We danuwar (हामी दनुवार )

Quite akin to the Tharus in numerous ways, the ancestral strongholds of the Danuwars are Banke and Bardia districts. These days they are mostly found in different places of Sindhuli, Makwanpur, Siraha, Udayapur, Sarlahi, Nuwakot and Dhading districts. They belong to four clans - loincloth wearer, janai thread wearer and Rai. The loincloth-wearing Danuwars live between the Chure and Mahabharat Ranges while the thread wearing ones also known as Rajan Danuwar, live in the Terai plains. Rai Danuwars prefer the riverbanks. They are divided into several subgroups or septs such as Dhoni, Chheku, Kuechariya, Rajan, Kushniya, Jidhariya, Kunuor, Adhikari, Dhami, Rai, Kanchla, Nampurchre, and so on. They have their own language, but it is slowly fading away. In religious matters, Danuwars are much closer to the Tharu and Dhimal ethnic groups. Farming is their major occupation. Only 24.5 percent Danuwars are literate and 60 percent of them live below poverty line. According to census 2001, their population is 53,229.

Danuwars are a subtribe of the Tharus of Nepal who have their settlements in the area north of the Terai where the Tharus of Nepal live and also the Churia basin south of Mahabharat range (Bista, 1996). One of the thars (clan) of Tharu is Danuwar also. This tribe believes in Ban Devi (goddess of forests). Since this tribe has its settlements in Dun Area it is possible that it has been named after the word Dun (Sharma, BS2052). Their behaviour, dress, food and lifestyle appear to have been influenced by the people of neighbourhood (Sharma, BS2045). Although they are settled in areas which are located in the interior parts and/or basins of rivers, they are also scattered in different outer districts of middle and east Nepal. The main area of settlement of Danuwars is the district of Sindhuli. They are scattered today in Bagmati, Sagarmatha and Janakpur zones, too. The 1993 Statistical Pocket Book of HMGN indicates that the people who speak Danuwar language as a mother tongue have reached 55 districts of Nepal (Khatri, BS2051/52). Danuwars live in districts like Lalitpur, Kabhre, Nuwakot, Okhaldhunga, Sindhupalchowk, Bhaktapur, Kathmandu, Gorkha, Jhapa, Morang, Dhanusa, Sarlahi, Rauthahat, Sindhuli, Udayapur and Makwanpur. The census of 2001 records the population of Danuwars at 53,229. Experts are of the view that the Danuwar language belongs to Majadhi family of languages. This means that Danuwar language is thought to have been influenced by Magadhi language (Khatri, BS2051-52). Bote, Majhi, Darai, Kachhade, Kuswar and Rai Danuwar fall within the Danuwar group of languages (Gurung, BS2057). Danuwar language may be dubbed as Bhojpuri mixed with Nepali (Sharma, BS2052).

Since Danuwars are influenced by the inhabitants of neighbourhood, they are culturally influenced by other ethnbic groups, too. The rituals of Rai Danuwar and Tharu Danuwar cannot be performed by Brahmin. Naming ceremony is conducted by the oldest woman in the family and the first haircut is done by maternal uncle. There is a custom of stealing groom from the side of bride for marriage. The dead ones are laid to rest (Sharma, BS2052). Some of them throw corpse in the river, too (Sharma, BS2045). There is a practice of cremating, too, if the deceased happens to be an adult (Khatri, BS2051/052). The newborn is christened anytime between three and 11 days of its birth. On the last day of the naming ceremony a feast is organized for the relatives and neighbours. They are offered spirit to drink. Danuwars practise all types of marriage, ie marriage by asking, marriage by choice and marriage by capture. Divorce can be validated by society itself. Danuwar settlements are usually very densely populated in one cluster. One thar (clan) of them accepts spirit and chicken as food and drink whereas another thar never does so. Their houses are long and have multiple rooms. They take enjoyment in songs, music and festivals.

Danuwars have a system of joint family of simple nature with family relatives as members. The male member of the family is considered the head of it. Rai, Tharu, Kachhare Rajahan, Bahaduriya are some of their thars (clans).

Little disputes that arise in the villages are settled by respectable persons of society. The concept of mannyajan (or respectable superior persons) has remained as an accepted custom from time immemorial in the Danuwar community. Besides mannyajan they had authorities in the village committees like president, bichari (clerk), gouro, goret, jayabar, etc. The custom of mannyajan is disappearing gradually. The Danuwars rank high at getting things done by upasana (worship) of invisible spiritual/metaphysical power. They use shamans and mantrabidya (knowledge of spells) to a maximum degree. They believe that man can become a tiger, can cross the river and can become invisible solely by the power of using mantra (spell). They regard Bihibani as their family god. They erect a small open hut in an open space under a pipal tree in the eastern side of their settlement with a view to placing their favourite gods and goddesses by carving their images on wooden plate. Thereafter they worship them by offering sacrifice to them. Hen eggs, he-goats and she-goats are offered in the worships. The worship is conducted by shamans. Sister's son and jwain (sister's or daughter's husband) also become priests for such worships.

Danuwars in recent days do farming but their family occupation is hunting itself. Fishing is their regular job. Since they are indigenous people they are very simple and straightforward in nature. As a consequence, they are exploited by others. Some of them have even lost their properties due to these reasons. In a number of places, however, they are well established in terms of local standards. In some places they also do boating for those who want to cross river (Gurung, 1980).

Introduction of Danuwar (दनुवार जतिको छोटी परिचय)

The term Danuwar is not derived from the mother tongue
spoken by the people of this folk group: rather it is a derivation
related to Nepali word Duna (leaves plate). Normally speaking,
people who settled on the bank of the stream and the rivers
and adopted the profession of fishing were called Danuwar.
Thus, Dune (in Nepali signifying inner terai) was appropriate
place for them. People being settled in Dune were named as
Danuwar. Etemologically, the term Danuwar was derived from
the Sanskrit Dronibar (droni signifies the plain land between
the confluence of two rivers situated in the laps of two hills)
as mentioned above, fishing is their main profession so they
settled on the confluence of the two rivers. Similarly, Dukucha
in Newar language signifies the domestic animal goat. One
day, people heard Dukukarne (the crying of goat) while they
were approaching over there right in present village. Since
then, the name of the place began to be known and recognized
as Duku deleting the suffix <arne> and the inhabitants were
called Danuwar. Historically speaking, in the fourteenth century,
the king of Simoroungarh, the ancient kingdom on the midsouthern
part of Kathmandu, constructed a grandeur palace in
the name of his beautiful daughter and she was married by the
crown prince of Lanka (now Srilanka). The queen gave birth
to five sons after marriage. Among them one was Danuwar
and the rest of the three were Newar, Sunuwar, Kirat and
Limbu. The same Danuwar immigrated and settled to the hilly
area from the inner terai. His successors’ surname remained
Danuwar. Long time ago, Machhendranath or Matsyendranath
(means the king of water) was escorted from Kamarupa, one
of the holy Indian pilgrimage, to Kathmandu. The Danuwar
had gone to bring Matsyendranath Baba and brought him
enroute to Dukuchhap. It was getting night as they arrived at
Dukku. So, they stayed and passed one auspicious night over
there and the devotees celebrated arrival of Baba hosting a
worship during the whole night. They offered him Prasad on
the plate made of leaves and a baby girl was seen on the same
plate in the next morning. Machhendranath was astonished to
see it and baptized her as Duna because she was born out of
the Duna, the plate made of the leaves. In this way, it is believed
that they are the successors of Duna girl. They claim to be
God Machhendranath as their parental relative even today. They
have now scattered all over in search of better life and opportunities
of income generating business and settled in the different parts of
the country. In search of origin of Dhimal folk group, the Danuwar
is also mentioned as the three sons: Munaingba, Thoboingba, and
Yoboingba of Swayambhu Satrupa in Prof. Diwasa’s research.
There were ten sons of Munaingba and the ancestors of Koche,
Meche and Dhimal and the youngest Thirukpa was the predecessor
of Danuwar.The folk belief, as narrated by Khil Bahadur Danuwar to
the researchers, in terms of origin of this folk group is that
they were the poorest people of the poorest village and Duku
was derived from the Nepali word Dukhi (the poorest and
destitute). These people were Dukhi that signifies the poorest
and destitute in terms of economic and social condition.
Similarly, there were a Brahmin young boy and a Chhetrini
young girl. While the girl got asleep soundly, the boy put his
germs in Duna (the plate made up of the leaves) and kept over
her womb. It leaked and spilled inside and she became pregnant.
Her parent inquired her with whom she had sexual intercourse
but she did not have answer. However, the baby was baptized
because he was born from the chromosomes put on the Duna.
Her successors were called Danuwar.
Hasta Bdr Danuwar (73) and Purnamaya (70)
A

Total Population of Danuwar according to 2001 CBS

The population is 53,229 in the total (CBS 2001) and it
constitutes 0.14 percentage of the total population. In
Dukuchhap, there are 835. Besides, there are some Danuwar
settled in other districts, namely, Udayapur (4019), Jhapa, (1250), Morang (1095), Sindhupalchok (2739), Sarlahi (920),
Rautahat (2345), Kabhre (4110), Dhading and Makawanpur
including 62 districts of Nepal. However, our research is
limited only to Danuwar living at Dukuchhap. Then, a team of
researchers were appointed on the basis of agreements by the
end of June 2006 and a memorandum of understanding was
signed in the office.

OUR Danuwar's Dress

ABOUT US

We are non political group of Danuwar ’s people from DANUWAR's community .In this group we share the hot issued related about the DANUWAR cast and do interaction .

We are trying to connect the Danuwar's student from world wide.and
trying to create brotherhood.