ethnic group that originate from the Rajasthan region of India. Their language, also called Marwari, comes under the umbrella of Rajasthani languages, ...
, Brahmin and
Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...
caste groups,
ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
s like
Maithil Maithils (Tirhuta: মৈথিল, Devanagari: मैथिल), also known as Maithili people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group from the Indian subcontinent, who speak the Maithili language as their native language. They inhabit the ...
s,
Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...
,
Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, ...
and
Bajjika Bajjika is an Indo-Aryan language variety spoken in parts of eastern India and Nepal. It is closely related to Maithili (of which it is often considered a dialect). Territory and speakers Bajjika is spoken in the north-western part of Bihar, ...
speaking people and
indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
of the Terai. Many of these groups share cultural traditions, educational and family ties with people living south of the international border in
Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Ben ...
,
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...
and
West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...
.
Tharu people The Tharu people are an ethnic group indigenous to the Terai in southern Nepal and northern India. They speak Tharu languages. They are recognized as an official nationality by the Government of Nepal. In the Indian Terai, they live foremost ...
and Pahari people living in the Terai do not consider themselves as Madheshi. In recent times, some politicians and journalists use the term for all Nepali citizens of the Terai.


Etymology

The word ''madhesh'' is thought to be derived from the
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the la ...
''madhya desh'' (मध्य देश), literally the middle country, which refers to "the central region, the country lying between the Himalaya and the Vindhya mountains". However, in the context of Nepal, ''Madhesh'' refers to the region in the Nepal Terai located south of the
Siwalik Hills The Sivalik Hills, also known as the Shivalik Hills and Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas that stretches over about from the Indus River eastwards close to the Brahmaputra River, spanning the northern parts of the Indian ...
. The term Madheshi people has been used for people of
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n
ancestry An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...
residing in the Nepal Terai comprising various cultural groups such as Hindu caste groups,
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
s,
Marwaris The Marwari or Marwadi (Hindi: मारवाड़ी, Urdu: مارواڑی) are an Indian ethnic group that originate from the Rajasthan region of India. Their language, also called Marwari, comes under the umbrella of Rajasthani languages, ...
and
indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
of the Terai. Madhesh has also been defined as the cultural and linguistic space existing as a basis for identity among the people of the Terai. Since the late 1940s, the term 'Madhes' was used by politicians in the Nepal Terai to differentiate between the interests of the people of the Terai and of the hills.


History of Indian immigration to the Nepal Terai

Indian migrants from
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...
and
Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Ben ...
settled foremost in the eastern Nepal Terai since the late 18th century, when the Shah rulers of Nepal encouraged
deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...
and agricultural development of this region. Since the late 18th century, the Shah rulers of Nepal encouraged people living in India to settle in the eastern Terai through a series of subsidies granted to new settlers. In the 1770s to 1780s, famine-stricken
Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Ben ...
i farmers migrated to the Nepal Terai following a severe flood of the
Koshi River The Kosi or Koshi ( ne, कोशी, , hi, कोसी, ) is a transboundary river which flows through China, Nepal and India. It drains the northern slopes of the Himalayas in Tibet and the southern slopes in Nepal. From a major confluence ...
and subsequent drought. They converted forests to agricultural land. To promote the economic development of the Nepal Terai, people from the hills were invited to settle, but only a few moved to the Terai. Between the 1860s and 1951, people from India immigrated and settled in the region.
Immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, an ...
of Indian farmers and labourers was particularly high during the rule of the
Rana dynasty Rana dynasty ( ne, राणा वंश, IAST=Rāṇā vaṃśa , ) is a Chhetri dynasty that imposed totalitarianism in the Kingdom of Nepal from 1846 until 1951, reducing the Shah monarch to a figurehead and making Prime Minister and other ...
between 1846 and 1950. They settled foremost in the eastern Nepal Terai together with native Terai peoples. This increased immigration facilitated the expansion of cultivated land, which provided revenue for the state in the form of taxes by farmers, duties for felling and export of timber, and fees for the grazing of cattle on pastures during dry seasons. In the mid 19th century, Muslim people from the
Awadh Awadh (), known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It is synonymous with the Kośāla region of ...
region were invited to settle in the far-western Nepal Terai, where they received large forested areas for conversion to agriculture. People of at least 21 Indian ethnic groups immigrated between 1933 and 1966. In 1952, a Nepal Citizenship Act was passed that entitled all those immigrants to obtain Nepali
citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
who had stayed in the country for at least five years. The Citizenship Act of 1963 entitled immigrants to receive Nepali citizenship if they were able to read and write
Nepali Nepali or Nepalese may refer to : Concerning Nepal * Anything of, from, or related to Nepal * Nepali people, citizens of Nepal * Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...
and engaged in business. In 1981, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimated that about 3.2 million people of Indian origin lived in Nepal, of which about 2.4 million had received Nepali citizenship. In 2006, the Nepal Citizenship Act was amended to the effect that people born before 1990 and residing permanently in the country obtained the right to Nepali citizenship. About 2.3 million people received citizenship certificates. The
Constitution of Nepal 2015 Constitution of Nepal 2015 ( ne, नेपालको संविधान २०७२) is the present governing Constitution of Nepal. Nepal is governed according to the Constitution which came into effect on 20 September 2015, replacing the ...
contains provisions for a Nepali citizenship by naturalisation, which can be acquired by: *foreign women who are married to a Nepali man. *children of a Nepali woman and a foreign man.


Demographics of the Nepal Terai

With , the Nepal Terai constitutes 23.1% of Nepal's land area. As of 2001, about 48.5% of Nepal's population lived in the Terai, which had a population density of , the highest in the country. As of June 2011, the Nepal Terai's human population totaled 13,318,705 people comprising more than 120 different ethnic groups and castes.


Politics

Since the late 1940s, the term 'Madhes' was used by politicians in the Nepal Terai to differentiate between the interests of the people of the Terai and of the hills. At the time, Indian and Madheshi people needed a passport to travel to
Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Provi ...
, a requirement in place until 1958. In the 1950s, the regional political party
Nepal Terai Congress Nepal Terai Congress was a political party in Nepal. The party was founded in 1951 by Vedanand Jha, with the objective of seeking autonomy for the Terai. The party was founded after a split from the Nepali Congress. The party called for the recog ...
advocated more autonomy for the Terai, recognition of
Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been d ...
as a national language and increasing employment opportunities for Madheshi people. During 1961 to 1990, the
Panchayat The Panchayat raj is a political system, originating from the Indian subcontinent, found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. It is the oldest system of local government in the Indian subcontinent, and historical menti ...
government enforced a policy of assimilating diverse cultural groups into a pan-Nepali identity. Legal directives made it an offense to address inequality and discrimination of ethnic groups. The complexities of ethnopolitical conflicts between immigrants, caste groups and indigenous groups living in the Terai were not addressed. After the Panchayat regime was abolished following the People's Movement in spring 1990, disadvanted groups demanded a more equitable share of political resources such as admittance to civil service. Madheshi people are disadvantaged in regards to access to education;
literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...
rate among Madheshi people is lower than among other groups in Nepal, and lowest among Madheshi
Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...
s. They are also disappointed to have been excluded from participation in bureaucracy,
Nepal Army The Nepali Army ( ne, नेपाली सेना, translit=Nēpālī Sēnā), technically the Gorkhali Army ( ne, गोरखाली सेना, translit=Gōrakhālī Sēnā, label=none; see ''Gorkhas''), is the land service branch ...
and
political parties in Nepal The following is the list of political parties in Nepal registered in the Election Commission. National parties A party registered with the Election Commission of Nepal is recognised as a national party only if it fulfils the two conditions l ...
. Madheshi identity is largely based on the experience of being discriminated by the country's ruling elites. The
Nepal Sadbhawana Party The Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP; ne, नेपाल सदभावना पार्टी) was a political party in Nepal that worked for rights of the Madhesi people and discriminated communities and groups of Nepal. On 21 April 2017, the ...
is the oldest Madheshi party, which started lobbying for socio-cultural, linguistic and political rights of Madheshi people in the 1990s. The discussions on rights and demands of Madheshi people increased after the end of the
Nepalese Civil War The Nepalese Civil War was a protracted armed conflict that took place in the former Kingdom of Nepal from 1996 to 2006. It saw fighting between the Nepalese royal government and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) throughout the country. ...
, in particular among Madheshi intellectuals and political elites. The political parties Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha and Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum advocated the idea of an autonomous Madhes province stretching all over the Terai and organised violent demonstrations in 2007 to enforce their demands. The
United Democratic Madhesi Front United Democratic Madhesi Front (, transliteration: Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha)was a political alliance of Madhesh-based political parties in Nepal created for the Madhes Movement. It was formed in 2008 by Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum, Ne ...
formed by Madheshi organizations pressured the government to accept this concept of autonomy under the motto "One Madhes One Pradesh". Several ethnic and religious groups in the Terai opposed and resisted this policy under the leadership of Madheshi parties, foremost Tharu and
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
people. The Tharu people were initially comfortable with the Madheshi identity in the eastern part of the Terai as of 2007, but in the central part, they claim a distinct Tharu identity. In 2009, they disassociated themselves from being identified as Madheshi and demanded their own province. Armed groups like Terai Army, Madhesi National Liberation Front, Terai Cobras and Madhesh Mukti Tigers pursued this aim of autonomy using violent means. Some members of these organisations were responsible for acts of terrorism including bombings and murders. The Alliance for Independent Madhesh also demands independence of the Terai. In 2013, more than 24 Madheshi political parties were registered for the
Constituent Assembly of Nepal The Second Constituent Assembly of Nepal, later converted to the Legislature Parliament ( ne, व्यवस्थापिका संसद), was a unicameral legislature of Nepal. It was elected in the 2013 Constituent Assembly elections af ...
election. Madheshi parties gained 50 of 575 seats in the Constituent Assembly.


Indian influence in Nepal Terai

After the
Nepalese Constituent Assembly election, 2008 Constituent Assembly elections were held in Nepal on 10 April 2008,
, Indian politicians kept on trying to secure strategic interests in the Nepal Terai, such as over
hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a wa ...
energy, development projects, business and trade. It has been alleged that by supporting the
2015 Nepal blockade : The 2015 Nepal blockade, which began on 23 September 2015 and lasted about six months, was an economic and humanitarian crisis which severely affected Nepal and its economy. Nepal has accused India of imposing an undeclared blockade trigge ...
, India tried to dominate Nepal's internal politics and foment the conflict in the Nepal Terai.


Culture

The culture of Madeshi people is complex and diverse. The Muslim and indigenous peoples speak their own languages and have distinct cultural traditions that differ from the Hindu caste groups. Latter comprise at least 43 distinct groups. Caste groups include Bania, Brahman,
Dhobi Dhobi known in some places as Dhoba or Rajaka, Madivala is a group of community in India and the greater Indian subcontinent whose traditional occupations are washing and ironing, Cultivator, agricultural workers. They are a large community, ...
, Kalawar,
Kewat The Kewat, also spelled Kevat, is a Hindu caste, found in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India. They are the traditional boatmen of northern India.People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume ...
,
Kshatriya Kshatriya ( hi, क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the cont ...
,
Kumhar Kumhar is a caste or community in India, Nepal and Pakistan. Kumhar have historically been associated with art of pottery. Etymology The Kumhars derive their name from the Sanskrit word ''Kumbhakar'' meaning earthen-pot maker. Dravidian lan ...
,
Kurmi Kurmi is traditionally a non-elite tiller caste in the lower Gangetic plain of India, especially southern regions of Awadh, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar. The Kurmis came to be known for their exceptional work ethic, superior tilla ...
,
Kushwaha Kushwaha (sometimes, Kushvaha) is a community of the Indo-Gangetic Plain which has traditionally been involved in agriculture (including beekeeping). The term has been used to represent different subcastes, being those of the Kachhis, Koeri ...
and
Teli Teli is a caste traditionally occupied in the pressing of oil in India, Nepal and Pakistan. Members may be either Hindu or Muslim; Muslim Teli are called Roshandaar or Teli Malik. The Jewish community of Maharashtra (called Bene Israel) was a ...
. Muslim people in the Terai constitute about 96% of all Muslims in the country. Their cultural traditions are interlinked with those of Muslim people in northern India; popular destinations for their
ziyarat In Islam, ''ziyara(h)'' ( ar, زِيَارَة ''ziyārah'', "visit") or ''ziyarat'' ( fa, , ''ziyārat'', "pilgrimage") is a form of pilgrimage to sites associated with Muhammad, his family members and descendants (including the Shī'ī Imā ...
pilgrimage are the shrines of
Ajmer Sharif Dargah Ajmer Sharif Dargah (also Ajmer Dargah, Ajmer Sharif or Dargah Sharif) is a Sufi tomb (''dargah'') of the revered Sufi saint, Moinuddin Chishti, located at Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. The shrine has Chishti's grave (Maqbara). Location Ajmer Shari ...
and
Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud Ghazi Salar Masud or Ghazi Miyan (1014 – 1034 CE) was a semi-legendary Muslim figure from India. By the 12th century, he had become reputed as a warrior, and his tomb (''dargah'') at Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, India, had become a place of pilgrima ...
in
Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
and Uttar Pradesh, respectively. They are influenced by the hierarchy of the Hindu caste system, with the difference that it is not based on the principle of pollution and purity, but on occupation. Both Muslim and Hindu Madheshi parents place more emphasis on the education of boys than of girls. Despite an increase of schools and
primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...
being compulsory and free of cost, more boys than girls are enrolled. Girls are expected to look after younger siblings and do household chores. Many rural Madheshi girls are married at an age of 14 to 16 years.


Languages

Madheshi people speak Maithili,
Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...
,
Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''
Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, ...
and Hindi languages. The National Population and Housing Census of 2011 knows of 123 languages spoken in all of Nepal and lists: *3,092,530 Maithili speaking people (11.7% of Nepal's total population), of which 3,004,245 lived in the Terai; *1,584,958 Bhojpuri speaking people (5.98%), of which 1,542,333 lived in the Terai; *1,529,875 Tharu speaking people (5.77%), including 1,479,129 in the Terai; *793,418
Bajjika Bajjika is an Indo-Aryan language variety spoken in parts of eastern India and Nepal. It is closely related to Maithili (of which it is often considered a dialect). Territory and speakers Bajjika is spoken in the north-western part of Bihar, ...
speaking people (2.99%), including 791,737 in the Terai; *691,546
Urdu-speaking people Native speakers of Urdu are spread across South Asia. The vast majority of them are Muslims of the Hindi–Urdu Belt of northern India, followed by the Deccani people of the Deccan plateau in south-central India (who speak Deccani Urdu) and the ...
(2.61%), including 671,851 in the Terai. Muslim Madheshis speak Urdu primarily, but also Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Maithili, depending on whether they live in the western, central or eastern Terai.


Religions

The following religions are practised in the Terai according to the National Population and Housing Census of 2011: * Hinduism with 11,308,620 followers *
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
with 1,105,533 followers *
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
with 472,469 followers *
Kirat The Kirati people, also spelled as Kirant or Kiranti, are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group. They are peoples of the Himalayas, mostly the Eastern Himalaya extending eastward from Nepal to North East India (predominantly in the Indian state of Sikkim ...
with 190,458 followers * Christianity with 137,723 followers * Prakriti with 63,747 followers *
Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
with 2,169 followers *
Bon ''Bon'', also spelled Bön () and also known as Yungdrung Bon (, "eternal Bon"), is a Tibetan religious tradition with many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism and also many unique features.Samuel 2012, pp. 220-221. Bon initially developed in ...
with 1,379 followers, less than 900 followers of the
Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...
and less than 500
Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ' ...
. The religious practices of the majority of Madheshi people are a mixture of orthodox Hinduism and
animism Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things— animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, hum ...
. Muslim Madheshis practise the traditional
nikah In Islam, nikah is a contract between two people. Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of their own free wills. A formal, binding contract – verbal or on paper – is considered integral to a religiously valid Islamic ...
marriage, which is recognised by law. The largest and oldest
madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
is located in Krishnanagar. Mawlawis teaching
Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...
and
Hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
at madrasas in the Terai are either from India, or were trained in India and Saudi Arabia. Many Muslim Madheshis practise
endogamy Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. Endogamy is common in many cultu ...
.


Cuisine

In 1989, a study on food consumption patterns was conducted with 108 people in a village in
Chitwan district Chitwan District (, , ) is one of 77 districts of Nepal, and takes up the southwestern corner of Bagmati Province. Bharatpur, largest city of Nepal after Kathmandu, is its administrative centre. It covers . In 2011 it had a population of 579 ...
. Results of this study showed that the people consumed seven food items on average.
Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', both wild and domesticated, ...
constituted almost half of their daily food intake, supplemented by vegetables, potatoes, milk and dairy products. Less frequently they consumed meat, fish, eggs and fruit. About 13.7% of the total food intake of men was alcohol, whereas females consumed far less alcohol. Fruit commonly grown in the Terai include
mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...
,
lychee Lychee (US: ; UK: ; ''Litchi chinensis''; ) is a monotypic taxon and the sole member in the genus ''Litchi'' in the soapberry family, ''Sapindaceae''. It is a tropical tree native to Southeast and Southwest China (the Guangdong, Fujian, Yunn ...
,
papaya The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus ''Carica'' of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and C ...
,
guava Guava () is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava ''Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, the C ...
,
banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
and
jackfruit The jackfruit (''Artocarpus heterophyllus''), also known as jack tree, is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae). Its origin is in the region between the Western Ghats of southern India, all of Bangladesh, Sr ...
.


See also

*
Demographics of Nepal The current population of Nepal is 29,192,480 as per the 2021 census. The population growth rate is 0.93% per year. In the 2011 census, Nepal's population was approximately 26 million people with a population growth rate of 1.35% and a ...
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Great Bengal famine of 1770 The Bengal Famine of 1770 was a famine that struck Bengal and Bihar between 1769 and 1770 and affected some 30 million people. It occurred during a period of dual governance in Bengal. This existed after the East India Company had been granted ...


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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Madhesi people Nepalese people