Lhasa Newar (trans-Himalayan traders)

Lhasa Newar (alternate name: Lhasa Newah) (Newar: ल्हासा नेवा) refers to the expatriate Newar traders and artisans who traveled between the Kathmandu Valley and Tibet from centuries ago. The Nepalese merchants conducted trade between Nepal, Tibet and Bengal, India over the Silk Road, and acted as a bridge for economic and cultural exchanges between South Asia and Central Asia.

Along with the merchants, there were colonies of artisans in various parts of Tibet who were engaged in creating Buddhist art. They were major players in the exchange of art styles across the Himalaya.

The thousand-year-old Lhasa Newar tradition came to an end after the caravan route linking India and Tibet through Sikkim was shut down by the Sino-Indian War in 1962. Subsequently, the merchants and craftsmen based in Tibet closed up shop and returned home to Nepal for the last time.

According to folklore, Singha Sartha Aju was the first merchant to travel to Tibet. The history of the Lhasa Newars officially dates from the seventh century with the marriage of Nepalese Princess Bhrikuti with Tibetan King Songtsän Gampo. The traders and artisans who accompanied Bhrikuti to Lhasa as part of her retinue established commercial and cultural ties between Nepal and Tibet.

In the 1640s, a treaty was negotiated under which Newar merchants were allowed to establish 32 business houses in Lhasa. It was also agreed that Nepal would mint coins for Tibet. By this time, the number of traders had risen considerably. Eighteenth-century traveller Ippolito Desideri noted that merchants of Nepal were "numerous" in Lhasá.

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Wikipedia