Kham Magar
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Languages | |
|
Magar Pang language Magar kura |
|
| Religion | |
| Buddhism and Shamanism |
|
| Related ethnic groups | |
| All aborigines groups |
Western magar are descriptive terms invented by academic linguists and anthropologists for a nationality in the Middle Hills of mid-western Nepal inhabiting highlands extending through eastern Rukum and northern Salyan, Rolpa and Pyuthan Districts in RaptiZone as well as Dhaulagiri and Bheri Zones. They speak a complex of Tibeto-Burman distinct language called magar Pang.But there is no any confusion that magar Pang,magar kaike and magar dhut are same languages they have derived from Pali language.
Due to their oral mythology and distinctive Shamanistic practices, Western Magar are thought to have originally migrated from Siberia according to shamanic tradition but some Magar writers have written that they are originated in Rukum district. There is no obvious proof of where they come from.
Oral histories handed down from generations to generations say that Kham people migrated from Norther icy himalayan regions which lies to the southern part of China after the Kham civilization got lost and submerged in the icy glaciers in and around 200 AD. Later on the Kham kings ruled from present Karnali region or ancient Nepal region in the far west. However, after Khas kings from Kumaon and Garwal continued to attack upon Kham kings of Humla and Jumla area in around 400 AD. The Kham kings are reported to have fought against brute and uncivilized Khas aggressors for 100s years. But Kham's last kings were defeated when king Khudu was the king. He had fought fiercely against Garra army but could not protect his forth and was deposed. Khas kingdom flourished in the Jumla region which started their rule after which they claimed this region as Khasan.
The Magars divided in 12 kings called 12 Magrant were divided into 12 and 18 clans after which they claimed their family titles. All 12 and 18 clans belonged to the same titled Magars who usually spoke one Magar language and lived around Gandak region. It must be clear that both 12 and 18 Magars spoke one and same Dhut language which is not understood in Rolpa, Rukum, and Karnali region by Kham people despite being known as either, Kham Magar, Magar Kham etc.
Western Magar inhabit highlands 3,000–4,000 metres (9,800–13,100 ft) above sea level, some 50 km (31 mi) south of the Dhaulagiri range, forming a triple divide between the Karnali-Bheri system to the west, the Gandaki system to the east, and the smaller (west) Rapti and Babai river systems that separate the two larger systems south of this point. Since the uppermost tributaries of the Karnali and Gandaki rise beyond the highest Himalaya ranges, trade routes linking India and Tibet developed along these rivers, whereas high ridges along the Rapti's northern watershed and then the Dhaulagiri massif beyond were rigorous obstacles. Similarly, Hindu people in Hindu Muslim conflicts brahaman peoples settled out around these highlands with the western magars by following the Mahabharat Range to the south or Dhorpatan valley to the north which—by Himalayan standards—offers exceptionally easy east-west passage. The western magar highlands may also have been left as a buffer between the easternmost Baise kingdom, Salyan, and the westernmost Chaubisi kingdom, Pyuthan. For the Hindu brahaman, the intervening highlands, unsuited for rice cultivation, were hardly worth contesting.
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