“Mongol” as a Weapon to Erase the Kirat Identity!
Bharat Dahal, Patriotic Thinker and Political Analyst
A campaign by Western missionaries is visible in Nepal: “Everyone other than the Khas and Madhesis is Mongol.” Campaigns based on such imperialist narratives have been launched before. Examples include: “Tharus are Madhesis”; “Nepal’s reunification was the expansion of the Gorkha Empire”; “There are many nations in Nepal”; and “The Khas fled India during Mughal rule and came here.” Such propaganda is not unusual under a state system run by foreigners and with elements nurtured by NGOs in power.
The etymology of the words “Kirat” and “Mongol”
According to Sanskrit etymology, “Kirat” is derived from the Sanskrit root “kirt,” meaning “a person who praises God.” The Yajurveda and Atharvaveda refer to the bow-wielding hill people living east of the Gangetic plains as Kirats. Iman Singh Chemjong holds that the word came from “Kiriyat,” a Semitic/Moabite word meaning “fortress” or “city,” pointing to ancient migration or origins. The Mahabharata contains extensive references to the Kirats. No scriptural or historical literature disputes that Nepal, Bengal and Sikkim are the Kirats’ original homeland. No scriptural or historical literature shows that the Kirats were Mongols or that this group came from Mongolia or China. The Kirat is considered a highly distinctive indigenous culture of this region.
“Mongol” refers to a group living in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia (China), Siberia in Russia and some parts of Europe. The Tatar community found in Europe is also Mongol. Unlike the Kirats, who have a distinct identity, the Mongol community has become mixed in identity. Some scholars believe the word “Mongol” comes from “Möngke Tengri Gal” (“the fire of the eternal sky”). Chinese sources say the word came from “Mugulu,” the name of an ancestor of the Rouran Khaganate. The word “Mongol” first appeared around the middle of the 10th century in the Chinese text Old Book of Tang. It was used to identify the Shiwei community, who lived in the 9th century along the banks of the Argun River—a river flowing from Mongolia to China’s Inner Mongolia and touching parts of Russia.
In historical and anthropological works, the terms “Mongoloid” or “Mongol” were often used as categories for people with East and Central Asian physical features, such as a fold of skin at the corner of the eyes, straight black hair and prominent cheekbones. Since Kirati people also have similar eastern or Himalayan physical features, older writers sometimes included them under the “Mongoloid” physical type. In terms of origin, this is a complete misconception. The fact that people in Latin America resemble Nepal’s Khas does not mean they came from Nepal or that the Khas came from there.
The Kirats speak Tibeto-Burman languages, while the Mongols speak Mongolic languages. The Kirats’ homeland is the hilly region south of the Himalayas, in Nepal, Bengal and Sikkim, whereas the Mongols are concentrated in Central and Northeast Asia. The Mughals who came from Central Asia to rule India were also Mongols, even though they were later Islamized. After their association with the Turks, Mongols began to be called “Mughals” in local languages. The Kirats were hill dwellers, while the Mongols lived on the plains. The Kirats are mentioned in the Vedas and the Mahabharata, but the word “Mongol” was first used only in the 10th century. During the reign of the Mongol emperor Genghis Khan in the 13th century, “Mongol” began to be used as an umbrella term for all Mongolic-speaking groups.
What is the Western game?
No Nepalis are Mongols. All cultural communities other than the Khas and Madhesis are connected to the Kirat background. But why are missionary organizations trying to turn Kiratis into Mongols? The reason is clear. After 2006, we saw Indian imperialism try to forcibly include the Tharu community among the Madhesis as part of a plan to swallow the entire Tarai. After 2006, attacks were directed at Prithvi Narayan Shah in order to divide Nepal on the basis of so-called ethnicity, and the claim was spread that Nepal was “an expansion of the Gorkha Empire”—implying that Nepal did not exist before that. Missionaries are spreading the claim that the Khas arrived during the Mughal period, even though their presence in Nepal is attested from 3,000 years before the word “Mongol” originated in China. The Khas homeland is in the Himalayan hills, not the plains. The Khas have no connection with the Indian mainland.
As some of the examples mentioned above indicate, the missionaries’ “Mongol” campaign is primarily focused on destroying the Kirat civilization and culture. Just as they have tried to make Tharus Madhesis, if they succeed in turning Kirats into Mongols, people will lose their original cultural identity and all will become hybrids. A hybrid has no original element. This is like the seeds available in today’s market that do not grow more than once. Once Kirats lose their originality and become hybrids, they can be turned into anything. The slogan of “Mongol” is nothing more than a missionary strategy to erase the identities of all of Nepal’s cultural communities, Christianize them and take control of Nepal.
They vehemently oppose the Khas and Hindus as a shield to conceal their mission, but have you ever heard them call for people to “protect their respective civilizations and cultures”? Have you heard them urge Rai, Limbu, Tharu, Magar, Gurung and Tamang communities to “preserve their respective ancestral traditions” to stop “Hindu encroachment”? They oppose the Khas and Hindus, but what are they trying to preserve? Why do they fall silent when asked this question? What they have done to date is oppose Hindus and Christianize Rai, Limbu, Gurung, Magar, Tharu and Tamang communities. This is the Western “Mongol campaign”!
