The Gurung people, also called Tamu, are an ethnic group from different parts of Nepal.
The Gurung people are an ethnic group who migrated from Tibet in the 6th century to the central region of Nepal. Gurung, Sherpa, Tamang, Thakali, Manaaggi, Mustaaggi, Walunggi and many east Asian featured people of Nepal are the indigenous people of Nepal’s mountainous valleys.
Their ancestors practiced Tibetan Buddhism and Bön (shamanism). According to the recent 2007 surveys, most Gurung people are Buddhist. They live primarily in north west Nepal in Gandaki zone, specifically Lamjung, Kaski, Mustang, Dolpa, Tanahu, Gorkha, Parbat and Syangja districts as well as the Manang district around the Annapurna mountain range. Some live in the Baglung, Okhaldhunga and Taplejung districts and Machhapuchhre as well. Small numbers are believed to be living in Sikkim, Bhutan and India’s West Bengal.
There are 686,000 Gurung (Τamu) (0.39% of Nepal’s total population) of which 338,925 speak the Gurung language. Their ancestors, culture and traditions are traced back to Tibet. Though, Tibet is called “Bhot” in Nepali language, the word “Botay” is consider derogatory to refer to Asian featured Nepalis. They coexist well with other ethnic groups of Nepal such as Madhesi and Khas. Khas and Madhesi people are Hindu, Indo-Aryan group who have migrated to Nepal after 12th century and brought with them the Hindu caste system. Most Gurung and other indigenous Nepalese of Asian features are Buddhist and so they are not bound by the Hindu caste system. Nepali of Asian appearance refer themselves as Mongoloid. Sometime, the term Mongoloid gets mistaken by youngsters and they think their ancestors originated from Mongolia.
No study findings have pointed Gurungs origin to Mongolia. Instead, many studies and historians had confirmed their origin to Tibet.
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