The Daman people ( zh, 达曼人) was one of the
unrecognized ethnic groups in China
A number of ethnic groups of the People's Republic of China are not officially recognized. Taken together, these groups () would constitute the twentieth most populous ethnic group of China. Some scholars have estimated that there are over 200 d ...
and now officially classified as
Tibetans
Tibetans () are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 7.7 million. In addition to the majority living in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans live in t ...
. They are descendants of Nepalese centuries ago. Previously stateless, they were granted Chinese citizenship in 2003.
Located around 30 kilometers away from the
China-Nepal border in
Gyirong County
Kyirong or Gyirong County (), also known by its Chinese name Jilong ( zh, s=吉隆县), is a county of the Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is famous for its mild climatically conditions and its abundant vegetation which ...
of
Shigatse Prefecture
Shigatse, officially known as Xigazê () or Rikaze ( zh, s=日喀则, p=Rìkāzé), is a prefecture-level city of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Its area of jurisdiction, with an area of , corresponds to the histo ...
, the Daman New Village, with a total population of 197, is the only settlement of the Daman people in China.
Etymology
The term 达曼人 (lit. Daman people) is an exonym from
Tibetic languages
The Tibetic languages form a well-defined group of languages descending from Old Tibetan.Tournadre, Nicolas. 2014. "The Tibetic languages and their classification." In ''Trans-Himalayan linguistics, historical and descriptive linguistics of the ...
, ''da'' means horse and ''man'' means soldier; ''daman'' means cavalryman.
History
In 1792, after the
Sino-Gorkha war, hundreds of Gorkha soldiers were lost in the China-Nepal border and then resided there. The Daman people are allegedly the descendants of the Gorkha soldiers, and there have been the 6th or 7th generations since then.
Daman people were once without a nationality (stateless) before the
State Council of China
The State Council of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Central People's Government, is the chief administrative authority and national cabinet. It is constitutionally the highest administrative organ of the country and the e ...
officially approved them as
Chinese citizens Chinese citizen refers to a citizen of the People's Republic of China (PRC) under Chinese nationality law
*Mainland China
**Resident Identity Card, granted to PRC citizens who are also permanent residents of mainland China
**Chinese passport, grante ...
in 2003. Since then, Daman people have been treated the same as Tibetan by the government.
See also
*
Tamang people
The Tamang people (; Devanagari: तामाङ; ''tāmāṅ'') are an ethnic group living in Nepal, Northeast India and southern Bhutan. In Nepal, they are concentrated in the central hilly and Himalayan regions and constituted over 1.6 mill ...
References
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Chinese people of Nepalese descent