Bahun

Bahun ( ne, बाहुन) or Khas Brahmin ( ne, खस ब्राह्मण) is a caste ( ''Varna'') among Khas people of Nepal. Their origins are from the Indo-Aryan Khasa tribe of Nepal and South Asia. According to the 2011 Nepal census, Bahun is the second most populous group after Chhetri, another Varna within the hill Hindus in Nepal.

According to 1854 ''Muluki Ain'' (Nepalese Legal Code), Bahuns were regarded as caste among sacred thread bearers (Tagadhari) and twice-born Hindus.

Origin

Traditionally, Bahuns were members of the Khas community together with Chhetris and Hill Dalits. Possibly due to political power of the Khasa Malla kingdom, Khas Bahun and Khas Rajput (Chhetris) had high social status like plain Brahmins and Rajputs in the present-day western Nepal. Bahuns, regarded as upper class Khas group together with Chhetri, were associated mostly with the Gorkha Kingdom. Bahuns were original inhabitants of Karnali region of Nepal. The immigration of Brahmins into Nepal increased significantly from 1324 and continued up to 1769 due to the foreign invasion in the western portion of the Indian subcontinent.

Clans

Bahuns were divided into two clans on the basis of residency. The Bahun residents east of Mahakali river were known as Purbiya Bahun and west of the river were known as Kumai Bahun. Kumai or Kumain is a direct derivative of Kumaoni, meaning residents of Kumaon.

Demography

According to the 2011 Nepal census, Bahuns (referred as Hill-Brahmin) are the second most populous group after Chhetri with 12.2% of Nepal's population (or 32,26,903 people). Bahun are the second largest Hindu group with a population of 3,212,704 (99.6% of Bahuns). Bahuns are the largest group in 15 districts in Nepal: Jhapa, Morang, Kathmandu, Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Kaski, Syangja, Parbat, Gulmi and Arghakhanchi. Among these, Bahuns in Parbat (35.7%), Arghakhanchi (32.8%), Syangja (30.9%), Chitwan (28.6%), Kaski (27.8%) and Gulmi (25.2%) consist more than 25% of the district population. Kathmandu has largest Bahun population with 410,126 people (23.5%).

Bahuns have the highest civil service representation with 39.2% of Nepal's bureaucracy while having only 12.1% of Nepal's total population. The civil service representation to population ratio is 3.2 times for Bahuns which is fourth in Nepal. Chhetris represent 5.6 times in civil services to their percentage of population, which is the highest in Nepal. As per the Public Service Commission, Brahmins (33.3%) and Chhetris (20.01%) were two largest caste group to obtain governmental jobs in F.Y. 2017-18 even though 45% governmental seats are reserved for women, Madhesis, other caste and Tibetan tribes, people with disability and those from the backward regions. Similarly, in the fiscal 2018–19, Bahuns (34.87%) and Chhetris (19.63%) maintained 55% of their proportion in civil service as per Public Service Commission.

Notable people

*Madhav Prasad Devkota
*Chabilal Upadhyaya
*Ranga Nath Poudyal
* Krishna Prasad Koirala and Koirala family
*Matrika Prasad Koirala
*Tanka Prasad Acharya
* Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala
*Girija Prasad Koirala
*Krishna Prasad Bhattarai
*Man Mohan Adhikari
*KP Sharma Oli
* Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda)
*Madhav Kumar Nepal
*Baburam Bhattarai

See also

*Caste system in Nepal
*Varna (Hinduism)

References

Bibliography

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{{Brahmin communities

Brahmin communities of Nepal
Khas people
Brahmins
Brahmin communities
Gurkhas
Ethnic groups in Nepal
Ethnic groups in South Asia
Hindu ethnic groups
Hindu communities