Chepang is the commonly used name given to an indigenous ethnic group living in central and southern Nepal. Nepal (नेपाल) is a Landlocked country in South Asia.
The language is also known as Chepang but is called Chyo-bang by the people themselves. Some Bahun Chettri castes call these people the "Praja" meaning "political subjects". The people speak 3 different dialects of this Tibeto-Burman language that is closely related to Raute and Raji, two undocumented languages spoken in western Nepal. The Tibeto-Burman family of languages (often considered a sub-group of the Sino-Tibetan Language family) is spoken in various central and south Asian countries including Raute are a Nomadic ethnic group officially recognized by the Government of Nepal. There are several Western Iranian dialects which are spoken in Central Iran.
Chepang is one of the few languages which uses a duodecimal (base 12) counting system rather than the decimal (base 10). Chepang is a language spoken by aproximately 37000 people in Nepal. The duodecimal system (also known as base -12 or dozenal) is a Numeral system using twelve as its base. The decimal ( base ten or occasionally denary) Numeral system has ten as its base.
Chepang traditionally practised some slash-and-burn agriculture, or simple hoe-based horticulture along with mostly hunting and gathering from the forests. Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture Horticulture is the art and science of plant cultivation Horticulturists (or horticuluralists) work and conduct research in the fields of Plant propagation Since being resettled in southern Nepal and impinged upon by Nepali speaking groups, Chepang have begun plow-based agriculture.
Chepang men and women are basically egalitarian and no social ranking exists as it does in caste Nepalese society. There are no chiefs.
The Chepangs themselves follow Animism, although they are strongly influenced by both Hinduism and Buddhism, which came from the Tamangs just north of them. Animism (from Latin anima ( Soul, Life) commonly refers to a religious belief that Souls or Spirits exist in Animals Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Tamangs are mainly found in the districts of Rasuwa Sindhupalchok Kavrepalanchok Makwanpur Nuwakot Dhading Ramechhap Dolkha, Sindhuli Kathmandu Bhaktapur and Lalitpur They observe all the Hindu festivals of Dashain, Tihar and Sakrantis besides their own tribal festival Nwagi, which is performed on a Tuesday during third week of Bhadra (some day in August and September). According to the 2001 Nepal Census, there are 52,237 Chepang in the country, of which 70. 23% were Hindu, 18. A Hindu ( Devanagari: हिन्दू is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, a set of religious, Philosophical 75% were Buddhists and 8. A number of noted individuals have been Buddhists. Historical Buddhist thinkers and founders of schools Individuals are grouped by nationality except in cases where the 78% were Christians. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth
The best information on them can be found in works by Ross Caughley, Navin Rai and Ganesh Gurung.
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