Newar people in nepal

The Newar or Newah (/nɪˈwɑːr/;[2] Newar: नेवा:) are the historical inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley and its surrounding areas in Nepal, and the creators of its historic heritage and civilization.[3] Newars form a linguistic and cultural community of primarily Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Burman ethnicities following Hinduism and Buddhism with Nepal Bhasa as their common language.[4] Newars have developed a division of labour and a sophisticated urban civilization not seen elsewhere in the Himalayan foothills.[5] Newars have continued their age-old traditions and practices, and pride themselves as the true custodians of the religion, culture and civilization of Nepal.[6]

The valley and surrounding territories constituted the former Newar kingdom of the Nepal Mandala.[7][8] Unlike other common-origin ethnic or caste groups of Nepal, the Newars are regarded as an example of a nation community with a relict identity, derived from an ethnically-diverse, previously-existing polity.[9] Newar community within it consists of various strands of ethnic, racial, caste and religious heterogeneity, as Newars of today are descendants of the diverse group of people that have lived in Nepal Mandala since prehistoric times. Indo-Aryan immigrants like the Licchavis and Mallas that arrived at different periods eventually merged with the local population by adopting their language and customs. These immigrants however retained their Indic heritage and brought with them their Sanskritic languages, social structure, Vedic religion and culture which has profoundly altered the history of Newar civilization.[3] Newar rule in Nepal Mandala ended with its conquest by the Gorkha Kingdom in 1768.[10][11]

Newars are known for their contributions to culture, art and literature, trade, agriculture and cuisine.[12] Today, Newars consistently rank as the most economically, politically and socially advanced community of Nepal, according the annual Human Development Index published by UNDP.[13] Nepal's 2011 census ranks Newars as the nation's sixth-largest ethnicity/community, with 1,321,933 Newars throughout the country.[14]

Contents  [hide]
1 Origin of the name
2 History
3 Economic history
4 Castes and communities
5 Religion
6 Language
7 Scripts
8 Literature
9 Dance
9.1 Masked Dance
9.2 Dhime dance
10 Music
10.1 Popular traditional songs
10.2 Religious music
11 Art
11.1 Traditional painting
12 Architecture
13 Settlements
14 Festivals
15 Clothing
16 Cuisine
17 Life-cycle ceremonies
18 Newa Games
19 Notable Newar People
20 See also
21 References
22 Further reading
23 External links