Despite
its small territory, Nepal portrays a tapestry of linguistic and cultural
diversity. Such a configuration of cultural and linguistic diversity has been
an enormous and unrivaled national asset, which is the return of existing
ethno-linguistic communities. The Census Report (CR) 2001 has catalogued at
least 102 ethnic communities or castes and a distribution of 92 indigenous
languages. Of these various speech communities, Magar is the third largest
ethnic group in Nepal as the 2001 census has revealed that there are 16,22,421
Magars, representing 7.14 percent of Nepal’s total population.
The Central Bureau of
Statistics (CBS) 2001 has crowned Magar as the largest indigenous ethnic group
of Nepal. One can thus apprehend the significance of the heritage of the Magar
culture and literature. Its footage of historical events entails a dominant
role in Nepal’s history and philosophy. But the governments led by all the
democratic political parties, including the Maoists, never acknowledged this
reality, nor have they adopted any viable dimensions to preserve Magar
literature.
There are several
controversial issues surrounding Magar origin and history due to lack of
accurate and chronological documents, but it is claimed that Magars are one of
the original inhabitants of Nepal. Many historians and Magar scholars advocate
that they were the first to welcome the immigrants from the plains of India. It
is, therefore, seen that a great deal of their customs and ceremonies are very
close to those of the Hindus of India.
Nothing exceptional of
the early history of the Magars is discerned before 1100 A D. However, the
inauguration of the Magar canon dates back to the time when Mukunda Sen, the
Magar king of Palpa and Butwal, invaded and conquered the Kathmandu valley.
Some individual initiatives conclude that all the kings of 24 principalities,
including the Sen King of Palpa (in 17th and 18th centuries), were Magars. The
most eminent historian of Nepal, Baburam Acharya, also confirmed that the Shah
Dynasty of Nepal were descendants of the Magar Kings of Barah Magaranth.
Stressing this, some of the Magar scholars today argue that the 18th century
king, Prithivi Narayan Sha, the founder of the modern kingdom of Nepal, had
once declared himself as a Magar king.
Such salient facts
stimulate Magar scholars and historians to push for the development Magar
speaking regions. Harsha Bahadur Buda Magar, a Magar scholar and independent
researcher, states that Palpa district can play a distinctive role in the
revival of Magar culture and literature, as it was popularly known as the
Magarant Country during the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the
17th century. Another scholar, Keshar Jang Baral, highlights that the Gandaki
zone of was historically recognised as Maharlok and later, the Magar community
established themselves there.
The Magars speak their
own language called Magaranti Dut. Iman Singh Chemjogi, a researcher, bolsters
that the name “Magar” emerged from the combination of “Mang + Ar”. And such a
merger forms the word “Mangar,” which means “Mongolian” in Burmese and “Santan”
in Chinese languages. The categorisation made by Baral comprises the two groups
of the Magar language-Barah and Athara Magaranti Dut. The former refers to the
language spoken by the Magar people of Palpa, Syanja and Tanahu districts. And
the language spoken by the Magars in Rolpa, Pyuthan and Baglung is called the
Athara Magaranti Dut, which is further found to be classified into two
dialects-Kham and Kaike. The Magars living especially in Rukum, Rolpa, Pyuthan,
Baglung, Dailekh and Surkhet districts speak the Kham language. Meanwhile,
Kaike dialect is spoken especially by the Rokka Magars of Dolpa. The Magar
language spoken across the nation comes under the Barah Magaranti Dut.
The Magar language
itself, having 430,264 speakers, is a distinguished one in the linguistic map
of the world. Despite its significant number of users, the modern state of
Nepal, however, has not been entirely supportive in advancing its literary
traditions.
Many indigenous
languages, including Magar, are still confined to their oral traditions as they
lack the practice of literary ones. If they cease to be spoken, they are likely
to lose their identity pushing them to the verge of extinction. There are
nonetheless some initiatives being taken by various language communities. For
example, although Magar written literature is still in its infancy period, due
to the great efforts of Magar scholars, the ancient script called “Akkha” was granted
legal support after the sixth Central Conference of Magar Association (CCMA)
took place in 1997, where it was authoritatively announced as the Magar script.
However, till date, the
only book to be published in the Aakha script is Magar Bhashako Karmakanda
written by C B Rana Magar in 1994. This has, in large, been because no
government assistance has been given to promote Magar literature. Scholars of
Magar literature in Nepal, thus deplore the deficiency of state assistance and
recognition of its literary works. Bating the government, some Magar scholars
have themselves started developing some written literature in their language in
the form of journals and magazines such as Lafa, Kanunglam and Shodhamalh.
Obviously, credit goes to such personal initiatives even in the absence of the
government support. However, it could be a challenging task to give momentum to
the hitherto quelled culture without notable aid from government institutions.
Constitutional
provisions, after the restoration of democracy in 1990, have declared all
indigenous languages of Nepal “national languages” and guarantee each community
the fundamental rights to preserve and promote its language, script and
culture. But this is near-impossible for most minority languages, which lack
educational materials, a functional script and written literature. The
constitutional provisions do however provide some ground for hope and
encouragement to work towards the preservation and advancement of minority
languages, cultures and educational opportunities in their mother tongues. But
to materialise this dream project, both the government and the ethnic groups
should implement some immediately viable steps.
Magar is a lecturer of
English language at Tribhuvan Univeristy
gopal.sijapatimagar@gmail.com
Published:
20-11-2011 09:10
