The Rai are ethnolinguistic groups belonging to the Kirat family and primarily Tibeto-Burman linguistic ethnicity. They mainly reside in the eastern parts of Nepal, the Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal (predominantly Darjeeling and Kalimpong Hills) and in southwestern Bhutan.
The Rai, as a set of groups, are one of the oldest tribes of Nepal. They inhabited the area between the Dudh Koshi and Tamur River in Nepal. They claim that their country called Kiratdesh in modern times, has spread over Nepal, Sikkim and West Bengal. Rai are also known as "Khambu" and in some places, they are known as "Jimee" or "Jimdar". "Jim" means "land", which meant they owned the lands and other tribes had to pay their taxes to the jimdar, they started animal farming and agricultural vegetation as their traditional occupation. They are known for worshipping nature and ancestral spirits. H.H. Risley treats the Rai and Jimdar as synonymous with the Khambus, but most of the Rai nowadays do admit Khambu and Jimdar to be synonymous terms connoting the same ethnic group. Rai are one of the dominant tribes of the Kirati group; they are a fighting tribe of Nepal. They are popularly believed to have offered a stiff resistance to the invasion of the Gorkhas. Kiranti Rai are hill tribes who once possessed considerable power and territory but were reduced to submission by Prithvi Narayan Shah after his conquest of Nepal. Kirati rule in the eastern hills of Nepal ended after the conquest of the Gorkha Kingdom in 1772–1773.
Geographical distribution
Nepal
Numbering about 750,000, the Rai people mainly inhabit the eastern part of Nepal. Linguists have identified up to 28 different Rai languages, most of them mutually unintelligible.
The 2011 Nepal census classifies the Rai people within the broader social group of Mountain/Hill Janajati. At the time of the Nepal census of 2011, 620,004 people (2.3% of the population of Nepal) were Rai. The frequency of Rai people by province was as follows: Koshi Province (11.3%) Bagmati Province (1.5%) Gandaki Province (0.3%) Madhesh Province (0.2%) Lumbini Province (0.1%) Karnali Province (0.0%) Sudurpashchim Province (0.0%)
The frequency of Rai people was higher than national average (2.3%) in the following districts: Khotang (36.8%) Bhojpur (32.1%) Ilam (23.8%) Dhankuta (19.8%) Solukhumbu (19.7%) Udayapur (17.3%) Panchthar (13.8%) Sankhuwasabha (10.7%) Okhaldhunga (10.0%) Sunsari (6.6%) Taplejung (5.1%) Morang (5.0%) Jhapa (4.7%) Nuwakot (3.6%) Lalitpur (2.7%)
India, Bhutan and other countries
Rai predominate in the Indian states of Sikkim, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Mirik and Dooars of West Bengal. Rai is the single largest ethnic community in Sikkim. Rai population is mostly found in the south, west and east of Sikkim. with a large number of Rai also living in Assam and other northeastern states, the Kingdom of Bhutan and some have recently migrated to the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, the United States and other countries.
History
Mythology of Rai People
Rai tradition relates that the first of the ancestral Kirati entered Nepal's eastern hills through the Barahachhetra gorge of the Kosi Valley the natural gateway into the region through the Mahabharat Range, which separates the hilly hinterland from the plains. According to the Mundum, in oral history, Kirati ancestors came out of the "Khuwalung" and then followed the small river of the Saptakoshi. They journeyed through the Arun, Dudh Koshi, Sun Koshi and Tama Koshi and finally settled down in the Bhote Koshi valley.
According to the myths of the Kirati Rai people "Tayama" (elder sister), "Khiyama" (younger sister) and "Raichhakule" ( Tayama and Khimaya's younger brother) are supposed to be the primaeval ancestors of the Kirati Rai's Civilization. The sisters are believed to have lived in "Tuwachung" whereas the brother in the cave of Halesi. Tayama and Khiyama were skilful in weaving the looms. They are regarded as the pioneers of textiles. Tayama is recognized by names like: Khew, Toyama, Toma, Tayama, Tangwama, Jauma, Jaumo, Dawa and Kakcha, and accordingly, Khiyama is also called Khema, Khiwama, Khliuma, Khlemo, Khewa, Khauma and Los in distinct Kiranti languages. Raichhakule (younger brother of Tayama and Khimaya) also known as Hetchhakuppa, Hetchhakuwa, Khokchilipa, Khakchhilip etc. is considered to be the beginner of the agricultural era in the cultural history of Kirati- Rai People.