Yakkha is an indigenous ethnic group of Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

 (identical with its Kirat family consisting of Limbu

Limbu people

The Yakthung or Limbu tribes and clans belong to the Kirati nation or to the Kirat confederation.They are indigenous to the hill and mountainous regions of east Nepal between the Arun and Mechi rivers to as far as Southern Tibet, Bhutan and Sikkim....

, Rai

Rai (ethnic group)

The Rai are one of Nepal's most ancient indigenous ethnolinguistic groups. They were Raya meaning king. Once someone was recognized as a ruler then Hindus awarded the title Raja, Rai, Raya, Malla etc. When the king Pritivi Narayan Shah couldn't defeat Kirant king , he somehow took them in...

 and Sunuwar of Mongoloid physiognomy). It is one of the progenies of Nepal's prehistoric Kirat dynasty of around 100 BC.

Etymology

Scholars have different opinions regarding the origin of the word Yakkha. One school of thought claims that the ethnonym "Yakkha" as per the Aryan Sanskrit grammar had been spelled in the Aryan-Hindu mythologies as "Yaksa-sh" (like Bhisu-shu for an ascetic "Bhikchu" of the Buddhist holy scripts). Although the legendary Yaksa-sh, by the corrupt name of Yakkha, is being hailed in the Hindu holy scripts, Vedas and the ancient Sanskrit literature, Yakkha has historically been consistent in the use of its own endonyms. "Yakkhawa" or "Yakkhapa" is used to denote the male person and "Yakkhama" to denote the female person.

Exonyms

The Yakkhas are also known by the exonyms Majhiya, Jimidar and Dewan, titles they accepted after the conquest of the Kirat land by the Gorkhas under Prithvi Narayan Shah

Prithvi Narayan Shah

Prithvi Narayan Shah, King of Nepal was the first king of the House of Shahs to rule Nepal. He is credited for starting the campaign for a unified Nepal, which had been divided and weakened under Malla confederacy. He was the ninth generation descendant of Dravya Shah , the founder of the ruling...

. The Yakkhas were not only given ownership of the land but were also given the responsibility of collecting taxes from the lands utilised by Yakkhas as well as non-Yakkhas living in the area. In Darjeeling district

Darjeeling district

Darjeeling District is the northernmost district of the state of West Bengal in eastern India in the foothills of the Himalayas. The district is famous for its beautiful hill stations and Darjeeling tea. Darjeeling is the district headquarters...

 and Sikkim

Sikkim

Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...

 of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Dewan is commonly used as a synonym of Yakkha, and as Dewans they are placed in the Other Backward Class

Other Backward Class

The Central Government of India classifies some of its citizens based on their social and economic condition as Scheduled Caste , Scheduled Tribe , and Other Backward Class . The OBC list presented by the commission is dynamic and will change from time to time depending on social, educational and...

 category.

Yakkha land

Today, the Yakkha motherland is considered a patch among the historic Kirat region (i.e., east of the Kathmandu valley). During the so-called national unification of Nepal by Prithvi Narayan Shah, the traditional bases of the Kirati lands were destroyed. The Far Kirat (Pallo Kirat) of the Ten Limbuwan area to the east of the Arun River

Arun River (Nepal)

The Arun River is a trans-boundary river and is part of the Kosi or Sapt Koshi river system in Nepal. It originates in Tibet Autonomous Region of People's Republic of China where it is called Bum-chu.-Name:...

 was divided into seventeen Thums. Among these seventeen Thums, the Panch Khapan, Panch (5) Majhiya and Das (10) Majhiya Tin Thum Yaksalen are regarded as the traditional area of the Yakkhas. This Yakkha area is the southern part of Sankhuwasabha district

Sankhuwasabha District

Sankhuwasabha District of 159,203.Indigenous ethnics Yakkhas, Rais, Limbus, and other hill castes and ethnic groups Sankhuwasabha District of 159,203.Indigenous ethnics Yakkhas, Rais, Limbus, and other hill castes (e.g. Chhetri, Bahuns) and ethnic groups Sankhuwasabha District of...

 bordering the Dhankuta district

Dhankuta District

Dhankuta District , a part of Kosi Zone, is one of the seventy-five districts of Nepal, a landlocked country of South Asia. The district covers an area of 891 km² and has a population of 166,479., Dhankuta is the district headquarters and a major administrative region in the Eastern...

 in eastern Nepal. Madi Mulkharka, Tamafok, Mamgling, Ankhibhuin, Chanuwa, Dandagaun, etc. are the names of the 10 Majhiyas and Hatisudhe, Kingring, Chapabhuin, etc. are the name of five Majhiyas.

Religion, language and culture

The Yakkhas have a distinct language, culture and tradition. The Yakkha language is a Tibeto-Burman language. The onset of modernism and influence from external factors have caused a rapid disappearance of the Yakkha language. The Yakkhas practice the Kirati religion of nature worship. There are 32 family names (Thar) in the Yakkhas. Each Thar also has a sub-group called the Sameychong. Marriages do not occur between families sharing the same Sameychong.

Population

As per the national census of Nepal 2001, there are 17,003 Yakkhas in Nepal, of which 81.43% were Kirats, 14.17% were Hindus and 1.04% were Buddhists. A few thousand Yakkhas live in Darjeeling district, Sikkim and the North-Eastern states of India.