Newar people

Total population

more than 1,245,232

Regions with significant populations

Nepal, India, Bhutan, Tibet

Languages

Nepal Bhasa

Religion

Hinduism & Buddhism

Related ethnic groups

Indo-Aryans (Thakuri, Chhetri) and Tibeto-Burmans (e.g. Kirants, Tibetans, Magar, Gurung) in and around Nepal

The Newars are the people of Nepal, Kathmandu Valley. The valley and surrounding territory have been known from ancient times as Nepal Mandala.

Newars have lived in Nepal Mandala since prehistoric times, and immigrants that arrived at different periods in its history eventually merged with the local population by adopting their language and customs. Newars are a linguistic and cultural community of mostly Tibeto-Burman and some Indo-Aryan ethnicities. Scholars have also described the Newars as being a nation.

Scholars in this field have consensus that prehistoric Newar (Newari) were originally interconnected to the ancient Kirat people (Kiratis). Stone Age, prehistoric Kirat tools found by Dr A. Y. Shetenko (Leningrad Institute of Archaeology) date back to 30,000 years ago, matching prehistoric tools unearthed in China's Gobi Desert and Yunnan.

According to Nepal's 2001 census, the 1,245,232 Newars in the country are the nation's sixth largest ethnic group, representing 5.48% of the population.

Origin of the name

The terms "Nepal" and "Newar" are phonetically different forms of the same word. Nepal is the learned Sanskrit form and Newar is the colloquial Prakrit form. A Sanskrit inscription dated 512 AD found in Tistung, a valley to the west of Kathmandu, contains the phrase “greetings to the Nepal’s” indicating that the term "Nepal" was used to refer to both the country and the people. The term "Newar" referring to "inhabitant of Nepal" appeared for the first time in an inscription dated 1654 AD in Kathmandu. It is discussed whether 'Nepal' may be a sanskritization of 'Newar', or 'Newar' may be a later form of 'Nepal'. According to another explanation, the words "Newar" and "Newari" are vulgarisms arising from the mutation of P to V, and L to R. Similarly, according to the National Archives of India, Nepal is also said to be the same word as Newar Napa