Kirat Era
(508 Bc-110Ad)
- No sign of casteism
- Gautam Buddha visited Kathmandu
- Emperor Ashoka visited
Kathmandu in 250BC
- The present day Kirat (Rai)
accepted casteism only after unification
Lichhabi
Era (200-979AD)
- The casteism was introduced by
them
- Their own caste was not sure as
they were looked down upon by Chhetria
- For being in power they gained
the upper status
- Society was mixed type
- King Ansu Verma degraded Chyama
Khala and made them Pode
Malla era
(879-1768AD)
- Casteism not so severe in
Lichhabi era became very strong
- Jayasthiti Malla (1360-95) rose
into power who was an outsider
- Invited 5 Brahmins from India
- Kirtinath Upadhya ‘Kanyakubja’,
Raghunath Jha, Ramnath Jha ‘Maithil’, Shreenath Bhatta & Mahinath
Bhatta were Daninatya Brahmin
Jayasthiti
Mall contd..
- Introduced severe punishment
for those breaking caste hierarchy and barriers
- Untouchables were segregated
from mainstream society
- Had to live in the outskirt of
towns
- Had to wear special and bad
looking dresses and ornaments so that others would recognise them easily
- Kulu caste supposed to shave
hair and make musical instruments from leather
- If changed occupation would be
fined Turu 120 (Rs)
- The system was totally based on
Manushmriti
Ram Shah (1606-1633 AD)
- King of Gorkha (forefather of
Prithvi Narayan Shah)
- Copied the similar system that
of Jayasthiti Malla
- Though his rule categorized as
ideal in the history “Nyaya Napaya Gorkha Janu”
- Severe punishment for
untouchable for the similar crime
- Anshu Verma, Jayasthiti Malla
& Ram Shah not reformer as stated by Nepalese history
Prithvi Narayan Shah (1779-1831BS)
- Used untouchables such as Bise
Nagarchi, Maniram Gaine and Latokami in the unification process of Nepal
- Introduced caste upgrading and
degrading system
- In 1762 degraded the caste of
Sen Kings of Makawanpur to Sarki
- Upgraded Duwar to Putwar of
Kirtipur
- King Ranabahadur Shah did
“Sahabhoj” to eliminate caste barrier
Rana era (1846-1950 AD)
- In 1853 Junga Bahadur Rana
introduced first Muluki ain (civil code)
- Divided the society into five
caste groups
- Tagadhari, Khas, Matwali,
touchable Shudra and untouchable Shudra
- Untouchable Shudra further
divided into two
- Sprinkle required and sprinkle
not required
- During this period few castes
like Manandhar and Nakarmi were upgraded to touchable castes
- Bhagat Sarbajit Vishwakarma
started movement in 1947 against caste discrimination and jailed
Democratic era (1950-1960)
- No significant work in the
favour of Dalits
- Pashupati entering movement in
1954, 350 people mostly women arrested
- Visit of Dr. Ambedkar to Nepal
in 1955 and toured Dalit settlement of Kathmandu valley
- King started to nominate in the
parliament
- An era of struggle for equality
before law
- Emergence of a few organized
Dalit movements throughout the country
Democratic Era (1990-Present)
- Caste based discrimination made
punishable by law through 1990 constitution
- Era of struggle for social
justice
- Number of strong issues emerged
- Related to economic, political
and social rights
- Formation of Dalit Development
Committee
- Formation of National Dalit
Commission
- Emergence of Dalit NGOs and
Federations
- The leadership of movement
being shifted to relatively younger generation
- Dalit issue no longer a
national but becoming international issue
- Lots of attention of civil
society drawn
- Significant involvement of
Dalits in Maoist insurgency
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