A Bureaucrat's Research On Nepal's Anthropology

There is misplaced thinking even in informed circles in Nepal that the entire gamut of bureaucrats may not be interested in or endowed with what can be called intellectual pursuits. While the familiar postulate may or may not be 100 per cent right, there is, of course, no doubt that some people in the civil service are especially gifted with cerebral powers.

Khem Raj Nepal, one of what can be called the cream of the country's bureaucracy in terms of intellectual knowledge and attainment, and solid experience, is one of the rare examples of an anthropologist with both powers of analysis and felicity of expression. He is also considered an expert in terms of good governance and local administration.

Born on June 18, 1946, at Namsaling, Ilam, Nepal also falls among senior bureaucrats as what can be called the unfortunate victim of the lethargy or lack of imagination on the part of the government that is described by one as just dumb and deaf with no innovative thinking, which probably applies more in our case. Nepal was singled out among top bureaucrats for not giving him his due in respect of post-retirement assignments after his successful completion of the tenure of Secretary to the Government of Nepal.

This contrasts with the hordes of bureaucrats with questionable credentials or even lacking credibility granted various gubernatorial positions in constitutional and other statutory posts or ambassadorships. Many of them were simply believed to have served as cohorts of those in power, with no proven quality or merit.

It may be recalled that Nepal completed his Masters in Anthropology way back in 1971. Few people among Nepalis have the special advantage of having been educated at Kolkata University in the faculty of Anthropology. We recollect another Nepali, Dr. Rishi Keshab Raj Regmi, who is sadly not in good health now and who completed his Ph.D. from the same university years later after doing his BSc from Kolkata in Anthropology and his master’s from Annamalai University.

Another rare feather in the cap of Nepal relates to his record of participation as a Mukti Bahini (freedom fighter) volunteer in a group that went to Khulna and other parts of Bangladesh under the auspices of the International Students' Union based in the City of Palaces and was later honoured by the government of Bangladesh for his role in the independence struggle.

Khem Raj Nepal has come out with his second book in addition to the numerous articles he has contributed for many years. His first book, Samaj, Sanskar Ra Shashan (Society, Culture, and Governance), was one of the best sellers in the domain of administration. In the latest case, he has penned a unique and substantive work entitled MISHRIT JANAJAATI HAAMI NEPALI—NEPALI SAMAAJKO BANOT AARAMBHA DEKHI MADHYAKAALSAMMA that can roughly be translated as We Nepalis are Mixed Indigenous People—Composition of Nepali Society from Origin to Mediaeval Times.

Before dwelling on his subject, Nepal has defined what the mediaeval period means in terms of Nepal's anthropology in the sense that social evils and practises continue to grip our society, which has undergone only sporadic development and not what may be called a total overhaul of our social and ethnic landscape in terms of social and economic advancement.

The book, entailing wider and more serious research on Nepali society, is a relatively small but quite elaborative research work with all relevant endnotes. What counts is quality and not quantity, as there was a decision on the part of Harvard University after Henry Alfred Kissinger submitted his PhD thesis that social science theses and dissertations should have a ceiling on length, later called the Kissinger Rule.

This fully applies in respect of the writer's presentation of obviously complex and complicated matters lucidly and succinctly in the form of the new book. Starting with the foreword by Dr. Dilli Ram Dahal, Professor of Anthropology, the book is divided into 27 chapters plus one section that contains the author's list of thanks for people who helped him in the process, in addition to a detailed index. 

In the preface, Nepal describes the country, with an unbroken history of more than three thousand years, as a unity in extreme diversity, not only in ethnicity, which is also divided into diversity in related aspects of language, culture, and religion, but also in various other fields in terms of topography, ecology, wildlife, entomology, forestry, and herbs. Despite such a mine of manifold diversity in the human aspect prevailing in the country, the author rightly laments the lack of any initiative so far in making a systematic and thorough study and research of genetics and physical anthropology.

The first two chapters of the work are rather introductory, setting the perspective and basis for researching the subject. Chapters three to five range from a wider angle of the status of Nepalis in the ancient age to a more complex aspect of social anthropology in respect of the loss or origin of caste and creed from the standpoint of various modalities of marriage.

Chapters 6 to 24 encompass the description and listing of various ethnic, religious, and cultural communities or their clusters. These include chapter 6, the biggest chapter in the book (pages 29–43), relating to the multi-ethnic core group, Kiranti, divided into several ethnic sub-groups. Communities dealt with from chapter 7 onward relate to Ghale, Gurung, Newar, Lepcha, Tamang, Sherpa, and other residents of the Himalayan region; Magar; occupational communities taken as lower class or Dalits; and other tribes in the mountainous region.

Likewise, the section includes other communities like Tharu, Koche, Meche, Rajbanshi, Tajpuria, Muslims, Terai-based communities branded as higher class in the social ladder, Marwari, Sikh (Punjabi), other minority communities in Terai, Brahmin, Chhetri, Khas, and Sanyasi or Dashnaami. The rest of the last three chapters, from 25 to 27, are essentially concluding observations and constitute what can be taken as an epilogue, coda, or postscript.

In a nutshell, Khem Raj Nepal has rendered exemplary service to the country by writing such an innovative, research-based treatise that is sure to help all concerned, including general readers interested in our social composition and anthropology. This is also sure to ignite interest in the field for further research and study.

(Dr. Bhattarai is a former Foreign Secretary and ambassador.  kutniti@gmail.com)