Province No. 5

Lumbini Province ( ne, लुम्बिनी प्रदेश, Lumbinī pradēśa) is a province in western Nepal. It borders Gandaki Province and Karnali Province to the north, Sudurpashchim Province to the west, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar of India to the south. Lumbini is the third largest and the third most populous province among the Nepali provinces.

Lumbini's capital, Deukhuri, is near the geographic centre of the province; it is a small town which is currently being developed to meet the prerequisite of provincial capital. The major cities in this province are Butwal and Siddharthanagar in Rupandehi District, Nepalgunj in Banke District, Tansen in Palpa District, and Ghorahi and Tulsipur in Dang District. The province is home to the World Heritage Site of Lumbini, where according to the Buddhist tradition, the founder of Buddhism, Gautama Buddha was born.

Etymology

Lumbini Province is named after the holy pilgrimage site of Lumbini in the Rupandehi District, birthplace of Gautama Buddha – the founder of Buddhism. The Provincial Assembly adopted Lumbini Province as the permanent name by replacing its initial name ''Province No. 5'' on 6 October 2020 and Deukhuri was declared the state capital of the province.

History

Pre-history

The Churiya range linked with the Dang valley of Lumbini province has been archaeologically considered very ancient with the existence of Sivapithecus'','' a link between man ''a''nd ape. The pre-historic studies of the valley have been carried out extensively since the last century; by Tribhuvan University since 1966, American Museum of Natural History and the Department of Mines of then His Majesty's Government of Nepal from 1976, as well as the paleolithic study of Dang valley by University of Erlangen-Nuremberg of Germany in 1984, among others. These researches have pointed out that Dang valley was a lake approximately 2.5 to 1 million years ago. In addition, Hand axes and other artefacts dated to early Paleolithic (1.8 million to 100,000 years ago) have been found in alluvial deposits along the Babai River in Dang Valley, which have been classified as Acheulean or second-generation tools that succeed the oldest Olduwan. Also along the Babai River, there have been discoveries of archeological sites dated to Upper Paleolithic/Late Pleistocene (about 50,000 to 10,000 years ago).

Shakya-era

As per the Buddhist tradition, Queen Maya Devi of Kapilavastu was traveling to her father's Koliya kingdom in Devdaha to give birth to her child as was the Shakya tradition. However, on the way she stopped near the garden of Lumbini to rest and went into labour thus giving birth to the future Buddha under a sal tree. Gautama Buddha was born in 623 BC in Lumbini, testified by the inscription on the pillar erected by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka in 249 BC which marks the spot as the birthplace of '' Buddha Shakyamuni''. The inscription mentions, as translated by Paranavitana:

"''When King Devanampriya Priyadarsin had been anointed twenty years, he came himself and worshipped (this spot) because the Buddha Shakyamuni was born here. (He) both caused to be made a stone bearing a horse and caused a stone pillar to be set up, (in order to show) that the Blessed One was born here. (He) made the village of Lummini free of taxes, and paying (only) an eighth share (of the produce)"''

According to the Buddhist texts, Gautama Buddha was born as a prince in a royal Shakya clan reigning over the kingdom of Kapilavastu. This ancient city has been widely identified as Tilaurakot of present Kapilvastu district where ruins of the ancient fortified city have been found. Gautama was a prince of Kapilavastu until the age of 29, after which he left the palace behind and wandered throughout the Ganges plain as an ascetic – learning yoga and related concepts from various teachers. Gautama became the Buddha or the Enlightened One after several years of his wandering, one day under the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya. After enlightenment, he began his teachings and travelled extensively throughout the Ganges plain. The original teachings of Buddha later culminated into Buddhism, spreading through much of Asia then and the world at present.

After the death of Gautama Buddha, eight princes out of sixteen mahājanapadās received Buddha's relics, one of them a Koliyan king of Rāmagrāma (present Parasi district) who built a stupa enshrining the relic. Buddhist texts point out the princes constructed a stupa at or near their capital city and enshrined Buddha's relics. The site has the only undisturbed original stupa containing the relic of Gautama Buddha in the world, and was added to the World Heritage Tentative List by UNESCO on 23 May 1996.

Medieval Period

During the medieval period after the 11th century, Khasa Kingdom dominated much of western Nepal and western Tibet which was initially oriented towards Buddhism and Shamanism, and at their peak encompassed Guge and Purang of Tibet and western Nepal up to Kaskikot. King Ripumalla, one of the initial Khasa rulers, left an inscription on the Ashoka pillar with six-syllable mantra of Buddhism and his wish ''"''Om mani padme hum: May Prince Ripu Malla be long victorious''",'' dated around 1312 CE.

After the late 13th century, Khasa kingdom disintegrated into numerous principalities each with its own ruler. In the 18th century, King Prithvi Narayan Shah, born from the marriage of king Nara Bhupal Shah of the Gorkha Kingdom and Queen Kaushalyavati Devi, the princess of the Palpa kingdom; set out on a conquest to unify the region into modern Nepal.

Modern history

The"' Anglo-Nepalese War' "(1814–1816), was fought between the Gorkhali army of the Kingdom of Nepal and the British forces of the East India Company. Nepal had won the battle against the British in this region. Jitgadhi, Nuwakot Gadhi, and Kathe Gadhi acted as strong defensive and offensive bases during the war.

Battle of Jit Gadhi

With the help of an ousted Palpali king, Major General Wood planned to march on Siuraj, Jitgadi Fort and Nuwakot with a view to bypass the Butwal defenses, flushing out minor opposition on the axis, and assault Palpa from a less guarded flank. Nepalese Colonel Ujir Singh Thapa had deployed his 1200 troops in many defensive positions including Jit Gadhi, Nuwakot Gadhi, and Kathe Gadhi. The troops under Colonel Ujir were very disciplined and he himself was a dedicated and able commander. He was famous for exploiting advantages in men, material, natural resources and was well versed in mountain tactics.

The British advance took place on 22nd Poush1871 BS (January 1814 AD) to Jit Gadh. While they were advancing to this fortress, crossing the Tinau River, the Nepalese troops opened fire from the fortress. Another of the attackers' columns was advancing to capture Tansen Bazar. Here too, Nepalese spoiling attacks forced the General to fall back to Gorakhpur. About 70 Nepalese lost their lives in Nuwakot Pakhe Gadhi. Meanwhile, more than 300 of the enemy perished.

Historical Districts

During 1942 the region was divided into several districts such as Butwal, Deukhuri, Banke, Nuwakot, Salyan, Palpa, etc.

Geography

Lumbini, with an area of 22,288 square kilometers (8,605.44 sq. mi) covers about 15.1% of the country's total area. Lumbini Province is almost the size of US state of New Jersey. The province extends 150 km (93 mi) north to south and about 300 km (186 mi) east to west at its maximum width. It shares 413.14 km (256 mi) of border with India (states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh).

The Province is geographically bordered with Gandaki Province to the east and north, by Karnali province to the north and west, by Sudurpaschim Province to the west and by India to the south. There are three ecological regions of Mountains, Hills and Terai; each occupying 3.1%, 69.3% and 27.6% of the province respectively.

Climate

Lumbini has a humid subtropical climate and experiences four seasons. The winter in January and February is followed by summer between March and May and the monsoon season between June and September. In winter, it's sunny and mild, pleasantly warm during the day but cool at night, sometimes even cold. The average temperature in January is around 15 °C (59 °F). But the northern parts of the province get colder and can experience snowfall. By March, the temperature rises considerably and it begins to be hot, while from April to June it's scorching hot, and highs can reach or exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in southern plains.

In June, the summer monsoon arrives, characterized by heavy rains, in the form of downpours and thunderstorms. The monsoon arrives first in the east, in early June, while in the west it comes in the middle of the month or so. The temperature decreases, with the maximum dropping to around 32 °C (90 °F) in July and August, but the humidity increases, making the heat muggy. The rains are heavy, especially in July and August, when they exceed 300 millimeters (12 inches) per month, but in certain areas at the foot of the mountains, they can exceed 600 mm (23.5 in) per month. The monsoon starts to withdraw by early October in the west, and about a week later in the east. The weather returns to be sunny, and even though October is still a hot month, the humidity decreases, and the night temperature becomes a bit cooler.

Valleys

Dang-Deukhuri

Dang and Deukhuri valleys, 10 km apart, are located in the Dang Deukhuri District. The Dang Valley lies between the Mahabharat Range in the north and the Churia Range in the south. It forms a nearly 1,000 km² (390 sq mi) plain within a local drainage basin of less than 3,000 km² (1,200 sq mi). It is drained by the Babai River, and is one of the largest Inner Terai valleys. Deukhuri Valley is southeast of the Dang Valley and extends about 60 km (37 mi) in WNW-ESE direction with a maximum width of 20 km (12 mi), and is surrounded by Sivalik Hills on all sides. It forms a nearly 600 km² (230 sq mi) plain within a drainage basin of 6,100 km² (2,400 sq mi). The valley is drained by the West Rapti River.

The elevations of Dang and Deukhuri valleys are 700 meters and 300 meters from sea level respectively. Late Cenozoic sedimentary sequences are well exposed along the southern part of Dang and all sides of Deukhuri valley, and mostly consist of deformed rocks resulting from the persistence of shortening between Indian Plate and Eurasian Plate. The two valleys have been considered a vital location of Paleolithic archeology in South Asia due to the abundant presence of ancient Paleolithic tool sites.

Other small valleys of the province are located in districts like Arghakhanchi ( Rapti), Palpa ( Rampur), Gulmi ( Simaltari), Pyuthan ( Darban and Bajipur).

Forests

About 15% of the total land is covered in protected forest in the province.

Mountains

Being the only mountain district of Lumbini province, most of the prominent peaks of the province lie in Eastern Rukum District along the Dhaulagiri range. The tallest mountain of Lumbini Province in Eastern Rukum, Putha Himchuli also known as Mount Dhaulagiri VII, has an altitude of 7,246 meters and is one of the popular trekking peak of the Dhaulagiri region. The mountain was first ascended jointly by British explorer J.O.M Roberts and Nepalese climber Ang Nyima Sherpa in 1954. Mount Sisne I remained an unclimbed summit until 2013, and the first successful ascent was made by a mountaineering team led by Man Bahadur Khatri.

Protected areas

* Bardiya National Park
* Banke National Park
* Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve

Demographics

In 2011 Lumbini had a census population of 4,499,272 with 885,203 households.

Ethnicity

The province is very ethnically diverse. The largest group is the Tharu with 15.14% of the population. The second largest is Magar with 15.01%. Other Janajati communities include Newar 1.35% Other Janjati 2.72%. The Khas and Arya communities are Khas/ Chhetri (13.60%), Hill Brahmin (12.37%), Kami (6%), Damai (1.88%), Sarki (1.48%), Thakuri (1.33%) and Sanyasi (1.15%). The Terai communities are Musalman (6.93%), Yadav (4.03%), Chamar (2.04%), Kewat (1.04%), Kahar (1.02%) and Paswan (1.01%).

Religion

Language

Nepali is the most spoken language of the province, but is also a home to Tharu community and 'Tharu language' with 600,000 speakers. The province also has many speakers of Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Urdu