NEWAR FAMILY NAMES
by Dr. Devendra M. Amatya
Newars are the original inhabitants of the Kathmandu valley in the kingdom of Nepal. As a result, Newars form the largest ethnic community in the valley.
Before the unification of the country in the eighteenth century by king Prithvi Narayan Shah, the Kathmandu valley (the tri-city districts of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur) only was known as Nepal and only Newars lived in the Valley. The language spoken by Newars is called Newari or Nepal Bhasha (translates to: the language of Nepal). Today, about 5% of the total population of Nepal (approximately 1 million people) probably speak this language. Newars have spread out not only throughout the whole of the country but also to other parts of the world including the United States, where the opportunities for trade, business, education and career development exist.
In the old days, Newa people could be easily identified because of their distinct cultural, linguistic, social, and religious characteristics. The identification may not be as simple anymore because of behavioral influences from other cultures but the original characteristics could still be used for the purpose.
So how do we recognize a Newa person now? One way of knowing the people is through their art and culture. Newars are recognized to have a rich heritage in art and culture and they tend to live in big societies. Social and family values are second to none to them. It was not until the 15th century or perhaps even earlier when the Malla kings from India conquered and ruled Nepal (the present Kathmandu valley) and amalgamated themselves into the Newa community.
Patronized by the nobility of the Malla kings, Newa artisans constructed the temples, bahals, monasteries and chowks (courtyards) that constitute the manmade environment of the valley today. All these structures with intricate carvings and paintings on wood, stone, brick and metal parts portray the art, culture, tradition, and beliefs of the Newars. In fact, Newa people were recognized for their art and crafts as early as the 13th century AD, when a Newar architect and master craftsman named Arniko was invited to Tibet to build important stupas, temples and cast historic images (APA Productions, Hong Kong, 1987).
Besides these original Newars there are other settlers who migrated from India and who have naturalized themselves as Newa people after their prolonged (for centuries) stay with the Newa people and mixing with their ways of life and culture. So, it is clear that the present population of Newars comprise of both the original Newa people and those who migrated to the then Nepal valley at later times.
History indicates that the original art and architecture of Newars have strong linkage with Buddhism. Many of the current generation of the Newar ancestors is still engaged in traditional professions and they can be recognized as Newa people because of their family professions. Not all Newars were involved in these family professions. The objective of this article is basically to explore the identification of all Newa people.
Another way of recognizing a Newa person is by his or her family or last name which, in one way or another, is linked to the original Newa people and those who converted into Newars later. Based on history, last names are also said to be the product of the caste system, the study of which is beyond the scope of this article. Newa, people originally with faith in Buddhism, were said to be foreign to the caste system until the coming of the Mallas, who swayed by the Hindu culture, introduced the system in the community.
Therefore, a natural way of recognizing the Newars is by their family or last name. The following are the family names (in an alphabetical order) of Newa people that I have been able to explore so far. I would like to ask the readers of this article for any mistakes, omissions and additions of Newa family/last names for my future references.
1. ACHAJU 2. AMATYA 3. AWALE 4. BAIDYA 5. BAJRACHARYA 6. BANIYA 7. BHUJU 8. BIJUKCHHE 9. BYANJANKAR 10. CHITRAKAR 11. DHAKHWA 12. DHAUBHADEL 13. DHUNJU 14. DONGOL 15. GONGAH 16. GONGOL 17. GORKHALEE 18. GURUBARCHARYA 19. GUBHAJU 20. HADA 21. JONCHHE 22. JOSHI 23. KACHHYAPATI 24. KANSAKAR 25. KARANJEET 26. KARMACHARYA 27. KASAJU 28. KAYESTHA 29. MAHARJAN 30. MALAKAR 31. MALI 32. MALLA 33. MANANDHAR 34. MASKE 35. MATHEMA 36. MULMI 37. MULPATI 38. NAKARMI 39. NAPIT 40. NAYEBA 41. NEWA 42. NYACHHYON 43. PRADHAN 44. PRADHANANGA 45. PRAJAPATI 46. RAGHUBANSHI 47. RAJBANSHI 48. RAJBHANDARI 49. RAJKARNIKAR 50. RAJLAWAT 51. RAJOPADHYAY 52. RANJEET 53. RANJITKAR 54. SAINJU 55. SAKHA 56. SANGACHHE 57. SEWACHARYA 58. SHAKYA 59. SHRESTHA 60. SUWAL 61. TAMRAKAR 62. TANDUKAR 63. TULADHARMost of these last names are said to be associated with one or another occupation they traditionally had in the Newa community. For example, "RAJOPADHAY" are the priests (Newa Brahmins) for the Newa people who have faith in Hinduism, "GUBHAJU", on the other hand, is linked with Newars with faith in Buddhism. Similarly, "TAMRAKAR" represents the Newa people who traditionally made potteries, utensils made of copper, brass and bronze.
Perhaps, "SHRESTHA" dominates most of the family names among the Newars. Just giving a quick look at the names above, I think, names such as Bajracharya, Byanjankar, Chitrakar, Dhakhwa, Dongol, Gubhaju, Kansakar, Karanjeet, Maharjan, Malakar, Mali, Manandhar, Prajapati, Ranjeet, Ranjitkar, Shakya, Suwal, Tamrakar, Tandukar and Tuladhar belong to the original Newars with more faith in Buddhism and the rest have more faith in Hinduism and are the later settlers from India. The name "GORKHALI" is linked with the town of Gorkha in the mid-western Nepal.
Newa people who moved from the Valley to Gorkha, might have changed their family names into "Gorkhali". Most likely some names with "SHRESTHA" and "PRADHAN" may fall in a similar category when Newars opted to change their original last names for one reason or another.. As stated earlier, all these names are associated with the castes originally introduced by a Malla King, perhaps, in the early 16th century or so. Tank V. Varya has elaborated some on these family names and their link to different traditional occupation in the Newa society. Today caste system is illegal in the country and all Newa people work hand-in-hand with other different ethnic groups for the overall development of the country. Moreover, we, Newars do not have problems religionwise. One group respects the faith of another. Thus, all Newa people together seem to be well blended in the society and get along well in day-to-day life.
Newars can also be recognized by their unique language, the Newa script they use, the Newa cuisine, dishes they cook, and by their rich and unique culture. The readers are referred to the previous issues of "DABUU" magazine for more interesting articles on Newa language and script by M. Dhaubhadel, Newari marriage ceremoney by N. Pradhan, Samay Bajee a traditional Newa feast by D. Amatya and so on. Brief descriptions on Newa people, their society, daily way of life, traditions and culture have been given by Tanka Vilas Varya and APA Productions (HK) Ltd.
With the advent of computer technology and information highway system, Newa art and culture can now be viewed and accessed directly on the computer screens at one's home worldwide. An example is the URL address http://www.moon.com/bklist/nepal.list.html where Alexander W. MacDonald and Ann Vergati have stored images and information on architecture and paintings of the Kathmandu Valley. Similarly, one may want to visit the WEB site: http://www.goshen.net/calebproject/nance/n84.html for NEPAL-NEWAR profile. At this moment I would like to commend the work of Rajendra Shrestha for establishing and maintaining his NEPAL HOME PAGE on INTERNET (http://www.cen.uiec.edu/~rshresth/Nepal.html) where you can get various information on Nepal and several other direct or indirect linkages with Newars, their art, culture, and traditions along with all other Nepali people. There is no question that NPPA's efforts to maintain its own web page in the INTERNET have added a great value in introducing the NEWA people, and their heritage to the world.
On top of this there are several Newars both at home and abroad who have started to create their own web pages introducing themselves, their homeland and other current interesting items. This has truly become the newest and perhaps the most efficient way of introducing all Newars, our art, culture and capabilities and ways to survive and contribute to our homeland and the world as a whole.
Today Newars are not limited to their traditional professions. They are actively engaged in all important professions demanded by the dynamic society of the century, such as business people, scientists, computer programmers, engineers, doctors, teachers, social workers, and politicians in their country. Relatively small number of Newa people who migrated outside of Nepal have been known to be actively working as scientists, engineers, doctors, researchers all over the world. Newa immigrants to the United States occupy prestigious positions in universities, industries and government. fields. The point I want to make is that we, Newari people have a lot to be proud as being Newars. We should be proud of our ancestors who left behind for a rich heritage that is recognized and praised by the world today. We should support every effort in Nepal or abroad to keep up the prestige and the heritage of the Newars. One simplest way to support is to educate and train our children of next generation on the importance to preserve, maintain and support our Newa art, culture and language and on their values in the context of other dynamic factors of the complex society of this world. This could truly be a challenging task but this would certainly help us keep our image to be recognized as the proud ethnic Newa people of Nepal and maintain our distinct identity among all other ethnic groups of the world that we live in.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: The author would like to acknowledge Dr. Manoranjan Dhaubhadel and Tribhuvan Tuladhar for their valuable comments and suggestions.
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